Celebrating the New Year

When I heard my nephew was getting married in SLC at the end of December a while back, I found some cheap Southwest tickets so we could attend the wedding...and since two of our children live close by, we thought we'd ring in the New Year with them while we were there. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, the wedding was changed to Memphis & considering the expense...blah, blah, blah...we missed the wedding. (Sad face here.) Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Reed Carter! Brittany, you are a beautiful bride!

Photo curtesy of Amy Coontz via Facebook.

We DID, however, celebrate the end of 2011 & the beginning of 2012 with Leah & Terri & their families in Utah. We packed in tons of fun! We began babysitting at Leah's while she & Rick went out to celebrate their 7th anniversary!

Keira is really into games these days (it must be the age where they finally understand the rules & how to play them)...we played a few...





Of course, games with G'pa always end up in a wrestling match!



The next day we got to watch Olivia's gymnastic lesson. Being a gymrat myself, I LOVE watching kids learn what marvelous things their bodies can do! Gymnastics is such a great activity for a child's body awareness & physical development!








After lunch we went with the Bassetts to visit The Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point which has the world's largest display of mounted dinosaurs, so I'm told.



They sure have large feet!



I was impressed by all the hands on activities; especially the erosion table, & sand pit where you can brush away the sand & discover hidden bones.





The girls found some old dinosaurs - besides the ones holding them...



Rick discovered a good deal on some sushi at Tsunami's & we were really surprised that the girls liked their California Rolls!





The next day we headed to Jungle Jim's Playland (Chuck E Cheese on steroids). The girls had fun riding the rides as we visited & I played with my new camera. (Haven't learned how to adjust the settings yet, but I had fun playing around with it.)





New Years Eve we all had dinner at T-dolly's. They fixed some yummy fish tacos & we rang in the New Year with a Paaar-Tay!



It's not hard to please toddlers with a little bowling & Twister...






Although, we didn't make it to midnight, we did celebrate with plenty of "cheers"...






We enjoyed a cozy Sunday after church snuggling, playing games, & Liv helped G'pa open his birthday present...




The next day we got to see Keira at her gymnastics class.







Then we headed to the Hogel Zoo - it was a gorgeous day. It always amazes me how much children LOVE animals.






I hadn't been to Temple Square in years so we walked around & enjoyed the peaceful setting. It was a great place to begin the new year, reflecting on what matters most...generations of love.






We met Ty & Christi for dinner at The Pie Pizzaria...great little place with character & a ginormous delicious pizza!




More games & snuggles...




Before we left the next day, we met our Carter Cousins for breakfast at Kneaders. Brittany had to work, but Reed was there & Katelyn brought her fiancé, Zach. Love these little Carter Critters...when did they grow up?




A great start to a wonderful new year full of family. Wishing you the best in 2012 - Happy New Year!