Christmas in Utah

Snow is one of my favorite things in the world! It's one of the things I miss about living in Utah! We were so excited to stay at Sundance the week before Christmas!! We used the time to ski, snowboard, be together, eat and have a blast!!

The night we arrived at Sundance, we turned a corner and our car slipped into a ditch... we were stuck for an hour and a half. We called AAA for a tow truck and while we were waiting for it to arrive we were lucky enough to be rescued by a big tractor that was heading up to scrape Robert Redford's driveway.

We had some of the best snow of our skiing life at Sundance!! It was pure powder up to our waist!! It was awesome!! We had so much fun!!

We ate Christmas Eve dinner at Sundance. We had a special table right by a roaring fire to help keep us warm.

We left Sundance on Christmas day and went to Christmas dinner at Mark's parents. They were very thoughtful and invited my parents to the festivities. We had so much fun being with everyone!!

We spent time with my parents and my niece, Lacey. She brought over her little 13 month old son Davey... he is SO cute!! The only one he wanted anything to do with was his mom and for a few seconds Jack! My other niece Lyndsie and her husband Johnny came over a few days later...unfortunately I didn't take any pictures :(

Tamara came over with her girls and we had a good visit... although it wasn't long enough!! In a couple of the pictures you can see Jessica (the 6 yr. old) trying her best to give Jack a kiss...he's fighting her off but I think it's just for the cameras!! I'm sure he enjoyed every minute of the attention!

We want to make sure the Chase family knows how much we appreciate them letting us (and our dog) stay with them for a whole week!! We pushed people out of their beds, stayed up way too late, almost watched doggy porn...but we had a TON of fun!! We love you guys!! We love all our family in Utah, Washington and California!! We MISS YOU!!

Brynn took some beautiful photos while we were at Sundance. She has quite the talent!!

45 year olds Still Enjoy the Lake

We went to Lake Lanier for the day to celebrate Mark's 45th Birthday!! We LOVE you Mark and appreciate all you do for our family!!

He Rocks!!

On our craft day we made Mark these FATHER'S DAY gifts!! How did we all get SO lucky?? He's is a great father and husband!! WE LOVE YOU MARK!!!!

VACANCY...

The loss of my friend Jan has left a VERY BIG vacancy in my life... but through it all I have been blessed with an absolute clarity of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a VERY BIG appreciation for ALL that I am blessed with. So while I will miss my dear friend... I know we will meet again!!

Storms...

This week has been a tough week...Mark has been out of town all week, I am in a seasonal "funk" and to top it off I've had some less than stellar moments as a mother!

It seems I have forgotten our family creed "Stop Searching for Storms and Seek the Sunlight" In an effort to seek that Sunlight I wanted to try and change my "funk" and express my gratitude, to my Heavenly Father, for ALL that he has blessed me and my family with! I am OVERWHELMED at his unconditional love!
This week we have been reading one of my favorite sections in the Book of Mormon I am so grateful that each time I read this book I understand it more and find SO many applicable life lessons!

My cute mom celebrated her 82nd birthday this week!! I am so grateful for her and her faithful example! I aspire to be all that she is!!


I think this post helped me move a step closer to seeing that sunlight. I hope you can see your sunlight!!