Hiking with my Hiking Buddy

 Janet and I have been hiking together for the last few weeks. The weather has been so beautiful. We have tried to find trails close to home and were able to go to Valentine Peak and the P-Hill.

Valentine Peak

 The P-Hill looking down on the town.

She invited us to go to Zion to hike Observation Point which is an 8 mile hike round trip. It is a lot of uphill and then a lot of downhill. It was a good hike and the kids did really well. The weather was perfect and the company was great! We soaked our sore feet in the cool stream at the bottom of the trail and that was a perfect end to the hike.

Easter 2015

 Our friend Janet puts on a HUGE Easter egg hunt with thousands of eggs. She invited us to come and it was definitely a fun experience. The kids collected about a hundred eggs each. Derrick even found a golden egg with $10 inside.

 KayDee and Maryn had fun dressing up as bunnies the whole time!

 Derrick was diving for eggs that had money in them.

 My nephew Zac got home from his mission and this is the first time we have seen him!

 My mom bought us some really cute dresses!

 And we were treated to dinner by my parents!

We went to Las Vegas to spend our spring break with my sister LeAnn. We had a good time lounging by the pool and taking a break. We also did a simple egg hunt for the cousins since it was also Easter weekend.

Once on this Island

Samantha did a great job in the Junior High play "Once on this Island". She played the goddess of love and sang a solo. She did great and she loved it!

Glasses

KayDee got glasses just a few weeks ago and she looks great! She was having trouble reading clocks and of course seeing far away. We knew it was time to see the doctor and she needed glasses. When she first wore them, she said "I can see the snow on top of the mountains!" We thought for sure she would pick pink or purple but she picked out this blue pair and they look great!

Washington DC with the Farm Bureau

We had an amazing opportunity to go with the Young Farmers and Ranchers of the Utah Farm Bureau to Washington DC for five days. While there, we visited many memorials, historical sites and museums. We were able to visit with our state congressmen and senators directly and talk about our concerns and they told us what they were doing about it. We learned a lot and are so grateful we were able to go. We appreciate all those who supported us while on our trip!

Arlington Cementery where the YF&R did a wreath ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was a really touching experience and made us deeply appreciate those who fight for freedom.

 The White House at night. It looks a little smaller than I thought it'd be.

 Abraham Lincoln Memorial

 Korean War Memorial

 The pew George Washington's family rented at Christ's Church

 Mount Vernon. We loved visiting the home of George Washington. I didn't know he wanted to be a farmer.

 Washington's Grave

 Holocaust Museum. This is an amazing but sad museum.

 Gettysburg. We were able to drive through but the snow canceled our tours. We'd love to go back and see it!

 The gun that was used to kill Abraham Lincoln

 Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot

 The room Lincoln died

 The rooftop of the Farm Bureau offices in DC

 Smithsonian Aero Space Museum

 The Prime Minister of Israel walked right past us on our tour of The Capitol building. We were next to the whisper spot.

Kevin's Annual 29th

Another Birthday but holding 29. Kevin is so great and we appreciate all his hard work to support our family. He has been busy working on the farm and fixing trucks. He tries hard to make it to the kids activities and keeps track of us and keeps our house in order. He is a great husband and father and we are glad we have him!

Basketball

I coached Derrick's basketball team this year. It was pretty crazy but we had a great time. We were able to work on different skills and put them into action during the game. I really think they did awesome!

Samantha's 13th Birthday!

 Samantha had a great 13th birthday. She invited friends over to watch Studio C and to play Hide and Seek. I wasn't sure how much her friends would enjoy hiding in our house, but they had so much fun and kept finding new places to hide. They also had some great laughs with Studio C.

 We had a busy day on her birthday and joined the Laub's for a group birthday party for everyone who had a birthday within the week. Her uncle, and three cousins were celebrated with her.

Samantha has really enjoyed being a teenager so far and that makes us really happy. Blue is still her favorite color and she still loves to dance. She plays the piano and flute, loves to read, and loves to tell jokes. Young Womens has been a fun thing for her this year and she has enjoyed using her tablet at church for her scriptures and hymns. She plays the opening and closing song for Young Women's and also at home for family night. She is in a play for the 7th and 8th grade that is called "Once on this Island" which will be performed in a few weeks. She has a solo and we are excited to see her perform! She loves to babysit and has become more responsible over the last year. Her room is very organized and Taylor Swift is always playing in the background. She helps cook ramen noodles, broil steaks, make salads and whatever else I ask her to do. Although the toilet is not her favorite thing to clean, she still does it, along with sweeping the floor and putting dishes away. She loves our puppy and has a deep affection for her since the dog lost one leg. She is becoming more thoughtful and has been setting goals for her own personal progress.
We love that she is our oldest daughter and we are so pleased that she is part of our family. She is the life of the party most of the time and is so willing to do her part. We love her and love that she is learning and growing! She is our first teenager and we look forward to having fun with her this year!

Grandpa's Birthday

 My dad decided to celebrate his birthday with BB guns and bows and arrows. We spent the afternoon with my family shooting! I love that we get to spend this kind of time together! I love my dad and hope he had a great day!

14 Year Anniversary

We went to East Canyon this year for our anniversary, compliments of my parents. We used their time share for our honeymoon and this is the first time we have been back for our anniversary. We have been there for plenty of other reasons during the summer.

 Our plans were to sled, play in the snow and snow shoe. There was not much snow so we sledded and spent a lot of time playing games, watching movies and trying to eat all the food we brought. It snowed a lot the day we left and we hoped to go snow shoeing at my parents but we had to head home to take care of our dog. We had a great time!