Christmas 2010

Utah Trip

We began our Christmas break with a trip to see my side of the family in Utah. I flew out and met up with Leah to hang out and have a college roommate reunion while Trent and the kids drove up but they ended up driving all day so I didn't need to fly out but oh well it was nice for me!

I met up with my college buddies for breakfast to catch up and to see them all again. I love these times where we talk about our lives and what we are doing and what our kids are doing it just makes life wonderful to see that we are all roughly in the same situation and enjoying life. We missed a few of you but we have our annual weekend trip planned for March in Park City so that should be great!




That evening was the annual Peterson Family party and beforehand we did family pictures once again. This was the time that I announced to my family our big news! So it was fun to see their reactions. We had a great evening of the gift giving game we do each year and it gets better and funnier each year. I ended up stealing an ITunes gift card from my grandpa. I knew he wouldn't use it!

The next week we just relaxed and just let the kids play with friends and cousins. Trent was so bored he couldn't stand it so he did snowboarding one day. But the kids and I enjoyed ourselves just hanging out and having no schedule. We saw alot of old friends and I enjoyed just being with my sisters!

We had our own immediate family party at Grandma Wood's house and had dinner and some exchanging of gifts.





We stayed at Leah's house (my best friend) most of the time and one snow day Trent and Easton headed out to shovel. Easton was having a blast! Good Daddy helper!




California Christmas

We started our drive home on Christmas Eve and made it home by 4pm and unpacked and settled down. That whole drive home I started a cookbook blog for me and my sisters because for my goal next year I want to be able to cook dinner 4 times a week. That is a big step up for me and in order for me to accomplish this task I needed some help from my sisters. So we started a blog and are putting our favorite recipes on it.

I was able to plan out our whole Christmas weekend meal plan and went shopping right when we got home and cooked my Grandmother's Chicken Casserole that I grew up eating alot and Trent and the kids loved it.

That night we just hung out as our own little family and just soaked it all in and hung around the Christmas tree in our PJ's. Each of the children got to open their gift that was given to them by their sibling. Then we concluded the night by watching "Joy to the World" to be reminded once again of why we celebrate Christmas and sent them to bed.

I was tuckered out and so Trent had to play the part for the night and did an amazing job. Our family room looked adorable the next morning for the kids.

We awoke to our children in our bed wanting us to get up at around 8am which wasn't too bad. My children love to sleep in. I went and got the camera all setup and prepared for the mad dash to the tree. It sure was for the girls but Easton had a different plan he was a little upset coming down the stairs. But he soon realized from his sisters that he had some special things waiting for him under the tree and changed his attitude.

For breakfast I got an amazing recipe from my sister Aleece and it too was a big hit with the family. I was scoring 2 for 2 now. I'm feeling a little bit more confident about my decision to just do it and not over plan and under deliver meals for my family. It was an exciting moment for me. Call me crazy!

That morning and into the afternoon was just relaxing and not at all messy. The kids kept their things under control and found new homes for the few things they received and then we decided as a family to go see the new movie, "Gulliver's Travels" in 3D which by the way you don't need to see in 3D! It too was not for little kids I didn't think maybe for 10 and older due to some scenes and some adult humor. But the kids still enjoyed it and we laughed alot.

We then went over and spent time at Trent's parents house and played card games for the remainder of the night.

Simple but enjoyable. That's how it should be, right?