We got to spend almost 3 weeks in Idaho over the holidays. It was great to see all my family but we got sick of the snow and cold really fast. I got lots of great pictures and we made lots of fun memories.
The first week we were there was the week before Christmas. It was a pretty chill week and we just got to spend time doing last minute things for Christmas and spending lots of time with Derek and Amy and their family.
One night we played the game Heads Up which is kind of like charades.
Another day we went to the Museum in Idaho Falls to look at the Christmas display which included Santa collections, gingerbread houses, and nativity collections.
They have a fun kids area at the museum with lots of things to explore and play with from the history of Idaho.
Then it was Christmas time. For Christmas Eve we made our own sandwiches to keep Smith tradition and then we headed up to Rigby to go to dinner at my aunt and uncle's house.
Santa even showed up right before he was heading out to deliver all the presents around the world.
We got home and Paige opened up her Christmas pjs before heading to bed with sweet dreams of what the next day would bring.
Then it was finally Christmas! Paige makes Christmas so much fun and I loved seeing her excitement over opening all the presents and playing with all her gifts.
We did another Smith tradition and burned a Santa candle. We were suppose to get together with all my family that is in the area for a big Christmas party but there was a big snow storm that cancelled church and made some pretty big drifts so we postponed the party until later in the week. It was a simple Christmas but we enjoyed every minute of it.
The next day we got to enjoy all the snow and had a fun playing in the snow day.
Paige looked SO cute in her snow clothes.
There was a big enough drift that the girls got to do a little sledding.
Then the day came for the family Christmas party. Karlton, Michelle, and Tannin came over a little bit earlier so Paige got to play with Tannin for a bit. Tannin is the cutest little boy!
Then we all met at Derek and Amy's and the kids first got to decorate sugar cookies and then we had a delicious dinner of lots of different soups.
After dinner and some playing we all gathered together and my mom brought her nativity set that is made of blocks and each kid got one block to set the nativity up while Papa read it from the scriptures.
Then we did all the gift exchanges- the cousins exchanged gifts and then the adults. It was fun to see everyone's reactions to what they got.
This little guy has changed so much since the last time I saw him. It was so much fun to get together with most of my family for the party.
Erika stayed the night at my parents and I went with her and my parents down to Utah to see Tyler, Sharolyn, and Emmett. It was quite a bit of driving but it was fun to see them and enjoy lunch with them. Emmett is a happy and cute little guy!
We then got all bundled up and headed outside for a wagon ride.
It was a lot of fun even though my toes were frozen and the scenery was beautiful.
We had our New Year's party on the day before since there wasn't any college games on Sunday. Two of my friends from high school came over in the morning. It was so awesome to see them and catch up.
Then it was a fun day of eating food, visiting, and watching football. The best part of the day was our numerous games of oner. This is a Smith created game and it was so much fun and pretty intense and competitive.
The little girls even played a few of their own games.
The last week we were in Idaho all the girls got together did gingerbread houses. It was a fun little get together and Paige loved having so much girl cousin time.
During the days Paige did a lot of crafting and creating. Here is one of her many creations- a beautiful crown. She has been writing words a lot lately and it is so cute how she writes them. She sounds out the word and writes it how it sounds thus on her crown is how she spells it.
For more of her writing creations she wrote and drew a whole bunch of signs and hung them all over in the upstairs at my parents house for directions to everything. Some words she got lazy and just wrote what certain words start with but I love seeing her try and figure out how to spell word.
This sign is for the bathroom. And this is what she wrote for other things in the upstairs-
-DNSDEZ- downstairs
-UBSDEZ- upstairs
-LVRM- living room
-CPDR- computer
Also during our last week we got to celebrate Emily's birthday. We got to go to Rupes and then enjoy some cake and ice cream. We went out to eat quite a few times during our trip but they were all places that had fry sauce. Whenever I go to Idaho I have to get as much fry sauce as I can. :)
Also on one of the last days we were in Idaho we went up north and visited with Erika and Brian and their family and Karlton, Michelle, and Tannin. It was fun to visit with them all and see them all before we head back to Washington.
This cute girl loved being in Idaho and seeing all her cousins. It will take some time to adjust back to normal life though I am ready to get back into a routine and be home because there is no place like home.
