Leftover Rogers pics

Here are a few other moments that survived the non-blurry camera attack from our time at the Rogers.  Leesa took Cambrie shopping for some new clothes, and we stopped for a quick picture next to Honeydukes Candy Shoppe.  I wish those treats were real!  

 

Papa reading a bedtime story to all the grandkids.   It's awfully hard to fit five of them on your lap and I'm impressed with his solution.  

The boys were able to have a lot of sleepovers.  Poor Stockton was exhausted from all of the fun by the time the week was over.  But they had so much play time.  

Boys in the tub.  Always a hit.  

And here are the kids all decked out in their Christmas clothes before we switched gears to head up to Smithfield for the rest of the holidays.  My kids sure are lucky to have so many loving grandparents who are willing to put up with their craziness for weeks while we visit!

Midway Ice Castles

We were really lucky that the opening night for the ice castles in Midway worked for us.  We had never been at night and I was really excited to see how they looked all lit up.  I was not disappointed!  The colors were so pretty.  They lit some of the structures from the inside, had some rainbow lights casting on others, and topped the whole effect off with the Frozen soundtrack playing in the background. 

This was by far the largest castle we have ever been to.  The walls weren't as high as they will be later in the season, but the square footage was huge.  I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to keep the kids awake long enough to see it all. Luckily that wasn't an issue.  Something else we hadn't seen before were the ice slides.  There were three.  The largest double slide had a really long line, so we didn't wait for that.  The toddler size slide was perfect for our kids.   There was never a line and they just kept going and going.  Daxton absolutely loved it.  His favorite way to go down the slide was to slide on his stomach!  I thought that might be a little bit daring for him, but I guess not.  He never grew tired of that slide.  

Towards the end we found a medium size one that I went down.  No wonder the kids loved the other one, that was so much fun!  That line however, was also a little long so we only did that once.  

But here was the view from the top.  

As we wandered we found tunnels, lots of icicles, caves, benches, and a fountain! 

I wanted to capture everything on film, but I was having a hard time in the low light with the flash ruining some of the effect.  But then we discovered how well our phones worked!  I love how these silhouette pictures turned out!  

It was amazing, as always.  

I'm so glad everyone was game to go experience it with us.

January pre-birthdays

Even with everything going on we squeezed in a birthday party for the January birthdays.  McKenzie really likes red velvet cake, so we made cupcakes for the kids.  Cream cheese frosting is harder to work with that a buttercream, but I actually kind of like how the spikes turned out.  (They were supposed to be roses... we tried!).  

The non-birthday boys were very excited to have an excuse to eat cupcakes.  Can you tell?  

Daxton has been cranky a lot on this trip.  Apparently sugar in the form of a cupcake is one way to cure that...after we proved to him that the frosting wasn't going to poison him.  

Each kid was able to open their birthday presents from Nana and Papa.  

Each kid received their new birthday outfits.  Daxton received a new Lego train too.  He loves putting those pieces together and taking them apart over and over again.  It stayed right there on the counter until we left South Jordan.  That's where he wanted to play with it.  

McKenzie received a new hedgehog book, and a set of hedgehog salt and pepper shakers.  She's had her eye on Alysha's for awhile now and is very excited to take them home and start using them for dinner.  Thanks for a great party!

Go Kart racing

We decided to take the crew go kart racing again.  McKenzie was finally tall enough to reach the pedals, and it was her first time driving a go kart.  She was a little hesitant at first but figured it out by her second race and finished just behind Cambrie.  

Cambrie drove aggressively, like she knew exactly what she was doing.  

It was fun to watch the girls race.  

The boys thought so too.  Just wait until these three are old enough to hop on that track.  We are going to have some serious competition.  

Just passing the time having a disco dance party.

The rest of us raced too.  We were plagued by a couple slow people in each of our heats, but it just made us that much more determined not to lose.  This is a competitive bunch!   Dantley ended up winning again this year with Jeremy in second place and Alysha in third.  (I wish I could include more pictures but you may have noticed the ones I have included are a bit blurry.  A setting was bumped on the camera and unfortunately our game faces are too blurry to make out.  You'll just have to trust my words instead of the pictures as proof that it was a great afternoon!)

