Christmas Break

This year HP mandated a two week break for Christmas. That means that we got to spend lots of time away from work (which we did not miss much) and lots of time with our families.

We started the break with the Salisbury family party in Logan. Even though we were late, we were right on time for dinner. We ate and chatted and then there was a Nativity program. People played the different parts and sang songs. I thought having the songs with it was really nice. Mark was one of the Wiseman along with TJ and Josh. They sang "We Three Kings." We did a white elephant exchange (the younger kids didn't quite get the idea, they didn't want the presents they got and couldn't understand why they couldn't get a different one.) We ended up with a puzzle and one of Grandma Marilyn's paintings. After the party was over we played games with Mary and Isaac and Kirk.

The next day Mark and I drove down to Vegas (because I thought that we should go somewhere exciting while we had so much time off.) When we got there we went to the Stratosphere. We went on the ride on the top that the call the Big Shot (it is like the Rocket at Lagoon.) Then we went to dinner at the Top of the World Restaurant also at the top of the Stratosphere. It was a revolving restaurant which was neat. We could look out at all of the lights. We stayed at Planet Hollywood. From our hotel window you could see the Belagio fountains. It was really fun to watch them from up high, though we couldn't really hear the music.

    

The next day we went to Hoover Dam. We went on the tour and got to down in the dam. While we were there, we stood above one of the 30' diameter intake pipes. You could feel the floor shaking. It was pretty cool. They also showed us the generators. It was cool to learn about how they had built the dam.

                                               

Near the dam they are building a new roadway with a bridge. While we were there, we saw them add one of the pieces of the bridge it was interesting too. It was amazing how high up the workers were and how tiny they were in comparison to the bridge.

  

 

After that we went the the Ethyl M. chocolate factory. You can watch them as they make chocolate and they give you a sample at  the end. They also have a cactus garden that we meandered through. Then we tried to find a Marshmallow factory and the Ocean Spray factory. We couldn't find the Marshmallow factory and Ocean Spray no longer does tours (but Mark slid down the railing for fun), so that was the end of our factory tours for the day. But there was an In-N-Out close by so we went for lunch. MMmmm.

 

Mark really wanted to see Avatar so we found a nearby theater (located in a casino) and saw it in 3-D on the Imax screen. It was really good. I think that it is Mark's new favorite movie.

That evening we went to the buffet at our hotel and ate a ton of food. It was very good. Then we did some walking on the strip. It is entertaining to see all the ways that they can spend money to decorate their massive buildings (and how big of a maze they can make them into.) Right accross from our hotel was the new development, City Center, so we walked through that too, and watched the Belagio fountains a few times too.

The next morning we did a little more wandering, grabbed In-N-Out for lunch again and then headed back up to my Mom's house.

On Wednesday we went tubing with Maddie and my Dad and his family at Soldier Hollow. There was a tow rope, so you didn't even have to walk back up. Wednesday night we went out to dinner with Mark's Grandpa Frank and his wife Mary. It was nice to be able to visit with them. I had never been able to just sit and talk with them before.

On Thursday, Mark and I finished up our shopping and help get things ready for Christmas. Grammy also came into town. For dinner we had the traditional candlelight pizza on China, watched the Grinch, read stories and then headed for bed.

Christmas day we opened presents and had breakfast. Mark got me a flash for my camera which I had been talking about for a long time (now I need to figure out the intricacies of using it) and HDR software which will be fun to play with too. Mark got the New Super Mario Bros. (he had been asking me to open it for weeks), a system to play his old Nintendo games on, and a disc retriever for Frisbee golf disks (no more wading in the ponds!) It was good to be home with family and I am glad that Grammy was there too.

That afternoon after dinner, we went up to Mark's sister's house in Clinton. The rest of the family had come down from Logan so we got to spend some time with them. Mark was glad that he was able to see his family on Christmas too.

We spent Monday with Sara and her family in Clinton. We had good breakfast, went swimming, ate pizza and played games. It was good to spend time with them just playing and relaxing. Thanks guys!

On Tuesday we went up to Logan to stay with Mark's parents. We went to the temple and visited Kirk at work. Mark helped his dad with his newest Lego project and we played games with Mary and Isaac.

On New Year's Eve the family went up to Isaac's parent's near Preston to join their celebration. There was lots of yummy food and we played a few games and banged on pots and pans with the kids. After that we went back down to Logan. The boys all fell asleep by eleven (Mark was feeling sickly.) The girls stayed up and talked until midnight. Then we did a few fireworks and went to bed.

The next day we played the game that Sara’s family had gotten us for Christmas, Agricola, with Mary and Isaac. Then it was time to head back to Boise. It was nice to be home after being gone for almost two weeks. We had a few days to get settled back in, go grocery shopping, and go to our first day in Nursery. We were teased about being called to Nursery, and then it happened. I think that it will be a good experience.

Currently Mark is working on converting the built in cupboards with shelves that are in the family room into built in cupboards with drawers. My next project is making drapes for the windows.  I am also going to have knee surgery on Friday.  Scary! Life presses on!