We stayed in Utah a total of 2 weeks..it went by so fast. The last week and a half after Christmas was filled with skating, shopping, hanging with cousins and friends, swimming and relaxing! I didn't take many pictures...I know that is not me at all. I am not sure if it is the pregnancy or taking care of a 1 year old...but I find myself too busy to get the camera out! I know... I already regret it! So this is what we did for the rest of our trip...
Monday-Hung out with the Redford's at Ryan and Dakota's. It was fun visiting while the kids played and I chased Cooper! That night, we had a little girls night at Amanda's house and watched "The Help." I {HEART} that movie! SOOO Good. It makes me cry though.
Tuesday-Met Brittney and her boys at Chick-fil-a, oh...I have missed that place. I worked there for 2 years in high school with Brittney. So many memories! After lunch, we headed over to Classic Skating. We skated for an hour and then played in the climbing area and then skated for another hour. Well the 2nd hour the kids did scooters...which they LOVED! Move over rollerblades..scooters are faster and way more fun! The kids are getting the hang of rollerblading though. Brooklyn just goes. Easton needed some help...but he is getting better. That night we headed to Michael and Jamie's house to spend the night. We had dinner and then went Ice Skating. (It was just a skating day!). I didn't dare ice skate being pregnant...I feel comfortable on Rollerblades...just not ice skates. So my brother was brave and took all 6 kids by himself skating while Jamie and I watched from the warming booth. It was heavenly for us! We stayed nice and toasty warm. The kids had a great time. Easton had a little bit of a rough time...he had lots of falls...but he kept trying. It was fun!
Wednesday- We had a yummy breakfast and then headed to go sledding. We had to drive a half hour to just find some snow. Utah had a very dry December. We found some and it actually was powder like too. The kids had a great time. I even went down two times...I went in the powder..it was safe. Don't worry. After sledding, we went back to the house and had tomato soup and grilled cheese. It tasted so good after being outside in the snow.
Wednesday Night was my BIG SURPRISE from Eric for Christmas! Remember I talked about the clues I got for Christmas...well it all came together for me on Wednesday morning..well after Eric kept giving me hints.
Remember the original clues were 5 round circles with the letters G, B, O, T, S.
Eric told me it was something I would like most as a gift!
This is what they meant:
Circles meant "O" for Orem.
(We originally were suppose to be in St. George on Wednesday...so we had to post pone our trip once he gave me that clue.)
5 qty=I needed to be ready to go at 5:00pm
There were 12 G's and 2 and 8 B's..which meant 12/28 the date!
B and G stood for my best friend, Brittney Gardner
T, S, O, stood for Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Did you think of that with those clues? It was cute...I am glad he gave me hints along the way!
The big night came, Brittney picked me up and we headed to Salt Lake to see the show. I {HEART} concerts and Eric knows that. So he looked up to see if any were coming to Salt Lake while I was there and there was the ONE! He called up my friend, Brittney to see if she wanted to go with me. She was all for it...even though she had never heard of them either. It was a fun girls night with her. They had two shows in one day. We decided to go to dinner at the Gateway right across the street before the show. Well everyone else after and before our show did as well. It was a Wednesday and every restaurant had an hour or so wait for a table. So we waited and waited...we ate at California Pizza Kitchen. It was yummy. We finished dinner right at 8pm, when the show started. We took our food to the car and then headed in. I had to use the restroom of course, being pregnant. And then we found our seats...we were seated around 8:25 and not even two minutes later they started the show...perfect timing I would say!
The show was good. It was interesting. It was their Christmas Concert after Christmas. They had a guy telling some story between songs...I still can't tell you what the story was about...Christmas eve, angels and a little boy. It was a little weird. They played a few solo type songs about Christmas day and Christmas eve. They were very interesting songs. They had a few strobe lights going and lots of screens with lights. We recognized their famous song. You know the one that everyone does their Christmas light outside their house to music with...it is online all the time. The only problem is that they kept playing it...well we thought so...they have a few song beats and they just change them up. So it felt like they played the same type of song 10 times. It is a great tune, but it was over and over. The 2nd half of the show was not so Christmasy, it was much better. They had strobe lights and fire going off like crazy. That part of the show was much better. It was supper loud...I would not go if I was closer to my due date...it would put me into labor for sure! My heart was already beating fast. One lady had to be taken out on a stretcher during the show. It was crazy with the strobes, fire and noise. It was really loud. I would say it was more of a ROCK Concert than an Orchestra. I would change their name if I was them. It was a fun concert. It was a one time see for me, but it was a lot of fun with my friend. We had a great time!
Thank you Eric for thinking of me and letting me have a girls night...I love them!
Thursday- My mom and I drove to St. George. We rented a few movies and just chilled at the house.
Friday- We ran a few errands, took the kids swimming and then my Dad, Brother Bryant and his kids and Bryce came. We had dinner and they kids played and got into the hot tub.
Saturday- The guys went golfing and left the kids with us. It was New Years Eve, so I wanted to do something fun. So I took the kids swimming first and then to do Laser Tag and Glow in the dark Mini Golf. They loved it. I really enjoyed the laser tag. The girls team won! The mini golf was really cool too. They had really cool themes for each hole. The kids loved it. I then gave them each some coins to play some games. Saturday Night we had pizza for dinner and then a TON of food for the night. Too much food for 10 people but it was yummy. We watched my favorite movie, "Sweet Home Alabama" while the kids went swimming with my brother this time. And then we watched "Dolphin Tale" when the kids got back. The movie ended at 11:45. So we hurried up and put on our hats and turned on the TV to watch the ball drop. Everyone was awake except for Easton. He was sad to wake up the next morning to find out that he missed it. Cooper missed it too if that makes him feel better. HAPPY 2012!!!! My parents took the kids to the hot tub after midnight. I went to bed! Eric was working on his car that night. That is how he rang in the new year!
Sunday-New Year Day-We went to church and hung out at the house.
Monday- We went shopping and headed back to Orem.
Tuesday-I went shopping with Brittney all day. It was so much fun! I love to shop with her! We always have a great time. We also went to my favorite restaurant in Utah, Zupas! So good. That night, I took the kids to Brittney's and I went to Amanda's baby shower at Olive Garden. It was fun. She had a great turn out and got sooo many cute outfits. The kids went crazy at Brittney's, they had fun!
Wednesday- I ran errands, and then went back to Classic Skating with the Redford's. The kids had a blast! I then packed up the car.
Thursday- We were off to drive home. We drove to Reno. Stayed the night, went swimming and then drove the rest of the way on Friday. We made it home around 1:00pm. Not bad. It was a good drive. The kids did great again!
The Utah trip was great. It went by really fast. The kids loved playing with their cousins. We missed Daddy and were all excited to see him when we got home.
Good Bye 2011...Welcome 2012!!!!
