Christmas Eve

I was horrible at taking pictures during the holidays. I was so excited to have the kids home that I didn't think to take pictures of what we were doing. I was just happy to have them there.

Since Christmas Eve was on a Sunday, we switched up our celebrations by having pizza on Saturday night. Christmas Eve we had dinner with my family and then opened presents so they wouldn't have to come over early on Christmas. 

That night we did our usual traditions of chimes, stories, and Ethan even put on the costume Jeff and Andrea sent us and read "A Christmas Carol" to us. It was a good night. 

We opened our pajamas, got changed, and then read the Christmas story from the Bible. Courtney was threatening to have us all up at 5 am so we went to bed.

Run Run Reindeer

Nothing says Christmas like spending $125 to get a free run t-shirt. ;) But seriously, this is a tradition that we love. We do the Run Run Reindeer almost every year. It gets us ready for Christmas and is always crazy with the weather.

We woke up to fog, which was crazy. We have run the race in the snow, in the sun, and in the wind. We never know what kind of day its going to be.

Luckily, it had burned off by the time we left for the race. This was the only wisp of fog left.

We lined up at the city park with all the other people. The boys wear their race shirts but, other than that, we don't dress up. Some people dress like elves, some like reindeer, and Santa even runs the race. Ethan and Courtney had smack-talked for a month about who was going to beat whom. They were determined to beat each other. I think this was their downfall.

When the gun sounded, Ethan and Courtney took off. We didn't see them again but I did track them on my phone to see who was going to win. Each time I looked, they were pretty close together. It was fun to track them while Bryan and I had a nice walk.

Bryan and I were about halfway when I noticed that Ethan and Courtney seemed to be together. Turns out, they both started out too strong and tired out so they came to a truce. They went the rest of the way together and finished together. Courtney said she is going to walk with Bryan and me next time. 

They waited for us to finish and then we got donuts and water. We also were given our medals. The medals are always huge!

It's a fun December tradition. 

Paletos

I have seen this little shop being converted to Paletos for a few months now and wanted to go. It just so happened that the opening day was when Courtney and I were driving around St. George doing some shopping. We stopped, got in line (it wasn't very long), received a popsicle stick for a free treat, watched them do the grand opening with a ribbon cutting, and then got our free treat. It was fun. 

I got an Oreo ice cream popsicle dipped in chocolate and Courtney got a mango popsicle without chocolate. Mine was delicious but Courtney's tasted like dirt. So she enjoyed a bit of mine. Now I have been to Paletos. 

Gingerbread Barn

Courtney and her friends decided to make a gingerbread house that looked like the Stoddard Center on SVU campus.  They got a kit, modified it, and it turned out really well.

Unfortunately, it was dropped while they were taking pictures and broke apart. But they had fun while it lasted.

Christmas tree

Our Christmas tree is up!  We thought we may want to wait to put it up until the kids were home for Christmas but Courtney didn't want to come home without it being decorated. So we took time and decorated for Christmas.

Family Pictures

Ethan is now our family photographer so we took advantage of his skill during Thanksgiving. We went out to Fire Lake Park (Ivins Reservoir) and he took our pictures. He did a great job.  I have always wanted pictures taken out there. We tried once but the photographer was new at it and the pictures weren't very good. Ethan nailed it this time!

This could be the cover art for an indie band.

The background looks fake but it is so beautiful!

Grandma and Grandpa Pack were at our house for Thanksgiving so they joined the fun.

This is them to a T!

I love my family. I am grateful for Ethan's talent and that he was happy to take our pictures. They turned out really well.

The kids are home!!

Holidays have a different feeling and meaning now that the kids are in college.  Courtney flew home on Saturday morning. She drove to Richmond early that morning with her roommate and her RA to get on the plane. She was exhausted by the time she got home.

Ethan had a Monday class but it ended up getting canceled so he was able to come home early too! We had both of them for a week before they had to go back and it was so nice. They went right back into their teasing sibling mode, which was fine with me. They are adults so I let them fight it out. ;)