Stay-cation 2009

The Covey Family "Stay-cation"

My parents are seriously the best! They decided to host all of us kids, our spouces and children for a few days after Christmas so we could all get together and party! Instead of going somewhere far away, we all slept at their house and made it a "staycation" instead of a "vacation"! It was so much fun!

Here are the two who made it all happen! They are always so sweet and affectionate to each other. I love it. What a good example they are to their children and grandchildren.





For 2 days in a row we decided to go snowmobiling and it was AWESOME! The first day we left all the kids with a sitter, and on the second day we took Lance with us (he was such a trooper!).

Lance LOVES playing in the snow and when he spotted Michael's little shovel he simply picked it up, found a bunch of snow, and started shoveling... cute kid!







Michael and Kyle decided to build a snow-ramp and pull a each other on a sled behind the snowmobile with a rope and jump it! It was quite entertaining to watch!





We had 3 sets of snowshoes and had a fun time roaming through the trees and going on little hikes.


Camille and Collette


Camille and Katie


Michael, Camille, and Kyle

As soon as we got to our "camp" on the second day of snowmobiling I went right to work on the snowcave that I wanted to build Lance. I had never built a snowcave before, but had heard plenty of horror storries (thank you Michael and your crazy Scouting days) so I went to work to built a very small and safe cave for my boy (even Michael was impressed).

It turned out pretty well and Lance LOVED it! He said while crawling in it for the first time, "Mommy! It's just my size!"







Even Uncle Jacob liked it and used it to keep warm... while Uncle Kyle decided to see how much snow he could use to cover his entire legs while sitting in a camping chair (usually people do that in the summer with sand on a beach... but in the winter with snow on a mountian works too). =)





Michael was riding behind Uncle Johnny on a little, on-man, red sled, so I thought it would be a good idea to hop on (which is pretty out of character for me because I usually try to stay away from anything remotely dangerous)! So, while he was being pulled, I hopped on and we didn't even fall! Johnny took us back to "camp" whith snow flying in our faces the whole way, and we got these photos.





After a fun-filled day of snowmobiling (and eating sandwaches, chips, treats, and drinking hot chocolate) we all decieded to head back to Mom and Dad's warm house. We had 11 people, 2 coolers and plenty of gear... and only 3 snowmobiles. For this reason we had to get creative, and pretty adventerous, in order to get back to the cars!

Michael rode like a cowboy on the food and drink coolers with me pulling him with the snowmobile.



Katie, Jacob, and Lance rode on a sleigh that we borrowed from a total stranger (who saw that we had more people than room on the snowmobiles and offered to let us borrow it for the day) with Dad and Mom pulling them.







Lance was so exausted from a fun day in the snow that he fell into a deep sleep while sitting on Katie's lap. Katie was so nervous that he was not moving or waking up through all the uncomfortable bumps and jolts, that she started to panic and began checking his breathing and pluse (what a good Ocupational Therapist you'll make in a few months!). =) I am grateful for a sister who would actaully know what to do in a circumstance like that! =)



Kyle and Collette were excited for some quiet time and cuddled/rode in peace.



And Johnny and Christine (hardly recognizable) bundled up as if they were going on a 3 day ride through the Artic.



Thanks Dad and Mom for the fun memories, great food, amazing company, and for being so FUN! We love you! We can't wait to do it again next year!

Happy 1st Birthday Afton!

ONE YEAR OLD





Our sweet little Afton Esperance (Hope) turned ONE! I can't believe it has already been a year!

Afton has been such a blessing in our lives. I really can't imagine my life without her and feel so blessed that she is a part of our family.

Getting her here was scary, and we could have easily lost her, but through the grace of God she is healthy, happy, funny, beautiful, cheerful, and simply wonderful!



Now, here is a little note to you, my sweet Afton, on your birthday:

Dear Afton,

Oh how I love you, my cute girl! I feel so blessed to be your mother and can not imagine my life without you.

Every morning when I come to get you out of your crib I am so excited to be with you! I kiss your cute, soft cheeks and love to just hold and squeeze you!

You are my little Hope. I feel such a strong bond to you. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel and believe with all my heart that families are eternal.

I can imagine us in the preexistence walking side by side, being best of friends. I truly feel that you and I have loved each other much longer than just this short year that you have been my daughter here on this earth.

I love you more than words can express. I thank God everyday for you.

With love,

Mommy



We celebrated her birthday with Michael's little 6 year old cousin, Margo, because these 2 cute girls share the same birthday! We had a lot of fun decorating the Barbie Birthday cake (which has given me lots of fun ideas for cakes to come)!


