Christmas 2011 Utah

Here are some pictures from our trip to Utah. Sorry some of the pictures look blue. I think I had the camera on the wrong setting.

We arrived in Provo the day after Christmas and the kids enjoyed Grandma's Christmas wonderland. Here is Nathan showing his baby doll the ice skaters spinning around.

Abby and Maddy enjoyed the Nativity set and little Christmas village.

We opened Christmas gifts that night. Nathan insisted on showing all his presents to Great-Grandpa Donaldson.

Nathan was super excited when he got Clifford for Christmas! The girls got some beautiful wind- up music dolls that they like to listen to as they go to sleep at night.

Jared holding our new nephew Haven who was born just a week before we arrived.

The kids had fun visiting the Bean Museum and watching the reptile show. Maddy and Nathan even touched the snake, turtle, and lizard.

We did a little shopping at the mall and the girls enjoyed the big tree house and the dinosaur skeleton jungle gym.

We celebrated by dad's birthday with a scrumptious shepherd's feast.

Dinner in the kid's room

After the feast the children acted out the Nativity. Abby and Maddy were angels and Nathan played Joseph and a shepherd. Nathan of course had to have his baby doll as baby Jesus.

The angels singing

After we finished the program the kids all went downstairs and got into Grandma's dress up and put on their own play. Here is Abby dressed as a mean witch who becomes nice.

We went to the children's museum in Salt Lake the next day.

Nathan loved the balls the best.

Maddy loved playing in the water.

Grandpa Donaldson with Abby and Claire.

Nathan enjoyed pretending he was Bob the Builder.

All the kids had fun sitting in a real helicopter.

Here is my dad in front of a company that he is part owner of. It does home theater installation and home automation. We had a lot of fun sitting in the big theater watching CARS and eating popcorn in giant comfy reclining chairs.

We were able to meet with our best friends from PA school and visit the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Afterward we took the kids to temple square to see the visitor's center and the lights. The experience was especially enjoyable because the weather was unusually warm for December and we were able to enjoy the lights without freezing.

I was able to meet a few of high school friends for lunch that I hadn't seen in about 5 years. It was great to see them again and catch up on their lives.

We spent New Year's Eve at my parents' cabin having sushi and hot chocolate and playing games.

We were excited that we had so much time to spend with my Grandpa this trip. I got to spend a day in the car with him as we drove to and from my cousin Laura's mission homecoming in Logan. We also had him up for dinner a few nights and then he treated us to a nice lunch at Brick Oven.

The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins. Nathan even learned how to say Jacob and Mary's names. Mary was especially helpful in watching them so that we could have more time to visit with Sarah and Gordon.

A few things we did that I don't have pictures of: I met with Breeanne, my ASL rooommate. I met with Amanda, my former mission companion. I visited with my cousin Amy and her new husband. My mom watched the kids so Jared and I could go to the temple together. We met with my cousin Reed, his wife Charity, and their 6 kids. We also went to the Legacy center with Claire and my mom where the kids had fun swimming. The kids also enjoyed lots of snuggles and reading time with Grandma and rough housing with Grandpa. We all had a very enjoyable trip to Utah and Idaho and now we must get the kids on the more boring life routine away from family. We wish we lived closer, but are happy we were able to visit as much as we did.