Spring Break-ing Part Zion

The Andersen's (our friends three houses down) invited us to hike Zion with them.  We did.  It was beautiful.  The weather was sunny and nice.  Green things are starting to grow.  But I must admit, I prefer Zion in the fall, with the leaves changing and falling.  Perhaps we'll have to go again in a month or two to see the green and growth of an every season Zion. But I know we'll have to arrive early, for I'm not a fan of hiking in the hot.  Plus, today Zion is still off season, so we are able to drive in the park, without the shuttle system.  Again, I love that we are less than an hour away from this amazing place!

Ethan (in green) is in NQ's Primary class at church. Today we did the Weeping Rock hike and then the River Walk.  Ashton was tired on the River Walk. Nathan and Ethan too, had a hard time with the last third of the return trip from the River Walk.

Spring Break-ing Part Vegas/Garden

Tis that beautiful time of year.  A week off of school.  Spring weather in the air.  What to do? Enjoy it!



We took an overnight trip to Las Vegas and stayed at Circus Circus.
We:
Saw circus acts
Ate at the buffet
Played at the Adventure Dome
Nathan Rode the "Thunder cats"
Played arcade games
Both boys won stuffed animals at the Midway playing various skills games
Swam at the pool (FREEZING!) and enjoyed the hot tub (lovely and warm)
Toured the Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay before heading home.

Just over 24 hours for that little adventure.

The next day, on Tuesday, we starting to some serious gardening.  We have much more to plant, but we did get our two raised beds framed in with the railroad ties.  We planted Shane's peas, corn and squash.   And I threw a LOT of flower seeds in the ground in our other beds, most of the seeds are old, but I'm hoping some might sprout. 

Growing from his little seedlings

The Popcorn on the Apricot Tree

Little Squash shoot.

Up to Dates in Feb and March

The Arch in Snow Canyon.

After making it home from Bear Lake, the Petty Clan and our ability to stave off the flu came to an abrupt end.  Nathan had stomach flu, Shane got the pink eye, and Ashton and I also retained the body ache, head congestion, cough, and sore throat variety.  This is especially sad when we spent the whole of Shane's Birthday driving home from Bear Lake and were then unable to do much else for a while. We've been pretty miserable around here.  For several weeks.  It's been gross. In the warm weather we've had doors and windows open.  And we've gotten out of the house in effort to clear out germies.

With that in mind, I had a few cake orders come in. Believe me when I tell you all of the surfaces I used were disinfected to the MAX, the dryness on my hand and fingers have not yet recovered from the Ajax, bleaches and wipes I've been using. The cakes turned out pretty adorable.

Ahoy, It's a Boy!

Hand crafted ruffle skirt

In the garden I painted tree trunks to protect them from bore and heat stress. Shane, using his 4-wheeler, hauled our railroad ties into the veggie garden area!  I'm SO excited! It's looking like a real garden spot!!  And Shane's started some seedlings in the house. His corn, peas, and squash are sprouting out like CRAZY!! No pictures yet, but you won't have to wait long!

After a while Shane found himself the perfect present to compensate for his missed birthday.  He got a gun he'd been wanting and some bullets and we all went for some family shooting time.  Nathan is wearing some goofy socks for "Dr. Seuss Crazy Socks Day"  I think he looks adorable.   Shane is very happy with his Birthday present, we couldn't have picked anything he would've liked better!

I had a hair cut on March 1st. (I hardly felt like sitting there with flu symptoms, but pressed on)  Before and after.  I like the short flippy hair, I've NEVER had hair this short.  I like it.  I like it long too.  But it's been fun to style and use product in this new cropped cut.

