We started our road trip on a Monday morning and drove to Alan's parent's house in Middleton the first day. We decided to take Alan's truck this year because the cab is much roomier and it's easier to load everything under his covered bed than to load and unload the hitch rack on my car every night. I thought my seat was less comfortable than it is in my car, but everyone else really liked the truck. Spencer got to drive a fair amount on long, boring stretches of highway to help rack up hours towards getting his license. It was a little nerve-wracking and I definitely couldn't sleep while he was driving, but he did pretty well.
Darwin and Debbie fed us very well as usual and it was really good to visit with them.
We headed down to Alicia's house in Herriman the next day and stopped at the Church History Museum while we waited for Alicia to get off work.
Annual wall measuring. Spencer and Alicia and Alan are all pretty much even!
We spent the whole next day driving to SJ. Marc was the only other one coming from out of town so it was a smaller group this year. We just did all of the usual things and it was so nice to just relax and spend time with my parents, Marc, and Michelle.
Frosty sunrise run:
Marc set up his disc golf course in the field to the east of my parent's house and the guys spent a good amount of time throwing frisbees around out there.
Watching our favorite Christmas movies:
One afternoon we drove over to Snowflake for Spencer and Michelle to do temple baptisms. Then we all went to donate money at the Giving Machine. The Church really expanded the program this year and made them much more accessible. It was our family's first time going and was a really cool experience even if it was raining hard. After that, we went to dinner at Eva's. It was a really fun afternoon and I hope we can do it again.
Dad and I took on the cinnamon rolls this year. He made some really good pumpkin ones and I made orange and chocolate chip.
We played lots of games:
More fudge:
Christmas Eve was on Sunday this year so we took a family picture right after Church. Michelle was super made about something (probably the cold) and wouldn't smile at all. Haha!
Gingerbread houses! Hot gluing graham crackers together was harder and took longer than I expected.
Marc, Dad, and I worked together to make a taco bar for Christmas Eve dinner again. Marc knows how to do all the meat and I made a vegan version. Everything was super yummy. It was fun to have Susan and Bob join us for dinner and our musical program afterward. They are such kind people.
After the program, we drove around town to look at Christmas lights. Like usual, this is Mason's least favorite tradition and he was grumpy. Haha! He was excited to write his name card for Santa when we got back though.
The eager "kids" waiting to see what Santa brought. :) Almost all of my pictures on Christmas morning turned out blurry. These are the best of what I got. After all of the presents were opened, we spent the rest of the day playing with new gifts and games and making and eating a yummy ham dinner. Mom and Dad invited the Elder's serving in their ward to join us for dinner and I forgot to take any pictures. It was a nice day, but always kind of a downer once the anticipation and excitement are over.
Lindsey, Jordan, and Cora drove up the day after Christmas. It was really fun to see them for a couple of days before we left. Cora is such a cutie!
Goodbye pictures right before we left. Saying goodbye is always the worst part of this trip, especially when we don't know when we'll see each other again. Thanks for another wonderful Christmas Mom and Dad! Spending it with you is my favorite Christmas tradition!
