Hallelujah Chorus

We decided to travel for Christmas this year to see Aunt Sarah and cousin Violet. So, we got packed, and buckled in for the almost 800 mile adventure. It was in the 50s and raining (yes, I said raining at the end of December) in Snake Valley when we left. I think we traveled through all kinds of weather that day, including snow in parts of Utah and Colorado. 

Our first stop was to see a special someone at the care center in Delta, Utah.......

Grandma Hanks usually loves company. She is never short of words when we visit. It was nice.
We would have loved to stay longer, but we anticipated getting many more miles in before the day ended.......

We got to Cortez, Colorado late that night, but we were happy to sleep inn a little the next morning. Then, Bryan, Ava, and Isaac got a morning soak in before we departed again......

 Thankfully, we had three great little travelers and after an exhausting trip we made it to our destination.

(Insert Hallelujah Chorus!)..... We made it to Cedar Crest, New Mexico!

Even Lucy was excited about a little more noise :)

 Let the good times roll.........

Go Tell It On The Mountain

...........  over the hills, and everywhere! 

It's been a warm winter, until the end of last week. There was one day where around 11:00 am it was 60 degrees at 5,000 ft! There has been some white added to the surroundings just recently.
Audrey and I took the kids to Kious Basin for a little hike/rock climbing. We were a little over dressed for this adventure, but I didn't want to be sorry if it did suddenly get real cold. I was looking forward to taking this hike (and getting in some exercise) because I knew the following day we were going to be in the car for 6 or so hours.

So ~ off we went, through the trees........

Pine cones crunched under our boots.......

Over the granite rocks........

It was steep at times, making it an exciting challenge.......

Ava paused to widdle a stick......

It was a beautiful time of day. This is Kious Basin looking down at the town of Baker.......

The adventure got a little more exciting when we discovered a frozen pool of water in the rocks.......

Audrey took these next three :) 

Say, "Winter Solstice Hike!" 

After playing and taking in the beautiful surroundings, we treaded back......

Willow is generally a happy camper, but she kept removing her cap from her head and would whine when the wind picked up. But, she's still a great little trooper for all adventures we embark on ........

No one sat on any cacti coming down from the hike :)
Just a stump at the end.........

Willow's little pointer finger is always busy......  I love it
:)
Haha
What a great evening!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

.......... the sounds of a long-anticipated family gathering (December 20th at Mom's)!
The pitter patter of feet, good conversation, laughter, and a few meltdowns of little children.
I was looking forward to this moment ~ finally getting together and taking a break in our busy lives to catch up. The only thing I regret is that I didn't take as many photos. It was a little challenging trying to get the flashes of children that ran passed. I ended up deleting many blurry ones. But, that's how it goes in a cozy house and a little friendly chaos :)

We sat down for a fabulous dinner. Seriously, it was so good I could barely stop eating. My mouth wanted more, but my stomach was yelling, "No, no, no!" 
I felt like a Hobbit.
lol

As you can see, it was a traffic jam and we barely fit in the kitchen :)

I told the kids to smile, they all wore a fake one...... haha
Hey, at least they all looked the general direction!

I couldn't resist taking photos of Willow in this holiday dress that Sarah gave her.
She looked adorable!

I didn't expect her to pick my nose, not sure what she was thinking. 

Maybe I had a cliff hanger? 

lol 

Addison loves babies.
She was thrilled to have her photo taken with one.

Willow is in a hair-tugging phase right now........

Group photo of the kids (I'm happy it turned out this great)...........

~ The greatest gift you ever own is not found in a shop or under a tree.

It is found in the hearts of your friends and family.