What I love about the Koch’s are the traditions they hold. They always do a “come in your pajamas breakfast” with their best friends The Hayes. Betsy always buys us new pajama pants for our Christmas present, so it’s fun to show up in pjs, especially on Christmas morning.
Ivy got an adorable little purple beaded bracelet from Grandma and Grandpa. Johnny trying to figure out this girly jewelry.
Jimmy, Katy, Jeff, and John
Grandma Betsy
Uncle Jimmy
Family trips, ahhhh the memories. I remember the trips we took as children and how much fun they were. Being with Mommy and Daddy, my sisters (even though we were probably fighting), and enjoying our trips together were some great times. There is something about family bonding that just makes me all giddy inside. Maybe it’s partly because we were always somewhere fun and exciting, Disney World, the beach, grandma and grandpas house, but overall, it’s just a good family memory. When John and I booked our first family trip, we were quite excited for Ivy to take her first plan ride. I, of course had anxiety, reading every blog and article I could about how to NOT have a screaming baby on the plane, which I was terrified about, because I know I have been soooo annoyed with THAT screaming kid on the plane. But thankfully, Ivy wasn’t THAT baby, and we weren’t THOSE parents. We did JUST fine :) It made it a lot easier that it was a direct flight (best thing ever), straight from Sioux Falls to Phoenix. Little Ivy got some ooo’s and ahhhh’s because she did so well! Slept for most of it and then played for a while. Thank goodness. Fewf.
We stayed at the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale. It was incredible. Pools, bars, 5 star restaurants, golf courses, walking trails, shops, everything in one place. We had a perfect location for our room, so while Ivy took her morning nap, John and I brought the monitor down to the pool and hottub with our Starbucks latte to soak in the water. SO NICE. We even brought Ivy down one morning to take a dip. Oops, she had to go in with her diaper, buuuut oh well. She wasn’t so sure about the water, it was funny!
The resort had a Christmas special so they had over a million lights around the resort and they even had a choo choo train to take peole around on the walking paths to see the lights at night. The kid in me HAD to do it. I LOVED it. Ivy loved it until it put her to sleep halfway :) Ha, but I really enjoyed it. We also got to meet Santa!
We had to go out and see the sights one day. We ended up hiking Camelback Mountain. With how inquisitive Ivy is, she LOVED looking at the views! We turned her facing forward halfway into the hike in the Baby Bjorn so she could see everything. John was a mountain man in that thing. He got some studly looks from other hikers as he was hiking with a baby. Way to go, dude.
Check out those views. Poor Ivy needed some sunglasses. Oops
Pit stop up at the top to nurse
We also did a bunch of shopping (too much to fit in our suitcases, of course), eating DELICIOUS food, and we had some nice nights around a fire at the resort with a bottle of wine. Pretttty relaxing. Goal met, check.
Enjoying a brewski under the heat lamp with Christmas Carols in the background at Bar North. Ivy just dooozed off under that nice warm heat lamp while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a beer, or two, or three, and a glass of wine :) Oh and they have THE BEST BRUSCHETTA – it had prosciutto and asparagus on it. To die for.
This was maybe the best. It was raining out and somehow we scored this delightful spot – Real wood fire, snuggles with Daddy, and a bottle of wine. Amore, amore.
Ok, moving sucks. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do any of it. My job was to pack and unpack, and that sucks too. We’ve had most of our belongings in storage this year, so opening those boxes was like getting new gifts. I forgot all of the crap we had! We ended up working our asses off to get as far as we could… but now, time for some fun! We are heading to Scottsdale, Arizona! Rest, relaxation, snuggles, shopping, warm weather, alcoholic beverages, and good food. The perfect time for it, because I only have 2 weeks left before I go back to work!!! Ugh! I plan to thoroughly enjoy myself.
Baby’s first flight… ready for take off.
I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving. The food, the food, the food. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, scalloped corn, mmm, my mouth is salivating. I was even more excited this year because we took a trip out to the Black Hills to my husband’s brother’s (Jeff) cabin. He bought a cabin outside of Deadwood at the Gilded Mountain Lodge area. John and I had our rehearsal dinner when we got married at the clubhouse in the neighborhood, so it’s pretty special. It has the coolest homes – rustic, industrial, metal, and woodsy. Very unique. It was Ivy’s first big road trip, 6 hrs in the car. EEEEK. But, we managed survived. It was just fun to get the heck outta SuFu for a while! We went with all of John’s family, his mom Betsy, dad Dan, two brothers, Jim and Jeff, and Jimmy’s girlfriend Nancy. I turned into psycho mom because Dan had a cold, so I was like XXXXXXX to stay away from Ivy. But Grandma Betsy got in a lot of good snuggles. I’m totally a baby hog though because I always want her. I shared sometimes :) All in all, baby’s first Thanksgiving was full of hikes, good food, nice weather, and cozying by the fire. Made this Thanksgiving pretty darn good.
Jeff’s Cabin – Cash’s Sluice
Jeff, Grandma Betsy, and Ivy
Baby Buck, haha
Lucky girl got to sleep in bed with us
What’s Deadwood without a little gambling? Big money, big money! $$$$$
Spent some hours at the Mystic Mountain Ski Resort. Snow bunny
I think I might be am obsessed.
Dad, really?! Nice sunglasses!
I can’t even…