Christmas Vacation

The day after Christmas we loaded in the van and headed on a road trip to visit family.

We didn't leave Mendon as early as we had hoped on Saturday. We didn't get off until noon. So, the first night we only made it to Kanab, UT. The closer we got to Kanab we needed to make the decision as to whether or not to continue on to Page, AZ for the night, to get a hotel in Kanab that had an indoor swimming pool (the hotels in Page do not have indoor swimming pools), or to save $50 and get a hotel in Kanab without a swimming pool. We made the decision to get the hotel in Kanab with the swimming pool where this would be the only night on our entire "road trip" that we would be staying in a hotel. All of the other nights we would be staying with family. We thought it would be fun to let the girls have a chance to swim.

After checking into the room, we ordered pizza from Pizza Hut that was two blocks away and had a pizza party. The girls were dying to swim so we told them that we'd eat first, wait a few minutes and then go swimming at 8:15. Hannah made the comment that you should wait awhile after eating before you swim so you don't get sick. That's probably a good idea but we'll start getting ready at 8:15 and by the time we make it to the pool we should be good to go.

We get to the pool and Hannah and Ashley instantly turn into fish. There's a section of the pool that is only 3 feet deep so Ashley is in heaven and swimming hard. She's swimming from side to side and up and down in the water multiple times. After about 45 minutes in the pool, I look over at Ashley by the side as she pukes! I yell to Dave that Ashley is throwing up. He turns and she pukes again in the pool (I have Nicole in my arms). Dave grabs Ashley and gets her to the side of the pool where she walks to the drain and pukes two more times!

We exit the pool quickly and Dave gets all of the other hotel guests out of the pool. He then leaves to go and inform the front desk. I am getting the three girls pulled together and ready to head back to the room. Hannah asks, "Why is everyone staring at us?" Well....that's probably because we're the ones that have caused the entire pool to be evacuated.

Back at the room, everyone takes a bath and Ashley seems to be back to normal. In fact, after the tub she said she was hungry! I'm sure it was from eating before swimming and then swimming SO hard. I guess we should have listened to Hannah and swam BEFORE the pizza! Next time!

The next morning as we go down for breakfast we pass the pool area. There's a sign on the door that the pool is closed until noon for maintenance. Bummer! We felt bad for the other guests that they couldn't swim. I guess at least we got 45 minutes of swimming and a great story for our extra $50!!

We were on the road Sunday morning by 10 a.m. and on our way for the rest of the journey to Thatcher, AZ to spend time with Dave's sister Wendy and her kids. We arrived at 6 p.m. as they were getting home from church. Their church was 2:30-5:30 p.m. (and I complain about 1-4 p.m.).

We weren't there long before Lauren took Hannah and Ashley upstairs to do their hair and makeup. Of course, Hannah and Ashley were in heaven with all of the attention and someone there to make them look pretty.

Here's the finished product.....

Nicole didn't have her hair and makeup done but she sure didn't want to be left out of the picture taking.........
After hanging out with Wendy and her family during the day on Monday, all of us headed to the theatre to see "The Princess and the Frog". It was a cute movie. Hannah only had to pee once, which was a bonus because we usually have to visit the bathroom at least twice. This was actually Nicole's first movie in a theatre and I was a bit nervous as to whether or not she would make it but she did amazing. It was only about the last 5-10 minutes that she was restless.

On Tuesday, we drove two hours to Tucson to take the girls to the zoo. It was the perfect zoo. It had just the right amount of animals and they were right on the path. We spent about an hour and a half walking around seeing the animals and that was just the perfect amount of time.

We stopped at the elephant statue to take pictures of each of the girls sitting on it. Well, Nicole wasn't too sure. "I not like it! Daddy! I not like it!"

Here's some of the animals.........

This polar bear was awesome. You could go down a ramp and see him swim in the water through the glass. He would swim right next to the window. Cool!

Gotta stop and take a group picture on the rock........

Here's Nicole showing me the turtle......

and talking to the birdie.......

It's a lot of work walking around the zoo! You've got to stop and rest. This is one of my favorite pictures. Ashley is obviously in deep thought. I love the "natural" pictures.

You also need to take some time and play.......

More animals. At this point, Hannah has taken over the camera and become the photographer.

Another group shot of the girls.......

I can't remember the name of this animal but it looked like the biggest hamster I'd ever seen!

They even had a llama!

