It has been a whole month since I have written anything... (mostly because of lack of time and energy haha). But now that we are back home in England and James is super jet-lagged (somehow his sleep schedule now lines up with Australia!) I have plenty of time to organise photos and write about our holidays as a family, with the Stobbs and with the Burggraafs and how we survived our flight with a one-year-old. I loved hearing from family and friends about how much they love seeing James's photos and hearing about our adventures (although we are stuck at home most of the time). It has given me more drive to write and stay up-to-date! So thank you to all those who have joined our adventures! It was quite nice to be off social media for a month so I will attempt to catch up with what has happened while we were off on our holidays.
Holiday Stop #1: Our Family Christmas Celebration (12 December)
Since we were flying over to America for Christmas, we decided it would be nice for us to have a Stobbs Christmas weekend so they could be a part of James's first Christmas. Matt took an extra day off so we could start driving in the morning and slowly make our way down. I never look forward to packing but I loved doing it this year because I had these amazing packing cubes! I don't know how I survived without them before! Travelling in a car for 5 hours straight was not something I looked forward to... so we decided to make a day out of it and add in fun stops. Our trip down was our family's small Christmas celebration. The day before heading out our good friends Paul and Hanna came around to entertain James while I cut Matt's hair. Well, it was going well while I was cutting his sides and back but I never got around to cutting the top because James was balling... So we left it there haha!
The next day came around and we headed out. After about 3 hours of driving, we first stopped by the hospital in Leicester to visit our dear friend Kendal and her lovely baby Lily. Lily was born at 22 weeks gestation and was now 4 months old (just a month shy of her due date). She is now basically the same size James was when he was born. It was so good to see her fighting on. She is a miracle. We had a nice lunch with Kendal in the cafeteria. I miss living close to her! She is such a wonderful and beautiful person!
After saying goodbye to Lily and Kendal we headed to Birmingham (another hour of driving) for the Frankfurt Christmas Market. We make it a tradition to go to the Birmingham Christmas Market every year because this is where Matt took me back in 2015 on Christmas Eve when we were dating. We even eat at the same Nandos. The lights were so beautiful! And the treats were so delicious! James really enjoyed seeing everything. When we got to the car James was knocked out haha. We finished our last hour of driving in peace and made it to Worcester about 10pm (which is the earliest we have ever arrived haha).
Holiday Stop #2: Christmas with the Stobbs (12-16 December)
As we walked through the doors James woke up to greet Granny and Grandad. I hate raising James so far away from both his grandparents but sometimes there is nothing you can do. The night we arrived in Worcester was the General Election Night and Matt was happy to stay up late for the results. Around midnight we headed up to bed. The next day we went out into Worcester and walked around. We had lunch with Matt's mum and his brother Daniel and then did a little shopping for Christmas. Later that night we went to the Worcester Ward Christmas Party. James absolutely enjoyed meeting the strange man dress in a red coat with a snowy white beard haha.
On Saturday Matt's other brother Elliot and his wife Megan joined us for the weekend. We all went out for dinner (I don't know why but we always go for burgers... and I have to find something on the menu that's not haha). James always has a smashing time when we go to restaurants because he loves walking around and watching people. Daniel kept us entertained as he caught us up on his current events. After dinner, we headed to a nearby castle to see the lights. It was so beautiful! Cold and wet but worth it (with some hot chocolate to warm our hands). We forgot to bring James's shoes (I know, we are not the best parents haha) so we put Matt's gloves on his little feet! It did the job!
On Sunday there was a Christmas service at church and in the back James and I played with all the kids. I love watching babies explore with their hands the world around them. After church, we had our Christmas Dinner. Then we opened Christmas gifts with the family. James has no interest in unwrapping gifts haha. It would make no difference to him if he got any presents but I am sure when he gets a bit older he'll appreciate all he got from Christmas (because I love it all!). Matt and I got loads of books and we are so excited to start them!
At the end of the night, we finished off by watching The Man Who Invented Christmas. The next day everyone went off to work and school but Matt had an extra day off so we could drive calmly on Monday. It was nice to get home at a decent time. Christmas with Matt's family was so amazing and we were so happy that James loved being there too!
