Christmas in Utah!

I have never been a fan of celebrating Christmas anywhere other than in our own home. The idea of transporting gifts across the nation never excited me nor did I want to deal with explaining to the kids how Santa would figure out where they were. I love to wake up in our own home on Christmas morning and always look forward to cooking a big Christmas feast. Having said that we always loved when family traveled to us.  I think there has been only one Christmas that we celebrated away since having kids and it was the boys' first Christmas.  We decided to reward ourselves that year and take a trip to Hawaii...the reward being traveling without the boys haha!  That first year of raising twins is a busy one so we were quite grateful for my parents being willing to watch them while we took a trip.  Since we were traveling from NJ we met my parents at the SLC airport where they grabbed the boys. Then on our return we did a stopover back in SLC where we celebrated Christmas with the boys and my family before returning back to NJ.  From that point forward we celebrated Christmases in our own home.  Fast forward to this year with the boys being away for their first Christmas since leaving on their missions and my aging parents finding traveling to us a bit more difficult, especially in the world of Covid, it seemed the perfect time to give Christmas away from home another try.  It turned out great and I'm so glad we went.

Of course it wouldn't be Christmas without the normal frantic push to figure out what photo to use for our annual Christmas card and in typical Roddy fashion, I found myself calling a neighbor asking if they'd be willing to run over and snap a couple photos with minutes notice.  I had sworn this was the year we'd get a professional one with the boys in it before they left this summer but no such luck.  Here are a few shots that my sweet neighbor Holly was able to capture for us. All I needed was one with us all smiling...

Next we were off to Utah but not before dropping Nova off at the kennel.  None of us were happy about this as it would be the first time he wouldn't be coming with us but sadly we were left with no other option since he no longer fits in his travel case that was already bigger than the maximum sized one allowed on the plane.  

So what happens when you leave your dog for ten days and head to Utah to play in the snow without him?  He creates his own "white Christmas".  Had to laugh when the kennel sent me this photo of what they found when they arrived one morning to check on him...

Of course just because the boys are gone doesn't mean that our traditional annual photos with Santa are.  Deep down I think Sage enjoys this tradition even if she was now the only one in the photo.  Of course with Covid, Santa has to be extra careful and so he practices social distancing for photos too...haha!  But boy it sure feels a lot more like Christmas in Utah with these cold temps!  It was definitely time to dust off the coats...

Aside from the fact Jack got sick a few days before we arrived and contaminated many of us during the holiday, (thankfully it was just a cold) we still had such a great time. It was so nice being with my whole family. While we didn't do too much because it was quite cold, we enjoyed just being together.  Here are a few random shots from our time there!

T'was the night before Christmas...and all through Grandma and Grandpa's house...

The highlight of Christmas morning... talking to our sweet boys!!!

It was definitely a successful Christmas with everyone really putting it some great thought into the gifts they gave!

Sledding in the Provo bowl...

Two boys enjoying their Christmas presents...

Game night!

Goodbyes...

Thanksgiving weekend!

Well this Thanksgiving marked the first one without the boys and it definitely didn't feel right.  From not having them around to help decorate the tree to missing them around the table feasting on turkey, everything seemed off.  While we failed to capture our lovely Thanksgiving feast that we shared with our dear friends the Stroud's (whose son is also serving a mission in Mexico and could relate to that feeling of having empty chairs around the table), we did get a few from earlier in the day as we enjoyed spending time on the dock enjoying Florida's beautiful November weather.  This year I made a point to convince Sage and Jack to let me have the tree up and decorated by Thanksgiving since we'd be heading to Utah for Christmas and wouldn't get to enjoy it for nearly as long!  I'd much rather have it up a couple days early than have it up into the New year! :)

Happy Halloween

I'm pretty certain the last time Sage dressed up as a cowgirl was in 2009 when she would have been three years old!  Fast forward twelve years and here she is...Still the cutest cowgirl ever!  

After spending the day together doing everything from church hopping (since it was Sunday) to house hopping, this group ended their night at our place.  Gone are the days of pumpkin patch visits (especially when you live in Florida) and costume shopping but I was just happy to have them at our place hanging out.

And it wouldn't be a complete night without knocking a few doors...if even just to get enough to cure the sweet tooth! The jury is out if this will be the last year of trick or treating for Sage! :)

Sno Falls Girls Trip 2021

It's hard to believe it's been almost ten years since we left Washington.  But in those eight years we lived there we were fortunate to form many lifelong friendships that thankfully have continued to grow since leaving that beautiful place.  Some of these friends have come to visit us since leaving which has been so fun.  But it took until this year that my dear friend Mara and I finally decided to put a girls trip together to try and get as many of us together as possible and what not a better place to come to than Florida where I can offer up our home.  While there were about thirty people we invited and sadly we later realized we still managed to miss a few, we knew that only a handful would likely be able to come but how thrilled we were to see within 24 hours of sending out the invite several girls had booked tickets!  There ended up being nine of us which worked out great as far as accommodating people comfortably here at the house but we are already looking forward to planning our next one with the hope of not leaving anyone out.  Here are a few highlights from our time together! 

Here are Mara and I scouting out Rock Spring a few days before everyone arrived. I had never been but after doing some research was shocked to learn it was only a half hour from our place.  It was beautiful!

Next to arrive was Edie and Rachel.  Since they came in a day before the main group arrived, we took advantage of having most of Wednesday to hit the beach and enjoy lunch on the pier before everyone else arrived later that afternoon!

The girls have arrived!  What a great time everyone had at Rock Springs.  Favorite part of the day though had to be Mara and I looking through all the hysterical photos that were captured by the GoPro that we never intended to take. I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.  We had cramps by the time we were done.  We have promised not to post those...haha!

After a great time at the spring it was off to this hole in the wall right outside the park.  Definitely the best onion rings ever at Rock Springs Bar and Grill!

The next day we were off to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive.  That never disappoints for those guests wanting to see alligators in the wild.  But since I've been so many times I neglected to take any photos but it was a crowd pleaser.  After that we enjoyed a fabulous Thai lunch and then it was off to the beach!

Probably the best part of the trip was all the time spent bonding whether it be in the hot tub, over dinner at Disney Springs, or while rooming with an old friend. So grateful to have these ladies in my life. Until next time...

HOCO 2021

Well, it happened.  It was only a matter of time before Jack, Connor, and Tyler would no longer be the only men in Sage's life.  We've officially gone from daddy daughter dances to homecoming dances...in fact this was her very first one! While she is not yet allowed to single date for a variety of reasons, I can say one big reason is I have far better ways I'd like to spend my weekend than chauffeuring a couple underage teenagers around town.  If you're too young to drive you are too young to date in my book! We did agree to allow her to go to homecoming if she went in a group, which is what she did and thankfully, there was no chauffeuring involved!  And how cool is it that our high school has homecoming at SeaWorld!  Living in Orlando does have it's benefits!

It's always fun to see how these kids ask each other to dances. Admittedly I had to ask Sage to explain the sign to me...haha!  Yes, I'm a little slow and had to say it several times to finally get it... I guess I've turned into my mom.  I did however immediately notice that Bo had caught on to Sage's love for turtles.

So how cute are these two!  

A few other photos from the night! 

Love my girl! Here she is with one of her best friends Gabby who she met up with at SeaWorld.