Christmas + Bear Lake

Time for allll the December happenings. We kicked off the Christmas season going to downtown Salt Lake with Debi. We looked at lights, admired the huge Christmas tree, ate dinner at Blue Lemon (my fav), and most importantly visited the the giving machines. I let Emmett choose what we would give which ended up being two chickens and a water pump. I want to make it a tradition to go every year.

Brielle was not having it in her stroller haha.

As we were driving home Emmett yelled, "Mommy! I need to go potty right now. I can't hold it!" Normally we'd pull off to the side of the road and let him go outside, but since we were on the freeway we had to get creative. This was surprisingly mess free. Perks of having a boy!

The first snow of the season.

Brielle doesn't love being in the snow, but she does love eating it.

We went to a Christmas party at Ryan and Karlie's house. It almost felt like we were back in Alabama since three of the four families in attendance used to live and hangout together down south haha. It was fun! The kids played a wrapped candy dice game and the adults did a white elephant.

- Christmas Eve -

On Christmas Eve we had a Biddall (Billat + Syddall) party at my parents house. Growing up we spent nearly every Christmas Eve with the Billat family. They lived right across the street and all of us kids were best friends with each other. It was always my favorite tradition. Yummy food, the best company, a nativity/story/song, and Jeff's wrapped candy game. It felt just like old times, even with the additional eighteen family members. I can't believe how much our families have grown! It was a sweet reunion.

The OG crew (minus Taylor and Lauren)

A little throwback video to Christmas Eve 2013.

After the Billat fam left, the grandkids opened their gifts from gigi and grandpa.

And my parents opened their gift from us kids. *Spoiler: It was a chatbook and robot vacuum.*

When we got home the kids opened their Christmas jammies, we set out cookies and carrots for the reindeer, read 'The Night Before Christmas', and Emmett searched out the back window for Santa's sleigh. I thought it was kind of cute when he disappointedly said, "I can't see Santa anywhere."

After the kids went to bed, Santa went to work. *Pat on the back*

- Christmas Day -

The amount of compliments Jason gets on his LGB shirt is insane lol.

This doll crib was actually mine when I was little. My grandpa Syddall made it and my mom has held onto it all these years. She painted it, made the cutest little baby doll quilt and pillows, and gifted it to Brielle. I love it. She loves it! It is something both of us will cherish.

^^ The aftermath of Christmas morning. The ocd in me had this cleaned up, organized, and put away pretty quick haha. The rest of the day was laid back. Karlie, Ryan, and Harvey stopped by for a little bit to drop off some gifts. They are the sweetest. Later that night we bundled up and went for a loooong walk around the neighborhood to look at the lights. Both kids ended up falling asleep in their strollers. It was honestly so peaceful and the perfect end to Christmas.

- Bear Lake -

Later that week we went to Bear Lake with the Paull side of the family. Brent and Jackie rented a cabin for us to stay at for a few days. It was an absolute blizzard on the drive up.. which we would have missed completely if we didn't stop at El Sol for lunch in Logan. We waited a full two hours before getting our food because they were so short staffed. I also ended up getting sick the day we got there. Boooo. Because of that I spent the majority of my time in bed while the kids played with their cousins and Jason reminisced with his brothers and dad. There really is nothing worse than being sick while on a vacation! Jason did a good job handling the kids while I was under the weather. I'm so thankful for him.

I managed to get out of the house one of the days. The kids played in the snow, we went sledding, me and Brielle snuggled on the porch swing, and the older cousins built a pretty legit igloo.

The kids had a blast. I'm so grateful we were able to spend some quality time with Jason's family. I'm sad that I wasn't feeling better because it really was such a fun trip and I wish I could have fully enjoyed it! And we'll just pretend that on the drive home we didn't get stuck in stopped traffic for an hour before turning around and going a longer route. At least the truck in front of us had a cute Harvey to look at ;)

And that's almost a wrap on 2021.

Next Up: New Years and Brielle's birthday