Gifts from my dad

My dad is a painter. A very good one.  While we were at the cabin, my parents presented us with some pretty amazing gifts. My dad painted something for every one of his eight children. My mom had them beautifully framed for us. All of our paintings were meaningful in one way or another. Take a look.

My picture was Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. So beautiful!

 If you are worried about the grandkids feeling left out, don't. They had a little gift exchange of their own. It was a lot of fun!

The Cabin

After Christmas, we joined Grandma and Grandpa W and my siblings for a little reunion in southern Utah. We stayed in a cute cabin located somewhere between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. We all stayed for about five days. It was crazy, chaotic, and oh, so fun!

The highlight of the cabin was the location. It was next to a great sledding hill, and it had a long, super fun zip-line. The kids loved sledding, though they got tired of climbing back up the hill after a while. Erick came in to rescue them. He decided it was good training for Ranger School.

The zip-line was a huge hit. I believe everyone (even most of the adults, and... Is that Superman?) took a turn on it. My girls went again and again and again. TJ, however, was not so sure. He thought it was really high and fast and scary. He refused to go. On the very last day, I asked him if he would like to reconsider. I reminded him that he would never get the chance again. Most likely, we will never be back at this cabin on this hill. He decided to give it a try. Of course, he loved it. I'm so glad he was brave enough to try. 

Let me list who came, so I can remember 30 years from now:

• My lovely parents of course (aka Grandma and Grandpa W)
• My husband and me with our four kids
• My sister Tracy with her kids Jessica, Steve, and Conner. Jessica brought her cute baby Avery along too
• My brother Lee with his wife Tricia and kids McKenna, Andrew, Emi, Parlee, and Peter
• My brother David with his wife Julie and kids Lauren, Mia, and Abby
• My sister Erin with her husband Brayden and kids Gabby, Corban, and Quincy
• My brother Jared with his wife Casi and kids Mallory, Lily, Lewis, Ed, and Brigham

We missed my other siblings Jamie and Thad and their families. They both live far away and had other really important things going on like moving and preparing to visit a new grand-baby. So, I guess I'll forgive them (wink, wink.)

We found many ways to relax inside the cabin. We all watched fun family movies together. We played games of all sorts. My personal favorite was Pick. We relaxed in the hot tub, and even though kids were not allowed "inside" the hot tub, Grandma allowed them to put their toes in. That became a highlight of the trip for many of them. We took turns for meals, and we all ate together. 

Here are some random pictures from inside the cabin. Many thanks to Erin and my mom who donated many of these photos, so I could keep the memories!

Christmas in Utah

We spent Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa B. It was magical.

On the night of the 23rd, we had a super fancy dinner at the Log Haven up Millcreek Canyon in Salt Lake City. It was the most delicious and beautiful place. If you ever want something super fancy, I recommend it. I found the two following photos from their website www.log-haven.com. Sadly, I didn't take pictures of my own. We had dinner with Matt & Kelly, Annette, Matt B, Grandma a& Grandpa, and Erick & me. It really was so nice.

On the Christmas Eve, we started our evening with a yummy dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Annette took the dinner picture. I stole it from her facebook account.

After that we had an absolutely magical evening. The kids acted out the Nativity in costumes custom made by Grandma. Joey, Bailey, and little Molly were angels. Scott was a wise man. TJ and Rees were Joseph and Mary. David was a shepherd.

Joey and Bailey sang a song for us. Bailey and Annette played the piano. Grandpa read from his old English antique Bible. We all sang some of our favorite hymns. Molly was a rogue angel. She was cracking us all up as she ran all over the place squealing with delight. Ha! Such fun memories.

Here is everyone who joined us: Grandma & Grandpa; Matt & Kelly with their kids Scott, Rees, and Molly; Matt, who now has is own awesome place in Bountiful; Annette who made the trip from California; Erick & me with our kids Joey, Bailey, TJ, and David.

After that, Grandma gave all the grand-kids new pajamas. Then she read them a Christmas Story. This year, it was about the Candy Bomber of WWII. The kids were way too excited to sleep, so they watched A Miracle on 34th Street for the first time.

After they finally fell into a deep sleep, Santa came. He brought Joey a guitar, Bailey a kindle, TJ an electric scooter, and David a toddler-sized scooter. It was a good Christmas!