A three day weekend came along in January and we got to be with the Allred fam in Bear Lake. We were so glad that Landon and Sarah invited us all to the Christensen house. It is one of the most beautiful homes with an awesome view. It was all made better by being with our family, eating awesome meal after meal, sledding, sitting in the hot tub, lounging, cousins playing, reading, playing games and Sarah bringing a full bag of all of her leftover Halloween candy.
The house has a small hill right out the back door that is just perfect for dressing the kids all up in their snow gear and sending them right outside. When they are cold and done, they can just go right back in. Zachary opted for the going back inside quite quickly. The rest of us had some good snow time both Saturday and Monday. It was followed directly by hot chocolate and the hot tub! That is the life folks.
Liz and Kate all dressed up and headed out . . . very apprehensively.
Annie and Ava's rosy cheeks.
Cousins.
A snow cowboy.
Uncle Evan taking Liz and Norah for a ride.
Evan and Annie. I mean, could there be a cuter picture of the two love birds?
The two Annies.
Landon and Scott threw down some snow to make a jump. Some handled it very well. Brielle sailed over it every time.
Sarah went over it on her knees. Doesn't she look so hard core?
Aiden snow plowed.
Evan flew. Directly at me.
Good form by Alicia.
And then there was the lone fat baby who hated the snow. Who cried if she was set down in it and had to touch it. Who tolerated being set in a chair to wait it out. I was laughing so hard at her big, stuffed self slumped in her lounge chair.
Soon Liz and her "Edward Scissor Hands" gloves came to join Kate to watch the action from the side lines.
On to Hot Chocolate!!
The rest of our time was spent letting the kids roam free as a little pack while we lounged around talking, reading and napping.
I actually sat and read a book. It was amazing.
While the adults were so very "busy" we thought our angelic children were quietly working on a puzzle. As cousins do when they get together, right? Turns out, I came upon these guys quietly working on eating a whole bag of gummy bears. (I love Zach and Annie's faces.) Later, I opened the pantry door to find Norah, Liz and Kate sitting quietly inside biting open (non frozen) Otter Pops. Surprise!
Eventually, they did make it to working on that puzzle. Good kids.
What pushes a fun and relaxing weekend with family right over the top though? Really good food. Seriously, we ate well. We each did meals and they were delicious. Here are the kids eating pulled pork and coleslaw sandwiches when we got home from church on Sunday.
Sunday night Scott wanted to do a full Thanksgiving meal. He cooked a turkey and we surrounded it with stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, raspberry jello, cranberry sauce and then apple pie. We fed the kids their Thanksgiving meal early and after we cleaned all the dripping red jello off of their bodies and got them into pajamas, we set them up to watch a movie in the basement.
The adults then enjoyed our big Thanksgiving dinner while the kids were tucked away happily downstairs. Genius.
We put the kids to bed afterward and then stayed up until 2am talking over Annie and Evan's relationship. We loved hearing every detail and I'm sure Evan loved us all discussing him also. Most of us are NOT used to being awake until 2am though.
Monday morning we woke up to a moose out the window and fog covering the lake. Beautiful.
That morning's hangover was only made better by more good holiday food. Tawna made us mom's Christmas quiche for breakfast. She is a pro. Evan helped her along by serenading her.
It was such a nice long weekend. Thank you so much Landon and Sarah!!! (and Jim and Char)
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