Pogo Champ

Kai was super excited to get a pogo stick for Christmas.  The first few days he really worked to figure it out since he had only ever seen one on tv.  By the time we got back to Vegas from San Diego things had begun to click.  As I understand it when he got back to school their teacher challenged each kid to come up with some goals for the new year.  One of Kai's goals was apparently to do 100 bounces in a row and last Friday he did it!  So far the pogo stick has been a great thing as it's a good energy burner and requires very little actual space which is great when you live in Vegas and you really don't have much of a back or front yard.

A Buddy For Everyone

The Wilkinson's came down last weekend which was so much fun.  We hadn't seen them since this summer so it was great to reconnect.  I love how easy it is to jump right back in to things with them like we haven't even been apart.  One of the many great things still happening is that when we are together all the kids have a buddy their same age to play with that they get along with so well.  It was cute to see Zuri and Collin being old enough to play together- even though we're pretty sure that Zuri thought he was her own personal live baby doll.  One night all the kids played upstairs (even Zuri and Collin) all by themselves for the longest time without any issues.  The grownups got in a lot of converstation, laughs, and advice giving which is also so nice.  We sure miss having them just down the street.  Thanks for the visit guys!   

 

 

 

Christmas 2012

We packed a lot in to the first 2 days of our trip and it took us a few days to recover.  Tyler's family headed out to El Paso and the Mullins and Grandpa moved to a hotel in Del Mar which was great.  A horrible cold/ flu/ fever thing unfortunately slowly swept through us, but we were able to take it slow and get in more fun things in San Diego.

On Christmas Eve the kids were quick and easy to get to bed after we had dinner with everyone. They knew that Santa doesn't come if kids are awake and they weren't about to risk it. In the morning we opened presents with Mom, Dad, and Whitney. The kids were so excited to have finally made it to Christmas and had a great time sorting out the gifts and opening everything. They really are at such fun and magical ages- I wish we could bottle it all up forever. They were thrilled with every gift and often equally as thrilled for each other or any of the rest of us. After presents all the adults were put to work trying to put things together or get things out of boxes-why in the world do they make even simple kids things so difficult to get out or set up?

After some good playing and phone calls to family in Illinois and Indiana we headed over to the hotel to have lunch with Grandpa and the Mullins. The kids had fun catching up on Christmas gifts and the adults got to have a relaxing visit. Then it was time to take Grandpa and Lance to the airport so they could get back to their work in SLC and Vegas. We were sad to see them both go but grateful for the time we had. We could have done without the sickness, but we were especially grateful for the success of the football game and Sea World days.

The next day the kids and I went with Grandma and Grandpa Whitney to the Holiday Bowl (the other Football Bowl Game in San Diego) Battle of the Bands and Luncheon with the football players. We ate with some UCLA players so we were ready to cheer for them at the game the next day. The next morning we went and had breakfast and said goodbye to the Mullins. We would have liked to have spent a bit more healthy time with them but we were glad to have gotten a little extra time with them.

The original plan had been for Zuri and I to stay home with Whitney for the Holiday Bowl game as I thought 1 bowl game was probably all I could handle with Zuri. At the last minute Mom and Dad ended up with some extra tickets and a babysitter for Whitney so Zuri and I ended up going. The girls and I had been fighting the illness so I wasn't sure how it would all go, but it ended up being great. Zuri sat on my lap the whole time (maybe because she was a little sick) and the pregame and half time shows were awesome. Kai got to have my Dad's full attention and ask him all about the game. I was glad that it had all worked out so well.

The next day the kids and I hit the road to go back home.  We were sad to see our trip come to an end, but glad we got to do so many fun things with all of our family in San Diego.  Mom, Dad, and Whitney were so great letting us invade their home, feeding us, helping coordinate all the football activities and more, and helping us make things special for the kids.

We missed Grandma Utah very much this Christmas, but felt like she would have been happy to see us all together making good memories.  

