Spring Break at Warp Speed.

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD

I could have broken this out into several posts, but decided to just cram it all in one, as my time to blog is seriously so limited.

I'll try to keep the commentary brief and to-the-point.

Friday, March 18

Our trip started like this: 

 Of course. Typical of CO to dump snow after two weeks of sunshine on the very day Spring Break started. (Just a few days later they had the blizzard of the decade... so glad we missed it!)

Mar got some driving time in, which meant...

...I actually got to watch a movie! So plush to ride in the back amongst the pillows and watch a show. 

Kids these days have road trippin' EASY. This is the life.

Saturday, March 19

We had a house-warming party for the Andersons.

 LOVE their new crib, and LOVE that it's a bit closer than their old one.

After the party was over, Scarlett was ready for a nice massage.

Sunday, March 20

Provo City Center Temple Dedication

 This was an added bonus for us... just good timing!

That evening we had a family game night. LOVE spending time with my people!

Monday, March 21

A girls day-excursion to the Aquarium.

 Scarlett did not want to be photographed at the time. Hah.

This is Scarlett's I'm-ready-for-a-picture cheesy face. LOVE HER.

Added bonus: we ran into our cousin Lincoln who was there on a school field trip.

Afterwards we hit up JCW's for lunch...

... did a Provo City Center Temple drive-by... sooooo beautiful!

And hit the Target for a good 2-1/2 hours.

Tuesday, March 22

We took the long drive to Visalia... but we started bright and early (3:30 am... only because I couldn't sleep), so it made the trip seem faster because we got there so early.

Thursday, March 24

Craft Day, amongst other things.

These girls had decided to all make custom Minnie ears for Disneyland, so after a run to the nearest Joann's the day prior, we sat down and banged them out. Little did we know that we were saving boatloads of money vs. purchasing them at the park, and it caused me to reminisce about the old days when Jill and I would craft away on wood projects every time we came to visit. Ahhhhh... such good memories.

Friday, March 25

Day trip to Yosemite

 Bill and Stan took the day off of work, we loaded up Stan's truck with lunch and people, and headed out. 

 Can I just say AMAZING? BEAUTIFUL? BREATHTAKING?

Bridal Veil Falls

El Capitan (phone pic, btw, no filter)

Yosemite Falls

Half Dome

Another phone pic, no filter. Can you believe the beauty?

Note: I have a really funny story to share about our lunch here, but will write about "What We Ate" at another time. Soon, I promise, as food was such a big part of our Spring Break adventures, it deserves it's own post.

Saturday, March 26

Visalia Farmer's Market

We have Farmer's Markets in CO, but my local one only occurs on Sundays, so we have never been. I can only imagine, however, that CO produce looks nothing like CA produce. YUM!

The girls 4-wheeled around the pecan orchard.

And Bill acted as pool boy, just for fun.

 This was the first time we have been to the Feil's home since they had their landscaping done and their pool put it. All I can say is WOW. Their front and back yards are the stuff of home magazines. It was soooo fun to be able to enjoy their better-than-resort-because-it's-private amenities!

Sunday, March 27

Easter

 I had seen this idea on Pinterest years back, so we decided to give it a try. Basically, you string yarn all over the house leading to the hidden Easter baskets... and the Feils have the perfect house for such a thing. With 9am church, the girls had gotten up and ready before the hunt.

 This, we decided, was super fun, but would be great with even more kids. Definitely doing it again (I am anticipating Easters with a lot o' grandchildren someday!).

That evening we loaded up Stan's truck again and made the trek to Anaheim.

We met up with the rest of the fam at the hotel, where Marty and Meredith let us play with their boomerang light toys (not exactly sure what they are called, but they are really really cool).

(Note those empty parking spots... little did we know we would not be seeing them again haha.)

Monday, March 28

Disney

 It was a cool, rainy morning as we made our journey across the street to Disney.

Looking back, it was kind of nice to start on such a day, as it helped a bit with crowd control.

