Another Successful Utah Trip

Travelling to Utah with these boys is always an adventure, and luckily it’s always worth it because of all the the amazing people and things we get to see and do. We did a lot more and saw more people than our camera caught, but we’ll be glad for the pictures that we did get, and be sure to be better next time!!

FRIENDS

The Curtis Family

These awesome people moved back in June and it was so fun to see them and to see how big Lucy has gotten.
These years of our life are so incredibly fun, but sometimes sad because we miss stages of growth that happen so quickly.

The Barneys

We didn’t do anything fancy, but were lucky enough to meet up at Arctic Circle so the kids could play and we could catch up after not seeing each other for a year and a half.
Wes and Norah had never met, so it was so fun for them to see and play with each other.

I’m waiting for a replacement of a non-blurry picture from Kim.

Dean.Lincoln.Thad
I was lucky to get a picture of them holding still…well almost, Dean was on his way down!

The Madsens

These two together are my favorite. They have been besties from birth and I think it will continue throughout the years.
Having dinner with them was so fun and I’m sad this is the only picture to show for it.
Josie and Wes did not get one shot the whole trip. We’re pathetic.

After Brian left, we attended A Night of Sharing with Heidi’s parents and took a gift to Santa to give to kids that don’t have much.

Thad and Sadie enjoyed seeing Santa - Sadie didn’t pick up on it being her Papa Dave!

Lovers.

The Millers

For all of Brielle’s 3 birthdays we have lived in Connecticut, and luckily we have been in town for all 3 birthday parties!

This Toy Story party did not disappoint. Can you tell!?

Funny faces!

Body and Wes bullied each other a little bit, but they held their own and they each made it out alive.

Thad and Brielle got along beautifully. It was really enjoyable to be together. They pretended so well together and were always wondering where the other was.
Breanne’s whole family was so sweet to put up with us during or visit to Cache Valley because I had strep and was just hanging out.
I should have gone to the doc sooner, but we were having too much fun and I put it off. Bre let me have a lengthy nap and took care of me during our stay.

After the birthday fun we headed to Haley’s home in West Point to be together and check out all her stuff for Baby Boy that is due on Christmas Eve…which could possibly be his birthday as of right now.

Haley always has a trick up her sleeve to keep our kids entertained.
Luckily Dan loves Shark Week and needed some plastic victims.
Thank you Dan.

These two were sad to say goodbye to each other after our fun partying and sleepover, but had some fun on the lawn making snow angels….wait, something is missing??

Babies, babies, babies!

I’m sad we weren’t able to have all five babies together, but luckily we were able to meet up with the Madsens and Pearsons.
They were so cute scooting around together and fighting over toys already.
Harper already has an attitude, and I LOVE it! She is all girl.

BABY SHOWERS

I was lucky enough to be in town to help throw baby showers for two of my favorite gals. Teresa was kind enough to lend her home for BOTH showers that happened a week apart. Haley’s was first on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

BABY BOY HILL

Bre was the mastermind behind all the décor, and my iPhone pictures definitely don’t give them justice.

I’m kind of sad about the lack of pictures I took, but I got some of my favorite peeps:

We sure love this pregger momma and are so happy we could help begin celebrating his arrival.

BABY GIRL MONSEN

It was so fun to plan this shower with the family.
Kelli and I had lots of fun coming up with ideas and all of the girls enjoyed carrying them out.
I sure got lucky with awesome in-laws!

Kelsie is such a beautiful pregnant lady, and definitely has “the glow.”
She almost makes me want to be pregnant again!
We can’t wait to see this little girl…we hope she bakes an extra two days so she and Wes can share a birthday. :)

FamilyAnd I saved the best for last --  Most of our trip was spent with our awesome families!

Thad loved spending time with his cousins.
With all these boys, they had endless fun!

Any time we went anywhere, Thad would ask, “Are we going to Caden ‘n’ Leah’s house?”

Cole is such a sweet boy and Thad couldn’t get enough of him. Such cute kids!

Thad also got a good dose of this great lady.
Grandma Teresa is always up for something fun even if it’s a bit chilly outside!

It was so fun to have Aunt Kaylee around for Thanksgiving too.

I know it’s blurry, but I had to document why he was so excited to be on her shoulders.
He loved bonking the Mistle Toad!

A lot of mornings were spent goofing at Grandma Teresa’s.
I love my little piggy.

Scheel’s is the most current hip, new place in Utah and it didn’t disappoint!

Seriously, a ferris wheel INSIDE? This isn’t Times Square, people. Pretty impressive!

We were lucky enough to have Uncle Todd join us for this trip.
Thad loves his Uncle Todd.

Thad wouldn’t go near this without Todd right next to him.

I got to volunteer at Festival of Trees with these two beautiful ladies.
Our group was supposed to be a bit bigger, but life gets in the way, and it ended up being us three. I can’t complain about that!

Wes is getting more and more teeth, so we decided to introduce the toothbrush.

Success.
(Along with a little drool)

I’m so happy I was in town for this show.

Kayci did an amazing job dancing and it was fun to watch her do something she loves.
Way to go, Dance Co!

This boy finally came through and CRAWLED mid trip!
More details to come in his 11 month post.

Aunt Brigi claims she is done having kids, but she is so awesome with babies.
Wes loved being with her and she loved holding his heavy body. They make a good pair.

Temple Square

I haven’t been to see the lights at Temple Square since high school, so it was on my list as a MUST DO while we visited this year.

I’m sure glad these awesome people committed to going with us because with my case of strep I don’t think this would have happened without them.
They even put up with me being a half hour late. Great people is all I have to say.

Again, Thad loves his Uncle Todd and it was an awesome night with the Monsen/Whitehouse group.

AMAZING!!!

Thad was clinging to Correy…literally.

