chip, audrey, ruby, and owen: Birthdays, Christmas, and New Years

So, while I was in Ohio, as mentioned before, my family moved to a new house in the same neighborhood. Mindy got home from Ohio and drove right to my house in UT to help with Ruby and Owen so dad could work and also to spend the holidays with us.

The snow started early this year and hasn't stopped which made for interesting moving and selling conditions. Mindy got the kids out and played in it cause she is good like that. These selfies get me every time.

I was sad to miss out on zoo lights this year, but glad they got to go and continue the tradition.

I made it back just in time for Ruby and Owen's birthday party at Basin Rec. I have no pictures of this event. I felt fortunate to be there and make it through. I do have these few photos of their actual birthday a few days later. On this special day, we skied and then had our neighborhood friends over for pizzas. Now, that is a DuRoss birthday.

I also was home in time for the annual Solstice Party at Daisy and Tor's. This week after I got back included a social event every single night. It was a fabulous reminder of what I love about where we live and how we live, especially coming off an experience like loss...and it was also exhausting and a lot after all we had been through. It was our bodies last hurrah before being taken down by several colds-flu type things, strep, and a stomach bug. At this point, feeling so grateful to be healthy.

One of the highlights of Mindy's visit was scavenger hunts. It started on their birthday with a hunt for the parts of their gift- stilts!! But, they continued. Mindy and the kids were doing scavenger hunts many times a day until she left. :)

Ruby and Owen's gift from mom and dad- a lego table.

And their birthday cake. Don't you love how we just reused the cake from their party for the next party. In addition to tape, I love Costco cakes too.

Christmas Eve in Park City. We saw the torch parade, almost got mauled by the crowd trying to get a candy cane from Santa afterwards, and ate at a Mexican restaurant. This too has become a tradition.

Christmas morning!!

Ruby and Owen were so much fun on Christmas. They were patient, wanted to play with everything they got, and were excited to give gifts out in addition to getting them. It was great.

These are out of order. Christmas night we went to Pam and Justin's house for dinner with friends. It was awesome. Check out this sweater vest Justin sported. Nice.

We tried to get the kids to pose in front of their tree, but it was challenging. ;)

And here, during the day, we did the traditional sled run. Conditions were powdery and fast.

And finally, New Years. Ann, Andy, and Anya have been living in our mother-in-law apartment pretty much since we moved in. The timing was perfect for them and us, and so we had the pleasure of sharing space with them for two months while they waited for their house to be finished.