that time we went to mcdonalds.

Apparently I haven't been a mother long enough to know that not ALL Mcdonald's have playplaces. Really? I didnt realize there was another use for Mcdonalds if not to play. Apparently people use it as a restaurant to eat. And thats exactly what me and Bens did yesterday.

We were out running a lot of errands yesterday and benson was fed up. So I figured I would stop by McD's and let the kid play for a while. I got him out of the car and we walked in. I started walking toward the back of the restaurant when i noticed that there was no playplace. oh no. now what. I awkwardly turned around and sure enough the workers had noticed me. now I was stuck. I couldnt just leave. So we decided to stay. And I decided to make that Mcdonalds, with no playplace, as fun as it could be.

I ordered Benson a happy meal.

He got the boy toy, a cool red tonka truck.

(although im pretty sure he would have loved the my little pony as well)

He got french fries instead of apples.

He got chocolate milk instead of plain milk.

He got his own sweet and sour dipping sauce.

And I got a hot fudge sundae, just for fun.

I let him sit like a big boy in the booth across from me.

He was loving it. I was loving it.

He caught me dipping one of his fries into my icecream.

Benson now had to dip every fry into my icecream.

Maybe it wasnt as fun as it could have been. But we had fun.

We had fun that time we went to mcdonalds.

these are a few of my favorite things.

.saturday mornings.

.benson.

.lemonade.

Im sorry. I feel like me and bensons days at home have been a little boring lately. So forgive me for blogging about something as simple as making lemonade. but its amazing and one of my most favorite beverages. So im thinkin it deserves a little love.  I am loving the fact that we have our very own lemon tree in our backyard. This is our second year with fruit. free fruit. i still cant get over that concept. Its like having our very own money tree out back. a money tree which pays us with sweet sweet lemonade.

I woke up Saturday and was craving some of that lemony goodness. So me and bens got our beach bucket and picked us some lemons. It took us a few trips because we decided to clean out the whole tree. We brought our lemons inside and Benson sat on the counter while I cut them all. Of course he had to have his very own half. which he licked and carried around the rest of the morning. The most amazing lemon fragrance soon filled our home. Lemon is one of those scents that just makes me happy. kind of like when I was younger and the scent of Burger King would make me happy. Like that but better. Then we got out the juicer. I turned on some tunes and we danced our hearts out while we juiced. I made sure to show little bens all his momma's best moves, and he did his best to imitate. 

I love moments like this in our day. They seem to happen alot lately. These moments where we are doing something so ordinary, like making lemonade, and we turn it into something else. beyond happy. something so happy it makes my heart hurt. 

there's no reason to cry.

Really I cant complain. Benson is an awesome kid. He never cries at the times I think he should. He doesnt cry when I put him down for bed or naps. He doesnt cry when we leave him with friends or family. He usually doesnt cry when he gets hurt. But...i have noticed that our little benson boy is very sensitive when it comes to food. go figure.

This reminds me of a story about little Bryce that his family once told me. They were at the movies seeing Land Before Time (yes, the first one) so Bryce was pretty young at the time. Around the point in the movie where the mother dinosaur dies, Bryce's dad looked down and noticed that Bryce was crying. He asked him what was wrong. I'm sure he was expecting a question like "why did the dinosaur have to die?" but instead little Bryce with big water filled eyes said...

"i'm out of popcorn."

Go figure. Now I know where my son gets it from.



But really Bens, there is no reason to cry over food...

.there is no reason to cry when you cant reach the last fruit snack squished into the corner of the pack.

.there is no reason to cry when I wont let you have a gogurt EVERY time I open the fridge.

.there is no reason to cry when we wont let you dip ALL of your food into a dipping sauce.

.there is no reason to cry when I wont let you suck on a packet of hot cocoa mix.

.there is no reason to cry whenever I stick your food into the toaster or microwave. Its coming back I promise.

I would like to think that someday he will grow out of all of this. But who am I kidding. Bryce is still sensitive about his movie theatre popcorn.

to kayli. my favorite sister.

But I can remember when you weren't my favorite. I think it was the first 14 years of your life. You were a tattle tale. And a bit annoying. I remember visiting Aunt Pam up in Payson and seeing how much mom loved her only sister. I distinctively remember mom telling me "someday britt you will love Kayli" and then i remember throwing up in my mouth, just a little bit. I remember thinking, its just not possible.

And then it happened. It was your 9th grade year. The year I started to love you. and i haven't stopped since. We became more than sisters over the next many years..we became best friends. When Bryce left on his mission. It was just you and me sister. We hung out. We bonded. We were the closest we have ever been. Eventually Bryce came home and we got married. I still remember hugging you before we headed to the temple. We both cried. We both loved eachother.

And now its your turn. to start a new life with the one you love. I'm grateful that you found eachother. I'm grateful that he fits into our family like a glove. And im grateful that you are both photogenic or else Saturday wouldnt have been nearly as fun.

Here is a sneak peek of your session. Just letting you know that I cried editing a few of them. And I cried writing this post. Thats how much i love you.

sunrise. and some vanilla ice.

We were finally able to hit up the slopes on Tuesday. Along with everything else me and bryce enjoy, there is also snowboarding. Its been a long three winters without it. I blame Benson. We both picked it up in high school and have been enjoying it ever since. We also took Brett, who we have been promising to take for the past couple of seasons. 

