The update

OK, so now that I've started the year (belatedly) with a fun post, here's the basic news:
Christmas was nice. December is always busy for me, being a mom, but it was particularly so because I was still trying to settle into a new house and a new routine. By the time it was a few days before Christmas, I was finally enjoying the season. And it was truly lovely here: our neighborhood was beautifully decorated, and in the foggy, hazy half-light of evenings, it was particularly gorgeous. Lights sparkled in the fog and dim and radiated softly. One evening I was walking around the neighborhood, and it felt like I was on a Hollywood soundstage: everything was just so perfectly arranged and lit for the holidays, and there was not a single car on the road (the setup of the neighborhood means there is no through traffic at all, and we're on a cul-de-sac to boot). It was just the pretty neighborhood and little ol' me. I could have broken out in a Christmas carol a la an old-style musical, or spoken a reverent soliloquy. That was a beautiful evening for me. Felt like Christmas.
The one huge difference apart from being in a totally new state and neighborhood was that we couldn't spend Christmas at my mom's house. We've done that for 10 years now, and it was a little weird not to be there. But we had our own new Christmas day and spent time together and then with the in-laws and cousins. It was quite nice and laid-back.
The day after Christmas, I took the girls to the Bay Area to visit Marce's aunt and grandma. It was a good opportunity to spread a little more Christmas cheer to some ladies who appreciated the visit.
The girls had a full three weeks off of school, so the week after New Year's, I drove them all up to Utah. We took my niece Dalessi, who's a junior in HS, with us. The drive was long and tiring, but beautiful and scenic. I wasn't at all looking forward to the driving part, seeing as how I had to do it all on my own, but I was eager to show my daughters and niece completely new territory. I've seen it but they never have: all those mountains, the great rocks and desert areas, the formations, the cities. Las Vegas was our halfway point, and they were all duly impressed with its garishness. We were able to take the time to drive down The Strip on the trip back, and it was fun to listen to all the exclamations of wonder. Cami thought it was cooler than New York City, and she did quite enjoy the Big Apple. She has asked me several times recently if we're going to get to go back to NYC anytime soon. Uh, sorry, no.
They were also fairly impressed with the scenery, at certain points. Dalessi was in awe of the mountains in Utah, and she took tons of photos. That was fun. I'd see a particularly nice view and look over and see her pulling out her camera again.
The big thing was the snow. There was quite a lot of it up there. Hey, it was January and Utah. And it snowed the day we drove up there, so there was a nice fresh big pile of it everywhere. When we arrived at my friend's house in Pleasant Grove after midnight Utah time, it took me half an hour to park my van on the uphill slope of the driveway. Here I am, wearing slip-on clogs and no jacket, at midnight in Utah, shovelling some snow and watching my friend in PJs toss salt on the driveway. It was a little crazy. I was tired and a bit punch-drunk. And then Charlotte didn't go to sleep until 2:30 a.m. Fun night!
But the girls got to play in the snow a bit, as best-equipped as I could get them with sneakers and gloves. It was refreshing to see snow on Cami's dark hair after she got hit by a snowball.
I pointed out to them all that as pretty as the snow was, give it a few days -- and then a few months-- and see how ugly the dirt-filled snowdrifts everywhere would be. And sure enough, before we left, they were able to see what I meant; there were piles of snow stained gray by road soot all on the sides of the roads and parking lots. That's the flip side to the sparkling virgin snow layered so beautifully on the mountains and people's lawns. But cool nevertheless!
I toured them around my old haunts at BYU (go Cougars!!) and Temple Square. I was absolutely thrilled to do so. I would have enjoyed having Marce along to help, but since he had to work, I was still OK doing it myself. I was a little worn out and strung out after it all, but I was SO excited to show them everywhere that had meant so much to me. I had so many defining experiences at college and on my mission that being able to share those with my beautiful, sweet daughters was a real treat and one I'd looked forward to for a while.
Now they're back in school and I'm mostly recovered from the trip. The weather is nice here, and they all have bicycles now and can run outside and play and bicycle in the cul-de-sac. It's great to be able to send them outside. It's been in the 50s and 60s, no snow in sight except for the tops of the mountains off in the distance. We've finally had some rain, which is most welcome because come spring and summer, it will be as dry as the Sahara. I'm definitely soaking it up while I have the chance. I am not looking forward to summertime. The girls will probably enjoy it, however, because they'll be able to swim in the pool. Cousins will most likely be spending a lot of time at our house, too, and we'll have a pool full of kids. That's going to be a whole other post, though, in a few months' time. For now, I'm enjoying some fog and rain.