Thanksgiving in Utah

This year we flew home to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was the BEST trip. Everyone was so fun to be with and everything went so smoothly. We really couldn't have asked for it to have gone better. We hadn't been to Utah since last Christmas so we definitely ready for some quality time with family.

Getting ready to leave Portland. Teddy is OBSESSED with airplanes and was so excited to watch them land and take off.

Our first stop was to spend time in Sandy with Jane and Gary and all Ben's siblings. We were especially excited to see Landon and Liesl who we hadn't seen in over two years. We were all together for a few days and it was the best. Nayeli loved her time with her cousins Andelin and Adelaide.

Dressing up as princesses. What, haven't you ever seen a princess in a safari hat and flapper dress before? ;)

Fashion shows on Grandpa Gary's stage

We arrived Tuesday night and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. Wednesday we were all tired, but that couldn't stop us from having fun together. The boys played pickleball in the morning, then Bonnie, Liesl and I left the kids with Grandma Jane while we went to lunch together. While we were gone everyone went swimming. Jane had bought all the kids their own kick boards and they had a great time.

 Swimming!

The rest of the day we enjoyed chatting and eating delicious food while the kids played. For dinner Gary and Jane treated us to Cafe Rio (my favorite) and then we played games and talked.

 The girls acting silly together

We went to bed early that night since the next morning we had signed up to run a 5k. Usually I am not signed up to run such things, but it went something like this... I told Ben years ago that I had wanted to run a Turkey Trot someday, so when Jane asked if we wanted to run it with her Ben encouraged me to do it and said he'd watch the kids. Eventually it morphed into everyone running while Gary watched our kids. I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing since I hadn't run over three miles in about ten years, but I decided to go for it.

We had to be up at 6:15 am, but I was up with Teddy from about 3-5am and I was beat. Needless to say I was not the nicest when Ben woke me up in the morning. I think I said something like, "I'm am so SICK of getting woken up!" In my defense I am delirious when I am sleep deprived. I would have backed out of the whole thing... but my pride got the best of me.

We arrived at the race and it was a mad house. Plus it was 26 degrees. I thought, "This is triple torture. Not only am I running, but I'm running in the early morning AND  in the freezing cold". But I decided to make the best of it and, like Nike says, just do it.

My only goal was the run the entire time and not walk at all. Once the race started I plugged in my headphones, got some awesome music going, and got into a groove. I kept a decent pace and I was even able to sprint to the finish! I was so excited! My time was 36:13 which I was thrilled about.

Ben is so good at encouraging me to do things that will challenge me. Sometimes I hate it, but most of the time I love him for it.

Team White Meat! Chelsea came in first which was awesome.

After the race, we arrived home to find the kids still asleep.  Gary hadn't even had to watch them after all. After showering, we began cooking for Thanksgiving dinner. Gary's kids all came and it was great to see them. We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed talking. The afternoon was relaxing and we were able to spend a little more time with Jane.

Reading books with Grandma Jane

That evening we said goodbye to Jane and Gary and drove down to my parent's house in Provo. They are currently remodeling so the house was a bit torn up, but the changes are amazing. Really, my mom and dad have outdone themselves with the design and it looks wonderful. Especially the kitchen- my childhood kitchen is no longer but the new kitchen is so beautiful that it makes up for it. My parents gave us a tour of the house that night and we ended the day by chatting with Tina, Laura and Julia.

The next morning the kids and I slept while Ben got up at 5am to do a sunrise hike with Sammy. Because that's what those Petersens do.

Beutahful, isn't it? ;)

Two peas in a pod

On Friday my parents had to be at the temple all day so we spent the day at Laura's new house. She recently moved from Mapleton to Provo and I hadn't seen her home yet so we spent the day chatting and cooking. David and Marilyn and their family joined all the rest of us and that night we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with all my siblings but Emily and Mark (you were missed!). We had such a fun time laughing together and dinner was wonderful.

Owen and Teddy

On Saturday we got up and went to the Bean Museum. I grew up going there with my dad on date-night and have very fond memories of it. A few years ago they remodeled it so I wanted to take the kids and Ben and go see it. It did not disappoint- I loved it and so did the kids. 

"Mom, take a picture of me with my cute face!"

