Holidays in the Homeland

I never wrote about our trek to Utah and Idaho for Christmas. Apparently, we love driving at Christmas time. Christmas 2016, was the grand trip to The Ohio. And this year we got to go to Utah. What a blessing to have cars that work and company holidays and PTO for Aaron to come with us. On both of these trips we were very blessed with good weather. And our kids were very well-behaved. Sometime we'll have to make that trip and actually take time to stop and see some cool things along the way. 

We arrived in Utah on the 23rd. We stayed with the Dennises. We did Christmas Eve and Christmas with them.

Annie's sewing machine was a much-anticipated gift. She has put it to good use since then. 

We gave someone the game Code Names for Christmas, and someone gave it to us. I think we played it with everyone we saw over the holidays. Lots of fun.

 Annie continued her training as a bird trainer. She and Carlos really get along even though Annie is getting tall. (Carlos doesn't like most adult humans.)

 The kids got in some quality snow time. Utah weather really cooperated with their desire to make snow creations. I discovered that living in Texas has not made me miss snow at all. I don't hate snow or anything, but I really don't need it in my life to feel happy. I especially don't miss the pile of wet snow clothes in the house.

After our time in Bountiful, we headed up to Aberdeen for the New Year. My parents were watching Andrew and Madelynn's dog which was a dream come true for Annie, the wanna-be pet owner. There was much love for Eleanor. And we all had fun being pulled along by her as we took her for walks. She was a good doggy.

There was lots of cousin time and game time and sewing time and chatting time puzzle time while in Idaho. On New Years Eve, Aaron, Darren, Seth, and Grandpa (with a bit of help from the rest of us) put together a 1000 piece puzzle. It was epic. We also had the most amazing New Years Eve smorgasbord which included rice pudding, cinnamon/caramel rolls, and 7-layer dip. Family and food...a winning combination. 

We had a wonderful time in Idaho, but the party did not stop there. We went back to Utah and stayed with Felicia. She, wonder woman that she is, hosted a cousin/auntie party. It was lovely to see the gang again. Such wonderful women! Annie and Emma greeted each other with a literal tears and a three-minute hug. It was really, really sweet to see them reunited. 

We also did breakfast with our good K. family friends. So good to catch up with them. 

Felicia was so generous in hosting us. She had already hosted lots of other family members over the holidays, but she warmly opened her home to us and made us feel welcome. She even let my book club friends come over. Wish I had gotten a picture with them, too!

It was a wonderful trip back to the homeland. We're hoping we can go back to Utah/Idaho twice a year.