The thing I noticed most changed about Disneyland (our last two visits there were in 2008 and 1998) was the lack of character sightings. We were flat out lucky to have seen Minnie (the older girls weren't with us at the time... such a bummer), at such an opportune time as to only wait a few minutes to get a pic with her. Other than Minnie, I saw the backs of Alice and the Mad Hatter (as they briskly were walking to wherever they were going), Mary Poppins and Bert (again, walking somewhere briskly), Peter Pan from a distance (by the Teacups), and Lightening McQueen. 

Oh, and we saw Winnie-the-Pooh in the same area we saw Tigger last time,

(circa 2008)

but he had a line a mile long for photo ops. We decided that Disney's best form of crowd control is to keep people in lines. Long, long lines. Standing. Endlessly standing. Haha.

 (My post title is a shout out to Matt... check out his shirt)

It was super fun to finally run into our old friends the Thomases!

Mindy and I had texted back and forth a few times throughout the day, but we were in opposite parks for most of the time. Finally, as we were making a bathroom stop with our large group, we saw them. 

Yay for old friends and running into someone you know at Disneyland!

It was Lincoln's 8th birthday, so that evening we went to The Cheesecake Factory to help him celebrate. It was a welcome relief for our feet.

Tuesday, March 29

Day 2 in Disney

 Pretty much our favorite ride: Radiator Springs.

 (I love this pic... my mom, Matt, Marty, and my dad were in the car racing us... but the single rider in the front kind of makes this entire photo, don't you think?!)

As per my SIL Robyn's suggestion, we played a lot o' Head's Up while we were waiting in lines.

So fun.

I had to snap a pic by It's a Small World, which had been closed the previous two times we had visited Disneyland. 

 The only other time we have gone on that ride was on our honeymoon, and I have a non-digital-pasted-in-a-scrapbook picture of Bill circa 1988 in this same location. Back in the old days there wasn't that extension above the railing, so we couldn't recreate the picture of Bill sitting on it. This is close enough, right?

This was our final ride before heading home... we ALL got on at the same time.

A short clip of The Last Ride:
Unfortunately, I did an inadvertent camera zoom directly into Stan's shirt after going through a dark tunnel, so I cut the rest out. You get the idea, though. Soooooo fun.

Wednesday, March 30

Recovery Day.

Thursday, March 31

Visiting the Sequoias.

 Again, breathtaking beauty on the ride up and back, and these trees are flat-out impressive.

(This picture is in front of a smallish Sequoia... that's quite a ways behind us. It's so hard to capture the massiveness of these amazing trees in a photo.)

 In case you didn't know, the Sherman tree is the largest tree on the face of the earth.

That's pretty darn special.

The evening was spent around the fire, making s'mores and visiting.

Friday, April 1

Fool's Day.

Spent making the long journey back to UT.

We were welcomed warmly by Wonderful Sweet Scarlett. LOVE HER.

Saturday, April 2

General Conference with the fam

That evening the boys all headed out to the Priesthood session, then stopped by Wingshack for dinner.

We girls went to dinner, too,

then shopped-til-we-dropped for a few items to send to Lolo in her birthday package.

Sunday, April 3

Back to Reality

After watching the morning session of Conference with this darling family (bummed about the blurry pic), Bill, Mar and I hopped in the car to make the long drive home to CO.

My rough estimate is 55 hours in the car total, not counting running around in between.

TOTALLY WORTH IT.

The Final Final Countdown.

Mar was doing the happy dance when she put the sticker on the countdown today... me too!

I went through the fridge and rounded up all the fruits and veggies

and juiced the bejeebers out of them.

Red and green... so pretty!

We'll be downing those in the next 24 hours... (already had the green juice this morning).

Things I've learned about juicing juices:

Green juices are generally not very tasty.

When you juice cabbage, kale, and celery... 

it tastes like cabbage, kale, and celery,
even if you add an apple, a lemon, some ginger, and a few jalapenos.

I'm sure the carrot, beet, orange, grapefruit juice will be tastier.

To life, to life, l'chaim!

