We spent this Christmas at home in Provo this year, so my Dad decided to fly out and join in on the festivities! The day he got here Provo got hit with a huge snow storm, so what did we do? We busted out our snow pants and sled and hit the hills for some fun in the snow! Also, I love Link in his little snow outfits. He seems to be having a good time, no?
He does love being pulled in the sled though!
We hiked to the top of the hill, and Reid was my brave little boy and went down all by himself!
I took Link down, (and Reid kindly gave us a push!) and he LOVED it until we plowed through like a foot of snow and Link got totally buried-I had to dig him out! That's when he didn't love it quite as much.
Poor Papa had to hike up and sled down with Reid multiple times. We all got a great work out!
Linkers had much more fun diving in the snow and rubbing his face in it (he also does this with sand).
We also all went to one of our favorite winter hang outs; the Lehi indoor pool! I'm so lucky that I have two little boys who love to swim!
Reid coming down the slide
Even though we have lived in Utah for over three years we have never gone to Temple Square to see the lights, and I have always wanted to go, so we packed up the fam. and headed up to SLC. What I didn't know was that it would be unbelievably crowded and super cold. At least I can say I have been!
We had dinner at a local restaurant, and Nate had to get documentation of just how much damage two little boys and one grandpa can do...
On Christmas Eve we made some cookies for Santa, although I think the kiddos ate more cookies than Santa did...
The finished product! With a cup of milk and a carrot for the reindeer, of course!
Although Link doesn't look super excited, I got the boys matching Christmas jammies for Christmas eve. I'm pretty sure this will become a tradition at our house!
Then Papa read The Night Before Christmas, and Daddy read Luke:2. These might also become traditions at our house. Can you tell I am loving having the Holidays at home? I love having family traditions!
On Christmas morning Reid was super excited when he discovered a train table awaiting him downstairs, and Link was just excited to get candy canes for breakfast.
Reindeer antlers were not as much of a hit as I was hoping...
Both boys got waaay too spoiled this year, and Nate and I decided that we need to be better Christmas budgeters (is that a word?) next year...
Enjoying the Thomas train table! A dream come true for two little boys!
And this is how I felt by the end of the Holidays. I made lots of meals and desserts, decorated, wrapped presents, shopped, (all things that I do not love by the way...) but I love my family and I love doing things for them!
When we dropped Papa off at the airport Reid was VERY sad. He cried the whole way home, and begged to go back to Washington with him. We'll have to make a trip home soon!
We did the long drive to California for Thanksgiving this year, and I have to say, with a husband and a niece (Katrina) along for the ride to help out with the kiddos my life got considerably easier. It was still a long drive though, and as you can see Nate and Reid were passed out by 8 that night.
Getting these two together is always a blast! They are wearing their uniform for the week; Audrey lived in her bathing suit and Reid wore his pajama top and underpants pretty much the whole day-awesome!
Y
ou could tell we were "tourists" because no local in their RIGHT MIND would go to Newport beach when temperatures drop to the low 70's. But we did, and boy was it nice! My family and I were enjoying every sun-filled minute of it! Seriously though, all over the news they were shocked at how cold it had gotten at night (high 40s) and how people were "braving the freezing temperatures" to do their Black Friday shopping. Um when we left Provo it was like 7. That's 7 degrees people. Now THAT is brisk, So Cal!
Nate's parents were able to come as well, and they brought Mimi-their sweet exchange student from Vietnam. She is lots of fun, and she LOVES kids. Yay for us because our kids loved her too, and we kind of got a little bit of a break every once in a while. Thanks, Mimi!
We decided to take some classic "jumping pictures," and we pretty much figured out that we are awesome.
Nate's mom has got to be one of my favorite people, just look at that face!
We took about a billion pictures like this, but no matter what we did NONE of us were airborne for the actual shot. In EVERY picture I look like I'm doing an awesome dance from the sixties when really I was winding up for my killer jump that the world will never see thanks to my slow shutter speed. 
Reid looks like he is not having a great time here, but trust me when I say that sand angels are far superior to snow angels.
Classic pic of Nate's parents and their boys!
Nate and Jeff spent quite a bit of time building a sand tunnel system. It got pretty elaborate...
Audrey and Reid getting buried!
OK, so this kid loves sand, and I'm not talking about the way that most people love sand; he EATS the sand. Like fist-fulls of it. He would run and dive face first into a pile of sand and start eating it. I'm just not sure what to do with this one...he pooped sand for two days. I'm not kidding, it was like wiping the poor kid's bottom with sand paper every time I changed him!
Saturday was Reid's 4th birthday! He is my big boy, and I just can't believe that he's another year older. I love this kid more than I can really say-fake smile and all!
We went and saw "Tangled" which was pretty much the cutest movie ever. I sort of demand that you all see it at some point.
This little piggy stayed home because he does not do well at movies.
Later we got to open his awesome gifts! He sure got spoiled this year!
The only thing Reid asked for for his birthday was a Thomas the Tank Engine cake, so we ordered one from the store, and he was so excited he nearly peed himself. This boy sure loves him some trains!
Reid got a basketball hoop from his uncle Jeff-if he somehow manages to be tall maybe he will play like uncle Jeff too!
We got to be there for little Blake's baby blessing as well, but it was a little bit of a chaotic day, so I didn't get any pictures of it. You will have to be satisfied with a cute snap shot of him in his bouncer. He is seriously the sweetest little baby ever-so happy unless he's tired our hungry. How do I order one like that?!
So, I decided to be one of those awesome parents who lives vicariously through their children by attempting to get my kids to like the stuff I like. I love soccer, but I have discovered over the years that I am a better spectator than player. Also, I have always thought that if I had started playing earlier in my life I maybe would have been better. Cue the over-zealous soccer mom...
As it turns out, (and as you can see from these pictures) Reid does not LOVE soccer like I had hoped, but this is his first introduction to organized sports and I actually signed him up for basketball so he can try that out too. He really doesn't need to love soccer I just want him to be active, you know? I did discover that he is an INCREDIBLE runner. We went to the track the other day, and I usually push both boys in the stroller while I run, but this time Reid wanted to get out and and run too and subsequently ran 2.5 MILES! I was blown away. Maybe he will like running like mommy and daddy...