It was a beautiful day. We were still in Arizona so the snow wasnt that amazing. mostly packed powder. But there was hardly anyone there which made it that much more enjoyable. There is nothing worse than a big crowd when your coming down the slopes. Especially for me, I think I am a little bit of a nervous rider. When I hear a boarder come behind me (or if a dang skier gets too close) it freaks me out, and I usually end up biffing. But this day was awesome. There were some runs that we never even saw another rider.

I was grateful that I picked up right where I left off three years ago. I think it was somewhere between awesome and amazing :) No. i'm nowhere near any of those. It was just nice to be able to carve down the mountain without falling. I did have one favorite biff. It was on our last run of the day. I had become fairly comfortable on the board. A little too comfortable. I caught a bad edge, and it had slammed me on my back. I looked up for some husbandly support. Bryce was already down the mountain. And then the sweetest little girl came swishing by me on ski's, and in the cutest little voice you've ever heard, called out "hey are you ok?" I told her "yes thank you!" she yelled "ok" and then proceeded to swish down the hill and rode up along a sideburn like she was some kind of professional skier. She couldnt have been more than 8 years old. but she had made my day with her sweet little voice of concern. She might of just opened up my heart a little bit to skiers. just a little bit.

Im glad we were able to go and spend the day at Sunrise. Its funny, once you have children, its so easy to stop doing the things you once loved. The things that make you feel young again. my heart felt like I was a teenager again. my body unfortunately felt like a train wreck. 

I wasnt able to take too many pics due to cold fingers but you can check out Bryce's footage from the day. It might just make you want to hit the slopes.

Snowboarding Sunrise from Bryce Gurr on Vimeo.

it was a good fight.

A conversation that comes up EVERY vacation we go on:

(Bryce) "If you had money for a second home would you buy a cabin or a beach house?"

(Me) "You know my answer. A beach house."

Literally. This question comes up every time we travel. And every time I tell Bryce the same answer. It's never the answer he his hoping for, which is why I think he feels the need to always ask it. Secretly hoping that one day his ears might hear me say "cabin." and then i'm pretty sure he would head to the bank, and then start building a cabin.

Really, there is no better nature scene than the ocean. i love it. I can really just sit and stare at it for hours.

But im not going to lie, the forest really put up a good fight this weekend.

We went up to Bryce's Grandparents cabin for New Year's. It started snowing on us even before we got to Payson. By time we got to their cabin which is up by Christopher Creek, the snow was a couple feet deep.

I dont think I could ever live in the snow. But i do love to visit it. We had the time of our lives sledding.

But perhaps my most favorite part of the weekend was sitting in the warmth of the cabin, hot cocoa in hand, and just looking out at the snow and the trees. It really was the most beautiful sight. Something I could possibly look at for hours. The best word I can think of to describe it was ..still.. When you look at it long enough you can feel that sense of stillness. I look outside our office window now and my eyes are aching for that still scene again.

I was a lover of the snow this weekend.

The forest fought hard and long.

It was a good fight.

Now all I can think about is...

When's our next trip to the beach.

 

Here's a video that Bryce put together of our weekend in the snow.

New Year's Day at the Cabin from Bryce Gurr on Vimeo.

to sum it up

If i were to choose one picture to sum up our christmas this year...it would have to be this one.

.happy.

.fun.

.crazy.

.fast.

My most favorite holiday went by way too fast this year. I am playing back the month of december in my head and it seems as though its all in fast forward. There was one day, however, that we seemed to be able to press the pause button. to be able to REALLY think about Christmas. Think about our Savior. And think about the things that matter most to us.

this day was Christmas Eve.

Every year, every Christmas Eve, our family gathers together. This night is, and always will be, dedicated to our yearly Connolly Family toast. Its a night of family. A night of food. A night of laughter. A night of love. A night of toasts.

The evening started out with dinner. My dad grilled up some killer filet mignon. My mom put together some amazing sides. When our bellies were full it was time for our toast.  For those that are not familiar with the C family toast i will quickly explain. We have a toast each year. We start youngest to oldest and tell the family things that we have been grateful for over the past year. When a family member is done we all toast and take a sip of cider, and the next person goes. Its something so simple. and yet, it is something so amazing.

Its amazing to see our family over the years. To watch how it grew from 6 to now 11. To hear of the things that everyone is grateful for. To hear the changes from year to year. Its emotional. spiritual. There is never. never. a dry eye in the house.

Every year it's an amazing experience. And each year I am touched by different toasts. This year, I was very touched by the toast of a younger brother. Who never ceases to amaze me. The moment he started the family toast, i was in tears. He spoke of the thing he was most grateful for. No it wasn't his Ipad, it wasnt his friends, it wasnt his parents, it wasnt his cooler older sister. no it was none of those. This year Brett was most grateful for Benson and Grace. His niece and nephew. It was moving to watch this 16 year old, through lots of tears, express his love for these two children. He talked of the Savior. And how he now understands the love the Savior has for us...because of the love he feels for Benson and Grace. That toast will forever be engraved in my heart. Thank you little bro for your sweet spirit and for being the greatest uncle a little nephew could ask for.

As for me, I am grateful for so many things this year...

I am grateful for family. an amazing family. and amazing inlaws.

Grateful for my husband and son. the greatest joys in my life.

Grateful for my Savior. Grateful for his unconditional love.

Grateful for friends. old friends and new friends.

Grateful for our home. and our neighborhood.

Grateful for our ward. Grateful for my calling.

Grateful for Bryce's job. Grateful that I can be at home with Bens.

Grateful for a Father in Heaven, who has blessed me with all of this and so much more this year.

Happy Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy Everything. Love The Gurr Family.