Spring Break 2022

Last Saturday we left for our Spring break trip. I've been planning this trip for a bit and we were so excited to finally be making it happen. 
We loaded up the kids early on Saturday and drove north. We are so lucky to have such great travelers. 

After about 9 hours, we arrived at Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota. 
When I realized how close to Minnesota we were going to be on our trek north, I decided I had to find a reason for us to cross the border and check MN off our list. 

We explored a little bit and let the kids stretch their legs. 

This picture had me stressing out but there were other kids playing hockey, so I figured we could snap a quick picture before I had an anxiety attack. It's so weird that the weather was amazing and warm but the water was still soo frozen. 

Pipestone, Minnesota is unique in that it's still an active quarry site for native Americans. The grounds are sacred to many of them and the pipestone quarried here is carved into pipes and used for prayer. They believe that the pipes carry the prayers to the great spirit. 

The grounds of Pipestone National monument are an important cultural and spiritual site for many as is affiliated with 23 tribal nations. As we walked around the monument we could see little bands of fabric wrapped around tree branches. We learned they were called "prayer bands" and they represent prayers that were said by native American people over the years. 
The grounds were beautiful and we got to see some quarry sites. The kids even found some pipestone. 

We did a small hike around the park and enjoyed all the cool rock formations. 

 

While exploring we met an elderly woman and she asked if she could tell us a story. 
She said she "walked with the Sioux" and wanted to tell us about some of the history of the park. 
It was neat to hear about but something I don' want to ever forget is the cool spiritual experience we had there with this woman. 
The woman asked us if we knew what the strips of fabric were and when we answered yes, she told us more about them. Then Chris said that he really appreciated the sacred nature of that tradition. He shared how in our temples we have a place where we pray over names. We place them on an alter and pray over them together. After hearing this, the lady asked if we are Mormon. When we answered yes, she went on to tell us how many of the native Americans tell very found memories of crossing paths with the Mormon pioneer parties and how they could discuss their shared beliefs. The woman said hearing from Chris about how we pray in our temples, she got goosebumps and her heart felt warm.  After a history of Native American hostilities with different exploration parties, it was comforting to hear about these peaceful interactions and it was a really special moment in the park and the spirit was so strong. I'm so grateful for my husband and his ability and willingness to bear testimony when the spirit prompts him. It made for a really awesome experience at the park.

We finished our time at Pipestone by exploring some more. We loved the waterfall and looking for the oracle. This was a special rock formation that the native people went to receive guidance. 

 

 

We had a great time at Pipestone. After leaving we drove another 6 hours to Keystone, South Dakota. 
We arrived after dark and decided to be spontaneous and go visit Mount Rushmore at night so we could see it lit up at night. It was well worth it. 

After seeing Mt. Rushmore at night we drove to our hotel, it was only a few minutes away and the kids loved it. We stayed at the Roosevelt Inn and our room had a loft that the kids thought was pretty great.

Bailey, Benson and Tucker all wanted to sleep upstairs, leaving Tanner with his own queen sized bed downstairs. 

Tanner was pretty thrilled with the arrangement and the younger kids were more than happy to sleep upstairs. 

The next morning we ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel and then left to go back to Mt. Rushmore. We were anxious to explore it in the daylight. 

We were thrilled to see only 4 other cars in the parking lot when we pulled up. We basically had the entire park to ourselves. We made our way down the avenue of flags. We were quick to pick our favorite state flags. 

Here's Tanner with the Arkansas plaque.

 

We then walked along the presidential trail and allowed to kids to work on their Junior ranger booklets. We learned about each of the four presidents chosen to be on Mt. Rushmore. 

 

 

We visited the Visitor's center and watched a movie about the making of Mt. Rushmore. 
The kids turned in their booklets and earned their Junior Ranger booklets. 

Then we visited the gift shop. The kids each picked out a souvenir and then we went to get some "Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream". Supposedly, Thomas Jefferson brought back the first recipe for ice cream to the US from France. 

We had a great time exploring Mt. Rushmore and it was a beautiful day for it. 

We left Mt. Rushmore and explored the black hills some more. We really enjoyed all the rock tunnels. 

We watched for animals and saw some elk and a buffalo. 

Then we drove to Custer State Park. The park was beautiful. We stopped at Sylvan Lake and explored for a while. We did a nice mile hike around the lake and got to explore some caves covered in ice. 

This ice tunnel was especially treacherous but the kids loved it. 

Tucker had a great time climbing all the rocks. This picture cracks me up because it looks like one of those sasquatch sighting photos. 

