We arrived in Utah Tuesday evening and left on Saturday morning. This was the part of the break that everyone was most looking forward to, especially Megan who had a countdown to Boxing Day going on.
Wednesday we went to the Bean Museum, then walked to the Wilk to visit Annette at her office. Rosie loved bossing Megan and Ryan around.
We stopped by the creamery on our way back to the cars and grabbed some ice cream to eat back at Grandma's house.
Back at the homestead Mark played some guitar for our listening enjoyment.
Of course, the cousins were back to
beating each other up having fun together.
We played a few rounds of Quiplash and Drawful on Jackbox games on both Wednesday and Thursday night. There were some super funny answers. For example: "Name of a song that would be in the Broadway production "Farting: The Musical" had these two answers: Oops, I Did it Again, and Let It Go. 😂
Thursday we snagged Cari and headed to Tucanos for lunch. That's a tradition the kids love whenever we come to Utah.
After lunch we met up at the church so the kids could run around and get their wiggles out. They played Mafia, Colors, and Jingle Pong.
Mark's family brought their puppies over for someone to come pick one up that they were buying, but also for the kids to be able to play with. They're so cute. Lucky for us, Annie, Rachel, and Jacob are all allergic, so there's an easy reason to not have to argue about bringing one home with us. :)
With our powers combined, we finished the puzzle Sharon had started.
Lisa's family arrived and Andrew's family came up, so we had a fun few hours with everyone together. The kids braved the cold weather and some braved walking on the frozen duck pond. The water was only 2 feet deep before it froze, so the biggest danger was the duck poop on the surface. They had fun feeding the ducks at least.
We had a nacho bar for dinner and enjoyed everyone's company that night.
The evening turned a bit musical with Rachel showing off her brass skills, playing the decorative horn hanging on Grandma's wall.
Then we enjoyed a lovely rendition of the song Mark wrote: Come, Sweet Jesus, Come.
Friday we headed to the church again to run around without having to go into the cold outdoors. The kids were super glad that Lisa's family had arrived the day before and they had a good time playing with Wes and Brayden. Megan was really good with baby Wes.
Brayden had an RC car that was pretty cool. He had a fun time chasing it around, but Wes especially liked trying to chase it down.
The little ones cleared out of the gym and headed to the nursery so the bigger ones could play kickball without maiming them. Much fun was had. Anya got a free ride with ghost points and ghost outs when it was her turn.
We also tried Swedish Twister. You stand in a circle and you move a foot to touch your neighbor's foot, and they have to move that foot to touch their neighbor's foot, and so on. The first time we played the gymnasts (Megan and Miri) ended up in splits. After that we realized the rules are that once your hands touch the floor (or you lose your balance) you're out. But it was pretty funny to watch from the outside.
Rachel and Wes having a staring contest.
Friday night Rachel and Annie went to play wall ball with Cari and a few others, while the rest of us stayed and tried out some new Jackbox games. When the wally ball players returned we played more Jackbox with them.
When it was time to say goodnight, it was also time to say goodbye, since we were leaving early the next morning. We were glad we could visit for a few days, but it's never enough, and the kids always wish they could stay longer.
Our drive home was blessedly uneventful and we got home about 6:30pm. The kids are good travelers now and it makes the drive go nice and smooth.
The following day was New Year's Eve. Jacob taught a great lesson about how to have consistent and effective Come Follow Me lessons that day. We enjoyed time at Grandma's, and more games at our house. Since we didn't have fireworks, it was kind of low key, but that was fitting since it was also the Sabbath. We played games then watched It's a Wonderful Life until just before midnight, then had the countdown and jumped into the New Year. 2023 was a good year and we're grateful for a good family and good friends that made it great.
