Literally the entire month of December and a bit more!!

(Get ready for a very very long post!)

After spending a little over a month in Utah, it has been quite the task to get back in our routine and catch up on everything.

Especially since I've let so much go these past months.

But here is our month of December and it truly was the best.

I really should have taken more pictures of things, but I didn't, so I will try to at least write down all the fun things we did!

I arrived in Utah on the 28th of November with Olivia.

I was so anxious about flying while so sick but thanks to Zofran and wonderful flight attendants we made it safe and sound without too much drama.

I'm now a serious fan of Southwest.

As we were getting our luggage, Elizabeth, Emmaline, and Harrison came flinging through the main doors. 

Olivia screamed with delight and that was pretty much the last I saw of her for the rest of the trip.

Ha just kidding but seriously she loves them so much and had really missed them.

I can't explain to you the relief I felt as we walked out the doors and I saw my mom.

Being away from everyone has been so hard and it doesn't help that I've been so sick.

Seeing everyone was so exciting and I could not wait for all the fun the next month would bring.

I came home to two brand new cars, a Jetta and Jeep.

I still don't know if I see my dad driving a Jeep:)

Nothing else had really changed.

I was home and I couldn't be more excited.

The minute we walked in Sophia was there to greet us and was very excited to let me rest while she took Olivia horseback riding. 

Olivia in the past has been a little afraid of horses.

She loves to look at them and talk about them but doesn't want to go anywhere near them.

But somehow Sophia managed to get her on a horse and since then that's all Olivia's talked about.

"I River" (ride River, Sophia's horse.)

She also met two other horses named Tinkerbell and Sissy whom she calls "Bell and Sissies"

So her lineup goes something like this, " I RiverBell, Sissies."

She talked about these horses 24/7,  even in her sleep.

Lucky for her she was able to spend quite a bit of time with them!

Here are a few pictures of the horse fun!

Aunti "foph", Olivia, and River.

 Elizabeth, Olivia and River.

Riding River with Emmaline.

Now this is one of times where I really lacked in the picture taking.

So here are a few things we did.

* Lunch at Zupas, Target, and missionary package deliveries to Winston and my cousin Nicholas.

We had a blast putting together some fun pre Christmas packages!

* My dad's company party at Los Hermanos.

*Watched both seasons of Downton Abby and completely fell in love. 

* Lunch at Kneaders and shopping at the new outlets right by my parent's house with my cousin Rachel.

Lunch and playtime with my cousin in-law Adriana and her two cute girls Samantha and new baby Emma.

* Olivia loved reading It's Not Easy Being a Bunny with pa. She loved this book so much, especially the way he read it:) She would always wrinkle her little nose up and sniff when she wanted him to read it to her.

* Cuddle time with ma everyday before naps and bedtime. She loved reading the "ruffy and baby" book and then letting grandma rock her to sleep. (Side note: my dad had to build a lid out of cardboard that fit over the top of her little play pack and play since she tends to get out of bed a lot. It was so funny because we would just lay her in bed and put the lid right on. Sometimes she even wanted to give us kisses through the mesh sides. It was pretty cute! I feel so blessed to have such a sweet mom and dad that are always so willing to help!

*On December 8th Michael arrived and that is when the real fun began!

*Michael's cousin's wedding reception where we also got to see Stephen!

* A Christmas party at my aunt Tiffany's house with my mom's side. We had yummy soups and chocolate cupcakes with peppermint cream cheese frosting. (I was so excited to be feeling well enough to cook!)

Olivia loved sing Santa Clause is coming to town. ("Santi Tause foo towe" is how she would say it!)

*Spending hours and hours (sometimes in to the night) chatting.

*Apples to Apples.

*Olivia had a blast playing in the snow and sledding with Elizabeth, Emmaline, and Harrison. She also loved walking across the street to see the "ba bas" (chickens.)

*Olivia also was introduced to the episodes of My little pony. She calls them "mya po" ha. She loves to dance and sing to the intro song!

*Putting together more Christmas packages for Elder Farr!

*A visit from my cousin Joshua who really is more like a brother to me. He had gotten home from his mission in Mexico a few days earlier. We were all ecstatic to see him!

*Christmas shopping, dinner and visiting Santa Claus. (Olivia was not a fan of Santa and would not sit on his lap but she did manage to quickly grab a "ah pop" (lollipop) from him. We thought she would be excited to see him since she had been talking about "Santy Tause" and how she wanted a "peen tar" (pink car), but apparently not!

*The Zoo lights up in Salt Lake City. We had a complete blast and Olivia loved seeing all the animals!

Now here is the special early Christmas present my parents gave to us married couples!

We were all beyond excited! 

So on Tuesday Dec. 18th we left for St. George.

Now let me give you a little rundown of our ride down there.

