2013 :: week 52

How is it week 52 already?

Sunday was a snow day. Church was cancelled due to a layer of ice topped with an few inches of snow. One of us would have had to stay home with Will either way because he had a fever so it was kind of nice to have a slow and quiet day with all of us at home. TJ played a variation of Candyland with the kids where they got a piece of candy every time they landed on a candy square and the winner got a pot of candy at the end.

Will was still sick Monday and the only way we could get him to get out of his funk was some Christmas music.

I wanted to get a picture of Anthony and Lauren as they prepared to brave the crowds for some last minute Christmas shopping Tuesday afternoon, so Anthony kneeled down next to Lauren. Lauren thought that was a great way to pose and she kneeled down too.
 

Despite his lingering cold, Will was up at the top of the stairs Christmas morning peering over the edge at the presents. Will and Lauren posed for the traditional Christmas morning shot on the stairs before we checked out our presents.

Thursday afternoon Jill, Laura, Will and I went to a matinee of Frozen. We really liked it. It was hard to tell how much Will liked it because he kept asking when it was going to be over, but the next day he was talking about the movie and watched a youtube video of Olaf's "In Summer," song on repeat.

Friday evening we ate dinner at my parents house. Post dinner TJ and Lauren "worked" on some puzzles while we caught part of an old western. Lauren and Will worked on a Brown Bear, Brown Bear kids puzzle while the adults worked on a slightly more difficult puzzle.

Saturday we had a small birthday party for Will. One of his top requests for his party was a piñata. Jill helped me make this octopus, though it actually looks more like a jellyfish or squid.

wilson week

My sister Emily and her husband Matt drove to Kansas last weekend while I was flying home from Utah. Having them here felt like Christmas came early.

We took them to Bass Pro and showed them the hoops parents are willing to jump through for a picture with Santa.

Will LOVED having them here to help celebrate his birthday. As far as he was concerned, celebrating his birthday was THE reason they made the trip. Matt and Em gave him a cool sealife set, complete with 3D puzzles, fact cards, and miniature figurines.

Matt and Will spent a serious chunk of time assembling each of the puzzles.

 
They brought Lauren some stickers so she wouldn't feel left out. She loved them, and now I keep finding them all over the house.

They were really great and played with my kids for hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I was so tired when I got back, it was nice to have some extra back-up. Hide and seek is a John kid favorite, and Matt and Emily played with them far longer than Anthony or I ever do. The kids loved it!

Unfortunately, Thursday morning Emily woke up with the stomach flu and my mom had a terrible cough/cold combo. Matt held strong for a few more days and now he is feeling sick, just in time for the drive home.

Saying goodbyes. 

Thanks for visiting, Wilsons! Get well soon! We can't wait to see you again next year!

surprise! my utah trip

My sister, Emily, is expecting a baby boy in early February. My mom thought (and I agreed) that it would be fun to throw her a surprise baby shower a few weeks before Christmas. We bought tickets and then did our best to keep it a secret for the next few weeks. It was harder than I thought, so I told almost no one about it because I was afraid I would slip. My sister Jill was in on the secret because I was going to stay with her for the weekend.

I arrived in SLC Thursday evening. We got busy eating Cafe Rio, playing volleyball (her, not me), shopping, and making dinner for the next evening. 

Friday Jill had to work so I was free to do whatever I pleased. It has been a long time since I've had so few responsibilities (but thanks to TJ, my dad and friends who watched the kids while I was gone). I did some reading, shopping, laundry and then took a quick nap. The inversion was terrible that day and I am not used to that thin Utah air.

That afternoon I drove down to American Fork and visited Carly and her girls at their beautiful new home. It was so fun visiting with her and touring their house. I keep trying to think of ways I could add a mudroom to my current house and I just don't know how I'm going to work it out.

When I got back to Jill's place I started setting up for the surprise shower. I started to feel really anxious about ruining the surprise. I was so relieved when everyone got there and I didn't have to hide anything anymore.

We feasted and then dug into the presents.

I don't think Baby Wilson is going to have to repeat outfits very often.

The next day I visited Emily in the morning and watched her organize her new baby stuff.

Then I headed south and met my good friend and former roommate Candace for lunch.

It was so great visiting with Candace and catching up. Well, we didn't have enough time to completely catch up, so we are obviously going to have to get together again soon.

