Our Holiday Break

After our Ugly Sweater party I only had a few days to get ready to go to Utah. Cleaning, laundry, packing...UGH!

My little helper! He loves to sweep the kitchen floor & when it's not his turn he likes to climb up on the stool like a big boy!

My little stow-a-way!

I was nervous as to how Gavin would be on the flight. Thank goodness our best buds Steph & Collin were on the flight with us! :) Even though I bet she wishes we weren't. Collin had fallen asleep soundly & then it was my lovely child who decided to start screaming & woke him up. Oops! But overall he did really well & it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. I always tell myself after flying solo that I won't do it again. But after arriving home early & being with family & friends, it is SO worth it!!!

We did so many fun things while we were home & I didn't even get pictures of everything. But with what I do have, there is a TON! So my posts will have to be broken up a bit. I wish I had enough time to do it all in one whack, but that just isn't how life is anymore with a busy 16 month old. Enjoy!

{FRIENDS}

Every time I come home I love getting together with my friends! These are some of my most favorite girls that I worked with at the salon. Many of us have left, but a few are still there & it is so great getting us all together.

Can you tell by all of our facial expressions that we had some awesome topics of conversation?!

And I just love that when girls get together we all just hang out by the food! What is with that? :)

Thanks Jenn for hosting our little get together! Until next time....

{RANDOM play at Grandma & Grandpa Madsen's}

Over the coarse of our time in Utah, Gavin got really independent when it came to eating. He loved using a spoon & feeding himself. He has also become quite the moocher too!

Grandpa came in from outside with his Russian hat on & Gavin was very intrigued. He LOVES hats & says 'hat' all the time!

My turn Grandpa!

Gavin loves being at Grandma's house because this is where he gets his ice cream cone fix!

{MORE FRIENDS}
These girls are more like sisters to me. We all grew up in the same neighborhood & ward.
They all came over to my moms for brunch. So yummy!

Me, Julianne, Jenn & Emily

Savannah(Julianne's little girl) & Gavin
They are only 6 weeks apart. Don't they make the cutest little couple? ;)

Gavin is the only boy among all these little beauties. So really he has quite the selection. Can you say 'Bachelor'?!

Left to Right-Mom & kids
Em, Ellie & Kate, Julianne & Savannah, Me & Gavin, Jenn, Serelle & Lilianna

Later that night we had another party with more of my friends from high school. I think it's great that we are still so close after all these years. And better yet, our husbands all get a long too! Rachelle hosted our holiday party this year. She had told me that we were all grown up & should stop having our parties at our parents' homes. :) I quite agree.

{Court, Em, Heidi, Rachelle, Me, Laura, Jamilyn, Lisa & Holly}
This is the first year in I don't even know how long that we are finally ALL together!

The Guys
{Adam(1/2 of him anyway), Clark, Ricky, Matt, Nick, Doug, Bob, Dustin & Brett}

MINUTE TO WIN IT
Holly was genius enough to plan that we play some games from Minute To Win It. It was hysterical! I'm so glad I had my camera to catch a few of the games.

Above is Matt & Emily. I don't remember the name of the game, but you put vaseline on the tip of your nose & you have to transfer cotton balls from one chair to the other.

Me & Lisa
You can't tell, but we both have a massive amount of vaseline on our noses!

My turn to give it a try. I was just very glad that they gave us new cotton balls each time. :)

Here is Jami demonstrating the Elephant game. Once you have the nylons over your head, you bend at the waist & try to swing the 'trunk' to knock over the bottles. I about died when they all did this one.

This one was really hard. You had to blow the card to the edge of the counter & get it to stay hanging on. Bob was the only one who could do it & of coarse I didn't get that one on film.

Me & my gals!

{CONCERT}
My brother in law Danny gave me & Doug tickets to SecondHand Serenade for Christmas! We met up with a family friend & his date for dinner at the Spaghetti Factory & then went to the concert downtown.

This guy is David Elijah. Never heard of him, but he is a Christian Rock group that sings & does everything he can for the Lord. :) He was pretty good, but I couldn't get over the fact that he reminds me Ernie from Sesame Street. :)

Here he is, John Vessely of Secondhand Serenade. This was his acoustic tour so just him & his guitar. He was really good live. Most singers these days are recording studio singers & they stink in concert. But he was great! I really like his music. Kind of reminded us of Dashboard.
These pictures aren't the greatest because they are from my phone.

This was the first concert that Doug & I have ever gone to together. We had a great time!