Utah Trip Highlights

Well, I'm still catching up. Our favorite part of our trip to Utah this Christmas was getting to spend time with EVERYONE in the family. We were only ALL together for a short time, but we also got to spend time with each person throughout the trip.

This was an attempt to get everyone in a photo. We almost broke the couch in the process (bad idea to try to move a couch while people are sitting on it), but here's everybody.

Other highlights:
*Going to see the lights at temple square. (In this picture: Amy, Logan, Bryn, Olivia, Matthew, Alison & Ashley--Tom was taking the picture and I'm not sure what happened to Courtney & Brooklyn but I know they were nearby)

*The kids goofing off with Uncle Brett & him brainwashing them (well Ashley's not convinced that "Brett has the power," but Matthew is definately a believer, especially after he helped get our car un-stuck from the snow and up the hill to my parent's house)

*The Ehlert (my mom's side) family party. We haven't been to one of those for several years. It's a big enough group that we have to meet at a church building now. I think there's 101 of us dalmations, I mean, family members (dumb joke). We used to meet at my Grandma & Grandpa's for Christmas day dinner. Now it's inbetween Christmas & New Years & since it's at the church we can do a pinata (a Bennion (Grandma's mom) fam. tradition). My Aunt JoAnn made the coolest pinata I've seen. It was shapped like a large square gift, but the cool part was that because of the construction it released candy several different times. There was a shoe box in the middle with a rope running all the way through the bottom so it could hang. That was full of candy. Then she had four cereal boxes of the same size attached to each side of the shoe box. Each cereal box was seperately filled. Then it was wrapped with wrapping paper and tied with a bow. So each box released on a different hit so it spread out the fun. She is really creative. Here's the kids collecting their candy.

*All the SNOW! Sledding, building, running in it, getting stuck in it.
*Staying up late talking with family.
*Getting some time in with Alison before she leaves on her mission this month. Running with Alison.
*Being in the temple when Alison went for the first time.
*Linnae's baby shower.
*Ashlynn, Reagan (my nieces) finally warming up to me and learning to say my name.
*The kids getting to play with their cousins.
*Going to Gardner Village with Chrystie & Stephanie.
*Mom's good cooking, her cinnamon rolls, cream cheese rings, mint chocolate cake. . .

*Guys fishing and Cabelas trip
*Rootbeer taste testing (thanks Jeff)