Spring Break St. George/Vegas Style

This is what our spring break in St. George looked like...

...But let me break it down for you. 

 

Early Monday morning we loaded up the kids in Emily's van and Amy's behemoth and headed down to sunny St. George.

Oliver and I rode with Emily and it was such a nice drive all the way down. The kids were so great and super quiet.

 

We stopped in Fillmore to grab a bite to eat. Look at all those kids.

Once we got there and settled in, it was dinner time. The kids had pizza and the adults went to Benjas...minus Amy, she stayed and worked and we brought her back some non sushi food. 

 

The following morning was so nice. Emily and Holly went on their morning walk while Amy and I watched the masses and when they got back, we traded so that we could go running. It worked out perfectly every morning.

 

Stretching.

It was hot but it felt fantastic.

 And while we were away, these two got the waffles started.

 Amy lead us in a nice Nike work out and we closed with Emily teaching us how to leap. It was pretty fun.

Later that day wen went to the Crack. A St. George must. Best part was hearing Amy go through the crack for her first time. Oh the squealing and panic. She was terrified to say the least and if I wasn't squeezing through right behind her, she would have gone back. She made it through just fine though and finally concord the crack.

This little poser cracks me up.

For lunch we headed to the new Chick-Fil-A. I love me the chicken salad sandwich.

 

Following lunch we rounded up the gang and went to "Awesome" park which Sarah perfectly named.

Why awesome?

 

Just check out these playground toys...

 

 

The adults had a good time too.

 

Later that night this happened...

Holly said she would give us each $100.00 dollars each if we jumped in the pond and grabbed a golf ball. Emily and I darted right out on that golf course. While we were in that disgusting duck poop filled pond, a golfer tee-ed off and the ball landed in the water about 1 foot away from Emily. I didn't have such luck and I had to half way dunk my head in and get a ball in the deeper part of the pond. I think we were both had...we never got paid.

 

One of the nights, I took all the kids to the golf course to play some night games. They were dying to go out there and play.

Red rover

 Hands up stands up

 Grandmas underpants

 

The following day we headed to Vegas with everyone to meet Mandi and spend the day with her and her cute kids.

 

She was nice enough to let us swim in her pool for hours.

 

 

This little guy got in the hot tub and didn't realize he couldn't reach. He also didn't have any floaties so he was pretty much flailing under water. I saw him and ran to pull him out but luckily Paige and Morgan were in there and helped him. His first words right out of the water were "Phew, that was close".

Of course when we are in Vegas we have to go to Raising Canes.

We headed back for more swimming before heading back to St. George. All the kids loved visiting Vegas.

 

The rest of the time the kids played around the house and Emily, Amy and I were even able to break away and go shopping (thanks Holly).

 

Before we left we had lunch at the park. Let's just say that getting lunch for 13 people is no easy task.

 

Holly kept them busy though. They played at the park and lucky for them the water was on at the park.
 

 

Amy...love her. I mean look at her moves. Who wouldn't love all of that.

And I love all these kids. Such personalities. (I mean just look at Oakley)

I am so glad that I have these three to look up to. Such great women.

 

Aiden caught me and Amy at our finest.

I loved our spring Break vacation.

 

Chaos and all.



Conference Weekend

I forget how much I enjoy conference and maybe that's because I'm so excited we don't have to go to church and worry about your calling and we can lounge around in our jammies all day long. Oh it's the best. For the past couple of years...since my dad passed actually, I haven't watched conference very well. That could very well be because it's a hard time of year. As my dad was passing, we had conference on the TV playing in his hospital room. It really is a tender time, however it was in the past 2 years that I really needed to hear the words from our Prophet and church leaders. Why was I putting it off? This year, I made a personal goal to listen to conference as much as I could. We did, and it was wonderful.

Saturday morning we watched conference in between running, chores and grocery shopping. During the break we hung out with some members of our neighborhood and finished watching the second session that day.

I thought it would be fun to get together with my sisters and go get a pedicure. We don't hang out too often so I am happy that they all said yes. My mom went with us too, but she said she was too old to get anything done to her feet. We'll get he to join us next time.

 

The massage and hot wet towels over your legs is my favorite. 

Following our pedicures we decided to go get dinner just as priesthood session was starting. 

I have just have to note that I love Luke so much. He was able to take Spencer to the Priesthood session with him because my brother had to work. What a great uncle and example he is. I love that Luke never misses the opportunity to go. Last year we were camping with my family and it was the first time that he didn't go since we have been married. He mentioned later on that he just didn't feel right missing Priesthood session that night. He says at times it can be very boring and that Spencer was board out of his mind this time, but he is always glad that he goes. After the session, he took Spencer out to dinner. Such great guys.

 

Sunday morning we woke up at 9! It was heavenly to sleep in on a Sunday morning. The three of us laid in bed and watched conference for about an hour before we decided to peel ourselves out of bed to eat. The night before we prepared sticky buns to have in the morning. They were so good. Oliver chose cereal instead.

