Sleigh Ride

Last year at Christmastime, we went on a sleigh ride with Joe's family. Everyone really enjoyed it, but this year we wanted to try a different one that was a little more secluded. We drove an hour to the mountains near Kamas to the Stillman Ranch sleigh ride. 

The bridge on the way to the ranch. Definitely secluded!

First we went to the small cabin for appetizers and hot drinks.

We got there a little early and the baby was getting bored so we took her outside. She usually hates the snow so I was so happy to get these pictures of her throwing snowballs. She was having so much fun!

It was cold, but there was a gentle snow falling which made for a perfect sleigh ride. Emilia sat at the very front and yelled "charge!" and "Yee-haw!" to the horsees. 

During the last few minutes, the wind picked up and it got really cold. I wanted to take a family picture by the horses, but this is the best we got. Emilia wanted to get into the big cabin where dinner was being served.

The big cabin was warm and cozy. We ate chicken, roast beef, potatoes and gravy, and veggies while a man played the guitar and sang cowboy songs.

Emilia mostly wanted to dance. We all ate and chatted and danced. It was hard to leave the cozy warm cabin and head into the cold night. Hopefully, we'll be able to go back someday!

Christmas

Christmas Eve was just the three of us at home. Christmas day is always such a crazy day so I love having a quiet Christmas Eve. Joe made a mini version of the traditional Italian feast of the seven fishes. We only had 3 fishes, but everything was really yummy.

After dinner, we put out cookies for Santa and read The Night Before Christmas before putting Emilia to bed. After she was asleep, Joe and I continued our tradition of watching It's a Wonderful Life. At 6:30 on Christmas morning, we all went downstairs to see what Santa Claus had brought.

We all got such wonderful things- Emilia's big gift was a play kitchen!- and she was so cute opening everything! She tore all her wrapping paper off and would say, "Oh, wow!" when she saw what the present was. It was so fun to watch her. 

We played for a little while and then got bundled up to go to my mom's house. It was snowing, which made for a beautiful white Christmas, but a bit of a slow drive. 

That's Emilia's new Bitty Baby right in front!

Soon, Ethan and Jessica and their kiddos arrived. Jessica and I had planned to have all the kids wear matching pajamas and they were all so cute.

The kids had some crazy Christmas energy!

After brunch and tons of presents and fun, we got Emilia changed into her Christmas dress and headed out to see Joe's family.

Joe's family spoiled Emilia too. She got a neat Elsa doll and a special wooden Noah's Ark and we all got some things from India.

After (a really tasty!) dinner, the baby completely melted down and we went home. It was a long day, but a day filled with family and fun. Merry Christmas, 2014!

Mini trip to Bryce Canyon

I like to keep an eye on Groupon Getaways because they often have great deals for hotels that are pretty close to home. We usually use them for Park City staycations, but we wanted to get a little farther from home so I jumped on a deal to stay at Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon.

Joe thought it would be fun to leave the day after Thanksgiving (even though we were hosting!) so we booked 2 nights for that weekend. The drive to Bryce isn't too long which is good because Joe is still having trouble from his accident last year. Emilia was so good in the car and didn't fuss the whole drive. The first thing she wanted to do when we got to Ruby's Inn was jump on the bed.

On Saturday, we headed to the park after breakfast. The first thing we did was stop at the Visitor's Center to get Emilia a National Park passport. 

One of the great things about Bryce is that you can drive through it and stop at several beautiful overlooks. 

We really wanted to do a short hike so we headed all the way to the end of the park to a hike that was supposed to be pretty easy. It was honestly a little too much for the 3 of us. It was cold and Joe had a hard time with some of the hills because of his back, but we did it! And then we went back to the hotel room and no one moved until dinner time.

The next day, we stuck to the overlooks. There are plenty of awesome things to see at Sunrise and Sunset points.

There was just a tiny bit of snow on the red rocks. We had hoped there would be a little more. It was so cold, but so beautiful!

We had such a fun trip and we can't wait to get to another National Park!

Halloween 2014

This Halloween was especially fun because we decided to take Emilia trick or treating in our neighborhood. We put on our family costumes- ladybug, butterfly, and entomologist and headed out around 5:30. Emilia did such a good job and it didn't take her long to figure out how trick or treating works. She would go up to a door and take one piece of candy and head to the next house. We even got one "trick or treat" out of her! When we got home, we all ate a bunch of candy because that's what you do on Halloween!

Frightmares 2014

My family continued our annual Lagoon Frightmares tradition on a gorgeous Sunday. We played games, rode on rides, and took Emilia through the kiddo Halloween walk-throughs. I can't believe what a toddler my little girl is these days. She ran everywhere. We didn't get a ton of smiles on camera (teething sucks), but we all had so much fun!

Witches hand out candy to kids during Frightmares

This girl loves her grandpa!

I was really looking forward to the hay maze because last year, Emilia wasn't mobile. She liked walking through it and getting candy, but what she REALLY wanted to do was steal all the pumpkins.

Last ride of the day

And a bonus then and now:

2013

2014

My Junior Zookeeper

Last year, my mom bought the most perfect outfit for Emilia. She finally got to wear it to the zoo last week and she was a great little model.

The patch says "Hogle Zoo Junior Zookeeper," but my favorite part of the outfit is the little key hanging from the belt

Of course, we saw some real animals too.

And no zoo trip is complete without a ride on the carousel.