Christmas 2007

We have been really busy the last couple weeks after getting back into town. We were glad to be back to America and back to all the family, but not glad to be back into reality and our hundreds of things to do. Since we sold our vehicle before we left, buying a vehicle became one of our first priority’s, we looked around at several vehicles and finally decided on a 2001 white Denali XL we figured we were ready for a suburban soon. It’s nice to have a bigger vehicle again after driving small cars all through Europe. We were also excited to see gas under $3.00 a gallon as compared to $6.00/gal. in Europe.
Christmas was less than a week away so we had lots of Christmas shopping to do and doctor and dentist appointments. The grandmas were very excited to see their grandkids and we were eager to go on a date and get a break so we dropped the kids off and had a nice peaceful dinner without the kids.
The kids had fun decorating the Christmas tree at the Pratt's house. My mom and sisters and I enjoyed our annual baking fest (that's when it really feels like Christmas) We spent Christmas Eve walking around the Temple lights and then the traditional milk shake at Jack in the Box.
Christmas day was very busy as usual, we spent the morning with my parents where we had Santa gifts and exchanged gifts with my brother and sisters. It was so fun to be back together with the family again. Then off to the extended family of Pratt’s the gathering is getting bigger and bigger as more of my cousins are getting married and having children. We had the traditional breakfast and lots of presents. The girls loved the dress up clothes from Grandma and couldn't wait to try them on. After this we went to Brett’s Grandmothers home in Mesa for another gathering to see family we don't see as often. Last off to Brett’s parents for more food and gifts. The kids are very spoiled and we are so blessed to have family all around. We had a very enjoyable day!
On Friday (2 days after Christmas) we packed up the suburban and headed north to our cabin in Duck Creek Utah. My parents, Jenna, Derek, Emily and the Wallace family joined us. Saturday we rented snowmobiles for the day and had a blast riding them around the cabin and on the old quad trails. They were double snowmobiles so we were able to take 2 people at a time and we switched off so everyone could get a turn. We all had a blast! We tipped it over and got stuck a couple times but nobody was hurt and we created lots of fun memories. Sunday we went to church down the mountain in Cedar City, it’s a beautiful drive and neat to see the lakes frozen and snow everywhere! We drove up to Brianhead Ski Resort and picked up our ski’s for the next day. Monday was my favorite we went skiing at Brianhead all day with Brett, Dad, Spencer, Lois, Derek, Emily, Nelson and Avery. My mom and Jenna didn’t want to go and volunteered to watch the kids. It was a very cold day it was negative 4 when we left the cabin in the morning. We put on lots of layers and the only thing that was cold were fingers, toes and face. We made the mistake of leaving the ski boots in the truck overnight so they were frozen to begin the day. We started on the green hills, we had more trouble getting on and off the lift than skiing! Once we felt a little more confident we went on the blue hills which are a little more difficult but a lot of fun! We didn’t have too many wipe outs and everyone had a great time! We also had fun in the evenings playing Xbox 360 games like Dance Dance Revolution, Scene It, and watching movies. Brett’s family joined us at the cabin the day after my family left for more family fun. More to come on that...