Zion

On Memorial Day, we went hiking in Zion with Jamie and Raymond Crane and their kids. We drove up and had a picnic on the lawn at the Zion Canyon Lodge and then went a few places. It's been 2 1/2 years since we went camping there, so the kids didn't remember a whole lot. They had fun at the riverwalk and weeping rock. Ella was ecstatic about riding the bus. We rode on several. At Weeping Rock, there was a little stream and the kids caught some tadpoles in it! They had a blast. We bought a year long National Parks pass, so we plan on going back soon!
Lunch!



Matt getting a drink from Weeping Rock


Nick enjoying a small shower from Weeping Rock


Matt enjoying the view.

Nick the adventurer!

Ella the nature girl!

Recent Activities

I know it's been a while since I posted, and I apologize profusely for that.
Here are our most recent activities:

Matt and Baseball

Nick's solo in the "3 Piggy Opera"


We went to Pine Valley yesterday and cooked hot dogs and dutch oven potatoes for dinner. Ella decided that she wanted to open the new bottle of mustard for me. Only, she didn't know how and used her mouth. When she finally got it open, she ended up with a mouth full of mustard. She had just started to like mustard before this, and not surprisingly doesn't like it anymore.


The other thing that going wonderfully is our garden. This year, all of the kids are in charge of a certain number of plants.

Matt is in charge of the tomatoes both red and yellow varieties-


Nick is in charge of all the sweet bell pepper plants (red, yellow, and chocolate)-


I am in charge of the bib lettuce, white and red onions, the sweet basil, and italian basil. (You can't really see the basil because it's hiding behind the onions.)


Ella is in charge of some strawberry plants in the front yard and they are very low maintenance. So usually while we are weeding, she is in charge of Bruiser.

Or is it Bruiser is in charge of Ella? Either way, they keep each other entertained!

Fun around home

We recently bought a pass to the Washington City Community Center. (Thanks to Uncle Sam and tax returns.) We adore it. The kids love to go swimming and sometimes will stay for hours without getting tired. They also have a rock wall that the kids tried climbing for the first time the other day. I think that it is something that they will definitely do again.

Nick is on the left and Matt is on the right.

Ella and her friend Tyler Croxall.

Matt and Nick playing at the pool!

Recently my dad acquired a 4-wheeler. It's 25 years old, but has surprisingly low miles. (Less than 2,000.) And the price was right- FREE!! We have had a lot of fun lately taking it down to the river and out across the Arizona border. It's only a 10-15 minute drive to the border and there are so many places to explore and play out there! Check out the video of Ella. She absolutely loves 4-wheeling!

Nick and Brandon (on Brandon's 4-wheeler).

Ella and Grandpa (on Grandpa's 4-wheeler).

Matt and Brandon (on Brandon's 4-wheeler).

Matt and Nick are helping me write this post and they are adamant that I post the video of the gypsum mine that we go to a lot. Hopefully you all will want to come and go with us when you are here next!

Princesses and Baseball

Yesterday was a fun day for us all. Matt and Nick had spring tryouts for baseball. It was kind-of crazy, but the boys are excited to start again. Matt is thrilled because after the little league season ended last year, he decided that "Baseball is Life." He has anxiously been waiting for spring to come. Nick is excited to play too, but he will be the first to tell you that he would rather play soccer. He gets to play little league this year instead of city league baseball and feels like he is finally "growing up".



This is the line for Matt to try out. The sad thing is that this was only about 1/3 of the people there. We really do appreciate tryouts, though. It makes it so that the good players are evenly distributed among the teams. #29 is standing right next to the dugout and the line goes all the way down the fence to the end of the field. Those trees at the back are at the end of the field. Nick is standing at the front right there with his blue baseball mitt.

While we were at Baseball tryouts, Ella went with Grandpa Larry to the Princess Party at the Washington City Recreation Center. They had a grand time. They learned to waltz, got to go on a carriage ride, got to see the Washington City Royalty, and eat lunch like princesses do.



She was very anxious to wear her Cinderella dress and we put her hair in curlers the night before. Grandma also painted her fingernails, so she felt like she was really a princess.



She was also very ecstatic that the Washington City Royalty chose to sit at her table to eat lunch. They were very impressed by her and thought that she was 6 because she was so articulate. She was in heaven because the "real" princesses sat with her.