28 Years of Togetherness.

I'm pressed for time, as usual, but figured since I've already adjusted the size of these pics to send via email to Lex and Lo, that I might as well throw them up here before the rest of the week is gobbled up in Spring Break trip planning/packing/traveling.

Our anniversary was Saturday. Can't really say we celebrated it, because we were a little busy.

Bill and Mar spent most of the day in CoSprings for the St. Patty's Day parade.

I hung out at home with Lex while Jason went to a job interview. They had flown in from UT late Friday night and were heading back early Sunday evening. Plus they had daylight savings thrown in, just for fun.

When Bill and Mar came back from the parade, they brought another bunch of flowers and Bill set about arranging them. Once again, beautiful. Thanks, baby!

(I neglected to snap a picture until today... TUESDAY. Still so pretty!)

Sunday was... Sunday. Uplifting. Edifying. And so so full.

Bill left early for his 5:30am meeting (no pushing that back even if it IS daylight savings Sunday), and returned home later that day just in time to grill up some steaks for dinner before driving Lex and Jason to the airport. (Did I mention he was also the main speaker in sacrament meeting?)

Just so we would remember this lightning fast trip for Lex and Jase (which could possibly lead to a job here in CO??), we snapped a few pics before heading out. We figured they could count as our anniversary pics as well.

It's been a good 28 years, full of all sorts of loving, learning, and growing. 

I wouldn't change it for anything.

Happy Spring Break!

Off Part 2.

I've been a bit "off" lately. More cranky. More out of sorts.

Things I've attributed it to:

Cutting way way back on my daily/weekly candy/sugar intake.

Plantar fasciitis + a whole lot o' foot pain.

Eating (and drinking) things that are "healthy" but don't necessarily taste great.

Exercising more, eating right, but NOT losing weight and dealing with ridiculous foot pain (telling myself to "embrace the pain"... it is, after all, JUST PAIN).

Tapering off my anxiety/depression medication (I'll bet you think that's it, don't you? I know Billy-my-hero does).

Stopping my arthritis medication cold turkey (I checked it out - it's okay to do that).

Waiting, not-so-patiently, for a break from the day-to-day.

Missing being near the majority of my children and my only grandchild.

This morning I started out grumpy again.

I've been wearing my foot brace at night for as long as I can tolerate it, but that's usually only a couple hours at most. Before I get out of bed I do a routine of foot exercises - and when you have a post-midlife bladder, it's tricky to git 'er done before putting your full weight on your feet so you can hit the bathroom asap. I haven't exercised this week because I haven't had the time and/or the constitution to battle through the pain.

I had a verbal tussle with Bill.

I was feeling frustrated and under-appreciated.

And my foot hurt.

After Bill left for work, I sat down to make a work-out schedule and printed out some basic exercises. Still feeling off, I headed upstairs to do some stretching/yoga in the sunlight flooding through my bedroom window (sunlight helps elevate your mood, you know). That dang foot still hurt. I said a prayer (the fourth or fifth of the day so far). It was one of those prayers where you say, "Really? Am I really going to have to live with this for the rest of my life? What more can I do?" Kinda ironic, since during our scripture time last night Mar and I started reading about Job. 

I asked for help. I asked for answers. I asked for forgiveness for my crankiness.

As I sat in the sunlight, I started to massage my foot. At the initial diagnosis of plantar fasciitis, both feet were in similar pain. My right foot hardly bothers me at all now, and I've felt that the pain in my left foot has changed.
Bill has asked on several occasions "Is it muscular? Is it the tendons? Is it joint pain?" 

I DON'T KNOW.

During this mini-massage session (no, this is not a relaxing and enjoyable kind of massage), it dawned on me that the source of the pain seemed to be on the top of my foot near the center, which triggered a memory.

Over a year ago I had broken the middle toe on that foot (reminder here).

I had gone to a different podiatrist/orthopedic specialist at the time (hated him, which is why I didn't go back once I thought my toe was healed). Later, when my plantar fasciitis pain worsened (and on recommendation from my rheumatologist that I see a podiatrist), I asked friends for a referral of a trusted doctor, who has since treated my plantar fasciitis with knowledge and skill. I'm not sure I ever mentioned to him that I had {somewhat recently} broken my toe (seriously, that seems like soooooo long ago).

