One More Day with Grandpa Pat

Saturday was our last full day to play with Grandpa Pat so we made the most of it by going out and playing in the snow.  We're pretty close to an amazing bike/trail route that parallels I-80 so we headed off for a "walk".

More often it was a "run" to the top of the hill so we could "ride" down to the bottom.

And everyone wanted Grandpa Pat to pull them because he's super fast even in the slippery icy snow.

Of course we did have to stop to throw snowballs once in a while.

And then that night we left the kids at home and went to a Jazz game with my parents.  The game was so-so but the Bear was pretty entertaining even walking the rail right behind us.

Such a fun 10 days!  Wish they lived here in Utah with us!

Grandpa Pat is 60!

The day after Christmas is always another special day in our house because it's my dad's birthday.  And it was even more special because it was his 60th birthday.

Isaac (his namesake) lost his first tooth.

And because it was his birthday we let him and the boys go off to see the new Undaunted movie while the girls went clearance shopping.  Okay so maybe both groups were happy.

Then we opened his birthday presents- a giant sized Reese's pb cup.

He carried a baby around like his always does, this time with a bow in his hair to entertain my boys.

We made him a book of 60 memories we have of him- 10 each from each of his 6 kids and added pictures from his lifetime.  It was really neat to take the time to think about all the amazing experiences we've had with him in our lives- funny, spiritual, and just normal.  He really has been the most amazing dad and I'm glad we could show our gratitude even in a small way.
And then because my dad is a thrill seeker, we searched around for a good experience we could go do with him on his 60th birthday and found that the only 2 places in the US that you can ride a real bobsled are in Lake Placid, NY and Park City, UT.  Both had the Olympics and are the only two bobsled hills in the country.  And they'll let you strap yourself in and ride the course with real drivers.

You have to bring 3 people to ride + there's the driver.  Originally it was going to be Taylor and Dana and my dad but when Dana tore his ACL I decided I'd be brave and go along.  Here we are trying out the bobsled prop before the real thing.

And here we are all suited up ready to be taken to the top of the hill.

Are we ready for this????

And we made it!  Yep, it was really that fast.  Our driver was a woman that had won a silver medal in Nagano and she didn't take it easy.

The riders get registered and not quite sure about this.

And here we come into the finish line.

I sent my mom to take a video knowing I could grab frame shots off of it.  Well, we were going so fast that the video captures us on the turn for less than .5 seconds and every frame is of course completely blurry.

It was pretty intense and really fun.

I definitely don't think I'd want to do that as my career but definitely worth trying once.  Afterwards we went to get my dad his requested meal of burgers and shakes.  A perfectly wonderful 60th birthday I hope.

Christmas Day at Home

Taylor snuck out of bed early to keep the kids quiet so I could sleep in.  So I woke up to a quiet house and happy kids who had opened their stockings.

And were enjoying the spoils that Santa brought.

The kids were excited to show grandma Tina that Santa had also brought stuff for her and everyone else.

Then Taylor started in his familiar role of passing out presents.

Isla was already up when Taylor got up and had apparently opened and started playing with her doll house.  It wasn't really wrapped and somehow she knew the big pink house was for her.  She was a little sad to be told to close it up and put it back but ecstatic when we finally let her have it.  We moved it to the back of the couch while everyone opened presents and she wasn't interested in another thing for the next 3 hours.

The boys were excited to put their legos together right away and grandpa Pat came to help.

Taylor headed off to make our breakfast.

And Isla was fascinated by the bird grandpa was watching in the fresh foot of snow that fell during the night.  It was truly our first real snow of the year and such a fun surprise to wake up to a perfectly quiet, white world the day after such crazy winds and warm temperatures.

The boys took full advantage of it and went out to built forts.

Taylor took advantage of the kids being outside to get in a little cat nap.  Isla of course was concerned he'd be lonely and so brought him some princesses to keep him company.

Mommy got a break too, from the work I mean, Isla jumps right in to snuggle anytime I lay down.

Taylor was really excited to give the boys a few games for Christmas and Risk was on the top of the list.  They of course love it and I don't mind them spending hours together.

Isaac is my focused, finisher.  The others often open and start things and then move on.  But Isaac is very careful and finishes his lego sets and then stores them safely in his cupboard.

Isla was very excited to have her doll house.

Somehow these pictures are mixed up but all still Christmas day.

We woke to this winter wonderland.  Such a perfect Christmas present for my first Christmas at home in 12 years!

Christmas Eve

We did all of our celebrating of Isaac during the day so that the evening could be all the traditions my family used to do when I was growing up but that I haven't been able to do because we've traveled every Christmas.  We invited my grandparents along and Isla was all over her walker.

One of our big traditions always was to have fondue on Christmas Eve.  It's a relatively easy meal but it takes a long time to eat all the courses and allows for a lot of hanging out time with chopping and then eating.  There were so many of us that the kids got their own table.

And here's the whole group.

This little muffin is the cutest and absolutely best behaved child on the planet.  He doesn't even cry- still at 8 months.  He grunts like a seal and growls like a dog if he's unhappy but not ever a cry.

Grandma and Isla have an interesting relationship.  They both like to tease but don't like to be on the receiving end.  So one is always laughing while the other is mad and it seems to keep switching back and forth as to which is which.  Pretty entertaining.

We let the kids stay up later and how some hours to kill.

Grandpa Pat of course came through by pushing the walker around with these two.

And Grandma Tina did a good job separating the two teasers.

The boys entertained themselves on the computer.

And then finally it was new pajama time.

Here we are- in front of an actual Christmas tree on Christmas Eve in our Christmas jammies.  So happy!

And then because we were being wild and still had a bit to wait, they got to go read in their rooms.

And finally it was 9pm!  Some of our neighbors each year give out lanterns as a neighbor gift and they ask everyone to light them on Christmas Eve.  We've always been gone but have heard what a beautiful sight it is and so we were excited to participate.

Except that a storm was blowing in and there were 50+mph winds.

We got a few to fly.

But then they'd plummet and roll across the grass and sidewalk and eventually the road.  They were booking it too so we couldn't even catch up to them which was kind of a problem if they ran into someone's flammable house.

There were many attempts and a few almost made it but really we only saw 2 or 3 others floating up from the neighborhood so everyone was having the same problem we did.  Some other year I guess.

After that (since we had to stay up for you know) we all played board games.

And finally it was time to have real Christmas with real stockings hung by the real chimney with care.

Can't wait for a magical Christmas morning with the big sized (not priced though) gifts I wanted to give.