Christmas Trip to Utah

 

This year we thought it would be a ton of fun to visit Utah and all of our awesome family over Christmas break.  Not only would it be great to spend Christmas with our extended family, but it would give the kids a chance to see snow for the very first time.  And, boy, we were not disappointed!  

Grandma and Papa Goober P's house looked like a Hallmark Christmas movie, at least 2 feet of beautiful, fresh powder snow fell while we were there, and we had one giant cousin party the entire time we were there.  Grandma P and I didn't know 9 little kids ages 9 and under could eat so much popcorn!  We had so much fun playing with all of our family and friends.  We are so blessed that everyone took time out of their busy schedules (and recovering from having a new baby - Aunt Liz and Uncle Thomas, yea!) to play with us and make our trip so special.  Thank you to all!

During our trip to Morgan we discovered what fun could be had conquering snow mountains in Grandma and Grandpa P's front yard, traveled by commuter train (TRAX) to visit Temple Square while it was decorated in millions of beautiful Christmas lights, wondered at the beauty of the snow covered Wasatch Mountains surrounding us on every side, and took every opportunity (even before the sun rose on some days) for sled racing, snowman building, snow ball fighting, snow angle making, backyard cross-country skiing, playing with all of the cousins, and drinking gallons and gallons of hot chocolate. 

 

 

The kids were perfect angels on the 3 day, 1,639 mile car trip from League City, TX to Morgan, UT.  They even got to spend a few nights in hotels!  What fun!

When we left League City we were enjoying beautiful winter weather with sunny skies and temperatures of 78 degrees F.  When we arrived in Utah the kids were surprised to discover a winter unlike any they had formerly known.  A cold wind was blowing, 2 feet of fresh snow blanketed the ground, and temperatures ranged during our stay anywhere from -3 degrees F up to 39 degrees F.  Brrr!

On our way to Morgan, we stopped in Monticello, UT for Church and to get our first real chance to touch snow.  The first thing Loyd did when he got out of the car was throw a snowball at his brother.  Or was it three?  We also met a few families who still remembered quite fondly Grandma Zoie and my parents when they lived there 30 years ago.  It was a lot of fun to reminisce about my own long trips to Grandma Zoie's house and see the Loyd's Lake in the winter time. 

Owen doesn't seem to appreciate the cold nature of the snow as much as the other kids do.  :D
  That's my boy!

Loyd's Lake frozen over in December, 2015

We rolled into Morgan well after dark, but the kids still found a way to make their first snowman.  They had to play in the snow as soon as they got of the car and said a hurried hello to Grandma and Papa Goober.  There was no time to waste, snowmen and snow angels must be made straight away.  :)

Grandpa Goober sporting some Christmas PJ fashion.  

Owen admired Grandpa's Christmas village and train set probably more than anyone else.  He figured out how to make the train go in about 5 minutes, smart boy.

Every morning the kids woke before the sun, found themselves breakfast and chocolate milk, and then dressed for playing in the snow.  Thanks to generous aunts (shout out to Aunt Liz and Aunt Karen!) we had more than enough boots, gloves, coats, snow pants, and hats to go around for everyone.  It was a Christmas miracle! 

Xavier sledding before dawn.

Xavier, Maeve, and Rebekah

The euphoria of reaching the bottom of the hill alive!

Grandma P even had enough pairs, and in all the right sizes!, of cross-country skis.  She showed the kids all how to put the skis on and gave them a quick lesson on how to use them.  Away then went for some fun ski action in the backyard!

Rebekah was a regular snow bunny.

Loyd had a lot of fun and lived a great lesson in perseverance.  ;)

Xavier was a natural talent!  I'm a little worried by how much he enjoyed all the snow sports and how good he was at them!

And Maeve's face tell it all on how she felt about this snow and ski business.  :D

In between and in addition to all of our play time outside we had plenty of play time inside with all of our cousins.  While in Utah we were able to visit and play with Anthony, Robbie, Kailyn, Jayden, Skyler, Madison, Marissa, Delaney, Olivia, Walter, Kaleb, Anneke, and even Baby Zoie!

On most nights all the little cousins under 10 (there were 9 kids) had a giant sleep over in Granda's basement.  They played, giggled, ate lots of popcorn, watched silly movies, and generally had a great time. 

Basement slumber party with the cousins

 

The cousins also took to calling Loyd "Boss."  Loyd adored the new title and the subsequent power and authority that went with it.  His girl cousins thought he was pretty cute and funny, and Kaleb was a good sport about sharing the position of "Top Dog" among the kids while we were there.  Loyd got a little too used to being called "Boss" while we were there for two weeks.  It was a hard transition back to normal old Loyd when we left.  :)

Checking out the Eyring Science Center at BYU with the Rose Cousins

 - Maeve, Walter, Loyd, Xavier, and Rebekah

One day during our visit we were able to visit the Rose family.  It was so much fun to visit with Uncle Royal and Aunt Loretta, and take all of the kids to BYU for some fun and shopping. :)  Visiting with Loretta is always the most home sick for Utah time for me.  We sure miss living so close to this great family!

