Nieces and Nephews

I'm the oldest in my family as well as the only one who is married, so I have no nieces and nephews from my side of the family. However, on Mike's side of the family I think we have 14 and counting. I love it! I love watching Mike play with them, and I love having talking with them and getting the funniest answers from them. I had a lot of fun with them during our trip and I think they had fun with us as well. Before we left we found this heart warming note on our bed, attached we some treasured trinkets. So heartwarming, it is now hanging on our fridge. The note reads "From Marcus, to Michael, you are the best uncle ever, to Kristin you are the best aunt ever." Being an Aunt is the best, I can't wait till my siblings start adding to the mix :)

Boondocks - Where a grown-up can be a kid!

We took the Saturday night red-eye back to CT from Utah. I hate that flight, but it helps us maximize the fun in Utah. The day that we left we went to my favorite place in Utah, Boondocks! I am a sucker for arcade games. I love earning as many tickets as I can and then buying silly trinkets and candy with them. I did pretty dang good on the trip. I go a few separate jackpots and we ended up with close to 1500 tickets.. but I'm not bragging or anything :)

We also played a game of lazar tag with the adults that were there. I happen to love lazar tag, I think I'm an 11 year old boy trapped in a 25 year old women's body. Our team won and I took 4th place which I thought was pretty respectable. I believe Mike took first or second. We had a blast play a bunch of arcade games and then picking out our prizes. We got a few things for the nephews that couldn't come and a few things for the kids I babysit for. Overall a very successful trip to the arcade.

 

Father/Son Jazz Game Bonding

Jazz game vs. Sacramento. I was looking forward to this game for weeks when I heard that my dad got he and I tickets....not just any tickets...we had tickets to watch the game on the 7th row! We got there 10 minutes before the game so we could see Jimmer on the floor. Up until this game he was averaging under 5 minutes a game but this game he got 20 minutes on the floor. It was cool to see him in person after watching all of those BYU games on television. My dad and I had a great time together watching the game...it was awesome to see an NBA game from such a close proximity...the only other time I was this close was when Spence Eccles gave our family tickets on the front row for my 16th birthday. 

The Jazz were down by 12 points with under 7 minutes to go. My dad and I thought the game was over. The Jazz began to rally and tied up the game with under 20 seconds to go. The crowd was going wild. With 4 seconds left in the game, Gordon Hayward recieved a pass just shy of the three point line and drained a long shot for the win! It was awesome to be so close to all the action and see such a nail-biting finish!

Lights on Temple Square

After the event at the Grand America Mike and I went our separate ways as he had a father/son Jazz game outing planned. I went with his mom and sisters the look at the Window displays at Macy's and see the Lights on Temple Square. Believe it or not this was my first time doing both and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. Each of the windows had a large themed Christmas bulb made entirely out of candy. I was so impressed at how intricate each one was and how many different candies we used. They were beautiful and I had fun taking my Nephew, Nathan, around with me to look at all of them. These types of things are so much cooler to experience with a child.

After seeing the Macy's displays we headed across the street to temple square. I was in complete awe. I loved the glowing temple, nativity scenes, glowing paper bags, christmas music and gleaming lights. It was one of the highlights of my whole trip. I will for sure make this a must when I am in Utah over the Holiday's in the future. The perfect way to start out the holiday season!

Christmas at The Grand America

Not being from Utah I am not privy to all the special events that go on. I was delighted when my sister-in-law told us about an event they hold at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City on the Friday after Christmas. The Grand America is the premier hotel in SLC and feels like something you would find in NYC. They have display cases inside the hotel that represent the way different countries celebrate Christmas. When you enter the hotel you are given a passport that has the names of all the countries represented. Then you are given the way each country says "Merry Christmas." You have to visit all the displays to match up the country with the way they say "Merry Christmas." Along the way you are served THE BEST hot chocolate I have ever had. It seriously felt like i was drinking pure chocolate! Of course the hotel is decorated to the 9's for the holidays with gorgeous tree's and even this hug gingerbread house. At the end, if you have correctly matched all the countries to the languages they give you a cookie. The whole thing is free, which blows my mind. Another reason I am itching to move to Utah. We had a blast and hope to make this a tradition for future Thanksgivings spent in Utah.