Chloe's Baptism: Chloe was baptized by Nate on April 7th 2018. It was such a nice ceremony and there were so many family members there to support her. Grandma Janice gave the talk on baptism and Grammy gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Everyone was so helpful getting everything ready and making sure it was such a special day for Chloe.
Chloe and Grandma Janice
All ready to get baptized!
Grandpa Tony!
Family Shot
Big group shot
Nate and his siblings at the baptism
Jordan River Temple open House: We went on a friday that the kids had off school for a tour of the Jordan river temple. It was my babies' first time getting to go in the temple. It was a really nice day.
On the shuttle bus over to the temple
Zeyta loved the bus
My cuties in front of the temple - We went with Em and her girls, Melissa and her family, and Molly and Phillip. We didn't get a group shot nfortunately.
Eating out at the lion house. We went to temple square for a photo shoot of Chloe for her baptism and to play in the children's church history museum. The lion house has really yummy home style food which everyone loved!
Family Night Geochace: There is a geocache right next to the creamery so we made it a fun family night activity. The ice cream wasn't too bad either ;)
Eating our treat!
Finding the cache!
Damian's 17th: Melissa put on a really fun party for Damian's birthday and there were so many friends and family. She went all out with the fun activities and even got J Dawgs for dinner!
Avenlea slept for about 1/2 the party after falling asleep snuggling her blanket on Zeyta's bed
Nate made a "bull" to ride
Hang on Chloe!!
Family eating Dinner around the fire
Zip Line! When Nate said he put up a zip line I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But it was a full on zip line between the 2 biggest trees on our property. The kids (and adults) had a blast!!!
Cutie Babies
Avenlea asked me if she could have an "ice frisbee" but I had NO IDEA what she was talking about. She took me over to the box of Rice Krispies and I had a really good laugh.
Air soft Rifles and arhery - in a tutu of course
The cows were in the little "hallway" with Velvet being super sweet and curious
Phillip and Papa Vern hanging out
Code Names - a fun game where you only get one word and one number to describe a picture or another word. It's a new favorite!
painting eggs
Randyn has access to a shooting range and had all the guys bring their guns. It was fun setting up targets try and hit and testing out lots of different types of guns
Egg hunt - Grammy hid some of the eggs with $$ which got the older kids really motivated. Chloe and Blain each got 15$ and Kiya scored with 55$! Love your style Chloe!
Blain, Grammy and Maddie
It was really nice to see Vern for Easter. He hasn't been up to traveling much anymore so it's been a while since we haven't gone to Nevada for almost a year!
Zeyta snuggling Grammy
Rock Hounding! Chloe asked Aunt Molly if there were any cool rocks in nevada. She looked it up and there was a really great spot just 30 minutes away! We found lots of cool colored rocks an some with "crystals" on them too.
The Mellars got rock hammers and chissels for Easter so everyone got to work splitting those rocks!
Our Group at sunset!
Camping in Escalante: I planned a trip down to south eastern Utah for 2 nights, 3 days of camping and hiking. The itinerary changed a bit from the original plans but it turned out amazing and I think everyone had a lot of fun.
Day 1 - Peek a Boo Slot Canyon - This was a fun, 1.5 or so mile hike through the coolest slot canyon I've ever seen! For starters we used a rope and a lot of help from Damian and Darius to even get into the mouth of the slot canyon. Then it was ups and downs and turns and overs and unders for 1/4 mile, including some pretty tight spots!
Chloe up the rope into Peek a Boo. Damian went first and gave everyone a hand at the top. Darius was quick to follow making sure nobody slipped.
playing in the natural curves and slides
Group Shot just after climbing through the entrance
Zeyta going under a low part - I think most of us climbed up and over but she was the perfect size to scooch through!
Nate and Kiya coming around a bend
After making it out of Peek a Boo we opted to go around rather than back down through the slot canyon. We found what I think was called Dry Canyon and walked through that slot canyon for a while which was a lot wider but also really cool looking.
Making it back to the trailhead again!
We had hot dogs, home made pineappe jalepeno sausage, and of course smores! It was a pretty late night since we got back at about 8 then still had to eat and clean up. But those babies were asleep in under a minute once they were cozy in their bags!
Day 2 - Calf Creek Falls - Our longest hike at 6 miles round trip but also the biggest waterfall. I think I know for next time this hike was pretty ambitious for our group of kiddos. Chloe had a pack on with water, snacks, and part of lunch and was only able to carry it half way. So I ended up with 2 packs for a while, switching off with Nate who was carrying one and sometimes 2 little girls. Blain did great but pooped out the last 1/4 mile or so. Thank goodness Avenlea was walking at that point and Zeyta was in the carrier on my back so he was able to carry him the last little bit.
The trailhead was at a small campground and it was just as popular as everything says - we were there on a thursday morning and the parking lot was full with people making up their own spots to park! We did have a little day use fee of 5$ but it was well worth the beautiful hike and gorgeous waterfall!
