April 2018

April 2018 was a big month for us...

Sam went to the Priesthood Session with his dad, he's about to be a deacon, I hope they'll always remember this.

Kaitlyn turned 14!

Kaitlyn's first dance, and dad showed her how to slow dance with a boy.

Easter 2018!

Matthew's Baptism! 

MCO Concert Spring 2018

Sam's ordination to the Priesthood and those who were in the circle.

mom of boys...

These boys!

Recently they'd both gotten gift certificates for free donuts and they asked to take me to get donuts, it was so cute.

And I loved this sweet photo of us from the Grand Canyon.  I love being the mom of boys! 

Matthew turns 8!!

For the first time ever, I've caved and let my kid have a birthday party at a place.  But for THIS kid it was a no brainer--he LOVES America Ninja Warrior and this kid gym, so we forked over a small fortune for him to have a party here, and he loved it!

Then on his REAL birthday, which fell on a Sunday lest you think he likes to dress up for present opening....Kaitlyn made him her signature Andes mint cupcakes, he's so lucky to be so loved by his family!

And Matthew enjoyed having dad spend a day with him at school as the watch dog.

And as is our faith tradition, a couple weeks later, Matthew was baptized

Spring Break 2018--Grand Canyon part 3

We timed our trip perfectly!   

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on Wednesday evening and woke up Thursday morning to snow.  We had hoped to see more things in the Grand Canyon but were not prepared for the colder weather so we opted for hitting the road home and seeing a couple more National Parks with our lucky Lindsey!

Petrified Forest was a stop of ours on the way home.  It would have been more cool, but it was REALLY windy, like crazy gusty, 37 mph.  So we saw a little bit of stuff around the ranger station and then as we drove through the park, Stephen would get out and take photos.  

The other place we stopped was Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  This was cool!  We rode the elevator down 1000 feet to the bottom and then hiked the trail back out very steep going up on switch backs.  We heard the line for the elevator back up was crazy long and we wanted to stretch our legs.  Those who had already hiked the grand canyon were a bit sore....

Spring Break 2018--Grand Canyon part 2

So, while the big kids were hiking, we were having some fun on our own...

On Monday we stayed around the Grand Canyon, waited for Grandma to hike a couple miles down the trail and back up so she could hang with us for the next couple days.  Matthew and Lindsey continued to give me heart attacks (Matthew more than Lindsey) climbing up rocks and running, I was concerned they'd fall off the edge!

This stinker really got me worried at one look out point.  I'd told them it was time to get back on one of the trams going around the park and then I couldn't find him.  The tram was about to leave and I was looking frantically for him, calling for him, etc.  I walked a bit closer to the bus and sure enough he popped out the door and said, "Hi mom!"  Most people watching the whole thing got a good chuckle at our expense.

Turns out Lindsey is our lucky charm!  As a 4th grader she gets a FREE NATIONAL PARK PASS which made her very useful to us on this trip.

One of the days without the big people we ventured out to Montezuma Castle National Park, which are ruins of an ancient group who literally built homes in the side of the mountain.  It was cool to learn about them.  And it was at the entrance of this park that Lindsey got her pass on a special lanyard. 

We also enjoyed a fun afternoon at Rock Slide Park 

Spring Break 2018--Grand Canyon

We did something really cool!  For Spring Break we took our kids and did something hard.  Stephen, Kaitlyn and Sam along with his brother Andrew and his two daughters, Shelly and Ashlyn, and Grandpa went on a 3 day backpacking trip down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and then back up.

Eventful memories were that Laura somehow broke her sliding door on their van on the way there.  We did get it to close after a late night run in Albuquerque for tools in sketchy parts of town, and it was duct taped shut for the duration of the trip.  They got a new fan upon returning home.

On our way into the Grand Canyon we saw a double rainbow--an omen that it was going to be a wonderful trip!

We drove in on Sunday and the group left on the hike Monday morning:

Whether or not mom/Susan was going to join them was a last minute decision.  After a lot of thought, and heartache, and a priesthood blessing, it was decided that the best thing would be for her to stay behind with Laura and I and the younger cousins.

The plan for the hikers was to hike the North Rim....Bright Angle Trail....down to the bottom where they spent the night, then hiked up half way to.....and the rest of the way back up.

And they did it!!  They did something hard.  They earned street cred with everyone they met there at the Grand Canyon, and a lot of people they've told since then.  And they've earned the confidence that comes from knowing they can do hard things!

They arrived back up to the top on 3.14--pie day, so Laura and I had stopped in a Williams, a sweet town that reminded us of Radiator Springs and got pie!

We also ate some amazing pizza at a place there in the lodge, maybe it just tasted so good because of all the hiking but it was amazing!!

And then it was time for showers and a nap....