Pause from the Holidays (17-19 December)
The next few days after the Stobbs Christmas weekend was going to fly by because I was so ready to see my family in Utah! So to fill in the time before going to America we decided to make a quick trip to the Baltic Centre. I love seeing how much James love this place! His favourite thing to do is to just sit there and watch the other kids just run around and move things. They have so many open-ended toys which I love to watch James explore. But his main reason for loving this place is because he can get up and close to other babies and kids. I wonder if this is a personality trait that will stay with him.
The next day we just cleaned at home (because I needed to start packing and I need the house clean for that). At night we headed to our last institute class for the term. Only one more term and I can graduate! Yay!
On Wednesday Matt worked from home because we needed to both go to the dentist (it's been 3 years for me and 6 years for Matt). Well as always, James couldn't keep out of the office as Matt was working haha. Every time I played with him and he heard the keyboard go off he would run over and beg to be picked up by Matt. The dentist went great! Neither of us had cavities! Later we went to IKEA to buy James a new wardrobe. It comes from a hack from a blog I read. It was tricky putting it together with James in a day but I got it done! He seems to really like it!
When Thursday night came around we were all packed and showered. Our flight was an early one so we tried to get to bed early but we were so excited that none of us really slept haha.
Holiday Stop #3: Holidays with the Burggraafs (20 December - 9 January)
Flying Over and Meeting The Abuelos!
So we had to be at the airport at 3am for our 6am flight to Amsterdam. James had fallen to sleep the night before at 12am and because of all the anticipation, I couldn't get to sleep for another hour. So here we are at the airport on 2 hours of sleep.
We got to Amsterdam (we all slept the whole way) and then boarded our flight to Chicago. Even though we had long layovers, it wasn't too bad because airports have so much for kids to see. James loved looking at all the people walking by and in all the stores. And when we needed to sit we would get out his balls and play with him. Anyway, on our way to Chicago James probably only slept for 3 of the 8 hours of flight (as did we). We were so grateful for the flight toys we bought (soft play book and busy cube). We walked up and down the aisles and faced our fears by changing his poopy nappy. We finally landed in Chicago and headed to Salt Lake City.
We arrived in Salt Lake exhausted and ready to sleep. It was so nice to see my family once again! Thankfully my parents live close to the airport, so we got home by 10pm and chatted for a bit before heading off to bed. James slept peacefully through the night (and so did we!)
Christmas in Utah (24-25 December)
My family got together on Christmas Eve for our traditional shepherd's dinner (we eat food that the shepherds in the nativity store would traditionally eat). Afterwards, we had a lesson by my dad about our Saviour. We then wrote down a gift that we would give to Christ this year. It was such a beautiful and spiritual night.
The next day we were woken up at 5am to open gifts! Matt and I got loads of books again and James got a boxful of toys (luckily we brought 2 empty carry-ons and a half-empty suitcase)! After presents, we spent the rest of the day relaxing.
On another day Matt and I (and James) went to This Is The Place to go see Tiffany (Steven's fiance) sing some carols. It was so amazing and the village was so beautiful for Christmas. A few days after Christmas my grandparents came to visit. It was their first time meeting James! It was nice to see them again after 2 years!
3rd Anniversary Celebration (26-27 December)
To start off our anniversary, the night before we went to Temple Square to see the lights. It is so amazing being next to this beautiful temple. It is such a beacon to me. I remember throughout my high school years coming every Monday morning to do baptisms before school started. I remember walking the grounds when I was a lonely teenager finding answers and feeling God's presence. And, of course, I remember the beautiful day I was sealed to my eternal companion. The Salt Lake Temple is my "waters of Mormon." It was so nice to introduce James to this divine place. It was such a beautiful moment when we approached the temple and James put his hands up and said, "Woah!" haha.
The next day we honoured our anniversary by heading downtown and eating at the Nauvoo Cafe in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. About 4 years ago we ate together at this cafe on a date. This is the place is where I received a confirmation that Matthew was the one. After our meal, we headed to the trax to get to Barnes & Noble to see books and let James play around. It was the perfect way to spend our anniversary!
Welcoming the New Year! (31 December - 1 January)
What was different this New Years was James had to go to bed early and he can't sleep without us there. So Matt and I went to bed at 10pm but later (right before midnight) I headed down to join my family in eating grapes. In Spain, we have a grape for every dong so if you eat all 12 grape on time you'll have a good year! Afterwards, I stayed up another hour playing games with my family then headed to bed. It was such a good start to the New Year!
