New Years' Eve 2011

On New Year's Eve, we stayed pretty close to the Kaysville home front. We enjoyed a Prince and Princess Tea Party hosted by Cinderella (Grandma Hanks) and a unicorn (Aunt Janna) and then rang in the New Year early with the kids and then again (early) with the adults.

Grandma and Aunt Janna (and the Cricut) helped the kids make their paper doll characters for the tea party.

Cinderella and the fairy godmother explained to the kids what their challenges were to get to the tea party.

First, they had to jump across the stones to the tree without falling in the lava.

Then they had to build a castle.

Then they had to pin a tail on the fiery dragon (aka: Grandpa Hanks).

After all the tasks were accomplished we went to the castle to have juice and treats.

All of the cute characters ready for the tea party!

Then the kids enjoyed some exercise time while jumping on the trampoline. They LOVE that thing!

Just before bed, we went outside to light some sparklers to start our New Years celebration.

Our friends, the Bairds, and their son, Tyler, came over from his grandparents house next door to do sparklers with us.

After we counted down (to 8:00pm), we made all the noise we could to celebrate!

Of course there were lots of pictures being taken and much enjoyment by all. :)

Then the kids got to enjoy some festive cookies (yep, right before bed).

Brian's Hanks Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle stopped by for the night on their way back home so we were able to have the adult's countdown to 2012 around 10:00pm. Pretty exciting group! :)

Post Christmas Utah Trip

On December 26th, we loaded up our things at my parents' house, made a quick stop at our place in Seattle to drop off gifts, and then headed straight to Brian's parents' house in Utah with an overnight stay in Boise.

One morning in Utah, we got together with a couple of our friends from business school who were also in the area for the holidays. It'd been over 18 months since the kids had played together but they acted like old friends!

We got a picture with the Hoopers, but didn't get one with the Grays, who were also there. It was so fun to see some of our great friends from business school and missed those we didn't get to see.

We also went down to BYU so we can continue our "Pavlov's Dog" quest for our kids with the school. I mean, what kid wouldn't want to go to a college where you can pick out any candy you want every time you go there??? :)

Janna and Audrey were hanging out with us, too. After the bookstore, we hit up Cafe Rio for my indulgence.

We then went to Brian's cousin's wedding reception in Provo. We weren't dressed up, but we're family, so oh well! :)

The decorations were done by one of Brian's other cousins and his wife through their business Signature Party Rentals. I was SO impressed. We walked into a church building, then walked through the gym doors into a beautiful reception. The tent was inside the gym and it totally transformed it. What a brilliant idea! An indoor tent...everyone can stay warm!

The kids also did some coloring. I think Sydney's picture is a cat.

And I think Wes' picture is a dog.

I also took Wes to In-N-Out one day (my other indulgence) on a mommy-son date.

Grandma Hanks gave us a tour of the Family History Center in Salt Lake City where she serves as a missionary.

Sadly, the tour was cut short for the kids when Wes threw up all over the 3rd floor carpet! I guess he wanted to leave his own bit of history there...

We then walked around Temple Square (dragging Wes along even though he'd just thrown up).

We also went to the Conference Center and tried to get a cute picture of the kids. "Tried" is the key word. :)

A beautiful view of Temple Square and the lights coming on as the sun is going down.

A family picture with the Temple Brian and I were married in!

A beautiful sunset before we attempted to meet my sisters and their families for dinner where Wes threw up yet again so we finally decided we should just take him home. (We like to push our kids to the limit!) ;)