Christmas Day

The girls were super sweet and let us sleep in until 6:30.  I don't know what time they were up and moving, but 6:30 still felt early!  Cambrie and McKenzie got to work opening their presents right away.  

The girls each received their Christmas wish from Santa.  Cambrie now has a Polaroid camera (yes, they actually make those again.)  

McKenzie received her own iPod touch.  I have a feeling we are going to hear a lot of dance parties going on up in their room from now on.  

It seemed to be the year of American Girl doll accessories.  Both girls received new outfits and fun accessories for their dolls.  

Seeing how the boys were still asleep, Jeremy and I decided to get to work on our presents.  He and the girls totally surprised me with a pair of authentic cowgirl boots!  It's been a wish of mine for years and I'm so impressed they managed to surprise me.  

Jeremy knows I like being surprised, but it's hard when I end up picking up and wrapping my presents myself sometimes.  I wanted a new go-to coat that I could pack in small suitcases and would actually keep me warm.  I was shocked when I opened the box I had wrapped and Jeremy had switched it out for a coat he picked out.  Well done hun.   

It was the year of race gear for Jeremy and I.  I ended up with a new pair of fancy Roka running glasses, and a swim skin for our race in Hawaii.  

McKenzie was incredibly jealous that Jeremy received cookies in his presents and she didn't.  I'm curious to give those "healthy fuel" cookies a try.  

I also managed to surprise Jeremy by getting him Normatek recovery boots.  Those are the reason why we go to the Ironman expos.  They instantly make your legs feel more recovered and ready to go.  With the amount of training he's doing, they will be well used.  

The kids couldn't wait to give them a shot either!  

When the boys woke up the girls couldn't wait to help them open their gifts.  The kids drew names this year and it was so much fun for me seeing their excitement as they gave their gifts to their siblings.  Cambrie gave Kelton a new board game.  

McKenzie gave Daxton an animal train to go on his new tracks.  

Kelton gave McKenzie a sparkly notebook, pens, and a new little hedgehog.  

And Daxton "chose" a soap making kit for Cambrie.  

Some other highlights from the boys' gifts were the scooter and snowman bubble bomb Kelton received from Santa.  

He also has his own robe for those chilly mornings and a Paw Patrol watch.  

Daxton received a Cars Geo Trax set that he played with until the adults had to hide the remote.  

Bruce and Leesa gave him a magnetic gear set that he just loves. It hangs on the garage door and he can change the configuration any way he wants to.  

I also made the boys slumber sacks of their own which they quickly made little nests and didn't want to come out.  

When the Kings arrived the fun just kept going!  Bruce and Leesa picked up Manchester United jerseys from Lillywhites and had their names and numbers put on the back of their jerseys.  

The boys also received the craziest marble track I've ever seen.  Bruce and Cambrie started putting it together for the boys later that day but we didn't even finish it until the next day.  

The boys also ended up with Nerf guns like their daddy's did last year.  

More Christmas moments.

The fun wasn't done for the adults.  Bruce and Leesa had one more gift for us.  In keeping with the eyes closed theme from the night before, the girls closed their eyes and the boys had to help us unwrap the present.  I was laughing so hard.  

We all ended up with Instant Pots.  I am very excited and hope that it helps with some of the weeknight craziness.  

The kids with their hauls.  

Later that night we went over to Alysha and Brody's to spend time with the Pearce family and play games.  On the drive over Jeremy and I couldn't help but notice how gorgeous the sunset was reflecting off the mountains.  A storm came through that morning and cleaned up the air so it was so crisp and clean.  

One of the highlights of that night was the Pearce kids' gift to Louesa.  They gave her a new TV that will be simpler to use.  I love the surprised look on her face!  

Pictures with Grandma Pearce

Jeremy and I headed home somewhat early so we could get Jeremy to the airport early the next morning, but the kids stayed up late playing with their cousins.  I have no idea what time they came home.  All I know is that they didn't wake up until 9:00 or 10:00 the next morning.  That is unheard of for my kids!  Maybe the Warmies had something to do with it.  Daxton sure loves his.  Or maybe it was just because he had an awesome day packed full of fun.