Park City, Utah

You know our family is a beach family & we love warm weather so earlier this year, we planned a trip to Miami for Christmas. We actually had flights to fly out late Christmas evening & were going to surprise the girls. Then later this fall we found out that our really good friend was getting married the week of Christmas in Park City, Utah & we couldn't miss that! Plus Sadie would be out of school already, it's the week of Christmas & we have never done a winter vacation with the girls - how could we not go?! So we transferred our flights & cancelled our Miami trip.

Sadie got out of school on Friday & we flew out Saturday morning. I have to confess, we did not leave for the airport as early as we should have & were really stressed when we got on the road because they had the toll road shut down to 1 lane - who does that the weekend before Christmas?! Bryan had me checking other flights because we literally thought we wouldn't make it. Somehow we did & we literally ran through the airport & made our flight. I still can't believe we did, I mean we travel quite a bit & have never cut it this close:

We were all dressed for winter so I was literally sweating when we got on the airplane & this is how we all felt! I knew for sure our luggage wouldn't make it because we missed the cut off time, but somehow we were spared & we rejoiced when we got there:

On a side note, usually when we travel we have 4 suitcases & 4 carryon bags - we have the packing thing down. Until this trip. We had 6 suitcases! There was so much stuff to bring for winter clothes & it's all so bulky :(

We flew into Salt Lake & then caught a ride to Park City. The girls were so excited when we checked in to our hotel because it was all decorated for Christmas:

We got settled into our hotel & then we headed to Main Street for Joel & Deborah's welcome reception. Instead of having a rehearsal dinner, they had a welcome reception for everyone who had traveled:

I heard a rumor that Santa was going to be flying in on the main town ski lift so I bundled up the girls & we walked down Main Street to find him while Bryan stayed at the party & visited:

It was our first time being out in the cold & of course we were dressed up for the party & not for comfort, so it was pretty miserable out there. Sadie & I survived, but Sophie broke down. She did not like being out there! But I thought it was pretty cool to see Santa & his reindeer come down the side of the mountain:

They were passing out hot cocoa & Christmas cookies while you waited in line to see Santa, but honestly, it was freezing & it was so crowded, so we just waved at Santa & then headed back to the restaurant:

I tried my best to visit & enjoy the party, but honestly, Sophie was breaking down from bring cold & hungry. It had been a long day traveling & they were not in the party mood, so we didn't stay as long as Bryan would have liked but at least we stopped by:

Everyone woke up in a much better mood on Sunday morning. First off, we had a good night's sleep, but also it was Sophie's birthday! Our elf Ellie flew to Park City to surprise her with a few things:

Actually let me back up, we let her open her presents on Friday night before we flew out so we wouldn't have to travel with them:

Sadie gave Sophie a Smart Watch just like she has. Sophie has always wanted one & I knew life would be easier if they both had their own. It was perfect for traveling the day before! And we had already given her most of her presents from the family when we converted her room & had her birthday party the weekend before, but I had a custom jewelry shelf made for her that I knew was too big to travel with. 

Ok, back to vacation. We had access to free breakfast every morning in the club lounge & we literally woke up & went to breakfast in our Christmas pajamas every morning:

Of course Sophie had to wear her birthday hat so everyone knew it was her birthday all day long!

After we got ready for the day, we took the hotel shuttle to Deer Valley to check out the ski resort:

As you can see, Utah is really dry right now. Actually, it has been one of the worst snow falls on record. They are usually covered in snow by Christmas. Most everything was brown & dry, except for some of the ski runs which are covered in fake snow. There are several mountains in this area, but we decided to try Deer Valley & it was only a few miles from the hotel. They usually have over 100 ski runs, but only had 20 open due to the lack of snow. The good news is that the girls have never really seen snow before, so they didn't know the difference:

We signed them up for ski school, bought our lift tickets & were ready to go for the week. Then we let the girls run around & play in the snow. In fact, it was the first time they have ever made snow angels:

They were loving it! Then we walked over to the St. Regis hotel because they had a free gondola ride that went up the side of the mountain:

We walked around the hotel property & had a great view of Deer Valley. The girls loved the fireplaces:

When we left Deer Valley, we went to lunch & then we had to go rent our ski equipment:

When we finally made it back to our hotel, the girls were shocked when we walked in because the concierge dropped off a few surprises for Sophie's birthday:

We knew they were going to do something, but not this much! Sophie loved the big balloon, the cake was beautiful & they left her a gift! They actually gave both of them a stuffed animal, which they slept with all week & the cake was delicious & we ate on it all week!

We kept asking Sophie what she wanted to do for her birthday & she wanted to go swimming, so Bryan took them downstairs to the indoor heated pool & hot tub:

What a fun way to celebrate! After they finished swimming & had gotten ready for the night, we had one more surprise for them:

Bryan & I were going to Joel's wedding so I had arranged a babysitter for them. I had visited with her before we got there & she was really nice. She even brought Sophie a birthday present also! She brought some play dough, markers, & fun activities for them to do while we were gone. They were able to go down to the lounge for dinner & the hotel had a game room where they played also. I think Sophie ended up having a fun night for her birthday while we were treated to a night without children :) It was a fun first day for our first winter vacation!