Little Moments: ... And a Happy New Year!

This year for Christmas we spent time in Hatch at the cabin with Grammie Marilyn and Aunt Cherene. :) Christmas in Hatch should be a requirement. Matt had to work basically every day the week of Christmas so he did a lot of driving back and forth (poor guy) but we got to drive to Hatch Monday night and spend all day Christmas Eve together! We went out and hunted down a perfect little Christmas tree (I stayed in the truck like a party pooper, but I hear grandma is an expert hiker and even better at picking out trees!) and decorated the cabin a little bit. Grandma had these darling little bird ornaments so we used those, and strung some white lights along the banister of the loft. (White lights plus cabin wood is perfection. In case you wondered.) My dad was a trooper and pulled Matt and the sisters on a sled several times over the week, and it was so funny to me when it was just him and Matt out there. Oh ya know, just two grown men out there having way too much fun sledding. :p Brianne was especially hilarious on the sled. I could hear her screaming from the back porch, and later Meg filled me in on what she was saying! (My dad must have been going wild because there was something about how she was 'going to meet her maker', and 'repenting'. ;p)

Christmas Eve dinner was just as delicious as always, we had steak and shrimp as is tradition. My dad's officially the grill master because those steaks were incredible! Aunt Cherene recreated a fabulous Olive Garden green salad, and I ate WAY too much.

Christmas Eve, no one slept much. Between mattresses, everyone snoring, (myself included, happy Erin and Miss? I owned it. :p Sawing logs is my job as a pregnant lady I've learned, haha. Just one of the many symptoms that make up my 'glow'. ;) ) and of course just being excited, we pretty much took turns being up all night. Oh well, though, right? Christmas Morning, bright and early, we got up and gathered around the cute Christmas tree and opened presents. :) Unfortunately that was when Matt had to work so he wasn't there, but he and I opened ours from his family and each other later in the afternoon when he drove over.
I was threatened with my life not to take pictures but I was the rebel and took some anyway. I've survived so far but I might not if I post all of them... so. Sorry family, I couldn't resist a couple. :)
After opening gifts we had a fabulous Christmas breakfast- like every year. :) We basically lounged for the rest of the day, watched some movies, and ate way too much food. :)
The next day we drove over to Tropic and my dad and the twins and Matt went cross country skiing! I wanted to and seriously considered it... except for then I remembered that I'm out of shape and pregnant and have zero lung space these days. I'm pretty sure I would have had a heart attack or something haha. So Erin, my mom, and I hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Barton for a while. When the skiing party got back we had 'gourmet' grilled cheese (with all sorts of cheeses and breads to try and ham and sauteed onions and you name it) for lunch, took some naps, and gave goodbye hugs to head back to Cedar.
It was such a nice little get away break, I'm sad that it's gone by so fast!

This year at the cabin was a little bit bitter sweet, since every time I was out on the back porch admiring how gorgeous the pink mountains are in contrast with the snow, or how the steam rises off of the river in the morning, there was a cute Grandpa missing from his usual chair back there. We didn't read Luke 2 this year, because that was always Grandpa's contribution to the Christmas Eve celebrations. I've really missed having our big teddy bear around telling us stories in the evening and calling on people to say prayers at all the family gatherings over the holidays, but I can't help but smile thinking about the kind of Christmas celebration he must have had with Grandpa Garth and Grandma Theora (and all the family really) in Heaven, where I'm sure the Christmas spirit is year round and the perspective of Christ's birth and life and atonement are so much more meaningful and understood. :) Grandma decided that Jaden got to read Luke 2 with Grandpa for Christmas eve, and I think we all loved that visual. :) So Merry Christmas Grandpa!

Our 'Charlie Brown tree' in our apartment :)

We also spent time putting together Jaden's crib and getting things set up in the nursery... Here's the bear made by Great Grammie Marilyn from Poppa Wallace's shirts. :)

This would be the 30 week picture that I never did a post to go with. :p

I really wish we could paint, but I'm working on
cute prints to put in frames so the walls aren't as sad.

Ok, so these next few are from when Matt and I went out behind the golf course to shoot his Christmas present. :) (Before Christmas I might add. Once that gun was in his hands there was no way I was going to get it away from him to wrap or anything festive like that. :p He was too in love to let that thing out of his sight!)
When we drove up to try it out Matt mentioned that we have to drivestraight up over a little hill because his truck doesn't have 4 wheel drive and it gets a little stuck and likes to slide back down the hill. :p Well when we rounded the corner there was a bunch of high school aged guys and they had like three cars parked right in the middle of the road. So we had to back all the way up to the first of the dirt road and try again after the guys moved. We got to a spot we could shoot, and stayed for a while (I was a wimp and sat in the truck for the majority of the time) while Matt tried to get the gun to shoot smoothly. When it started snowing giant 'pillow fight in heaven' snowflakes we got back in the truck and started back home. Well, guess who was parked right in the middle of the road again? This time they weren't even sitting in their cars though, they just left them barricading the road. Matt tried to stop, but we were on a down hill towards the cars and the snow made the road just slippery enough that we ran into one of the cars. The guys came up and moved the car and looked it over and decided they didn't really care about the corner of the bumper that got knocked off and then started running back down the road in front of us (even though we were sliding around). Seriously. How do boys survive past the age of 18?? Good grief.

These are the pictures from our Christmas stay in Hatch. :) It's such a beautiful place, I love staying there! It's like you get to kind of disconnect from the world for a little while.

We got to go put some flowers on Grandpa's grave and see the headstone that is finally finished. :) I think he would have liked it, he loved the statue of the boy and girl on horses holding hands. :) He got a little teary after studying the statue, and said to my grandma that it was them courting. :)

I hadn't ever realized, but if Jaden comes on his due date he'll be born on Grandpa Garth and Grandma Theora's anniversary! How cool would that be?

This was our 'artistic' picture from our Christmas tree finding adventure. And then I giggled when I uploaded it and I think it kind of looks like a sneeze picture. :p Oh well... it's still kind of cool!

We just loved the frost on the trees from the steam that rises off the river in the morning. :) They turned into glittery plants!

Decorating the tree :)

Matt talked me into going on a 4 wheeler ride

Grandma has the cutest bird ornaments! It was fun to decorate with them.

This was Meg's photography skills so we could submit some awkward family photos. ;)

We decided these ornaments would be amazing jewelry

Setting up targets to shoot :)

Mom decided over the break she was going to play checkers with everyone, and then she wanted Matt to teach her how to play chess. Some of the games got a little intense. ;)

Christmas Morning :)