A little more Arizona...

We had the great fortune of being in a hotel room right next to Russ' parents. We always enjoy spending time with them, and it was fun to hang out there together every now and then in the evenings.

Here are a couple of good shots we got: one of Cole with his "Grandma Peggy," and another with Grandpa Trapnell, who was kind enough to read them all stories before bed.

We were the last of the Trapnell group to head home, so we spent our last afternoon running around Mesa and visiting with one of Russ' best friends growing up. Shocking that after almost 9 years of marriage, this was my first trip ever to Arizona to see where Russ grew up. He and Mitch were next door neighbors and friends from the time they were 2 or 3. It was so fun to see Mitch and Betsy and their 3 cute kids. They were all so fun and nice, and we're glad we live a little closer now so we can see them a little more often. Our kids loved hanging out with their "big kids."

Spring Break #2

Well, we really didn't do anything for our spring break here in Albuquerque... except go to the zoo. So, we celebrated Utah's spring break with most of Russ' family instead. We all met in Scottsdale, AZ, split up into our separate hotels at night, but spent much of every day all together.

The weather was perfectly warm... just right for swimming. We spent a few of the days at Chris & Sheri's resort. It was perhaps less relaxing for Russ and I than some of the others since we forgot the kids life vests, and 3 of the 4 can't swim. Wow! We need to really get going on those lessons! But, the kids loved this little stream in front of our lawn chairs and spent at least half the time splashing around in there. So, Russ and I didn't have to be in the water the entire time:)

The second day we drove down near Tuscon to the desert museum. The kids all had a great time seeing all the desert animals and lots of cacti. One of the favorite parts was all of the birds. These are definitely Russ' kids! Especially Parker and Sadie. Those kids just LOVE watching the birds. Sadie spent some very excited moments playing with a roadrunner through the glass, and they all loved the aviary and hummingbird exhibit. I just wish I had taken more pictures of all of the huge Saguaro cacti all around. It was amazing just to drive down there - I never would have expected to enjoy seeing that so much! I don't think there's really any other place like it!

Here are a couple of shots of Sadie in the aviary and with Russ - in her excitement just after meeting the friendly roadrunner.

Easter Morning

We had a great Easter weekend this year. It was a bit hectic, but I felt like I'd had a lot of opportunities to think about Easter the entire month before... so it seemed meaningful despite the busyness. Conference always makes everything good too! I think I was partly just grateful that I was able to read part of the book of John to the kids in the morning, and they actually seemed reverent and appreciative of it.

After breakfast we continued with Russ' regular family Easter tradition... except with Conference we didn't have church, so we did the egg hunt right after breakfast. All the kids searched the yard for the basket with their name, and then went in search of eggs. They all had a great time... even Sadie although the sun in her eyes makes her look not so happy in this picture:)

After the egg hunt and Conference, we packed up the car and headed over to Arizona to meet most of the Trapnell clan for the week. Only a 6 hour drive... shorter than I had feared!