Beehive State Trip Review

We are back from our trip to Utah over the holidays and the first part of the month. We had a great time visiting both of our families, seeing friends and eating way too much delicious food! Our trip included getting to see a brand new niece and meeting Elizabeth's sister's boyfriend-turned-fiancee, as well as lots of parties and movies, the lights at temple square, playing games, trips to the temple, a ski trip for the boys, shopping, a wagon ride to see hundreds of elk, a BYU basketball game, and even had time for some rest and relaxation.

The day after we arrived in Utah we went with Scott's family to see the lights at Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Nathan was especially excited because we got to ride 'the choo-choo' or the 'polar express' to get there (we took the Trax trail from Sandy to get to SLC). There is a picture with Nathan and grandpa riding the train to get there. We enjoyed seeing the temple and all the lights. Nathan liked sticking his tongue out and tasting the falling snow ... he also loved sipping hot chocolate with his cousins after walking around - what a fun evening!

On new year's eve in the afternoon we went to a party with the Jackson extended family in Riverton and then went back to Scott's parents' house in the evening to celebrate the new year. Nathan made it all the way to midnight! The video below shows Nathan and his cousins banging their pots and pans at the turn of the new year.

After getting a few hours of sleep New Year's morning, we went to another party, this time with the Jeffery extended family. Elizabeth's cousin brought a Nintendo Wii game system and everyone had a great time bowling and guess who the family champ ... Elizabeth - we never knew she was such a gamer! Here is the picture of the champ just moments after her thrilling victory.

Also, on December 31, 2007, Elizabeth's sister Katie and her husband Casey welcomed their first child into the world - Elsa Jean Kennington. She is a beautiful baby girl and we all enjoyed getting to see her and hold her. Nathan always calls her "baby Elsa" and he did a good job, for the most part, being soft and even getting to hold his cousin. He tried to sing to her - his choice was 'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.' Fortunately for Elsa, he was not jumping on the coach while singing his rendition of Rudolph this time.

On the first Saturday of the new year my brother Spencer and bros-in-law Erik and Casey and myself journed up Provo Canyon to Sundance Ski Resort for a little skiing on the greatest snow on earth. We had to fight fast falling snow on the way up and we were very thankful to have Casey's chains to put on the tires, but we made it and enjoyed what turned out to be a beautiful day on the slopes. As a native Utahn I am sorry to admit it was only my third time skiing, but it was lots of fun even though I fell a fair number of times. Erik and Casey got bold and tried a black diamond run which they both survived, but Erik came out minus a pair of sunglasses. I stuck to the blue and green runs and they were challenging enough for me. Overall, we had a great time and came out with only a few bumps and bruises ... and a pair of bent ski poles (Erik's poles got bent between the lift and the ground).

We took lots of family photos with the Jacksons while we were in Utah. On the right is one of all the Jackson siblings (Elizabeth on the bottom right, Katie on bottom left, Stephanie on top right, Erik on top left, and Anne in the middle). It was an eventful trip for the Jacksons: besides Katie's baby, Stephanie got engaged and we also told them that Elizabeth is expecting! That's right, baby #2 is on it's way! The due date is August 1st. We heard a heart beat shortly after returning from Utah, so it is starting to seem more and more real. The countdown is on the top right of our blog ... more about the baby in future posts to be sure.

A couple of days before leaving Utah, Scott's parents took us up to Hardware Ranch (near Logan, UT) to see the elk that come there in the winter. We got to take a wagon ride and see lots of beautiful elk from a close distance. Nathan enjoyed seeing them, as we all did. The ranchers said there were about 700 head of elk there the day we visited. Another interesting note: the rancher said the bucks can grow their antlers as much as 2 inches per day when they are growing new ones back!

I had to put a little video and picture from our trip to the Marriot Center to see our beloved Cougars of BYU play. It was a boy's trip - I took Nathan and my brother Spencer took his 3-year-old son Carter. It was a fun time for all.