Ringing in 2018 family style!

And by family style I mean we rang in the New Year at a startling 7:35pm, ‘cause that’s how we roll. Happy New Year folks! Let’s make 2018 the best yet!

Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg

You know that very super long week between Christmas and New Years when you’re not sure what day it is and your kids start to get restless and you start to get even more restless? You know, that week when the day you’ve been planning for has come and gone and everything suddenly feels very anticlimactic? Yes, that’s the space we’ve been in. I told Shaun that I’d rather have experiences for Christmas than to open presents under the tree. If I need something I go and get it. I think most adults I know would agree that it’s super hard to shop for other adults. So I told Shaun we should go and do something during this down week when the days are cold and long. And since Shaun’s Mom sent us money for Christmas I strongly encouraged us to use that money to go to Busch Gardens Christmas Town and Colonial Williamsburg. I love both places but have never been at Christmas time. My husband, being the loving and supportive guy that he is, agreed and we began to pack. 

So now that we’re home a few brief lessons I’ll share. 

1. I still think experiences are nice for adults. It’s a little harder for kids. Every time we end up indulging my whims when it comes to travel we end up experiencing a reality that teaches us children will complain, they won’t eat the food you paid a fortune for, and at some point you will want to gouge your eyes out with a spoon rather than deal with another meltdown or hear another complaint. Something about spending a fortune to have your children whine is a recipe for disaster. That being said, there were also good moments. Fun moments. The moments I pictured in my minds eye when booking the trip. And hopefully, those are the moments we will look back on and actually remember. But this is just a little dose of reality right here. 

2. If you’re planning a trip to Williamsburg and Busch Gardens, make sure it’s not going to be in the teens with the windchill. Again, adults were okay bundled up, even the girls were okay, but it was just too cold for Alex. 

3. Remember a stroller. And blanket. And maybe extra socks. 

4. Just out of curiosity, I’m trying to figure out when the magical age is that you can take your kids on a trip and they will appreciate it at least a little. Maybe the girls are getting there but Alex needs a few more years. Just remember that future me when you get another wild 💡 idea!

All that being said, and with the understanding that it was literally so cold my phone shut off, here are the few photos we got of our little holiday trip. I’m thankful for a sweet and loving husband that indulges my half baked travel schemes. And for my mother in law for the Christmas money. 

I really do love Busch Gardens. It’s a beautiful theme park. I’m sure we’ll go back again soon when it’s not so miserably cold. And maybe when these guys can get out of the stocks for an untidy chamber😂. 

And this was the last picture my phone took before going into shut down mode. It was beautiful though, even though I worried hypothermia might be starting to set in for my poor three year old. 

Then, because we’re geniuses, we decided to do the same thing the next day in Colonial Williamsburg. Side note: we did play in the pool for a long time and had a great time together doing that. In fact, the indoor pool and hot tub were quite arguably the best part of the trip.  But here are some pictures in Williamsburg. They had ice skating there which was really fun. 

More stocks. I seriously need to have these at home. 

Ella and Amelia begged to ice skate. Ella said this was her favorite part of the trip but Amelia’s gloves were not very good and she ended up stopping early because her hands were freezing and starting to hurt. But not many people can say they’ve skated in Colonial Williamsburg. That’s one for the books. Plus, skating is way more fun than looking at a bunch of old buildings. 

Christmas Day 2017

Santa was good to all of us. No one can complain this year. As always it feels like between my parents and Shaun’s parents and siblings we really could just take a pass on gifts and our kids would still have plenty to open. 

Santa brought Amelia roller blades.

He brought Ella a skate board. 

He brought Alex a scooter and helmet. 

And of course accompanying spider man gloves. 

Ella got another doll that she really wanted and all of the kids got a new outfit. 

Even Toby had a stocking filled with a bone and a new soft blanket to lay on (which he promptly enjoyed). 

Grandma C gave both of the girls necklaces with sweet notes and money for all of us to go do something together as a family (which we promptly did as you’ll see in the following post). 

And Alex got some nice activity books and all the kids got books and more books. 

It was a beautiful Christmas! Shaun got a new knife and I tried (and failed) at getting him a drone. He got me a new heavy winter coat. We really couldn’t ask for more. And really, though gifts are nice, what means the most to me is being surrounded by the people I love most, remembering what this season is really all about. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Eve 2017

This year Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday and I just love it when the 24th falls on a Sunday. Going to church on Christmas Eve just feels like the right thing to do. We only held sacrament, our first meeting, and the choir worked hard to prepare a beautiful cantata that included a children’s choir. Amelia and Shaun were in the choir, my parents came to our meeting which made it even more special, and we sang beautiful hymns about the birth of our Savior. That evening we went to my parents home and had dinner and opened gifts with them. It’s really become a beautiful tradition that I look forward to every year. 

The pictures above were taken before church. 

The ones below were taken In the evening at my parents. 

The girls got motorized scooters from nana and papa. They were so excited!!! I have to say that’s a pretty awesome gift. I’m not sure Santa can top that. They had to ride them that night in the cul-de-sac. They are so spoiled. 

We also got to FaceTime with my sister, Michelle, and her kids. It’s sad to be so far away from much of our family at Christmas time, but we try to connect when we can. We FaceTimed with Shaun’s family on Christmas Day. More to come on that in the next post. 

Then it was time to head home and prepare for Santa!

Santa has left the building folks! Now we wait for Christmas morning. 

Washington DC Temple Festival of Lights

One of our annual holiday traditions is to go and visit the DC Temple’s Festival of Lights. Every year they light up the temple grounds with beautiful lights of every color. It’s a beautiful symbol to me of the light within each of us and our ultimate source of hope and Light, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They have a nativity and every night they offer different musical numbers from brass bands to cello to Polynesian singers and dancers like we saw this year. As always, we came away inspired and impressed. It was a beautiful way to spend the Saturday evening before Christmas!

Sitting with Santa 2017

Today we had a Christmas party at church where we had a nice program and then we got to see the big guy in red. And to make the day even more special, we got our first snowfall of the season. It was beautiful!

Family Photos 2017

We had family pictures taken in November and they really turned out so beautiful! They really need little introduction. They speak for themselves I think. 

I love these loves of mine.