Bean Face

 Can you guess who enjoyed her black beans with dinner tonight?

 yup

and yup

Christmas in Utah, Part II

 We were so lucky that, even though we stayed in Utah during this visit, we got to see my parents and brother. They all made the trek to Utah, and we are so glad that we got to spend a few days together!

 

(Here's one of the parts where I was lame and didn't take any pictures, even though I probably had my camera...oops!)  We also got to spend an evening with my Uncle Gordie and his family playing games and generally having a ball. We also got to do a "family dinner" just like old times with my niece Kira and her family, Colleen and her family and my nephew Daniel and my parents and Brian and Eila. We had a delicious dinner and then we got to go see Kira and Stew's awesome new house. It was so much fun to get to visit with the family that we rarely get to see. Spending time with family really made us sad that we don't get to do it as often as we'd like to! I sure don't miss the nasty cold weather, but I do miss all the people we love so much!

Christmas in Utah, Part I

 We were so lucky to get to go to Utah for Christmas break this year. Sadly, it will probably be the last time ever that we'll have three whole weeks for traveling and visiting, so we took advantage and were there for the whole three weeks. It was fun to get to do everything that we wanted to without feeling rushed. I didn't do a very good job of taking photos...we must have been having too much fun!

The first Sunday we were there, was the annual Gweaston Nativity, where all the grandkids get to act out the Nativity story. Grace got to be the angel in her little Joy School nativity, so was pretty excited when she got to play that part again with her favorite cousin, Lucy.

Don't they make the sweetest angels? They both did a fantastic job!

 Here's the whole cast. Ruby wanted to sit on Dad's lap for this go-around, but I'm sure that next time we're there for the Nativity, she'll be excited to participate. The best part of the nativity was when Will, as a shepherd, decided he was tired of standing and sat in the manger for most of it. I love this tradition!

Another fun thing we got to do was take the train downtown to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. We went with all of Rob's siblings (except Mikey in Chile on a mission) and their kids. It was so fun to get to spend that time with everyone!

It was pretty freezing, so poor Ruby here has all of the warm clothes that we brought for her on.

 Before we saw the "do not sit on the bison" sign, Grace got a little ride, thanks to Grandpa and Daddy.

She loved riding the train and did such a great job of holding on tightly.

My camera battery died soon after we got to Temple Square (bummer!), so I'll leave you with Rob showing that it was cold and with a few of the beautiful lights in the background.