Post-Christmas Fun

Christmas is fun, but the activities held before and after are pretty great too. Sunday, we were able to go to church with the Stevens family, which is always great- although Matthew's nursery experience wasn't one I'd care to repeat...he HAD to go potty, and rather than take him to the other bathroom, or come and get me, the leaders made him wait for the little girl who was using the nursery's bathroom, and 3-year olds aren't great at waiting...I'll leave it at that. On a positive note, Amanda was teaching Relief Society and gave a wonderful lesson that we were able to enjoy and participate in singing a song. After church we enjoyed a great meal and again enjoyed the evening playing games together. It just makes me wonder where the time goes, because before you know it, it's already midnight. Time really flies when you're having fun.

Brown sweater dress was Jeff's Christmas gift to me

I loved this picture of Emily, she loves computers. She loves to sit and whack the keys. This night she kept trying to get at the laptop that was left on the couch. I love her little grin, and how her little foot is up against her leg. Trying to be a big girl.

Monday was sadly our last day of vacation. Unfortunately work schedules don't necessarily coincide with school breaks, and Jeff had to be back at work on Tuesday so we tried to pack in as much as we could on our last day. Monday morning brought some racquetball at the YMCA. The kids were pretty excited to go and play in the cook kid zones. It's definitely been a while since Jeff and I have played. My sore arm for the next week was proof of that. It was great and if I ever had the chance to put something cool in my house, regardless of my skill level, I would probably choose a racquetball court.


After racquetball, we went back to the house, threw on different clothes and met my family down at the institute building where mom works for some lunch and games with them. The boys enjoyed playing pool, fuse ball, and throwing a Frisbee around. I had fun talking with Mom and Lacey, watching Matthew and Emily play together, and attempting a game of pool with Jeff. I'm pretty bad, but we had some good laughs. Originally we wanted to go bowling at the student union building, but the place was packed! We walked down and ended up waiting over an hour. By then, Houston & Becca had to head home, and we had to head back to meet the Stevens for dinner. So we didn't get to bowl, but I think the kids had fun pretend playing on the arcade games, and of course, we're always happy just to spend time together.

I love this one. Emily up on her tip toes, trying to play the piano with Matthew.

Monday night, we did an adult date night. We've now reached the wonderful stage when both Scott & Amanda, and Tami and CJ have kids that can babysit! Yahoo! The kids enjoyed a night of pizza, movies, and playing with cousins. Those older kids really do a great job! It sure brings back memories of times when my cousins and I used to do the same thing. I guess it paid off. We sure appreciated Kyle, Sam, Isaac and the others who took special interest in watching our boys.

The adults then headed off to Texas Roadhouse, the best part, we all got to ride together in Scott & Amanda's van. I think every family should have a big vehicle just for the sole object of allowing everyone to travel together- it really makes it all that much more fun. The dinner was fun, and we enjoyed spending the time together- I only wish we would have had a booth that fit all 13 people. The highlight of the evening though, had to be Emily puking all over me at the end of the meal. It was bad. :) The reactions were great. Thankfully Tami gave me her cardigan sweater to wear home to spare everyone. It definitely wasn't much fun, but I guess it's already pretty funny looking back. I guess the ice cream Jeff gave her (me shaking head) and everything else didn't go real well with Emily, but she was great afterwards.

Tuesday was the day we had to pack up and head home. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but we had a great vacation and lots of fun memories to take with us. Part of me was also looking forward to getting back home and getting back into a routine. The kids and I had been home since the 17th, and after that much time, I need to get back to life. I'd just love it if we were close enough to spend time with family more frequently. We'll sure take what we can get though. Jeff had to be at work that afternoon, so after dropping him off, the kids and I traveled the rest of the 30 min home and after getting everything unloaded, enjoyed a pizza and movie night. The kids sure slept well that night!