A beautiful day at Alta!  There was a huge storm this week and Alta got 22 inches of snow. The kids had no school on Friday so we went to Alta. It was a long drive with lots of traffic getting up to Alta, but the snow was incredible!  We had such a great day!  

Emily is really into Mario Cart lately and she loves playing it! Ahhh fun in the winter. 

Lots of pictures from our ski day at Alta! There was so much powder on the mountain and we had a blast!  

Sunday night I went on a drive with Taylor up East Canyon. We saw a gorgeous sunset, so we walked down to the lake to see the ice and the beautiful clouds!  It was so pretty!  We had a lot of fun! Taylor went walking out on the ice, and I was so worried it wasn't frozen enough. What a fun evening. 

2019!

We have been getting back into the swing of things after coming home from CA. School is back in session, kids have sports, lessons, etc.. and it's freezing cold and an inversion. So yuck!

Taylor was ordained a priest on Sunday and is really doing great in life! He's doing great at school, he's getting his patriarchal blessing next week, and he'll baptize Lizzie in March! He'll be 16 next month and he'll get his drivers license.
We are so proud of him!

Luckily Aunt Natalie and Cousin Bowen came to visit from CA last week. We had SO much fun with them and we really miss them so much! Bowen is the cutest, chunky little monkey and we love him VERY much! We had fun with them, played games, hung out, held Bowen, and had fun!

One day we met for lunch at Blue Lemon with Monica & Megan too it was a great time!  Isaac's been working on his science fair project  and it's almost done. 

Lizzie loves her Lava lamp! It's her favorite!
Isaac is playing basketball with some friends and it's fun! We had a few snow storms. And we all had a blast with Bowen and Natalie! 

Christmas and New Years 2018!

Merry Christmas!! These pics are out of order, bu too well.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve we went skiing at Alta with Grandpa Wall and Chandler.
Them we came home for diner and gifts etc.. before bed. The skiing day was super fun! The snow was great and the weather was perfect! 

Christmas morning we woke up to Santa delivering our family a trip for Christmas! We packed up ASAP and headed to the airport to go to Santa Barbara for a week trip to the beach! 

Our flight left at 11 am so we loaded the car and went straight to the airport. The kids were SO excited and didn't miss getting other gifts from Santa etc..  The flight left and 2 hours later we landed in Burbank, CA. We rented a mini van and drove up to gorgeous Santa Barbara! We checked into our hotel and then had dinner at Panda Express that night because it was the only place open. We seem and sat in the hot tub that night and then relaxed in our rooms. We all enjoyed laying in bed and watching TV at night before bed. 

Wednesday, Thursday & Friday we woke up, had a big breakfast (the breakfasts at our hotel are SO great, tons of food and free too!!)  I would pack a lunch while Danny and the kids load up the car. Then we'd drive to Refugio Beach to spend the whole day. It was so great! We were outside in the ocean all day long. The kids surfed, swam, boogie boarded, skim boarded, body surfed, hiked around, tide pooled , played in the sand etc.. We had a blast! When it started to get dark around 4:30 or 5 we would pack up and then go get dinner at one of the delicious restaurants in Goleta like
"El Sitio" or "the Santa Barbara Chicken Ranch" we ate all these place almost every single day of our trip.  Later we'd either go watch the sun set over the ocean, or head back to the hotel and swim and hot tub.  Everyone was so tired but the night that they'd all fall asleep early around 8 or 9.  

The kids were all warm in their wetsuits and booties. They didn't get cold at all. I was a little cold because my wet suit had a hole in it. 

Saturday morning we decided to take a break from the beach and explore the city. We went on a hike in the butterfly grove to try and see the amazing monarch butterflies. Then we headed downtown to Santa barbara to the Wharf. We parked and walked around a little bit. Then we ate lunch at a resaurant to try seafood and fish n' chips. We ate outside and it was great! Later we went on a really fun boat ride and saw lots of dolphins in the ocean. We got yummy ice cream after and then went to the Aquarium to see all the Sea Creatures etc.. We had blast there and it was fun! 

