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Yesterday was my birthday and I am pretty sure it was one of the greatest days ever.

We are so busy lately, like bouncing from one thing to another until we all collapse into bed and then we get up the next morning to do it all over again. It is what this time of year brings, the final push of activities and programs before school ends and the beginning of summer sports.

But, by some miracle the day of my birthday we didn't have anything scheduled so we decided to take full advantage of it. Rob took the day off, the kids skipped school, and we headed out for one of our favorite hikes to the Hot Pots in Diamond Fork Canyon.

The weather was perfect and the water was so nice and relaxing.

We came home to shower and then headed out to dinner at another favorite, Tucanos.

I was spoiled by my husband, kids, family, and wonderful friends. It truly was one of the best days ever!!

Things To Do In Utah: Diamond Fork Hot Springs

I give this guy a hard time about hiking, but honestly I am so grateful he actually wants to take his family, sometimes kicking and screaming, out to spend time together. I can only hope one day the end result is three kids who are just as awesome as he is and who love spending time together.

BUT, I will admit, hiking into the hot pots is actually one of our favorite hikes.

Yes, even the wife who doesn't love hiking enjoys this one.

There is something magical about natural pools of hot water surrounded by gorgeous mountain views.

NOW, fair warning: for some reason this is a really popular place for skinny dippers. Which is why we have always started hiking at the crack of dawn. We really love having the place to ourselves and this way we also avoid seeing any unwanted human cracks.

So far it has worked out for us, and thank goodness we are a family of morning people.

When we reached the hot pots I made the mistake of telling Rob how this has been the best time hiking in. Everyone was happy, we made in in record time, and we didn't have any big wipeouts like we have in the past.

We hadn't made it very far into a trip back down the trail when Hannah slipped and fell into a huge mud hole, and then when we were almost to the car she tripped and scrapped up her arm pretty good.

Thankfully she was a trooper and kept going, but she wasn't very happy about it.

Me and my big mouth.

But when all was said and done we had a great time and enjoyed having the hot pots all to ourselves again.

Christmas Eve

We had a big plan for Christmas Eve, we would hike into the Hot Pots early in the morning, and then later that night we would head over to our friends house for Christmas Eve Fondue.  I was very excited for this plan until we realized it was going to be cold.  When we left our house that morning  at 8:30 it was 12 degrees outside, I began to wonder if we were crazy.  When we got to the trail head our cars told us it was zero degrees outside, at this point I knew we were crazy.

Instead of turning back we bundled everyone up and started on our 2 1/2 mile hike in.  The kids were troopers and hiked in despite how cold it was, I won't say there wasn't any whining, but for the situation they did awesome.  And when we did finally make it my kids couldn't strip down fast enough and jump in.

After everyone got the fill of swimming (aka the mommies were cold and ready to go back) we tried to hurry and dry off, and put clothes back on as fast as possible.  We then hiked the 2 1/2 miles back out.  After all the hiking the kids were so happy to see our cars again, and we were happy to see the temperature had gone up 20 degrees.

After a much needed nap we headed to Dan and Crystal's for fondue, I had never had real fondue so I was excited, we also had not eaten since breakfast so we were starving.  They had the best spread, the cheese was delicious (I could have eaten nothing but bread and cheese and been happy), the meat was amazing, and the chocolate fountain was a huge hit.

We all left with huge smiles and very full bellies!! (Thanks again Dan and Crystal for inviting us!!)

We returned home and we all got to open our Christmas eve pajamas (Rob and I got slippers this year).

After the kids were showered and ready for bed we all snuggled on the couch to watch The Grinch cartoon before we ushered the sidekicks off to bed.

Hannah decided to leave Santa some chocolate dipped fruit she had made and he must have liked it because our tree looked pretty full the next morning.