A visit from our cousins!!

On April 19th,  we were so excited to have a visit from my sister and her kids. It has been about 2 1/2 years since we have seen them,  so it is a big deal to have the chance to spend some time with them.   They have lived in New York for the last 5 years and her husband just got a job in California (quite the move).   They have traveled across the country and are staying in Utah for a few months until they settle down in CA.  California is still far away, but at least we will be able to visit them now!  The kids had a great time just hanging out around home.  They played in the backyard together and we had a little picnic at the park.  We are looking forward to the next few months when we will get to spend some more time with them!

Chillin' on the swing set in the backyard

As you can see, after several hours of church, the kids were done sitting still
and we were out of luck with getting any more pictures!

Erika and Lucy

A "Hole" Lot of fun!

Okay,  I just remembered we had a few more pictures I wanted to post from our trip.

On the way down to Zions in April,  we noticed at one of our stops that the tires on our trailer were pretty worn and could pose a problem.  So, we took a stop at a tire place where they were able to get us in and replace them so we didn't have to worry about it anymore.  This made the trip take longer than the 6 hours it was supposed to be, but it was kind of nice to get out of the car and walk around, too.  

While we were waiting, the kids found a few stacks of new tires that they couldn't resist climbing in.  It was so cute, I had to get a few pictures.  

Zion National Park

At the top of the "Canyon Overlook" trail at Zions

Okay, this post probably has the most pictures of any I've ever done, so I apologize, but there were so many good ones and I just couldn't choose.  So, I used a lot of them.  

Over Spring break this year (April 5-9th), we took a trip to Zion National Park in Southern Utah.  We have been trying to plan this trip for a long time and this turned out being the perfect week to do it.  The weather was nice- not too hot but warm enough to swim.  We had to wear jackets a few times, but that was okay.  And, we aren't sure how many more vacations we will be able to take this summer after the baby is born so thought we'd take advantage of this break when I was only 29 weeks along.

It got kind-of stressful a few days before the trip when we tried to reserve a campsite and realized that every site in the whole park was reserved- through the whole summer.  I had no idea that it is so popular and hard to reserve!  So, we got panicked and ended up calling a few of the RV parks close by and Aaron landed the LAST site at a place called "Zions River Resort" in Virgin, Utah, only about 6 miles from the park.  We considered ourselves very lucky.  The RV park costed a little more than a regular campsite in the National Park, but it definitely had it's perks.   The main thing was that it had a really nice heated pool for the kids to swim and we took full advantage of that!   I think this was actually one of the kids' favorite parts of the trip.  

Erika and Heidi relaxing after a good swim

Kyle was like a little fish- loved the water!  

Erika and Kyle had fun having
 Lucky pull them on their scooters.  

Going to Zion National Park, a place with beautiful hikes, we knew we probably weren't going to be able to do most of them with 4 little kids, but we were able to do 4 that were fairly easy-  Emerald Pools, Pa'rus trail, Canyon Overlook, and Weeping Rock.  Most of these were pretty easy hikes, on two of which we were able to push the two little ones in the stroller.

One of our first hikes- on the Pa'rus trail, about 2 miles and almost flat- perfect with the stroller!  

The Canyon Overlook trail was the most strenuous, with steep uphill trails.   Aaron carried Jared most of the way and Heidi was such a trooper.  I held her hand the whole time and she was so tough.  She kept saying, "I'm tougher, mom!  I'm a good climber!"  I think I enjoyed that hike the most, simply because it was so beautiful!   And, there was a beautiful view at the end.

Yes!  We made it to the top!

Man, you guys are strong!  

Celebrating Easter this year was a little different than in the past.  The kids were glad that he was still able to find us while camping.  He hid eggs and baskets outside our trailer that morning.   The older kids also got to go on a flashlight easter egg hunt in the dark the night before.   We were able to attend a nearby church at LaVerkin, Utah and enjoyed a nice, quiet Sunday together.

On our last day we went on a short hike up to "Weeping rock".  It was  a beautiful evening and we actually saw at least 7 deer around where we were walking.  

Can you see the deer in the background?  The kids wanted a picture with it.  

Erika got pretty close to this deer!

Weeping Rock is really unique as it is constantly dripping with water  and was really beautiful.  

Our trip to Zion National Park was definitely a vacation to remember for us.  It was so great to get out and enjoy God's creations and to explore a new place.  We loved spending quality time with the kids and making good memories.  

On the "Emerald Pools" trail

Stepping into Spring

Erika standing up in front and talking about her art work

We were very proud of Erika for making the effort to enter the Reflections contest this year.  It was even more exciting to discover that not only had she won First place in visual arts for her age level at her school, but she had gone on to Regional and won first place there.     

