Christmas Break

Brian and I spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Idaho with my family. It was SO COLD. The temperature was below zero every day that week, so not much took place outside. It made for some pretty scenes though. The trees were covered in snow and frost, as was everything else.

Despite the cold putting a damper on outdoor activities like sleigh rides, sledding, and playing in the snow, we still had a lot of fun. We spent the majority of our time indoors, playing games, visiting, and having a jolly good time. Lots of my family members received new games for Christmas, so we had a lot of to choose from. Some of our favorites ended up being Sushi Go, Spy Alley, The Resistance, and of course Canasta and Pinochle. There were others, but I don't remember their names now. Every night was a party!

Family gatherings are a bit different now that there are nieces and nephews running around. They're all just little enough still that they need to be watched. So us adults took turns playing with and entertaining them so everyone else could play games. It was so fun to see these little cousins interact. We were so close to our cousins growing up, so it's fun to see that in the newest generation.

Brian got to stay through New Years. He was asked to go to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and so had to head back on January 2nd to get ready to go. He flew out on the 4th and got back on the 8th. I'm glad he was able to have an entire week off though. It was good for him, and he was able to relax and take some time to breathe after this crazy year.

Brian was excited because he got not only a shirt with a cape, but socks with capes as well. Here he is modelling them.

    

While he was gone, I got to remain in Idaho with my family. I missed Brian a lot (after almost 10 years of marriage, it's still hard to be apart), but it helped that I was with my family. It was so wonderful to have the extra time with them all. Plus, I didn't have the stress of having to fly back to NYC at the end of it all hanging over my head. I was able to really relax and enjoy my time in Idaho. 

I got to spend some time with little Tayten, my newest nephew. He's grown so much since we saw him in October. It was fun to get to know him better and play with him. It's fun to see my brother Tyler as a Dad, and to see my other brother Luke interact with Tayt too.

     

Tayter bug is SO close to crawling. I kept telling him that he needed to before I had to leave. He would get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth, but just couldn't quite get his arms and legs coordinated. I was the mean aunt and would take his toys from him and put them just out of reach in front of him, trying to encourage him to crawl. He would just army crawl over to them instead...he's got quite the biceps. Haha! Still no crawling when I had to leave. He sure is a cute, inquisitive little guy...and so busy for not being very mobile yet.

I also had a lot of fun with my other nephew Carson. He just cracks me up. One day, after getting ready, I cleaned the hair from the bristle's of my brush. Carson was over, and so I rolled it up and held it on my upper lip, showing him my "mustache." He thought that was so funny, and decided that he wanted to try. He wanted to keep his "mustache" so I let him take it home. He came back to visit the next day, and was so sad when he told me that his mom had thrown it in the fire. He asked if I could make him another one...haha! I told him it would take a few months. 

He also loves his animals. I was at his house one day, and he was so excited to show me all of his animals. He loves his cat and his dog named Charlie. He's such a cute kid.

    

The game nights continued after Brian left. On one such night, Mom, Dad, Luke, Tyler, Kelsey, and I were playing Canasta. This is our family's game...I've been playing it since I was old enough to hold a hand of cards. 

My parents keep four decks of cards shuffled together on a shelf, so when everyone comes over, the cards are ready to go. Each time we play, whether we have four players or 12, we just use those cards. If you are familiar with the game at all, you'll know that a red three (diamond or hearts--doesn't matter) is worth 100 points. You don't play with those cards. If are dealt one or draw one, they immediately go on the table as points...so you are always wanting to get as many red threes as you can to boost your final score. So back to my story. My Dad dealt out the cards for the next hand. He and my brother Luke are always partners. We all picked up our hands and started organizing our cards, when my Dad and Luke both put down their red threes. Between the two of them, they had six red threes! They just started laughing, and the rest of us were incredulous. That has never happened in all the years of playing Canasta with those four decks. They swear up and down that they didn't cheat, but it's was highly suspect that they were the ones that shuffled the deck and then dealt  the cards...

Then on the first round of the hand, during Luke's turn, he draws a card. It was another red three! We couldn't believe it. They had seven red threes. Unheard of. To get a canasta in the game, you have to collect seven of the same number or face cards (any suit; up to three of which can be wild cards). You can't go out, or get rid of all the cards in your hand, until you have at least one canasta. Well, no one had laid any cards down yet, and there they were with a canasta of red threes. We had to look up the rules to see how the scoring went. We learned that if you collect all of the red threes (normally you only play with two decks, so there'd be four of them), then they were each worth 200 points instead of 100. We didn't let them count the points for having a canasta of them as well. It was a picture worthy moment to say the least, and one that will be a part of family history forever.

    

Tayt is too little to understand the game yet, but that doesn't mean he can't sit at the table with the rest of us. We indoctrinate them early. 

I also got to spend time with miss Kaylee and Sophia. I just love these girls. They got new coats that are so soft, and they love them. They pretend their kitties when wearing them sometimes. 

Sunday afternoon, Kaylee wanted me to record her singing, and then Sophia joined in. They're just too adorable and funny, so I had to share the video.

One day I was watching Tayten for Kelsey, and I put him in this box I found. He ended up having a lot of fun in his box. He was so fascinated by the flaps. It was hilarious to see his little bald head poking up out of it.

     

I promise I did lots of other stuff besides just playing with the kids. But there was a lot of playing. I just love them all.

My parents got all the boys nanocopters for Christmas. They are actually super fun to play with. I'm glad Brian got one. ;) They're hard to fly at first, but I've gotten better since we were playing with them in Idaho. One afternoon, we were playing with Luke's.

I had my sister Jamie's name for Christmas. She's been wanting to learn how to knit for awhile now, so I decided to get her some needles, yarn, and a knitting book. I had so much fun teaching her how, and she picked it up so quickly. She's started her first scarf. My sister Annie, also decided that she wanted to learn to knit, so she got some needles and yarn too, and I started teaching her as well. She learned really quickly as well, and when I left, was starting her first scarf too. I'm so happy I have some knitting buddies in my family now. Next time I visit, I'm planning to teach them how to knit hats. I love crafting...especially knitting, and I'm excited that I live close enough to get to do it with them. 

     

  

I got to visit some other family to while in town. My Mom and went to see my Grandpa the day after his 78th birthday. I love that guy so much, and am so grateful that I live closer so that I can see him more often. Even though he is getting older, he's still the same grandpa I remember--full of mischief and humor.

I also got to go visit my sister Kiley, and see her new home in Driggs. Jamie, Annie, Kaylee, and Sophia came with me. It was so fun to have a girls day out and get to have some time with my sisters. It's been too long since we've done that. Kiley's house is gorgeous, and they have great views of the Tetons out their windows. I took so many pictures of the snowy mountains, and of us girls together, but I somehow accidentally deleted them all without saving. I've been so sad about it all day, and have tried everything that I can think of to get them back without any success. I so wish I hadn't done that, because they were cute pics of all us together. I guess we'll just have to all go visit again the next time I'm in Idaho. I did find this photo of the girls playing in Sadie's crib that Kiley texted me a few days after our visit. 

At the end of the week, Mom drove me back to Utah. Annie rode along with us, and we had a fun trip together. Brian and I took them out to lunch, and then they had to head back home. I was sad to say goodbye to everyone, and to leave my lovely Idaho once more, but I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit for so long. Many memories were made that I'll remember forever.