Family Fun

We have been so blessed this past year to have so much of our Pennsylvania family come and visit us since we moved to Utah. Over New Year's we had a wonderful time with Grandpa Randy and Grandma Jeanette. They were able to visit for five days and we all had a great time! Thanks, you guys, for coming! It means so much to all of us! This is a long post, but there are pictures included, so you should survive :)
The first place we took them to was Park City. We had fun looking around, and the girls did pretty well for how much we walked. The highlight of the trip were the candied apples. To fill you in on the story: Alma has two teeth that are growing in behind her two of her baby teeth. The baby teeth are loose, but they just didn't seem to want to come out. So, we told her that if she ate a candy apple it would help it come out faster. So, of course there was an awesome candy store in Park City with about 10+ different kinds of candied apples. So, each of the girls picked a m&m covered apple.
Alma getting ready to dig into that delicious apple

Saralyn...thinking....

and going for it!

Well, the apple didn't actually pull the tooth out effortlessly and painlessly, but it did make it extremely loose which was great. So the next morning, we were eating breakfast and Alma takes her first bite of sausage (she loves sausage) and it comes right out! The blood scared her a bit and she didn't finish her sausage,but after she was over the shock, she was way excited for a visit from the tooth fairy :) (whom generously gave her a dollar for that tiny little tooth!)

After Park City we took them to temple square in Salt Lake City to see the lights. Well, most of the lights weren't on but it was still fun to see and there weren't many people there so it was pretty relaxing.

A few lights were still lit.

We thought this reflection looked pretty cool.

The next day we went to Hardware Ranch which is like an elk refuge where they feed the elk during the winter. They take you on a wagon ride right through the elk so you can get an up close look at them.
One of Josh's favs (for obvious reasons)

This poor guy was named Maynard. His one antler was down over his eye. They weren't sure if it had broken or just grown that way. Later this year after that one falls off and the new one grows back they will know. If it grows back the same way, it's a genetic defect. If it grows back normal, it was probably just broken somehow.


The girls in the visitors center.

Here are the horses that pulled the sleigh/wagon through the white and drifted snow :)

The girls enjoyed petting the horses and seeing them up close



We stopped to get a few quick pictures on the way home.


The next day we kind of took it easy and just enjoyed a relaxing day
The girls and Grandpa playing with the gift they gave to Saralyn.

The girls and Grandma playing barbies- Thanks for being a good sport Grandma :)

Saralyn helping Grandma with the dishes.


That evening we went for a drive looking for deer. Although we didn't see many deer, we got some beautiful pictures of the sunset.

Grandma and Grandpa gave Alma ice skates for Christmas. So we decided to all go ice skating together. I couldn't ice skate with them so I took the pictures. But they all had a fun time. We had no tears!
Grandma and Alma after the first time around

Grandpa and Saralyn - all smiles :)

Alma being brave and standing by herself on the ice

Saralyn taking a break with mom



After the first trip around the ice, Alma decided that she wanted to try it by herself and she did for most of the time that we were there. She did a very good job for her first time skating. I think she will remember this for a long time :)

I think the smiles on their faces show that this trip was a success!

Thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa for coming! We had so much fun with you here and we know that we are loved. We love you guys!!