So...to start, here is the post I tried to add a few months back, with pictures from our trip home to Utah, and I will just go from there. I've been very chatting lately, so I may be posting quite a bit. Writing is a really good outlet for me, and my stress levels have felt much higher than normal this past month. But, more about that later!
Here's Christmas in a nutshell:
Man oh man has it been a LONG time since my last post. I
guess it is just evidence of how busy it’s been around here! Since November, we
took our R&R to visit the U.S. and spent Christmas with family there in
Utah. I will post a heap of pictures from that visit below. It was such a fun
visit. The kids enjoyed all of their “cousin time” and have been missing them
ever since we got home.
Our first
stop upon arrival, was with my sister Kir to Café Rio and then the grocery
store for fresh milk and donuts. I can’t explain how giddy we were without
sounding totally lame, but in all seriousness, it was heavenly…and so much less
expensive than we are used to here in Rio!
Dan and I
got to go do some Christmas shopping in Logan, while Abuela watched the kids
for us, so we stopped in at Kneaders for some breakfast…just the two of us. We
ordered a pile of food, including a hot chocolate and a smoothie and the total
came to just under twenty dollars. The food was fantastic and I about cried. J I don’t want to sound like I don’t like the
food here in Brazil. There are so many things here that I am going to miss too
after we leave. It was just so nice to catch up on the things I missed! I
laughed at how much milk my kids drank while they were there. They couldn’t get
enough!
We spent
Christmas Eve (and a few days before) at Bear Lake. We went swimming in their
indoor pool and sledding. My kids were drawn to the snow like magnets to a
refrigerator, and they never got sick of it the entire trip! The hill we
sledded down opened into a street, so Dan and his brother Abel manned the
bottom of the hill and tackle stopped the kids on their sleds. It was pretty
funny and I think they were both sore from it later!
Christmas
morning, we packed everything up and drove through two canyons to my parent’s
house. We spent the
afternoon in the gym of the elementary school my Mom works
at. I have a very BIG family, so it worked out really well! We even attempted a
family picture of all of us that turned out pretty good too! We’d just finished
taking what we thought was the final shot, (with me setting the timer on my
camera and booking it into position) when Lincoln sauntered in the back door of
the gym, completely clueless to the fact that we’d been taking any picture at
all. We laughed pretty hard and took a few more. J
Some other
fun things we did on the trip were: bowling, going to the movies (Frozen, plus Dan and Logan went with
our friends to see the second Hobbit movie.), I went to lunch with some
girlfriends, and Linc got to spend an afternoon with one of his foreign service
buddies form Virginia, Sam. We went on a ride around Perry in the back of
Grandpa’s truck, read a lot of books with Grandmas, saw Temple Square (first
night there with jet lag…not such a great idea), visited Grandmere and Grandpa
Great, walked around Cabellas with our cousins, went to Bella’s baptism,
sledded some more in Diana’s backyard, shoveled a few driveways, got haircuts
from Aunt Emily and played a lot of Mind Craft with our cousins! Needless to
say, It was a really fun trip!
We had a
few weeks left of Brazil’s summer break when we returned. I came with the kids
a week after Dan got back. He met us at the airport, and even though the kids
did exceptionally well on the flights home, I was relieved to see him. We made
it through customs really fast, and it felt nice to be back in the humidity and
crazy Rio traffic.
The only
down side to coming home was that the apartment above ours, had a leaky pipe
that ran into our pantry while we were away and it grew a lot of mold which unfortunately,
Dan and Linc have severe allergies toward. They both had some major breathing
issues and we had to get a stockpile of medications for them. I think the mold
is under control now, so things are looking up again!
School is back on. And the kids are having a great time.
They each like their teachers and classmates a lot. Ellie is getting very
impatient to go herself She will be more than ready in August when she starts
kindergarten. Logan’s been busy with his Destination Imagination group and Linc
came home last week declaring that he was going to join the Computer stars club
after school on Thursdays. I smiled because it fits him so well. He is looking
forward to learning how to build a website and create apps. Owen had a fun
birthday party on Friday. I got to visit him for lunch last week. He was so
good to Ellie, leading her to all his favorite places at recess and taking such
good care of her. We finally got all our pictures and decorations hung last
week. It feels like a real home now (for at least 15 months until we leave
again!)
I have been keeping busy with Ellie, photography and I have
also been doing a little writing. I’m working on a novel that may or may not be
any good. I’ll let you know when it’s done! ;)
I think that catches us up for now. I promise not to be a
stranger to the blogging world. Here are a few pictures that capture the last
few months!
Our first (and my most anticipated) stop in Utah!
Ahhhhhh...the lights.
Everyone's so tired!
Next, nights stay at Em's and a cute new haircut fro Ellie!
Next...Up to Bear Lake with the cousins!
Sledding Time!
My snowman!
Gingerbread Houses...
Face Painting...
...and a little wrestling...
Christmas Morning!
Our beautiful drive down the canyon.
Next Up...Perry and Grandpa's awesome glasses! :)
ALMOST all of us!
A shot of my square jaw taken by my cute little niece!
Back to Em's house.
And a stop at Dia's
Ellie had some fun cousin time...
A few shots of my cute parents.
Love my Mom!
A cute shot Owen took. I actually liked this one of me.
1 comment:
So fun to hear from you! I love to see your pictures!
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