Wednesday morning we left Thatcher and made the eight hour drive to Farmington, New Mexico to spend a few days with Dave's parents who are there serving a mission. Dave took the first stint of the drive and turned the wheel over to me as we reached Holbrook, AZ. As I took over driving it started to snow. As I'm driving it kept getting worse and worse. I finally pulled over, dug my fingers out of the steering wheel and Dave drove the rest of the way. We drove most of the way in the snow. We had a break for a little bit as we were driving across the reservation. Does it seriously snow in Arizona and New Mexico? Yep....it does!

Dave's Dad is adamant that you not drive across the reservation at night. This is because of the possibility of the drunken Indians. Well, we did end up having to drive across the reservation at night and we DID see a few drunk drivers. One guy was driving on the side of the road and was only going about 20 mph. Further down the road we saw a cow on the side of the road. If the driver kept in the lane he was in, he was definitely going to hit the cow. We weren't about to turn around though. We kept on a truckin' with our adrenaline pumping!

We arrived in Farmington, New Mexico at 7:30 p.m. Just in time for some homemade chicken soup made by Grandma Welker. A lot of people think we're crazy for driving such long stints in the car with our kids. All I can say is that they girls were amazing! It could have been the fact that they were in heaven being able to watch movie after movie but whatever it was they did great!

Thursday was laundry day and hanging out and chatting with Grandma and Grandpa. There's a lot to catch up on when you don't see them for a few months! Thursday afternoon we went and visited a museum. As we were walking in, Nicole fell and hit her head on the sidewalk. She got a nice goose egg and I could tell as we were inside that she wasn't feeling well. The next thing I knew, she puked on me! We were all a bit nervous because she puked after hitting her head so a call was made to Uncle Glade to see what we needed to do. It seemed as though she needed to puke once and then it was out of her system because she perked right up and turned back into her crazy self!

The highlight for the girls on Friday was going to the park and feeding the ducks. And there were ducks! LOTS of ducks! These pictures do not do justice as to how many ducks there were.

At the park we were able to take a little trail and walk to a War Memorial and look around, take some pictures and read some interesting stories and see some stats about the Wars the United States have been involved in.

Why do you people keeping putting me in these bizarre situations?

A great end to a great day!

Saturday morning we got up early and we back on the road by 10 a.m. heading home. We weren't in the car an hour when Ashley started crying in the back because her stomach hurt. Then Hannah starts crying because she doesn't feel good. I look in the back to see Nicole puke in her car seat. We pulled over at a convenience store somewhere in Colorado by a ski resort and pulled everyone out of the car for a trip to the bathroom, some fresh air, and MEDICATION. Everyone got a dose of Ibuprofen and Benedryl. We loaded back in the car and everyone did fine. The next stop was Spanish Fork, UT. Phew!

We arrived back home at 7 p.m. Saturday night. We recuperated on Sunday and Monday had us back to our regular routine. I know some thought we were crazy spending our entire Christmas break on a road trip but it turned out to be a fun vacation as a family. I'd do it again!

Christmas

Our Christmas Celebrations started off this year with the Traditional Candle Light Christmas Eve Dinner at the Welker Ranch. We were able to enjoy the tradition with Aunt Erin, Uncle Glade, and Uncle Ken and Family. We had the traditional candles, the soda, and the pistachio salad, however, instead of the sloppy joes we dined on ham and potatoes. Although the dinner was yummy, I think my family missed the sloppy joes. We've already made the decision that it will be sloppy joes for the main dish next year!

Christmas morning was so much fun. I loved seeing the excitement in Hannah and Ashley's eyes. Nicole....well, she was just out of control and excited to get a "box" and open anyone's present that would let her help.

Hannah was the first to wake up. If I remember correctly, she came in to our room at 6 a.m. after taking a quick peek to see if Santa had arrived....unbeknownst to Dave and I. She asked if she could go upstairs to watch cartoons, which means, I need to go to the living room to check things out again. We made her lay on our floor and go back to sleep for another hour or until Ashley and Nicole woke up.

Ashley was next to come in at 7 a.m. The little stinker came out of her room, went potty and then snuck out to see for herself if Santa had come. Dave quickly jumped out of bed and corraled her to our room to wait for Nicole, whom woke up within minutes of Ashley.

We kept the girls in our room while Dave and I went to the living room to make sure Santa had been there and to get the video camera ready. Dave then took charge and decided that we were going to do another one of his family's traditions and eat Cinnamon rolls and orange juice in our bedroom just to put off the presents a little bit longer. Thanks to Uncle Glade for giving us homemade Cinnamon rolls the night before along with some orange juice.

