White Christmas

We drove to Utah for Christmas and ended up with snow almost every day. And apparently we were so lazy we forgot to take many pictures so there's not much to share here.

We're not used to having to scrape our windshields, we're way out of practice. Pretty though, huh?

We drove to Reno the first afternoon and stayed the night at my brother, Larry's house. He and Chantelle were gracious enough to let us stay the night with Blackjack in tow. The kids had a blast, it sure was funny watching them chase him around. My 6 year old nephew, Adam kept thanking Blackjack for eating all the crumbs off the kitchen floor because that meant Adam didn't have to do his chore: sweeping the floor!

The next day we made it to my sister, Bethany's house in Saratoga Springs where we stayed the next two nights. Her boys are so funny. And she's expecting a 4th one in March! We hung out, talked, played games, and ate good food. Oh, and figured out that my molasses sugar cookie recipe does NOT work in the Utah altitude! And adding extra flour just makes them too cakey.

Bethany's youngest, Dallin, being crazy. This kid makes the funniest faces!

And lest I forget the most important part of staying at Beth's . . .
She got her ears pierced!!! The day she found out she was having a 4th boy she decided she needed more feminine stuff in her life so she took the leap. It was just about exactly 10 years ago my "evil" cousin, Krista, took me to get my ears pierced at the age of 19. My family thought I was scandalous and my grandmother called our ears "mutilated." As you might remember, at our last Sisters Reunion, Tearsa went for it and finally got her ears pierced. Beth was the final sister, the four of us are now complete in our mutilations. Just think, what would grandmother say if she found out I have a belly piercing and a tattoo?! (that's a JOKE, by the way!)

We headed off to my Aunt Nancy's house the next night out in Elk Ridge. They really put us up well, it was like a posh hotel room! Nancy and Julie made us dinner and then we watched the Las Vegas Bowl together while Blackjack got all the attention he wanted from them. They are really dog people, Blackjack had a great time, as did we!

Blackjack exploring the snow in Nancy's backyard.

The next day it was off to my mom's. Mom isn't a dog person so Blackjack stayed at a local kennel the next few nights. It was great to just hang out and take it easy for the holidays. Christmas Eve afternoon we all met at Beth's house for a big family lunch which was great fun. Lots of food, lots of dessert, games, and great company.
Family lunch at Beth's.

Looking back, we didn't really DO all that much while in Utah. We mainly just hung out with family and ate at all the places we miss not having in California. Those places would be:

JDawg's (Best hot dogs ever!)
Burgers Supreme (Fry sauce, yum)
Cafe Rio
Paradise Bakery
Shirley's Bakery (The rolls are so soft and delicious! We waited in line 40 minutes and it was worth it.)
Creamery on 9th (Nowhere else gives you that much creamy fatty ice cream for so cheap. The Utah/Mormon addiction. For some it's alcohol that poisons the liver. For others it's ice cream that clogs your arteries and ruins your heart. It's all the same really.)

We had a nice relaxing time but it's good to be back home where it's a few degrees warmer and there's no ice to scrape off our windshields!