Christmas 2014

It was my turn to have Christmas with my parents this year so we planned a 10 day trip to Utah to spend time with family there.  We pulled the kids out of school a day early and packed up our little car with presents, ski gear and suitcases.  First stop was the weekend at Papa’s house in Draper.  Papa does a good job planning things for the kids to do, realizing they go stir crazy quickly if left inside all day.  There was (surprisingly) little snow on the ground, so while we were there we were able to go on a walk to Ghost Falls.
Soren in front of the silica pit

Papa, Soren and Svea on the trail.

The magnificent Ghost Falls.  Can you believe the USGS forgot to put the falls on the USGS map?  Someone fell asleep on the job at the USGS.

Papa and Liv and the view of Salt Lake Valley below with the Draper LDS temple visible almost in the center of the picture - closest structure to the canyon.

The kids always enjoy a hike and it was fun to see the different geology and botany of the area.  While we were in Draper Papa also treated us to a 3D Imax movie about lemurs.  It was really cool.  Liv ran out of steam about 10 minutes before the movie ended, but everyone else enjoyed the experience.

The next day we went bowling with Papa before heading to Pleasant View to visit Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen.  The girls had fun using the rack to bowl.  Soren had some trouble figuring out how to bowl – he is too big for the rack, but too small to throw the ball. He was a good sport despite suffering almost all throws resulting in gutterballs.

We also enjoyed our time in Pleasant View at my parents’ house.  Jenny, Riley and their 4 month old daughter Ruby were able to spend quite a bit of time there with us as well.  It was fun to finally meet Ruby.  She is such a cute and sweet little girl!
Mom and Dad treated Erik and I to a kid-free day.  They took the kids for us while we spent a day skiing at Snowbasin.  The kids didn’t miss us at all.  We had a pretty great time too!  We met the crew in the evening at my grandparent’s house in Payson for the annual Sorensen Christmas party.  It has been several years since we have been able to attend this event, and I’m glad we were able to get there this year.  Erik and I arrived just in time for traditional caroling hay ride.  After that we enjoyed the grandchildren (and great grandchildren) putting on a nativity play written and planned by my grandma.  Soren was Joseph, Liv was a shepherd and Svea was an angel. Mom came through on the the costumes for me and the kids enjoyed taking part.
Soren said his lines and was supposed to touch the baby softly.  He’s naturally paternal -  *touch*
 
Here’s another shot of the scene

After the party we headed back to Mom and Dad’s house, arriving home late.  Erik already reported on our ski trip to Snowbasin the next day.  Dad joined us and we took the kids skiing for their second time.  It was a great day.
Christmas Eve was a laid back day at my parent’s house.  There was lots of work to be done in the kitchen keeping everyone fed and the dishes done.  Mom did a great job.  We had a nice Christmas Eve program.  It got late enough that the kids only opened 1 gift on Christmas Eve: the traditional Christmas jammies from Grandpa and Grandma.
They are all so cute!  Ruby was really loving being with the cousins (or anything else that was bright and moved).

My little Christmas cuties

It took the kids quite awhile to fall asleep.  Meanwhile the adults enjoyed some yummies upstairs – prosciutto (thanks Dad) and Riley’s gourmet assortment of cheese with cocoa tea from his mission in the West Indies.  Such a treat.  I was so tired that night.  We got the Christmas surprises all laid out and then I passed out.
I was awoken early Christmas morning, but not by excited children.  The next door neighbor was up at 5:30 shoveling snow with his new 4-wheeler.  The revving engine and headlights shining into my window ensured that my sleep was over.  The neighbor wasn’t great, but the Christmas snow sure was!  We went to sleep with NO snow on the ground and woke up to this:

It was so fun!  I love Christmas snow and we had a great storm that dumped snow all morning.
Christmas day was a blur.  Gifts were torn open, and paper and toys were strewn all over.  It was awesome!  I hope the kids had fun, because I sure did!  Here’s a few pictures:
Waiting for Dad so they can go upstairs

Breakfast of cinnamon rolls and grandma’s hot cocoa

And various presents


Erik also spent the afternoon building an AWESOME igloo. I’m so mad I didn’t take a picture of it.  He and the kids were out enjoying the snow while I did some chaos management inside.
The day after Christmas we headed back to spend our last couple of days in UT with Papa.  We had fun sledding, opening gifts, and ice skating. 

Although we had a few exciting moments on the drive home, including a scenic tour of Grantsville and Tooele and a tense drive on snowy roads at Pequop summit (elevation 6,967 ft), it was overall pretty painless.  Nevada is such an expansive wasteland.  There is one beautiful corner and we are lucky enough to live there.  The new Upside Down Show DVD alone bought us 5 or 6 hours.  It was a nice visit.  There is nothing like being with family for the holidays.