Ring in the New Year!

We had a perfect New Year this year - quiet and calm.  After hamburgers with Andrew's parents, we went back to their house, hung out, and were in bed by 10.  We were exhausted from all our vacationing!  ;)

After Church on Sunday, Grandpa let Eve help him on the computer.

While the rest of the family engaged in a fiesty round of skip-bo.

"I've never seen a kitchen this big, Mommy!  I don't even know where to begin!"

Starting a new year, the third one Eve's lived in, wears you out!  Good thing we have a puppy to snuggle with!

On Monday, we drove up to Salt Lake to meet Katie and Danny and their family for lunch at CPK!  I haven't seen Katie since our wedding - 2 1/2 years! - so it was so much fun to get to spend even a little time with them.  It wasn't quite the same as I remembered, since all of us spent most of the time catering to children, but still we had a blast! 

And the best part is, Katie and Danny just moved back to Utah, so we should be able to see them more often now!

Claire, Sophie, Johnny, and Eve!

Oh, and Katie's expecting their fourth!  Yay!  Another boy!

Oh, and I got my hair cut while we were in Utah, as you can see....

It was so nice and warm outside, that when we parted ways after lunch, we just walked around a bit outside.  Loving the sunshine!

We still had another day and a half left on our 2 week vacation, although by this point, the reality of leaving friends and family to go back to Michigan was starting to set in and I didn't want to go! 

Eve was unconcerned and passed the time with her new favorite toy - the tupperware bowl I got for Christmas.  Enjoy it while you can, Eve, because when we get back home, it's mine!

We probably ate out WAY too much in Utah, but it has so many of our favorite restaurants (yes, we did also make it to Cafe Rio once, not picured) that we feel the need to eat at each of them every time we're in town!

That being said, Andrew's parents treated us to J-Dogs (is that how you spell it?) while we were there.  Despite our years at BYU, we'd never eaten there before.

It was yummy!

While the men-folk watched sports, Eve got some quality play time in with Grandma! 

And on Tuesday, Jan 3rd, our last full day in Provo, we went to Stans with Kelly and Reagan (recently returned from a trip to see Lance's family) for one last visit! 

Reagan even earned a tiny taste of vanilla ice cream from someone's shake.  Eve ate a lot of ice cream.

Our last outting in Provo?  The BYU Bookstore, of course!  Can't not stop there!

We were lucky that we were able to stay for a whole week in Utah!  It gave Eve time to re-remember everyone and get really comfortable! 

Thanks for an AWESOME vacation - we truly did not want to leave!