December 23:
We flew into Utah around 6:30 PM. While waiting for Jim to pick us up at the airport, we saw Colin's (Jordan's friend) dad waiting to be picked up too! It was hilarious. We went to a party at Jordan's aunts house and ate good food, got presents from Santa, and caught up with everyone. It was so funny watching the little kids sit on Santa's lap, tell him what they wanted, and then get a present out of his giant bag. Apparently, the guy who has played Santa has been doing it since Jordan was born! I think that's awesome.
December 24:
We went to out to breakfast with Wendy at Kneaders (yummm) and then headed down to Provo to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie with my family. It was so good and we both highly recommend it :)
Jared having fun in outside the theater ;)
After the movie, we had a nice Christmas Eve dinner with Jordan's family. Afterwards, we had a Christmas Program where every family did something. Jordan and I did Christmas song duets on the piano, and it was epic. We enjoyed watching the little boys dance, heard a story from Josie and Micah, and learned to shuffle from Matt and Lindsey! Then we opened pajamas and took pictures.
December 25:
The morning of Christmas, we went to Allie's ward. The ward put on a HUGE production. It was a nice production, but over the top. We went back to the Henderson's for waffles. This year for the boys, I embroidered their names and framed them so they could put them in their rooms. It was so fun watching them open their presents.
Then we drove to Mapleton and were able to talk to Jordan on the phone, all the way in Argentina! He sounded SO good and had a slight Argentine accent :) He is a rockin' missionary and has had so many amazing experiences. If you want to read along with his adventures, go to his blog here. He and I were able to talk in Spanish (amazingly) even though I haven't spoken in Spanish for about 2 years. He loves the mission and loves this Gospel so much. We then went to Grandma and Grandpa Cuthbert's to have Cafe Rio style dinner and enjoy catching up. Then we went to my parents.
December 26:
We decided to go tubing in Soldier Hollow with my family that day. It was so fun! After tubing we got lunch at a cute little hamburger place.
We were able to see the movie "We Bought a Zoo" with Jordan's family. HIGHLY recommended! So good, that I cried twice!
December 27:
We got up early in the morning to go skiing at Brighton with Des, my friend from nursing school. We had the best time! The snow was not icy like I expected, and got much more powdery after people skied on it all day. I wasn't feeling so hot, so we only stayed half a day, but it was still fun.
After skiing, we all went to lunch at The Soup Kitchen, one of my and Des' favorite places. It was great! We then headed down to my parent's for some panini and soup, puzzle making, and a Harry Potter marathon! ;) I love HP.
December 28:
We spent the morning playing with the little boys. Creighton got a Wii game for Christmas and Jordan obligingly taught him and all the others how to play a video game ;) It was so cute. He is such a good teacher!
Apparently they like to stick their tongues out. After playing Wii, we built a gingerbread house. I don't know why, but this was one of the things I HAD to do while in Utah. The boys had a blast licking the frosting off and biting little chunks of gingerbread off the roof.
We then got ready for TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA!!! Woo! It was an incredible concert, and I would love to make it a yearly tradition. Light shows, fire, fireworks, over 5 tons of electrical equipment - wow. All I can say is that you've got to be an amazing musician to be able to literally run while playing the violin. These people are SO talented. I knew there was a good reason I liked them!
The Y shaped piece in the top right corner is a stage the lifts up and down. So cool.
December 29:
We visited Great Grandma Wood, Grandpa Larry, and Omi and Buppi in the morning. It was so good to see them all and visit with them! In the afternoon, we had a massage up in Layton and then went to the Beer's family Christmas Party. There, we had another Cafe Rio style dinner, talked, and played games with the White Elephants. All I have to say about that is some people give some interesting white elephants. Risque!
December 30:
We spent the morning and afternoon in Park City with my family shopping all the holiday sales. Jordan won shopper of the day with a pair of jeans from Gap for only $15! We had a yummy lunch at Cafe Trang as well. We then had dinner at Chili's with Jordan's family. That evening, we had Big Jim's New Year's Eve party (I can never remember what it's called now - I always want to call it Big Fat Jim's Party, haha)!! Yummy food, good company, and NERTS. This year, we performed miserably and I was not a happy camper. I apologize to everyone for my behavior! We still got some good prizes and learned a super strategy for next year.
December 31:
We departed early in the morning! It was a fabulous vacation and we are SO glad we were able to see almost everyone! Thank you all!
