We had a great trip up north this Christmas. We headed up to Las Vegas on the 22nd to watch the Las Vegas bowl. The drive up was rainy and cold so we were a little worried about the game. After successfully located some ponchos and towels we drove over to the stadium. Luckily the weather cleared up right after kickoff and the evening wasn’t too cold. We got lucky with our seats and ended up on the bench right on the walkway that goes around the top of the stadium. It gave the kids a little room to play without getting in anyone’s way. The Utes didn’t really show up to the game but it was still a fun experience. I think the most memorable moment for me was when the two fighter jets flew over the stadium. We positioned so that we could see them coming straight for us through the national anthem. The sound was deafening as they flew right overhead. I think my heart stopped for a couple of beats. We continued north after the game and stopped for the night in Mesquite.
On the 23rd we were able to attend the big Sorensen family Christmas party at my dad’s parent’s house. We enjoyed the traditional caroling hayride, food, nativity play and presents. Here are the kids all bundled up for the hayride (Soren warmed up with some hot cocoa before this picture):
Soren quietly drank in the whole experience. Svea screamed until my dad took her after which she promply fell asleep for the rest of the ride:
I took a couple of pictures of the kids costumes before we left AZ. Good thing since I didn’t get a good one at the actual play! Soren was a wise man and Svea was an angel.
After the party we headed up north even further to my parents house.
We had a nice relaxing Christmas Eve and celebrated the day with a delicious turkey dinner and ice cream cake for Jesus’ birthday. This was a tradition from Erik’s youth that he wanted to start. He did all the baking and yummy was it delicious. The cake was enjoyed by all.
After a short Christmas Eve program, we opened up our traditional Christmas Eve gift of jammies and headed to bed.
Christmas morning was a whirlwind. Soren really knew what the present thing was all about this year and he tore through his presents at light speed. It was hard to get good pictures of the kids since they were both so excited about all the goodies. These’ll give you some idea of the fun!
The day after Christmas was Sunday, so we headed to church in some beautiful new Christmas clothes (thanks Grandma Linda)
Surprisingly, we had a brown Christmas this year with no snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. The snow arrived the day after Christmas and Soren couldn’t wait to go out and play. Svea HATED it. The entire trip she would start crying and run if we tried to put on her coat, or even if she felt the cold air blowing in from an open door.
After a nice visit with my parents we headed back down to Draper to visit Nana and Papa. We had a lot of fun in Draper as well as a lot of SNOW! We drove over to Heber and took a ride on the Heber Creeper. It was a pretty ride.
Svea wasn’t very excited at first
She ended up having a pretty good time. She played with Daddy and Papa and looked out the window at the snow, “No” and the water “Anee”. It was cute
Soren took a lot of beautiful pictures with his new camera
There were herds of deer all over
We were spoiled once again with more presents.
The snow up at Suncrest was crazy. We were drifted in for a day and a half. Soren was excited to watch Papa work the snow blower:
Once we were able to move the car, we headed down the mountain and treated Soren to his first game of bowling.
I was glad for the emergency leash in my pocket – Svea was ready to run everywhere to check everything out.
Soren had a blast. I think he bowled a 67 for his first game.
We headed back to my parents house for one last night where the kids were spoiled with a few more presents. We also got to spend a little time with my brother & his family. The kids LOVE Bridget and can’t wait for their new cousin to come in a few months.
Soren got some good practice on his new camera taking pictures of Svea. They really had fun!
We went to the Sorensen New Year’s Eve party for food, Wii dancing and fireworks, then woke up and had a beautiful lunch with Larry and Kristen in Draper for Kristen’s annual holiday crab extravaganza.
The drive home was loooong (12 hours) but it was all worth it. We arrived home to even more presents (!) and now we are still trying to get settled back into our routines. It was such a fun trip. Thanks to everyone for your hospitality and generosity. Happy New Year!
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