Since today's enlightenment (which I can only attribute as an answer to my desperate prayer), I feel like dancing (not really, my foot hurts) and jumping up and down (mentally, of course). I once again feel hopeful that NO, I won't have to live with this {ridiculous pain, limping and hobbling around} for the rest of my life. Yes, I may be able to run and not be weary {from pain}, and walk and not faint {on the couch because I just can't take it anymore}.

It is a tender mercy. An answer via personal revelation from a loving Heavenly Father. A new hope (not in a Star Wars kind of way haha). "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." With this in mind, I can endure carefully until I meet with my doctor (after Spring Break).

Feeling loved,

The First 48, Weekly Recap, and the Final Countdown.

Last Wednesday (my birthday), I worked 9 hours, and these beautiful peeps got flowers to welcome me home after a long day. I think Bill is enjoying his newfound skill of flower arranging (channeling his lil bro Brian). This arrangement was just as amazing as the last (Valentine's Day), but about half the cost (I love it when Bill shares those details because he knows I love a good deal). 

We celebrated around 10pm. Thanks to a generous, sweet gift from a friend, we had raspberry rolls from Kneaders in place of birthday cake. YUM.

(I had to snap a few pics of those flowers almost a week later... I'm telling you, those lilies are amazing!)

I was also showered with lovely gifts from dear friends, several of which were also flowers.

Love them.

Loved all the sweet calls and messages from my fam, too.

The first 48 have been good. Very very good. I am so blessed!!

Friday of last week I walked into my bedroom and spotted an OWL in our tree in the backyard. I swear that I had just that very day (or maybe the day before) thought about how cool it is that, here in CO, we literally have wildlife all around us. I have seen {hundreds of} deer, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, {hundreds of} bunnies, squirrels, bear, and all sorts of fowl. But this was the very first time I have seen an OWL IN MY YARD. So cool.

 Hello, owl.

On Saturday, Mar participated in the National Federation of Music Clubs Festival. She and her friend Addy performed two duet numbers. The goal was to get a "Superior" rating, which would then allow them to go to State. All this intense piano stuff is new to me, so I'm not sure how it all works. I had a RS meeting that morning, so Bill got up nice and early to get the girls where they needed to be.

They did it - a Superior rating! Way to go, girls!

Last week Britt and Austin closed on their new house.

They moved in this past weekend, and we are counting down the days to Spring Break so we can initiate the new place with visitors!

Here we come, Wonderful Sweet Scarlett 
(she actually said "Grandpa" and "Gigi" on our video chat Sunday night!!)!

After a few days in UT, Bill, Mar and I are heading to CA to spend some time with our cousins.

 woot! woot!

The last time we went to CA, circa 2012 (just the girls and me):

(it was actually a good thing I looked through the pics, since my wardrobe has not changed much in the last 3+ years -- other than the things I've outgrown weight-wise haha. I have made a mental note not to pack the same things where possible!)

We also plan to spend a couple of days in the magical land of Disney. 

The last time Mar went was back in 2008.

 She tells us she can't remember much about it, so we figured we would give that last little girl at our house one more trip, for memory's sake.

Hopefully we will get a chance to get back to the beach, too!

And we'll be in CA for Easter again. It's crazy to look at this picture and realize that two of these kiddos are married (one is a mama), two are returned missionaries (one is engaged!), and two are currently serving missions. Time goes soooooooo fast.

Tomorrow we are down to single digits on the countdown! It's seriously what has kept Mar and I going the past few weeks. I can't wait!

Lex and Jason are coming THIS weekend for a job interview... my fingers are crossed that it will turn into a good enough option for them to come back to CO. I'm looking forward to the time with them even if it's only a couple days. We'll see them the following weekend, too (and two weekends after that...). I'm so excited for the break... two weeks away will be a welcomed reprieve from the day-to-day.
Life is good.

A Quick Update and a Word about Gifting.

