Monday, January 14, 2008

Christmas in UTAH!!!



Getting there was definately not half of the fun. Our plane was delayed getting into Baltimore and once it finally arrived and we made our way out to the runway, the pilot informed us that the plane was busted and we would have to switch planes. By then we were getting worried. Our flight was not direct, we had to switch planes in Denver and with what happend there last year with the storms and with the weather reports coming in, we started wondering if we should just forget about going to Utah all together. On top of all of that, none of us were feeling to swell and it was past Logan's sleeping time so... We were a mess. I called my Dad in Utah and he had just been in a small fender bender cause of the snowfall there so we were worried that if by some miracle we made it to Utah we would not be able to land. Luckily everything worked out. They held our plane for us in Denver and though we were 2 hours late landing, we finally made it to Utah.

While there we went to Family parties, Grandma Cottrell's Christmas dinner at the Olive Garden and visited with many old friends and family we hadn't seen for a long time. It was so fun to see Logan warm up to my family, the last time he saw them there in Utah was when he was turning one. The first night my mom was so good with Logan. Though it was 3 in the morning by the time we got to my parent's home from the airport, she got down on her belly and read him stories. In the morning ( a few hours later) Logan ran up the stairs yelling, "where is Grandpa?" and "Wake up Grandpa!" He made his way up into Kristen's room and woke her up... and before we knew it everyone was up and playing.

My parents managed to get the biggest tree in Beaver to fit in their basement. My dad likes the square pinion trees, you know, 8 feet by 8 feet by e feet. He usually starts with a 12 footer and cuts a little off each end until he can get it to fit. Once he is done it looks like only half of the tree is there and the other half seems to be going through the ceiling... (see pictures for details) worth a thousand words. Miniature twinkle lights of Griswald proportions... Logan was amazed as were we all.

The snow kept falling and we enjoyed a beautifully white Christmas. It sure made us miss the mountains. (especially once we came home to 60 degree weather) With all of the snow, we went to the local sled hill a couple times and had a blast playing like we were at recess in grade school. (I still can't throw a snowball...)

Jocelyn and Logan had a blast visiting the neigbor's dog and playing games. Bri and Ryan came for a few days and even went sledding with us.

We found time to play a disgusting amount of Halo 3 during which Ben, Armando and I beat it on Legendary. (just a tad proud of that one.)

Armando schooled us all in the art of Guitar Hero that is until Logan came out and melted all of our faces with an insane solo.

Dad got out the pool table and played a little 8 ball with us. .. It was a wonderful time. And we were spoiled with steak dinners and wonderful presents.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had so much fun! Love the sledding pics. I know what you mean about missing the snow and mountains!

Cami said...

Oh, I hate airports. And non-moving planes. I am so sorry all that happened! But it sounds like you had some fun times despite all the not-so-fun.

Dan and Julianna said...

I am so jealous. I wish we could have made it back for christmas to say hi and see everyone! This would have been the one to come! There hasn't been that many family back in FOREVER! Glad you all had fun!

The Fam said...

So good to see pictures of you and your family. Next time you guys are in Utah, you need to give us a call!

Kim said...

I'm glad you had such a good time (and were able to make it there in 1 piece). Reading about everything you guys did brought back a lot of memories. Thanks for posting all of the pics. Ahhh... the burning bush. It just wouldn't be Christmas without it! :)