Girls night out

 

I got together with my high school friends Jannie and Lis on Saturday April 30th! It had been too long since we last got together. 

We met at Kneaders for some food and then hung out and took some pictures. 

Jan had moved in August and when she was packing up she found our time capsule that we originally made in 1999.  We were all about 19 years old at the time. We opened it up again on September 6, 2006 and wrote ourselves letters. It was fun to read what I wrote when I was 26 years old! I had accomplished many of my goals which was fun. We wrote ourselves new letters and goals to put back in. We also took some fun and crazy polaroid pictures of us at 41 to put in there. 

It was the first time that they had been over to my new house. Jannie was sweet and gave me a housewarming gift.  I was sniffing the poppy seed bread she gave me when this picture was taken. We had so much fun talking, laughing, and reminiscing. I love that our friendship started in high school and that we are still close all these years later!

Easter

 

We celebrated Easter on Sunday April 17th. It is one of my favorite holidays and I love getting dressed up. I wore the pearls that my grandma Mary Lou gave me in memory of her. 

We let the kids find their Easter baskets before we went to church. Halle looked cute in her new dress. 

Parker found his Easter basket in one of the kitchen cupboards. There were many great hiding spots in our new house. 

Addy wore a dress that Kenna and Halle also wore at her same age. 

Hayden was happy with his Easter treats. He even got some cotton tails candy that he had been wanting. 

We drove to Spanish Fork that morning to be there for Grant Truman's missionary farewell. He gave a great talk and we are excited for him to serve in the Scotland Ireland mission.  It is the same mission as Kenna's best friend Brooke. It was fun hanging out with Kathleen too. 

We ate a delicious lunch at their house afterward. I love that Halle has fun hanging out with Eva and Natalie. 

We really enjoyed hanging out in their backyard. It was the perfect Spring weather. The kids had fun jumping on the tramp. We really miss having a finished backyard! When we got home that afternoon we got to talk with Kenna. We love that she gets to call on all the holidays!

We drove up to Mike and Amy's house for Easter dinner.  Mike was sampling one of Amy's delicious rolls. 

Dad was happy to pose with all the food. We had all our Easter favorites including funeral potatoes. 

Amy put out my great grandma Mildred's china for us to use. It reminded me of grandma and how much we miss not having her with us this Easter. 

The kids entertained us with their rendition of Cinderella. Hayden was dressed up as a Pokemon prince. It made us all laugh and was definitely one of their better plays. 

Parker and Brady helped hide the Easter eggs in the basement. There were lots of great spots. 

Addy found one of her eggs in the tissue box holder.  Grandpa and Grandma filled several eggs with money.  The kids were happy with that fun surprise.  We were also able to watch an Easter Sunday video clip afterwards. I'm very grateful for my savior who makes it possible for us to be ressurected and live with our families forever. 

Parker's Prom

 

Parker asked his girlfriend Kayla to Prom. The big night was on Saturday April 16th. 

They did an escape room for their day activity. Parker asked me to take their pictures for them.  

We went and took pictures by the Brick Canvas at Thanksgiving Point. 

They were running behind so I only had about 25 minutes to take pictures before their dinner reservations at the Harvest Restaurant. 

Parker got a new suit for the occasion.  We bought it at the Mens Warehouse and they hemmed his pants for him.  I'm hoping he will get to wear it for awhile before he grows out of it. 

Parker's friend Ty was also in their group. I had fun taking his pictures too. They have known each other since they were in preschool and now they are both Juniors in High School! 

I took this cute picture of Parker holding Kayla's hand. The dance was at the Capitol building that night. I'm glad they had a fun group to go with to prom!

Spring Break!

 

We drove to Anaheim California on April 4th for Spring Break! We broke the drive up between two days which was really nice.  

We talked with Kenna as we drove from St. George to California.  It was fun and helped the ride go faster.  It was our first big vacation that Kenna was not with us.  We missed her so much!!

We stayed at a hotel called the Cambria.  We really liked it and would stay there again.  Hayden and Addy liked this bunkbed that they got to share.  The kids favorite was the blue tooth mirror in the bathroom.  Parker would blast music every morning as they got ready. 

We went down to the pool the first night we were there. Halle looked cute wearing her new swimsuit. 

One of the reasons we chose this hotel was the two waterslides. The kids had fun playing on them.  Hayden couldn't get enough of them. 

The hotel served a full breakfast every morning. The highlight was the make your own mickey waffles. 

We spent our first full day at the Disneyland park. It had been over 3 years since we last came and everyone was excited. We took the classic family picture by the entrance. We even brought a laminated picture of Kenna with us into the park. I'm holding it up in this picture. 

We first walked to the Peter Pan ride but it was already long. So we decided to go on the Snow White ride. It was fun that the kids all got to ride together. 

