That one time, in Utah

This is basically a photo dump from our trip earlier this month, no hilarious stories or quirky experiences, just overall a good visit back home.

The kids are becoming little pro's when it comes to flying. We always get complimented on how well behaved they are, and how brave I am to fly with 3 of them by myself. Really, I'm not brave, they are good kids!

She told me that when she grows up, she wants to be a snack lady on an airplane. Because that's all they do, right? Sounds like a heavenly job!

This is their new friend, Bethany. And every snowman after that has also been named Bethany. But I seriously question my brother's skills if THIS is the best that he can do! But really, what a cool uncle to go outside and let loose a little bit.

When something is this beautiful, you can't miss out on a tour of Christmas lights like this!

The kids loved the Nativities from all over the world, looking at the different animals and features on the people was a good Geography discussion ;)

Getting 3 kids cooperating is harder than it looks! And really, Maxwell IS smiling.

See? That's a smile. And no, Kellan isn't doped up.

This was so beautiful and I couldn't capture it well enough on my cell phone :( This is obviously a need for a new cell phone, right James?

Maren took this one, great job babe!

This statue, to me, is every aspect of memories of home.

My baby sister. Not a baby anymore though, she's 18 now! I'm told we look a like. We went to IHOP after seeing the lights, to warm up, and celebrate the fun of getting pulled over by the police. Good times.

An all beef Chili and Cheese hot dog from Weinerschnitzel. You know you're jealous. Whenever we go to Utah, we have a check list of favorite places to eat at that we miss living here in NC.

A traditional trip to Gardner Village was also fun, Christmas ornaments were our souvenoirs to take home, and I think Maxwell felt a kindred spirit to these cute guys.

And these guys too. Although, his little fingers must have looked tasty when he reached out calling to the ducks- and though these guys are cute, it was a little intense as they darted towards us kept following as we tried to get out of there.

We found out that he didn't have just a really bad sprain, but also a small fracture in his wrist. Really didn't change much of how we were taking care of it anyway, the only reason I took him to get an xray was because I couldn't find a splint to fit his little arm, and I thought "ok fine, then the doc will give me one at the office, I'll just pay a few hundred dollars for it though ;)" And then they wouldn't even give me one! Their protocol was to cast it, just to ensure that the fracture healed as quickly as it could- but it wasn't a compound fracture needing to be set, and my husband's philosophy is that muscles shouldn't atrophy when a fracture will heal no matter what if it's just protected. So we didn't get a splint from the doc, we paid several hundred dollars to confirm what our common sense already determined (to protect something that hurts, so it doesn't hurt more, until it doesn't hurt anymore, duh.) And the hunt for a small enough splint for the right support continued. Finally an obscure hole-in-the-wall apothecary provided what we needed for a mere $32. Lesson learned, I shouldn't doubt myself.

Really, breathtaking. Salt Lake City has grown so much in city development though, so the air quality sucks, and that is a different kind of breath-taking that's not the good kind. A view like that is kind of like the end of The Sound of Music, except there are roads and modern living so it's the best of both!

Winter in Utah is not as difficult to endure as the Winters here in NC are for me. The altitude, the humidity, combined with the bare trees and the Eastern cold hits me like a truck every year. Then I spend several months hibernating like a bear, growling like a bear too, wishing for spring with every fiber of my body. Seasonal depression sucks for every person who has to put up with me I'm sure! But coming back to it full force, with jet lag and vacation exhaustion in general really threw me for a funk. My sweet husband was so patient with me for the several days I spent in bed, so were my kids. But my favorite flower, and a spontaneous break from work just to drive home and give me a hug and support was good medicine.

No matter how much I miss everyone back home in UT, and all the faces of the people that I love, nothing beats coming back to your own stuff. I love the feeling of walking into my home and thinking to myself "I love our little nest we've built. I love my house." And I think I need to visit Utah when it's warm next time.

Not mom-of-the-year

I don't know how everyone else does Christmas, but at our house, we manipulate. We influence, plant seeds, and try to convince the kids that they really don't want to ask for an expensive/crazy popular/hard to find item, that what they really want is something that isn't going to annoy mom and dad. Win/win, right?

We have a tradition that Santa usually gives each of them a new movie for Christmas. He happened to have shopped on Amazon this year, where if you buy a new movie, you also get a digital rental to watch online free with the purchase. So I thought that was pretty cool, and I'd give the kids a chance to watch said movie and get them all excited to ask for it for Christmas. Good idea, right?

Santa bought Maren the "Nancy Drew" dvd. She's totally into mysteries, figuring out clues. She loves the Scooby Doo movies for that reason. She pretends with Kellan all the time about treasure maps. I thought she would totally love this movie, I had watched part of it a while ago and approved. It had all of the classic mystery plot buildup. A mysterious death, a hidden fortune, she was loving it.

Until this guy shows up.

Good looking, right? (His name is Craig Gellis) Except he was a villian. And he had one dark brown eye, and one blue eye. She came into the kitchen right after this guy showed up in the movie, and she was completely terrified saying there was a man with a black scary eye. Seriously panicking here. But she wanted to finish the movie, so James goes back into the living room to sit with her, and she resumed watching her online movie. Near the end, when the suspense picks up, he shows up again with an intense reflection in the mirror showing his EYE, the evil brown colored EYE. (thanks, Maren. By the way, did you notice your mother has brown eyes?) So Maren hunkers down in the arm chair, half covering her face. When the movie ended, which I'm pleased to say was a happy ending (of course), Maren was still hunkered down hiding her face.

I asked if she was ok. She promptly told me she was about to throw up, and I hurried her to the bathroom, and held her hair. She was trembling! She didn't toss her cookies, but she was flushed and clammy, and was relaying how badly that man scared her and asked me to delete the movie from the computer right away.

Needless to say bedtime wasn't so easy, James had to explain to her all of the ways that a big strong daddy like she has will protect her. And also explained the difference between actors and their real life. She is so amazed to have learned that Hermoine Granger from Harry Potter isn't a real person. Her little world was so rocked tonight.

And I have a new, unopened copy of Nancy Drew on DVD, which hasn't even been delivered yet, for sale. Any takers?! Total parent.fail here people.