The trail was sandy and it had rolling ups and downs the whole way which I liked so we didn't have only up or down either way. These cool rocks also were lots of fun but made me nervous seeing them standing too close to the edge!
Peeking through a little cave!
Nice stopping point for a snack and rest
The waterfall was so cool! Of course I couldn't get a decent picture of all the kids but I guess 3 out of 4 isn't bad.
Good job Blain! His handstands are getting so much better!
Family Shot of the tall, beautiful waterfall
Group Shot! Everyone was great helping out with the kids and encouraging everyone to keep on going!
I think everyone was a little exhausted by the end
Petrified Forest Trail - After a dinner of Chili we did the hike in our campground that took us up to the petrified forest. It was a lot longer and steeper than I imagined - some people described it as a 15 minute walk - it was more like an hour for our group and the incline was steep for the first part. But those awesome petrified trees were amazing!
Petrified tree by the bathrooms
Getting ready to head up the trail which you can see in the background
One of my motivations for going was the geocache hidden on the trail! It's one of the Utah Geotour Cache's and had some cute swag in it for the kids.
Pretty cool tree/rock!
It was another late night after another round of fire and marshmallows but those kiddos were again exhausted after a long day with lots of hiking so bedtime was a breeze. I had been so worried about staying warm since the forcast which had showed 40's turned out to be 31 the first night and then 41 the next. We all stayed really warm though. We put down all our old sleeping bags for insulation as well as all the camping pads we own. I used my new 0* bag that I got for my birthday, Chloe and Blain have their 5* bags that Grandma got them for Christmas, and Avenlea and Zeyta used Melissa's military bags which had lots of layers as well as my down blankets. Nate used Sam's down bag - but he's never cold so I don't worry about him too much ;)
Day 3 - Mossy Cave and Waterfall - Here is where the plans changed. Originally I wanted to do a day in Bryce Canyon but with the 45$ entrance fee (for only 1 hike for us...) and needing to get home to prepare for Chloe's baptism, we opted to just do one hike outside the fee area that looked pretty cool. It was the shortest of all the hikes and I think our favorite. We first went up to the cave overlook - since we weren't allowed in the cave - and then over a washed out trail to the bottom of the falls.
That morning we packed up camp and drove the hour drive towards home and also to Bryce Canyon. It always takes so much longer to pack up than I anticipate. I set my alarm for 7 and started packing up immediately. By 8 I felt like we were making really good progress, but by then all the kiddos were awake and needless to say the progression slowed. But we were fed, packed up and on the road by 10:30 which I guess isn't too bad...
Starting the hike! Those Mellars kids are so awesome helping their younger cousins!
There were 2 bridges to cross
Group shot on a giant log by the river
Skipping rocks in the muddy river - all the kids had the most fun on this hike because of the easy access to the water.
Group shot at the cave! I wish it wasn't fenced off but it was still fun to look at
Over at the waterfall - Melissa and her kiddos
Couldn't miss out on a family picture with that beautiful background! This was such a fun area. Avenlea was the only one who didn't want to brave the mud and gravel and river to go right up to the waterfall. Blain and Chloe both made it with minimal help and zeyta was carried over by daddy. I'd do this hike again in a heartbeat!
Me and my love by the waterfall
Daddy and Zeyta after the hike
Cutie Chloe with a fun pose
Spring Soccer: We have Avenlea and Blain playing Rec soccer this year and they had their first game on Saturday. Avenlea started out really shy, but after her coach told her he brought hot chocolate she warmed right up to him. She has a great kick and is the only girl on her team.
Running on Defense
All bundled up for the 30* day
Blain was really nervous before his first game, thinking he wouldn't be very good or that he wouldn't get the ball. We did a little practice where I showed him how to throw it in, corner kicks and free kicks. We talked about being aggressive and he did awesome! He hustled so hard the whole time he was in and got a lot of touches on the ball. His team won 3-2 which he was very proud about.
Throwing in the ball
Corner Kick! Look at how high his leg goes, nice follow through Blain
Getting a good kick
Chloe had her second game of her Spring Season and played goalie for the second half. She says she hopes she doesn't have to play goalie again but from what she told me she stopped 2 goals and 2 got past her. Way to try new things Chloe!
Some Random Daily Life
Grandpa showing Blain his pocket knife at family dinner
Daffodils!!! My favorite time of year!
I can tell Blain's gymnastic coach is getting them ready for the meet the way they do routines on each event and he is getting a little more strict about their performance in practice. Blain is definitely rising to the challenge. He has hishandstand vault down really good with nice pointy toes and strait legs. He is still working on his hanging pull up and pull through on rings but his swings and holds are getting a ton better. He can hold his handstand for the full 3 seconds and he has been working on his roundoff rebound. Can't wait for June to see him compete!
Avenlea is practically reading on her own after working on her Upstart so diligently. She got reevaluated and needed a little work on her blending but with that little bit of extra help I feel like she is sounding out words so much better. And she loves the treat I give her every day while working on her letter game :)
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