Riding the Polar Express

Here I am almost one year out and I'm doing my darndest to finish up the happenings of 2023 - pray for me, people! I'm determined to get caught up ad I've got less than 2 months to do so.

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December started off with a bang. I major procrastinated getting Polar Express tickets and was so sad to see that everything was sold out.

Well, I decided to give the Train Station call one morning and was so excited to hear that they had the exact amount of tickets we needed for that afternoon. So, I bought them, told Greg to be home early, and spent the day anxiously awaiting the girls to get home from school so I could tell them our fun plans for the day!

We made it to Heber just in time to climb aboard our train car. It was so much fun being with other families in their Christmas jammies - the Christmas spirit was alive and the girls was amazed!

It was definitely one of the more magical moments we've had with the girls and I'm not sure I will get the image of them staring out the windows in wonder out of my head anytime soon. They are the perfect age for to experience the magic of the Polar Express.

Yes, Greg drove the entire way like this. He sure was dedicated to his role. What a man 🤣

The view was beautiful!

It was very cool looking out the window at our train as we wound our way back.

Meeting Santa Claus was amazing!

What a special day with our girls. I'm so glad we were able to make it happen! 🎄

Finishing up November

In between piano, basketball and family trips, we were able to do some other fun things that didn't quite qualify for their own post but are noteworthy, nonetheless. I figure if I took the picture, they may as well be appreciated by those other than me, right?

Cooler temps had set in, but we were still making the most of park days and other outdoor areas while we could.

Quincey made it a habit there for a while to sit on Claire's face. Never anyone else, just Claire. And Claire, being the trooper that she is, would let her. It was hilarious!

Quince was also in the phase of watching the big kids play vs. actually playing herself. But, she has her cute piggies in this day, so it's worth the video, I guess.

Not exactly sure what's going on in these picures, but I sure am glad I caught them 🤣.

Fall is so pretty! 

Greg says Mittens sticks out like a sore thumb. I took this pic to prove he blends in with some things. Fall is his time to shine!

The Spjute family rallied for Megan's farewell. She was well represented!

Claire inherited my frown. She's getting pretty good at it 🤣

Claire loves parties! We didn't have any birthday specific paper so she colored her own and then wrapped the present. It turned out great!

Everyone was in awe at how good both girls were at the rock wall, all thanks to their practice all summer long at Cherry Hill.

Happy Birthday Lexi!

True to tradition, we took a locker picture. Some of us are getting too big ....

We had to document that Greg put up Christmas lights before Thanksgiving. Claire was living her best life scrambling around up there.

Whatever Claire ate, it was Blue.

Quincey enjoying her two favorite things at the same time - swinging and snacking.

X marks the spot.

Thanksgiving with the Thorley's, circa 2023

I'm still 10 months behind posting on this blog - I will get caught up! But for now, here are some pics of the fun we had last year with the Thorley's at Thanksgiving.

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We had so much fun on our solo trip to Moab in 2022 that Greg had already booked us a hotel room in 2023. We couldn't get anyone in my family to commit to going with us, so sadly Greg had to cancel the room and make the best of going to Cedar City instead (he can do hard things). We decided to leave on Tuesday so we could beat the mad day-before-Thanksgiving holiday traffic. We pulled Sof out of school early,  which she wasn't thrilled about. Her class had all made their own Macy Day Parade Balloons, and Sof was sad to miss her class parade through the school halls. But, she was able to bring it down to Cedar to show everyone over Thanksgiving Break, so it wasn't a total miss.

Sof and her cute "Bluey" Balloon.

The Jorgenson's were spending their Thanksgiving in their condo in Hurricane, so Greg was thrilled to go on a pre-Thanksgiving ride with them on Wednesday. He saw country he had never seen before and was introduced to Apple Valley. I still have big plans on owning a home in So. Utah one day. 

I walked in on Greg reading a book to Quincey. Her face was the cutest! She still loves looking at books, and luckily there are bookshelves full at Grandma's.

We tried to help my Mom prep as much as we could on Wednesday so Thanksgiving wouldn't be a complete cooking fiasco. Family was coming in that day, so it was a whirlwind of trying to get everything ready while still having people arrive at all hours of the morning. Despite everything, my parent's didn't go completely crazy. It's a Thanksgiving miracle.

Uncle Jake learned that the way to Quincey's heart is through sugary drinks. He gave her a sip of his Diet Coke, which she immediately was hooked on and drank the last 1/2 of it - hello caffeine!

I didn't get any other pictures of Thanksgiving, but it was a really beautiful day. My sister Jessica and her family, who live in Colorado, ended up surprising us by knocking on the door with pies and rolls to share. She had booked flights last minute, and it was so fun having the Billings be there with us. The cousins were thrilled, and so were we! She was due with baby #4 and none of us had seen her since July. We all ate good and had a fun, relaxing day enjoying food and being together, which was surprsingly devoid of drama.

That night, everyone had fun staying out late while the kids rode the wiggle cars and danced to music. You guessed it! Greg was in bed. He parties in his heart.

The kids were excited to wake up to snow on Friday, and Greg was thrilled to have something to do, even if it meant shoveling my parents expansive driveway and sidewalk. Greg is a doer, which my parents appreciate, especially because everyone else was still in bed while my Dad and Greg moved all of the snow out of the way. 

The girls made quick work of this snowman, which just so happens to be one of the cutest snowmen ever!

When I say 'Girls,' I really mean Sofi and Baya. Claire was too busy rolling around in the snow making snow angels.

On Saturday, while everyone else went to Pizza Factory for lunch (including Sofi and Claire), we went to a yummy local taco joint and reveled in the excellency of these taco's al pastor. My mouth is watering just typing about it.

Greg sent this pic to my Dad, asking him if he would like us to save him a taco 🤣.

Loving Grandma's swing.

Meanwhile, back in Kaysville ...

Claire loves every second she gets to spend with Grandma Jan.

Anxiously awaiting everyone to gather to open their Christmas Cousin Gifts they had all gotten for each other. I love how Greg is always surrounded by kids in Cedar, but totally oblivious to it.

We ended Saturday evening by going down to Main Street, where there were local vendors and booths to peruse. They had blocked off Main Street and were letting people wander around to all of the different venues - it was a fun, new thing they had started this year. I forget how fun Cedar is around the holiday's - with the sights and smells. Nothing compares to hometown memories and fun. It was also fun to wander over to the Festival of Tree's and see neighbors and friends I hadn't seen in years. 

The CUTEST Highland Cow tree!

The line to sit on Santa's knee was long, but the one for the Grinch was not. Claire's face says it all 🤣. The quote of the night comes from Sof, "Buzz, your girlfriend, Woof." 

We had high hopes of taking the girls skiing to Brian Head, but Saturday turned out too cold to end up going. Oh well, there's always next time.

We stayed long enough Sunday to go to Sacrament Meeting, then came home to pack and leave as early as we could to be the after-Thanksgiving traffic home. We had a lot of fun, and it's always hard to leave, Thanksgiving in Cedar ended up not being so bad after all.