SPRING BREAK - ST. GEORGE, UT

This last week the boys had a few days off for spring break, so we decided to get away and enjoy ourselves in some warmer weather. We headed down south to St. George and had some good R & R.

Our first stop in our trip was to In-N-Out Burger. We had never eaten there before so had to go and indulge in this famous resturant. We enjoyed yummy burgers fries and milkshakes. Yum Yum.


We checked into our hotel and headed to the pool. The air was a little cool but the water was heated and it was so refreshing to feel the sun on our backs and water in our faces.


Next we dried off, ate dinner and headed to the mini-golf and arcade family fun center. The boys had fun hitting balls, earning tickets and trying out their abilities on the cycles.


The next morning, Sunday, we drove around a bit and took in the beautiful scenery of the red rock formations.





Here is the Brigham Young winter home that we toured. It was a beautiful home and we learned alot about the early Saints and how St.George got started. We learned about growing cotton, tree nuts, grape vines and raising silk worms


Here is the Jacob Hamblin home that we toured next. It was neat to see how the early saints sacrificed and had such great faith to develop the desolate desert of southern Utah. I'm so glad for the many modern conviences that we enjoy these days.


Right next to the parking lot of the Jacob Hamblin home was a teepee sitting in the yard of the neighbors. The boys really thought that was cool and it reminded them of our trip to Wallowa Lake where they got to play in and around some teepees out behind the the main cabin.


We went over to the temple and walked around the beautiful grounds. It is such a peaceful place to be in and to remember what great promises the temple represents and how wonderfully valiant and true the saints were to sacrifice and obey the will of the Lord to build such magnificant structures where we can be so greatly blessed.


On Monday we drove north of St. George to visit the Snow Canyon State Park. On our way we found some cactus that Andrew was really impressed with.


Here is a ward building that I thought looked so cool. If just blends into the environment and one that you don't see in northern Utah.


Snow Canyon is so beautiful with all of the red rock. Here is neat shot with the sun just coming out over the top.


We took a little hike and the boys climbed up the rock and were "King of the Hill".


We found this really neat small cave that we explored and I posed inside.


Here are the sand dunes that we hiked around and played in. The very fine red rock sand felt so good between our toes. We didn't get to stay and play as long as we would have liked due to the wind blowing. Getting sand in your eyes is not fun at all. So we stayed just a few minutes and had to move on.


The boys swam again and then we went to the new movie Monsters vs. Aliens. Nicholas and Andrew loved it and I thought it was pretty good.



The last morning the boys swam again and then we went over and had one more round of miniature golf. Here the boys are trying their luck at a hole in one. Nicholas actually got two and Andrew got one.



We had such a fun time in St. George. It was really good to get away and have fun together as a family.

PINE WOOD DERBY

This was the first experience of this project for the boys and I. I thought for sure when I opened the box of the pine wood derby kit there would be some semblance of a car inside, but no just a block of wood. So I went to the place of all knowledge, the Internet. I found a few templates that looked like they would be good designs and had Grandpa Foutz cut out the shapes. All of us took turns sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding... The boys helped grandpa paint and I had one of my employers help out with the wheels. The cars looked good and the day came to see how they would do under pressure.

These are the boys cars. Nicholas' is #31 and Andrew's is #0.


These are all of the participants. All of the boys did really good on their cars and it was a good race. Nicholas and Andrew didn't win, the car sitting in front won every single race. Nicholas came in 4th a couple times and 3rd a couple of times. Andrew came in 4th once, 3rd once and 2nd two times. They had lots of fun and were glad to have participated.


Nicholas showing his car and his certificate for "The Gone In 60 Seconds Car".


Andrew received the certificate for "The Lean Mean Green Machine".

