Drive to Tucson

When we drive to Tucson for our Christmas vacation, we typically drive from before the sun comes up until after it sets. This year was no different. We left our house around 3 a.m. We just put the boys in the car in their jammies and hit the road.

As usual, the worst part of our drive was getting out of Utah county. It was just starting to snow as we left- big, wet, mushy flakes. The driving is also more difficult because of all the nasty construction, which makes it hard to see where exactly you are supposed to be driving!

Lucky for me, Joe drove first. Once we got out of Utah County the snow stopped and we mostly had rain. It was a rainy drive nearly the entire day.

We stopped for breakfast in St. George and changed the boys into their clothes. They did a great job of sleeping in the car while it was dark. They both also ended up taking naps during the day, which made the drive more tolerable for everyone. Though I don't know how comfortable this looks to me!

It was also really helpful that just before our vacation we found a great deal on a dual screen portable DVD player for the van. So the boys got to watch a couple of movies too, which helped them enjoy the drive more. It was also helpful for Mommy and Daddy's sanity.

We stopped in Kingman, AZ for lunch and kept on driving. We had to stop in Phoenix to get gas and let the boys use the bathroom. Traffic there slowed us down a bit, so by the time we got to Tucson it was sometime around 6 p.m. We could see the moon coming up as we drove into town.

It was nice to get to Tucson in time for dinner and give the boys some time to decompress before it was bedtime. We got their stuff unloaded and got the boys in bed. Then Joe and I headed to his Grandpa Sabey's house to sleep. What a LONG day! I have to admit that driving that far while being 6 months pregnant was a bit hard on me and I was exhausted by the time we went to bed... but I am sure the boys and Joe were really tired too!

Snow Shovelers

As we were getting packed and ready to go to Tucson on vacation, we got a little bit of a snow storm. The boys were excited to get to go outside and help Daddy shovel. The snow was really wet and slushy, so Joe wanted to be sure to get it off the driveway before it decided to freeze into solid ice.

Jacob is really getting the hang of helping Daddy shovel snow. He totally understands that the objective is to move the snow from the pavement to the grass.

Ephraim gets the shoveling part... but he doesn't quite have the understanding and motor skills to get the snow off the pavement. More often than not he ends up shoveling the snow onto other parts of the driveway.

I am sure that in no time Ephraim will be just as proficient as Jacob. Then Joe will really have a shoveling team and will get the driveway cleared in no time. Anyone who knows Joe, knows that he has a bit of an obsession about keeping our driveway clean and dry. I don't mind it too much because then I don't have to worry about sliding or falling down.

Apparently all the shoveling made Jacob a bit tired. When we went in his room this evening to turn off his little Christmas tree, here is how Joe and I found him.

Can you believe he is fast asleep on his bed like this? What a silly boy!

You can also see a little bit from this picture that Joe got the edging done on the boys wall and we finally got the bed moved back. So now Jacob has a fabulous blue wall in his room and I absolutely LOVE it!

Breakfast with Santa

We got home from our trip to Wyoming on Monday afternoon. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday I taught preschool at my house. Tuesday we started the alphabet over again with the letter A. We made the cutest paper plate angels! I need to take my own picture of the one Jacob colored, but here is what I patterned them after:

I was pleased when mine turned out just like this, especially since I am not that great at drawing. I guess as long as I have a pattern it will turn out just fine.

Wednesday we did the letter B and made Christmas bells. I used a small Dixie cup for the bell body and attached a jingle bell with a pipe cleaner. Then the kids could use them as ornaments for their tree.

Needless to say that with everything going on and my body busy making a baby, by Thursday I was toast. Good thing we didn't really have anything else to do until our ward Christmas party. We had a Breakfast and Service with Santa that Joe helped out with. It turned out pretty well, and I got some cute pictures of the boys with Santa.

Jacob was cute. He was not shy at all and sat right on Santa's lap and talked to him.

Ephraim really liked Santa. I think he ended up sitting on his lap a total of three times! What a silly boy!

Then the boys got to help sand wooden cars for kids in need, while the adults worked on that and other service projects. It was a really nice ward party.

Frosty Drive Home

On our weekend trip to my parent's house in Wyoming there was plenty of snow, fog, and frost. It was so foggy during our stay that Sunday we didn't see the sun at all! So of course I had to take advantage of it and snap some photos.

