Spring break was good to us this year. It came at the perfect time when all of us needed a break from our day to day routine. The weather was absolutely beautiful the entire week which just added to the fun. For the first half of the week the kids and I balanced relaxation at home with some fun local outings while Scott was busy with his last full week of class and homework. Our outings included Provo Beach resort with cousins, the new Provo Rec Center pool, Aquarium with Grandma, and a sleepover with Hale cousins. Once Scott finished up class on Thursday we packed up and headed down to the Zion house for the weekend.
My mom volunteered to watch Ellie while we went since we still have not figured out a plausible way to travel with Ellie and all of her equipment. I have very mixed emotions when we leave Ellie to go do something as a family. It sounds awful of me to say, but it is always a nice break for me to get away from the constant care Ellie requires and be able to relax and enjoy some time with my other kiddos. I am able to recharge my battery (aka get a good night's sleep) and return ready to continue taking care of Ellie. At the same time it causes a lot of sadness in me. I absolutely hate that anytime we want to go do something fun we have to leave Ellie behind. Anyway, we were very grateful to my mom for watching Ellie so we could visit the Zion house and spend time with Scott's family. Although, if you know my mom then you know that she thought we were doing her a favor by letting her spend time with Ellie.
Our days at the Zion house were filled with riding bikes, swimming, four wheeler rides, the Orderville sand hill, a birthday party for Lyndee, and a lot of playing with cousins (and aunts and uncles). Mason, Brynn, and Miles had the time of their life and were sad when it was time to leave. Scott was able to spend a day mountain biking with Steve and then golfing with his Dad and Steve. We have been so fortunate to live just a few hours away from this amazing retreat. We are definitely going to miss our quick trips down here after we move to Omaha. Thanks Mike and Linda for inviting us to come.
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| Flat Stanley joined us at the Zion house for a school assignment for Mason. |
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| Flat Stanley and Mason both loved going out on 4-wheeler rides |
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| Mason and Karissa adopted two horned toads as their pets for the week |
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| Flat Stanley liked playing with Sara and Cutie. |
Miles was obsessed with the "Big Huge Tractor". Anytime I couldn't find him I was sure to find him sitting on the 4-wheeler in the garage.
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| Miles on one of his many rides. |
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| Miles has gotten the hang of his strider bike and loved taking off down the hills as fast as he could go. It nearly gave me a heart attack every time. |
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| Karissa, Brynn, and Keyana put a lot of miles on their bikes that weekend. |
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| Brynn LOVES playing with her aunts. |
When I was taking the above picture of the girls Karissa asked if we could take some "style pictures". I told her I wasn't sure what style pictures were so she preceded to show us how to strike different poses for pictures. I have never laughed so hard! I have dozens of these "style pictures" on my camera, but chose just a couple of my favorites to share.
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| Karissa is such a character. |
It was our family's first time to the sand hill in Orderville. It is just this big hill of the softest, warmest sand. The kids had a blast!
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| Miles would sprint down the hill full speed until he face planted. |
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| Mason liked climbing up on the big rocks with the big kids. |
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| Leave it to Keyana to organize a train to slide down the face of the mountain. |
Jennifer planned an Easter themed Birthday party for Lyndee where we colored Easter eggs.
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| Isla and Miles decided to work together on coloring the eggs. |
On the last day Scott and I were able to sneak away for a 4-wheeler ride with Steve and Jenna.
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| I'm am definitely going to miss all the beautiful recreation we have all around us in Utah. |
