While we were visiting with him, Kate whispered to me, “I’ve never met the REAL Santa before.”

We visited Temple Square with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Gramps.

It was pretty cold, but so beautiful.

Kate was determined not to let go of Grandma and Grandpa’s hands – even when people got in the way.

We had our annual Christmas program

complete with Joseph, Mary, the donkey,

the angel,

and Baby Jesus.  Mary was nice enough to give up her spot on the donkey when Joseph got tired.

Christmas morning led to some fun surprises!

Simon spent all morning playing at that kitchen while the rest of us opened presents.

He broke away long enough to line up some new cars.

Scott and I (mostly Scott) made this awesome car town.  Scott added some Texas flare by putting a Rudy’s and an HEB on it.

After Christmas, we headed up to Brad and Chanda’s to have some fun on the wii, eat tons of good food (Brad is the best cook ever!), and get super addicted to American Ninja Warrior.  So awesome!

Then, we headed to Jodi’s to celebrate Grandma Baldwin’s birthday.

Everyone had fun with the cousins.

Audrey and Lily had some fun getting pulled on a sled behind the snowmobile.

Okay, by “nutshell”  I meant lots of things combined in one really long post.

The end.

We went to the San Antonio Temple and walked around.

Of course it’s close to impossible to get a picture with all three kids looking, so we’ll settle for one.

Some people were tuckered out after a walk around the temple.  Others had to rehydrate and others just had to kick back and relax.

Finally we made it to the River walk.  We walked along for a while, had a boat ride, and ate lunch in a very welcomed, air conditioned, restaurant.

Grandpa pointed out some baby ducks to Kate.

These girls REALLY love each other.

The boat ride was fun, and hot, and a bit too long for some.

On our way back to the car we walked through La Villita and I loved it!  The streets, buildings, walls… all of it was just so cute.

I love this boy!

Scott and the girls with Grandma Gussy

We made a trip to Idaho for a couple reasons, one of which was to stop and see my grandma in Blackfoot. My aunt Marilyn was when we arrived and spent some time with us. She pulled out a photo album of my grandma’s family and I had fun looking at old pictures with my grandma and asking her about the pictures.

Grandpa was also a bit sick and one day he slept more than he was awake. Poor grandpa. Grandma had her fair share of naps too. I’m sure it was nice for them to get out of their normal environment and catch up on some rest.

Even though we had some challenges, we still got to have fun. Of course we went to Rudy’s and indulged in a little too much brisket. Brad recommended going to Salt Lick, but that place is like driving to Louisiana to get there. Rudy’s is just over on Research Blvd so we settled on it.

Jeana showed Grandma and Grandpa the exceeding heights of Mount Bonnell. That’s almost embarassing to show them that “mount” when they live next to Mount Timpanogos and the rest of the Wasatch Front.

We ended the week with a trip to San Antonio. I took Grandma and Grandpa to see the Alamo early in the morning. Since Jeana was meeting us later with the girls, I took advantage of an opportunity to read plaques and learn about the history. Now, when I “Remember the Alamo!” I will have an idea of what I am supposed to remember. Grandma cracked me up because she kept singing things like “Davy, Davy Crocket, king of the wild frontier” and “deep in the heart of Texas” and she wanted to find a music store to find the music to the songs of Texas. I shouldn’t take too much humor from it because I love to sit at the piano and play “Here We Have Idaho.”

As I said, Jeana was meeting us later in San Antonio. We spent the afternoon at SeaWorld. Happy Birthday Grandma and Grandpa! I got to see the show at the Beluga for the first time – WOW! Those dolphins were so awesome, although when I watched “Finding Nemo” the other day and the sharks were referring to dolphins thinking they’re so cute, I could understand why.

After seeing the trainers in the Shamu show and seeing the statue of Shamu, Jeana wanted to get a shot of the girls kissing the whale.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for coming to see us! We can’t wait until you can come again, especially once we’ve mastered the new sleeping arrangments.