Excited doesn't even begin to describe the emotion I had when we were able to go to Utah for New Years. It worked out perfectly that we had enough money and that we were able to stay with Tyler and Megan at their house. For the first time in about 12 years, the whole Alan and Evelyn Nielson family was able to be together.
One of the stipulations for us to go was that we went through Kanab so that Nate could do some family history sight seeing. So we did. We made Kanab our halfway point and slept at a hotel there. While we were there, we saw the Nathan Adams Home, his 3rd great grandfather. It is listed as a historic home and we got lucky that the owner was home and was sweet enough to take us on a tour and show us everything. It was such a cute house and there were actually 2 of them. One was an old cabin that they lived in while they were building the bigger brick house. Some of the tourist museums were closed since it was the winter so we didn't get to see as much as we wanted to, but we still stopped to see a lot of monuments. Nate was most excited to see the house.
After Kanab, we drove through St. George so we could stop and see my sister and brother in law, Mikayla and Austin. We just grabbed lunch with them real quick and kept driving but I am always happy to see her.
Then we were off, on our way to Tyler's house. We were trying to hurry and get there in time for dinner and we made it. Megan got a babysitter for all the kids and off us adults went to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. It was so good and since it was buffet, we all left happy.
It was a late night, but we got some sleep and the next morning was the big Nielson family get together.
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| The boys had fun playing Wii games with Uncle Tyler |
First the party started with some games. We got there and played a game where you had to get signatures from people who could say they did that thing. Like I signed one because I had socks with more than two colors and Grandpa signed the one that he lived on a ranch. It was fun and made it fun to talk to my cousins after so long. Then we had lunch provided by Café Rio. So yummy!
After lunch, we had a special time where we all got to sit around and Grandma and Grandpa had a Q&A session for about 20 minutes. The love that you could feel from them and the spirit of family was just so strong and I love these grandparents dearly. This Nielson family is pretty amazing. Of course we needed to document the fact that we were all together for the first time in 12 years.
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| Grandma, Grandpa, Great grandchildren, and their parents |
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| The 3 oldest grandchildren (the favorites) I love getting to see these girls. |
What is a party with Grandma without a bear game? All the younger kids got to sit in a circle and listen to the left and right story as we passed bears around to see which one we would end up with at the end. Below are the bears our kids got.
After that fun was over, we all split up and played separate games. One room had some active running and ball games, then the other room had board games like charades and Pictionary. That was where I ended up at and it's never dull when Braden and Gentry are in there. I'm pretty sure the team I was on won.
The fun at the church was over and we all headed to Aunt Dana's house for some of Grandpa's yummy Clam Chowder soup and lots more cousin time. I am so grateful we were able to go and be here with everyone. It was an unforgettable day and I am so grateful to be a part of this family.
We spent New Year's night at Tyler's house and I don't think we made it past 11. It was a long day and we were pretty tired.
The next day was Sunday. We found out that Nate's cousins Samantha and Jimmy were blessing their baby just a bout an hour away from Tyler's house so we decided to go do church there and see the Roger Brewer family. It was a sweet blessing and we were glad to go.
After it was over, we were headed back to Tyler's house. Jax took a nap and we had some quiet time to just rest and relax until Tyler and Megan got home from church. That night we headed back to Aunt Dana's house for dinner again. We knew we had to leave the next day so I was sad that it was my last night hanging out with my cousins.
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| The grandkids |
The next morning, Mom convinced us to stay a little later and go bowling with the family before we left. So us Peterclans met up at Fat Cats and got to do a game of bowling.
One last stop and final request from Nate was grabbing lunch at Zaxby's which is a chain restaurant in the south that he use to go to on his mission. Utah is one of the only places on the west coast that has this restaurant and Nate missed it.
After we ate it was the final goodbye to our family and then we headed to Monticello to sleep and break up the trip. We stayed at a really fun B&B and had an interesting experience when the small little town lost all of it's power and we almost didn't get dinner. Thankfully it came back on after about an hour or 2 and all was well. We age breakfast the next morning and headed home.
We thought we would be crazy though and we added one more stop. We stopped in Holbrook and let the kids check out the Petrified Forest Museum. Nate took his students there for a field trip last year and he wanted to take the boys there too. They were only open for another hour but we went through and saw a few fun things including the small dinosaur exhibit at the end.
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| The boys loved doing the paleontologist dig for these fake bones |
We finally made it home and it was a such a fun whirlwind of a trip. I wouldn't trade it for anything and I loved getting to see family and spending more time with just the 5 of us. What a fun New Year's weekend.
After Kanab, we drove through St. George so we could stop and see my sister and brother in law, Mikayla and Austin. We just grabbed lunch with them real quick and kept driving but I am always happy to see her. 
Then we were off, on our way to Tyler's house. We were trying to hurry and get there in time for dinner and we made it. Megan got a babysitter for all the kids and off us adults went to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. It was so good and since it was buffet, we all left happy. 
It was a late night, but we got some sleep and the next morning was the big Nielson family get together. 
After that fun was over, we all split up and played separate games. One room had some active running and ball games, then the other room had board games like charades and Pictionary. That was where I ended up at and it's never dull when Braden and Gentry are in there. I'm pretty sure the team I was on won.
The next day was Sunday. We found out that Nate's cousins Samantha and Jimmy were blessing their baby just a bout an hour away from Tyler's house so we decided to go do church there and see the Roger Brewer family. It was a sweet blessing and we were glad to go. 
After it was over, we were headed back to Tyler's house. Jax took a nap and we had some quiet time to just rest and relax until Tyler and Megan got home from church. That night we headed back to Aunt Dana's house for dinner again. We knew we had to leave the next day so I was sad that it was my last night hanging out with my cousins. 
One last stop and final request from Nate was grabbing lunch at Zaxby's which is a chain restaurant in the south that he use to go to on his mission. Utah is one of the only places on the west coast that has this restaurant and Nate missed it.
After we ate it was the final goodbye to our family and then we headed to Monticello to sleep and break up the trip. We stayed at a really fun B&B and had an interesting experience when the small little town lost all of it's power and we almost didn't get dinner. Thankfully it came back on after about an hour or 2 and all was well. We age breakfast the next morning and headed home. 
We finally made it home and it was a such a fun whirlwind of a trip. I wouldn't trade it for anything and I loved getting to see family and spending more time with just the 5 of us. What a fun New Year's weekend.
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