The week before Christmas, we took a little last minute trip to Utah just because. Now don't I sound super spontaneous? I'm sure Matt has a slight chuckle under his breath reading of my self proclaimed spontaneous habits, as he has countless memories of me telling him "I can't be so spontaneous with 2 kids!!"....but anytime spontaneouty involves traveling with the family, i'm in. Plus we're always up for some good times in Utah. We especially love visiting family and staying with my Grandma who is the best host and has the most AMAZING kid's play loft ever. My kids would move in if given the chance. Then there's always a day spent reminising of our college days as we walk through the BYU bookstore, always amazed at how young they are admitting students these days (really, I swear I was so much older than that when I went to school. Except for the fact that visitor parking attendant no longer double checks to make sure we're not students. I'll attribute that to the rugrats in the back seat, and still pretend I look 20.) This trip of course was also meant to squeeze in a little snowboarding for Matt, so he was hoping for snow. And Snow it did!!!! 
It snowed everyday we were there TONS. Seriously! We really brought the snow with us. I think Matt was saying lots of secret prayers for extra snow, he loves it! Apparently there was no snow before we got there, so the snowboarding conditions weren't the best, limiting the boys to only one day on the mountain in blizzard like conditions- I'm pretty sure that was to Blake and Weston's benefit after they both got frostbite! I think Blake's toe is still numb, but really what's one toe among 10! Fortunately the snowman building conditions on the other hand were phenomenal!
So in true tourist fashion we bundled up in thousands of layers (the california way for those of us lacking "real" snow clothes), and built the best snowman ever. That's right, we know how to do more than just beach it. Carson LOVED the snow! Our snow man rightfully named "Carson Brown" (think xmas song "winter wonderland", Carson is sure they say his name in it), turned into a serious project. Matt, Blake and I were much more into than the kids.
"Carson Brown" added a little extra christmas decor to my grandparents house clearly making it the most festive house on the block! But mostly made for a lot of fun!
Another perk of visiting Utah was seeing my good friend Becky who was due with her first baby boy the day we got there. But did he decide to come so I could meet him? of course not! He came a week late arriving the day after we got home. Such a bummer. But, Becky did look gorgeous and baby Holland did come eventually and is DANG cute!!! Now if I could just meet him. All in all we LOVED our time in Utah!
The next chapter of our story takes us to "the bad" aka a wretched vegas/california snow storm in areas that aren't used to so much snow and therefore not really equipped to handle it. Below is the I-15 just outside of Vegas. Ugh! Our only route home ended up being closed down in three different areas from Vegas to Barstow/Victorville, forcing us back to Vegas to find a hotel for the night!
A detour of these sorts would have been welcomed if I was just with Matt, but with 2 kiddos and one hotel room....not so much. Especially when Brynlee woke up at 5 in the morning saying "mom, I see you. Hello. Get me out." We did stay in the "New York New York" on the 31st floor, which was totally fun and a great view, but again, with 2 kids, not so much. Those darn slot machines are made to appeal to the child in us. Bright lights, fun noises, money clanking, who wouldn't want in on the action? Well Carson & Brynlee sure did. We must have been yelled at 20 times walking through casinos because our kids were getting too close to the slots- and maybe they pulled it a few times too. We did our best!
The kids single handedly destroyed our hotel in a record time....and quite frankly it got to a point where we didn't even care anymore. We were all a little stir crazy.
The roads didn't open until the next day at 1pm and we made it home from Vegas in a record setting 7 1/2 hours. That was a looooooong two days of traveling, but I think i've officially gotten to the point where it's crossed over from a long couple days to a funny story. Not quite the end of trip adventure we were hoping for, but nonetheless an adventure. And i'm looking forward to next one. I'll just be packing leashes for the kids!
It snowed everyday we were there TONS. Seriously! We really brought the snow with us. I think Matt was saying lots of secret prayers for extra snow, he loves it! Apparently there was no snow before we got there, so the snowboarding conditions weren't the best, limiting the boys to only one day on the mountain in blizzard like conditions- I'm pretty sure that was to Blake and Weston's benefit after they both got frostbite! I think Blake's toe is still numb, but really what's one toe among 10! Fortunately the snowman building conditions on the other hand were phenomenal!
So in true tourist fashion we bundled up in thousands of layers (the california way for those of us lacking "real" snow clothes), and built the best snowman ever. That's right, we know how to do more than just beach it. Carson LOVED the snow! Our snow man rightfully named "Carson Brown" (think xmas song "winter wonderland", Carson is sure they say his name in it), turned into a serious project. Matt, Blake and I were much more into than the kids.
"Carson Brown" added a little extra christmas decor to my grandparents house clearly making it the most festive house on the block! But mostly made for a lot of fun!
Another perk of visiting Utah was seeing my good friend Becky who was due with her first baby boy the day we got there. But did he decide to come so I could meet him? of course not! He came a week late arriving the day after we got home. Such a bummer. But, Becky did look gorgeous and baby Holland did come eventually and is DANG cute!!! Now if I could just meet him. All in all we LOVED our time in Utah!
The next chapter of our story takes us to "the bad" aka a wretched vegas/california snow storm in areas that aren't used to so much snow and therefore not really equipped to handle it. Below is the I-15 just outside of Vegas. Ugh! Our only route home ended up being closed down in three different areas from Vegas to Barstow/Victorville, forcing us back to Vegas to find a hotel for the night!
A detour of these sorts would have been welcomed if I was just with Matt, but with 2 kiddos and one hotel room....not so much. Especially when Brynlee woke up at 5 in the morning saying "mom, I see you. Hello. Get me out." We did stay in the "New York New York" on the 31st floor, which was totally fun and a great view, but again, with 2 kids, not so much. Those darn slot machines are made to appeal to the child in us. Bright lights, fun noises, money clanking, who wouldn't want in on the action? Well Carson & Brynlee sure did. We must have been yelled at 20 times walking through casinos because our kids were getting too close to the slots- and maybe they pulled it a few times too. We did our best!
The kids single handedly destroyed our hotel in a record time....and quite frankly it got to a point where we didn't even care anymore. We were all a little stir crazy.
The roads didn't open until the next day at 1pm and we made it home from Vegas in a record setting 7 1/2 hours. That was a looooooong two days of traveling, but I think i've officially gotten to the point where it's crossed over from a long couple days to a funny story. Not quite the end of trip adventure we were hoping for, but nonetheless an adventure. And i'm looking forward to next one. I'll just be packing leashes for the kids!
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9 comments:
I can't imagine what a "fun" trip that must have been.
I would have stopped caring about the destroyed hotel room too.
Where's that global warming everyone keeps talking about?
That is one awesome snowman!
Glad you had fun in the Utah snow. Ya - a white Christmas in St. George was a little strange and pretty cool this year. Snowed-in in Vegas? We got snowed-in in Barstow one time! Go figure! Got your Christmas card - it's cute!
We just missed that storm in Vegas! I heard the Searles spent the night on the road. Looks like a great trip anyways. Your lesson was awesome yesterday!
I would have cried knowing I couldn't get home. Driving long distances with kids is not the most fun thing I've ever done...
We loved having you guys up here. The first thing Holland said when he came out was, "did I miss the Browns?" He is really sorry to have let you down, but he knows tis will just make your first encounter that much more grand.
What a fun spontaneous thing to do!! You guys are awesome! Thank you soooo much for dinner. I loved the salad! Sorry, I was out of it when you came, but we really appreciated it!
so fun. even though i'm pretty sure i don't like the cold i do love snow,
That is awesome! You're building memories, and that's what's important!
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