Conkey Chronicles: Christmas in Utah!

We spent Christmas with my family in Utah. We had a nice drive there (Sam was such a good boy in the car). It is always so nice to be home for Christmas. I loved walking in to smell my mom's favorite holiday potpourri and see the tree decked out with all the old ornaments I put up every year as a kid.

Me and Sammy snuggling by the tree after bath time. Because of this picture, now every time I take Sam out of the bath, he wants to take a picture in his towel.

My mom took me out for our favorite girly tradition - a pedicure! It was so nice to be pampered and relax with my mom.

The beautiful toes!

Don helped Logan, Madeline, Abby, and Camille make a gingerbread house. All the kids adore Uncle Don. They wouldn't start on the gingerbread house until he was ready to help out.

The finished product.

I knitted a scarf for my mom but wasn't even close to done by Christmas. We went to Don's Aunt Jini's house to hang out with Wendi, Ben, baby Arvo, Christine, Josh, baby Garnet, and Aunt Jini and Patty. I was furiously knitting the whole time - even as we played games. I even ran all over town trying to find yarn to finish the scarf (ran out of the yarn I started with) while we were up there.

All the kiddos - Garnet, Sam, and Arvo

Garnet is the cutest and smiliest little girl. I love her!

Don and I had brought our snowshoes and skis with us to Utah with the hope of getting out downhill skiing a couple time and possibly going on a nice snowshoe. We attempted the snowshoe trip with Jac and Dave only to find that there was so little snow, we didn't need our snowshoes. So, we just hiked up above Aspen Grove to some waterfalls and had a great time despite the lack of snow. There really was so little snow in the resorts, we just couldn't justify paying the money to ski. So, we didn't. Don and I did get out nearly every day together for a nice jog, though, which was wonderful. Don helped me on my quest to improve my running form (trying to become a mid-foot striker rather than a heel-striker. Easier said than done).

Here are some pictures of our snowshoe-less adventure:

So good to be outside with people we love!

Why Don decided to crouch? Looks super awkward and makes me laugh. The first falls we reached are behind us here.

And here are the second falls. Dave of course was salivating over all the ice to be climbed here.

A bell shaped ice formation over the falls; beautiful!

Dave dreaming about climbing up this ice flow...

Some neat ice under the falls.

Throwing chunks of ice into the falls

Looking off the edge of the ice into the water. My favorite picture of the day.

Dave trying to climb on the ice without cramp-ons. Entertaining.

Me and the Cos. He had a major booger in his mustache...

Which he then wiped on my coat in this picture. Disgusting! He's still my brother and he still grosses me out!

But I love him!

I was sliding down the ice into Don while we tried to take this picture. It was so slick!

A view of Robert's Horn.

A view into the valley.

Christmas Eve brought our favorite family tradition, the Christmas dinner and party at Grandpa Brown's house. We had a classic ham and cheesy potato dinner and then got ready for the Nativity Story. I was ready to jump in and get dressed for the play when Don gently reminded me that it is the great grandkid "kids" who will be filling the roles now, not the adults. I realize it was dumb of me not to realize this on my own but I still feel like I am one of the kids. I guess I just feel like I am 10 years younger when I come home... It's strange getting older.

Here are a few pictures of the kids getting ready for the Nativity...

Gabe playing the angel Gabriel. Fitting, right? This is the robe of my grandma's that we've always worn.

Jesse, a shepherd, Carson, the adorable sheep, and Gabe, the angel Gabriel.

Breanne, Camille, Abby, and Madeline were wise men and Logan was another shepherd.

The sheep was plumb worn out. What a cutie!

Rob and Meghan were Joseph and Mary. I just missed the moment Mary "birthed" baby Jesus (Raquel) from under her robe. It was hilarious. Our Nativity is always so irreverent and funny. My mom is always trying to help us calm it down but the fun prevails.

The angel Gabriel appearing to the shepherds.

The wisemen arrive...

And so do the wiseguys. Brian's offering? Toilet paper. No surprise there.

The whole group. It was so fun to see my Mooney and Brown cousins.

Then, it was time for the little cousins gift exchange. Each of the great grandkids brought a $5 gift and then the parents helped me pass the gifts with a rhyme Aunt Diane puts together every year. Sam absolutely loved it (as you can see from his face above).

Sam opened his gift and said, "I got a box!" and was completely thrilled. He had no idea there was anything cool inside. He was in love with his "stinky" (slinky). As we were driving home from the party, I told Don maybe we should keep some of Sam's presents for his birthday since he was so easily satisfied. I didn't want to spoil that simple happiness. Lucky for Sam, Don got me back on board with giving Sam all his gifts.

