Rachel's Band Trip to Leavenworth/Wenatchee

We were really excited that Rachel and her marching band marched in the apple blossom parade in Wenatchee. That was a perfect excuse to go to Leavenworth and stay at the Enzian Inn. We LOVE the Enzian Inn! The kids love the swimming pool. I love the breakfast and the alphorn. We all love the scenery. Leavenworth is a truly beautiful place.

Rachel stood on the ledge. I was a little nervous, but she wasn't.

Rachel's band...

Having fun in the hat shop....

Erin Joy slept completely inside of her pajamas with her huge stuffed penguin that she insisted on bringing. Not much room left in the bed for me....

Here is a video including a video of the kids marching....

Erin Joy's Honor Choir

Erin Joy had a really fun time practicing and performing with the honor choir. She did an excellent job. I know this is a long movie, but maybe Grandma and Grandpa will watch it.

 We think the "E" stands for "Erin" and not "Everett."

Easter Report

 We colored eggs...including a couple of fresh eggs from a friend.

Erin Joy refused to color her special egg. She is convinced there is a chick inside of her egg. She kept it warm a few days in her room until I made her take it outside. (Stinky, rotten eggs in her bedroom didn't sound good to me.) She has been keeping it warm with leaves outside. I tried to convince her that her special egg would never grow a chick because it wasn't fertilized by a rooster. (My friend has hens and no rooster.) She doesn't believe me. She keeps checking on her egg every day.

Sorry the picture is sideways. I give up trying to turn it around.

 Here is my attempt at fruit art. It's a bunny...in case you can't tell.

We had a fun Easter egg hunt at a fun campground down the road. It is a great place to hide eggs. We lost a few last year and three this year. I hope some camper enjoys three plastic eggs. Oops.

 I sure wish I could post pictures of my little one. She's the cute one all distorted in the front of this picture. I love this picture place. Nothing like a hollow tree to make a fun picture.

 Notice the butterfly on her hand....she had a lot of fun with it.

 The forest makes a great hiding place for eggs.

 Silly girls showing their best bunny pose.

 The Easter Spider comes every year and leaves a yarn trail from each girl's bed.

 After following the trail, they are eventually led to a clue that leads to their basket. It is a very fun fairly new tradition that was introduced to us by our cousins.

 We also went to an egg hunt at a local church. There were also bouncy houses, animals to pet, and craft projects.

And of course....Easter dress to wear to church where we will learn the true meaning of Easter. Certainly not the bunnies or the eggs.

Notice the great flower box....purchased to help foster kids go to camp. 

Happy Easter!

spring break in AZ, NM, TX

We discovered that they don't have speed bumps in Arizona...they have speed cushions and speed humps. 

These pictures are all out of order and I'm tired of trying to fix them. I'll just write about them as they come up.

The following pictures were taken at Saguaro National Park near Tucson. I fell in love with Saguaro cacti. They are amazingly beautiful and so interesting. I never realized how old they are and how long it takes them to grow. Their first "arm" doesn't grow until they are 75 years old. I also learned that a "nurse tree" in the Sonoran Desert is very different than a "nurse log" in the Pacific Northwest. A young saguaro must spend the first years of its life under the protection of the Palo Verde tree in order to reach adulthood. The saguaro will live much longer than a Palo Verde tree. After the tree dies, the cactus keeps growing. The Palo Verde trees are beautiful tree with green bark and yellow flowers.

Here are a few pictures of the beautiful houses and plants growing around my aunt and uncle's home in Phoenix...

Nothing is better than a fresh citrus fruit picked from a tree. Yummy!!

At first, I thought this ocotillo (I hoped I spelled that right) plant was kind of ugly, but after seeing it over and over, I decided I really like it.

We learned that a woodpecker or flicker makes holes in the saguaro and other animals take advantage of the holes. There is a "boot" behind each hole which makes a perfect nest. I now understand the kid's book "Cactus Hotel."

The hill behind my aunt and uncle's house...

I loved watching all the hummingbirds who were frequent visitors.

Rachel had fun at a Diamondback game with her grandpa and cousins while grandma and I went to the zoo with the younger kids.

Erin and this baboon became friends.

The kids rode camels.

Don't I have cute nephews!

The cacti were in bloom. It was absolutely beautiful everywhere we went.

One of the highlights of our trip was the Chihuly glass at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Montezuma's Castle....

Slide rock...very fun...very cold water....

View from the top of the hill behind my aunt and uncle's home...

pecan pie made from fresh pecans...

Temples from our little temple tour....

We were so excited to see the dress rehearsal of the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant.  It was so well done. What a fabulous dramatization of the life of our Savior.

The pageant was the last night of our trip. We literally left the pageant and drove straight to the airport. The following pictures were from the beginning of our trip. Definitely out of order.

This Mountain is seriously a National Park?  I have never seen such a boring National Park as the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I guess after miles and miles of boring desert they had to make a national park out of the only mountain in the area? Strange.

We loved Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

Erin Joy just had to buy a stuffed animal as her souvenir of course. This raccoon was eventually joined by a stuffed owl and both stuffed animals accompanied her everywhere. She is still sleeping with them every night (along with about 50 other stuffed animals...)

Pancho Villa state park....

Old Tucson....these pictures were taken the same day as the Saguaro National Park pictures at the beginning of this post. Definitely out of order....

Old Tucson was so fun and very interesting. Over 300 movies and 700 TV episodes have been filmed here and it is still being used as a movie set. Old Tucson was definitely a favorite of my children.

We loved our stage coach ride.

The kids love the few carnival-type rides.

Panning for "gold" was a lot of fun.

Spring break was so fun! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all the fun memories you helped us create in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.