Mom's 60th Birthday Party

Shannon and I threw a birthday party for Mom's 60th birthday on Saturday. I had a lot of fun putting all of the decorations together.

 Pictures from her childhood

 I especially loved this pineapple palm tree fruit platter. So much fun.

I failed to get pictures after the guests arrived. we served BBQ chicken sandwiches, fruit, and veggies. People just came and went as they pleased and visited with each other while they were there. Her Alpine friends enjoyed being able to see their new house in addition to celebrating her birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom/Gawbie! We love you!

Spring Break

 We had a staycation for spring break(we usually do). On Monday, I took the kids to the Family Fun Center here in Lehi. I didn't get any pictures, but we rode rides, played mini golf, and jumped on the inflatables. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we mostly stayed home. I had some stuff I needed to get done around the house and the girls were happy playing with friends those days. Ashley and Danny did go out for an overdue Daddy/daughter date on Wednesday night. They went to IHOP and Nickel City

They had a lot of fun and Ashley was all smiles that night.
On Thursday, I took the kids back to "This is the Place." We had gone last year during spring break and the kids loved it. We had only spent an  hour and half there last year and hardly explored the place. So this year we went back with plans to spend most of the day there. They got to hold baby chicks.

 We also rode the train, panned for gold, dug up gemstones, hammered designs in leather, ate some donuts, and played on some unique play structures.

 I still had to drag them away after 5 hours of play. I guess we'll have to go again next year.
That night, we went to the BYU baseball game. The kids were excited to have some one on one time with Cosmo out on the concourse(especially Tyler).

 On Saturday, Grandpa took us over to the house of another family from the school to see a horse that was only 4 days old. It was so little and cute.

 They also climbed up on these hay bales. 

The girls were excited to go back to school again this morning and it will be nice to have routines again, but I also look forward to creating more memories this summer.

First Camping Trip with our New Trailer

 We kicked off our spring break with an over night trial run with our new camper. We just drove south west about an hour, pulled off the road a bit and camped.It was out in the middle of nowhere, but we had so much fun. We set up next to this really big hill that was obviously a popular shooting location. There were bullet shells everywhere.

 Here is a picture from the top of that big hill. We started off with a short hike to explore the surrounding land a bit. We saw a lot of red ant hills and a few jack rabbits, but not much else.

 After our hike, Danny taught the girls how to shoot his 22 rifle. They loved it. Even Tyler got to try it out (with a lot of help from Daddy). This was one of our targets.

 Danny wasn't too happy that the girls shot at his Mt. Dew can.

We had a hot dog dinner and than did more shooting until it got too dark and cold. Then Danny, Tyler, Alyssa, and Ashley played Yahtzee while I put Camden to bed.
The next morning we tried a family bike ride. The girls had fun learning to ride a bike on dirt. We explored this little dried up river bed a bit.

We also did some more shooting before heading back home. It was fun to try out our camper and we look forward to many more camping trips in the months to come.

Easter Fun

We enjoyed our Easter celebration this year. We dyed Easter Eggs on the Friday before Easter.

 We went to Easter Eggstream at Thanksgiving Point on Saturday where the kids got to do 6 different Easter Egg Hunts.

 (they also got to ride on this cow train and play on some inflatables)

 

Camden slept for part of it. He was the keeper of the empty eggs. We had filled up that stroller basket by the time we were done.

 We tried to get a nice picture of the kids in their new Easter clothes, but Tyler wouldn't cooperate so Mommy got to stand in the picture too.

After church, Shannon and her family came over for dinner and another egg hunt. Here are the kids right before they went outside to hunt for their eggs.

 I love Easter because it reminds us of our Savior and his Atonement. I'm so grateful that he loves us and that he was willing to sacrifice himself so that we can have the opportunity to return to our Father in Heaven. I also love that Easter always comes in the Spring and that it is finally getting warmer.