We spent the rest of day at Laura's house, eating leftovers and enjoying time together. I love my family so much and feel so blessed to be one of them.

Grandma Rita and Teddy

Before we left for Utah, Nayeli told me, "I'm shy of Grandma Rita and Opa". After a few days there she said, "I'm not shy of them anymore". It seems my parents can charm anyone.

On Sunday we went to our old ward in south Provo- the Provo 6th ward. It was so great to see all our old friends and ward members. There were so many examples of pure Christ-like love in that ward that it warmed my heart to see those who welcomed our family into their own. I will love many of those people forever.

After church we went to Sam and Bonnie's apartment for dinner with Ben's dad and Landon and Liesl. It was great to get some time together again with everyone and wonderful to see Ben's dad. We had a delicious dinner and Sam and Bonnie were great hosts.

All the Petersen cousins!

Playing around with Uncle Landon

Dave brought his guitar and serenaded us all while the brothers sang together once more

This picture just warms my heart, especially Nayeli with her hand on Andelin's shoulder.

Of course there was hair styling as well.

Monday was our last day in Utah, and just in time Utah delivered with a bit of snow for the kids to play in. They were really excited about it. 

We had to say goodbye to my parents which, as you can tell, Teddy was devastated by. I was a little sad as well because my parents are wonderful.

We drove up north to Kaysville to visit my Nana Ruby. She is 99 years old and until just last year was living alone and independent. She now lives in an assisted living center. She has always been an optimistic, wonderful woman. I sure love her and I loved getting to spend some time with her.

Teddy is the most loving little boy.

Our last visit of our trip was Ben's grandparent's house in Ogden. Kent and Nyla were kind enough to invite us up and we even got to spend a little more time with Landon and Liesl and the girls! It was wonderful. We chatted with Leslie, Dave, Kent and Nyla and ate delicious food. It is always a party when one goes to Grammy's!

They made gingerbread houses! I think they were sick from all the candy, but they had so much fun.

Grandpa Dave and Teddy playing with the broom

Nayeli with Nyla and Lydia and Jace (Josh's kids)

In the evening after dinner Ben's dad drove us to the airport and we said goodbye to Utah for the time being. Our flight went well and the kids did great. We arrived home tired but so happy to have had such a fun time. Like I said, it was a great trip and we are still smiling from the good times we had. Until next time Utah!

Christmas in Utah Part 2

CHRISTMAS EVE

Ben's family had planned to all go skiing on Christmas Eve, so I made plans to go down to Provo and eat lunch with my mom. When I arrived, however, my poor mom was so sick and had no energy to get out of bed. I was a little bummed that my plans with my mom had fallen through, but luckily I was able to con my dad into taking me to lunch (he went willingly :) ). We headed to Kneader's because there is no Kneader's in Oregon and, oh, is it delicious.

My dad is a really great man. He is so patient, wise, loving, funny, and kind. It was really fun to take a minute with just him a me- an opportunity that doesn't present itself very often. We had a great time chatting. It was also wonderful that the kids got to spend time with him. This trip was the first time he had met Teddy. As you can see from the following picture, Teddy was quite taken with him.

I then drove back to Salt Lake to meet Ben at Jane's house for some festivities. It had kind of been a bust day for me with many plans falling through, so by the time Ben arrived we had to have a good discussion about how Christmas Eve should be a day for our family to be together. All I know is that I sent Ben an irritated text earlier in the day and he wrote back, "I'm sorry you're having a bad day. I should have stayed home with you. How can I fix this?" He's a winner, I tell you.

We had a delicious dinner and then celebrated the evening with Gary's family and kids. Of course we had to have a nativity.

Ben and Teddy. Ben was the innkeeper and Teddy was the baby Jesus.

Nayeli was a shepherd

Later that night we did a little photo shoot with the kids in their Christmas pajamas.

She smothers him with love. Usually he tolerates it, but sometimes...

We have a pair of pajamas that Ben wore when he was a baby. They say "Merry Christmas" on them and we have tried to get a picture of all the kids wearing them at Christmas time.

December 2012- Nayeli in Ben's Christmas pajamas

This year it was Teddy's turn

One day he'll be big enough to pummel her, but until then she's definitely got the upper hand

Before bedtime we had to follow the Petersen tradition of reading the Polar Express. We then left out cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer and the kids went to bed.

