Spring Break - Escalante - Day 1 - Lower Calf Creek Falls

For Spring Break this year, we headed down to Escalante Petrified State Park to explore the area for a few days.  We met Mark and his family and Kim and enjoyed a group campsite and some great meals together.  We all hiked Lower Calf Creek falls together and had a great time!

Both Mayceleen and Dave jumped into the frigid water while we were there.  It was very cold and I didn't have the camera ready, but I caught this shot of Dave as he emerged from his jump!  He was so cold for the rest of the hike back to the car...but dried off and said it was great!

The falls were so beautiful and very refreshing after the hiking.  The mist from the water cooled us all off and we were able to enjoy the beauty of the canyon and the surrounding areas as we hiked back to the cars just before the rain started!  It was a perfect day!

Gymnastics - Level 4 meet

McKinley has worked really hard all season to prepare for Level 4 gymnastics meets this season.  It is so fun to see her accomplish the different skills that she has been working on and to overcome injuries, fears, and disappointments to compete and do well.  She has improved her scores at the same time as she moved up a level...so that is progress!  Most of all, it's great to see her doing what she really loves!

At her last meet she got 3rd in the all around with over 50 girls competing.  She was very proud of herself and so are we!

Ethan gets his mission call!

After waiting for 16 days and trying to predict when the big white envelop would appear...it came when we didn't expect it...a Tuesday!

Ethan was at school and had a soccer game after school, so I had to wait with it in my house for the entire afternoon and evening.  I was suprisedly calm, just knowing that it was here was a relief. Ethan was excited to open it and find out where he would be for the next two years!

He opened it with very few people here.  Just his immediate family, a good friend, and his uncle who happened to be on the phone!  He was called to serve in the Brazil, Juiz de Fora mission.  He will learn and speak and teach in Portugeese.  He will report to the Brazil MTC on August 3, 2016.  It is a perfect place for him and he is super stoked about it!  I know he will have an incredible adventure and a growth experience.  I couldn't be happier for him!

He looks pretty happy too!

Happy Birthday David..and Mark...and Justin and Zachary!!

Today was David's birthday...and Mark's too.  They share the same birthday.  And Justin and Zachary's birthday is tomorrow! So...at FHE tonight we had a joint celebration for them.  It was great.  They let us sing to them and then blew out all the candles and ate cake!

After the masses had left we gave Dave a couple presents.  McKinley made him a beautiful card and he got some Real socks and a new Real hat.  We did more of a birthday weekend this year.  Firday we attended an Alex Boye concert and Saturday we had a massage followed by a sushi dinner.  And Dave made himself a new standing desk for his birthday as well.  It was a good weekend!  Happy birthday David!

Midway Ice Castles

After a few years of hearing about the Ice Castles I finally snagged some tickets and decided we would go.  We were able to find a date that included the time that our friends from Texas the Haight's would be taking their daughter to the MTC in Provo and would be here in Utah.  We also invited the Lundin's who knew us all in Texas and live here in Orem now.  It was a fun reunion in cold, icy Midway.  The Ice Castles were beautiful and almost hard to comprehend how much time and work it would have taken to make the huge ice castles and sculptures.

There were caves and domes, and even a slide at the Ice Castles.  We explored them all and then headed into Heber to get some hot chocolate and food before saying our goodbyes and heading home. It was a fun, chilly, different evening with good friends.

California vacation; Day3: Beach

One of the best parts of being in California is visiting the beach.  It is one of our favorite places.  There is just something about the sand and the surf that makes you happy!

We were able to visit Newport  Beach this time.  It was pretty warm, but not overly warm, and the water is cold!

Ethan was feeling the need to get some homework done, so he's on the beach with his AP Physics book, catching up on some reading.  But also working on his tan.

Evan was resting...something he seems to be doing a lot lately.  We think he's going to grow a foot or two these next few weeks.  He's been eating and sleeping A LOT!

And McKinley...well,...she's always doing gymnastics and enjoying herself.  She is usually upside down or in the process of flipping around.  So much fun!

I enjoyed putting my toes in the sand and also in the water.  It was a perfect day of relaxing after 2 days of running around.  I tried to take in the warmth, so I could bring it back home with us.  The end to a perfect vacation!

California vacation: Day 2 - Disneyland!

 So day two was our Disneyland day.  The park was open from 8am until midnight and we were ready to conquer it all!  We had a plan of what order to do the rides and make sure that we got the Fast Passes we needed to when we needed to so we could get on everything with as little waiting as possible.  Boy were we surprised when we realized we didn't need fast passes for much of anything in the park.  Between 8 and 10am we walked on to most of the rides...even the big ones like Indiana Jones (scared McKinley) and Big Thunder Mountain and even Pirates of the Carribean.  Everywhere we went we just got right on...except for Peter Pan and the Matterhorn.  Pretty amazing!

 Our favorite ride was probably Hyperspace Mountain...which everyone except me rode twice.  I have to say that that was the first real rollercoaster I have ridden in about 15 years.  I know it's not one of the biggest ones, but it was pretty intense for my brain and my tendency for vertigo!  But I enjoyed it.  I really liked a lot of the rides at Disneyland because they are more about the atmosphere and the surroundings than the up and down of a ride.  I was able to enjoy many of the rides with the family and usually I am waiting at the end of the ride for them instead...so it was great.

Again we found ourselves finished with the part about 4pm and ready for a rest before the night time fun.  We headed back to the hotel and enjoyed the pool and hot tub and even got a quick nap before heading out to dinner.  That night we were excited to see the fireworks show and also the Paint the Night parade.  Unfortunately the fireworks show was cancelled due to wind, but the parade was on and we really enjoyed that.  After the parade we rode a few more rides and then called it a wrap for the night!  We had survived (and even enjoyed) Disneyland!