Feeling so Festive

I love the holidays. It sure makes me warm and cozy inside thinking about family togetherness, good food, old and new traditions, and frosty snow. This year the snow was lacking, but we tried to make up for it in other ways. 

He is a review of our holiday season this year. 

The Nutcracker with the Whitesides women.

 Christmas cookies with the kids. Such a yummy tradition. Doing it for two years in a row makes it a tradition, right?

Mike, getting serious.

 

I just couldn't get enough of these two.

The Nativity. Maybe the sweetest Mary and Joseph I've seen yet.

Asher baby.

Playing with new Nerf toys. We got creative. 

The Annual Gygi/ McDonald snowmobiling trip. The weather was beautiful. The snow magical. The machines powerful. Just how I like it.

Candace and Grant

Staci and Jill

Mr. Jon

Heather. The best passenger.


This year my Dad rented a GINORMOUS house for us to celebrate in for a few days after Christmas. 
We had MANY a good meals. Lots of good laughs. Spent some time with the Gygi employees. And enjoyed being together. 




I have learned that the only way to get my family's FULL attention is to remove all distraction of real life. My dad and mom have always encouraged us to work hard, and I think we sometimes take it to literally. We tend to work until we're dead. I have loved having the break between Christmas and New Years to relax and prepare for the coming year.

 The Stone Hill Mansion

Ella sneaking away a few balls.

Even how she eats is cute.

 Josie trying to steal  "Rock 'em Sock 'em" after I won!


Ty proved to be the air hockey champ on his birthday. What a way to ring in 26 years of life!
 

Here are some contenders:

  
And this is how we observed from the side lines:

 

Jon's using a little extra protection. 

We broke tradition in celebrating Ty's Day of Birth/ and New Years with my family. 
 
The party was just as jubilant, but the amount of shrimp consumed was minimal. We may be back to tradition next year.

It is always fun to look back on the year and think about how much has happened in just 365 days. 
This year has been nothing short of astounding! 

 I loved being able to just have some "down time" with the family. It makes moments like this possible!

 My Dad with Little Asher





By the end I think we were all feeling as Heather shows below. Partied out and ready for real life. But we enjoyed every laugh in between.

On our way home, we stopped for a Polar Bear party for Kira. 
It was great to celebrate such a special little 6 year old.  

So what is it that makes the holidays so festive?

The good food? Maybe.
The presents? Definitely helps. 
The snow? Not this year.
The sickness shared? I hope Santa brings tissues next year!

I really think it is the memories created and remembered. 
And I am sure glad the people I have in my life are so great to make memories with. 
 

The People's Man

 When your life belongs to your fans, things can sure get demanding. 

Just ask this guy.

This is how his life goes (or how it appears to me...)

Wakes up early to get to "work." 

Flies to cities around the world, with just enough time to visit a few schools. 

Does an assembly to promote literacy. 

Get the kids all riled up about reading and writing. 

(Which really just means he gets to be the center of attention for 40 minutes. )

Drumming on garbage cans, telling stories of run-ins with the police, acting like Jack Sparrow. 

The children swoon, the teachers cheer, and the librarians beg for posters. 

Hanging out at the local bookstores is how he usually ends his days. Barnes and Noble is usually where you'll find him signing. He even sells out at these signings. Who would have thought, right?

Oh, and what would a tour be without eating at every famous restaurant in each city visited? I sometimes wonder which is more interesting for him, the schools or the food. Either way. He is having the time of his life. 

This may be his 50th burger of the tour. He loves 'em.

Mmmm... Kentucky Original. Hot Brown.

That is the life of a "famous" author. 

Luckily, I have been able to join my star struck husband on some of his world-class adventures. 

Stop #1: Kentucky (Oct. 6-11)

(Who would have thought that I would be here for the 2nd time this year. Kentucky is getting better and better all the time.)

We had lots of fun with the Hewards. They were very patient as we waited for Ty to finish signing. This was definitely his first big signing outside of Utah. We were THRILLED to say the least. 

Candace and Josie were the greatest fans!

 We then made a real trip out of our visit to Kentucky. 

The Keeneland horse races were on during our visit, so of course we had to stop by. We were lacking the true Kentucky horse racing apparel, but we felt right at home otherwise. I don't think I could ever convince Ty that plaid pants are "in."

Beautiful Horses. Beautiful Weather. Beautiful People. Beautiful Day.

We even got to touch a real Keeneland horse. Nice, nice people.

Josie and I lovin' all the horse action. 

 We had a great time visiting our Heward friends. Thanks for taking good care of us on the road.

Stop #2: Denver (Oct. 20-23)

During my school's Fall Break, I jumped aboard a late night plane and headed to Denver. Luckily we have great friends that live nearby that could show us around.

At the Denver Art Museum with Aubrey and John

The perfect sculpture for a "Janitor"

As a first timer to Denver, I was thrilled with all the things to do. We had a great time visiting Boulder, and hanging with the hippies.

 Checking out the capital. It felt great to be "One Mile Above Sea Level"

 The U.S. Mint was closed, but we got to see the kind of security used to protect our nation's money. 

Made me wonder if we need that around our wallets?

The Big Blue Bear is a must see!

 While headed out for some shopping, we were interrupted by the zombie invasion. Seriously thousands of zombies. Everywhere. Baby Zombies. Scary Zombies. Funny Zombies. Old Man Zombies. They were all there. 

After this run-in, we were ready to leave Denver....

Stop #3: Texas (Nov. 10-15)

We love visiting Hil and C in Texas. We always leave feeling like we could spend forever with them. 

Similar love for all things edible. Similar sleeping patterns. Similar hobbies. Similar husbands. Similar twinness. Similar love for togetherness. 

Round Rock Donuts were a must!

We love spending time perusing good food.

 

 

Of course, we had to have some food truck food in Austin!

 

 

 

Luckily we were there for Hil's birthday. We felt like we were able to bring in the Holiday season with these two. We missed them this year at our family festivities, but we can't wait for little baby Ruby!

Stop #4: North Carolina (Dec. 8- 13)
We could not have picked a better time to find ourselves in Winston- Salem, NC.
It just so happened Shadow Mountain had planned Ty's tour to stop here right around Laura's due date. She, of course, scheduled a full weekend of events for Ty. School visits, signings, firesides. The works. Laura was there through it all. And little baby Grey held off for just the perfect amount of time.

After a long night and day. And many prayers. And many texts. And many worried family members from far away. He finally made it!
All 9 lbs 14 oz of him.

A very tough momma. A very thrilled papa. A very perfect family.

Could that face be any cuter?

We got to spend a few hours with the cute family Tuesday before we flew back to UT.

 

 

 

Natural, right?

We couldn't have planned this better. We couldn't miss this cute little family more. And we couldn't be more excited to see them again.




All in all this was a very successful fall season. Ty was living the dream, and I think I did a pretty good job of keeping up with him.

 Here are few STATS in review:


Presented in 14 states (UT, ID, NV, CO, AZ, TX, NE, MO, KY, IN, OH, NC, MA, CT)

Gave over 160 presentations.
             64 presentations given in UT
             97 presentations given elsewhere

Presented to more than 40,000 students.
            Based on an estimate of 250 students per presentation.
            Largest presentation was to an audience of 800.

Over 50 book signings. 

1 star-struck Author.
I think it has been a little challenging to come back to "reality."



Until next fall, we will be in hiding. Trying to find some sense of normalcy. And remembering all the adventures this year has brought.