Bluebonnets!

So happy to discover this little bluebonnet field not far from our house! Of course I made the kids take pictures there. It's a Texas tradition!

Recent read

I’ve been reading a lot of nonfiction lately. My favorite was The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. He’s my favorite non fiction author. I’ve read all of his books and loved them all. His latest book is about WWII and Churchill’s time as prime minister. He gives a thrilling account of what it was like to live in England during 1940-41. I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to go to bed every night wondering if this was the night me and my family would be bombed.

Spring Break 2020

What a memorable and crazy week! Our spring break (March 9th-13th) started with a fun trip to the Houston Rodeo with the three youngest kids. Kyla and Avery were on Trek with the church youth group. The day after our trip to the rodeo, we found out that the rodeo was being cancelled because of Coronavirus concerns. We luckily caught the very last full day of the rodeo!! We had so much fun and I am so glad that we were able to make it in time! Then, we found out that our church was being cancelled! That includes Sunday worship services, meetings, and activities! So crazy! We ended this super unusual week with a trip to North Padre Island. Dan booked a cute little condo a block from the beach for my birthday. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the upper 70s. The beach water was a little chilly for me, but the kids loved it! The condo also had a heated pool that we enjoyed at night. So happy we were able to take this little trip as a family before things got crazier. While on our trip, we found out there is no school for the next couple of weeks! Kids were very excited about that!

we stopped briefly at the uss Lexington...taken with my cell phone

I didn't take my big camera to the rodeo so heres a few from my cell phone. Kids especially loved the carnival! (And Dan got his turkey leg!)

Wax Museum

Lorelei was Laura Ingalls Wilder for her school's Wax Museum. My mom recently gave her the Little House on the Prairie boxed set that we read as kids, and Lorelei has been reading them every night before bed. Her favorite book is Little House in the Big Woods. I loved reading these books when I was her age and it makes me so happy that she enjoys them too! She had to memorize a speech and make a little book on Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and accomplishments. She did such a good job on her speech! (I couldn't figure out how to upload it here, but I have it posted on Instagram.)

soccer

Kyla decided to try out for the high school soccer team this year and made it onto the JV team! She has never played on a soccer team before, so she was so excited to make the team. She missed a few of the games because she is also on the Varsity track team, and some of the meets were on the same day as soccer games. We sure enjoyed getting to see her play on the field!

Thanksgiving in St. George!

For Thanksgiving, we drove up to St. George Utah and stayed at some condos with all of Dan's family. We had such a fun trip and loved exploring that part of Southern Utah. We spent some time at Zion National Park, Snow Canyon State Park, Pioneer Park and Thunder Junction Park. The older boys also had fun at the local skate park. Our kids don't get to see their Utah cousins very often so this was such a special time. Wish we lived closer to everyone! Here's just a few photos from our trip...

We only had a couple hours at Snow Canyon State Park, but could have easily spent a whole day exploring. The landscape and rock formations are breathtaking!

inside Jenny's Cavern at Snow Canyon state park

We loved Pioneer Park! The kids had a blast climbing all over the red rock formations and exploring. There are tons of little caves, a slot canyon and two little arches. There's also incredible views of the city.

We also went to a really nice city park with dinosaur playground equipment, train ride, and volcano that erupts every 15 minutes. So much fun for the kids! Basically like a small theme park and for free!

Zion National Park was so beautiful! Wish we would have had more time there. We took the shuttle bus through the park and got out at the last stop to hike to the entrance to the Narrows.

a few more photos of Zion National Park from my cell phone...

Such an amazing trip! Loved spending time with family and exploring beautiful southern Utah. We took the scenic route on the way home and stopped at Cliff Dwellers, and Navajo bridge which is located at the northeast portion of the Grand Canyon. The Colorado River flows under Navajo Bridge. Beautiful views!