Spring Break Fun 2016

We decided we didn't want to go to far away for Spring Break.  So we got our timeshares down in Bear Lake and went there for a week.  It was a lot of fun.  It was also the begining of March Madness so of course Scott and I sat watching the games all day long.  The 1st Friday and Saturday we were there we let Rachel do whatever she wanted to do.  She had a TV in her room and so she watched TV, played in the jetted tub, and anything else she wanted to do as long as we got to watch our basketball games. 

 This was the bubble bath she had in the jetted tub.  She had so much fun.

 In between games we decided to take a walk so Rachel could get out away from the TV for a few minutes.  She's loving all the TV time because we have stuck strictly to the 30 mins of screen time being in the brain balance center.

 This was my view most of the weekend because I LOVE March Madness and I LOVE watching all the games even if my brackets get blown up usually by the 2nd round.  It so fun to see the under dogs take out the big dogs.

It was funny while we were swimming we ended up seeing lots of people from our ward there also.  There was Hardy's, Ellis', Ward's, and the Sutton's.  We actually ended up playing games with the Ward's and the Sutton's.  It was lots of fun.  

 On Tuesday we had a recheck at the Brain Balance Center.  So we decided we would make the most of the day by trying to hit as many temple grounds as we could.  So we got up and headed out by 8:00 am.  This was one of the canyons coming out to Bear Lake.  Isn't it gorgeous.

 1st temple we hit was Logan. 

2nd temple

 Brigham City Temple.  Not getting the hang of this selfie stick and then also trying to get the words so you can tell which temple each one is.  Oh well you get the jest.

3rd - Ogden Temple

4 - Bountifu

Of course we had to get this one because this is the one we got married in 12 years ago.

Kissing.  Rachel took this picture.  It's actually not to bad.

5th - Jordan River Temple.  

It was under construction so this was the closest we got to the temple grounds.  There's a big back hoe behind Scott.

6th - Oquirrh Mountain

We still had a little bit so we decided to hit the Oquirrh Mountain Temple before we went to the Brain Balance.   My daughter is crazy and wouldn't wear her jacket so she's actually freezing even though she was trying to say it wasn't that cold.

We headed to the Brain Balance for a recheck and were completely disappointed that she still had all but two of her primitive reflexes.  The gal said she is close on some of them but that they were still showing.  So another three months of exercises.  Blah!!!!

7th - Draper

The next temple we hit was Draper.  This one is up on a hill and surrounded by gorgeous mansions.  So of course after looking at the temple we went and looked at the houses that were around it.  

8th - Mount Timpanogos 

This one took awhile to find and you can't see it until you round the corner.

We decided to leave the Salt Lake Temple for last because we wanted to actually be able to spend lots of time at Temple Square also.

 9 - Salt Lake City Temple & Temple Square

 The temple off the reflection pond.

 The Christus in the visitor center.  Rachel loved it and was in ah of it.  She also talked with a missionary from Australia.  She was asking some really good questions.  Needless to say the missionary was very impressed with them.  She talked us into going to the Pioneer History Center to see the first vision story on the big screen.  It was so cool but I have to say it totally made me sick.  I felt like I was in a simulation ride.  After that we headed back to Bear Lake.  It was an all day adventure but sure was fun.

 On one day we decided to take a drive around the lake.  I have never driven around Bear Lake.  We ended up finding these really cool ice blocks that had come ashore.  They were really hard as I fell and slipped on one and totally scrapped my leg and my hands.  Rachel thought it was really cool also.

We finished with seeing some of these along the East side of the lake.  I guess there really are deer over there. 

Inside Practice

When it's cold outside and your daughter wants to practice catching the ball we go downstairs into the basement and play catch.  She loves it. 

Isn't she cute.  Trying to catch but mostly she has the throwing down.

