Christmas

It's hard to believe that our trip to Italy was over a year ago now. Sometimes the smallest things make us sentimental as they remind us of something from our trip. Like the smell of cigarette smoke. . . it always takes me back.

This year we spent our whole break back west with our families. We got to see all of our siblings, along with their respective children and pets. We spent Christmas at Mark's parents' new home in Morgan, Utah. It was nice to be close to some of the fun things that Utah has to offer at Christmastime-- lights and shopping and such. Mark also got to drive down to Las Vegas with his dad to see the Cougars beat the Ducks in the Las Vegas Bowl. The day after Christmas, Mark's sisters threw me a baby shower. It was so great getting to see a bunch of aunts, cousins, and grandmothers that we might not have otherwise seen. Unfortunately, we really didn't whip out a camera much on the trip, so we don't have much visual evidence that any of our vacation truly happened. :)

We drove up to Ontario the next day and spent a late Christmas with my whole family. Of course it included a Mexican feast, which is a delicious tradition in the Walk home. The next day, my sister gave birth to her first baby, Kailey Grace Knight. It was great that Mike was able to come home from his duty in the Middle East to be with us for Christmas and with Janelle when their baby came.

After a week in Ontario, we came back to Morgan and spent our time playing his family's Wii, driving to Bear Lake to visit family, driving to Southern Utah to visit friends who just moved away from Ithaca, and eating at all of our favorite restaurants. We made it back to Ithaca just in time for the girls to start Rush, which always brings crazy and funny experiences. (As I type this, I can hear them cheering and stomping around in high heels upstairs. We are nearing the end, which will be a welcome relief as well as a return to our usual labors.)