Spring Break

 For Spring Break I had made plans with my bunion study money to take a family vacation back to Las Vegas again.  Unfortunately, Bundy needed to stay and work.  I'm not the type of wife to call the whole thing off, so my sister Sara volunteered to step in and fill his place.  We had a great time.  On our way down we stopped in St.George for the BEST drink ever in the whole, widest world.  Thai Coconut Avocado.....I still dream about it.

 We stayed at Tahiti Village again.  This was our third time coming and it will definitely be an annual tradition.  This hotel doesn't have one single negative aspect that comes along with Las Vegas.  No smoking, casinos, etc.  Just has the great weather and is in close proximity to loads of fun activities.  Our first day we just happened to be there the same time as Sara's best friend Tiffany and her family.  My girls loved playing with her kids and we all had a great time together.

I think this will be Emma's last year not having any inhibitions, I will dearly miss that about her.  There was music playing and Emma was a champ to dance like nobody was watching.

We took the kids to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay....money well spent.

I love these jellyfish SOOOO much!!  Look how GORGEOUS they are.  Seriously, what a beautiful, CREATIVE, creation from God.  It looks like they're wearing chiffon pettiskirts.  Love them!!

The stingrays created a little bit of an episode.  Long story short, Emma had a fear block and couldn't bring herself to actually touch them.  I'm glad I learned my lesson from the trout and berry days episode and I refrained from trying to MAKE her do it.  This sweet employee came over and took her hand and talked with her for a while and sure enough she had the magic touch.  Emma practically had to be pulled away from petting the stingrays and hasn't stopped talking about it since.  She used her own money to buy a sting ray at the gift shop and it hasn't left her side.  Notice it in the remainder of the photos from this trip.

The resort we stayed at had loads of free activities for the kids.  One night we went down to the pool for a swim in movie of Finding Nemo.  The kids were in Heaven!

Emma is such a fan of Bumble Bee and was thrilled to meet him on the Las Vegas Strip, go figure.

My sister Sara, Caleb (8) and Jaken (5)

 We took the kids on a mini tour of the strip.  They loved seeing a real castle, Lady Liberty, and a few other highlights.  As long as you're off the strip by 5 then the kids aren't exposed to the real "sin city."

We had a fantastic time.  I loved having some alone time with my sister and our kids all get along so well.  This is such a fun stage in motherhood and I'm glad to have a sister to share it with.  We're already planning our next trip!

March

 We celebrated my dad's and Emma's birthday with the few remaining members of our family that live in Utah.  Now OVER HALF of my family members live in Washington, not to mention that Bundy's WHOLE family lives in Oregon. Anyway, the 10 of us do the best we can to continue to have parties and traditions.

 

For St.Patrick's we left mushrooms out for the leprechaun and in exchange he had a gift for the girls every morning.  One morning he left them magic beans, we planted them in the ground and within the hour lollipops grew in their place.  The girls were quite thrilled.  We had a fruit rainbow for breakfast and a green meal for dinner.  I love this silly old Holiday.

Thank you Pinterest for the oh so many things you have inspired me to do for my kids.  This laser field is just one of many ideas I have put into practice.

My parents have bought an investment property to flip.  Bundy has gone from zero jobs, to four at one time.  This home in Hyde Park has turned into a great opportunity for my parents to make money, and us as well.  Who doesn't need a good handyman?  Bundy really likes the work that this house has provided him with and he likes the challenge of it, this ceiling represents the house very well.

It's been fun living in Logan and becoming close again with my Searle cousins.  My cousin Maddison got married this month and I enjoyed taking part in the enthusiasm for the big day.  Doesn't she make a beautiful bride?  There's a photo below of all of my mom's sisters.  I am soooooo thankful that I feel like I have a great friendship and relationship with EVERY SINGLE aunt of mine and I genuinely love them all.

Since Ryan has been working about 80 hours each week, we have hardly seen each other.  My parents have been great to let us have some alone time when Ry can squeeze it in.  One day we saw a movie and went to Spoon Me.  We have such a great time together and it's been so wonderful the corner our lives have turned within the last month.  Looks like we have good times ahead.

I play favorites.  It's no secret.  Emma has a couple little girls in her class I adore and I try to have play dates as often as possible.  Here she is with Hadley and Kalista at the Willow Park Zoo one sunny afternoon.

Sanity has been a member of this family for a few years now.  She got the name because she provided a break from all the chitter and chatter of little children.  All you have to do is load all the punks up, turn on a movie, give them their head phones, and voila!!  Quiet!  We've had some great road trips in her and some beautiful long rides.  It's time for her to be put to sleep.  Her mileage is too high and my mom is heartbroken about saying good-bye.  She will be sorely missed.  However, we did find her a good family via KSL and so now we can all sleep well at night.

It's not QUITE summer yet, but we're getting an early start.  We took my parent's Razr out and enjoyed exploring the mountainside.  I can't wait to have a whole summer of doing this and watching the beautiful seasons come and go.

We live in the country.  Literally, the country.  It has it's perks, but very few, if any, in the winter time.  Now that Spring is here and we are starting to get outside and enjoy the quiet and privacy of country living, things are starting to look up.  This is one perk.  What's that little two year old?  You want to get out and run in the road?  Okay, go right ahead.

Conference weekend was probably enjoyed by many.  I, however, had the flu.  So I pretty much spent my time in bed.  But boy howdy did it help when my mom made a beautiful meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Sunday.  I love me some good fruit to get my spirits up.

March is my least favorite month of the whole year.  Always has been.  I need to be better with documenting our lives and recording all of our memories.  I'm so thankful for the change in the seasons and also the changes in my own life that are happening.  I'm looking forward to a wonderful April and upcoming summer.