Utah - Salt Lake City

Well, I hinted that there were more travels on the way with my Arizona post.  Of course none of that was planned until the day before we were to come home from Arizona.  I can't really explain it, there is always a bit of sadness when a trip is wrapping up and it is time to come home. But this was a lot more than that.  We genuinely, no way no how wanted to come back home.  Our state was shutting back down and we had pretty much been prohibited from spending Thanksgiving with any other families and it just hasn't been feeling like home. I don't know if we are just in a funk because of the times or if there is more to this feeling that we are working through, but we are open to exploring our options and praying about where we belong.  But all we knew in that moment is that we didn't want to come home and we are in a position right now where we don't have to be!  The night before we were to fly home from Arizona we stayed up really late researching options. In an ideal world we would have stayed in Arizona and then slowly made our way home, but the cost of a rental car was outrageous so Peter suggested that we come home, get our own car and then hit the road again. Unfortunately we lost a week of travel time because of that but we were still able to squeeze in two weeks of fun!  

In Arizona we discovered that the kids were really good travelers in the car so we thought that a road trip was very doable.  We also knew that Peter has an insane amount of flexibility with the work from home environment and homeschooling would be pretty easy to do while traveling too. So the only barriers on our journey were making sure that we stayed put during the week so Peter could work and the kids could complete their school.  We also got bit by a bug to explore our National Parks.  So we started looking at locations close enough to drive to in a reasonably short amount of time, but also places that had some National Parks to explore on the weekends and wouldn't be completely shut down for winter. And thus we arrived on Utah.

So we were home for a quick week to pack and get snow tires and hit the road!  We found a VRBO around Salt Lake City and hit the road dark and early on Saturday morning.  We knew we were asking a whole lot of the kids by driving a whopping 11 hours in the car to get to Salt Lake City but our kids were total champions and did awesome!  They slept the first leg, watched some movies and spent a lot of time playing the license plate game and listening to Christmas music. It was dark when we left home and it was dark when we pulled into our VRBO but there was no fighting and even Miss Ayla did so amazing with only two stops on the way! 

Bye Bye Oregon

Dining restrictions make it difficult to stop for breaks but we made due

Desperate times, once she got too worn out in the car she got her very first introduction to sing along songs.

To help with the "Are we there yet?" I put stickers on the roof to help count down the hours! 

Utah on the Horizon at sunset! 

We had a day to do a little bit of exploring before we started the work week.  We decided to head up to Park City to see a little bit of snow and since we had visited the Olympic Park in Whistler a few years back we thought it would be fun to see the Olympic Park there.  

The kids love ANY snow they can find! 

Then back to the house to warm up with hot chocolate and coloring 

Of course no trip can be complete without some surprises.  We are always hounding the boys about rough housing and breaking their heads but of course it was the girls who were rough housing and got an evening trip for stitches - ouch! 

We celebrated Ayla's very first Birthday in this tiny rental house (as I shared before) and we also celebrated Thanksgiving in that tiny kitchen. And you know what? We had a blast!  This kitchen was NOT equipped to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner but we had lots of laughs and really enjoyed ourselves as we prepared this meal for our family in a house that didn't even have a dining room! 

And then we took our traditional Bingo for candy on the road with us

Ayla begged Mom and Dad to win her Kit Kats

 

It was a fun and memorable Thanksgiving with our adorable little family! We were so thankful to be together and have this special time together!

The next morning we did a little version of our elf breakfast to ring in the Christmas season! Yet again, nothing fancy but it still seemed perfect! 

And then we were off to explore The Great Salt Lake!  It was only about 15 minutes from the house so it was an easy little excursion before we left the area.

We did not expect bison in the area so that was a fun little surprise 

 

Our first week was off to a great start and we knew the very best was yet to come! Week 2 definitely did not disappoint! 

 

Ayla's Very 1st Birthday

Well it happened!  Somehow this baby is already a year old!  I cannot even believe how fast it has gone. I tried to savor the year because I know how fast it goes but it still went too fast!  

This little love went from just under 8 lbs at birth to 19.5 lbs at 1 year.  To make it even more special she started walking just about right on her birthday!  That and her growing desire to talk really made it feel like she changed from a baby to a toddler overnight. She is completely obsessed with our elf on the shelf Henry and loves finding him every morning and pointing to show us.  She says Mama, Dada, num num, thank you, and in general just tries to mimic.  I'm sure she will non stop talk here soon!  

Her personality is so fun! She definitely seems like an extrovert and loves people which is very surprising coming from two introvert parents and the fact that she's spent most of this first year in quarantine with her family. But she loves to flirt and smile and entertain! She looks around the room to make sure everyone is looking and then cheers and applauds and shows off!  I also find her to be very inquisitive. She loves to observe and pays close attention to things to see how they work.  She's very smart but I am her mom so of course I think so ;) 

She loves to eat and some of her favorites are toast, corn, peas, pears, pasta. She does not like eggs so far and has no problem chucking food she does not like. Peter has been known to comfort her when she's angry with her favorite treats - kit kats and chocolate chips.   I am so pleased to say that we made it an entire 12 months with nursing! I have never been able to reach that milestone before and even with some rough patches we made it!  She has mostly transitioned to milk and we are working on getting rid of bottles.  She's down to pretty much just naptime and nighttime.   I can't believe she has 4 teeth already as our other bio kids didn't get any teeth until they were past a year old.  She has also surprised us by keeping her blue eyes!  In a family of hazel and brown eyes that has been quite the surprise! 

She has just been a delight in every single way and has brought so much joy to our family. It has been so fun to watch each of her big siblings and the special love and care they show to her as the baby and to see how much she loves and adores them right back! 

Our state was locking back down right around her birthday but we still celebrated with close family.  We may not have had a big party but that didn't stop us from celebrating her big, after all we kind of think first birthday's are a big deal and worth celebrating!  And she soaked up every sweet second of being the center of attention. She looked around at each and every person to make sure they were watching her and shared lots of big grins! 

We knew she would definitely not disappoint us in the cake eating portion of the party! She loves food and isn't shy about it!

For her actual birthday we were out of state (more on that soon) and didn't have any major plans, beyond making her feel special in little ways. Daddy started the day out right by getting her a giant cinnamon roll and we sang the Birthday Song repeatedly throughout the day to make her smile!

Simple new toys, but it definitely showed off her inquisitive nature!

 

We got her pasta for dinner because that is a favorite and then she LOVES ice cream so we knew an ice cream cake would be a big hit!

Oh Baby Girl, you have brought so much joy into our lives.  I count my blessings daily that you are in my life as I kiss your sweet cheeks. You were definitely a missing piece in our family and we have been delighted by every second of your being! You are so fun and make us smile 100 times a day! Even though you are #5 we still enjoy every milestone as if you were the very first! I cannot wait to see all you learn in this next year, as you talk more, learn to run, and play in all sorts of new ways.  Even though you were born during one of the toughest years ever, you've kept the joy flowing in our home.  You are just the sweetest little thing and you came at the perfect time to spread joy through difficult days just by being little you! Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Ayla, we love you so!