Panguitch Tea and Recital

Just because the founders of The Annual Excell Family Christmas Tea and Recital had abandoned us for a mission didn't mean we couldn't pull the event together on their behalf. Laura offered her house for the festivities which had my boys more excited about their upcoming trip to Panguitch than they were for Christmas!

Our first day there was spent subjecting ourselves to the well-below freezing temperatures of Panguitch, cruising through the snow on sleds.

I asked Laura if I needed to bring anything special for our trip. "Just snow clothes!" she replied. As luck would have it, the boys had just gotten their first snow pants for Christmas. I happily shoved their new snow clothes in a plastic bag and threw it down our stairs to remind me to grab it on the way to the car as we were packing up for our trip. 

Unfortunately, I did not take into consideration how much a trash bag full of brand new snow clothes would resemble a trash bag full of trash -- which I also chuck down the stairs in similar fashion.

On our way out the door, I saw the trash bag, forgot about its contents, and swiftly chucked it into our garbage can.

As we were getting ready for our big sledding day, I excitedly reminded the boys about their awesome new snow clothes as I scrambled around the house looking for that trash bag I was certain I'd packed. The mistake suddenly became clear as I asked Jeff if he ever put a trash bag into the car and he answered no.

Boo to a day in negative degree weather without all our warm clothes! Yay to Laura for saving the day with supplemental snow gear.

Eli's become quite the little daredevil snow bunny. He bravely cruised down any hill his cousins persuaded him to join them on. 

Carson on the other hand...hates...cold...and...is less adventurous. He courageously agreed to plummet down the slopes with some fear evident on his face:

He reached safe ground, proudly proclaiming, "I did it!" Then he marched back to the car and stayed there until Jeff convinced him to go on a 4-wheeler which Carson loved!

That evening we gathered round for the big show! We even had some guests of honor join us through FaceTime. It felt like they were really there!

We started with the pianists.

Then we moved down to the basement. 

Jeff solved a Rubik's cube in 1 minute. He was debating whether to do it in 1 minute or 1 minute 15 seconds. I convinced him to go for the 1-minute timer, which was awesome because he threw the solved cube down just as the buzzer rang.

Eli and Carson showed off some of their recent Star Wars drawings. 

Followed by an epic Star Wars reenactment. 

Ben showed us a video he made of a trip he and Laura took to Hawaii. 

I made cinnamon rolls for my contribution. 

Everyone rotated through chatting with David and Mary as we finished up. Yes, that one making a crazy face for unknown reasons belongs to me.

Laura surprised us by continuing Mary's tradition of making jammie pants for all the grandkids. So cute!

The next day was filled with lots of playing and cousin time. 

Then we went to David's sister's house for lunch where everyone was anxious to meet Lincoln!

These boys were OBSESSED with these stairs. They are the perfect jungle gym for a bunch of boys!

Lunch was yummy, and it was fun to see everyone we don't get to see often. 

I love Louise's yard. It's such a fun yard for the kids to explore. I took the kids out back to play monkey in the middle.

All too soon, it was time to head home.

Which resulted in the meltdown of Eli's life. It wouldn't be a trip to Panguitch without Eli sobbing in the back seat for the whole first hour of our drive home because he's so sad to leave his cousins.

It was such a fun trip. Thanks for hosting us and continuing on with the Christmas Tea and Recital tradition, Cox Family!