Bonneville Salt Flats

Saturday has become my new favorite day of the week.  It means no schoolwork AND we can go do something fun together as a family.  I have always wanted to go to the Bonneville Salt Flats.  It ended up being a fun experience for our whole family.  We drove right onto the flats with our car.

We also brought bikes so the kids could ride around and explore. 

There was a lot water still on the flats that hadn't evaporated.   It was beautiful to see the reflection of the mountains. 

Parker enjoyed riding up an down the berms.

Halle made balls from the salt.  They really did look like snowballs.

Kenna went exploring and found this old Corona bottle. We thought it was funny since Covid-19 is referred to as the "corona virus". 

We let the kids take turns driving. Mckenna was the speed demon and got up to 90 miles an hour.  It was Halle's first time driving. At one point Kev and I took off in the car without the kids. They just laughed and knew we would come back for them.

Sunday Afternoon

On Sunday April 19th we went to Utah Lake.  We were are all getting stir crazy and needed to get out of the house.  We took Hayden and Parker's remote control boats.

The girls ran around the dock and had fun posing for pictures. 

Mckenna makes this face when she doesn't want her picture taken.

I dared both Halle and Hayden to jump in the lake.  It was still only about 60 degrees at the time.

Here is the video to prove that they jumped in.

Afterwards, we took Parker to practice driving in the church parking lot. Parker turned 15 in December and is always asking us to take him driving.  It is crazy seeing him behind the wheel!  He is working towards getting his driving hours for his license.

Easter

The kids and I dyed eggs the Friday before Easter.  Kenna even came and joined us for awhile.

My ministering sister surprised the kids with an Easter egg hunt in the front yard.  It was really sweet of her and the kids had a great time.

We had a nice Easter Sunday sacrament meeting at home. Halle played the song "Come Follow Me" on the violin.  The kids searched for their Easter baskets after church.

I'm always impressed with how fast they eat all their candy.

Our neighbor Emily came over to take some pictures of us.  This is our "front porch" picture.  It has become popular during this pandemic to take pictures on your front porch to document this time spent at home with your family. 

We took some picture in our backyard by our peach tree. It always looks beautiful with it's spring blossoms. 

Mckenna organized this pose for their sibling picture.  It makes me happy to see the kids all dressed up on Easter Sunday. 

This is the first time ever that we had the egg hunt at home in our backyard.  There were many good hiding places. 

Addy found some eggs up on our deck.  My favorite spot was hiding eggs in the exhaust pipes of our waverunners. 

Mckenna added some excitement to the egg hunt by chasing her siblings around with a plastic bat!

I ordered myself a new Easter dress online. I was happy that it arrived in time and fit.  I don't love online shopping but have resorted to that during all the store closures. 

We have also worked on lots of puzzles to pass some of the time.  I picked up this one for us to put together for Easter. Kenna and I worked on it most of the afternoon. Erik Dowdle puzzles are our favorite. 

We had a delicious dinner with ham, rolls, sparkling cider, and lots of funeral potatoes.  It was really hard for me not to spend the day with our extended family!  It is one of my favorite traditions that I look forward to every year.  We are trying to do our part and stay home.  I did get to talk with my Grandma on the phone and a zoom call with my sister Teenie.

Spring break

We were all really looking forward to Spring Break this year!  It meant a whole week without having to worry about school work.  We had booked a campsite at the Palisades but a week before our governor announced that we couldn't leave our county.  We are glad that Kev's parents said we could use the cabin. We all really needed a change of scenery!

It was warm up there and the snow was melting quickly.  There was a section of the field that we could still snowmobile on.  

We got out the Gator and it ended up high centered in the snow. The kids helped to push it.

We finally had to get the tractor out to pull it back to the barn.

The kids and Dad had fun playing on the playground.

Addy found a patch of snow that she could sled down.

We spent time inside working on puzzles and playing games.

Hayden built this pillow fort to chill in while he watched a movie.

Halle got creative and pulled the kids around on the snowmobile dolly.

It was the first time that I have ever gone snowmobiling without a coat.  We didn't run into anyone the few days we were there.  Which helped us keep the social distancing guidelines.

Tender mercies

There have been many blessings that have come to us in the midst of this difficult time.  One of them is being able to have church at home.  It has really brought the spirit into our home and brought us closer together as a family.

Kev and I have still been able to have our weekly date night.  We just have had to get creative. I was very happy that my favorite Mexican restaurant was doing take out orders.  Kev usually has a rule that we never eat in our car but we have made an exception for date nights. 

The kids school teachers did a drive by parade one afternoon.  It really cheered Addy up to see her teacher.

Halle was happy to be able to talk with her best friend Maddi from across the street.  The weather has started to warm up and it has been great to get outside.

My high school friends and I have started to have weekly zoom hangouts.  We have the best time!  This week we were all wearing wigs or hats.  They have really cheered me up and supported me during this time of isolation.  I look forward to talking and laughing with them every week.

Our awesome neighbors have left surprises for us on the doorstep.  The Bakers dropped off sugar free treats for Hayden.  The Calders dropped of some oreos.

We got a surprise visit from grandparents.  They dropped off Crumbl cookies.  It also cheered us up!