I had hoped to go visit the Nielsons again, but the timing worked out for me to meet them at the BYU women's basketball game. Daniel is the assistant coach and it was fun to see him in his element.

Unfortunately the Cougars lost in double overtime, but it was pretty exciting until the final 2 minutes. The girls were so cute. Sadie really wanted to get on the big screen and is such a darling little dancer. Elise has grown up so much since I saw her last in Maine. She is so tall (and cute). Can't wait to meet Nielson girl #3 in May.

After the game we drove up to SLC to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. Traffic was a little bad considering both the concert and the BYU/Utah Men's basketball game were going on in Salt Lake that night.

 

 

The concert was great and the temple grounds were gorgeous.


Sunday I headed back to KC and my kids and TJ. I bought the cheapest ticket with the 3.5 hour layover and was seriously regretting it. I was so tired by the end of the trip. The time change plus hanging out with night owls makes for one very tired Carrie.

Took this awesome picture of myself attempting to take a nap in the upper level of the Denver Airport.

Here are some pictures Tony took of him and the kids while I was gone, plus a selfie by Will:

a boston thanksgiving

Less than 12 hours after the BYU game ended we were on our way to Boston for the Thanksgiving holiday. We traveled Tuesday to Tuesday because it was significantly cheaper. We also hoped it would be less crowded and it was. Hillary & Ben were also flying in from Utah and Meredith & Steven and Alicia & Bryce live in the Boston area so we were excited to spend the week with 3 of Anthony's siblings and their families.

It was our first time flying since Lauren turned two, which means we each got our own seat. A bit more expensive, but oh so nice to be able to spread out a bit.

Both kids were really good on the flight. Will and I sat together and Lauren sat with Anthony.

Upon our arrival in Boston one of the first things we wanted to do was meet Alicia and Bryce's baby Adelaide. While we all loved her immediately, Lauren was her biggest fan. Lauren loves babies, and Addy is everything you want a baby to be--small, cute and snugly. 

The kids felt at home right away. On the plus side, they were immediately comfortable around Nana and Papa, most likely due to our video-chats throughout the year. I could have done without the messes they made scattering books and toys all over the place. Just like home and every day.

Nana, Papa and Hillary read and played so much with the kids. Anthony and I were spoiled.

 

puzzle time

Wednesday Anthony teleworked and the Salazars were recovering from their red-eye flight, so Doug and Tina took Meredith, Alicia, Bryce the kids and me to Chuck E Cheese.

 swish - swish

Lauren had as much fun putting tokens in the slots as she did playing the actual games.

Will got really into games, until he realize you could win tickets. Then he would play until a ticket came out, stop playing, retrive the ticket, and maybe start playing again. He didn't understand when I tried to explain to him that stopping mid-game to grab the ticket led to him getting FEWER tickets. In the end he was satisfied with his haul of SweeTarts and Laffy Taffies.

Lauren was the only kid that expressed much interested in the animatronics. Will totally stayed away.

Will and I took Bryce on in a racing game. He came in first and we came in last.

 

Lauren and Weston started to become friends at Chuck E Cheese. He wasn't too pleased to see Will and Lauren play with Papa and Nana's toys at first, and graciously sharing isn't Lauren's strong point just yet.

That evening Tina treated the girls to a pedicure. It was fun getting pampered and my toes still look good a month later, so clearly it was a good investment.

Thanks, Tina!

Thanksgiving morning was cold. I went on a quick jog, but didn't fully realize how cold it was until we took the kids to the annual Belmont-Watertown High School football game. It was freezing.

Will kept warm under a blanket with Uncle Ben.

Lauren "snuggled" with Dad.

We may have oversold the band (which was slated to preform a halftime show). After about five minutes the kids started crying about how cold they were and that the band wasn't doing much.

Proof Belmont scored at least one touchdown.

We carried out both kids screaming with a few minutes left in the first half. So cold.

We defrosted in time to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving Feast. Fourteen John's were there, plus Grant & Collen and Tony.

After dinner the kids danced in the living room and rocked out using paint-stirring sticks as guitars.

 taking a quick bath

Anthony played with Weston a bit before the adult went to see Ender's Game.

Friday morning the girls headed to Concord to visit the Orchard House, home of Louisa May Alcott.