Sylvan Lake is gorgeous, I can only imagine how much more beautiful it would be when the trees are in full bloom. It was a great hike and it felt good to get out and move around after so much driving the day before.

After we left Custer state park, we drove to the "Crazy Horse Memorial". 
Chris had visited years ago, but the rest of us were anxious to learn about it. 

We watched a movie at the visitors center to learn about it's construction. 

Then we saw this model- it's crazy to think how big this memorial will be. 

So far only the head and arm have been carved from the mountain, but they are continually working on it. 

Before leaving, we ate lunch at the "Laughing Waters Cafe" and it was delicious. 
I had this native American taco. It was so yummy. Tucker and Bailey shared some popcorn shrimp, while Benson, Chris and Tanner got burgers. Tanner was thrilled with his massive burger. 

It was a fun day of learning and enjoying the beautiful outdoors. 
South Dakota is so beautiful and we had a great time exploring. 

After finishing our explorations at Crazy Horse, we drove about 5 hours to Rawlins, WY to stay for teh night. The next morning we drove another 5 hours to arrive at Aunt Sarah's house around 1 pm. 

We were so happy to arrive at Aunt Sarah's house. The kids immediately started playing with the aunts and cousins. That night we took all the kids to the Provo Rec Center. 

We played for hours and had a wonderful time. We really wore the kids out. 

Tanner and Tucker loved the rock climbing wall. When they fell off they landed in the pool and had a great time climbing over and over.

We all enjoyed the cliff jump  and racing down the slides. 

The lazy river and the smaller waterslides were also a big hit with the younger cousins. 

The kids just had the most fun playing together. 

At the end of the night they opened the ninja ropes course and the kids had to try that out. 

It was really hard but they challenged themselves and worked hard to try to complete it. 

After swimming we drove through "Swig" to get sodas for everyone. They were delicious and Chris was thrilled with the flavors and how cheap it was. He said he wanted to return every day. 

Tuesday was our crazy busy day. Aunt Sarah let her kids stay home from school so we could all play together. Sarah, Laura and I woke up early and went to the temple together at the Jordan River Temple. 

It was so early but it was wonderful to be at the temple together. 

When we got home we got everyone ready for the day. We all went to "Tucanos" for lunch. Tucanos is a Brazilian steakhouse where they bring meat on these huge skewers and cut it off on to your plate and they come around over and over again until you tell them to stop. 
So basically we ate until we were stuffed. The kids loved it and so did the adults. 
We had some birthday discounts which allowed us to do a BOGO fort adult meals and then the kids were pretty cheap. They were only $9. which I feel like isn't too bad considering how much the kids ate. They were in heaven with the buffet too. 

 

After lunch we went to hike "Y" Mountain. 

It wasn't a long hike, but it was steep and after eating so much, we were tired. The kids did great and we made it up 10 switchbacks to the bottom of the "Y".

The kids rested along the way on and off, but Hazel and Benson had a great time playing their "pirate" game. They have so much fun together. 

 

After we finished the hike, we rewarded ourselves with "Sodalicious" drinks. 
We figured we had earned them. 

From the Soda shop we drove back to Aunt Sarah's house and dropped off the dads, then we went to "Fish Kiss" to get pedicures. This was probably one of the kids' biggest highlights. 
We sat on these cushioned benches and then put our feet in these tanks and these tiny little fish swarmed our feet and ate all the dead skin off our feet. 

The kids were giggling non-stop and it was so fun. 

 

It was definitely a strange sensation. 

 

We all had fun getting our fish kiss pedicures. There was so much giggling and laughing. It was so much fun!

After we finished at the salon, we went back to Aunt Sarah's for dinner. 

Then Max, Uncle Johnny, Benson and Chris went fishing with Max's fishing club. 

Benson loved it. 

After dinner Aunt Sarah and I took Tucker to the temple to take some pictures for his baptism announcement and then as a reward we took him to "Twisted Sugar". 
He loved the one-on-one time and was very appreciative of the cookies. 

I sure love this boy of mine! I can't believe he turns 8 next month!

We finally went home and got to relax. Tucker ate his cookies and went to bed quickly after that. 

On Wednesday we met Chris' brothers and their families in Lehi. 

We first went to "Scheels" and while the Dads shopped for ammo and other sporting good stuff, the moms and kids played in the store. They had a 65 ft Ferris wheel inside the store and a miniature aquarium the kids loved. The kids also enjoyed the animal displays. 

 

 

We waited for the dads to finish while we examined all the fish in the aquarium. 
We also got to play with little Naomi too. She's so cute. 

