Christmas Take One: Utah

The second week of December, Bryan and I packed up our luggage (all eight pieces!) and our kids (all three!) and flew to Utah for Bryan's youngest brother Jason's mission homecoming. It was so great to see him coming down the escalator from the terminal, and it was a great experience for my boys to see yet another Pearson boy come home from their mission. Jason was basically a celebrity to the other kids, who all fought to sit by him at lunch and, whenever he wasn't within eye's sight, they would all ask where Jason had went. The best part?? Jason was still good old Jason, and he fit right back into the crazy world of all the Pearsons.

After he got home, we packed up, yet again, to venture off to a cabin in the very snow filled mountains to spend some quality time with the family. We had lots of food, played and tubed in the snow, had a gingerbread house contest, and just hung out. Oh, and what would a Christmas party be without the Sesame Street play, acting out the nativity, and opening presents?? It was a great time and we made lots of great memories!

We spent the rest of the time in Utah seeing family and friends. We got to go have dinner with Kory and Ana Lee and had dinner made for us (so yummy!) by our friends Kramer and Lisa. A highlight of the trip was going to Brigham City for a Hawkes Family dinner, where we got to see some of Bryan's aunts, uncles, and cousins that we don't get to see very often! We went to church and listened to Jason's talk, and to cap off our vacation, we stopped at Cafe Rio (my tummy is grumbling just thinking about how yummy it is!) for lunch before heading to the airport.

Our trips to Utah are always special to us. It gives us a chance to see our family that we don't get to see very often, and our boys love to spend time getting to know their cousins and playing with them. They also love spending quality time with their grandparents and wrestling with their uncles. Thanks Grandma and Pompom for everything! We had a great time!

Oh, and an FYI: our camera broke while we were at the cabin, so the my picture stop at the Sesame Street play. I didn't get anything after that. At first I was bummed (although I know other people took plenty of pictures!) but then I felt relief. If you know me, you know I take a massive amount of pictures when we travel, so it was kind of freeing to not feel the need to have my camera by my side at all times!

Cole was a huge helper with the luggage! We haven't flown with all the kids since Cole was a baby, so they were very excited to fly! Besides Cole spilling my entire cup of ice water on my lap midflight (it sure made for a chilly flight!) it went pretty well!

Jason just came home! I love the smile on his face. Oh, and the cowboy hat.

Whenever one of the Pearson boys comes home from their mission, the rest of the gang does something interesting to welcome him home. Once we all had to wear pearl button shirts, once we all wore terrible mustaches, etc. This time we all wore sports jerseys since Jason wore them all the time before his mission, and of course, we added some weird mustaches. This was Rix's favorite look!

Grandpa's mustache was classic. He sure got weird looks from people!

At the cabin, all the grandkids opened an early Christmas present. BYU outfits! Taking pictures of 11 kids sure is crazy!

See? Crazy!

The kids loved being out in the snow. I wish we had an extra day there just for sledding! Jordyn was a good sport and took Cole with her.

Sledding down the hill is so fun. Dragging kids back up the hill? Not so much. But at least we were burning calories!

Bryce couldn't get enough of the sledding. He was a sledding monster!

Stina and two of her kids sledding. I think Stina and I crashed more than we sledded.

Lindsay and Cole. Cole decided he wasn't much of a snow bunny, so he found lots of willing people to hold him.

Cole and Bryce.

Jordyn, Roger, and Bryce on the snowmobile. Did I forget to mention that most of the brothers (including Bryan) grew handlebar mustaches for Jason's homecoming? Roger's was awesome.

Bryan talked me into going with him. Boy did we go fast down that hill!

There was a little hill, but the bump at the end was killer!

Cole found another person to hold him. Uncle John!

Rix loved the snow. Too bad we don't get much of it here in Washington. And since he was going on the snowmobile where you get lots of snow in the face, he was prepared!

Rix and Jordyn on the snowmobile.

Cole "helping" with the gingerbread house. He actually ate more than he helped.

Our competition!

This is what our family's gingerbread house turned out to be. See the icicles?

The Sesame Street play!

Jason is suppsoed to be a tree. It is a really funny play.

Bryan "planting" the tree.