Family Staycation

As I mentioned before, I took the last 2 weeks off in December.  The first week was a little busy w/ Christmas and me not feeling well (stomach bug), but we made the most of it.  It was nice to just enjoy time w/ Steve and Nyles and our family.  The week after Christmas we made more of a plan to do something fun each day.  Here are some pics:

We went to Scheels.  Nyles had to try shooting the deer.

Playing w/ the ice fishing stuff

Pretending to drive the Jeep

Steve went fly fishing w/ his Dad

Dave catching one

We went to the Aquarium

We went to Dave/Joann's and met Stacie/Phill there to play in the snow.  Carrie was working so Lynsie played w/ us too.  We took waterbottles and put dye in them then "painted" the snow.  We also made a volcano and let it erupt (baking soda, vinegar, and a little food coloring so we could see it better).  It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed playing in the snow a new way.

Nyles and Lynsie painting the snow

London painting a picture on the snow

Our volcano.  We tried green first, then red.

Nyles and London busy playing in the snow.

After a little bit the kids were cold, so we came inside to warm up.  To go w/ our "color" theme, I had made sugar cookies and added Jello to them to flavor and color them.  We had Strawberry Banana and Lime cookies.  Joann had frosting and sprinkles as well to put on top.

Steve, London, Stacie and Conor decorating a cookie

Nyles joining in on the fun also

 The kids then had to all get in the boat together. 

Nyles and Conor had a hard time sharing the front seat.  Silly boys :)

Nyles playing in the laundry basket.  

He has to have all his toys/blankets w/ him too.

Nyles trying on a hat made of tracks

Since we weren't able to make it up for Christmas, my parents sent us our gifts in the mail.  Nyles thought it was awesome to open more gifts a few days after Christmas.

Opening a mini John Deere tractor, which he LOVES!

More books.  This one about trucks, which he LOVES!

A movie about cars.

Nyles eating his animal crackers and playing w/ his tractor.

On New Year's day, Stacie came over to our place and stayed the night w/ Nyles so we could go enjoy our anniversary the next day.  (We did a trade w/ them when we watched their kids back in October.  It makes it nice when you can just switch).  We went to dinner that night at Texas Roadhouse, then went back to our hotel and sat in the hot tub for a bit.

The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel, then went to the Jordan River Temple where we were married and did an initiatory for family names we had.  It was great to feel the Spirit in the Temple and think more about the covenants we made when we were married 6 years ago.  Ironically our anniversary fell on a Friday this year, just like when we were married.

After the temple we went through a car wash (I couldn't stand seeing it so dirty from the snow anymore), then ate our leftovers on our way to a couple's massage.  We'd never done one before, so we thought we should try it once.  We found a deal on Groupon so it wasn't as expensive.  It was nice and relaxing.  Steve thinks we should go every year now.  After the massage we headed back.  It was a great day together, but we were glad to be back w/ Nyles.  We definitely miss him, even for just one day.  Thanks Stacie for watching; we really appreciate it!