Holy Moly Guacamole

In a nutshell, our trip to Utah was eventful. We did tons of hanging out, reunited the band (Rockband that is), went on an adventure to the Gateway Discovery with Shikay and her kids, saw Madagascar 2 with Amy and her family, saw Four Cristmases, ate way too much food, ate more food, hung out some more, visited grandparents galore, hung out even more, and then--for good measure--ate some more. Whew.

The day that we left, the kids' preschool put on a Thanksgiving Lunch for the parents and grandparents. Spencer and my mom had to work so it was just my dad and me. The kids were so excited and so cute. They had talked alot about manners before we got there and, apparently, I was slurping my soup. Isabel was kind enough to lean in and whisper some helpful hints in my ear about how to properly eat my soup. :) (In this picture, they are standing in front of the list of "things to do" to get ready for our lunch.)

On to pictures of the Discovery Gateway...

This had better be the closest that we ever get to a Life Flight chopper.

Why are there only two pictures of Milo and one hundred pictures of Isabel? Because, it is difficult to take the same picture over and over again and make it look interesting. Milo spent the ENTIRE time operating this crane and playing in the water table. Isabel on the other hand? Well, see for yourself...

"Have a nice day lady" and "Oh, sorry, I'm all out of stickers for your cute kids" were two of the things she said to me while I was "paying" at the "caster rester".

Isabel delivering the mail--she LOVED this. The place is scattered with mailbox and she made it a point to deliver mail to every one of them.

A very serious take on the gigantic xylophone.

Kennedy (Shikay's oldest daughter) and Isabel trying out their future careers--news anchor (Kennedy) and "weather girl" (Isabel).

Me and (my sister-in-law) Melissa after our Turkey Trot. We rocked the trot. Well, she rocked the trot. This was her first 5K ever and, after very minimal training, she ran every step of the stinkin' thing. Every step. And she wasn't even out of breath or wanting to kill me when we crossed the finish line. So fun. She has no idea what lies ahead for her. ;) I have big plans. HUGE plans.

Oh, and we got passed by some guy who was wearing a loincloth and a headdress. And nothing else. Except shoes. I think he had shoes.

Aaaahhh Turkey Day. Isabel at the kids' table. We had Thanksgiving at Melissa's this year and, honestly, it felt a little bit like we were playing make believe. We're not old enough to host Thanksgiving--let alone have kids at the kids' table. Right?

Olivia and Lyla having naked Thanksgiving. They were COVERED in sweet potatoes and cranberries by the end. SO CUTE.

Milo at the aforementioned kids' table.

You get alot of attention when you roll with these cuties. I'd forgotten what a double-stroller does for your celebrity status! ;)

Grandma Cathryn is always up for a good boardgame with the kids.

Milo, Royan, and Isabel.

Going to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square is absolutely magical for me. We rode the light rail train downtown and walked around with the kids. Shikay and her family joined us. After freezing their Texas/Vegas selves to death last year, they were NOT making that same mistake this year. This time, they all came in big warm hats and snowsuits. Only problem? It was about 50 degrees this year. :)

Isabel, Spencer, and Milo cuddling at Temple Square. Cuddling...getting put in a headlock by your dad...it's all the same right?

Looking up at the temple.

There was so much more fun had. Isabel continued to develop her love affair with American Girl dolls (thanks to kind aunties who let her play with there old ones--very carefully and in full view of all adults), Milo honed his Lego Star Wars skills, Spencer watched some football with his dad, Melissa and I snuck an entire Crown Burger meal in to the movie theater, Amy and Bryan made us laugh when we SO needed it, Josh did his darnedest to cement his place as most indulgent uncle, Melissa continued to amaze us with her strength and we just had an all around busy and exhausting but good time.