Adventures with Auntie Em and Tyler's First Birthday

Auntie Em (my older sister) visited us from Dec. 26th-Jan. 1st. She flew all the way from New York. The last time we saw Emily was in May and it was just for 3 hours. We had to make this trip memorable for her and pack in as much fun as possible.

The night Emily got to Logan, we watched the movie, 27 Dresses.


The next afternoon, we went to our Grandma Hallstrom's new home for a lovely ham dinner. Our Uncle Calvin was there.


We wish we could've visited longer, but we had to drop off the boys and then take Laura down to Salt Lake for her last performance of Savior of the World.
We had quite an adventure getting there. I considered myself brave to drive when there was snow flying around in the air. We heard that the snow was not suppose to stick to the ground. When we reached Sardine Canyon, we discovered that the canyon was closed and we'd have to take a detour. It was a long detour. I'm so glad we had our GPS. It worked like a charm. We had to drive super slow through twisty, turny slushy roads, going through tiny towns I'd never heard of: Petersburo, Deweyville, and Honeyville. Anyway, an hour and a half after our trip began, we finally made it to I-15. The interstate wasn't bad. Laura keep our spirits up by singing us a few songs. Man oh man, Laura can sing like nobody's business! Laura is amazing! For one of her songs, she listened to the background music on her iPod. She's one talented gal. Emily and I couldn't wait to see her in the show. Laura had a dinner with the whole cast of the play, so Emily and I went to Rumbi Grill for dinner. There were only two people working and it took alot longer for us to have our dinner. We didn't mind because it gave us more time to chat and catch up. We had a few minutes to check out the lights on Temple Square...very nice.


Laura got us tickets to the show. The last time I saw Savior of the World, I sat just 5 rows from the stage. This time, we sat in the balcony. I actually liked sitting in the balcony better. I was able to see more special effects and we were pretty much the same level as the angels in the show. Laura had two parts in the play. She was an angel and a woman named Susanna.



I'm so glad that Laura got a part in the show and that she had the time of her life. It must have been a great spiritual boost for her to dedicate so much time to the show. Driving back up to Logan was fine, except for Sardine Canyon. The canyon roads were open but they were pretty slick. We got home at midnight. Spending that time with my two of my sisters was so fun.

Emily went to church with Grandma Hallstrom and after our church, we headed over to Grandma's house for leftover ham dinner. Monday night, we went grocery shopping. Emily bought Grandma a gift for her new home...a microwave. We brought it over to her that night. Grandma was almost in tears because of Emily's generosity.



Tuesday was Tyler's first birthday. I made the yellow cake. Emily (and Brian) helped frost the cake and put the sprinkles on top.


Emily volunteered to watch the boys so that Sam and I could go out. We decided to attend a session at the Logan Temple. We had a nice time. For dinner, we had tacos. After dinner, Sam and Brian dropped the rest of us off at the mall while they went to the on their father and son outing to the Fun Park. They had fun climbing all over the equipment and going down the slides. Emily and I enjoyed taking Tyler around the mall in his umbrella stroller. Tyler loved playing on the giant squishy foam food, especially the giant cupcake:

(Click photo to enlarge)

Tyler liked riding on the purple motorcycle ride too. It was time for gifts, cake, and ice cream when we got home.

Tyler got some birthday cards, a stuffed Elmo, a push and ride noisy firetruck, and a fireman's hat. Tyler loves his firetruck, especially when he sits on it and Brian pushes him up and down the hallway. Tyler just stared at the candle on his cupcake and reached for the little flame. Sam blew out the candle before Tyler could burn himself. Tyler was not shy about digging in to his cupcake. He got a bath afterwards. My one year old got to stay up late and watch his Elmo movie. What a spoiled boy. I have more photos from his birthday on my film camera. I will post them once I get the film developed.

On New Year's eve, Sam had to work. Grandma was kind to volunteer to come watch the boys so Emily and I could go out. We decided to see Will Smith's new movie, Seven Pounds. Overall, it was a sad movie, but we liked it because the movie kept us wondering what would happen next. For dinner, we had homemade turkey soup (that I had in the crock pot all afternoon) followed by more cake and ice cream. After the boys were in bed, we started watching another movie, but got bored with it. I was in the mood to party last night, but nobody wanted to join me. Emily wasn't feeling too good, so she went to bed, Sam went in our room to read a book, and I stayed out in the living room to write a few letters and watch some tv. Until last night, Sam hasn't stayed up with me on New Year's Eve since the year we got engaged (6 years ago). I'm proud of Sam for staying awake. It was hard for him. I'm a night owl, so I had no trouble staying awake. Maybe someday, my place will be hopping on New Year's Eve?! I sure hope so. Happy New Year, everyone!

Emily left this morning for Salt Lake. The shuttle bus picked her up. Emily gets to hang out with Amy in Salt Lake this afternoon and will catch her plane tonight. We had so much fun having Auntie Em visit us. We're sad she lives so far away, but can't wait to see her again when we go to New York this July. We miss you already, Emily! Thanks for coming!