These extra minutes of having to eat were pure torture for the two oldest but it ended up working great. Nicole came out of the bedroom first to see what was going on and then here came Ashley and Hannah. We were able to do the presents Santa sat out for the girls and our stockings and then the doorbell rang, which brought Uncle Glade and Aunt Erin to celebrate with us in opening presents! What fun!

Not long after Uncle Glade and Aunt Erin, came Grandma Peterson. After an hour of opening presents.....it was all over. That was that.......until.....Dave gave the girls his favorite present ever. He was so proud of himself and excited to share with them something he LOVES to do. In the garage were two snowmobiles and they are just the right size for the girls! It didn't take them long to get outside and check them out! Hannah was in heaven and Ashley ended up being a bit timid.

Later in the afternoon after trying to get order back in the house and Dave and I frantically taking down the Christmas tree and some decorations because we knew we'd be leaving for vacation the next day, we headed to Grandma Peterson's for a nice Christmas dinner. We were able to hang out with her for a few hours and enjoy some relaxation before heading back home to laundry and packing!

Overall it was a great Christmas! The girls were spoiled. Hannah and Ashley LOVE their dolls and the Wii has been a big hit!

Here's some of my favorite pictures. Thanks Aunt Erin for taking them while I did the camcorder! You'll notice Nicole kind of stole the show. No matter where the camera was pointing, she happened to be there!

TaVaci Winter Concert

December 19 was the TaVaci Winter Concert at the USU Morgan Theatre. Both Hannah and Ashely are in TaVaci this year. Ashley was so excited to finally be on stage. I guess she was getting a bit tired of watching Hannah in the spot light. She wanted to join.

It sure was nice that the girls were by each other on stage. It make using the video camera really nice. We were far enough back in the audience that most of the pictures did not turn out. Oh well! I guess we'll have to make sure we are there earlier next time!

It sure is interesting watching the difference in Hannah and Ashley. Even though they are sisters, we have commented many times that they are polar opposites. Hannah is very timid in her actions. She sings the songs but doesn't over extend in the movements. Not Ashley though. She was a hoot to watch. She was very animated in her movements. We got quite a kick out of watching her.

I hope Hannah and Ashley remember how lucky they are to have had so much family come and watch them at this concert. Aunt Erin and her roommate/friend Nicole drove up from Woods Cross, Uncle Glade and his friend Stephanie came, Uncle Nate and Aunt Kendal came with their kids, and Grandma Peterson came. Thanks to all for showing their support for our girls.

Grandma Peterson bought both of the girls a rose for after the concert. They thought they were pretty hot stuff. After a few pictures, which the girls would not hold still for......thus they are a bit blurry, all of us minus Uncle Nate and family headed to Casper's Ice Cream in Providence for a treat.

The Lights on Temple Square

On Sunday, December 13, after church, we headed to Salt Lake with our friends the Benson's and the Rindlisbacher's to see the lights on Temple Square.


I made sack lunches for us to eat on the way down, which was a fun treat for the girls to have in the car.


We got to Salt Lake around 4:30 and went to the North Visitors Center first to look around and to take the girls up to see the Christus.

We left Mendon in a snow storm and returned to Mendon in a snow storm (the canyon was NASTY) but at least there was no snow (just a little drizzle of rain at the end) in Salt Lake, which made for a pleasant and fun evening.

A Christmas Tree and Letters to Santa

On Monday, December 7, we loaded in the truck and headed to Logan to get a Christmas tree. We did our usual thing of going to the Merrill Family Christmas Tree stand to purchase it. We've gone there for the last five or six years and haven't been disappointed yet. This year was a bit different. We usually are picking out the tree in a snow storm and it usually takes quite awhile. Not this time. It was not snowing, , it wasn't FREEZING cold and windy, AND we actually all agreed on a tree rather quickly.



After returning home, we made hot chocolate and sat at the kitchen table and wrote letters to Santa. Even Nicole joined in and wrote a letter. The girls had the Toy Book from Smith's Marketplace and this is what they used to compile their lists.

Winter Fun

Here are some pictures of the girls outside playing on the 4-wheeler after one of the first snow storms we had that actually accumulated some snow on the ground. Nicole wasn't going to be left behind so she quickly got her snow clothes on so she could go outside and join the fun!

Now it's Ashley's turn to drive!

And here's Dave saving the day......the 4 wheeler ran out of gas so he popped it over to the reserve tank and pulled them to the garage!