Time Out for Women 2016 - Idaho Falls

This year I went to TOFW with my mom, Scott's mom, and Scott's aunt Patty.  It was alot of fun.  We went to Idaho Falls this year and got a hotel room for the night.  We left early during the day so that we could stop in Blackfoot at the wood store to get some more crafts.  After that we went to Idaho Falls and had to hit all the craft stores there because Scott's mom decided she wanted to make jars like I have.  After that we went to eat at Johnny Carino's.  It was yummy as always.  I then dropped everyone off at the door because we had mom's wheelchair with us and so I knew I would be parking far away from the Civic Auditorium.  When I got in there I couldn't find where they had gone.  I kept asking where the wheel chairs were going to be at.  I finally saw Scott's mom and she told me we were up in the orchestra section.  I was completely shocked.  We had the best sheets in the house.  Friday night we had Hilary Weeks as the musical entertainment.  Mary Cook and Michael McLean were the presenters.

 Me & my Mom

 Hilary Weeks - Yes we are this close to the presenters.

 Michael McLean was so inspirational.  He talked about not filling like he was getting any answers from heaven for 9 years.  It was amazing to listen to him and realize that I can keep going even when it doesn't feel like I'm receiving any answers.

 Calee Reed was the musical entertainer for Saturday.  I knew a couple of her songs but I ended up loving all the songs that she sang. She has gone through her mom dying and not getting married until she was 30 and then getting divorced and now being a single mom raising a 3 year old. Amazing her spirit.

 These are the Saturday Presenters - Mary Ellen Edmunds, Tim Ballard, Alissa Parker, Emily Watts, and Calee Reed.

 The woman decided to do a panel for us.  I didn't get a picture of Alissa Parker by herself but her story is about the Sandy Hook Shooting.  Her daughter was one of the kids killed in that classroom by the gun man.  There of course was not a dry eye in the house during her talk as she talked about her daughter, the events of that day and how she had to come to terms with her daughter's death and what she is doing on the other side of the veil.  

Time Ballard - He is the owner of Operation Underground Railroad.  He and his team are going into the face of evil and putting away child predators who are trafficking kids around the world. Crazy the stories he told us.  

 Yep I actually got to get pictures and talk to two of my favorite people.  Hilary Weeks and Michael McLean.  I had a perm-a-grin all night long.

Provo Temple Open House

I really wanted to go down to the Provo Temple Open House so I talked with both sides of the family to see if anyone wanted to go.  All of my family decided it would be fun to go see it together.  So I tried to set up an appointment for Rachel to get a recheck at the brain balance center but Sydney ended up quitting and so they cancelled it until March 23 during our spring break.  We ended up leaving around 10:15 from mom and dad's house.  We took Jared and Trenton so that Mom and Dad could fit into Paul's vehicle and didn't have to drive by themselves.

 Pilot & Co-Pilot

 The three kids in the back seat.

Paul and my parents decided they were going to stop at Maddox to get some lunch.  We had to stop at the rest area so we just met them there.  It seems like it took forever to get their food.

We ended up leaving and headed to Sconecutter because we had told Damian we were going to be there at 1:00 and now it was going to be 1:30.  I was starving by the time we got there but of course it was delicious as always.  After lunch we headed to our hotel so that we could get changed for the temple.  That's when we found out the pool was closed.  We were kind of ticked but was like whatever.  We then had to wait for Paul to go to Walmart because Matthew forgot to bring any church pants with his church clothes.  So finally we headed to Provo around 3:30.

 I took this right as we got to the temple and were walking from the parking lot that we parked in. We actually got into line about 1/2 an hour early.  So that was nice.

 Waiting in line.  Everyone was still happy at this point.  The wait ended up not being as bad as I had heard it would be.  Some people had waited up to four hours to get through the temple.   We only had to wait about forty five minutes before we started into the temple.

 The rest of our group that I didn't get in the first picture.

 The start of the tour.  They even wrapped mom's wheelchair wheels with plastic wrap.  They have it worked out to a science though so she didn't even have to get out of the chair.

 The outside of the temple.  So gorgeous.

 Family picture

 Of course we had to get one of just Rachel by herself.  

After that we ended up eating at Chuck A Rama.  We headed back to the hotel and were happy to see that they had the swimming pool back up and in working order.  I was watching the BYU men's vball game and then we went to the pool.  The kids of a ball while the adults hung out talking and soaking between the hot tub and the pool. It was a great day.