 

 

After we finished at Scheels, we went to eat at "Cafe Rio" for lunch. It was delicious and then we went to the museum of ancient life at Thanksgiving point.
The kids loved learning about all the ancient creatures and especially the dinosaurs. 

The kids really loved unearthing dinosaur bones in the excavation area. 

It's so fun to see all the cousins playing and working togeher. 

 

The kids also loved this water/sand table where they could dig and bury dinosaurs. 
It was pretty cute to watch. 

 

 

These dads were good sports about the outing

but they were also a little bored. 

We had so much fun at the Dinosaur museum. 

We weren't quite ready to say goodbye after the museum so then we all went to a little park in Lehi to play for a bit longer. 

This little twirly thing was quite the attraction. They had a great time playing and making each other dizzy on it. 

 

The kids also loved this thing. 

Especially when Uncle Phillip was there to push them really fast. 

Meanwhile, the big boys played football and hung out together doing weird teenage boy things. 

We finally had to say goodbye to Uncle Brad, Aunt Natalie and their family.  They drove back to Logan while Uncle Phillip, Aunt Stephanie and their family followed us back to Aunt Sarah's house. 

Aunt Sarah graciously agreed to host them for the night before we left for Moab together the next day. 

So we ate dinner at Aunt Sarah's and introduced our Herb cousins to our Allred cousins. It was so cute to see them all together. 
After dinner we all went to "Twisted Sugar" for one last outing together. 

Each kid ordered whatever cookie they wanted and then we ate them there. 

 

Look at all those cute cousins together!

Phillip even managed to get a group shot. I sure love this family of ours!

Then it was back home to get all the many children into bed. It took us a while to get them settled. They were all very excited to be together. We hung out that night and then had to say our goodbyes on Thursday morning. 

We left on Thursday to drive to Moab with Uncle Phillip, Aunt Stephanie and their family. 

It was a beautiful three hour drive and we enjoyed the scenery. 

We met up at the Moab diner for lunch and stretched our legs. 

Then we headed to "Canyonlands National Park"

Of course, the kids wanted to participate in their junior ranger program as well. So we stopped by the visitors center to get those booklets. 

We explored until it was dinnertime. It was beautiful! 

We couldn't get over how amazing the rock formations and canyons were. It's truly a beautiful part of the country.

 

 

This is the Mesa Arch. It was a smaller one but it had a great view below. 

After exploring canyonlands and the kids earning their junior ranger badges, we left to find some dinner. We went to a food truck park and got dinner. Then we checked into our hotel. We were all exhausted and after unloading and cleaning out the van, we showered and then went to bed. 

Friday morning we woke up early so we could get into Arches National Park. The park has been filling up and closing around 9:30 am each day so we wanted to make sure that we got there early enough. 

We made it in and drove to the "Delicate Arch" trailhead. 
It was a 3 mile round trip hike and it took us 2 hours or so. The kids were rock stars and I was surprisingly good about the heights and my kids being so close to the edge. 

The delicate arch was beautiful. We were feeling so amazed by God's creations on this trip. This country is so full of beauty and variety and we were able to see so many awesome creations on this trip. I'm so grateful for a creative God who made these cool rock formations just to bring us joy. 

These kids were total troopers and did amazing well on the hike.

On the way back down the hike, we saw this cool peek-a-boo arch where you could see the delicate arch from. It was pretty neat. 

Tucker loved climbing on everything. He was hard for him to stay on the trail. He just loved exploring. 

Also, at the bottom of the trailhead, there were these cool petroglyphs on one of the rocks. 
How cool are those? 

From the delicate arch we drove to see the "balanced rock". We didn't get close to it but it was so cool to see. 

Then we drove to the double arches. This was a short but fun hike and the double arches were cool looking.

 

The kids had a great time climbing all over. It was pretty fun. 

After we finished at the double arches, we drove to the visitors center to get the kids Junior Ranger booklets and badges. Then we went to have lunch together. 
After lunch we left to drive to Colorado. We said our goodbyes, promising to see each other next month in Florida. 

Then we drove the 7 hours to Uncle David and Michelle's house. 
Aunt Michelle spoiled us with a delicious dinner and we hung out for a bit before putting the kids to bed. 

Then Saturday we woke up early and started the long 11-hour drive home. 

So we arrive home around 8:30 pm on Saturday night. We had a wonderful trip. 

It was crazy and chaotic and so full of fun. 

I'm so grateful we were able to make this trip. It was a wonderful spring break. 

