CHRISTMAS IN UTAH ...AWHHHHH ~

THURSDAY:
Heather wanted me to spend Christmas with her last year but I procrastinated and didn't really make arrangements to fly and then it snowed and Traci had her house fire and so on and so on ...... Needless to say, I spent it here helping Traci and Jason with their delima!

This past summer I had a garage sale and used my money to buy a plane ticket to Utah and make my little girl happy! (It made me happy too) :)

I was greeted at the airport by Heather and Rowan. I think he was happy to see me! He had a big toothy smile when I got in the car!

Heather and I drove back to Layton and went to Winco and got some items for Christmas dinner etc ... After taking the groceries home, we went to the Mall where Jon works. TALK ABOUT BUSY!! We had plans to get Rowan's picture with Santa but the price was sky high so we opted for a picture in front of his little Santa setup. It wasn't what we'd hoped for but Heather and Rowan looked real cute!! I bought a couple of protective cases from Jon for the Ipod's that Tony and I got for Christmas. (Merry Christmas Honey! :)
After leaving the mall, Heather and I went to Target to get a couple of things. We met my friend Tammy there (by chance) and Heather invited her to come over for dinner with us! I knew that she lived close to Heather and as it turns out, they are in the same neighborhood, different block! AMAZING!
Heather made a vegetable cheese soup and rolls! It was delicious! I had a great visit with my friend and after she went home Heather and I put skeesix to bed and we settled in and made some felt ornaments for her tree! TOTALLY FUN!
FRIDAY:
It was Christmas Eve and Heather and I wrapped some things and returned a book to Costco, shopped a little ...... you know, all the last minute things we do the day before Christmas. Jon got home at 6PM that evening so we loaded up and drove into SLC for dinner at Boca something or other ......it was Italian and I can't remember how to say it. It was good though!

Here we are seated around the table! It was fun and very very good! After eating we drove to Temple Square and tried and tried to get a free parking spot BUT NONE WERE TO BE HAD!!! I thought the Mall was busy! NOT COMPARED TO TEMPLE SQUARE! After seeing the beautiful lights and nativities, I knew why!

It is a magnificent display of color with the Temple as the perfect backdrop!

Simply gorgeous!

I loved seeing all the Nativities that were being displayed. The big life size one

Always had

soooooooo many people in front of it that we were unable to get close enough to it to get a picture! As Heather says ....boo!

But this one on the pond of water was

Awesome !!

The lights on the water looked like bubbles with lights in them and the water was so still that the reflection was magnified perfect!!

We walked to the pad where you can take pictures and get the front of the Temple but there was a line of people wanting to use it and get a shot so we opted to stand to the side and we still got some pretty decent pic's. It was too dang cold to wait and we were having quite a time keeping a hat and mittens on Rowan!




Jon and Heather stealing a kiss!

After getting home again, we opened one gift! PJ's for all of us! It was really fun! A Larson tradition! Then we put Rowan to bed and guess who came???

Well, Santa of course!

Her little tree looked so beautiful in the reflection of the windows with the white lights!

Jon and Heather modeling their nice warm jammies!

We stayed up for a bit and then we hit the sack with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads! lol

SATURDAY: CHRISTMAS DAY

Awhhhhh Christmas morning!

Rowan got a fire truck and he was pretty stoked about it!!

He must of thought Jon was Santa cuz he gave him a kiss for the truck! lol

(I'm laughing at Jon's bedhead right now! I didn't notice it till this post! :)




We relaxed after opening our gifts and had a nice breakfast of French Toast, bacon and scrambled eggs!

We watched Rowans movies and played with his toys! Later in the afternoon we went to TANGLED at the theater and I LOVED IT!!! It's definitely gonna be one to buy!! At dinner time, we baked a ham and twice baked potatoes and made a delicious broccoli salad! After dinner, Jon, Heather and Rowan went to Erica's home (Jon's sister) for Christmas dessert and I went to my friend Tammy's home to visit!

I look like a line backer next to her .... (where in the heck do us Berezay women get those broad shoulders?) Oh and yes, I'm still wearing my pajama top I got! Hey, it worked!!! It was fun to visit with her again and to catch up! IT"S BEEN YEARS!! Literally! She is such a dear friend and I love her! She is so kind and considerate and always thinking of others!!

SUNDAY:

Heather and Jon are in the Nursery and she had made arrangements for a sub because we were invited to go to Ogden to Jon's grandparents home for a visit and also to see his Uncle and Aunt that live in Arizona. (They were really good to the kids when Jon and Heather lived there.) It was a pleasant drive out there but it started to snow and it came down good!! BIG FLAKES! The drive home was slow but uneventful for us .... but not for two other vehicles on the freeway who must have been going too fast cuz we saw two fender benders!

Safe back at home we enjoyed some mommy/daughter time .............

And some Grammy and Rowan time!

And after putting Rowan to bed, we watched a movie and hit the hay ourselves.

MONDAY:

I had to catch the plane at 11AM so I was up and ready to go by 9AM. Rowan was still asleep when I had to leave and Heather drove me into SLC. Jon took a picture of us before we took off! It was a great Weekend and I appreciate the kid's hospitality so much! Good times!

I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas as well and lets hope 2011 is a GREAT YEAR FOR ALL OF US!!