Just after Thanksgiving we escaped to Goblin Valley. It was fun to explore all the different rock formations and caves. Brecken makes everything we do more exciting. This post is incredibly out of order, but I'm sick of maneuvering pictures, so this is what you get.
We took lots of pictures, but there's not too much to say. Brecken was hilarious and assigned us all chairs. Mine was a huge boulder, hers was size-appropriate, and JP's was a pebble. She is slightly OCD and always makes us 'zip to the neck and no buttons' when we put her coat on.
We also celebrated our 7 year anniversary. It was only my second weekday off of work in 5 months (Thanksgiving was the other one), so of course we had to make it a marathon day. We started the day off by SLEEPING IN! It felt so good, but then we had to make up for lost time in order to fit the whole day in. We then went to breakfast at Marley's and up to the Nordic Center with Breck to cross-country ski. When we had enough, we raced home to put Breck down for a nap. Next up was downhill skiing at Sundance. We took a few runs (it hadn't snowed in about a month), and came home, changed our clothes and headed back up the mountain to mountain bike. It was the coolest ride we went on last year. The sunset was seriously incredible. Sam, Heidi, and their cute kiddos Reyn and Tanyth were in town for Christmas so we went with them to Thai Drift for dinner followed by a Temple Square trip to see the lights. We even ran into Kelene and David (whaa?) when we were up there. We grabbed some yummy hot chocolate and JP made me an awesome 7-year-itch-killer ring. I don't think we'll be topping that day for awhile. And, in case you're getting too jealous, I paid big time for all that fun with another unexpected day off due to the most miserable, painful ovarian cyst rupturing that you could ever imagine. I fainted at least 5 times and puked because it hurt so bad. UGH!!! 
This collage is a combination of New Year's Eve, Christmas River tour, and Santa pictures. On New Year's Eve, we went to Sakura for dinner and Brecken had three pieces of sushi. I was blown away. I am not a sushi eater. We celebrated New Year's with The Bulkleys and Josh and Kristi. The munchkins/monsters partied hard. We had sweet dance circles led by Indie, fireworks, pot and pan banging, and hot tubbing in the bitter cold at midnight (yes, Brecken brought in the New Year with the best of them). We got to see the lights on the Provo River Cruise as well as a visit from Santa in a canoe, and a statue of Christ lit up on the bank. It was cold, but fun.
We went to St. George with Josh, Kristi, Matt, and Katy. We had fun biking, hot-potting, and just relaxing. I accidentally reserved the condo for the wrong dates and we got kicked out a day early. Katy saved the day by letting us stay at her aunt's house who was out of town. It actually kind of made the trip. We ended up having dance parties with fish-flop toe-rise dance party performances by Josh and JP, playing with the dive-bombing, talking parrot, and chasing after the crazy fast kitties. Katy's aunt had an awesome play house in the backyard and Breck was in heaven. I brought Elfy to surprise Brecken with a little craft and treat everyday.
No one was a fan of my Elf on the Shelf attempts for Breck, and if you look real closely at the collage you might see a picture of our Elfy holding a knife in my bag with a note that says "I will kill you" or "I'm watching you" or something like that. The suspects thought they were pretty funny. JP and Kristi were super sick the whole trip, but they were pretty good sports. Hopefully, I didn't scare Josh and Kristi from ever going on a trip with us again.
We went to the Hogle Zoo lights with Mary and Jared. Once again, it was FREEZING and we were very glad we bundled up. Cole is the cutest little guy. I STILL love that Mary's back in Utah!
Sometimes I get a little overzealous and try to fit every fun thing I've ever thought of into our limited time. I think I do this because I'm trying to compensate for the time I spend working (or it could simply be a result of being my father's daughter where relaxation is non-existent on vacations-I love it though). Being a working mom seriously kicks my butt. It is one of the hardest things I've ever done, which might make you roll your eyes, but it's true. The mornings I don't leave home with tears in my eyes, I leave with an ache in my heart. I guess Brecken's just that cute. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an emotional wreck (most of the time), and I usually do leave with a smile on my face, especially after I get special Elmo, butterfly, eskimo, and family kisses and knucks from Breck and JP, but it is extremely challenging for me to leave her and let someone else take care of my precious girl. I know I am very blessed to be able to leave her with my mother-in-law and not have to worry about the expense and unknowns of daycare. I just need to remember to be more grateful for my job, the time I do get to spend with Brecken, and helpful family members. I always feel guilty for thinking like this when I realize the many real hardships people are going through. So please don't be offended if you are one of those people. Whew! I think I'm getting a little too personal on the WWW. How do all you working mama's do it??
Brecken was super excited for Christmas and constantly asked me if Santa was coming followed by, "and baby Jesus coming?" Pretty darn cute. We had a fun Christmas Eve afternoon with my crazy family. Libby was the sweetest Mary and Josh was a pretty good Joseph. Breck was supposed to be the drummer boy/girl, but she was worn out before we even started. We fit in a quick mtn bike ride to the rock pile, and ate a delicious dinner with the Lewis family. We had a busy, stressful Christmas day running back and forth from the Lewis home to the Anderson's. We went to church with JP's fam and it was nice to breathe and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We loved having both of our families in town and wish they could stay longer.
This was a church activity we did with the young women in the ward. I got called to work with the 12 and 13 year olds in August and they are a group of amazing girls. I'm really impressed by them. This was my favorite activity of all time. We went to a live nativity in Alpine with live camels, goats, horses, donkeys, and geese. It was set up in a huge field with white lights lining the pathway and big fire pits to keep warm. The costumes and actors were pretty authentic and there were men riding horses telling people they were looking for the baby. There was also an Inn with weavers, moneychangers, bakers, games, and animals. Then we walked outside and went to the next barn where we saw Mary, Joseph, and a real baby (6 weeks old) for Jesus. Even Brecken was in awe and asked for more Baby Jesus when we got home. This will definitely be a new tradition for us.
That's a wrap. Be sure to check back in 3-4 months!
