We went to Salt Lake for Christmas. Gary and I were both able to take about two and a half weeks off of work, so we got to spend a lot of time in Utah. We left early in the morning on Friday, December 17th and decided we would try driving straight through. I was a bit nervous about it, but I figured we could always stop if we really needed to, so we went for it. We used to always drive straight through when it was just me, and Gary and the dog, but since Riley has been around things have been different. The few times that we have driven up after Riley was born we broke it up into two smaller trips, starting our trip late in the afternoon and stopping in St. George or Mesquite around midnight, and then starting off again the next morning. It seemed easier, and Riley would sleep during most of the first day (bedtime) and half of the next day (morning naptime). Sleeping baby during a road trip = more peaceful time for everyone. Our straight-through drive went better than I had expected, in part because Riley is starting to really get into movies and we had some of his favorites ready to play in the DVD player. Plus, we really took our time and made a bunch of stops along the way so that everyone could stretch their legs and use up some of that excess energy. It ended up taking about 15 hours, instead of the usual 12. But it is worth it to know that you don’t have to spend money on a hotel or inconvenience someone by invading their space for the night, and also to know that you don’t have to pack everything up again the next morning and drive and drive for half the day.
Once we were in Salt Lake we were busy, busy, busy. Lots of family parties and get-togethers. And of course we have to hit up some of our Utah favorites (Café Rio’s yummy salads, Taco Time’s crunchy tacos, Arctic Circle’s shakes).
We stayed at my sister Ivy's house. She has a daughter, Anya, who is about 14 months older than Riley, and it was fun to see them play together. Riley's first word in the morning was always "Anya" and he would run upstairs to find her as soon as he could. Here is a little video of them playing together at my parents’ house:
It was wonderful to spend so much time with family! We have really missed everyone. I was amazed to see how big all the cousins were getting. We took a picture of all of the cousins at Gary’s parents’ house.
The afternoon of Christmas Eve was spent with my family playing “Minute to Win It”, where you have one minute to complete different tasks. Tices declared themselves to be the winners, but everyone had a really good time. Here are some pictures:
 |
| Had to stack 8 nuts on top of each other using only a candy cane |
 |
| It was really hard! |
 |
| had to slide three nuts down the sticks and then balance ping pong balls on top |
 |
| Sam trying to move the cookie from his forehead to his mouth |
We also opened all of our presents, fun fun fun!!
That evening was spent at Gary’s Aunt Pam’s house. We had dinner (yummy soups), and cake (for baby Jesus’ birthday), and then we gathered around the piano. The kids dressed up and acted out the Nativity and then we all sang lots and lots of Christmas carols. It is such a fun tradition and really puts you in the right spirit for Christmas.
Christmas morning we headed over to Gary's parents' house to open presents and visit with family and then we went to my parents' house for more family time. We love and miss our families a lot and it was such a treat to be able to spend so much time with them!
0 comments:
Post a Comment