a Trip to Tremonton

We went to Utah during Christmas Break to visit my parents. We'd previously decided that the week between Christmas and New Year's would be the best time for us to go. We left around lunchtime on Monday the 28th, and as we drove, the boys watched the first two Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We got there around 5:00. My mom made ham and potatoes for dinner and my sisters from Salt Lake came up for the evening to see us, and joined us for dinner. Although it was a little late, we gave dad and mom our Christmas gifts. Bryce got Dad a spin-trimmer as a joint group gift from us kids, and Tawna and Bryce gave mom a new coffee table

Then I gave mom the group gift from us kids: the annual family photo calendar. I wrapped it in a fun way; she usually wraps gifts so securely, so I thought I would the same for her! She had to break out the knife a couple of times, and she got a kick unwrapping all the extra filling in the giant box since it turned out to be a very small and narrow gift!

Bryce submitted a hilarious photo of my parents that he'd photoshopped, and
when they got to that picture, they both were surprised and burst out laughing!

I was glad that my sisters were able to come visit us while we were in Utah; it was good to spend time with them and my parents! After dinner and gifts, we chatted, ate dessert, played games, and laughed together.

My sisters were both wearing skirts, so I put on a skirt I'd brought too,
for a group pic! I spy a cute photo-bomber! Do you see him, too?!!

I love my sisters! I wish my youngest sister could've been there, too,
but it was her birthday and she was out on a date with her hubby. 

The next day, Tuesday the 29th, we went skiing with my dad at a new ski resort north of Logan. It is called Cherry Peak, and is in the mountains close to the highway near Richmond. I have never been to a different resort in Utah other than Beaver Mountain, but my dad really wanted to try this place since he hates driving up Logan Canyon. It was fun to try something new! There are only 2 lifts currently, but they are planning to have a 3rd lift. The ski hill is at a lower elevation, so there wasn't a ton of snow. There were these snow machines all over the mountain, which I've never seen before. In front of each machine was a huge pile of snow, and every time we passed one, our faces would fill with cold mist, which I didn't enjoy. The main runs were kind of icy due to the lack of fresh powder, but once we figured out the runs, we really enjoyed ourselves!

Josh and Ammon spent most of the day together. Josh skis and Ammon snowboards, but they have similar abilities. They had a good time together! They really liked going on the less-traveled powder trails and jumps.

Going in for a jump

Just landed the jump

Quality time on the mountain side 

He was easy to spot with his all-yellow suit!

The last run of the day on the diamond run

Josh impressively landed the jump!

Ammon followed in his dad's path!

Jonah and Micah spent most of the day together. Jonah was pretty fast, and Micah was more cautious, but they have similar abilities because they've both only been skiing a few times. The first few times down the hill, their skis kept popping off, and it was frustrating to keep stopping, but as the day progressed, they got better and better, and didn't have that problem anymore.

Micah wasn't sure about trying a new ski hill, but he
was getting much more comfortable by the end of the day. 

Jonah liked going fast down the green-rated hill!

I spent half my time skiing with Josh and Ammon (who are much faster and better than me), and the other half with Micah and Jonah (who are slower than me). And sometimes, I took breaks to take photos (which I enjoyed the best!).

My dad skied with us part of the day, but I think we were too slow for him as a group, so he ended up loning it for most of the afternoon.

You can see the area for the planned 3rd lift on the mountain

As we were skiing, Kanyon was taking a snowboarding lesson from an instructor. There was a treadmill-lift that led to a tubing trail and a gradual-inclined hill, and that's where his entire lesson took place. There was just him and one other young girl in his class, and he was doing so well by the end of his class that he was able to make it down the hill without assistance (other than strapping his boot into the board each time). He really enjoyed it, but was tired and didn't want to go up the lift with us after the 2 hour lesson was through.

He's wearing his new winter coat & gloves that my mom got him for
Christmas, and the new hat he got from his teacher in the Christmas pinata.

We had a great day on the slopes as a family with my dad! We were glad we had the opportunity to go, and that my dad could join us this year (last year he was sick and wasn't able to go with us on our winter visit to Utah). Thanks, Dad!

The twins with the new coats my mom got them for Christmas

After we left the ski hill, my dad treated us to dinner in Logan at the Chick-fil-A. None of my boys had ever been there before, and since Kanyon is in a chicken-eating phase right now, he was especially happy! It was a yummy dinner, and nice to have something warm after a day in the cold!

When we got back to Tremonton that night, we drove down to see the Tremonton City Musical Light Show. I love it so much! We haven't gone to see the lights at Willard Bay or Temple Square for several years now because I enjoy staying in town and watching Tremonton's show so much! I actually went twice that night: once with Josh and the twins, and the second time with my mom and Kanyon. Every year they add a new light display, and a couple new songs, so it's slightly different. This year they got the singing trees and they were hilarious! I always love watching the lights during the song "Blue Christmas", but this year, I really enjoyed the "Frosty" song, as well as the new song that the singing trees sang (I only got part of it on film, though).

That night, as well as the next morning, the boys helped Grandma work on a puzzle on her new coffee table. How fitting that it was a Jack Sparrow puzzle--since they'd been watching a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon every time we drove (to Tremonton, to and from the ski hill, and home to Salmon).

I was planning on going to a friend party in Farmington that, and Josh was going to visit a friend in Layton during my party...but it lightly snowed that evening and the roads were slick, and we were tired from skiing all day, and we'd gotten back to Tremonton later than expected because of some shopping we did in Logan, so we ended up not going to see friends. We went to bed early instead! Sometimes that's a treat in itself!

On Wednesday morning, Josh and I took Jonah and Micah to the Brigham City temple to do Baptisms. It was their first time going to a temple. My dad and mom had originally planned to come with us, too, but my Great Uncle Gene passed away, and his funeral was in Kaysville that morning, and my dad said the opening prayer at the service, so they couldn't join us. Although our morning's plans had changed, I'm so glad I was still able to go to the temple. I enjoyed being in the temple with my husband and sons; it was a very peaceful experience. I liked watching Josh perform the baptisms that Jonah and Micah did, and when Josh did the confirmations, I participated too. Josh was also able to help out another woman with her family's baptisms, and I had a nice short visit with one of the temple workers from my home ward. It was a very nice morning! After we left the temple, we drove back to Tremonton, changed our clothes, packed up our things, and drove home to Salmon (and on the way the boys finished watching the last 2 Pirates movies).

We had a wonderful trip to Utah to visit my parents! It was our last big hoorah over Christmas Break. It was great to see family, go skiing, see Christmas lights, and attend the temple together.