Ogden trifecta

It's always a bonus when we can see the Nutcracker in Utah with my family.  It's one of my favorite Stratford women traditions. Even though not all the girls showed up at the same performance each year, it was always there. This year was Faye's first time going and the girls were so excited to introduce her to the magic.  

In the main lobby we were surprised to find some of the dancers posing for photos.  My girls have never been this close to the dancers before and I thought it was pretty cool. 

 The show was amazing as always and a bonus of the matinee was that no one fell asleep!  After the performance we went out to dinner and were pleased to find that the timing worked out so that we could watch the Ogden Electric Parade!  We walked right up and had nearly front row seats.  The floats were all lit with Christmas lights and some of the jeeps and trucks were pretty festive.  

We were glad it was a pretty warm night since we hadn't planned on standing in the cold.  Santa was the last entry in the parade and looked as cheerful and jolly as could be expected up there with Mrs. Claus and his reindeer. 

We walked to the end of the parade route to check out the Christmas Village set up in the park. The schedule said it was to be lit at 6:30pm.  Well, we wandered through the village with our cell phone flashlights trying to enjoy it in the dark and just waiting for the mayor to flip the switch.  

We made it through the entire village and had just decided to go home when the lights turned on!  Everyone was cheering and I can only imagine how all the other houses looked all lit up in their festive glory.

Another surprise of the night were the fireworks that started launching as soon as the lights turned on.  My girls didn't get fireworks in England this year, so it's a good thing that this display went on for a solid 20 minutes!  There's something pretty magical watching the colors of the fireworks combine with the colors of the Christmas lights.

We didn't think we had the energy to walk through the village once the fireworks finished so we snapped a few pictures to capture the scene and headed for home to rescue our sweet babysitting husbands.   Who knew Odgen had such a great kick-off to the Christmas season? 

Reindeer at Zootah

Friday afternoon we found a fun event at Zootah (formerly Willow Park Zoo).  They were doing a whole reindeer, Christmas, and hot cocoa event.  We were able to meet a real reindeer!  They are beautiful creatures!  

Kelton was so confused as to why the reindeer wasn't flying but was just standing there. He's just saving his magic buddy.

 

The kids were able to sit on Santa's lap...even though they weren't all thrilled by it, Kelton's eyes lit up when he first saw Santa around the corner.  I can't wait for Breakfast with Santa when he gets to meet the jolly man again.  

Inside they had some crafts for the kids to do.  They decorated reindeer candy canes, played reindeer hoops, and made cards for soldiers.  This is Kelton's card.  Nothing says, "Merry Christmas!" like a monster hiding inside of a basket!  

We also met a horned owl, which was pretty cool.  

Back outside the kids helped themselves to round two of free hot cocoa, then we had a jumping contest.  I was humbled to realize that my two girls jump the same distance as I do!  We are all three kangaroo rats!  

Jeremy made it a little farther and is a cottontail rabbit...a strong, manly rabbit.

Six of the grandkids climbing on the empty bolt was just as exciting for them as seeing the animals!

Five Hills

On Black Friday my mom SHOCKED me by wanting to go shopping instead of hitting the trails behind her house for a hike.  I admit it, I shocked myself by going hiking instead of shopping.  But the mountains were calling so off I went.  I joined a few of her friends and they took me up the five hills.  I scrambled up the face of the first hill and was rewarded by this amazing view of Cache Valley.  

I could only go as far as the second hill before I was out of time, but it was so great.  To make up for lost time I decided to run the whole trail down.  Trail running downhill is a breeze, but I had to stop long enough to take a picture of the cute stream I had to pass over.  Not a shabby way to spend the morning after a Thanksgiving feast!  I should have added, "I'm thankful for beautiful mountains" to my grateful list!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We made the long (yet happily uneventful drive) out to Utah for Thanksgiving (again!) and spent the week up at my parents' house.  My mom was amazing and somehow prepped almost all of Thanksgiving dinner before we even arrived.  When it came time to help pull things together we didn't have that much to do.  Kelton was totally in his element though and was ready to help paint all of the rolls.  He is an excellent roll painter.  

