Feeling Like Christmas

I know Thanksgiving was just yesterday but Christmas is just around the corner and instead of waiting for it to officially be December we went ahead and put up our tree and decor tonight. After writing this I actually don't believe we've ever waited for it to officially be December before doing so but I know a lot of people prefer to wait. The kids loved getting everything out and our home feels so warm and cozy now that I don't regret putting Christmas up. I love it. We do agree that this will be our last year with this particular Christmas tree. It's never been one we've loved so after this season it's going to be trashed so we can get a new one next year. Danny actually dislikes all artificial trees and might even get his wish at having a real live tree next year. For now though I'm thankful to have this little tree we do have. It seems to fit perfectly in the small space we have for it.

Thanksgiving 2020

I usually hate when traditions change or die off and I always used to love an excuse for a family gathering but this year most of our holidays have been altered. Easter, 4th of July, Halloween and now Thanksgiving haven't been like the years past but despite restrictions or safety measures I love that the holidays can still bring a sense of togetherness within our own homes. We've made the most of these days and I know it won't be like this forever but I think I'll look back at the holidays of 2020 and remember how special we still made it with just the five of us. I'm extra thankful for my husband and our children and any excuse to make our day to day even more exciting. 

This Thanksgiving we celebrated as just our own little family and it was probably one of our favorite ones ever. It would have been my side of the family's turn this year but because of all the restrictions in place it just wouldn't have felt like the same. For example, everyone had to wear masks (even inside my parents house) unless eating and all of the individual family groups would be seated in separate locations of the house away from other families/households. So it just didn't sound like it would be worth it to drive an hour to South Jordan just to be separated as our own little family anyway and it would take away the visiting that usually takes place between my siblings or my parents. I am proud of my parents however for complying with the government and trying to modify it so that the family can at least be under the same roof. Earlier this month we had the executive order in place so we already started pre planning what a home Thanksgiving would look like for us. The order was lifted this week but heavy caution was still recommended and with me having a high risk pregnancy we decided to keep our plans of staying safe at home. In addition, my kids aren't the best eaters when we're at someone else's house because it's too exciting and there's too many distractions; plus it would have been hard to tell them that they couldn't interact with their cousins or grandparents. With all this in mind we decided to experience our first ever stay at home Thanksgiving meal and Danny couldn't have been more excited. He's been wanting to try a full on homemade Thanksgiving feast for years and I always thought our first try at it would be when we possibly move out of state for his post doc. I didn't think that our first year was in fact this year but it all turned out wonderfully. Our kids even ate everything on their plates! Which wouldn't have happened had we celebrated this day with either side of the family. On Thanksgiving pasts we've always had to go home and figure our a separate meal for our kids because they would spend the whole time playing with cousins instead. 

This year Danny was the main chef in our kitchen and he did awesome. He was in his element and was so excited to see all the food together. The only thing we forgot was to set out dough for homemade rolls but we did have store bought ones that worked just fine. I also forgot to lay out the tablecloth that I got specifically for Thanksgiving. Actually we didn't even really set it up in a fancy way at all but oh well. We also have very young kids so that wasn't the biggest deal to miss. The mashed potatoes were my favorite and from scratch and just thinking about them makes me want another helping of it. :) I did miss the visiting family aspect of it but 2020 is so weird and it sounds like that wasn't going to really happen anyway. I don't know how we'll celebrate next year but it's now nice to know that we can enjoy our own little Thanksgiving and for once our kids actually ate the dinner turkey. So that's a very huge win in our book. :)

MOAB Arches National Park 2020

We're back! I really wanted to make a trip happen for this year and I did it. I asked Danny about a month ago what dates would work for him and he hesitantly gave me some dates to work with and I ran with it. I know that 2020 is a unique year and that we could easily justify not doing a trip since we're still in the thick of a worldwide pandemic but I couldn't bring myself to not plan something for our family. I think I came up with the best solution for a social distanced vacation and in the end I'm really glad we made something happen.

I'm sure a lot of people saw themselves in the same spot we were in which was a lot of cancelled plans. I have tried this vacation already a couple times earlier this year and finally was able to figure out a way to make at least one trip happen for us while still maintaining a safe and social distanced trip for the kids and ourselves. Moab you were perfect. 