It was then time for Santa to work to work his magic. We set the stockings up on a ski pole between the piano and the couch so we could have our own area to open gifts.

We had brought a few gifts with us from Oregon, but the big family gift for this year was a inflatable kayak that we purchased in Utah. Ben grew up riding down the Weber River on rafts like this, so he has been wanting to get one for years. We're planning on taking it on the rivers near our house- we live by quite a few. It's going to be really fun and we can't wait.

Santa came!

CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas morning we awoke to snow! Santa had left a blanket of beautiful snow on the front lawn for us to play in. We couldn't wait. But first we had to open presents...

He was so quiet and then I saw he found the sugar...

Teddy trying out the raft

They were pretty excited about the "boat" (as Nayeli calls it).

We had delicious Christmas breakfast and then, of course, we headed out into the snow! Nayeli LOVES to eat snow and can not be deterred. Isn't that some sort of essential childhood experience anyway?

Teddy with Grandma Jane

We had planned to drive to Provo that day but due to the snow and my mom's illness we decided to stay at Jane's. It was wonderful to relax, eat good food, and enjoy our gifts. It turned out to be a very relaxing Christmas Day. It was the first day of our trip that we didn't drive anywhere.

The 26th the weather had improved and so we drove down to Laura and Gordon's house. Ben had not seen the addition on their house yet and Tina ended up driving down too. We all sat in Laura's beautiful living room and looked out on their snowy yard while we chatted. It was so fun to be together.

Matthew pulling Nayeli, Bridie and Eleanor on a sled. They had so much fun playing together in the snow.

We stayed the afternoon, then said goodbye so we could meet up with Ben's dad for dinner. We met at a Cafe Rio in Salt Lake because a trip to Utah MUST include a trip to Cafe Rio. Of course. Anyway, we had a great time chatting with Grandpa Dave and were so glad we got to see him one more time on our trip.

I know this isn't the greatest picture of Ben's dad, but I had to include it because it shows how Teddy grabs at people's faces and shows no mercy. In this case he was pretty taken with Dave's mustache.

The 27th was Saturday and the day we were to head home. We had driven up and down the Wasatch Front more times than we could count, but my mom was finally well so we drove back down to Provo to spend the morning with her. Sam and Laura came up and we all visited while my mom laid on the couch. I realized this trip that my family loves to visit and Ben's family loves to play. It's a good mix to hang out with both families on our trips.

The other thing I realized about my family is that we love houses and we love to see each other's houses. Why? I love to see the way my sister's and sister-in-laws decorate, plus we're all just a little house obsessed. Ben jokingly says it is strange, but as different as we all are, it's something that we all have in common.

That's why Saturday called for a quick visit to Christina and Julia's homes. I wanted to see the color Tina had painted her living room, and it was fun to see some other updates she had done after one of their bathrooms flooded. Then on our way out of town we stopped in Perry, Utah to see Julia's new house. She and Terry have designed much of it and are doing a lot of the finish work themselves. It is gorgeous and she has done such a good job making it look stellar. Julia and I have always joked that I may be book smart but she is street smart. It was extremely evident in the way she has been able to manage the building of their house.

We then headed toward Boise, trying to beat a snow storm. We hit it just before we pulled off the freeway, and worried the rest of the night if we'd be able to make it home the next day. When we awoke Sunday morning, it was clear it was going to be snowy roads much of the way home. We debated whether or not we wanted to go to church, then decided that we needed to put the Lord first and ask for his help on the ride home.

We attended a 9am Sacrament meeting near Mark's house and headed west on the snowy roads. It ended up being a long, long drive with some harrowing moments going over the Blue mountains, but we really felt like the Lord protected us and helped us along the way. The kids also did great, and we stopped at Emily and Darren's to have a few minutes break for dinner. We arrived home that night after spending a total of 16 hours in the car on the way home, 29 hours round trip.

Bottom line: it was a long, long trip, but so worth it. Being with our families over the holidays was wonderful and our time with them was irreplaceable. I don't think however that we'll ever drive it again. It'll be airline tickets next time for sure. But we made great memories and that's all we'll remember.

Me: Nayeli, why did you draw on your face with marker? Nayeli: It's supposed to be cool Mom!

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