Road Trip Weekend!  We pounded out a cool 1000+ miles over Easter weekend and drove down to see Stan and Melanie and their boys.  It was a great trip!  Thanks so much Stan and Melanie for hosting us and all of the great food.  We had a great time.  Here are some of the highlights.

Lots of cousin time! 

Easter egg hunt.

These girls found a little something extra in their basket!

We got to partake in Stan and Mels’ conference french toast tradition.

We dyed Easter Eggs.

And wasn’t conference awesome!  I felt like this was my favorite conference weekend since I was on my Mission.  President Nelson doesn’t mess around.

Prime rib dinner.  Super delicious!

Stan and Mel are so proud of Sterling!

We’re excited for Ashley and Eliza to have one of our own to play with.

Glorious Sunday evening walk.

On our way back, we made a stop at Arches.  It turned out to be a pretty good day to go.  It was the day after Easter and most of the crowds from the weekend had already left.  On the downside, there was a storm rolling in so it was super windy, but we didn’t mind except for the occasional sand and dust in the face.

Ashley took this picture 🙂

Sand Dune Arch

After leaving Arches, we were famished, so we backtracked to Moab and at at the Fiesta Mexican.  We really liked it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a bite in Moab.

Super fun weekend.  A good roadtrip can leave you pretty exhausted physically, but recharged and ready to go emotionally.  We are really glad we went!

Happy St. Patricks Day.  My kind of day!

Our little leprechaun.

We had an ice skating evening with work where we rented out one of the rinks at Peaks Ice Arena.  It was a really fun activity and the girls had a great time.  The blue walker things were super helpful.  Ashley figured out how to wedge her skates in and just slide along like a champ.

We got the dirt bike fixed up and ready for another season.  The girls begged to come for a ride and they loved it.  We rode around for over a mile in the backyard!

And, it wouldn’t be March without a birthday party for Kevin!

The TSO recently went on their 2nd tour.  This year they visited Price, Richfield, and Delta Utah doing school concerts, master classes, service, and a community concert each night.  Bethany was so great and watched the girls on Thursday while I was at work.  Then on Friday, I took the day off and the girls and I went on a road trip up to Idaho.

A while ago, I listened to the book Skunk Works by Ben Rich.  Fantastic book if you want to know more about any of those really cool Skunk Works projects.

The book went into quite a bit of detail about the design and testing of the SR-72 Blackbird.  That aircraft has always been a personal favorite of mine.   So, on our way up, we made a quick stop at Hill Aerospace Museum to see it again.  It really is quite a work of engineering wonder.

We also made stops at Smith and Edwards for old time sakes, and then another stop at the Ol’ McDonalds in Tremonton for lunch.  It’s kind of tricky going on a roadtrip without a copilot to help take care of the passengers.

Once up at my parents, we had a great time.  There was lots of playing, and giggling, and good food.  We drove up to Magic Mountain and went tubing.  The girls had some good fun for a bit, and then they were quite ready to go home.  We also enjoyed visiting with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Gerald.

Meanwhile, Kathryn was being a superstar and having a great time with the orchestra.

We had fun going to church with my parents, and then we headed for home.  The trip went remarkably well and the girls were great.  I had a lot of fun hanging out with them all weekend, and we were really glad to see mom when we got home.  I’m sure grateful for her.  It’s not easy flying solo.  I’m also really grateful to Bethany and my mom and dad for all their help.

I finished another term of class, and we went out to the Sidecar Cafe to celebrate. On the way home after our delicious dinner, the girls spontaneously burst out telling us how much they loved us.  Kathryn got it on camera.  🙂