Me barfing, Michael and I head to Provo to pick up Sophia and I'm so sick I'm literally in fetal position, get to Sophia's apartment, barf, get in the car, drive a little bit (still in fetal position), barf in my handy sack that I've learned to bring everywhere, stop for lunch in Cedar City, barf again, finish our drive to St. George. Yay, we made it!

We drove straight to the golf course since my mom had a tee time set up for the boys at 2:30 pm.

It was freezing cold so we bundled up and got in the carts.

Sophia and I were literally swaddled in blankets!

(By now I am feeling a bit better. I think it was the fresh air!)

I have no idea what is going on with me in this picture!

It was a beautiful course I just wish it would have been a bit warmer:)

Us!

They boys played really well, at least the holes we saw them play.

Soph and I ended up driving a cart back to the lodge because I was freezing and sick.

We talked by the fire for quite a while. Mostly about baby names:)

I really love talking to my sister.

After golfing we made our way to our hotel and got ready to go to dinner.
Our rooms were so fun because there was a door that connected them!
Anyway, we went to Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed a yummy dinner and then headed over  to Kneaders to get a treat to go for later that night.
We then went back to our hotel, rested a bit and then headed to the hot tub.
Sadly for me I was only able to dangle my legs in the nice warm water.
We didn't want our baby overheating:)
By the time we were done hotubbing I was so tired.
We headed back to our rooms to enjoy our desserts. Mine was the best cream cheese raspberry pie I've ever had.
We watched a bit of the Voice and that was the end of me!
The next morning we woke up, packed, ate breakfast, and then headed to the golf course.
Sophia and I dropped the boys off so that we could head to the local mall,
It was a small mall but we had a blast shopping and spending time together.
After we picked the boys up, we ate lunch at Arby's and then headed for home.
I made a bed for myself in the back and pretty much laid all over Michael the entire way home.
But I am excited to say that we made it without a single barf!
We are so grateful to my parent's for this little getaway!!
It was a complete blast!

Here is our precious Olivia on the Sunday before Christmas.

I'm completely in love with her lace pantaloons and Feltman Brothers white dress!
Thank you mom!

After church we headed up to my aunt Carol's house on the Farr side for a Christmas party!
It was so fun seeing everyone and catching up.
On our way home we stopped at Temple square to see the lights.

Here are a few pictures!

Uncle "Shas" and Olivia!

Pa and Olivia.

Pa made sure Olivia got to see all the horses pulling the carriages.
She was obsessed.

The crew!

Love all of them more than words.

Our little family!

Olivia was exhausted and just wanted to cuddle with aunti "Foph" the whole way home.

On Christmas Eve we woke up and decided to head to Kneaders for their all you can eat french toast.

It was super crowded and we were very lucky to get our tables, but that french toast made it definitely worth it!
(Oh and right before breakfast we had a quick snowball fight with our neighbors, the Hookers. I'm proud of myself for participating being pregnant and all:))

We then headed home and started in with our usual family traditions.

And my mom and I baked a few things for Christmas day dinner.

A very tired and cold little girl.

She had been outside eating snow:)

Making and frosting sugar cookies!

As you can tell most of the frosting didn't make it on to the cookie:)

"tat papa" (Great grandpa) came to visit and bring us our wheel of raclette cheese!

Olivia completely loves him.

It's so funny because usually she is so shy and takes a while to warm up to people but whenever she saw him she just wanted him to hold and cuddle her.

I love watching my grandpa with her.

He is so special to me and I feel so blessed that Olivia has gotten to know him a little bit.

Little girl is definitely tired.
Here she is after a little fit and flinging herself onto the couch!

Our traditional raclette dinner.

Let me tell you, I have literally been craving this since last year.

Olivia totally downing her sparkling cider!

My plate.

Can you say AMAZING?!

After our yummy dinner we all sat down and watched the newer version  of The Grinch who stole Christmas.
We played Mario Party 9 (or something) on the wii.
And of course watched Luke II.
The kids enjoyed a mug of hot cocoa with a drop of the "secret sleeping potion" (vanilla) and were off to bed.
Us grownups stayed up a little longer doing what we do best on Christmas Eve:)

At 6:30 am my parent's woke up to a phone call from Elder Winston Farr!

He was calling to make sure they were awake and ready for Christmas ha!

(Winston was one of the main rounder uppers of the family on Christmas morning and by morning I seriously mean like 4:00 am.)

He told my mom he would be calling back to talk to the family in a few hours.

So she went back to sleep and when little Olivia woke up at 8:00 am we were ready to party!

As usual, the kids (including Olivia) walked down the stairs slowly as dad (grandpa) videoed and then of course immediately bolted for the tree.

Olivia was not in the most pleasant mood and really did not care about her presents.

Every time we told her to go get one she would scream and fling herself on the ground.