What a Beautiful Sound

This morning I was laying in bed being lazy, trying to get myself out of bed when I heard a sound. It was a familiar sound, but one that I had not heard in quite some time. I listened again and sure enough, it was a bird chirping. I kept listening and soon a car drove by frightening the bird, and the beautiful sound was gone. I strained to see if I could hear more, and there in the distance was the faint far away song of more birds. I called to Nicholas and Andrew and told them to quietly go over to the window and listen. Following instructions, they turned their ears to the glass and almost immediately in unison, delightfully and excitedly announced "BIRDS!" It was so wonderful to hear that lovely sound this morning. It really perked me up to know that life is on it's way back to the valley and that beauty will be springing forth very soon.

A couple of weeks ago the boys and I attended the Draper Temple open house. What a wonderful experience to share with your children. They weren't too happy to get dressed up in their Sunday best on a weekday but I got them excited about going by telling them about the "magic" mirror in the sealing rooms that you can see for forever in. Other than the long wait to get to and from the temple the boys really enjoyed everything. Nicholas kept pointing to the "cows" surrounding the baptismal font and Andrew had to constantly correct him that they were oxen. They loved the soft feel of the alters and they kept saying how beautiful the celestial room was. What an amazingly high ceiling. My dad said it is about 50 feet high. The stained glass was so beautiful. The "magic" mirrors were a big hit although it was hard for the boys to see themselves in it because they are kind of high on the walls. This temple is so very beautiful, I'm very excited to have a chance sometime to attend a session there. I was also very impressed with the reception that followed in the Stake center adjacent to the temple. The cultural hall was decorated just amazingly and the cookies were scrumptious. I'm so glad to have had this experience with my boys and hope to be able to attend the Oquirrah Temple open house with them soon as well.

Andrew's Baptism

Today was a very special day in our family. Andrew was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are so proud of his decision and know that by following the teachings of our Savior and keeping the commandments he will find true happiness and joy in this life. We love you Andrew!!!

Andrew with his Grandpa Foutz who preformed the baptism and confirmation.

Andrew with friend and fellow baptisimal candidate Jessica Jorgensen.

Andrew with his cousins who came to support him on his special day.

Andrew and his cousins minus little Will.

Christmas 2008

Since everyone else had plans for Christmas we got to spend this special day with the Crane family. We had so much fun hanging out, visiting, watching movies and eating lots of yummy food.

Here are the boys on Christmas morning not being able to stand it any longer. They bound up the stairs to see if Santa left them any goodies.

Here they are with the first sight of all that loot.

Wow I got it, I got it. The Diary of a Whimpy Kid books. Yes! Yes!

So Cool! Tech Deck Dudes!

I think it is a plastic knife. Let me see how can I torture my brother and mom with this. He! He! He!


It was a very nice holiday and so much fun to be with family who we love.

Andrew Turns ** 8 **

I can't believe my baby turned "8". It just doesn't seem possible that he could be that old. But here he is enjoying his special day with his brother and cousins.

Andrew showing how cool and awesome he is.


Andrew with all his gifts just waiting to be torn into.

The requested white cake with sprinkle frosting.

Showing off all of his super cool loot.

On your mark, get set....

GO!!! What a set of lungs. No girlfriends this year.

Yum! Yum! This cake is sooooo good.

New Photos

In early December I had my friend Heather accompany us to the park and snap some pics for us. Those of you who received a Christmas card saw the winning photo and it is also posted on this blog in the upper right corner. Here are a few of the other photos that truned out good as well.

Halloween 2008

This year our ward along with another in our building paticipated in Trunk-or-Treat. Each ward member wanting to, decorated the trunk of their car and the kids walked around to each and received a piece of candy. The boys went around to all of the cars once and pretty much had their bags full to the rim. So by about 7:15 the were all trick-or-treated out and ready to go home.

Here is "Hot Wheel" all decorated up for Halloween


Here is Nicholas "The Dead Pirate"


This is Andrew "The Unknown Phantom Grimm Reaper"


Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Pumpkins

Today we carved our pumpkins. It was a sticky gooey mess, but we had lots of fun and I think they all turned out really well. Shh don't tell anyone but I like Andrew's the best.


Andrew and his jack-o-lantern


Nicholas and his jack-o-lantern


Mijken and her jack-o-lantern