APRIL

April started off with our spring break! We had hoped for lovely spring weather, instead it snowed and snowed for the first several days of spring break! We got over a foot of snow! We still ventured out to get ice cream with Papa Ray on the first day. We love the Kaysville Creamery!

We had nothing really planned for spring break and instead just enjoyed a slower paced week with a few fun activities thrown in. We made nests like we do every year, which always turn out cute. 

Chase has been begging for like a year to go to the Hill AirForce Base Museum. He loves that place! All the kids loved it, but I did feel bad that Chase (who could've stayed for hours and hours reading everything) had to leave after about 90 minutes because the littles were done. 

Chase loved telling me about all the different planes. I was surprised how much he knew!

Then it was Easter! We had a lovely Easter breakfast at home and the kids found their baskets. We got all dolled up for church and had the most beautiful service there. I don't remember anything that was said, other than the spirit was so sweet and pure and I felt so much peace. The older I get, the more this holiday means to me. 

In the week leading up to Easter, we do Holy Week. Each day we read the scriptures and talk about what Jesus did that day of the last week of his life. It's brought so much more meaning to me as we've studied this the past few years. I think it helps the kids keep the focus there too. We still have the Easter bunny come and do egg hunts, but also have the focus mostly on Jesus. 

We did Easter dinner up at my parents house and Ray, Diane and Nathan came too! It was fun to have both sets of grandparents together. And I made the bunny cake! I love that this tradition keeps going. My mom made these for me growing up. I make it now with carrot cake because we love it.

After that whole week of snow at the first of April, we were all thrilled when the warmer weather showed up! We spent the rest of the month outside in the fresh air every chance we got! Blossoms finally started to bud on trees and our tulips bloomed!

Davis started soccer! His games are adorable. He's just so happy to be there. He runs really hard and kicks the ball a fair amount. He doesn't seem to care how often either team scores a goal, but seems to really enjoy just being part of it!

This is what my mom calls "the homeless fairy look". Lila is usually really dolled up, but this day she definitely had homeless fairy vibes going.

At the end of April we attended my Aunt Sonja's masters graduation. It was on a day I had Rosie anyway, so I took both of them (although with my mom and dad). They were the cutest little supporters and totally made Sonja's day to see them there. They did awesome through all the speeches and clapped for everyone. Like for 10 straight minutes! 

 

St. George

Our good friends, the Bennetts, have an airBNB down there that we stayed in. It was perfect! Spacious and comfortable and had a pool just feet away. As soon as we got down there we immediately headed to the pool. It felt amazing to swim!

The next morning Ben had to work. I took all four kids by myself and headed to Zion National Park! Hudson has his parks pass for another few months and I'd really wanted to see Zion with the kiddos. Last time I was there was in 3rd grade and I didn't remember it at all. 

The park totally lives up to the hype it was absolutely stunning. The shuttle bus hop on hop off system made it so smooth and easy to see everything and the boys loved all of it. 

We did two little hikes. The first one was to Emerald Pools. The waterfall was stunning- pictures don't do it justice. The sun was shining so we could see a rainbow at the bottom, which Lila loved. Then we headed on to the last stop in the park to the Narrows. We did the little riverside trail that leads to the entry to the Narrows and it was also so beautiful.

The boys loved all of Zion. They were great hikers and had such good attitudes. I love that they sincerely seem to appreciate the beauty of nature and the unique experiences they get living so close to these natural wonders. Lila on the other hand...took ZERO steps in Zion National Park. And by that I mean she made me carry her for 3.5 miles of hiking. Whenever I tried to set her down she would scream and refuse to even let her feet touch the ground!!!!! I have no idea what got into her, but it was hilarious and exhausting and I may have gotten a little frustrated with her. Also, I was glad I work out as much as I do so that I can carry a three year old while hiking all day!

 After a fun 6 hours in Zion we headed back to the airBNB for more swimming. It was fun to be on vacation to stay up late watching movies, finding fun restaurants for dinner, and just relaxing!

The next morning Ben was able to take a few hours off work to explore with us, so we headed to Snow Canyon State Park. It was also so beautiful and unique! We spent a good long while at the Sand Dunes, where Hudson directed several photo ops, and all the kids loved digging in the sand.

Then we headed over to the rocky part and the kids LOVED climbing all over these rock faces. Even our Hudson, who is typically quite scared of heights faced his fears and found a love for it!

After a stop for donuts at a local bakery and a little more pool time, the kids were getting restless. So I took them to Dixie rock to play around and climb on even more rocks while we waited for Ben to finish work and headed to get some pizza for dinner. 

Our last morning before driving home we headed to Thunder Junction park. It was super fun! Dinosaur themed and so many cool things to do. The kids had a blast there for a couple of hours before packing up to make the long drive back home. 

This trip was a lot of fun- and a lot of work. I had very realistic expectations of how Lila would do. And truth be told, she did a little worse. But I was still so glad we did it. These memories are the best!

Davis Turns 6!

 

Sweet Davis waits through so many birthdays every year before it’s finally his turn! 5 birthdays in 8 weeks in our family and his is the last one. He was so excited this year and could not wait to be 6!

Due to Covid and life busy-ness, Davis had never actually had a friend birthday party! We finally did it this year. I was really hoping for nice weather, but it was freezing and snowing the whole week of his birthday. We reserved our church gym and invited like 12 little friends! (He has way too many friends!) I took no pictures but it was awesome! I had a few ideas in mind of games to play, and also planned to  just let the kids run around because kids love that. As soon as we got there, Hudson immediately organized the kids into games and continued to just host and run the entire birthday party! It was amazing!

We had spidey-themed cupcakes and Davis opened his presents and he felt so happy and so well celebrated! He really is just the best kid and it was so fun to make him so happy! 

Initially he was so sad that his birthday fell on a Saturday, meaning he wouldn’t be able to celebrate at school. His teacher assured him they’d do an alternate day (the 3rd) and he kept referring it to as his “half-birthday” like the summer birthday kids do.

The next day we did Sunday dinner at Nana and Papa’s and celebrated Davis and Papa together like we do every year. Nana made papa cherry pie (his favorite) and we brought leftover Spider-Man cupcakes.

A few things about 6 year old Davis:

• He continues to be just the cutest, funniest child ever born. I say this about him all the time, but it’s just true. I don’t know how humans this cute even exist.
• He loves people. I love how quickly he embraces people of all ages. He’ll talk to anyone.
• He has so much energy! He learned to cartwheel this year and he does at least 20 every single day (probably many more). He’s always had a passion for any situation that puts his feet over his head.
• He’s reading so well. He hates to do his reading homework, but he’s really picking it up!
• He loves school. He is excited to go every single day and when I ask him how it was he says “SO SO GOOD!”
• He loves Spider-Man and Ironman, Sonic, and the Transformers.
• He wants to spend all time forever with his dad, he can never, ever get enough daddy time. He told me that he likes his dad better because “you decide what we have for dinner mom! Also, dad is taller.”
• His favorite food is definitely pizza, and he also loves hamburgers a lot. Anytime Ben takes him on a little date he always wants to go to McDonalds so he can get a hamburger and “black rootbeer” and play on the play place.
• His BFF at school is Luke R. And they hug every day before going home. Around the neighborhood he loves to play with Will and Hudson, but lately has been playing quite a bit with Daniel and Grant, who have lived in our neighborhood for years but are both in his Kindergarten class so he’s gotten to know them better.

To teach him to spell his name, I taught her a (modified) version of a cheer from my high school days, “D-A-V-I-S, Davis Jack is the best!” And it’s true, Davis Jack, you really are the best!