When we would bring her one to open she would just throw it.

So we decided to hold off for a bit.

Luckily a few minutes later she decided she was interested and wanted to see what "Santi tause" had brought her.

"Bef" (Elizabeth), "Ma ma ma ma" (Emmaline), and "Shas" (Harrison) were so cute and loved cheering for her as she opened her gifts.

Yay, a boat with animals!
She calls the zebras "zebbies."

Michael has the best hair in the morning:)

Oh and don't forget cute Emerson in the background with his nappy as heck mustache!

And she got her "peen tar!!"

She was in love!

Looking at everyone's gifts.

I really should have taken more pictures but we had an amazing Christmas and all got some really fun things. I'm mad I forgot to take the traditional picture of Olivia with all her gifts. Oh well!
But the rest of Christmas Day was amazing.
The highlight for me was getting to talk to Winston.
He seems like he has changed so much (in a good way) and is so grown up!
He is such an amazing missionary and we are so proud of him for really just focusing on his mission and nothing else.
I can hardly stand how excited I am to see him at the end of this summer:)

We had yummy food all day.
A breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and orange juice for breakfast.
Homemade spinach artichoke dip, mozzarella/tomato/basil dip, and guacamole. And the boys of course wanted wings.
A nice roast for dinner.
And the best of all were the 2 homemade raspberry cream cheese pies my mom and I made!
It was so relaxing to just hang around, eat, and play and not have to go anywhere.
I stayed in my pajamas all day.
Hence why there is not a single photo of me:)

Now here is another place where I lacked in the picture taking department.
But we of course had a wonderful week following Christmas together.
* We went to  the Thanksgiving Point Deli for dinner. Their fries are to die for. Mostly because of the fry sauce.
I've had intense cravings for that stuff but can't find it in Salem.
* Michael and I were able to go on a date with my very best friend Leslie and her husband Jake to see the Hobbit. (We had quite the time pushing our car up the hill because of all the snow)
*Oh ya I don't think I've mentioned this but the snow was beautiful. I can not explain to you how much I loved having a white Christmas!
*We played lots of Super Mario with Ryan and Sophia.
*Went to Cracker Barrel for dinner with Emerson, Ryan and Sophia. It was a late birthday present for Michael from them!
*Did a tiny bit of after Christmas shopping. Michael got me a Victoria Secret sweat outfit that was a little too big so I had to exchange it. Best present ever! Especially now with me not wanting to get dressed and such.

On New Year's Eve my mom, Sophia, and I went and had a tea party at Dear Lizzy (a local cute vintage store.)

We went shopping for a few food items for dinner.
I had been craving shrimp and cocktail sauce.
Went with our the neighbors, the Hookers and Mortensons to play wally ball at the rec center.
(It's pretty much like volleyball except you can hit the ball off of the walls.
It was a blast!
We had our traditional raclette and sparkling cider for dinner and a nice slice of Magleby's chocolate cake for dessert!
Oh and I really really enjoyed my shrimp. I of course was very protective of my shrimp. Luckily everyone was very understanding of my crazy cravings and did not mess with me!
We played twister, apples to apples, and lots of wii.
We went to bed not too late since Michael and I had a 10 hour drive to Yakima the next morning.

Here are a couple pictures.

Riding pa around.

She thought he was like River and Tinkerbell!

Putting up a good fight in twister against Ryan and Sophia!

Oh my gosh, isn't she just the cutest?!

It was sad leaving that next morning.

Olivia cried and cried as she gave everyone goodbye hugs.

And burst out bawling at the airport when we drove away from my mom and dad.

She loves everyone so much and is definitely one lucky girl to have such a wonderful family!

In closing of our month long vacation in Utah I just want to say that it would not have been possible for us to have any more fun than we did. 

It was so nice to to just relax and spend time with everyone.

We were totally spoiled!

I love everyone so much and can hardly wait to go back.

Which hopefully will be very soon!

We were able to drive up to Yakima for a few days to visit the Mickelsons which of course was a blast.

The 10 hour drive went a lot smoother than planned and there was only one throw up the entire way.

(Sorry Wendy's!)

We pretty much got to have another mini Christmas.

Michael loved his Ohio State sweatshirt and socks, and golf pullover, I loved my scensy plug in candle, and adorable locket,  and Olivia loved her new movies, books, "money" (monkey) and bath toys.

Here is Olivia loving her "money!"

We loved spending time with Matthew who was getting ready to leave to Rexburg for school.

Michael loved taking a quick trip to the Tri-Cities
I loved playing cards.

And Olivia loved all of the attention.

Well finally the end has come.

This post was a beast.

But we are so grateful for two incredible families that are always so supportive and make our time with them unforgettable.

We love you all!

 Here's to 2013!!

It's going to be a good year:)