I'm just trying to keep on top of things, so thought I would bang out a post.

Not that anything that exciting goes on in a routine week around here.

Last Monday Mar had a choir concert.

Nothing too exciting... very few solo parts (maybe a total of 3 between all 4 choirs), however one of those was performed by our somewhat new neighbor, Brandon. (He's the chick magnet from here.) I knew he was in the men's choir, but had no idea he could belt it out... in a deep voice even. He did an awesome job.

This was also the annual "guest performers" concert, so a group called T Minus 5 came. They are actually a group from Ogden, UT -- one of the group members is related to a LHS student (possibly a alum by now), that's how they came to Parker, CO. (I know, so random.) They had visited years back when Lo was a freshman, so we have seen them twice here in our neck of the woods. Needless to say, it made the concert go a tad longer. Our other neighbor Mace was selected out of the audience to participate in the show. She did a bang-up job, too.

These were the last of my Valentine's flowers. They lasted another day past this, then they went the way of all cut flowers. Ahhhhh, they were loved while they lasted.

On Saturday we made pancakes!! That may not be a big deal to you, but around here, it's a big deal. Especially when we don't even have company. Usually our Saturdays are sucked up by the Busy Monster, but last Saturday was a welcomed exception.

 These pancakes, btw, are the bomb. No, I am not a food stylist, nor do I want to take the time when a hot pancake is sitting on a plate to make it pretty for a picture. Trust me, they are delish (recipe here) and pretty darn healthy in terms of pancakes. We cooked them in a cast iron skillet, which, I believe, is the absolute best way to cook a pancake.

 I may or may not have smothered my healthy pancake in some of our leftover homemade raspberry jam from Jason and Lex's wedding (it's almost been a year!).

And we played a game or two of UNO while we ate because THIS KIND OF SATURDAY IS SO RARE. UNO has become our game as of late due to it's brevity and ease for 3 people to play.

Mar got this invitation on Friday...

...and attended the breakfast today. Mrs. Pickles (don't you just love that name?) is her Spanish teacher (who is actually a French teacher). Mar made this awesome Spanish video (remember your brownie-baking-instructional video, Britt?), and I think Mrs. Pickles liked it so much she just had to nominate Mar for her Student of the Quarter.

(Spanish video here:)

I dropped Mar off at school today with strict instructions to get a pic of her and Mrs. Pickles. 

Good work, Mar.

As for my latest obsession -- I got a juicer for my impending b-day.

I've watched a couple of documentaries lately (Food Matters and Hungry for Change), and since I'm NOT a hop-on-the-bandwagon kind of gal, mulled it over in my mind for a good week or two, and asked Billy-my-hero and Mar to watch the documentaries with me for their thoughts on the matter. Bill started watching one night and fell asleep in the first 3 minutes. They don't hold quite the appeal for him as his current fave THE FLASH, which he can stay up until the wee hours of the morning ON A WEEKNIGHT watching episode after episode after episode. (Who am I to judge, I watched the whole season of Poldark in less than a week!) Although it sounds like we have all the time in the world to watch TV shows and play UNO, I don't want to mislead you that life is a bowl of cherries around here. We are still so so busy... that's just our current form of decompression.

Back to the juicer.

I really really like it, can you tell?

I ordered it myself, then let Billy-my-hero know what he had gotten me for my birthday. Although he totally rocked it on Valentine's Day this year, there have been more times than I can count where he got something similar to what I wanted... just not quite the right thing (a favorite Big Billy quote: "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades") Examples: a Fresh Aire CD when I asked for Air Supply (that was back in the early 90's, folks), a Walmart candle when I wanted a Salt City or Yankee candle (yes, there is a difference), packages of computer paper when I asked for scrapbook paper, and I will never forget my first birthday we celebrated as a married couple when he showered me with Peeps because they were "my favorite candy"... (I have no idea where he got THAT idea). Needless to say, I have to be very, very specific, and often it just saves time and money to get my own. I BELIEVE THAT'S OKAY. What do you think?

Time is up today... it's a great month for a great month.