I made sure Danny would be able to finish off his school week before Thanksgiving break and we left off on Saturday early afternoon the 21st. We got to our hotel suite around 3pm and then left soon after to explore what we could. This time of the year the sun starts setting around 5pm so we didn't have as much time as we would have liked but that first day was still great. The kids were able to run along. rocks and play along the Colorado River. They had done amazing in the car but I think they were happy to explore out of it. :)

After having breakfast the next morning we headed off to Moab Giants which is an indoor/outdoor dinosaur museum. The sky looked amazingly blue and the kids really liked the mile long trail with dinosaur sculptures to look at. Grant was not in a walking mood and insisted that Danny carry him. I think the dinosaurs scared him just a tad. Because of Covid the inside portion of the museum wasn't that great to be honest. It had a lot of sections blocked off and it wasn't very big to begin with. If we were to do it again we would just plan on the outdoor portion. The inside also scared all three kids because there was a 3D aquarium but all the fish and sharks were super scary and the music playing the whole time was pretty intense. I don't think the person who created that space really had young kids in mind when designing it. I don't blame the kids for being on edge in that building. The kids really enjoyed the outdoor playground though and it was nice that even with Covid going on they had left that portion of the park open. We went at a good time because we basically had the whole trail plus playground to ourselves. There was one other small group of a mother and daughter but it was really easy to keep our distance from one another. 

We then went to Grandstaff Trailhead where we tried hiking. I've always known I'm not the biggest hiking enthusiast but my nerves were really intensified as we tried to make sure none of our kids fell off some of the steep cliffs. They did awesome. Danny did awesome. I didn't really haha. I was so anxious and jumpy. Plus it didn't help with how super pregnant I'm looking and feeling these days. I should have let Danny go on ahead of me with the kids because he had it all under control. Grant was still not in a walking mood with this part of Moab either though so maybe his inside feelings matched mine a little more than I even think. As we got back to our car we looked up just in time to see two people jump off the mountain in front of us and parachute their ways down. That was really cool to see so we were glad we were at the right place at the right time for that.

We didn't really have a set agenda for the rest of the trip and really just explored the rocks and rivers. We drove until we found a nice quiet space and then would get out for a couple hours. One of our favorite places was this little beach along the Colorado River. The sand even felt like beach sand. It was nice and cold to the touch so it felt really good. We skipped rocks along it and the kids had fun being carefree kids.

We headed back before it got too dark but did stop one more time to watch the gorgeous sunset from a bridge. 

We were supposed to stay for an extra day but we decided that maybe we could do everything we wanted to in the park the following day and then head home. Danny talked me into it and it was probably a bad decision. We were able to get a lot done on our last day. We entered the national park after deciding we'd be home that night but once Danny saw how amazing a lot of the arches were I think he probably wished we had stayed the original four days. We both wish we had first entered the national park Saturday when we got there but now we know in case we go back. This last day was my favorite day because my childhood memories of being there came flooding back. We of course stopped at the Delicate Arch because you can't go to Moab and miss out on that arch. We did not attempt the hike though because it's very long and steep and just not ideal or safe for a pregnant woman with little kids in tow. The lookout point was good enough for this trip. We also found the Sand Dune Arch which was the family favorite of the trip. Grant was so hyper here and loved every second. It's a hidden arch that you get to by walking between two narrow like canyons. Danny had never been before and I really wanted him to see it. This was also the only part of the entire trip where we saw lots of people but everyone did their best with not overcrowding one another. We also wore our masks but did take them off for a group picture. This is the first time I've taken a picture that shows my belly even though it's far away. I figured maybe it's about time I start documenting that a little more especially since it's my last pregnancy. I'm just not too ready for a closeup just yet. :)

I'm really glad that we were able to make this vacation work. I know I've already said that at least two other times in this post alone but I really mean it. As I was thinking of other possible trips we could do instead I kept coming back to this location. I knew I wanted to take the family here at some point and I figured this year would be easier than next year when we'll be dealing with sleep deprivation from the newborn stage. Also we imagine doing this trip with more than three kids at such young ages wouldn't be easy so this was the year to do it unless we wanted to wait until the youngest was much older. I'm already planning on something low key for next year where we can go as our new sized family and hopefully enjoy something with less cliffs and drop offs. :)