New Years Eve

To celebrate New Years Eve, we attended the annual Lundquist-Divine minute to win it party. As always, its full of good food, good games, good costumes and lots of fun. We were excited that Dallin and Kayla lived close enough to come with us....and together we made the Swiss Ski Team. Derek's boots (actually his Dad's) were the envy of the night!





We played all sorts of games....Around the world ping-pong, blow the egg, gummi bear toss, pass the M&M, vaseline/cotton ball, pop the balloon, human fire hose (mouth), and more.









The night ended with, food, toasting the ball drop and a hilarious mustache serenade.


A good time was had by all....can't wait for next year!

Jack Turns 4!

On Dec. 28 this little guy turned 4.


I couldn't be more amazed and in love with him. His enthusiasm for life is contagious, just as his smile and laugh. He is such a great example for Teddy in being sweet, kind to others, making friends, sharing, a zest for learning, and polite. He just loves people, especially family and close friends. He is such a sweetheart, still picking me flowers, asking for snuggles, and always wanting to play. He idolizes his Dad and will do anything he is doing (including finding him in the bathtub with my razor trying to shave his head like Dad does too). As much as I am sad to see him get bigger, I am loving it at the same time. I am loving each new stage he grows into and am excited for what is in store this next year.




As usual, we were away for his birthday. Luckily we were in Utah where his little cousins and some good friends were as well. To celebrate, he and his cousin Sophia had a joint party at Jumping Jacks.





Who wouldn't love to climb, bounce and eat junk food?





Per request, Derek and I tried our hand at creating a spiderman cake. We are pretty proud of how it turned out :)


We also had a little celebration with Derek's family in Park City.

More food, treats, food and fun! It was a fun day and appreciate everyone joining in on the fun!

Christmas in Utah

Life as a student is pretty sweet....considering we get over a month off of school! As soon as Derek finished his finals, we packed up and drove out to Utah. Certainly not the shortest drive in the world, but we survived.

First on the agenda to hit was a horrible stomach flu epidemic. It was a rough and horrible way to start out the vacation...

We also had the pleasure of watching my brothers' kids. They were kind enough to let us stay with them a few days, so it was the least we could do. We lucked out with the only snowfall while watching them, so we suited up all the kids and ran outside to play. Jack was so excited and the first thing he did was make a snow angel.


One of the main events of break was that my little brother got married. I am SO happy for him and just love his wife Kayla. It was so special be a part of the endowments, the wedding party, the ceremony and everything. Despite a few hiccups (i.e. horrible traffic on the way to the temple ceremony and literally running to our seats) it was a beautiful wedding and so fun to see how in love they are.



It was a walk down memory lane staying in Provo for the majority of our time in Utah. We hit up lots of great places to eat, a visit to the Bean museum, BYU basketball game, lots of swimming at the hotel, played at the Provo Beach Resort, caroled at the nursing home...









...and of course we saw Santa. It was chaos with all the cousins, but made the wait worth it (everytime we passed a Santa in a mall Jack begged to see him, but then remembered all his cousins were waiting to go together). What a classic picture, thanks to Teddy :)



Christmas Eve with my family is not one to miss! Sugar cookie decorating, manger re-enactment, and of course a legendary talent show. Jack showed off his whistling skills this year, by whistling "twinkle twinkle little star". We all then participated in a family shuffle party to "I'm 'sixty' and I know it" followed by the "Party Rock Anthem". Never a dull moment with the Bills family.





We were also able to spend a few days in Park City with Derek's family. I just love Park City. ....if only Utah had gotten more snow!.....








We also celebrated Jack's 4th birthday!

Can you believe this sweet little guy is 4 years old? I can.....he is more like 4 going on 14 these days. But we had a fun birthday party and family celebrations....more on that to come....

Three years old and skis?

For the last couple of months Jack has been dying to go skiing or snowboarding. ...he even asked Santa for his own pair of skis and snowboard....I hope he wasn't too disappointed. So while we were in Utah over the break, we were so excited to get Jack up on the slopes.

Derek and Tyson took Jack and Landon up to Sundance for their first ski run.



Doesn't he look so cute all suited up?!?


Here is a snippet of his first run....



A few days later, I got to join in the fun when we took Jack up to Parley's Summit where we could ski with him. It was awesome! We were the only ones to go from the top of the 'ski hill'.



By the end, Jack was a total pro! I am so proud of the little 3 year old and how dedicated and brave he was! What a stud.