April 2016

April started off with our spring break trip to Las Vegas.  Then  we went back to Cedar City one week later for Christie's fundraiser.

The community came together and organized a very nice charity event for Christie to help towards her medical bills of stage 4 cancer.

There was a pancake breakfast, a 5K, a raffle, an online auction, and a bake-sale.

We hung out for the day.

We love Christie so much and pray for her to stick around awhile.

And we won a raffle item of yummy lotions and bath fizz balls!

On our drive home, a semi truck flipped up a large mud flap detached from another semi that was in the road.  It struck us pretty hard and fast and pushed our light in and scraped tar all around the bumper.   Thank goodness Scott was driving because he is so calm with driving (I overreact)!  We were able to snap the light back in and Scott bought wax and a special sponge and he worked on the car for awhile, finally buffing out all the tar and scrapes.  Good job, Scott!

My sisters and mom and I went to the tulip festival.  This was my first time going.

Those flowers were amazing!

The boy cousins had so much fun!

We spotted an owl nestled on the side of the waterfall.

My favorite part was the flowers.

Lincoln's favorite part was making a stretched coin.
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Other happenings this month:

Finished up the library preschool class.

Lincoln got to go to Discovery Children's Museum with his Bengal Paw Preschool and enjoyed a little picnic after.

Miss Makayla planned well for sleepovers with her brothers.  How thorough!

Scott was voted in as a county delegate and went to a special meeting all day to meet and listen to candidates.

Scott dominated Risk with the nephews.  What a cool uncle!

Everyone checked out fine at the wellness appointments.  Makayla might be getting her enlarged tonsils out because they are huge and affect her breathing while sleeping.

We saw Maria & Dallin's family perform in a church play put on by their previous stake. Dallin had a main part!

We upgraded our ratty old couches for one new one!

Mom. Maria, and Dallin all graduated from BYU at the same time!

Mom graduated with her Bachelor's degree of science.  She wants to be an example to her grandkids of the importance of schooling and sticking with hard things.  At 61 years old, she is a great example!

Maria graduated with her Master's degree in nutrition and Dallin graduated with his Master's degree in mechanical engineering.  Awesome job you all!

We mingled at a nice luncheon afterward.

Went on a road trip to Price with my sisters to see Sessions, my old dorm I lived in for 2 years and had so many fond memories in; like sleeping on the balcony with my roommate one night.

But really, the reason we went was to see Ben! He was the student body president of USU-Eastern for 2 years, and earned his Bachelor's of science degree.  And he spoke at graduation too!

A large fan club cheered him on.

Ben has a girlfriend named Rachel.  She's a cutie; we're all crossing our fingers, hoping they work out.  We had a nice day down there and luckily traveled safely home. What a month!

Viva Las Vegas!

We had an awesome spring break this year! We decided it was time for a getaway and  trekked down to Las Vegas, of course stopping in Cedar City on the way there and back.   This was just what we needed: a break from school, work, and the stresses of life.

Day 1- We headed down to Cedar City during the afternoon conference.  We ate dinner and visited with the Paxtons.

Day 2- We drove to Las Vegas and checked into Sam's Town where we stayed the next 3 nights.  We went swimming and met a gentleman who told us about the El Dorado gold mine which piqued our interest.  A gold mine in the middle of nowhere only 40 minutes away? Yes, please.  Then we went to Cici's pizza for dinner.

Sam's Town is a little city theme all in one building.  This was the view out our window.

They do water shows and run the fountain with music.  At night they incorporate lasers.

Day 3-  In the morning we visited the Nevada Museum of Natural History.

They had a pretty cool Egyptian exhibit going on which we enjoyed looking at.

Next we saw their marine life.  Can you believe that middle thing is a fish?!

El Dorado Mine was next on the list!

Thank goodness for online maps because it really was in the middle of the desert.  The scenery was very impressive!

Movies and music videos use the location for filming sometimes.

They have so many rattlesnakes that they cut off their heads and freeze the bodies to show tourists.

This place was really great!  Definitely the highlight of the week.  Our kind and knowledgable tour-guide made our experience memorable.  We also learned that Sterling is claustrophobic.  He wanted to go out the second we walked in.  He became especially hysterical when the tour-guide turned off the lights for a moment to show how pitch black it is.  We assured him we would be okay and things were fine.  This place was awesome!  Definitely worthwhile.

 We saw "Zootopia" and really enjoyed that. Then we went bowling.  What a fun filled day!

Day 4- Our main reason for Las Vegas was visiting the Pinball Hall of Fame.  We love this place and remembered it from last time.  A mix of vintage and new games with free admission, all you have to do is cash out some quarters pick a machine!  We loved playing the games, so much entertainment!

Next up was M&M World and Coke World.  We enjoyed sipping the sodas from around the world.

Finally, we hopped on the tram and visited The Luxor.

Day 5-  We decided that we were having such fun that we extended our stay by one night and switched hotels to Circus Circus.

The view outside our window.

We played a few games and won some stuffed animals.

Then we stopped by the Bellagio and looked at the pretty flowers.  I love how they switch up their displays seasonally.

Lucky for us, we caught 3 water shows including one to Mark Ronson's 'Uptown Funk'.  That song happily brings back this memory now.

A mermaid dazzled us at the Bass Pro Shop.

Their aquarium was mesmerizing.

And Vegas buffets were definitely yummy too.

A second stop to The Pinball Hall of Fame was the perfect way to end our stay.

We even found our Flintsones pinball machine there.  (We have the same one.)

Day 6- We headed back to Cedar City and Christie's kids wanted ours to sleep over.  So after the adults went on a date to a yummy Mexican restaurant (kids watched by Barrek), we dropped off their jammies and blankets.  They really had a great time!

Day 7- After visiting with family we picked up the kids and headed home.  What a fun week!!