It was kind of hard to split them up.
Such a good guy! We can’t wait until he officially joins the family in June!

It wasn’t too cold of a night, but luckily Wes was a good sport and put up with it even after spending most of the day in the car driving down from Cache Valley.
He is my angel baby.

The live nativity was pretty impressive and we got there just in time to hear the main parts of the narration.

Kayci was seriously the biggest help during our trip.
I gladly let her take over the stroller pushing as she doesn’t have to hunch while doing so.
Being short is definitely an advantage when it comes to stroller purchasing.

We topped off the night with hot chocolate, donuts and some holiday windows at City Creek.
What a perfect December evening.

Luckily Macy’s has brought back the old ZCMI candy windows.
They were pretty impressive!

The next night I was back at City Creek for an evening out with these beautiful ladies:

We held our second annual “My Favorite Things” dinner.
Having it at Cheescake Factory on a Friday night probably wasn’t the smartest decision we’ve ever made, but ya live and ya learn, right?
It was a huge success nonetheless!

These are the girls prepping to open my gift, which was cooking spray can. You put your own oil in, pump a few times and it sprays out. No more Pam!
Since I didn’t get pictures of everything, here is what the rest of them gave:
Haley: Candy Apple hand soap from Bath and Body Work with holiday cover
Jen: DIY red earrings. So cute!
Brig: Charm bracelet and our favorite Scentsy scent
Mom: Scarf hanger
I love this kind of stuff!!

And I love these ladies!

And to end our trip, we finished it off just right:
The Annual Christensen Christmas Party
It’s a party worth sticking around for!

After some delicious appetizers, we headed to the cemetery to kick off our caroling.

We always sing Grandma Christensen’s favorite song, Away in a Manager, followed by We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
I sure wish I could have met that lady. She sounds like an amazing woman.

Yes, if Uncle Todd is around, a shoulder ride is a MUST!

The little kids especially love running up and ringing the doorbell.
It’s very reminiscent of Trick-or-Treating. But better, obviously.

Thad loved play with all the “big boys” and kept up pretty well.
Kids are so cute together.

Thad made out like a bandit during the gift exchange and gladly claimed both gifts as his own because Wes slept soundly in a secluded classroom for the majority of the party.
We’ll let him have his glory this year, but Wes may catch on next. ;)

Grandpa Christensen surprised his kids and passed down his legendary Crazy Jars to his children.
They were pleasantly surprised, and when Teresa pulled out the smallest of the five, Kelli said, “It’s perfect because you’re the baby!” I love that girl.

Grandpa Great is such an amazing guy, and I know that jar will be a highlight for my kids over the years.

We’re usually among the last to leave, but these boys didn’t mind. Big empty spaces are always fun place for kids!
Thad is such a good big brother to practice crawling skills with his little bro.

Again, Wes and Aunt Kayci.
It was a very common sight this trip. He likes her as much as she does him!

Our last day was spent packing up for the trek back home. Thad loves to go to nursery in Grandma Teresa’s ward, so this little guy got to stick around with Grandma Cindy and me.

He was a big helper!

Riley and Jen were sweet enough to host dinner for the whole fam, and it was a perfect way for Thad to bid farewell to his favorite kids.
We are so lucky to have an awesome family that goes out of their way to make us feel special, we feel so blessed.
After I completed taking this picture, I realized one of my two children were missing. Duh!

I made everyone reassemble, but Ty wasn’t as cute in this one as he was in the other, hence the inclusion of both pictures.
I sure love this crazy family of mine!

This trip was the perfect fill of family for our holiday season. Since we don’t live in Utah, this is the next best thing.
Brian was able to stay for a whole ten days and the boys and I stayed for another 2 weeks. It is such a blessing we can makes trips like this happen and that both of our families accommodate us when we visit.
Thank you all for another successful trip, it couldn’t have happened with out you!

Love, The Monsens

Thankgiving

We are so lucky we were all in Utah for Thanksgiving this year. We were lucky enough to spend it with every single family member on the Wilson side. We started the day off a little different this year and a group of us headed to Lehi bright and early to run in the Thankful 13 races near Thanksgiving Point.

Tiffany.Birtley.Carter.Brian.Shelley.Brigitte.Riley

All of us trying to stay warm, pre race...It was colder than it looks!


 

 

Brian jumped in line by himself to get in the zone. He was determined to beat his previous half marathon time.

 The Half Marathoners: Tiff, Brian and Riley

These three sure are tough cookies! Running 13.1 miles on Thanksgiving Day. We were so proud of them!

Brian was able to beat his previous time and came in at 1 hour and 41 minutes. Go, Bri!

 

 

Don't forget about us 5Kers, though!

Birtley, Carter and I ran the whole way together and it was so much fun! Carter sprinted at the end and was able to beat both Birtley and me. He's awesome!

Brig met her goal and was able to run the whole way without stopping. She hates running, so this was big for her. I love doing stuff like this as a family! It's such a blessing to be happy, healthy and able.

After a shower, making rolls and a coconut creme pie, we headed to Grandma Cindy's and Grandpa Kent's to let the festivities begin!

 

 Grandma did such a great job picking out the decor, and everyone loved hanging out with each other before and after the feast!

The food was to die for. Everything was delicious and I already can't wait until next year!

We are so grateful for this Wilson family of ours and they fun holiday time we were able to have. 

Nothing but the best!

 

Wes was a huge hit, if you can't tell already. 

Uncle Riley is always looking for a good laugh and sure got one out of this boy!

 

 Not the best picture, but definitely the best people.

I am so Thankful my Thanksgiving was spent with some of the most wonderful people in my life.

The list of things I am grateful for could go on and on and on, but know that my family and the knowledge of our eternal nature through our Savior is on the top of my list.