Here is a picture of a silo in the snow as the fog was clearing.

We don't usually get frost as heavy as they do in Wyoming. But then again, they spend a lot more time below freezing than we do! So although I think the frost is beautiful, I don't really want to see a whole lot more of it!

I took these photos near the library in the morning, just as we were about to leave for home.

I love the way the frost outlined everything... seed pods, leaves, and limbs. Poor cold trees!

Just look at all the ice hanging off the bushes in front of the library!

Isn't the frost gorgeous? It makes me feel all wintry and ready for Christmas! All I need now is some hot chocolate with a candy cane in it- yum! I guess I will have to soak up as much of that wintry feeling as I can from these pictures, since we will be leaving in a little while to spend our Christmas in Arizona.

But then again, maybe warm weather, palm trees and cacti are not such a bad thing after all. Check out the first part of our drive home from Wyoming back to Utah... talk about scary.

I don't know about Daddy, but the roads were making me feel a bit like the face Ephraim is making in this picture.

After a while it did get better though! The roads cleared off and the rest of the drive was much better!

So we all relaxed and had a nice, quiet drive home.

Heiner Family Christmas Party

Sunday morning we got ready and went to Church with the entire Heiner clan. One of the things that I will remember about this trip is how Jacob loved to open the hanger door so we could drive the van out. He thought it was great fun to push the buttons. Here are his little footprints in the snow.

After church we all met up at the FBO for the family Christmas party. It was really nice to have the party there because we had plenty of space for everyone.

We all spent some time hanging out together for a while.

Then we at lunch and got down to the fun part- unwrapping presents!

One of Jacob and Ephraim's favorite presents was this cool Lego firetruck. They wanted to open it right then and there!

We told them that we would open it at Grandpa and Grandma Heiner's house later that evening since we were staying one more night. It was fun to see everyone open their gifts. It was especially fun to see some of my nieces and nephews that I don't get to see very often. I can't believe how big they are now!

Pictured here are Ashley, Megan, Andrew, Ethan and Zach.

Jacob and Ephraim did a great job. They waited patiently until it was their turn to open presents.

Here are some cool crayon books that they got from Kirkham's.

Here is Ephraim with a hat and puzzle from Grandma Heiner. The boys also got some more Lincoln logs to add to their collection!

I knew that Joe had a special present for me, so I couldn't wait to open it. He got me a FlipHD, which is a really nice little video recorder. So now I can record the boys and the new baby on video in HD! Too cool!

The very last present was the one that we all worked on the hardest. We all got busy and made a hand print quilt for Grandpa and Grandma Heiner's 40th wedding anniversary (Dec. 26th). They were both really surprised and touched by the present. I told Joe that my mom was going to cry when she saw it, and I was right about that! My dad got a little bit misty-eyed as well.

I think it is a beautiful quilt. I embroidered the names on each square, and though I wasn't sure if I could get it done, especially in the time frame I needed to finish, I was pleased with how well that turned out.

Another fun thing was that Deanna got one of her photographer friends to take pictures of all of us. Since we only get together once a year, it is nice to have a picture of everyone. So here is Grandpa and Grandma Heiner with all their children and grandchildren.

I did end up doing a little bit of editing, but mostly the picture turned out pretty well. Here is one of Grandpa and Grandma with all their children and their spouses.

We also took some random fun pictures. Here is one of all my sisters.

From left: Deanna, Jeanette, Tiffany, Me, Shannon, Jalene

What a fabulous Christmas party! It turned out really well. We had plenty of space, everyone had somewhere to spend the night, and we had fun visiting with everyone. Joe even said it was one of the best Heiner family parties that he can remember pretty much since we got married!

After the party, everyone else left for home. We decided to stay one more evening so we didn't have to drive home in the dark. So we got to go play at Grandma and Grandpa Heiner's house by ourselves.

The boys got out their Lincoln logs and played with their Lego firetruck. Jacob was making me laugh because he was pretending that his log house was on fire so that the firemen could come and put it out. What a cutie!

Hay Ride in the Afternoon

As if an airplane ride wasn't fun enough, only a few hours later we all got to go on a hay ride and help Deanna and her husband Marc feed their cows. The Clarks live on a ranch not too far from our parents, and Deanna was happy to oblige when I told her my boys would love a tractor ride some time.

So after lunch we headed out to Etna and loaded everyone up on the hay wagon.

