The Last of Christmas

^Okay, first off: packing.

Pure craziness when you are trying to pack for yourself and two little people for a 10 day vacation. 

It seriously takes days to get everything ready to go.

You not only have to get an outfit for each day but you have to plan for potential blowouts and spit-ups  and throw up and general toddler messiness, which seems to happen way more often when you are away from home.

And then there's all the layers necessary for a traveling to a cold place (sweaters, coats, hats, gloves, socks galore, scarves, snow clothes), and making sure that there is enough of all of those to survive blowouts as well, oh my gosh, seriously so much to pack!

And I haven't even begun to mention Fenton's pack-n-play and a mattress and fans (for the white noise for the kids because if they don't sleep then their mom turns into a crazy person) and a boppy and a booster chair and enough diapers and wipes and snacks and bottles to last us for 10 days. 

I put Ella in the tub to keep her entertained and put Fenton in a position that he could watch Ella so that he was entertained and started stuffing things into suitcases.

Ice skating outside in the middle of the city is the best!

^After a walk with "Pa."

^My parents have a picture of me at this same age in a costume just like this so when they were recently in Hawaii they picked one up for Ella to relive the past.

My grandpa's cat, who usually tries to avoid Ella's claws, was following her everywhere while she wore this, trying to eat the grass skirt.

^My sister-in-law is a tour guide at BYU and so she gave us a tour of our old stomping grounds, which was really fun.
It was neat to be back at the place where Adam and I first met and first kissed and then got engaged and now to be back there with two kiddos in tow!
Also, awesome how we are all in thick winter coats and gloves and the poor 5-month-old is in a cardigan!
I think we were cuddling with him on the tour and there were blankets so he was warm enough but he looks so neglected in this picture!

My parents watched the EllaFents while we went on a couple dates during the week (which was so wonderful of them) and one of our dates included going to see The Saratov Approach.
I had never heard of that movie until my brother mentioned it, I'm not sure it played in any theaters outside of Utah, but it was wonderful!
One of the best movies I've seen in a while; I was thinking about it for days afterward.
My favorite part of the movie was the message that light always overcomes darkness.
Such a nice thing to hear in a world that seems to get scarily darker with every passing day.
I feel like I've mentioned the scariness of the world a few times on this blog lately but it's something I think about a lot, especially trying to raise kids, I can't help but notice how hard I will have to fight to teach them where to find happiness and goodness and truth.
But it was nice to take a break from the worrying while on vacation and just be with family!