Out with the old

We've had this old Toyota since we got married, and we have loved it!  But, (as you can probably tell by the piles of snow) we can't use it very much anymore due to space restrictions.  So, out with the old.

And in with the new.

 We have been looking for a new vehicle for a while for a couple reasons:
1. Our car (though we really like it) isn't awesome in the snow.
2. Our car is kind of small.  There is not a whole lot of room in the back with one car seat, much less if anyone else ever needs to sit back there.
We had just kept our eyes open, and one of the models that we really liked was the Honda Ridgeline.  It was roomy, had the bed of a truck (which comes in handy) and there is also a trunk under the truck bed (a feature that I love!)
One day at work, Craig's co-worker mentioned he was selling his Ridgeline, and offered it to us for a price that we couldn't refuse!

So, we have a new truck.  And we love it!  Now we just have to get everything ready to sell our old one.

The Yurt

Like last year, the few weeks during and after the holidays were super busy for Craig at work. They had another submission for the Federal Regulators, which caused many 15 and 16 hour days at work for him.  Not fun for him, or for me at home.

One silver lining, however, is the time that he gets to take off after the project is finished.  Last year, we went to San Diego.  This year, we decided to do something a little different.

We dropped Calder off at Craig's parents house, (where we were going was a little too extreme for me to want to take an almost 2-year-old) packed our bags, took some friends with us, and came here:

Bloomington Canyon, Idaho

 It is a canyon in Idaho, really close to Bear Lake to give you an idea where it was at.

the Jorgensens

We donned our cross-country skis, and started the 7 mile trek through the canyon to the yurt.

It was a slight uphill almost the whole way.  We took it slow (according to Craig), but I honestly don't think I could have gone faster and made it! :)  The last mile and a half was a lot steeper of an uphill.  And after skiing for so long already, it was hard (at least for me!)  I was exhausted, to say the least!  But the scenery was beautiful!

We made it!  And were so glad that we did!  The people who own the yurt (Weber State) tell you to be prepared to spend a night outside, in case something goes wrong (i.e. you can't find the yurt, you can't get it open, etc).  To say it was a relief to make it to the yurt is definitely an understatement!  With a lunch stop and several stops for snacks and equipment adjusting, we made it in about 4 and a half hours.

Outside the yurt

Inside the yurt

You can't see in the picture, but as you open the door, to the right, there is a propane stove (for cooking) and some pots and pans.  To the left are some bunk beds.  There was also a folding table and chairs that were ready for us to set up.

This is the view north east of the yurt.  There is the wood shed, and also was the area set aside for bathroom purposes.

This is the south east view.  Beautiful!

We had to melt snow for our water, which made me feel like we were really outdoorsy.  But in reality, it just took a while!  We packed in the stuff we needed to make spaghetti, and the Jorgensens brought stuff to make orange cakes in the stove.  

The yurt stayed really warm.  I was actually surprised how warm it got. (Up to 80 degrees!) While we were sleeping, I even had to leave my sleeping bag open and take off my socks because I was too warm.  Definitely the only type of winter camping I would do. :)

My stomach gave me issues that night, which was the only bummer about the whole trip.  Thankfully, I felt fine in the morning, so I could ski out just fine.

During the night, our friends went outside to use the bathroom, and they saw cat tracks (like a big cougar-type cat) all around the bathroom area.  And in the morning, there were different tracks there (jack-rabbit, I think?) too.  It is crazy to think how many animals were wandering around outside while we were sleeping. Good thing Jon-David brought his knife!  ;)

We enjoyed an oatmeal breakfast, cleaned up, made sure the fire was out, and started the trek back home!

What took 4 and a half hours to get there, only took a little over 2 to ski back!  It was really fun (to not have to work so hard!).

I was anxious to see Calder.  It was the longest that we have ever left him - almost 2 full days!  But he did great!  He loves spending time with his grandparents and aunts and uncles.

What a fun trip!  We might have to make this a yearly adventure...

The Holidays

I'll start at the beginning of the Holidays, even though that was WAY back a month ago. We had a WONDERFUL December!

It was so fun to decorate this year with Calder.  He LOVED all of the lights, especially.  I love how magical everything was for him.

Calder was very happy to help decorate our house

He was SOOO pleased when he woke up and saw the tree Craig and I put up the night before.

He helped us put the decorations on.
I loved the crooked icicles, and the snowflakes that he  would just lay on the branches.

I made an advent calendar this year.  We took down a box every day.  Calder looked forward to opening his box every day.  There were always a few M&M's in there, and sometimes there was a little slip of paper in there too that described an activity we would do that day, like go see the lights, make a Christmas treat, build a train, sing Christmas songs, make Christmas crafts, etc.

