Spring Break!

We're winding up a fun family spring break. Last Saturday we flew into Jackson Hole, WY (I love flying in there, especially the steep descent!) We drove to Sugar City and spent the night with my parents and sister. They have quite a menagerie - - dog, cat, goats, guinea pigs and a tarantula. The goats are my favorite. I went out with my mom to help milk - - little did I know how hard it is! Well, not hard exactly, but you do have to get the technique right. I finally figured it out, but I was too slow, so my mom (who is a pro) took over. I also dared to drink the goat milk, and guess what, I couldn't even tell the difference between it and regular milk. Heidi made french toast with goat milk and fresh eggs from the chickens and it was fantastic!

Saturday night we had pizza and then the kids all had a music concert. Ethan played two piano pieces and also one on the guitar. He's learning the theme from "The Godfather," his first finger-picking song. He's very excited about it and has done a lot of practicing. Heidi announced that she would accompany Tallis and Beanie on the recorder on a song called, "To be a Master." I was expecting a churchy song. Imagine my surprise when I heard, "To be a master . . . Pokemon Master!"

Sunday we went to church - - Noah didn't make it through, but Ethan enjoyed meeting up with old friends in primary. The relief society lesson about eternal marriage was very well done. We came home and had a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Uncle Dan and cousin Zazzy came too, and we had a fun dinner table conversation and another concert. Zazzy joined in - - she's a great singer!

Scott and I left Monday morning. I'm so grateful to Mom and Dad and Heidi and Devan for taking good care of the kids while we were gone. We very rarely get to go away on our own, partly because Noah is hard to leave with people. But apparently he did just fine, and Ethan was a good helper. Both the kids were so excited to see their cousins and play "sesames" with them. They also got the game Uno Attack and had a 3 hour long marathon game. I wish we'd had more time to spend with Heidi and Mom and Dad - - we always have so much fun talking and laughing together. I'm so impressed with the service that Mom and Dad do - - one day a week at the temple and one or two days doing humanitarian work. That plus all their household responsibilities equals a whole lot of busy-ness! They also help with OneHeart and are always on hand to help neighbors in need. What a great example they are - - they don't just talke about making a difference, they actually do it.

Heidi and the kids are coming to stay for a couple of weeks after Kyle's wedding in May and I'm really looking forward to it. Heidi always has fun ideas of things to do, especially with regards to teaching our children. She bought a spanish teaching program for her kids and I'm looking forward to using it with Ethan as well.

Well Scott and I had a great deal - - a friend he knew from Carnival Cruise lines arranged for us to go on a "Cruise to Nowhere" - - when they launch a new ship they take it on a couple of inaugural sailings to both work the bugs out and to spread positive buzz, so they invite travel agents to go for free. The ship just goes out into the ocean and back without stopping anywhere (it's 2 nights). So we flew to Orange County, CA, spent the night, and then boarded the ship the next morning. Our hotel had a deal that if you were driving a hybrid you got free parking, so we rented a Prius. We put quite a few miles on it, and it only cost about 46 cents to fill the tank back up.

The ship, the Splendor, was very nice. Our room was small, but fine (except for the fact that we were right above the bar and had to listen to very loud music until the wee hours.) The first night we ate in the specialty restaurant with 2 other travel agents from Chicago. I wasn't sure how fun that would be, but we had a great time, chatted away like old friends. The food was superlative - - I had lobster and filet mignon with bearnaise sauce. I think I put on a couple of pounds while we were away.

The second night our dinner table companions were quieter, but we still enjoyed the food. Mostly it was just so nice to have some alone time with Scott. I really got lucky when I married such a great guy. He's a wonderful dad to Ethan and Noah, and he's just so much fun to be with. And it would be hard to find anyone that gets better deals!

We left the ship Thursday morning, flew through San Francisco into SLC, and drove to Sugar City. We quickly gathered up all (most) of the kids' scattered belongings, said thank you and goodbye (and see you in 6 weeks) and drove to Pocatello to spend the night with Scott's sister Cindy and her husband Tony. They have a lovely new home which I hadn't yet seen. Their daughter Amy, her husband and little girl, and Scott's parents all came for a wonderful breakfast in the morning. Cindy is an amazing cook and we had the best pancakes with currant syrup. Yum!

We drove to SLC and spent the night at the Grand America, where we still are. The Phoenix Suns are staying here as well (they're playing the Jazz tonight) and Scott and Brittany both saw Shaq. I'm bummed I missed that, he's one of the few pro b-ball players I could identify! Beebs and her Scott and kids met us this morning and we went to Hogle Zoo. I'd forgotten what a nice zoo it is! The kids had a great time, it wasn't too crowded, and it was beautiful weather, chilly but sunny. We had lunch at a fun Polynesian place and then came back to the hotel and the older kids went swimming. Beebs and I stayed in the room and chatted and watched Noah and Brennan play. I love Beebs, she's always so fun to be with and is so patient (her kids spilled 3 drinks at lunch and she barely flinched).

We're going home tomorrow, but it has been a very nice trip, so good to see family and spend good quality time together.