Road Trip 2K12

Our annual "mud season" road trip is one of our most anticipated events of the year!  99% of the time we go south somewhere with a cooler full of food, our tent, and a Subaru full of gear.  We upgraded to a whoppin' 6-MAN TENT!!!  It is a palace compared to our old tent, which will surely be missed, but couldn't fit a pack n' play for Anna.  We have made a tradition of going to Mesa to visit Auntie Tina and her family, but this time we decided to go a different way.  I needed to visit the Moab area and do some research for girls camp this year.  I'm in charge of the river trip and I had to take pictures and notes and even hike a trail to see if it was feasible for 30 teenage girls.  We camped at Ken's Lake, south of Moab, and made the realization that bigger tents are harder to set up and make an awful lot of noise in the wind.  "Why are we the ONLY people NOT in a camper?"  Luckily the wind died down by midnight.  Then we headed to Natural Bridges National Monument and had a fun day hiking in the desert.  I didn't realize how HIGH that place is, almost 6500'!!!  We also heard that it was very chilly at night so we decided to book it down to Monument Valley to camp.  We stopped for Mexican food in Mexican Hat after surviving the "Moki Dugway".  We pulled into Monument Valley right as the sun was setting.  It was so beautiful!  We were less impressed with the "campground" but the view made it worth it.  We decided to pass on Petrified Forest and head straight to Mesa.  It was nice to be back on a freeway.

The next three days were absolute luxury.  Anna was obsessed with the pool and wanted in it badly!  So a few times I took the time to get her changed into her swimsuit, swim diaper, and sunscreen... and then she was content with just sitting on the edge.  Ugh!  We watched a lot of baseball games and even snuck out on a date to the local Diamondbacks.  I've never been to a major league game, but found it very fun, especially when they nearly shut out the other team.  Tuesday morning we said goodbye to 100 degree-Phoenix and drove home, via Vegas, which turned out to be a mistake.  Luckily a good book-on-tape makes time fly.  So long desert!  Until next year!

Sunny Easter

Easter really snuck up on me this year.  When I saw that eggs were 88 cents a dozen, it still took me a minute... "uh, oh yeah, it's Easter!"  I even put off Anna's dress until the VERY last minute!  We had the best Easter Saturday with my family.  It was also Ben's baptism so we traveled down to West Jordan for all the fun.  Anna slept the whole way down so she was at peak cheerfulness during the baptism.  We all know how important this is.  Afterwards we had a fabulous lunch and I ate way too much food and candy.  Nora put on an Easter egg hunt in the backyard and Anna had the best time playing with cousins. This is the best age ever!  I don't have to carry her around any more!  I just drop her off amongst her girl cousins and they take great care of her.  Ah, freedom!

Easter Sunday was highly anticipated because Bevan gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting!  He'd been preparing for weeks and for the first time ever, I never offered to help with the research.  He found some great conference talks on Jesus and the resurrection and the thing practically wrote itself.  He was excellent and received numerous compliments.  The rest of church was slightly less enlightening, due to my "busy" child.  Let's just say we're counting down these last 7 WEEKS until she enters NURSERY!!!  We returned home so Anna could play with her Easter basket.  She got a new book, hair ties, and her parents favorite candy.  The rest of Sunday was a blur because I was consumed with my dinner preparations.  I totally lacked confidence in every category.  The ham is too dry!  The funeral potatoes are runny!  The rolls are over baked!  But in the end... everything turned out perfect!  What was I worried about?  Beverly and Lloyd joined us and they were just as nice as can be.

On Monday morning, we skied for the last time as a family this season.  It's getting too slushy and warm, so needless to say, we were done by 11AM.  It's time to start prepping the baby backpack for summer adventures!  I will miss the skiing though.  It was always the best way to start a Monday morning.

The weather is warming up in Midway and everybody is outside!  The trees and plants are budding like crazy, even that stressed-out red maple I was so worried about last year.  It's still too early to tell if EVERYTHING made it through the winter, but if all my trees make it, I'd be perfectly happy!  Anna goes crazy when she's outside.  She knows when we're walking close to the park and starts squealing.  It's so fun to see her climb up and go down the slide by herself.  Crazy thing is that she STILL CAN'T WALK!!!  I don't know what to do!  For a girl who's been standing on her own weight since 3 months, she's sure taking her time.  Her knees get so dirty I just keep her in black pants most of the time.  Her hair is getting so long, and if she stays distracted, I can pull it up in a doot.  This girl is growing up too fast!