Conor's brother-in-law does snow removal, and in their cul-de-sac, Kent plowed a huge pile of snow for the kids to play in. Holly thought it was fantastic and was very happy to play with her cousins on it (after she played in the fresh snow in the backyard). She especially loved pretending to be a polar bear. It's cute seeing my daughters play so well with their cousins.

On Christmas Eve day, some of my family members went tobogganing. Holly was continually going down the hill with whomever was on the way down, and then freeloading rides on the way up. Greta spent most of the time watching and laughing from the top of the hill. Alanna coaxed her down with a ride on her back, such a sweet thing for her to do. I wanted her to have a full ride or two, so I took her down without permission and she laughed the whole way! It was a gorgeous sledding day! And an absolute dream to spend it with my three siblings.

When we decided to celebrate Christmas in Calgary, one event we knew we really wanted to attend was Vienna’s baptism. And I’m so glad we did! Holly ate up every minute of it, and afterwards she was writing baptism talks and baptizing dolls in the bath tub. Holly beamed every moment she stood by Vienna! It was a really special thing to attend for Holly and myself and I’m glad we were there for it.

In our church, children can choose to be baptized no sooner than their eighth birthday. First they are baptized by immersion, and then they are confirmed a member of the church and receive a very special gift - the companionship of the Holy Ghost, so long as they live worthily. This gift is something I’ve learned to treasure in my life as I’ve strived to live righteously. It was wonderful to see my niece receive a gift that I hold sacred.

While in Calgary, we spent an impressive amount of time in the snow for a family that lives in temperate California. Holly especially loved the snow! And Greta enjoyed it after a week of becoming used to all the gear the snow requires. This sledding trip was short, since we were still recovering from travel.

We're back from our 2 week trip to Canada. It was a completely wonderful trip with so many highlights. Is it too bold to say that this was our best trip north ever? Seriously, it was so great! I think I can speak on behalf of my little family when I say we really felt loved by everyone. The cousins swept my daughters up and Holly and Greta were immediately one of their own, no warm-up time required. I'm so grateful my nieces and nephews have such big hearts and open arms for their California cousins. Made my heart happy.

Now I'm sifting through hundreds of photos, organizing toys, cleaning up my diet, cleaning our home, laundry, and trying to catch-up on sleep. It's all so worth it for two amazing weeks with our dear families. I'll have LOTS of blog posts in the next couple weeks to show off the fun we had. In the mean time, I'll leave you with one photo of the four of us. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!