A Sea World Christmas

This year was going to be a tough Christmas no matter what we did, but we felt grateful we had a plan in place in advance that was a bit out of the regular for Lance's side of the family.  Really that was a blessing as it gave us something to gather around and look forward to that we knew Colleen really wanted us to do. 

The day after the game we gathered for breakfast at The Broken Egg.  It was a breakfast restaurant in San Diego that we had never been to before but Lance had on his wish list since seeing on an episode of the tv show Man vs Food.  We called in advance and were thrilled to find that they had put us in our own separate room when we got there.  It was perfect because the kids could roam around some without us having to worry about them bothering other people.  After eating we also had a chance to do the cousin gift exchange, give some updates, and talk a little bit about Grandma in the more private and quiet area.

After breakfast we all headed out to Sea World as a Christmas gift from Grandpa Utah.  We were there at 11am when it opened and stayed until closing.  It was great weather and super uncrowded which was perfect.  Sea World has 2 big roller coasters now which the kids had a blast going on over and over.  We also saw all the major shows and got to tour our favorites like the Polar Bears, the Penguins, and the Sharks.  At the end of the day we had done just about everything which is pretty amazing considering we were moving a group of 16 people. Sea World had a deal going on where you buy a 1 day ticket and you get the year for free, so the Mullins were able to even go again later on in the trip and we'll be able to whenever we visit Mom and Dad.  It was a really fun day that we topped off by eating dinner at Phil's BBQ.  This was another Man vs Food restaurant on the wish list that just happened to be directly across the street from their hotel.  The line was out the door but it moved quickly and was lots of fun.  It was a long but really great day.

The Big Game

The Wednesday before Christmas we took off for San Diego right after school got out.  Long ago we had planned to spend Christmas 2012 in San Diego with not only my parents but also with Lance's parents and his siblings and their families.  There was a deal with the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego that if BYU won enough football games this season they would get an invite to be one of the teams playing in this years bowl game.  Since my Dad continues to be very involved with the San Diego bowl games and Lance's family are BYU fans and had a tradition of coming to BYU football games in San Diego back in the day it was a natural fit and everyone was super excited.  In the first few days after Lance's Mom passed away we talked about upcoming things and this was one of the things that we agreed as a family should still happen.   BYU did their part and won enough games so it all fell in to place.  As a fun twist was the other team ended up being San Diego State University.  My parents were good sports to be with everyone cheering against their home team.

We drove down on Wednesday because the game was on Thursday.  Lance's sister and family also flew in that night from Seattle.  His Dad flew in Thursday morning and his brother and family drove in from Salt Lake that afternoon.  We picked up Brice from the airport and then went and visited with the Mullins for awhile before the game.  It was a pretty day so we drove up to Mt. Soledad to get a view of all of San Diego before we headed to the game.

One of my Dad's game responsibilities is he is on a Make A Wish Committee for the game so we were able to attend the Make A Wish tailgate before the game while everyone else attended a BYU tailgate. It was neat to see all of the amazing families going through the Make A Wish program. It was a good reminder to count our blessings and be even more grateful for our kids health at this special time of year. I also thought it was cool that in addition to normal BBQ fare they had corn dogs and mac n cheese with the kids in mind. Our kids thought it was great. While there we got an up close preview of both teams bands and cheerleaders. The cheerleaders were a big hit until the mascots came round and freaked out a 19 month old little girl. After that she didn't want to be anywhere but the safety of her Mom's arms- sorry cheerleaders- until the coast was clear. The big highlight though was getting to walk out on the field as part of the pregame show with all of these families. So awesome! Our kids get to do the coolest things.

The game was great and all the cousins had so much fun being reunited, watching all of the game, cheerleaders, dancers, band etc. from our amazing seats, snacking, and seeing some great fireworks.  In the end BYU even pulled off the win- some of us may have listened to the end in the comfort and warmth of the car going home.  All in all it was great.