My 35th Birthday/Birthday week

I just finished celebrating my 35th birthday with a full week of fun. 
I can hardly believe I'm 35 but the way my body has been aching lately actually proves my age. 

On Monday I got to have lunch with a  bunch of my girlfriends. It was so fun. We all met at "Tacos for Life" and it was such a good time. We talked and talked until I had to leave to get Benson from Pre-k. 

Tuesday was my actual birthday. Chris worked from home so I could have the day to myself. 
I started the day by sleeping in a bit and then going to High Fitness at the gym. 
Tori taught the class and since our birthdays are just a day apart, we celebrated together. 

After class, I went home and showered. Then Chris, Benson and I went to sushi house for lunch. Benson loved this so much. He felt so special getting to go with us and getting his own sushi roll. It was pretty cute. He kept giving me snuggles the whole time. 

 

After lunch I met my friend, Jade, for mani/pedis. It was so nice and relaxing. I found a new nail tech and I wont ever go anywhere else. She did such a great job and gave the best foot massage. 

After getting my nails done, I picked the kids up from school and we went to the school book fair and the kids got a  bunch of books. Then we came home and hung out for a bit before driving to dinner. 

We finally got to eat at "Texas Roadhouse". It opened about 4 months ago but has been consistently busy, with a three hour wait every time we call. But on my birthday we got right in and got seated. 

It was really nice and the food was delicious. I was so spoiled with food. 

After dinner we went home and we were all too full to eat cake right away, so I opened my presents. I got lots of fun stuff for my birthday and it was awesome. I even got a new game for the family. We played a round of our new game called "Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza" and then we ate cake. 

 

My family and friends spoiled me rotten. I'm so grateful for them!

I think one of my favorite gifts was this bluetooth eye mask. I can listen to music or audiobooks at night while I fall asleep and I love it. It's way more comfortable than falling asleep with my airpods in my ears. 

On Wednesday, my friend Erin took me out for Brunch. We went to our favorite brunch place "First Watch" and had a great time chatting and eating. The food is always so good!

Then on Thursday, Benson and I were home together. We cleaned around the house and did laundry, Then we decided we needed to get some lunch, so we went to get some Mexican food together. Benson and I thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. 

Thursday night I got to go out with my friend April. We both had a ton of errands to run before our spring break trips so we ran our errands together. We had a great time hanging out, talking and laughing together. We also grabbed some dinner. I've missed that girl. 

Today, Friday, I mostly just packed and got us ready for our trip. Benson and I did eat a sub from "Firehouse subs" and worked hard to get the van cleaned out. 
Now we are all packed. The van is loaded and tmrw we leave for our Spring break trip. 

This week was lots of fun. I loved getting to see so many friends, spend time with my hubby and sweet kids. I loved getting spoiled with awesome gifts and I love my pretty nails. What a great week. Maybe 35 won't be so bad! Only time will tell. 

 

St. Patrick's Day Fun

The kids woke up this morning to find the leprechaun had visited our house and they were so excited. I love waking up to their cute little voices and exclamations of excitement. Benson and Tucker loved the green foot prints on the floor and the green toilet bowl water. 

The leprechaun brought the kids gold chocolate coins and lucky charms cereal. 

The kids had the lucky charms cereal for breakfast and they were pretty excited about that. 

 

Then after school we ate the rest of the treats. We had little green frosted sugar cookies and their chocolate coins. 

I sure love these kiddos. They all wore green to make sure they didn't get pinched. Although Tucker was really nervous to wear a shirt that said "Kiss me, I'm Irish". 
I did my best to convince him that nobody would care about his shirt. But to be sure, he took a green sweatshirt too. Then at school he got hot and took off his sweatshirt. But a little girl in his class told him that his shirt was "inappropriate" and asked him to put his sweatshirt back on. 

He was so embarrassed. Tucker is the child that never wants attention on him and the fact that he had been nervous to wear the shirt already made it so much worse. 
It was 78 degrees today but he got into the car after school all red-faced and sweaty because he was too self-conscious to take off his sweatshirt again. Poor buddy. He's such a sweet, sensitive kid. But me talking him into wearing that shirt was definitely not a parenting win. lol 

I hope everyone had a fun day today. Happy St. Patrick's day everyone!

Tanner the Basketball Star

Tanner just finished his first season of basketball. He played through "Upwards" and he really enjoyed it. The kids on his team were so great. He made some great friends and he had some great examples of teamwork and sportsmanship. 
Here are the kids on his team, just for the record.
Back row: Josh, Tanner, Malachi, Brandon, Joseph and Ryan
Front row: CJ, Hudson & Noah. 
Julian wasn't pictured. 