All the kids who won Reflections for the District

On March 8th, we went to the school where they recognized the winners of the contest and gave the kids each a nice plaque and had some refreshments.   We are proud of Erika for being involved.  

Here is the picture Erika drew for Reflections.  The theme was "Diversity Means..."
It is not a very good scan of her picture- I tried.  

We have been enjoying the warmer weather this last week and the kids have loved getting outside to play.  Yesterday grandma and grandpa Parkinson came down for conference weekend and the kids had a great time coloring eggs with grandma.  Afterward, they each took a turn hiding them all outside and then everyone had to come out and find them.   I love how excited they get about something so small!  

Jared enjoyed his ice cream cone to the fullest.  Now this kid knows how to eat a cone!  

I don't know what it is about having ice cream in a cone, 

but to mine it is just way more fun than a boring old bowl.    

Heidi decided to give me her cheesiest grin.   She loves to pose for the camera.  

Fun at the Cabin

We have had hardly any snow this winter- It has been so different that what we are used to.  And, the few times it has snowed, it has only been a small amount that melted in a day or two.  So, we headed up to Oma and Opa's cabin at Strawerry Reservoir the weekend of Aaron's birthday- Feb 17-20th. 

It was actually kind-of an adventure for us but turned out being a lot of fun.  I still laugh about snowmobiling out on Sunday with our snow clothes over our church clothes, taking them all off in the car, and then going to church.  It was really pretty comical.  I guess we have never stayed over Sunday at the cabin in the winter time before.   Aaron's brother Dave and his sweet family also came up and we were so lucky to have them.   We had a great time together!   (They were good sports for sure.)  

We took the opportunity to play in the snow while we were there.   As you can see above, Jared wasn't so sure if he liked being out there in the sled.  He looked like a little marshmallow man after we had him all bundled up and brought him outside.  He fell over a few times and started crying and I had to try really hard not to laugh because he was so cute!   

You can't see his face, but Jared actually had a lot of fun going down the little hill with me.  Heidi, of course, loved it and didn't want to stop.   

After the rides, Jared actually started to like being out in the snow and didn't want to go inside.  He just had fun tromping around in the snow and making tracks, touching the snow, etc.  

Erika and Kyle got really into it and dug a snow cave on the big hill behind the cabin.    It was really sad when the snow cave ended up collapsing.  They made it pretty deep!    

Erika, Kyle, and Heidi also had fun sledding down the big hill and Aaron drove the snowmobile down to pull them up.  Jared even got a few short rides on the snowmobile and loved it.  

We are grateful for the great opportunity of going to the cabin and for the fun memories we have been able to make there.  I guess excursions like these make the drab, cold winter a little more fun.  

All the kids loaded on, for our final trip leaving the cabin.  

Good times on the ice at Hyrum reservoir. We caught our limit in 3 hours.








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My Husband the Handyman

Okay, so when I married Aaron, I knew he was a wonderful guy.  But,  the longer we are married, the more he surprises me.  Fortunately, most of those surprises are good.   The longer I am married to Aaron, the more I learn about him, and that's fun!   And, the more I learn about him, the more I grow to love him.
Anyway,  this winter he has gotten busy on a bunch of projects around our home.   I have been so amazed and impressed with his handyman skills.  Even more impressive to me is the fact that he wasn't born with them, and they don't even come naturally for him.   He has really gotten out of his comfort zone even since we were married and made it a goal to learn how to do things on his own.   I am just so proud of him!   Okay, enough babbling and I'll show you the pictures....

Two summers ago, Aaron built this two-car garage in our backyard.  This is his workshop/ truck and toy shelter.  He did an incredible job, I think.  Since the weather has been cold and there is less to do outdoors (especially without snow) he had been busy sheet rocking and organizing his garage.   Now, that's some man cave!  

 I also never knew when I married Aaron that he cared so much about things being organized.  Wow- I thought I was an organization freak, but I guess I'm not.

I wish I had the before pictures but forgot to take one.  Since we will be moving some bedrooms around within the next few months due to our new addition,  Aaron went ahead and built some organizing shelves in two of the downstairs bedroom closets.  He just came up with it all on his own.   I helped a little- speckling, caulking, and masking, and he did the rest.  

Then Aaron got out in our garage and built a large shelf in the back corner for other big things in our garage to make some room.  

And, last but not least,  we were so sick of the clutter of bikes all over in the way so he made a bike rack out of wood for the side of our garage.  I was really happy about this.  Now we just hope that the kids will use it  :)

I realized the other day that not many things make me happier than a good honey-do list done.  The other day Aaron dropped everything and did all my honey-do's.   I was one happy honey.  So, I can't help but brag a little.  I never knew I married such a handyman but boy is he ever!