Christmas and New Years

What's Christmas Eve without calling for Pixie? Note the extreme enthusiasm. Actually, no one was quite ready for the tradition to die.

Pixie spent a lot of time dancing at the window. So much time that we were finally able to snap a picture. Amazing what can happen when your kids are older.

But old or not, they know that Pixie brings presents and you have to call for him to get the gifts. That's just how it works. They each got pajama bottoms and a Christmas pillowcase.

Christmas this year was an all day event due to church being at 11:00. The kids decided that they wanted to look in their stockings and open one present before church and then wait for the rest until after church. Their reasoning was that they would be less rushed and could then spend the rest of the day in their pajamas. Since they are all older, no one wanted to get up before 8:00 anyway. Yes! the advantage of teenagers. After church we still had to wait because Kevin was taking the sacrament to a few couples in the ward. We always take our time on Christmas opening presents one at a time, but this was longer than usual and I really enjoyed the slower pace.

Kevin gave Rachel the cute hat and the iTunes card.
Ahh, X-Box Kinect! Camille actually started asking for this right after we bought it. We had to feign ignorance (is it like legos? oh, you just want one of the games? what?) for a month while the kids tried to explain the whole gaming system idea to their supposedly tech-clueless parents.

After we opened gifts, Verl and his family came over for dinner. My parents were also visiting, so we had fun seeing family.
Welcome 2012! We had a great time at Kim and Shaun's rockin' New Year's Eve Party. Lots of good food and family.


I had video of the noise and excitement of New Years Eve, but for some reason I keep getting an error message so it's not posting. My only New Year's goal is to finish blogging about LAST year's vacation before this summer's vacation. (Which due to the expense of last year's vacation will consist of a pool pass and a camping trip!)

December was Grand!

December brought my 46th Birthday. Oh grand, the downhill slide to 50 has begun. We went out to dinner with Verl and Sanae because it was their birthdays also. Curt surprised me by telling me that we were going somewhere on the weekend, but he wouldn't tell me where. It was fun to look forward to a mini-vacation.

But first we had a fun family party with the Grafs. Sheri, Lynn, and Raquel were up from Cedar, and it was great to get together with them and the northern Utah Grafs.


We all listened intently as Justin told his engagement story. So romantic and fun.

Cute cousins! We missed Trevor and wished he had made it home in time. However, we are glad he's back now.

The fleet (feet) is in. You know that family is here by the pile of coats and shoes. Such a great sight.

We called for Pixie and watched the new church video on Christ's birth. It was a grand time spent with family.

And then it was time for my surprise outing. We left at 2:00 on Saturday. I kept asking where we were going. Curt wouldn't say until he pulled off the freeway and onto State Street. I burst out laughing when he pulled into a small motel that was oh so slightly run down. Curt went in to check on our "reservation." Notice the lovely display of furniture outside the office door. He was doing his best to convince me it was our destination. I wasn't fooled, but I thought it was funny.
Curt gave a nice speech about how it doesn't matter where we go, it only matters who we are with. I agreed and said "then let's go home."

He then said he was off by a few blocks and pulled into this little motel. Once I started noticing, I found there are lots and lots of little motels all down state street. Here's the second one. What is it with the furniture outside?
I wasn't worried about staying in one of these lovely lodgings. I knew that even if Curt wanted to start slumming, I had keys to the car, and I wasn't staying.

We continued our way up the street, and I could see the Grand America. I've always wanted to stay there, but didn't think this would be the weekend. Just as we were about to drive past the hotel, Curt pulled into the parking lot! Yeah! This was turning into a Grand adventure.

After being personally escorted to our room by a member of the hotel staff, we were able to enjoy our executive suite. Here is the view from our balcony.
The courtyard below.
Our sitting area.
White marble bathroom.
Can you see why this is a 5 star hotel?
The lobby was decorated for Christmas. The hotel mascot, a penguin, even had a holiday home created for him out of gingerbread and candy.


There were 18 panels throughout the lobby and hallways that told a Christmas story. At each panel, you had to find a star and mark it's location on a card. At the end, you could take your filled-out card to a pastry shop and get a cookie. You didn't have to stay at the hotel to participate. It was the hotel's gift to the community. The last panel in the story talked about the star that shone at Christ's birth. I found it impressive for a business to so readily reference Christ.

I saw two of my middle school students on this outing. Being in middle school, you can imagine how thrilled they were to see their math teacher! Kids that will say "hi" to you in the halls look shocked and repulsed to see you anywhere outside of school. So hilarious.

Every table in the expansive lobby had decorations and trees were everywhere.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, Garden Cafe. The food was artfully displayed and oh so delicious.


We then went to the Gateway to look at gingerbread houses. This was one of my favorites.
A walk through Temple Square to see the lights rounded out the evening.
When we returned, our bed had been turned down and chocolates and slippers were left on the tray. The lights were turned down low and soft relaxing music was playing in the background.
The next morning we got dressed for church and left for home. Our 24 hour getaway was the perfect break from the Christmas rush. The Grand America lives up to it's name and is GRAND! We think this should be a yearly tradition!
For more pictures and a better description of the hotel click here to read Pioneer Woman's blog. On second thought, once a year is not enough. Maybe this should be a twice-a-year outing. Or we can just pack up and live here for a few weeks until our money runs out and we have to live in one of those "quaint" motels on State Street. It could just be worth it.