 
In preparation for our visit we read Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. If you are a fan of LMA and are interested in learning more about her I would definitely recommend this book. I was so glad I had read most of it before we visited because it really enhanced the experience. Though Little Women is semi-autobiographical it was not based on the time she lived in this house. This is the home where she actually wrote the book.

This photo is in her room inside the house and you can tell it is taken in that room.

That afternoon Anthony and I took the kids to the elementary school playground. The kids were getting a bit stir crazy and it did them good to get out and play, even though it was pretty chilly. Boston is on the eastern end of the Eastern Time Zone, so it got dark there earlier than it does in KC.

That evening we planned on taking the kids to the gym at the church and letting them run around some more. Unfortunately we didn't realize that another ward was having their Christmas Dinner. Backup plan: McDonald's Play Place.

Hillary climbed a bit with Will, but I didn't get a picture. 

Nana was fun and organized races for the kids to get them to run as much as possible.

Nana and the kids also played some sort of game where they were animals in a cage.

Weston roaring like a lion

McDonald's seemed to satisfy the kids that night, but the other day Will mentioned to me that we didn't get to play basketball at the church in Boston.

Saturday morning we got up and helped Nana and Papa pick out a Christmas tree.

We found a great tree pretty quickly. Then we helped Nana find some ornaments and Papa showed the kids the goats and llamas that lived at the farm.

 

One of the things Will was most looking forward to in Boston was Tuba Christmas. 

He drew this picture of 30-something Tubas earlier in the week.  He kept asking us over and over how many tubas there were going to be.

Tuba Christmas in Boston takes place outside in the plaza between Faniuel Hall and Quincey Market. Because it was cold we wanted to get there on time, but not too early. I think we timed it about as well as we had hoped.

Though it was cold it felt significantly warmer in the crowd with all the people around you blocking the wind.

After the concert we walked over to the food court in Quincey Market. It was while we were walking that we think Will's hat may have been stolen straight from the top of his head. He was in the middle of the group with Doug and I right behind him when he asked what happened to his hat. It was nowhere to be found.

We snacked on some pizza while we waited for the nightly tree lighting. Then we watched some historical movies in the basement of Faniuel Hall.

Ben drew this picture of Lauren while we waited. I wish I was that talented. 

The movies were a little dull.

Lauren and Wes had really warmed up to each other by this point. They are only four weeks apart, so hopefully they will always be good friends.

Finally it was dark enough to watch the light show.

 

We all enjoyed the lights, but no one as much as these two. They were totally adorable watching the lights, both together and separately. 

That night when we got back to the John's Alicia had a surprise for us. She made and decorated a cake for Will.

For some reason I canNOT seem to get this photo to flip, which is too bad because the design is so impressive.

One of the funniest moments of the trip was right after this picture was taken. Will walked over to me and whispered in my ear, "are there any presents?" The kid has a formula in his head for birthdays. If there is a cake and someone sings you the birthday song than presents would naturally follow, right?

Sunday was a the quietest day. We went to church in the morning. Then we put up Christmas decorations when we got home.

The Ricky Martin Santa is always a hit with the kids--

"Here comes Santa, bringin' the presents to ya!" to the tune of Livin' la Vida Loca.

Looks like Fuller, loves Christmas trees like Kevin.

Then Papa built a fire in the fireplace and Will wanted to add logs all night long.

 It was a cozy night of reading, visiting and playing.

 

There is little pictorial proof, but Lauren was obsessed with Adelaide all week long. She loves that girl and Alicia and Bryce were very patient with her constantly trying to touch Addy.

It's always a good time when the kids tackle Uncle Tony.

Hillary was awesome and played memory with Will several times. Towards the end of the trip Will was a bit under the weather. He was usually fine in the morning, but had a fever by the end of the day.

Monday we had our last big activity. Tina took the day off work and treated us to a few hours at the Children's Museum. It was our second time as we went when we visited back in April.

Lauren is very silly.

Will spent quite some time climbing in this climbing structure. This kid loves to climb.

More 2 year old cuteness.

The Children's Museum is always a win. If you ever visit Boston with young kids you should check it out.

A few random pictures from the trip:

 

We left Tuesday and got home just in time for dinner. As we always do when we visit Boston, we had a great time! Thanks for a great week, Johns!