I have to be honest here, I want to hurry and get this post out of the way so I can go read more of the vampire books that I am shamelessly in love with. (Thank you Wendy!) I’m talking about the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I’m halfway through New Moon and have only one thing on my mind… Edward! That being said, I’ll try to do a quick recap of our week long Christmas vacation in Alpine at my parents’ house.
The first day we were there was beautiful and sunny with lots of fresh, powdery snow everywhere. Californians at heart, me and my siblings and families all geared up and took advantage of the strange, cold phenomenon. We had a great time sledding, throwing snowballs, and making snow angels for the better part of the day.
The bigger boys all got really into making the fastest, and best sled run possible. Eventually, the run consisted of a big folding table covered with snow to get a fast, running start, a couple of boulders covered with snow to serve as “jumps” and carefully crafted turns (engineered by Brent) that would enable you to safely sled all the way to the end of the block! All in the confines of my parents’ enormous backyard. I loved seeing my little boys all bundled up with rosy cheeks having such a fun time running around with all their cousins – with whom they enthusiastically joined in a game of body sliding across the icy trampoline. Such fun! To top off the day the whole fam watched BYU beat UCLA at the last second, after we were sure we’d lost. I wish we had a video of all the screaming and “happy dances” that ensued with that missed field goal.
My mom spoiled us all by preparing our traditional Swedish Christmas Eve feast, not to mention the Christmas morning feast, and the Christmas afternoon feast as well. All delicious! Christmas Eve was spent reading the story of the Savior’s birth and singing carols while the grandkids acted out the nativity. This year there were 5 of the nine Cox kids there, plus 4 spouses, 9 grandkids (1 on the way), 2 grandparents, 1 dog, and a partridge in a pear tree. Quite the loud audience for the pre-bedtime viewing of Home Alone. Which was such a blast to watch with all the little kids and parents alike. Everyone had a good laugh at Harry and Marv’s expense.
The little elves were all up late assembling, wrapping, hanging, and stuffing. The communal pile of presents was a bit alarming in size by the end of the night! Christmas morning Jake led the pack to declare that Santa had finished the milk and left a little bit of cookie just for him! The coveted toy of the day was Luke’s professional Black and Decker tool desk with all the works. All the other gifts seem to pale in comparison. Though Danny was pretty partial to Jake’s new skateboard. (I think I’ll have to go back to Target, I mean Santa, for a second one.) My favorite gift of the day was the annual love letter that Brent leaves in my stocking ever year. It’s his sweet little tradition he’s created for me and I love it. They always recap our year and say something new. This year was by far his best letter yet.
Christmas afternoon the whole crew (including kids) went to go see National Treasure 2 – which I enjoyed, but not quite as much as the first one. Two days later Brent and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary (Dec. 27th). Our date night ended up kind of a disaster for several reasons, but we at least made it up to Salt Lake to watch the Joseph Smith movie that plays in the old Legacy theater. We’d never seen it and thought it was very good. I also made it a point to try on my wedding dress (which my mom stores) for Brent. This was fun, because it still fits great, I still love it, and Brent said, “Wow- you look even better than you did when we got married” (Smooth…)
The rest of the week consisted of watching a lot of movies, (I Am Legend being one of them – which I thought was rather lame) reading, keeping the kids from killing each other over various toys, and eating lots of junk. I am horribly sick of chocolate at this point in time. Though I am still thinking of my chicken tostada salad from Cafe Rio, it was so good.Thankfully the car made it up and back without any problems and the boys didn’t murder or maim each other while trapped in the backseat. We’re all a little tired, possibly a little sick, and have a lot of laundry to do. Not to mention suitcases to unpack, toys to put away, decorations to take down, and grocery shopping to do – but we’re happy to be home in our little house, and grateful for the wonderful week of family, friends, rest, and relaxation. Please see lots more pictures here in the latest album.
Now if you’ll excuse me… Edward is waiting.
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