Weekly Race Series...here we go again!

Today marks the first day of the Weekly Race Series.

It should be an interesting race for me since I only road my bike...wait for it....ONE time this season so far.   Hopefully I won't be the only one suffering out there.  But anyway, should be fun. 

Also, just a side note...this marks my 1000th post!  

Pretty cool.

Easter 2014

Easter 2014, "Best Easter EVER!"

Those were Haley's words right before she went to bed Sunday night.

And I must say...it wasn't too shabby.

The girls in their new Easter dresses with their cousin Jett...poor Jett, he's outnumbered...he can never get a word in with all these girls surrounding him!

It's too bad Morgan is blinking.

The girls woke up Easter morning and promptly went to work to find their baskets.

 Haley was thrilled to finally get a real rainbow loom!  (She's been using a little homemade one)  And Morgan was super stoked to get a Perler Bead set.  And the little ones found new Play-doe and Color Wonder books.

After church we went to my folks' house for an Easter dinner and egg hunt.

The biggest hit had to be the mini squirt guns the kids got in their traditional Easter balls.  Let me try to explain what an Easter ball is...My mom wraps crepe paper into a huge ball about as big as the kid's head!  Each kid gets one and slowly unwinds it...wrapped in the ball are little toys and trinkets...the squirt gun being one of them.  It's super cute and the kids LOVE them!  One year I'll get a picture.

The girls chasing their Uncle Jeffy.

I love that the weather was warm enough for everyone to play outside and to play with water!  That's pretty rare!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!

A Birthday Surprise

My parents drove into town, arriving yesterday afternoon, surprising Piper and the girls.  Perfect timing for Piper's birthday party!  They were thrilled!

Piper was able to blow out four candles on a cake a step up from a Hostess Cupcake.

Happy Birthday Piper!

Moab/Arches 2014

We spent the last half of the girls' Spring Break last week camping in Moab...four days to be exact.  I had never been there and I can now see why so many people flock there during this time of year...it's beautiful!  I was a little nervous about the crowds and the fact that we couldn't reserve a camp a spot.  But luckily we had some friends camping there earlier in the week and they were leaving as we were arriving, so we just snagged their camp spot...it worked out wonderfully!  We stayed in Sand Flats Recreation, home of Slick Rock and tons of other off-roading trails...in fact, there was a 4x4 trail right above our campsite!  A little scary thought if one of those cars lost control and tumbled down on our tent!  I guess they wouldn't put a campsite there if that was a real possibility.

Loop A where we camped.

That's our blue tent in the lower left corner.  I took this picture from the 4x4 trail above our camp.

The girls had so much fun exploring and playing all  over the rocks around our camp.

 Since we left on Piper's Birthday we sung to her that night and ate Hostess Cupcakes (We'll have a real cake this week).  And she opened a present...sand toys.

The first full day we drove into Arches National Park and checked out the Visitor Center.

Then we hiked the North and South Windows hike and ate our lunch under one of the arches.

Absolutely amazing!

 After lunch we headed over to do the Double Arch hike.  However, on our way Rory tripped and landed hard on her forehead.  Is it just me, or does every single trip we take have to include some kind of injury?  She ended up cutting it pretty good...in fact I was pretty certain it needed a stitch or so.  I think I freak out a little more because it's on her face and I worry about scarring.  We cut our day short and after much debating back and forth if we should have her seen by a doctor we decided in the end to just get a butterfly bandage and just pray it doesn't scar so she won't hate me forever when she's older.

I was riddled with guilt for the rest of the trip...still am for that matter.

The sand toys were a big hit!

Our second night we all walked up the hill to watch the sunset.

 Our last full day we hiked to Landscape Arch.

Did I mention the weather was in the upper 70's and even low 80's?!

Just wonderful!

Landscape Arch

 We also hiked to Wolf Ranch and saw the Petroglyphs.

 The girls earned their Jr. Ranger pins for Arches National Park.

They loved it!

I love this picture of Haley and me (is she getting big or what?!) and how Piper is peeking from the rocks in the background.

What our tent looked like at the end of the four days.  We go to bed every night in a perfect little row, and then by morning everyone is going every which way.

 What our car looked like on the way home.

Let there be peace.

 Now I feel I need to add a bit more reality to this post...you know, to keep it real.  I don't want to give anyone the impression that things are always roses around here because it's definitely not.  This camp trip, although fun, it's HARD for us adults.  But these trips...it's all about the kids anyway, right?!