Joining us for dinner this year were a handful of Stratford cousins, and some of Ryan's friends.  The girls were thrilled they had girls their age to hang out with (Faye, Carly, and Ella).  

The boys also enjoyed their little table together.  Even now as I'm writing this I am pleased and surprised to report that there were no spills from this table!  

About half-way through dinner Jeremy and I made the realization that we were actually eating on the adult table!  This topic has always made us laugh because it seems as though no matter how mature we are (married for 11 years and have four kids) we still sit at the kid table most years.  Here is a selfie to prove that we made it (Rachel and Keith) we there celebrating the moment with us.)  Although the more mature adults were quick to point out that we were still on the card table extension to the adult table.  We'll take what we can get!  

Dinner was fabulous, like always, then we stayed and visited.  It always seems like dinner is over so quickly then the holiday is over.  But here are some things that I'm grateful for even once the plates were all cleared:  

My amazing husband who loves both happy AJ and grumpy AJ

My kids who are practically awesome

A strong and happy extended family who are great examples to my kids and always there for me

No serious medical issues this year!

A wonderful home and neighborhood where my kids can grow up

A great ward who is always there to support one another

A hard working husband who does all he can to support his family and provide us with incredible opportunities

Really, this list could keep going but then you all might start thinking I have the perfect life, and I admit it's pretty close.  

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Katie's funeral

Unfortunately not all of our Thanksgiving vacation was filled with smiles and laughter.  My cousin, Katie, took her life a week before Thanksgiving, and we had her funeral to attend.  She was only 23.  She loved being outside, theater, singing, going on adventures, her son, and her family.  She struggled with mental health for a long time and ultimately it proved to be too much.  It was a very emotional service and it hurts to think that she's gone.  So many friends and family came to the funeral.  Even though she struggled and felt alone, she had so much support and so many people who loved her.  I can only hope that she's finally at peace.  

I'm sure my Grandpa Stratford was there to welcome her with open arms of love and understanding.  She was buried in the Stratford family plot in Ogden City Cemetery.  As we were there celebrating Katie's life and saying a final good-bye, I realized that my kids have never visited my Grandpa's grave.  Things are always so wild when we go home to visit that we rarely take these quiet times for memories.  It's strange to think that my kids are pretty close to the ages that me and my siblings were when my Grandpa died.  I consider myself very lucky that I have memories of this amazing man.

Good-bye Katie.  We all loved you so much.

Girls' Night Out

After all of the fun and games with the kids, Camille and I decided that we desperately needed a night with just the two of us.  We wanted to get crafty and found a fabulous little shop in Boulder where you make your own wood crafts.  It felt like Super Saturday!  The project of the night was a set of snowflake coasters.  I don't know if we were chatting too much or if we're just perfectionists, but we were the last ones done.  Maybe we just didn't want the night to end, that's  good reason too.  

This picture was taken seconds before I fell off my stool.  At least we were having a good time!  

After our project I introduced Camille to Larkburger, super tasty, then we strolled down Pearl Street.  It's probably a good thing that most of the stores were closed by the time we walked by, because we bought something at every other store we went into.  I'm incredibly jealous of Emma's new Neverland night light.  It was such a great night!

Bi Buh

Our final destination was the Bi Buh (or Butterfly) Museum with just the two little ones.  Last time we visited Daxton didn't want much to do with the butterflies.  I was curious to see if having Emma there would help calm him down.  He loved the bug exhibits...as long as the bugs were smaller than tarantulas.  He sat watching the ants and bees for a really long time.  

Bumblebees were a hit too. 

When it came time for Emma to hold Rosie, he wanted nothing to do with that and emphatically shook his head, "NO!"  

The butterfly room was a huge hit for Emma.  She and Camille calmly walked around enjoying all the butterflies fluttering around them.  I ran around trying to stop Daxton from accidentally smashing any butterflies resting by the puddles on the floor.  I'd pick him up to point out a butterfly and he'd shake his head and wiggle out of my arms.  

And here, one almost touched his arm.  The terror!  

He was able to keep his fear in check long enough for a couple cute cousin pictures though.  Cute kids.