To the Slopes

Over Christmas Break we headed up to Bear Lake to the cabin with my parents. We had so much fun just relaxing after the chaos of Christmas. The highlight of our getaway was probably the couple of times we took the kids skiing. Not far from Bear Lake, down Logan canyon, exists a great little ski spot called Beaver Mountain. Both Caitlyn and Brynn have skied in the past, but decided that they wanted to learn to snowboard this year. So we took advantage of the proximity (and need I say the great prices?) and had a great time. After a morning of lessons, both girls were doing pretty well on their snowboards. Zach enjoyed himself also, or at least appeared to the few times we bumped into him. Being up there reminded me of what a truly beautiful and spectacular place we live. I, for one, take for granted the wonderful opportunities Utah has to offer. I'm going to make a goal to spend more time in the outdoors this year. It's too beautiful to waste!

Christmas Break, Part Three

Allred Christmas Party, 2010: We were blessed to be able to get together with the Allred side of the family over the holidays as well. It's always enjoyable to see everybody, especially Amy and her family. We don't see them nearly enough. We did the usual family stuff: we ate a bunch, exchanged gifts and spent what time we had with each other.

The gifts this year were Kindles for everyone. We were all very excited. Thank you G'ma and G'pa Allred!

The Mayhew/Sepulveda Family (left to right): Lexi, Gage, Amy (back), Bailey (front), Gaven, and Lon

Meghan and Aaron and Nugget (not shown) We now know that Nugget is a GIRL and will be introducing herself sometime in May.

Caitlyn and Jess doing..... I have no idea.

Missing in action: Grandma and Grandpa!!!! They were too busy hosting the fabulous party to pose for photos :(

Christmas Break, Part Two

The Buhrley Party:
It's always fun with family comes, when family come, HOORAY! On Christmas day we had a last minute get-together at our house. Grandma and Grandpa Buhrley came, as did uncles and aunts and all the cousins, of course. We opened more presents, ate food and played Just Dance. We have some mighty fine hip wiggler in the Buhrley family. An added bonus was that we had Kara and Bode from Chicago. YAY! We wish they'd just move their little behinds our here and stay! We had fun but missed the few who couldn't make it. Did you hear that Trisha? We need you to come visit soon!!!!

Christmas Break, Part One

Because second term ends this week, and because extra time has been very limited lately, I'm going to be posting our Christmas Break account in parts.

Trumpet blows in the background... And now presenting The Buhrley Family Christmas Break 2011, Part One: Christmas Itself.

We were pretty traditional this year. I think when the kids are older they will remember the Christmas Eves of their youths having the following things: gingerbread houses, pajamas, fondue, and the Christmas Story. We scored 3 out of 4 this year. Gingerbread houses? Check. Pajamas and required photo? Check. Fondue? We do! The Christmas Story of Jesus' birth? No. No? How, might you ask, did we forget the Christmas story? We had intended to, and were ready for it, when Brook decided to quickly charge the video camera for Christmas morning. In doing so, he discovered a treasure bag of past Christmas videos. We decided to watch 2003, and before we knew it, we were watching one Christmas morning after another. I have to admit that it was bittersweet. It was so fun to see the three kids small again. We all laughed at their excitement, innocent expressions, and hilarious antics. We watched in wonder at each cute little face and tried to remember how life was not so long ago. "Brynn was so cute and I was so serious" Caitlyn laughed. "My voice was so high!" Zach observed. "Did I really call Santa Clause Ho Ho?" Brynn questioned. We watched, fascinated, for over an hour, the Christmas stories of Our Life. There were tears, however, in my laughter and I couldn't decide if they were happy tears or sad tears. I think they were both.I agree with Brook's last words to me before we fell asleep on Christmas Eve, "Wow, we have a good life."