December 2018 Part 2

 We really wanted to make some progress on our master bath remodel before we left. Chris worked hard to get the bath faucet installed at just the right height, hanging out at just the right depth so the water would flow into the free standing tub.   

There was a beautiful morning sunrise as we headed out on the ~29 hour drive to Utah.  I remember having the thought, "Poor Max, he has no idea we're strapping him in for more than a day... for all he thinks we might just be driving 20 minutes to the grocery store." Despite his fussing at the beginning he did really well on the drive out.  Chris, as always is a driving MACHINE. Theres no way we could do these long drives so compactly without him. 

One of the first stops in Utah is Costco! Tiff and I meal planned for the Christmas break and took some kids to enjoy pizza, churros and smoothies at the Costco Food court.  We love this time with cousins!

Max meeting Hazel! They are so cute together. Max is super interested in her. Its like he can feel that they're going to be best friends. 

We love to go to the Herriman Ice Ribbon for some ice skating time. 

Christmas Eve pictures were pretty quick this year. There were so many people around and we got started on things a little late so we just took a few group pictures. We loved representing our beloved Mississippi State Bulldogs! (Also it was awesome that these t-shirts were free from some event... Gwen was less pleased about the huge fit though... all the shirts were an adult size Large!)  We kept up our normal Christmas Eve traditions and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus then read the nativity while the cousins acted it out.  We also did our Betteridge Cousin Christmas gift exchange. 

Christmas morning was fun to share with Tiffany and Todd's family. We packed pretty light on the Christmas gifts and decided to take pictures of some of the big things and just give the kids pictures of what will be waiting for them at home. The big big item was a mini electric motorcycle! Oh the boys are going to have so much fun with that when we get back to our 3 acre paradise.  One other huge surprise was this extra stocking still hanging on the Ericksen fireplace. It took almost to the end of all the presents before the kids asked Tiff and Todd what that was about. We looked inside and it was a BABY ANNOUNCEMENT! Tiffany is pregnant with her 6th baby!!! How totally exciting.  I was so surprised. 

The party is never over on Christmas day because we get to celebrate Alec's birthday the next day! We gave him breakfast in bed like usual. He is always such a good sport on his birthday no matter where we are. He's now 12 years old and will be getting the Priesthood soon and passing the sacrament as a Deacon. Thats crazy!  He decided to do two fun outings: sledding and going to a nearby trampoline park.  We invited any family who wanted to join us and the place was huge so the kids just ran around. Max was too young to buy a ticket so technically he shouldn't have been playing on the trampolines, but they looked so fun that he had a hard time staying away. The big kids were awesome to help him jump and crawl on them for a bit. 

Sledding was super fun and easy since there's this steep hill just across from Tiff and Todds / Jared and Ashley's houses. Max had a hard time maneuvering around in his snowsuit. He was like this blob that tipped over easy. haha. But when he landed face first, it wasn't so bad... he'd just start eating the snow.  Charlie, Gwen, and Alec particularly loved the sledding. Freddy had fun too but it was too hard for him to walk back up the hill, so I would have to tromp down and help him back up. Its pretty steep!

Also on this trip we went to the Herriman Rec Center and reserved a racquetball court so we could play some volleyball. It was really fun and the kids loved it. 

While we're in Utah we like to try and meet with both sides of the family, especially Chris' grandmas! We don't know how much longer we'll have them with us.  We loved all this time with family, but with the snowstorms coming we needed to be careful about when we left to drive back.  These visits are never long enough!