Sweet Sarai...sweet little toes

 Just couldn't resist taking pictures of these cute toes and Cleopatra shoes.  She looks pretty cute in her fancy dress too, don't you think?  

Our desert beach party

Last day of the school break...what a spectacular finish to a great vacation! We went out to a place called Rock Canyon or the Little Grand Canyon. It's out in the Warner Valley area on the AZ Strip. We knew there would be water after the rain and weren't disappointed. The approach road is a little rough and we had to walk in quite a way to get there, but it was worth the effort. Then we found a great stone bench to lunch on.

With lunch finished, the wading, sand play, rock skipping, napping, sunbathing and skinny dipping began.  Koen was actually the only chubby cherub skinny dipper.  He fell down and got his clothes wet, so they his mom and dad just let him go free while they dried out a little.  

Then it was time to "head for the hogan."  On the way out we had more fun as we captured and examined some horned toads...such cute little dinosaur like critters.  We also spied a snake - don't know what kind and Lance helped the kids find fossils.  He had showed them bunches of them back at the beaches and they were pretty excited about finding a few small ones to take home.  Such a fun time with such fun people. 

Picnicing and egg hunting

Saturday Moss and Christie hosted everyone to their fun-park back yard for a picnic and egg hunt. It was so fun to hang out eating and visiting. Just wish everyone could have been there and it would have been even better! The kids had fun and ate up lots of candy...and wanted more! Zade got particularly gooey holding a chocolate egg until it melted and then having to lick it off his fingers to get it eaten.  Thanks Moss and Christie!  So thankful to know that because of the real Easter we can all keep on hanging out together...for always.

Moroni's Canyon, Brookside to Baker and Sand Cove...more Easter break fun

We packed all we could into the time I had off school while Juge and Lance were here.  We wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine.  We hiked to Moroni's Canyon (the friend who first showed it to me said she named it that thinking of it as the type of place he would have hidden out from the Lamanites).  Steve and Dorothy joined us for that one. 

Steve had to leave after that, but Dorothy came with us to hike a little trail from Brookside to Baker Lake and back.  It's really pretty right now with lots of water spilling over the dam and the river full of waterfalls.  We saw lots of cool lizards and ate lunch beside the stream.  Noah and Eden liked seeing all the bugs and lizards along the way and throwing some rocks in the water.  It was perfect outdoor weather. 

Last, and maybe the most fun, was this little stream out at Sand Cove area.  We had thought about doing the Vortex hike, but it was feeling like a little too much for the kids.  Once we got down to the stream the kids had a blast.  Eden was very careful to roll up her capris at first, then she just took them off and waded in undies.  The undies were soon wet and muddy and had to go.  She just sat down and enjoyed the sand and water totally.  Noah had fun with a truck as well as wading with Grandpa.  Water and sand...the perfect combination for kids to have fun.  It was very relaxing for us adults too.  Such a fun day.  We finished out by checking out the overflow at Gunlock on the way home.  A fun, full day!  And this was Sarai's first hike!!!

Grand "Edventure" - latest edition

At the family dinner Kennis made a good suggestion. She suggested that we have a sleepover/hike for the next Grand "Edventure". We ended up with an unexpected free weekend and decided to take Kennis' suggestion. Since the hike was going to be a pretty hard one, we limited the participants the the older set of grand kids. Kaebri wasn't available for the sleepover part, but joined us in the morning. The "edventure" agenda was as follows.

Friday evening after dinner we went for a walk around town and visited the Town Square in the process. We managed to end up at Krave where we consumed huge amounts of frozen yogurt - especially Kennis! (No pictures of the ice cream consuming were taken...we were busy eating, not shooting photos.)

After a good night's sleep and breakfast we picked up Kaebri and then went to the stone yard and unloaded the truck and trailer so we didn't have to drive around with that load on.  Everyone got a turn driving the forklift and unloading a pallet.

Next on the agenda was the hike - we hiked up the trail behind Tuachan and over a saddle and then down ending up at Three Ponds in Snow Canyon.  Then we hiked back!  We did stop for lunch in a wash and visited a little box canyon called "Fern Gully."  I was pretty hard, but so beautiful...we decided we needed a thesaurus to come up with more words to describe all the amazing, beautiful things we saw.  We met a few other hikers and one couple took our picture at Fern Gully.  We set some time goals on the way back to see us through some of the hard spots.  Everyone made it!!!  We think it was about 7 to 8 miles all in all.

We were pretty hot when we got back, so another trip to the Town Square was decided on and everyone got cooled off in a hurry!  Weed, Tasia and Zade joined us there and then we headed back to the house for popcorn and grape juice.  Then it was time to call it a day.  Thanks for another grand, Grand "Edventure" everybody.  Until next time...

Brenden & Madi around the town

While Jay and Brynn were down for the blessing we got some time to just hang out with them.  The weather wasn't completely cooperative, but we did get out for a little walk at the around town and plenty of posing with these cute kids.

Baby Blessing/Visiting/Birthday

Where to start...a special Sunday with the Randall's on March 10th.  All of us except the Weavers, Supe and Bean, were able to attend and the men assist in the blessing of the Aftton.  She looked so pretty in the lace and frills dress and it was sweet to be a part of her special day.  Afterward the people from down here plus Jay, Brynn and Madi got together in Toquerville for our monthly family dinner.  We ate and visited and even sang a late happy birthday to Christie.  Happy blessing Afton!  Happy birthday Christie!  Good times!

Aunt Venna turns 100...she just keeps going and going and going!

I'm a little slow in posting this, but here is a little write up that was in the paper about Aunt Venna.  She is amazing!  The picture is of a little get together the sisters (still living) had the day before the big party!  L to R is Audrie, Delsa, Georgia, LaRue and Venna.  What a cute bunch of ladies. 

A very busy and fun time

Eden and Noah came to visit us for a couple of weeks while their new baby sister was getting to know mom and dad and quite a few doctors and nurses.  We have had a lot of fun getting better acquainted.  They also got to get better acquainted with all the cousins/aunts/uncles in the area in the afternoons when Grandma had to go to work.  Thanks to all the for their hospitality during those afternoons.  We didn't get pictures of all the visiting, but here are a few shots of saying hello to Sarai  and some of the fun we had around the house.  Thanks for coming to visit, Eden and Noah. 

The last of the Spring break report

Saturday we thought we should have a work day around the house.  I nearly got done with Afton's baby quilt, towel and Paul got a lot of projects done too.  In the evening we just had to get out and enjoy what was left of the beautiful day.  We decided to try a little trial that a guy told us about.  It takes off of the trail to Johnson Arch and goes to Scout Cave behind The Cliffs.  It's a fun trail through some really pretty areas.  We made it to the cave but with not much daylight left and found our way back by full moonlight.  It was very nice.  On Monday it was kind of rainy, but in the afternoon there was some clearing so we decided to visit it again via the trail that starts from Paradise Rim subdivision.  Again, beautiful hiking area and a very nice hike.  It's one we need to take some grand kids on we decided.