December Life

 Our December was busy of Christmas activities. We had a fun month.

We tried out geocaching for the first time. Unfortunately, both caches were gone when we found the spot for them. But we found a friendly cat along the trail. And the kids didn't complain too much on the 2+ mile hike.

I put on my brave face and took the kids to the zoo. It was packed! I should have known better. But we still had a fun time. The elephants came near the fence right as we were walking by so the kids loved seeing the baby elephants.

We spent a day making gingerbread houses, albeit post Christmas. I found a sports stadium one for Tanner, which he loved.

Lydia's favorite gift from Christmas is a look-alike Molly dog from my parents. She cuddled it the rest of the day and now demands to sleep with it.

Christmas eve brought new pajamas, a Christmas book, and some hot chocolate bombs. The kids had fun watching the bombs melt in milk. I didn't love the taste of the ones we got so maybe we'll try something else next year. It was a cool experience.

We had a secret gift giver for the 12 days of Christmas. They revealed themselves on the final day. So each day we got various things from cookie decorating kits, craft kits, movie night box, etc. It kept us busy each day with whatever they brought us. Our babysitters also brought a little painting bag for the kids for Christmas.

Ashton went on her field trip earlier in December to the Museum of Fine Arts. She wanted to go back and see more of the museum. They do free admission on Thursdays so I took her one day over break. After the museum, we visited the ice skating at Discovery Green and found some hot chocolate. This was the day the cold front was arriving in Houston so it was actually cooler, around 40 degrees.

I found out that TopGolf does half off on Tuesdays. And you only pay to rent the "bay," rather than per person. So for $14, you get a bay for up to 6 people. I took the kids twice over break and they had a great time. No one fell off the edge or got hit by a golf club.

Ashton wrapped up year 4 of playing piano with her recital. She loves performing and enjoyed playing for her friends and family.

One event we try to go to every year is at a local Baptist church. They put on a "Night in Bethlehem," which reminds me a lot of Nauvoo. They have lots of little booths set up with activities such as blacksmithing, tannery, rope making, etc. They also bring in a camel to visit and have yummy cookies and hot chocolate for refreshments. Joseph was sick so he wasn't able to come this year.

Joseph ran a 50 mile race in Brazos Bend State Park. The kids and I went out there for the day. We got to see him a couple times throughout the day. We had to leave before he finished to make it back for our ward Christmas party. The kids were excited to see him later that night.

Utah Trip: Thanksgiving

 We finished our trip in Utah with Thanksgiving at Joseph's parents home. The Friday after was supposed to be a big family dinner but some illness disrupted those plans. Instead, we got to spend some more time with one of Joseph's sisters and have a delicious meal of Thanksgiving leftovers. By Friday night, we were all ready to head back to the warmth of Texas.

Tanner made a pumpkin pie for dinner, which he loved. Gemma was mesmerized by the Macy's Day Parade and the cats. She tried desperately to become friends with one of them. Lydia was still pretty sleepy so spent most of Thanksgiving with me and taking naps off and on. Ashton soaked up her time with Hank the dog at Sam's house.

Utah Trip: Moab

After a long weekend in the Lehi/Provo area, we ventured down to Moab for a few days. I've been wanting to visit more national parks. It worked out to squeeze in this little trip during our stay in Utah. We drove down Sunday after church and found a cool park in Price for a picnic.

Monday, we got up and hiked Delicate Arch. Lydia was adamant she climb the whole thing, which she did almost entirely herself. She hated the backpack carrier. Gemma, on the other hand, refused to hike much and ended up in the backpack carrier most of the way up. Finally, on the way down, she walked more. My back needed it. Lydia fell asleep on the way down on Joseph so that was nice too.

After Delicate Arch, we stopped at a bunch of the smaller hikes/views that I had in mind. I actually didn't plan to hike Delicate Arch. But the family who joined us on the trip wanted to. So it was alright. I think I preferred the smaller, less difficult hikes. Gemma and Lydia were happier, which made me happier too.

Tuesday, Joseph, the big kids, and I did the Fiery Furnace hike. This is one you need a special permit for and are limited by age and group size. It was a lot of fun. It took us about 3 hours to hike through it all. I hope to go back when Gemma and Lydia are older.

After Fiery Furnace, we met up with the little kids again and drove to Canyonlands. We did a few small and short hikes with some cool views. I wanted to stay to see the stars but it was getting cold and the kids were tired.

Wednesday morning, we got up and drove to Goblin Valley State Park. I've gone a few times while at BYU and couldn't wait to take the kids. Lydia came down with some bug that day so she slept the whole time we were there (minus climbing one or two hoodoos). The big kids went off and hiked a slot canyon while the littles played in the goblins.

After a decent amount of time at Goblin Valley, we drove up to Nephi to Joseph's parents house.

It was an exhausting but fun trip. I kept looking at all the creations and being amazed by them. I hope this leads to more hiking trips in our future. I remembered how much I really enjoy hiking.

Family Pictures

The time finally came to get some family pictures taken. We did some two years ago. Ashton kept complaining that the pictures didn't have her wearing glasses yet. And Lydia was just a baby. The photographer we use is in a ward near us and is fun to work with (and inexpensive). So it was a fun afternoon.