Hay Ride

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It was definitely cold, but it was more manageable than in the past

The whole gang!

For the past couple of years we have had the opportunity to go on a hay ride with some of our friends here in town. We meet together for soup dinner and then go on the hay ride to look at lights. There were not very many lights this year, but the kids still enjoyed the ride. After the hay ride we warm up with hot chocolate and desserts and let the kids wear themselves out running around playing! I think I figured that we had 18 kids this year (the oldest is only about 8 I think!). We had a great time and are enjoying this as a new holiday tradition!

Temple Square

Dinner table

I took this one and thought it turned out pretty well!

Travis & me with all of the kids

The boys...Wilson wouldn't keep his gloves on, so Mike tucked his arms down inside his coat so he couldn't really move at all. You'll notice he's still sitting in the stroller being lifted up!

Whitney did not want to smile with me...

One of the main reasons for making the trip to Salt Lake was to take the kids to Temple Square to see the lights. We met up with my cousin Jennifer and her family and my cousin Travis for dinner first and then headed to Temple Square. Mike, Travis and I took 6 kids there! It was a little crazy and fairly cold and then it started raining...It was beautiful as always and I enjoyed seeing the lights again!

Old Friends!

Whitney's photography skills. She told the kids to pose like this!

Nicole & Alli doing what we do best--talking!

Whitney and Tess making ice cream

Wilson playing dress-up

About six months after we were married, Mike and I moved into a cute little duplex in Salt Lake. We loved living there and became good friends with the couple on the other side. We used to be bored in the evenings and we would knock on the adjoining wall and then if the others knocked back we would get together. Lots of great memories!

We haven't seen them since Whitney was about 6 months old, so it was really fun to get together. We went out to dinner at Red Robin (one of our old favorites) and then went back to their house for a couple of hours and let the kids play while we all caught up. This was one of my favorite parts of our trip!

Sledding

Sledding is a lot of work for Daddy! The second time we went, Mike hooked a tie down to the sled and then around his waist to pull the kids up the hill!

These garbage cans were at the bottom of the hill--too funny!

While we were in Utah, Mike took the kids sledding a couple of times at Sugarhouse Park. We used to live just down the street from there so it was fun to take the kids there too! They absolutely LOVED it and were not happy about leaving. They've gotten to do a little sledding around the neighborhood; we have plenty of snow, it's just been too cold to go! Hopefully we'll see a few warmer days and they can get out again this season!

Gateway Children's Museum

We decided to take a weekend trip to Salt Lake the first weekend of December. Our kids did AMAZING in the car. They watched only 1 or 2 movies each way of the 8 hour drive! We only got out once and they pretty much kept themselves entertained in the back!! We drove down on a Thursday and our first stop was the Quilted Bear. I love that store! It is a craft mall and it is so fun to look and see what I could possibly make. I got a few ideas and picked up a couple of little things.

On Friday, we took the kids to the Gateway Children's Museum. They had so much fun when we went to the one in Phoenix that I knew we had to take the opportunity to go again! It was a great place for the kids to run around too! We didn't take too many pictures, but Mike took a lot of video. Whitney LOVED the mini stage and dress up clothes. She twirled all around in the princess dresses only stopping to put on more lip gloss! I think Wilson's favorite thing was all of the little cars they had for the kids to drive. He just moved from one activity to another--definitely busy. I wish we had one of these closer--it would be so great for all of the cold winter days!

Halloween

Little Jessie

Little Woody

Wilson's opinion of picture taking...

Whitney's Halloween Outfit--She was so happy to pose for this picture and picked the pose herself!

I suggested to Whitney that she be Jessie for Halloween back when we saw Toy Story 3. I found lots of other cute ideas that I tried to convince her to be, but she was not going to be swayed. So, we had a cute little Jessie and Woody! I had fun making their costumes--a tradition I hope I can keep up!

Mike loves Halloween, but has just been too busy to get into it the past couple of years, but we got out the boxes of his spooky Halloween things. Our kids are totally freaked out by anything to do with Halloween. Wilson saw some masks in a box across the garage and started crying. It was pretty fun (okay maybe mean, but we got a good laugh) taking them near the Halloween aisle at the stores...Maybe they'll grow out of it...

On Halloween, we had a fun little neighborhood party in the afternoon. That evening we went to our church's Trunk-or-Treat. Whitney did pretty good saying "Trick or Treat"; Wilson, of course, wouldn't say anything, but gladly held out his bag to get the candy. After Trunk-or-Treat we went around to a few houses and then ended the night by stopping by our old neighbors' house for homemade donuts! They were delicious!