 The rest of conference was perfect. We weren't too strict on having Oliver watch, except for when President Monson was speaking. It was perfect when He spoke about Obedience (found here) because we have been really trying to focus on obedience with Oliver.

 

Other talks that I really enjoyed were "The Words We Speak" by Rosemary Wixom. It was just what I needed to hear to help me become a better mom and to be a good influence on Oliver. I loved this quote: "How we speak to our children and the words we use can encourage and uplift them and strengthen their faith to stay on the path back to Heavenly Father. They come to this earth ready to listen."

simply love that.

My favorite talk was Elder L.Whitney Clayton's "Marriage:Watch and Learn" There is not a single part of that talk that I did not love. If you didn't get the chance to hear it, you totally need to...LDS or not. Conference really was wonderful, but really, when is it not?

 

 That night we decided to stay home and enjoyed a hot dog and marshmallow roast. It was a perfect evening to have a fire and just enjoy our little family of three.



Easter 2013

"Of all the tests we face, none hurts more than the death of a loved one. Through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ all are delivered from death, and all will rise in the resurrection. And by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all may gain peace in this life washed clean from the sorrows of sin and have hope of a glorious resurrection with the just.

At this Easter season we give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of all mankind. Because of His atoning sacrifice, He stands as our Advocate and Savior. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit." 

-The First Presidency of The Church

 

I couldn't have said it better myself. After suffering the death of a loved one, the reassurance that I will see them again because of our Savior, Jesus Christ helps make understanding Easter even that much better and to appreciate Him on a more profound level.

 

Today at church I was deeply moved by the spirit felt in our meetings. And not just Sacrament, but in primary too. Loved it.

 With that being said, this is how we celebrated Easter with my side of the family...

 

We all gathered at my house for dinner. All the adults sat inside, while all the kids sat outside. It was heavenly.

We had awesome food

 

Got ready to hide some eggs...

 ...for these guys.

 

To make it fair they were all allowed to get six eggs and then had to wait before they could go all out and find as many more as they could. 

 

And then came the confetti eggs. As fun as these are, I don't love the mess they make, but I guess it's worth it. 

Kat Vs. Jonny

Getting Phia

 Wendy gives and is gotten. Along with Taleesha and Ash.

Mom gets in on it too. 

And so do the kids. 

Jonny came up to me and asked me if he could have a real egg to smash on someone. He said Spencer would handle it the best so he smashed it on his head. He didn't expect it at all.

The adults waited their turn for their "hunt". Like in past years (2011 and 2012), my mom will always hide Easter eggs with money inside. Since my family is full of cheaters, she has had to change it a bit so that no one can cheat the system. In past years, people have opened the eggs hidden around the house, seen the amount in the egg and if it's not the grand prize, put it back to find an egg with a bigger prize. Anyway, now she writes the amount on a piece of paper and then she passes the basket of eggs around and we each draw an egg and reveal the amounts at once. 

Since I was videoing and taking pictures, I got the last egg....the winning egg!

Tayten won $10.00

Spencer won $20.00

Luke won $20.00

and I won $50.00



It was so fun to have everyone over to hang out, play and eat. I love this tradition with my family and look forward to it every year.

 

Easter Morning

Any holiday with a child enhances the holiday for me. I think it's better than when I was a kid. I love seeing Oliver get excited about it and to experience that joy that comes with holidays again and again.

 

This morning after Oliver snuggled with us in bed for a little bit, we asked him if he was ready to go see if the Easter bunny had come (we think he forgot about it). He jumped up and ran into the living room to see what he got. The Easter Bunny knew that Oliver was going to be playing soccer soon and so he hooked him up with shin guards and a soccer ball. He also knew his favorite chips were funyuns and also got him a few toys and candies.

Oliver got to wear his new letter church shirt and we loved primary where we learned about Jesus and the resurrection.

 

Lately, Oliver has been asking questions about dying so this was a great opportunity to teach him about the resurrection. These were his questions while on a family drive one afternoon...

 

"When are we going to die?"

"How are we going to die?"

"What are those?" (referring to tomb stones)

"What is a grave?"

"Where are our graves?"

"Where is Grandpa Bills grave?"

 

It was very interesting to try to explain death and the resurrection to him. I think children sometimes know more about the spirit world than we think they do and perhaps it's because they are pure and sinless that they don't have anything to fear about dying. I found it so comforting that he was so calm and understanding about all of this. Dying didn't seem scary to him because we explained to him that families could be together again if we are obedient and that we would see each other again.

 

Such a blessing to teach the simple truths of the gospel.  

 



Nice Shootin...

I went {official} shooting for the first time with Luke, Wendy and Kat the other day. Luke really wanted me to learn how to use our gun so it was great to learn how to handle it and get a good feel for shooting it. I enjoyed it, but I had to get use to the kick of the gun. At one point, I even pinched my finger from the kick which I did not love. Luke, Kat and Wendy did great and I think they enjoyed it more than I did. I'm glad I know how to use our gun, but I think my kind of recreation shooting is when it involves BB guns and vermin...