Christmas!

This past Christtmas we stayed in Utah and my family came to us.  I am not sure when the last time my parents or siblings had a white Christmas, but Utah didn't disappoint.  It was freezing here in Utah and we took advantage of the snow by going tubing among other activities.  One of my favorite activities we did was the polar express train out on the Heber historic railway.  My brother Aaron and brother Freddy and his fiance couldn't make it and we missed them.  Christmas is always a challenge for me when it comes to giving presents to my kids.  My kids already have so many toys, but I love to see them happy when they get a new toy.  Kids have zero expectations and I see Christmas as an opportunity to show them it is better to give than to receive and also to avoid making Christmas about what they get Christmas morning.  They truly are clean slates and so I can determine what Christmas is and show them the true meaning.  Here are some pictures of our Christmas adventures.

Visiting with Santa on Polar Express

Making Christmas Cookies

Ready to see lights on temple square.

Cameron ready to go tubing

My brother Ted ready to race down the hill

Jet Exreme Tubing in Park City

 So this past year a new event opened up at the Olympic Park in Park City called extreme tubing. You basically tube down the long steep landing hills of the ski jumps.  They had a small hill for the kids and a large hill for the adults. My sister and her husband were able to go down the big hill but right before my dad and were about to go up on the lift a lady had not been able to stop and flew over the snow banks that were at the bottom of the hill to stop people and was injured.  They shut down the extreme tubing because it was so dangerous.  It actually was a relief to me, I did not want what happened to that lady to happen to me.  Instead my Dad and I went down the zipline, which was fun, but definitely not as dangerous.  It was so freezing and we waited so long, I think we were both more excited to get inside and warm up.

My Dad and me at the top of the zipline.

Even though it was a little stressful hosting my family and unfortunately the drama that goes on with being with my family kept us all from being together for a few days, I was glad to be in Utah for Christmas and that we were able to share the beauty of Utah and the unique winter activities it has to offer.