Olivia, Loyd, Delaney, Owen, Walter, Maeve, Xavier, and Rebekah

Anneke, Xavier, Kaleb, Loyd, and Owen

Kaleb, Loyd, Rebekah, Xavier, Maeve, Owen, Anneke

Anneke and Maeve dressed up as Elsa and Anna from Disney's Frozen.  Guess which little girl likes to play princesses the most?  :)

Playing in the snow hill made by the snow plow in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Check out the size of Xavier's snow ball!  It's huge!

The snow mountain in the circle just get growing with each snow storm!

Owen getting some snow experience.  After 3 or 4 minutes he decided it was too cold to be much fun outside.  :)

One of the many highlights of our trip was sledding at Reese's farm with Anthony, his wife, Aunt Karen, Madison, Marissa, and Skyler. 

Xavier was a sledding machine, walking the long hike back to the top as soon as his sled reached the bottom.  He was in sledding heaven!  Maeve was too lazy to walk up the hill by herself and so managed to convince Aunt Karen, Cousin Anthony, and even Dustin to pull her back up the hill while she sat happily inside the sled.  Rebekah and Loyd had fun testing new sledding territory as well as the old as they found new places to sled around the mountain.  It was tons of fun to play in the snow with family we love and to ride super fast down hills covered in snow.  It didn't hurt knowing that should anyone get injured along the way, Aunt Karen was ready to save us with her new paramedic training!

Can you see Rebekah at the bottom of that sledding pile?

Skyler and Loyd hitting the slopes. 

Xavier showing Dustin how to sled right.

Xavier and his best sledding buddy, Marissa.  They went down and hiked back up that long hill together probably 20 times!  Every time was a spectacular wipe out at the end!

Skyler and Loyd showing off their sweet sled rides. 

Walking back up that hill was hard work! Especially for us Texans who are use to sea level elevations.  :)

The Amazing Anthony!  Cousin Anthony manfully pulled that sled loaded with lazy Cornelius children from the bottom of the sledding hill all the way to the top too many times to count.  I guess I should stop calling him "Woos Boy" and start calling him "Strong Boy."  :)

Hiking up the sledding hill.

Another one of our trip highlights was a TRAX train trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  We late a late linner (between lunch time and dinner) at the delicious Lion House restaurant, walked around Temple Square admiring the thousands and thousands of twinkling Christmas lights, explored both LDS Visitor's Centers, watch the new movie about Joseph Smith's First Vision, checked out the newly redone LDS History Museum, and of course rode lots of commuter trains.  Despite picking what was probably the coldest night of our trip to Utah to spend outside, getting lost, nearly missing our train, missing out train, and waiting in the Greyhound bus station for an hour at 9 o'clock at night for the next available train home, we had a blast!  We felt like we were in one of those travel comedies and enjoyed every minute.  :)

Traveling on TRAX on our way to Temple Square (Loyd is showing off the Flat Stanley he sent to his cousin Kaleb for school.  Flat Stanley is suppose to travel to someplace outside of League City, take lots of pictures while he is there, and then return home to Loyd's classroom to tell the kids all about what he did and saw on his trip.  I wonder how many Flat Stanley's from Loyd's class saw their League City kids while they were away traveling?  :) )

Baby Owen loving his train trip with Grandma P.

Family picture in front of the beautiful Salt Lake City Temple.

After all of that chilly business outside, we made sure to warm up with a few good bubble baths in Grandma's jetted tubs. 

Owen quickly decided he LOVED bath time in the jetted tub, especially if lots and lots of bubbles were involved!

We also got to spend an evening with Grandma Great (Grape) Cornelius, Grandma and Grandpa C, Dustin's Aunt Shauna, Uncle Russ, and Aunt Cathy.  I just love Grandma Great and feel so blessed we can visit with her and feel her love and joyful attitude every time we visit.  You know she loves you because she is so kind and interested in you on a personal basis. She is a truly positive person and a joy to be around.  I feel so blessed to have inherited her as my grandma when I married Dustin.  Grandma Great is pretty amazing!

Grandma Great Cornelius with Owen

Maeve loving taking selfies with Grandma C! 

How cool that Grandma and Grandpa C flew all the way out to UT from CA to spend a few days with the grandkids over Christmas break!  What a fun treat!  The kids had a ball hanging out with them at Temple Square, watching the new Cinderella for a family movie night, and hanging out at Grandma Great's house.  Christmas is always more fun with grandparents.  :)

And after all of that fun and excited we even got to squeeze in Owen's very first hair cut.  Aunt Liz did the honors, despite just having a brand new baby 10 days before (welcome Baby Zoie!).  She did a pretty amazing job.  We kept Owen happy with chocolate, and Liz snipped away at an amazing pace while Owen turned his head this way and that.  I think Liz might have Ninja hair cutting skills.  I'm just saying....

What a wonderful Christmas trip to Utah we had!  I don't think it could have been any better than it was.  We saw and played with almost all of the family we love so dear, had great visits with our dearest of dear friends, the Hintons and the Malmstroms, and even had some BYU and Temple Square time. We love and miss our family and friends so much, but are also happy to be back where it's warm in the middle of January and we don't have to worry about driving on black ice or getting frost bite.  :) 

The kids are already dreaming of another winter trip to Grandma's house, but we'll have to leave that for another year.  :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!