St. George

We escaped the cold weather for a week and ventured out on a 10-hour drive to St. George, Utah. Great friends and great weather made for a fantastic week away! We packed in a lot of fun and activities from biking to hiking to swimming, we were having a blast! Huge thanks to the McNeils for providing the lodging for the week!



Splash Pad

Amigos chillin' in the back on the way home from the Splash Pad. 

Indoor/Outdoor Pool 

I wanted to snag a family pic in St. George and this is the only one we captured...not quite worthy of enlarging and going on the wall. :)

I love this swim vest/floatie that Luke is wearing, and so does he. It is called a "Puddle Jumper." It is awesome!

Emma catching some Zzz's poolside. Don't worry, her head wasn't completely covered, she could breathe. She is a snuggler and loves her blankies.

Bryce, Ivy and Briggs

Kelly and Paxton

Red Cliffs Hike

Baby Chase 

This was a great hike. The only downside was that there were a ton of people! It made me nervous with Luke and those pools, but we managed to keep him out of them. I wouldn't mind returning when it isn't so crowded.

Sand Hollow Reservoir 

Can you tell that this kid loves water?

Finishing up lunch before exploring the sand and water.

Luke building and destroying sand castles with Dad.

Luke making rivers in the sand with Mom.

She wasn't too thrilled about the sand at first, but after 10-15 minutes she decided that it might be okay after all. 

The sand was very soft and fine. I'm still finding it in the car!

Beach Babe

It was a great family vacation and the perfect break from a cold and snowy Spring that we are experiencing in Colorado. The day after we were home, Luke and I were shoveling the driveway from a recent snow storm when he exclaimed, "I want to go back to the beach!" Me too!

"Tie-Dyed" Eggs

I forgot to include that we tried dying some of the eggs with silk ties. Thanks to my mom for giving us the idea as well as the ties. We had a few flops, but I would try it again next year. Super easy, with cool designs left on the egg.

 

Here is the link that we used: http://relish.com/articles/how-to-dye-eggs-with-silk-ties/

Easter

We had a great Easter. It was filled with the usual traditions of ham dinner, easter egg hunts, egg dying and a nice morning at church reflecting on our Savior and His resurrection.

 

Luke requested that his dad draw a picture of the bike and trailer that Luke loves to go on rides in with Emma. 

Checking out the process of Easter egg dying so she'll be ready next year.

Community Easter Egg "Hunt".  

Luke was highly disappointed when he opened the eggs and found stickers! haha!

Whatever the Easter egg hunt may have lacked, it was made up for by the giant blow-up slide. Luke has no fear at times...I was holding my breath for him!

 You'll hear me at the end tell Luke that, "The line is too long" to do it again. It really was a 30 minute wait for 3 seconds on this thing, but it was worth it...one time. :)

 Our own little Easter egg hunt.

Emma with some hoarding tendencies that became apparent with the egg hunt.

 Cheering Luke on as he searched the yard for more eggs.

He has some pretty good hunting skills, must take after his father.

Girls Trip

I met up with Darci, one of my roomies from the single days, in Las Vegas last weekend for some rest and relaxation. Bryan stayed with the little ones so I could actually relax. Again, I know it, I married well. The trip was AHHH. M.A.Z.I.N.G. We did a Spa day, chilled by the pool, shopped, ate tasty food and had a lot of laughs. It was a quick, but very rejuvenating trip.

Didn't take too long for both of us to turn into lobsters.

(Darc even won a smokin' $13 on the slots.) 

Loved being able to have a few days for fun, but I was so happy to see my little family again!

B*U*N*C*O

"BUNCO!!!!!!"

I participate in a Bunco group that gets together once a month. It is a fun way to mingle and have some fun. I hosted March's Bunco.  Bryan was a champ and managed to wrestle both kids to bed with 12 rowdy women in the house playing "some dice game with a loud bell". Just a few days before Bunco was the baby shower and he took both kids out of the house for that event. He is a good man.

The Spread.

Striped straws and mason jars...I love this idea, obviously.

The Bunco Ladies.

(We all wore orange in support of Presley that night, see previous blog post.)

I feel so blessed to have such great friends.