 We went and saw the lights at Temple Square with some of our friends from Logan.  Calder had so much fun with their little boy, Luke!  We ended up finding a semi-enclosed area, and let them run around for a little while.  As much as they loved the lights, that was definitely their favorite part of the evening.

We spent time with both of our parents during the month.  We went to a concert that Craig's dad performed in with the American Festival Chorus, which was wonderful!  The next day, Calder got to decorate cookies with Grandma Maughan.  He LOVED the cookies, unless the frosting hadn't set up. He was really bothered by the frosting getting on his fingers!

My parents came to our house later in the month to help Calder make his gingerbread train.  He loves trains lately, so it was a big hit.  

With a little direction, Calder actually put on most of the candy all by himself.  I was impressed!

The next morning, he had to rush out to look at his "Choo choo."
He was so proud of it!

Through the month, Calder would continue to decorate our tree with random things.  I loved it!  He found our Easter baskets hidden in the closet, and pulled out the grass.  He apparently thought it would look great on our tree.

After playing with the Easter grass, it thinned out a little.
He also snuck some balls (yellow and orange) in there.

This next picture has nothing really to do with the holidays, I just thought it was super cute.  One morning, he started holding his water cup up to the mouth of his little dinosaurs on his feet (pajamas).  He takes such good care of those little guys! :)

We got to spend time with both of our families right around Christmas.  We had the annual 23rd Slagowski family party, and it was a lot of fun!  Calder met Santa for the first time.  He loved watching the other kids go up and sit on his lap, but when it was his turn, he was a little upset.  But he can be bribed, apparently.  As soon as Santa whipped out the present, he mustered a little smile and was ok. He would tolerate Santa, but not look at him.  But now, Santa is great again.  Every time he plays with the puzzles he got, he says "Ho Ho Ho!"  And yes, I included all 4 pictures of him meeting Santa, just because I love how you can see Calder's thought process.

Phase one: Get me out of here

Phase two: What's this?

Phase three: I like presents.  This maybe isn't so bad.

Phase four:  I have my present now, I am ready to be done.
(I love how Santa doesn't look too thrilled in this one, either.)

We headed up to the Maughan's on Christmas Eve, and had a delicious dinner.  I was in charge of dessert, and so I made a Yule Log. (They wanted a more traditional dessert, and I didn't want to make a fruit cake, so this is what I came up with instead.)

It looked pretty cool, and ended up tasting amazing, too!
I was pleased with how the meringue mushrooms turned out, too. 

We have tried every year to make it back to our own home for Christmas Eve night, and Christmas morning.  I am so grateful that we could have a few hours just at home with our little family!

The tree Christmas morning.

Craig and I both had pretty big expectations I think as far as how Calder would react this Christmas.  But what we realized, was that he really is still little.  I keep thinking he is so grown up.  But I loved how fascinated he was just with the lights, ripping paper, and the M&M's in his stocking. He loved spending time with each present after he opened it, but then was super excited about the next ones that came, too!  I love he was excited about everything!  But he was still learning how it all worked.

Annual Christmas morning shot.  They are never good, but I feel like I have to take one every year.  Calder was much happier the rest of the morning, just not happy to sit still for 2 seconds so I could snap a picture.

And I learned that I totally dropped the ball this year when it comes to Christmas morning pictures.   These are pretty much all we have!  Oh well....

He was pretty excited about the stuff in his stocking.

This is the one Craig and I were most excited for...his bike!  He loves it, too.  Now, he walks with it all around our living room.  He even picked up from my brother Jared how to pop a wheelie.  Cute. :)

And this is what our living room has constantly looked like since Christmas.  He always has to have his car track, puzzles, tools (not pictured), front loader (not pictured) etc. out to play with.  It has been fun to have new toys, that's for sure!

Enjoying his spoils.

We got to go over and spend the rest of Christmas at my parents house.  We were able to video chat with Jake (on his mission in Germany) and that was so fun!  He is doing great and loving his mission so far.  The rest of the day was spent enjoying each other's company.  It was a perfect Christmas.

My sister got to come down the week after Christmas, so we had another Christmas morning with my family when they were down.  It was really fun to see Angie, Cody, and their kids.  It was especially fun to see how much Calder loved to play with Blaze and Jocelyn.

For New Years, we kept it simple.  Craig had work the next day, so we didn't even plan on staying up until midnight (we did anyway).  But we had so much fun!  It was probably one of the funnest New Years Eve's to be honest.  We went out to Village Inn for dinner - for some reason, we love that place!  And then had a family movie night (watched the Muppets movie) and munched on treats.  Calder was in heaven watching a movie - we don't watch TV or movies that often.  I just really enjoyed playing with and spending time with both of my boys!  

Whew!  Long post!  But what a great holiday season!