Space Mountain is always one of my favorites. I laughed so hard when I saw Halle and Parker's faces!

The highlight of our Disney days was seeing the kids have fun together.  Parker was sweet to give Addy piggy back rides when she needed them. 

Hayden had fun driving me around at Autotopia. Kev has fun memories of this ride from when he was a kid. 

The Alice in Wonderland ride broke down on us when we were not far from the end.  We had to get up and walk out of the ride. They did let us come back later that day and skip the line to ride again. 

It was our first time experiencing Star Wars Galaxy Edge.  We were all impressed!

The first ride we tried was Smugglers Run.  I made the kids stop for a picture and we ended up missing the instructions for the ride. The kids still did a good job flying our ship. 

The line for Rise Of The Resistance was long but very worth it.  I decided to put Parker's hair in a ponytail while we waited in line. 

We all LOVED this ride. Parker kept exclaiming, "my mind is blown" the entire time!

The kids had fun trying on helmets and watching droids being built in the gift shop. 

We also tried the blue milk that we had heard a lot about.  It tasted like a fruit flavored Slurpee to me. 

Our second day we went to California Adventure. A photographer took this picture of us as we entered Cars Land. It was nice because all the pictures taken by them were included with our genie plus pass. 

Mater's junkyard jamboree is always a family favorite. 

We went to Radiator Racers and the wait was 1 hour and 10 minutes. It was our longest wait of the day. The girls had fun dancing in line while we waited. 

The long line also provided time for photo ops. We found Parker this awesome Rusteze shirt before our trip. Cars is his favorite childhood movie.  It came out when he 18 months old. 

It is such a fun ride and was worth the long wait. 

Hayden had fun playing in the gift shops with spider robots. Hayden joined the Robotics club at school this year. He is fascinated with knowing how things work. 

It was Addy's first time riding the Incredicoaster. She was finally tall enough.  I told her she only had to try it once. She sat by Kev and ended up having fun. 

We got some cold treats to enjoy.  Halle and I both had chocolate covered frozen bananas. 

It was fun exploring the Avengers campus. I took this picture of Parker pointing to his name on the sign. The Web slingers ride was fun. 

Hayden took us to Belle's castle. I never knew that it existed.  It was a fun place to hang out. The kids took turns using a computer screen to find out which Disney character they are most like. Hayden got Aladdin and Addy got Mulan. 

Parker took this picture of Kev and I while we were waiting at Luigis. 

We went back to Radiator Springs that night and had some pictures taken. We rode Radiator Races again and it was magical at night. 

I love the poses the kids came up with for this picture.

Our last ride of the night was Guardians which is always fun. I liked this picture of all of us. 

We spent our last park day back at Disneyland. Halle braided Addy's hair for her that morning. 

We went straight to fantasy land to ride Peter Pan. I took this picture as we waited in line. 

This picture of Parker makes me smile. He was skipping in line as we waited for Indiana Jones. 

The ride happened to break down on us. It was a little creepy being left in the dark on this ride. I did get a good close up shot of Indiana though. 

California was having a heat wave while we were there. It hit 100 degrees that day and we were all sweating it out. We got some Dole whips to help us cool off. 

It was fun to go back Smugglers Run again. I wanted a picture of the kids sitting on the Millennium Falcon. 

We also ran to get on the Rise Of The Resistance ride before it closed for the night.  I love how all the workers stay in character and interact with everyone. 

Disneyland puts on an awesome firework show at night. We went back to Fantasy Land to watch them. 

I love this picture of the kids with the castle all lite up behind them. 

Kev was tired and took a nap while we were on the Smallworld ride. We even ended up getting stuck towards the end. Smallworld is not the best ride to get stuck on. We took the kids to pick out souvenirs. I got an ornament for our Christmas tree.  It was another magical day at Disney but we were all exhausted. 

The next day we drove to Newport Beach to go on a whale watching tour. It was the first time our kids had been out on the ocean in a boat. 

We rented some binoculars for the kids to share. Unfortunately, Addy got seasick. Kev took her down inside the boat to get some Gingerale. It did help calm her stomach. We didn't see any whales. But we did see some large fish and seals. 

We ate at the restaurant looking out over the harbor. The kids enjoyed it.  It was the same restaurant Kev and I ate at back on our 2020 trip to California. 

We wanted to try out a new beach so we drove to Corona Del Mar. It was so crowded that we left and went to one of our favorite beaches at Crystal Cove State Park. 

It was another day in the 90's so the kids even swam in the ocean and had fun playing in the sand. 

We had fun looking at the tide pools and finding seashells. It was nice to have a relaxing day at the beach. 

We stayed to watch the sun set on the water. We were sad that our trip was almost over. It went by fast but we made some good memories.