Reality:
-Our kids fought a lot on this trip...mainly about who gets what sand toys.  And you would think they could share the endless amounts of rock surface that surrounded out campsite, but no, they fought over who got what "territory".

-Dirt...so much dirt.  When camping with kids, you have to embrace the dirt.

-The noise.  I'm not exaggerating when I say we were the loudest campsite.  I'm sure our children (Morgan) could be heard from a 3 mile radius.

-Sleep, or lack of.  Surprisingly our children slept very well and they were not a problem but Ryan and I are coming to the realization that we are getting older and tent camping is hard on our backs.  I didn't think I was going to make three nights, but I did...miraculously!

-Piper is not a good hiker...flat out, she just doesn't do well at all!  She whines and cries the entire time and I usually end up piggy backing her.

I'm sure I could go on, but you get it...life isn't perfect.  But hopefully these kids will remember this trip with fond memories.  And now that I know we can survive a multi-day camp trip I'm excited to do again!  Dirt and all.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Piper!!

Today you are four!

Today we are loading up the family and heading south to Moab for some camping fun.  Wish us luck!

Weekend Review

Sundance ski season has come to a close.  Kinda bittersweet for me...I'll miss working with my brother and all the great people I've met, but I'm ready to get back to regular weekend routine and catch up on everything else I've let slide through the cracks.  It got pretty hectic some weeks that's for sure!

Riding the lift up for our last early morning clinic.  I'll miss getting those first tracks Saturday mornings! 

We had a little fun on Saturday (since there were no lessons) and several of us skiers did some snowboarding for the morning.  And some of us (such as myself) have NEVER done it before.  

 My first run wasn't pretty...actually my second run wasn't much better.  But it was all good fun.

Taking in the view one last time.

And then on Saturday night my cousin Travis and his family gave us a visit.  They were in town from Texas.  We had never even met his two boys...so you can see it had been way too long!

Travis, me and my brothers Matt and Jeff.

I'm feeling very short in this picture!  How is this my family?!  What happened in my genetics that they skipped the tall gene?!

 And finally Sunday we had one last ski day as a family.

And I'm happy to report that there were no tears and everyone had a blast!

And one last video for your entertainment...I just can't get enough of her skiing!

This week we're kicking off the girls Spring Break!  

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

What we're watching.

Because I know you are all dying to know how Ryan and I spend our evenings.  Granted, we have to wait until the day after any TV show airs (since we don't have cable) and watch it on HULU.  We have this routine...put the kids to bed, I take a quick shower, and then we cozy up on the couch with our laptop and watch something.  But let us not forget the dozen or so times that a kid will come downstairs for something, or be loud in their beds, or need water, or need to go potty, or need a tissue, or want another hug and kiss...or whatever.  Never a dull moment.  

Anyway, so what we've been loving.

Vikings.

 I mentioned this show last season...and I love it just as much this season.

And we all know my love of Lagertha, and how much I think she resembles my inner bad ass.  Although, she plays a smaller part this season which is really too bad.  

Amazing Race: All Stars

 I'm sure we'd watch this show regardless, but it's much more fun to watch a show with someone you know...or someone Ryan knows anyway.  The father and son team, Conner and Dave (they're in the yellow) are from Utah and are widely known within the cycling community out here. They played before, but had to drop out because of an injury.  So naturally we're rootin' for them this time!

Parenthood.

 This has been a long time favorite...although they're kinda dropping the ball this season and the writing has taken a turn I think.  In particular the separation of Joel and Julia...which I think was way out of their characters!  We need to see more couples work things out instead of just giving up.  So they better turn things around!  But I still love the show...I'm a glutton for punishment I guess.

Survivor

 We're big fans.

I would even love to be on this show if it wasn't for the whole "no toilet" thing.

The Goldbergs

 This is by the far the best family sitcom on the air right now.  

This is how family sitcoms should be!  None of this Modern Family crap.

And being a (young) child of the 80's myself I can relate to a lot of it. 

 I think it's hilarious.

And of course Saturday Night Live is another favorite.

We also finished up Mad Men season 6 on DVD recently...so good!

Oh, and my brother gifted us the first season of Supernatural, but it scares me so we haven't watched passed the first episode.  I know, I'm a wimp.

So there you have it...what we're watching.