Celebrating Christmas in the Wild West (aka: The Longest Post Ever)

We are back from the west! And we had a great time.

Kylee is just killing some time in the Pittsburgh airport.

Kylee liked the moving sidewalk and we were pretty much the only one's in the airport so she had it all to herself.

Making sure we get all of our wiggles out before we hop on the plane for a 5 hour flight.

Lucky for us it was a beautiful, clear day. The kids had their noses glued to the window for quite a while. Kylee loved the speedy take-off but Cody was a little apprehensive at first.

After a day in Las Vegas we borrowed a car and drove up to Salt Lake to see the Duncan's. On the way we made a mandatory stop at In-N-Out in St. George. Kylee can really suck down a chocolate shake. Say good-bye to your shake if you try to share with her.

Cody and Kylee had fun at their special table complete with unlimited Captain Crunch and other Grandma goodies.

Most of our time was spent in the basement playing Wii. Sword-fighting, frisbee, tennis, basketball non-stop!

Cody was a little hot shot when it came to sword-fighting. He cracked us all up with his moves.

A few days before Christmas we headed back down to sunny Las Vegas. On Christmas morning Kylee was happy to find chocolate in her stocking and would sneak a bite any chance she got (with or without taking the wrapping off).

Another favorite gift for everyone were the nerf guns. Cody had one in hand at all times. It took a few days of being shot at or constantly telling him not to shoot people before he figured out how not to annoy us .

Christmas afternoon some of us went out to the boonies to shoot real guns. I did my best to impress Steve with my skills.

Steve is a good shot! I stuck with the stationary targets.

Steve and I being total dorks.

In-N-Out Burger with the whole gang. Cody made sure we all got a hat.

Kylee turned on her cuteness and tried to snag another shake...

I guess one shake wasn't enough. Once those lips latch on there's no letting go.

For Steve's birthday we all went to Valley of Fire (north of Vegas) and had a blast.

Our kids love climbing around in the red dirt.

Tyler, Lacey, Cody, Tammy, Kylee, Gordon, Raquel, Brady, Tiffany, and Steve on the white domes hike.

Everybody should be able to hike in hoodies in December. It's a great way to enjoy winter.

There was a cool arch called Elephant Rock.

The next day we went to a ghost town and took some pictures.

The old trucks and cars were cool.

ooh la la

The girls showing off their Christmas scarves.

And then we made the boys do it too.

Cody came up with his own poses.

Now we are back in icey PA where the temperatures are in the 20s and it hasn't stopped snowing since we flew in. We loved the beautiful hiking weather, being close to the temple, playing games (even if I did stink it up!) and all of the fun times. Everyday Kylee calls out the names of her aunts wondering where they disappeared to. Despite the freezing weather we are glad to be home and spend a little time together before school starts next week. Back to real life!

P.S. Thanks Cramer and Duncan family for spending time with us! We love you!