Sunday was mellow, we went to church. Then we drove up to Solvang to see the sights. We saw the Danish town, went to Painted Cave, grabbed some Danish Pastries, and then went other beach to watch the sun set and it was amazing! It was nice relaxing, mellow day. 

The beach is the best place to take pics! We had fun trying out Danny's new camera that he got for Christmas! 

Monday we had one more long day at the beach. It was the perfect way to spend New Year's Eve and such a great day. The weather was terrific and everyone had a great day! Lots of tide pooling on the shore and another gorgeous sunset.
It was another night at the Chicken Ranch, then smoothies, and hot tubbing, all together. WE all watched this cool movie Danny compiled pics from our whole year. It was awesome!
We watched TV and relaxed but did not make it until midnight this year.
Tuesday we woke up, ate our last hearty breakfast, and then headed back to Burbank to catch our flight!
It was the best trip! We had so much fun! Lots of time together with no schedules, and distractions, just lots of great time as a family!
We love Santa Barbara, it is such a beautiful city!
Welcome 2019!!!

Signs of Christmas are all around our house! Our Elfie is under the tree in the nativity set, isaac getting a hot compress on his ets. Buddy the rabbit having some Christmas spirit and this adorable polar bear from Lizzie! 

Taylor saw Santa with his friends.
Lizzie made us an adorable lantern from School for Christmas along with the BEST card! I love her cards so much! We enjoy getting Christmas cards from lots of friends and family. It's a joy to see their faces and read about their families.
We had the Shields Family Christmas "Surprise" dinner at our house on Saturday night. We had dinner, gift exchanges and a talent show, also we had a reading of the Nativity. Taylor and Emily played "silent Night" and it was amazing! They played at church today too! 

Lots of fun!!!

The kids had fun exchanging gifts with all of their cousins! 

Sunday we only had one hour of church. Taylor and Emily played beautifully in church and then we went home for a rest. Later that afternoon we headed to PC for a Wall Family Christmas Party! We had dinner, games, Dodge Ball, catching up with cousins etc.. and the SANTA Came! It was super fun and we all had a blast! We love Seeing Jennifer, Chandler and their adorable girls!  We even got to meet their new baby, Millie! She is so sweet! 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, we are ready!  

We had Indian Food at a yummy restaurant this weekend! The kids loved it! 

Isaac and Emily both had holiday performances this week! Isaac rocked it on his trumpet and Emily did awesome on her dance songs!
We had a fun party at the Hawkins Family Christmas party too! 

The big cousin sleepover was at our house this year it was a blast! We had dinner, walked to Harmons to get a Gelato, did crafts, played games, saw Santa, made Christmas trees etc.. and then watched a movie!! What a fun night! 

Saturday we headed to Alta to ski all day. The ski was so pretty and blue and it was a fun day! The kids are doing great on their skis and it's a blast! 

Elfie under our tree in our Manger set!  Lizzie is still really into our Elf this year! I love it!  

SANTA!  

December!

My 41st birthday was this week! I had a nice, relaxing day full of fun and food memories. I went to brunch earlier in the week with some friends. On my birthday I went to lunch with Danny at Mazza and the we had dinner and cake with the kids that night. The kids all showered me with notes, back rubs, and Taylor posted  pic of me on his IG. I even got an amazing delivery of Chip Cookies at my door and it was so good! 

We had a very festive weekend. On Friday Lizzie and her cousins were in the Christkinglemarket at This is The place. She had so much fun! We shopped around eating Brats, hot cocoa, fries and Swedish Pancakes. We even saw Elder Uchdorf there, which was super cool!
Saturday we put our our Christmas Tree, decorated the house, made our Christmas Advent calendars, saw the New Grinch movie and Danny and I went to a work party that night in Park City.
December is here!