Nathan got in trouble at school at recess.  I guess a child thought Nathan wasn't letting him go down the slide (Nathan says this is NOT so,) nevertheless, the other child jumped on top of his body, and began choking Nathan.  And because Nathan felt defenseless, he bit the other childs hand to get the kid off of him and to get him to stop choking him.  We went in and talked with the VP.  He was very kind and told Nathan that there were three adults supervising the recess, and that if he could open his mouth to bite, that he should've been able to open his mouth to call for help. Anyhow, Nathan has his 1st official warning, and should there be another trip to the VP's office, Nathan will be sent home for the remainder of the day. (The other child was also sent to visit the VP.)

And because I thought I'd share what we had for dinner tonight: Pot stickers and for dessert a Nuttela fried wonton sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Bear Lake Day 2 & 3

Really, I think THIS post might have more pictures than the last one - but perhaps there's a little less writing to go along with it.  Not any less danger mind you.

So on Day 2 we decide on some breakfast at this lovely bed and breakfast.  They have a dynamite buffet that we all agreed on it to be delicious!  Ashton really appreciated his own personal salt shaker.  We all appreciated Devlin's cute hat. Nathan enjoyed the bacon. Olivia enjoyed her juice and selecting her very favorites.

I LOVE this Picture!

Then we dressed up and got ready for Church.  As I put it "Let's go to Church and repent, and then go sin some more."  (As we had already decided to go sledding that afternoon.)  Travis and Amy thought that was hilarious.  I was just shooting them straight. However, we got there and the power was out and church was cancelled.

Olivia looks like she's stuck, but she's not!

The CUTENESS

He's actually going quite slow.

Sledding and snow time was fun.  It wasn't too freezing, though we were being snowed on.  Ashton had no interest in the sled, but enjoyed going down snow banks on his bum.  Devlin enjoyed the challenge of going up and over the high banks.  The two older kids loved trying out the sleds.  The dads and moms took a couple of turns too.

Not to be deterred from my 1st day's freak ski incident, I put on my skis and whisked down a snowmobile trail.  As I was heading back UP (I say UP with emphasis due to its steep pitch) I see the two big kids going down the steep side of the mountain.  The parents are above them whooping and hollering with victory cheers as they kids start to dismount the sled.  At this time I turn my attention back to skiing up the trail, when out of the corner of my vision I see something coming down the hill - and fast!  When I look to see what is happening, I see a big black tube, and an entanglement.  As it happened, the two adults (Likely in their 20's) tubed down the hill, paying no attention to the little 4 year old and 6 year old at the bottom of the hill.  I did not see, but hear that Olivia was tossed high into the air, completing a somersault as she went and landed hard in the snow.  Nathan ran out of the way, just in time and missed the collision.  I then ski with more speed as Travis runs down the hill to check on Olivia.  As I understand it, Amy heard some pretty rough language coming from my husband.  By some miracle, Olivia is not injured!  Which is lucky for the people with the tube, because I'm sure the protective Dad and his brother in law would've been fixing to get western otherwise.  We had many thanks in many prayers after the incident, and moved back up to the less steep side of the hill.

From there the kids also found this fun ice hole to play in.  That night the adults watch "Here Comes the Boom." If you haven't seen it, DO!  It's funny, not dirty and just good fun!

DAY 3
The next day is more of the same, only sunnier and warmer.  Travis rented a few snowmobiles for a part day, and we all take a few rides.  At the start, Ashton is NOT having any fun with his huge helmet on top of his head.  In fact, he's just sort of grouchy. So, I again hook up my skis and the Kinder Shuttle and take Ashton out for a spin.  This does not improve his attitude much.  But i get to ski, and as I am, I guess Amy and Devlin wrap themselves around a tree with the rented machine.  Honestly!  Shane and NQ stay on the trail, but return back pretty soon to ice the back and do some more sledding.  (AKA watch NQ sled.)

After returning home for lunch and naps we hit the local pool and splash, swim, play and hot tub for a while before returning home and ordering some dinner.  Then the Petty's check the weather and foolishly believe that a large storm is making its way in.  We go home the next morning, and should not have :)  We had a GREAT time with the Barney's and wish we'd stayed longer, but are thrilled with the time we had!