In the morning my mum made churros con chocolate with madalenas. So good! After breakfast, we headed to SeaQuest where James would visit his first Aquarium! He seemed to really like it (he enjoyed watching the little kids more than the animals haha). Matt got a pedicure and manicure done by little fishes that clean off your skin!
Sundays with the Family
The first Sunday there we went all together to Melissa's YSA ward where she was giving a talk. My sister is such a spiritual giant! It was so nice to sit in family (especially nice since Matt got called to the Bishopric). I love seeing James wonder off to his grandparents and play with them. My mum was soaking up every moment she could with James. We spent a total of 3 Sundays in Utah.
The second Sunday in the evening my dad was feeling terrible so he went to the ER and it turned out he had appendicitis and they rushed him into surgery. He got another week at home for recovery so it was a blessing in disguise.
The last Sunday we got to sit in my dad's Sunday School class. He is such a remarkable teacher! As I listened to him teach and testify, I realise how I am so excited to study The Book of Mormon this year!
Fun in the Snow! (2 January - 7 January)
While my dad was still at the hospital it snowed! My dad despises shovelling so Matt got up and got the shovelling done before my dad arrived later. James loved watching Matt go haha.
Another fun day was when my mom took us to my childhood Arctic Circle. James loved playing on the soft play. Matt and I ate so much fast food on this trip but as they say, "When in America do what the Americans do."
We went out to the Blue Plate Diner with Steven and Tif. I am so happy for these two! They are so good for one another and Tif is such an angel. The wedding next January is going to be amazing.
We also met up with our lovely friend Aloe and her parents! Aloe studied in Newcastle for two years but now lives in Salt Lake City. I had an amazing evening with them! The food was amazing but the company was phenomenal! They really are my kind of people!
On the following Saturday, we had family photos at the Capitol. My family hates photographs...I think we are all too silly to be serious haha. Later my mum and my aunt took me to a friend's daughter's baby shower (who turns out to be the sister of a friend of mine who lives in London). My mum thought it started at 1pm so we arrived at 1:30pm not realising that it actually started at 3pm. So we helped with the prep and it was nice to be able to catch up with them. I loved seeing all of my mum's friends. They are my Spanish aunts. And James loved following around all the bigger kids. That night my whole family met up at the King's Buffet. It is so awesome when we all get together!
I also got the chance on this trip to see my cousins from my mum's side. We had a girl's night with Eva and then visited Sini's family when they came down for King's Day.
On our last Monday there Farrell and Sammie took us out to Zupas. Where we spent lots of time talking about feminism and politics haha.
For our last day in Utah, we went to The Leonardo. Aloe works there so she invited us to come along. James absolutely loved it! He had a blast running around and chasing things. I love just observing the way he lives.
The End of the Holiday (8-9 January)
The last evening we spent at home with family. James seemed to know and was giving lots of cuddles to my mum and dad. He also took his first steps all on his own! Well, the next day came and we got to the airport at 11am after a full night of rest this time haha. It was so hard to leave my family but I can't wait to have my parents visit in July. James fell asleep as we were saying goodbye!
Our flight to Amsterdam was 9 hours long and James slept for 2 hours (enough for us to watch the Dowtown film haha). The rest of the time he did well. We brought little puffs and biscuits for him to chew on and there were loads of parents to talk with around us to pass the time. From Amsterdam, we made it to Newcastle by 1pm. We had a crazy Uber ride home but made it in one piece. It is so good to be home but we sure loved our 3 weeks in Utah.
That is what happened the last month! Now you are caught up! James has made so many leaps within this last month. He loves playing with balls and throwing them. He will give out the cutest scream as he does it. He loves chasing animals and finding the cats. He is very stable as he walks but wants to always hold someone's hand. He has a lot more control over his emotions. He has 6 teeth with 2 more on the way. He is obsessed with the swifter and wants to sweep everything. He loves dancing to Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer (or rainbow according to my mum). I love the way he loves to watch people. He really is such a respectful person. I love him so much. Matt and I are honoured to be his parents.
See you all next week!
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