An Unexpected Find

Ben's parents came to visit us for a weekend in December. We were so excited to take them to one of our favorite places, Schnepf Farms. We go there every October for their Pumpkin Festival, and since they were open for the holiday season for outdoor ice skating, we decided to go check it out. While we opted out of ice skating, we still had a lot of fun wandering the farm.

The kids had fun posing, and Payton loved having Grandpa's help!

They also loved playing on the playground and this wooden train.

Baylee and Grandpa posed on a tractor. We also enjoyed wandering the store and going on a train ride. After we left, we saw a sign for a place we've been wanting to go to, so we made an impromptu trip across the street.

We had no idea that The Olive Mill was just right across the street from Schenpf Farms! We were so excited to find it right there.

We opted to go on The Olive Tour.

Ben snapped a picture of the kids and I while we were waiting for the tour.

The kids also had fun posing with Grandma!

During the tour, we were taken into a room where they told us all about olives, olive oil, they machines, etc. I love that they were prepared for kids with coloring pages. They also had an olive bar for samples. I personally didn't like any of the olives the first time, but I actually am starting to like them.

We got to learn all about olive oil and see the machines they use. Did you know The Olive Mill has been on The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Dirty Jobs? And, the food is awesome! Ben and I have been back so many times since this trip. We are hooked. They also have an olive oil bar to sample. The Strawberry Balsamic is amazing! If you are in the area, make sure to stop by. If they have the Strawberry Balsamic gelato, get it- you won't be disappointed.

We loved having Ben's parents here. Kathy and I got a good amount of Christmas shopping done too, which was great. Can't wait to have them again soon!

A Trip To See Santa Gone Bad And Other Christmas Festivities

I always love the fall and winter holiday seasons because there are always so many fun things going on. This year was no different for us. I didn't get a ton of pictures of all the fun things we were up to in December, but here's a little on what we did.

We kicked off December by digging through all of our boxes to find our Christmas stuff so we could decorate a little (we have only unpacked necessities and toys until we move back into our house). The kids had so much fun seeing their ornaments from previous years and putting them on the tree.

We met up with our friends, The Vans, at Bass Pro Shop one night (our first time in that store). They had a part of their store made into a winter wonderland, complete with Santa, a snowball fight area, a carousel, shooting practice area, and a place to write letters to Santa with a mailbox. Payton was not too excited about sitting on Santa's lap.

At least Payton got over sitting on Santa's lap once he got his candy cane.

When Heather and I went to take the kids on the super cute carousel (it had deer, bears, etc. for the animals), Payton was not having it. He's the only kid I know that doesn't like carousels. So, while we did the carousel and snowball fight area.....

...Ben took Payton around to sit on 4 wheelers and camping chairs, play in tents, see the fish, etc.

We all eventually ended upstairs. The kids innocently sitting on this.....

...ended in this. When Baylee was getting off, she slipped and hit her head on the rock wall. She complained about it hurting, but she sat on my lap and just kinda whimpered for a minute. We didn't think much of it until a few minuted later when I noticed blood on my hand and cream colored sweater. We went to go find the bathroom, and Baylee was leaving a trail of blood drips. Eventually some workers came to help, although we couldn't ever find anyone to clean up the trail. It was quite the night, but Baylee was awesome and brave and didn't complain once during the whole ordeal. When we got home and washed all the blood out and examined her head, it ended up being a teeny little cut. Amazing how much blood comes out of such a tiny head wound. (This was just a week or two after her cheek incident at school, and she was also wearing a brand new shirt. So happy for stain spray!)

We also were able to go to a light parade with the Vans (the rain made it another memorable experience with them), and Ben and I took the kids to see a boat parade where the boats were all decorated with lights. On another night with the Vans, the kids were able to have a less eventful visit with Santa after dinner before we headed to see the Mesa Temple lights.

Baylee and the rest of the kindergartners at her school did a holiday performance that family could come to school to see before winter break started. She is in the front row in a pink shirt (she ditched the white cardigan she was supposed to have on with it), and to the right of her teacher's back. Ben had just bought me a brand new iphone the day before that I had gotten a couple of better pictures on, but after Baylee's concert I accidentally dropped it in water and ruined it before I got a chance to download the pictures. I was so upset. I also didn't get to stay and watch the concert since Payton wasn't cooperating, but at least I had gotten to see her class practice the day before after their class party. It was so cute, and I'm glad Ben was able to see it.

The kids had so much fun decorating a gingerbread village. I love the concentration on their faces. There were five or six little houses/stores, and Baylee made sure we finished them all. I didn't get a picture of the finished village, but they had a lot of fun.

We went with my aunt, uncle, and cousin to go see Zoo Lights. We were hoping to miss the crowds by going two days after Christmas, but I guess a lot of people had the same idea. I didn't get any other pictures (here we are watching the trees that have lights that flash to music), but the kids loved all the lights, and were happy Uncle Doug kept sharing his Kettle Corn!

We had a lot of fun this holiday season and can't wait to do it again next year! Just without the blood :)

Family Pictures

Back in November, my aunt was nice enough to take our family pictures for us. She did a wonderful job, especially with our not so cooperative kids. We had fun though, and really appreciated my uncle distracting the kids and making them laugh. Here's a few of our favorites, although it was pretty hard to narrow it down to just a few:

Yes, I know my kids had some goofy smiles and faces, but it just shows their personality. We were overdue for family pictures, and I love the ones we got. Thanks again, Melissa!