Jeanette and Greg rode on the hay wagon with all the kids. You can see Autumn, Jacob, Samantha, Kaylee, Marisa and Braydon on the back of the truck with them.

Joe and I got to follow along behind in a covered ATV. It was pretty fun. Check out my fuzzy-faced driver.

This is the first time during out entire marriage that Joe has had any facial hair at all! He intended to shave it off on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but then it snowed a bunch and he ended up shoveling at the church, going to ward council, then coming home and shoveling the rest of our driveway. So he didn't even have time to shave. So he decided to keep the facial hair for a while. I think he is still handsome.

So I have accounted for nearly everyone except for Ephraim. He got to ride in the cab, and Deanna assured me that he was definitely driving the tractor all by himself! She would tell him that she needed to turn the tractor and he would respond by saying, "I do it!". What a funny boy!

You can see in this second picture that Deanna is taking a picture of Joe and me in the Ranger, and Ephraim is the only one with his hands on the wheel!

Jacob and his cousins had a great time throwing hay to the cows.

He was having a great time and kept smiling and waving at Mommy and Daddy. What a cutie!

I used my zoom lens and got some pretty fun pictures of the action. I didn't really mind that I wasn't on the hay wagon, since I am allergic to the stuff!

After a little while we went over to the fence where the horses are. Ephraim got out of the tractor for a minute and joined the other kids on the hay wagon.

Then the kids got to give some hay to the horses, and Marc was kind enough to give the kids a bareback ride on one of their horses. Here is Jacob on the horse with his cousin Marisa.

Ephraim decided that he wanted to ride in the Ranger with Mommy and Daddy. Well, he actually probably wanted to drive it, but he had to settle for riding in it instead.

Then on the way back the other kids got to take a turn riding in the cab of the tractor with Aunt Deanna. They all thought it was a ton of fun! My boys were loving their time on the ranch.

So now I guess it's a toss-up as to whether my boys would rather be pilots when they grow up, or live on a ranch and drive a tractor!

After so much excitement, we took the boys back to the apartment for a nap. They both slept for over an hour, which was nice because my brother Shon's family arrived later that evening from Boise, so we stayed up late hanging out with everyone at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Fun times!

Airplane Ride in the Morning

This weekend was the Heiner Family Christmas party. We have all been getting together for Christmas just about as long as I can remember. This year we ended up having the party the first weekend in December and we all met up at Mom and Dad's house in Star Valley.

We had a great time in Wyoming! My entire family made it to my parents house (so there were 24 of us plus two babies on the way) and we had a great time together. We got to Star Valley on Friday night. Our little family got to stay in an apartment in a hanger at the FBO, which worked out really nicely. The boys thought it was pretty cool to stay right next door to the airplanes.

Saturday morning the boys got ready and went to hang out at the FBO with Grandpa. I was still getting ready when Joe came to tell me that Grandpa said that the weather was nice enough to go for an airplane ride. Jacob and Ephraim think it is so cool that Grandpa is a pilot and works at the airport.

So in no time we were in the airplane and headed off!We started with Jacob in the front seat with Daddy and Grandpa.

I sat in the backseat with Ephraim. Originally I was going to let the boys and Daddy go alone, but Ephraim was feeling a bit contrary so I decided to go and help out.

I am glad I went because I don't think I have ever been on a ride in the winter and it was beautiful! Everything was blanketed in snow and the world almost looked monochromatic because the sky was overcast too.

At first Ephraim didn't want a headset on, but after a while I shared mine with him.

Isn't he a cutie?

We got to fly all over the valley. We even got to see Grandma and Grandpa Heiner's house from the air. Here it is!

The boys were not nervous about flying in the airplane at all! As a matter of fact, they LOVE it. They think it is fun to watch Grandpa fly, and "help" him fly through the air.

Halfway through our ride we let the boys trade places so Ephraim could have a turn in the front. I took this photo of me in the back of the plane with Jacob and I just love it.

It was so fun to watch my boys in the airplane. They loved watching the scenery from the air,

"helping" Grandpa fly the airplane,

and talking into their headsets. They were so stinking cute!

My boys are so lucky that they get to go on airplane rides with their Grandpa! They always talk about riding in the airplane for days afterwards. Who knows? Maybe one of the boys or our unborn daughter will end up being a pilot, since she has already had two airplane rides and she isn't even born yet! I guess only time will tell. :o)