I really loved "Upwards" because they are so Christ centered. Every game began with a prayer. 
The coaches, while very enthusiastic, were very compassionate and always reminded the kids what the most important thing was- being christlike in all aspects of life. 
The coaches even gave out little awards at the end of the game and one of the awards was always "Most Christlike". I loved that. 
Tanner came so far in basketball. He went in with very little experience and he made so much progress. 
He got really good at defense and would steal the ball from the other team multiple times each game. 
Chris and I both really enjoyed watching him play. 

Tanner really loved this action shot I took of him during his last game. 
It was an awesome steal and shot. 

We are so very proud of Tanner. He went out of his comfort zone and tried something new. He practiced and played hard and learned new skills. That kid is awesome. 

Here is a team photo. Mike Wilson was the head coach and then Coach Craig was the assistant coach. 
The boys loved their coaches and they really got along well as a team. 

I love this kid so much! 

Tanner's team made it to the semi-finals tonight after ranking second in their age group. 
Sadly, they lost by three points so they wont advance to the championship. 
The boys were so disappointed but we were so proud because they really played hard. The boys played hard on defense and offense. Tanner stole the ball from the other team atleast half a dozen times tonight. He was awesome. 
Way to go Tanner and TEAM HEAT! We are so proud of you!

 

Covid Update and Life

We've had a bit of a rough time this year, health wise. 
Chris and I had a wonderful time in Mexico but we came home to house full of kids with COVID. 
Poor Aunt Laura, who had been babysitting for us, had it too. 
Luckily, no one had it very bad. It was like a cold for Tucker and Tanner. Bailey and Benson didn't show any symptoms, but still tested positive. 

Eventually Chris and I got it from our kids too. We just felt tired and both had headaches for a week or so. 

After we got over COVID, I immediately got another virus. The doctors didn't know what it was but it wasn't COVID again. So they just gave me an antibiotic and sent me home to recover. By the time I was feeling better, Benson started throwing up. The kids all took turns passing around the stomach bug. 
All the while, we were experiencing a ton of winter weather. Because of all the snow and ice, school kept getting cancelled and we had virtual days. 

Basically it felt like we were all home for about a month. 

This was a common scene around our house during this time. 
Lots of electronics, screen time and board games. 

When we were feeling up to it, we played in the snow. 
We've really had a lot of snow. Sadly, snow days are a thing of the past. Now the school just has AMI days (alternate methods of instruction) and we have to do school virtually. It's a pain, 
However, the kids have gotten pretty good at it, since we've had a lot of practice.

Finally, the first week of March saw all my kids back to school. They were all gone at the same time and Chris returned to work in person. My house was so quiet and it felt so weird. 
I'm so happy everyone is healthy again and hopefully the weather is done being yucky. We are ready for spring. 

As for COVID, its been almost two years. After the omicron variant surge in January, the country as a whole has seen a decrease in cases. It feels good. Because we have all had COVID now, we have stopped wearing our masks. Masks are no longer required at church anymore either and Benson's preschool just dropped their mandate. We are so thrilled. 

Here are some COVID stats as of today:

Total cases of COVID in the US: 79,248,406

Total deaths in the US: 961,620

81% of the country has had at least 1 dose of the vaccine. 

Arkansas Stats: Total cases in AR: 801,118

Total deaths: 10,799

66% of the state has had at least one dose of the vaccine. 

We were lucky enough to get the omicron variant which was a very mild variant. We've gone through 5 variants of COVID so far, varying in severities and transmissibility.  

I don't want to get my hopes up but it does feel like maybe life is getting back to normal. 

It seems crazy that we've been living this COVID life for almost two years. But things are getting better. 
I actually just had the chance to speak at our Stake Women's Conference about my anxiety and my discipleship journey. Since COVID was what accelerated my anxiety I related to them my story and how I have worked to find peace while living with anxiety. 

It was such an interesting opportunity. I was beyond anxious to talk in front of a crowd of 300+ people.

But it also gave me the incentive to really dig in and put to paper what I have learned about myself and my testimony during this time. 

I'm forever grateful for a loving Father in Heaven and a Savior who knows me better than I know myself. I've learned to rely on my Savior, to take part in his atonement and to pray to my Father in Heaven when I need help. I'm so grateful for the gospel and the eternal truths that offer me comfort and consistency. My family, friends, my doctor and the gospel have been the things that have gotten me through this hard time.  I'm very grateful. 
That being said, I really hope this is the end of COVID life! Fingers crossed.