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.

Thanksgiving in San Clemente

This Thanksgiving was spent in Southern California with Derek's family.















We had lots of family time, and even got to meet up at a park with some other cousins as well.








































Of course we were able to squeeze in a few beach days!











While there, we also celebrated Bill and Nina's 50th Wedding Anniversary. We prepared a nice family dinner and told memories and stories of the two of them. They are great grandparents and we look forward to 50 more years!

San Francisco Half Marathon

After 2 months off from blogging (and a still broken computer) I'm back. A few months ago, my friend Megan and I ran the San Francisco Half Marathon. It was a gorgeous day in SF, lots of beautiful views, and of course a few hills in between.





My personal cheering crown made the trek to congratulate me....just what I needed when my legs felt like noodles.





Thanks Megan for signing up with me!

Discovery Bay Museum

A week or so ago (finally catching up!), some friends and I decided to check out the Discovery Bay Museum.....and it may be my new favorite 'discovery' in the Bay area. First of all, it is right at the base of the Golden Gate bridge, housed inside of and old US Army post, Fort Baker.

It was a really different museum, because there were separate buildinsg with different play and learning areas, as well as lots of outside discovery areas in between.

Teddy especially loved the stream....any excuse to splash and get wet!

They had a really cool stage/puppet theater area!

Lots of fun indoors too...

But I think we loved it outdoors more....

We had a GREAT time, and will definitely be back very soon!