"Family history, I am doing it, my Family History!"

In early December, I took a trip up to Logan, Utah to visit my Allred Grandparents. It had been over 10 years since I had been to their house and I was excited. (I was also going by myself--no kids!--which was amazing. I had forgotten how relaxing a plane ride could be when I didn't have to entertain several little people.)

On the way from the airport, I saw this neat train exhibit and had to stop to take a couple pictures for Cole.

They had several engines on display and even a gift shop, although I was quite disappointed by their surprising lack of train paraphernalia.

First thing I did when I got to Logan was announce our newest addition to the family:

Baby #5, to make his/her debut around June 18, 2016.

(The night before I left, George had followed me up to Ashburn where the kids were going to stay and we stopped in Culpeper so he could ultrasound me. He had to stay in Charlottesville most of the time I was gone to work, so my Mom offered to watch the kiddos for me.)

I loved being with my Grandparents! It was a joy to be in their home and listen to their stories.

Mom sent them Christmas gifts which I had them open early so I could take a picture:

Mom was so good about sending me pictures of the kids and updates on what they were doing. This was the longest I had been away from any of them and I missed them terribly.

Even our elf Ze made his daily appearance at Grandma's house!

While I was there, several family members made the trip up to Logan from Provo or down from Burley, ID to see us.

One night Aunt Dorene, James, and Maya drove almost 3 hours each way to spend a couple hours having dinner and visiting. It was so nice of them to come! I love this family!

Jason drove up from Provo, too, and spent the night with us at the Grandparent's house. I loved having him there.

Aside from visiting, my main objective in Utah was to start scanning family photos and letters the Grandparents had collected over the years and to record some family history. Chad flew in from California early the next day to help me and while he was there, Caleb and Mybree drove up from Provo as well. We all went out to lunch together before Jason had to drive back to Provo for a date that evening.

Working, scanning, reading. It was a lot of fun going through old photo albums and seeing my grandparents and dad when they were young.

Story-time with Grandpa:

 

Helping Grandpa with his iPad.

Caleb and Mybree--such a cute couple!

This handsome guy is my Grandpa's father. I never got to meet him, but enjoyed hearing stories about him from Grandpa.

My last full day there was Sunday. Chad flew out that evening after a long day of helping me scan pictures. Thomas drove up from Provo to got to Church with us and have some dinner. Love this kid!

He's quite the busy person since he's captain of the cheerleading squad at BYU, so it meant a lot that he came up for the day.

I left early the next morning to fly back to Virginia. I had the best time with Grandma and Grandpa and thankfully, I didn't finish all the scanning and documenting--I get to go out and do it again in the near future!

My plane was delayed several hours in Denver which was a bummer (hence the morose-looking plane selfie) but I was so happy to see my kiddos again when I landed. Thanks, Mom, for taking care of them most of the time!

Memories

Once we got our tree home, we spent the next evening decorating it. I love unpacking the different ornaments from past years and remembering Christmases from long ago. I have all the ornaments I collected over my childhood, plus all the ornaments we've added over the years as our own family. We have too many for our cute little tree, so we picked our favorites (mostly the ones that won't break if they're dropped) and filled it from top to bottom.

I love that the boys are getting old enough to look forward to these traditions and participate.

Lily was finally old enough to understand what we were doing and "help".

Finding the perfect spot:

Lance worked hard to make sure the ornaments were evenly distributed (and that his special ones made it to the top ;)  )

Lily really liked our photo blocks that I do every year.

We may need to go back and move some of the ornaments a bit higher, out of Lily's reach, but the kids did a great job. The tree couldn't have been prettier.

We're going Christmas tree hunting!

Every year after Thanksgiving, our family goes to the same Christmas Tree farm to pick out our tree. I think it's been almost 20 years since we started going to Snickers Gap and there is no other place I'd rather get our tree. It's become a tradition that I love.

George had to work and Lance was with his Dad for Thanksgiving, so it was up to me, Jude, Cole, and Lily to pick the perfect tree. Lucky for us, we had LOTS of help! Our car was full of Aunts and Uncles ready carry, herd, and chase the kids all over the tree lots.

Watching Mary Poppins while we drove to the farm:

(Side note: Mary Poppins has become one of the kids' favorite movies to watch. They know several of the lines and sing the songs. I love listening to Lily sing "Just go fly a kite!" while she runs around the house. It's the cutest!)

Group shot:

Lily and Grant have this love/hate relationship. They used to just pick on each other, but they've finally reached a point where they play and laugh together. I think they're going to have a lot of fun as they get older.

The kids did their fair share of exploring while we trekked through the forest of nearly perfect trees. I don't know why it's so hard to decide on one--they would all look great once you get lights and ornaments on. Yet every year, the hunt is intense.

Love these kiddos. Missed you, Lance and Daddy!

Baby Austin was having a great time riding around. He's just the happiest little guy.

We found it! The kids insisted on helping me cut it down. Mason, Jude, Cole, Grant, and Lily all took turns.

We attached a rope to the tree and the kids all helped drag the tree to the shed to have it shaken and bound. It was so cute watching these five kids stumble and pull.

They did a great job and actually moved the tree most of the way by themselves. It took a while with all the stopping, falling, and "cooperating", but we finally made it.

While we were getting our tree all wrapped up to take home, the other half of our group was still on the hunt:

They found one!

Cute couple:

This baby is just precious!

Hot apple cider! The best!

Boys being boys. They were covered from head to toe in dust and dirt by the time we left.

We got to take a short little tractor ride back to the parking lot. The kids all thought this was fantastic.

And of course, we had to get dinner all together at Panera afterwards.