Sledding at Pine Valley

A few weeks ago, we went sledding at Pine Valley. Okay, so we didn't have sleds. We had a few tires and some river rafting tubes. But hey, it works! Considering how often we go, it's just perfect. As you can see, our snow clothes aren't quite the most fashion forward either. Sport pants keep moisture out just as well as snowpants. We went with 3 other families. All of them have 3 kids in their family and their parents happen to be divorced. I also work with the parents. It was a lot of fun, and there were plenty of hands to help!



Ella and Madison Orr



Matt and Nick climbing the hill



Matt's spectacular ride down the hill.

And not to be outdone....

Painter's 5K and Half Marathon

I had the best intentions of posting here on every Sunday. I ended up getting called into work for someone who was sick after church. So better late than never, right?

Saturday, the kids and I helped at the Painter's 5K and Half Marathon. It was cold and there were a lot of runners. But we had a ton of fun.



This was at the beginning of the day. Matt, Nick, and Riley Orr are helping unload the boxes off the table.



Now that the tables are clear, we can get to work!



After the first layer of cups, Ella can barely see to add more!



Ella's attention span is not very long, but she was entertained for a while by playing soccer with an empty water bottle!



This is the first wave of clean-ups before all the runners come. Nick and Tanner Chadburn had a race against Matt and Riley Orr to see who could pick up more bottles.





While waiting for the runners, Matt tried unsuccessfully to do some pull-ups and Nick got into a wrestling match with Michele Chadburn. It looks like she won.



We're ready for the runners! (This was only 1/2 of the water and gatorade, though!)



Matt and I were at the beginning handing out energy shots. (They are full of electrolytes and sugar to help the runners keep up their energy.) Ella asked what they were and for a lack of a better explanation, I told her that they were food for the runners. So when they came by, Ella would yell, "Do you want some food?" Some of the runners were lauging so hard that I was afraid they were going to choke on them!



Matt is always a great helper whether doing water, gatorade, or energy shots.



Nick was super cold, but he's a great helper too!


We love to help out at the races. It's a great way for the kids to do community service and they can see immediate differences in how they help people. The runners love it too. Sometimes they will pass over me to take a cup from the kids. The runners are always so grateful too, and it makes us feel great. The clean-up afterwards can sometimes be a mess (Think all of those cups that were on the table on the ground.) but we usually find a way to make it fun. The kids love having a new pajama shirt too. (They don't have small enough sizes for them to wear it as a regular shirt.)

If anyone wants to join us, we are always up for help!

New Year's and Back to School

The kids and I went to Salt Lake over New Year's. We had great fun with all of the Stratford Family at the annual Grandpa Chic's Birthday/New Year's Eve party. This year was almost like the ones I remember growing up. There were games in every room, lots of yummy food, and of course, hitting pots and pans at midnight.



New Year's Day we spent with the Olsens and Cranes in West Valley. We went and saw "The Princess and the Frog." It was my second time seeing it and the kids' 3rd time. This time, we were all singing along with the songs. I am going to have to get the soundtrack for it- because the songs are so catchy. We love that movie. I especially love it because it is hand-drawn animation. It reminds me of the Disney movies from when I was growing up.

As I was pulling the pictures of New Year's off my camera, I found this picture from the BYU vs U of U game. The past two years, I have bought blue hairspray at Halloween and saved it for the game. I think that next year I will need to buy some Red too, for Matt. I think that really it's just fun getting dressed up and watching a good game.







The kids started back to school this week- THANK HEAVEN!! We were all ready to get back into a routine. I start school tomorrow. This semester I am taking Physiology, Microbiology, and another Fitness Center class. I know it's a heavy load, but they are the only classes I have left to take. My application for Nursing school is due on March 1st, so cross your fingers and say a few prayers for me to get in!

The other adventure that is going on, is that I was released from Primary. For almost the last 10 years, I have been Primary Pianist or Primary Chorister continuously. I guess it is time for me to grow up and go to Relief Society and Sunday School. I did get a new calling though, Cub Committee Chairman. I have spent a lot of time lately doing training and learning exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I am excited to be able to help out our scouting program, and through it Matt and Nick. It should be tons of fun!