We went to Utah for about 9 days for Christmas and it was the most action-packed week we have ever had there! Shad and I got there on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday we went shopping in Farmington with my mom and Alex and got outfits for my brother Andrew's wedding and then had lunch at Zuppas. Yum! Thursday we went shopping at Target with my sister Holly and her sweet Olivia, and we met my mom there for lunch. Shad and Olivia loved riding in the cool cart.
Friday was my little brother Andrew's wedding in Brigham City and we added a new member of the Grose family: Megan! She is a darling girl and hopefully one day she can teach me how to have such cute style!
That night was their wedding dinner in Ogden, it was quite the party! Shad definitely busted out some sweet dance moves:
Shad and me
They had a photo booth instead of a signature book to show that you came to their wedding. Cute idea! Here is our little family of 3:
Afterwards, while we were waiting for the happy couple outside, we lit sparklers and floating lanterns.
Shad and I also started getting sick that day with really bad coughs and sore throats, and I lost my voice completely for about a week after that. But that didn't stop us from having an amazing vacation!
The next day on Saturday we had the opportunity to be
sealed to Shad in the Bountiful temple. The drive there was crazy in a blizzard and we passed 5 car accidents on the way, witnessing two of them, and Shad was really sick and did not look well. We were really worried that it might not be a good day. But we made it safely and when he entered the sealing room all dressed in white with his hair combed he looked absolutely perfect and angelic. It was the most spiritual experience I have ever had. The happiness and joy I felt is beyond words and I am so so grateful that Heavenly Father placed him in our family forever.
It was too cold to take pictures in front of the temple, so we had to settle for taking some pictures inside the rotunda area. My best friend Sierra came to his sealing and took these beautiful pictures for us.
Is this not the most angelic face you have ever seen?! And those eyes!
My sisters and parents, and Jared's parents
My parents
Jared's parents
Sweet Grandpa Grose
The Masons
The beautiful and talented
Sierra (click on her name to see some of her amazing work!)
It was an absolutely perfect day and we wouldn't have had it any other way.
The next day was Sunday and we blessed Shad at his parents' church. Sierra came again and took a few more pictures for us. She really is the best!
Besties
The next day, Monday, was Christmas Eve Eve, my mom's annual Christmas party complete with the nativity. Shad was a shepherd and left the thing on his head for all of 1.5 seconds (if that). I love that my mom does this every year so we can always have all the siblings there at the same time.
Tuesday was Christmas Eve, and we spent it between my Grandma's and Jared's Grandma's house, but we only stayed at each for a few minutes because Shad had a fever of 104 at this point. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of this day. Shad and I were both feeling pretty awful still so we went home and slept for almost 12 hours.
Christmas day was nice, we spent most of the day just chilling at my parents' house. This was our first Christmas together as a family of 3 (Shad joined our family on December 27th last year!)
Shad opened some presents and then went back to sleep for another few hours. He got his very first train set. It was so much fun even though he's still a little young to realize what was going on.
The next morning we left early in the morning to go back to Michigan. It was probably the most exhausting yet the best Christmas vacation we have ever had (well I guess you could say it's tied with last year's Christmas vacation when we came home unexpectedly with a baby!)
