The Holidays

After my last depressing post, this one will hopefully be a little more upbeat.

We spent the weekend after Christmas visiting the family in Brigham City. We drove up on Sunday for the family Christmas party. Alex asked the whole way if there would be snow and there was about 6 or so inches to make him happy. Some of the grandkids went sledding on Monday morning and I offered to be the photographer. I'm not about stuff that can get me injured as I almost invariably get injured. Alex was a pro in no time and luckily we were able to scrap together enough cold weather gear for him to insist he wasn't cold at all. There was a little jump that he aimed for every stinking time and got some good height a few times.

The Christmas party was fun. Pizza buffet were the kids could play games and the adults could chat followed by presents back at the in laws house. I have to say I'm most excited about my new sheet cake pan so I can make a chocolate sheet cake I've seen for years. Pioneer Woman, you have the best recipes!

Tuesday, Dustin and I went to Tia Pan Trading with his sister along with Smith & Edwards. If you've never been to Smith & Edwards, you really should go at least once. Its huge and everything is there. Kind of like a Wal-mart for camping and outdoor activities. I drooled over the kitchen section but with my trip to Tai Pan Trading coming up, I refrained from buying anything.

There's a few things I want to say about TPT. First, there is not one where we live. The closest is 2 hours away and the cost of gas defeats any money-saving you might do there unless you were already going to that town. Second, I could spend all day wandering the aisles. I must have walked through the Christmas clearance section 6 times trying to decide what I wanted and seeing new things every time I did. Third, its a really boring store for a husband and little boy to spend all day in. He had already been patient at Smith & Edwards so Alex was reaching his shopping limit. But, he was pretty patient and only asked every 4 minutes if we were done instead of every 2.

We came home on Wednesday and enjoyed New Year's Eve at home. My parents came over for dinner but were gone by 9pm so we played Monopoly with Alex (and he kicked our butts) and watched the fireworks at midnight. The next morning, Alex slept until 10. The staying up til midnight thing might be nice for those weekends when he wants to be up and playing at 6am on Saturday.

I would have to say it was a pretty nice Christmas season. Santa brought us a Wii so we got a Wii Fit to help with our new goals. I found a china hutch to repaint to display my growing collection of dishes and pitchers. I'll post about that when its done.

All in all, I'm very thankful for all of our blessings. This next year has to be better than the last one, right?