Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 started with a surprise. We weren't sure if the weather would cooperate with us enough for us to travel to Utah and back home on Christmas weekend, so we made no definite plans with the family. But thankfully, it looked like Christmas was a perfect time to make our way down there and surprise everyone.

Our first stop was to Grandpa Dowland's house for Christmas Eve dinner. The girls snuck up and rang the doorbell and surprised Grandpa Bob enough to bring him to tears. It made the trip all worth it.

After dinner and a visit from Santa, we were off to surprise Nanna and Papa.

That night we stayed at Nanna and Papa's house and got up early in the morning to have breakfast at The Grand America in downtown Salt Lake.

The cousins had a blast playing with each other and being silly.

Then it was back to Nanna and Papa's house to open up the presents from Santa and from the family. It was a crazy, fun madhouse.

Christmas night we all spent the night at our friend's the Price's. The relaxing time we had there was heaven sent and it was wonderful being able to catch up with them.

The next day we went back to Nanna and Papa's house where Lorelei, Meredith, and Hailee spent almost 2 hours in their grandparents bathtub, being spoiled rotten with popsicle after popsicle.

That night the girls were ecstatic to spend some quality alone time with Grandpa and Grandma Dowland while their parents went out to dinner. They spent the time making gingerbread houses, eating pizza, and cuddling up while watching a movie.

It was a whirlwind of a trip and we were so glad that we were able to do it.