Christmas Part III -The Utah Chapters

I do not recommend attempting to blog after this much time has passed. I don't even know what to say about this part of the trip, the memory has gone quite fuzzy by now. Pretty much I may just describe the pictures, which is something you could do for yourself with one glance so it's a bit redundant. Three cheers for redundancy!

Laine and her Grams 'makin' cooookies' I love the glossy eyed look but my favorite has to be that she is making frosting while holding a balloon with her Grandma -as a kid does it get any better??

Still has the balloon. Nothing like balloons and sugar! Great combo

Frosting the cookies {pretty much pointless, should have just given them a spoon to eat the frosting and saved ourselves the mess} with their cousins Lexa and Josh

Laine feeding baby Joss. She is so baby crazy this girl, she really bonded with her cousin! As proof we spent some time with Kristine and Jordan, that is Kristine's knee

This is the day Auntie Katie spoiled my kids rotten! Ben and I went to SLC to visit Bodyworld's while Kate took the kids to play at McDonald's playland, followed by hours of toy shopping then chased that down by and rotting their teeth out with lolly's galore. They loved every minute of it and Mom and Dad had a great date {a whole entire day!} and were just glad for the kids to be there with someone who loves and squeezes them so much


Still missing are the rest of the photos on the camera we left in Utah. We always leave a little something to remember us by...

I never would have thought pictures of us sledding down the snowy hills would be novel, but seeing as how it's been a summer heat wave here recently I now get why it would be, so it's too bad I don't have them. The kids do love sledding with their cousins every year!

We also made snowmen and snowangels of course, and drank plenty of hot chocolate and apple cider. Santa came and brought way too many toys and we enjoyed the family parties and holiday sweaters and driving in the ice and snow.

It was a great trip, thanks for the memories friends and family!

Alive

Hey, the move was hell. I'm not going to sugar coat anything. It was a really beyotch.

I honestly didn't think I would survive the last day. I had stayed so strong through the whole ordeal! But I really nearly crumbled in the end it was that bad. Long story, but the movers tricked me into thinking they had packed up everything up but the fridge and Laine's bed, which wouldn't fit, and we headed off to the new house. I paid them and went home to meet the cleaners only to discover most of the upstairs large furniture was still inside {long story, seriously}. They also had said they would take the piano and then when they showed up they said no, they wouldn't take it so the piano was still there too.

Did I mention I was by myself while Ben was on a business trip? So, I then hauled everything out myself and wondered what the hell was going to happen next. My stuff sat half of my house belongings on the lawn until nearly 10:30 at night when some awesome men with a van came to my rescue. We loaded up and they drove the van over and I got into my car to drive my load over and just SOBBED like a baby the whole way. I stopped to get some cash to pay the cleaners and it was really dark outside and no one was around so I continued whaling, like a child, unabashedly {I would have prefered to have done it in the fetal while sucking my thumb, but there was still work to do} and then I realized it was so dark I hadn't seen that there WERE people, people all around, taking what was supposed to be a nice evening stroll. I ran to my car, peeled out, and continued my cry, alone.

The men helped me load another load over and the house was cleaned and I was OUT! The next morning I moved in and ladies from the ward were there to help clean and men were there to help move big stuff and put stuff together and by noon the place as already livable. It was awesome. I love the new ward, new house, and new area. It has been a bit full-on and overwhelming, even in a positive way at times, but we are really happy.

I STILL don't have internet though! It is taking forever! Monday is the day I guess, so I'll be back up and running then. For now, please enjoy my current FAVORITE Australian ad campain. It's complete with billboards all over the city. I was just going to email it to my family, but thought maybe others out there might enjoy it as well. I'm not ashamed to admit I get a serious kick out of it every time it runs.