a look back on our holidays

Well I told myself I would have our Christmas vacation posted by February.  So here we are on the 1st of February punching out one (ever so LARGE... really quite HUGE) blog post.  So brace yourselves for an overload of Cutler-ness :)

Our 2-week holiday consisted mostly of driving (not really, but we did spend A LOT of time on the road).  We drove out to Nebraska and stayed with Casey & Kimber for a night, then on to Wyoming, then Utah, back to Wyoming, Cody took a mini-trip to Colorado for an interview, then back home to Indiana.  Whoa. 

Here we are on the road:

 holding hands . on-the-go diaper changes . car naps

This is the one picture we took at Casey & Kimber's:)  They were so nice to let us stop and rest at their lovely home for the night.  We got to meet their 2-week old little Maxson who is SOOO adorable. 

Shortly after arriving in Wyoming, Cody decided to let his Movember beard go.  

Had to shave it off in stages of course:)

 We spent a few days in Wyoming before heading down to Utah.  

We had a relaxing Sunday consisting of dinner and playing with babies...

trying on some of Daddy's old outfits... 

This gem of an outfit was purchased for Cody while his folks were in Hawaii a couple decades+ ago:)

Jaden had so much fun playing with Aunt Tayli in the snow.

:snow angels and a tiny little snowman:

Jaden's 1st professional haircut was a success!

baby's 1st Christmas attire

(it's amazing how much they grow those first 7 months!)

:sibling love and garage ping-pong:

We made our way to Utah with a stop in Logan.  We visited my sister and her family.  The kids played, the adults chatted, and we shared a yummy pasta dinner together.

We stayed with my folks for a few days:)  

Checked out the new City Creek Mall with my little brother and my sister who traveled from Seattle with her family.  We like to call ourselves the "3 little ones" since we're the youngest of the six:)

 (Jaden fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep on Cody's shoulder for a good half-hour or so)

 My dad met up with us after work.  The Christmas tree and fire/water fountain show were most impressive.

 We ate dinner at Kneaders and then walked through Temple Square.  The lights were amazing as always and the kiddos loved how close they were able to get to the temple.  The gate was open and so they actually got to walk up the stairs and touch the doorknob of the SLC temple.  They all thought that was pretty awesome!

The next day we made our way down to my brother's home.  We watched their kiddos for the evening as part of our Christmas gift to them.  We had a great time and got a glimpse of life as a family of 7:)  

Mailey was so sweet with Brielle and had her giggling all night.  Evie and Bri are just weeks apart and were so cute just rolling around and playing together.

I think the highlight of the night was frosting and decorating Christmas sugar cookies:)

We always have a blast when we visit Keith and Jen.  Thanks for a great time!

My dad retired at the end of December after working for 36 years in the Utah State Auditor's office.  My sister took some great pictures of him at the state capitol building where he worked all those years.  So proud of him!

Nate, Marianne, Andrew, and I took our families to this awesome place called "Get Air."  Basically a giant playhouse of trampolines!  It was pretty awesome. 

The blocks were killer to climb your way out of... a total workout really.  Jaden even lost his pants in the mix;)

The next day we took a whole lot of family pictures...

 enjoyed a Christmas feast, delicious treats, did a mini-retirement recognition party for my dad...

and did our annual Christmas nativity program.

What a day!  It ended with all 15 grandkids opening their Christmas PJs from Grandma and Grandpa all at the SAME TIME.  Chaos... but happy chaos!:)

We celebrated Preston's 1st birthday before making our way back to Wyoming.

The theme was "The Places You Will Go" and was adorable.

On Christmas Eve we took more family pictures with the Cutlers and then participated in a bunch of Wyoming-style festivities:)

We gathered around for Christmas messages...

and then split up into different stations.  

making cookies, ornaments, etc.

The boys did the cooking on Christmas Eve!  We had a chili cook off consisting of white chili, green chili, and the traditional.  I think the traditional was favored:)

:the nativity program:

(Maxson was the perfect little Baby Jesus.  Jaden and Treyson were our little shepherd boys.)

Mom C. made matching t-shirts for our Christmas PJs.  

(IBIC: I Believe in Christ)

The little boys were a little excited about their new Pjs and ended up dog-piling Casey:)

:Christmas morning:

Everyone got a new waffle-sticks iron, so we thought we'd try them out for Christmas morning breakfast.

 

We had a very white Christmas and took full advantage with some sledding on Christmas Day. 

 

The boys took it a step further and turned Tay's car into a snow pig.  Weird, but pretty impressive!

(typical to find the girls surrounding the cute baby and the boys up to no good;)

:stories & games with Grammie:

:decorating sugar cookies:

:introduced our families to the Tim-Tam-Slam:

Bri loved playing with her aunts and had to sport her "on Auntie's nice list" shirt.

Our kids were spoiled with attention and loved it:)

What a crazy but very memorable holiday season!  We had such a great time seeing all our family.  Thanks for having us and making it such a special Christmas for us!