The Barbie Cake!


The Birthday Girls


Silly kids! We had a lot of fun!

We ate gourmet Macaroni and Cheese, cut into Barbies deliciously edible cake-dress, listened to customized piano and vocals from Carl, and watched interpretive Spider-man dancing from Lance. =)


Stella and Afton eating the yummy birthday cake!


Carl creating a custom Spider-man Lance song on the Piano (notice Lance "shooting webs").


Lance doing his interpretive Spider-man dancing!

We opened gifts and sang "You've Had A Birthday" in a round as well as the traditional "Happy Birthday" songs. It was so much fun! Thank you Christopher and Hailey for making Afton's birthday so special!

More Christmas Celebrating!

We Celbrated Christmas with Kathy on Christmas evening, then with John and Debbie the day after Christmas.

We love each member of our family and feel so lucky to be so close to them!

Kathy made a wonderful Christmas dinner for us and then we opened presents. She got Afton Twin Baby Dolls and Lance GI Joe figurines with helicopters and trucks! She got Michael and I a wonderful book and is always so generous. Thanks Grandma!









John and Debbie reserved 2 tennis courts at Liberty Park, where John teaches, and we all played tennis together! I even got a mini private lesson from John and learned a lot about the basics of tennis! We then went to their home in Salt Lake and opened lots of nice clothes and books that they got for us! While we were there Afton showed off her new "walking skills" and took a lot of steps all by herself!











Thank you to everyone for your generousity and love towards Michael and I and our children. We feel so spoiled and love you so much!

Christmas!

Tradition at the Covey home is to line up from youngest to oldest on the stairs Christmas morning before anyone gets to go see if Santa came!













This year was so fun because Lance knew all about Santa and couldn't wait to see what he brought him! When we were at our home in Pleasant Grove Lance opened up the Fire Burning Stove and said, "Don't worry Mommy, I opened the fireplace so Santa can get in." Whenever we would talk about the logistics of how Santa would get into houses he was always a little perplexed, but didn't ask too many questions.

This year Santa brought Lance and Afton BIKES! Lance got a Spider-man bike and Afton got a tiny Radio Flyer! I know Afton won't be able to ride hers for a little while, but it is just so cute and little!


Lance LOVED his Spider-man bike!


Lance and Johnny-boy both tried out Afton's little bike to make sure it was functioning properly. =)


Our big boy riding around all by himself in Nana and Papa's kitchen!

We all got lots of fun gifts and enjoyed spending the morning opening gifts one at a time. Katie drew my name for the sibling gift and I felt SO FORTUNATE to have her give to me! She got me so many fun surprises, and I love them all! I am now going to be one Fashionable Mama!

Michael got me a Cricut (thank you Christine for picking it up for us at 5am on Black Friday!) and I can't wait to try it out! I got Michael the Flight of the Concords - Season 1 - DVDs. Christmas is always such a fun time to be thoughtful of others and search for the perfect gift.



This year I got a WONDERFUL surprise from Michael! He told me a month or two ago that he had a surprise for me and said, "and it wasn't cheap either" and "you will never guess what it is."

Hummm... I LOVE surprises because they are always thoughtful, and couldn't wait until Christmas! A few weeks before Christmas there was a knock at the door. Michael answered it, said thank you to the person at the door, and came into the kitchen smiling and said, "Merry Christmas Camille!" as he handed me a little bag of Lehi Mills Corn Bread Mix.

I didn't know what to think. Was this my big surprise? I know that Lehi Mills is a nice and expensive brand of food, but was this really it, or was he kidding? I really couldn't tell.

My heart sank a little and I planned on that little bag of Corn Bread Mix being my surprise from Michael and tried not to think much more of it.



Christmas morning came and after the last gift was opened Michael announced that there was one more gift left under the tree. It was a very small black box with a red ribbon tied around it. It had my name on it, and I knew it was the REAL surprise.

My heart started beating fast and I held back the tears. I hadn't even opened the box yet, and I was already about to cry! I was just so happy to know that my husband took the time to think of me and get me a surprise.

I successfully held back the tears (an uncommon feat) and opened my gift. It was 2 tickets to STOMP!!! I was SO excited! It was the perfect gift. A night out with my wonderful husband, to a performance that I have wanted to see for years, and it was a surprise! PERFECT! Thank you, thank you, thank you Michael!!! I love you so much and can't wait for our date night!