Then, it was time for the adult cousin gift exchange. Such fun!

Don and I had kept several pairs of enormous underwear from our fruit of the loom costumes last year. We decided to give them as our gifts, along with chocolate and other good stuff. I was so happy when Dave got a pair because I knew he'd appreciate it.

His face when he pulled the underwear out. Yesssss!!

And of course, he immediately put them on and modeled them for the crowd...

Work it!

The ever inappropriate brother... and Kelly who was a good sport about it all. He was a little unsure about the underwear at first but soon was sporting it like a champ.

The underwear wearing was definitely the highlight of the party. We still have a couple pairs... We'll have to save them for the perfect moment in coming years.

Grandpa Brown gave Sam some watercolors and a drawing pad. Sam was so happy!

He gave Grandpa a big hug and kiss.

We drove throughout Provo on our way home to look at Christmas lights. Sam was so thrilled! He pointed and yelled "Christmas lights!" over and over all the way home.

Once we got home, we had a bedtime snack and I started singing Jingle Bells. Sam got some maraccas out of the box of instruments on the counter and just went to town with them. He shook and shook them as we sang various Christmas songs for about 20 minutes. He loved it. I've never seen him get so into playing along to songs before and we do it every other week in my music class. It made me so happy. Daddy shook the jingle bells.

Then, Grammy read us some Christmas stories before bed.

Do you see all the stockings on the fireplace? There is one for every one of my siblings, their spouses, and all the grandkids. The entire chimney was completely covered. Amazing! There were 34 stockings up but three babies have been born since then - so now we've got to figure out where to put the 3 new ones!

I helped my mom get everything set up after everyone went to bed. We were up 'til about 3 am...

Our stockings - ready and waiting for Christmas morning!

The tree!

Me and mom in the wee hours of the morning.

Christmas morning! Everyone else was ready for church and looking good except for we three schlubs. Sam had a hard time waking up but soon got into the spirit of things when present opening began.

The other kiddos - looking nice.

Sam loved his new trains. We bought a huge set of trains and tracks on craigslist before Sam's birthday and we'll have plenty of presents for him for the next several years to come. He was thrilled with "Harold" his helicopter.

Jana, Elyse, Madelyn, Abby, Camille, Mike (my brother), and Logan.

Sam discovered a passion for candy canes.

He loved the rocket ships Grammy and Poppy Conkey gave him.

My siblings and I gave my parents a flat screen TV. They were happy with it.

Sam helped my mom make homemade egg noodles for the turkey noodle soup. Yum!

I got to see Lo, my best friend from high school, and her cute family. I miss her and loved being in her mom's house again where we spent so many good times.

I also got to see Mary, my best friend from college and Sam and Milly had a great time together.

Two days after Christmas, my family went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the lights. I hadn't been in several years and it was fun to be there again. The lights are so beautiful.

The crew!

In front of my favorite portion of lights. I always called this area "Fairy Land" as a kid.

Fairy land! I love all the pink trees.

And my favorite tree of all - the red spruce!

My mom and dad took Sammy on the "Polar Express", which is the winter ride on the Heber Creeper. Sam absolutely loved it and Don and I got to go see the second Sherlock Holmes movie (lots of fun - we both liked it). We also went on a nice jog.

My mom with Bradley and Sam. These two are three months apart in age but until this trip, couldn't care less about each other. One day, though, they decided they were buddies and now they love each other.

Here is Sammy giving Bradley a hug.

Jess, Bradley, Brian, Sam, Brianne, LeAnne, and my mom.

The train.

Dave and Don went iceclimbing together one morning. They had a great time and Don said he really improved since last year. He made it up and down the shaft twice.

We went to the Monte L. Bean museum at BYU and Sam loved all the animals. He also decided that he wanted to have his picture taken with several and would run over and say "Take a picture of my mom" and give me this crazy cheesy smile. Funny kid.

Cheesy face!

Sam went home with Poppy so Daddy and Mommy could go running with Uncle Brian at the old Smith Field House track.

My niece Abby got baptized the Saturday after Christmas. We had originally planned on leaving earlier but decided to stay. Abby asked me to speak at her baptism and I was honored that she'd asked me. I had a really hard time writing my talk. I am so used to teaching young women that trying to teach at a primary level was hard. I came up with a peanut butter analogy for baptism that worked pretty well and Abby liked it.