Ham, turkey, and all the fixings are the traditional Brown Easter dinner. We look forward to spending time with family on these special occasions. Hunting for Easter eggs in the orchard, is one of the best parts of Easter. Lots of great memories that will last a life time. The kids are growing up so fast, no more little ones other than great grands. We love the Brown's and are grateful to have them in our lives.
The vibrant colors of spring, made their way into dying Easter eggs. My kids may be a little too old to color eggs, but with a toddler in the house we have an excuse to do "little kid things". Who am I fooling though, we would probably color eggs anyway.
The Easter Bunny came, and as Elder Brown states, "It looks like you all had a blast with all of the usual Easter festivities! But man by the look of those baskets it looked more like Christmas than Easter!" The bunny was tired and had everything out by 9:00 p.m. Saturday night.
Creative Arts Academy presented This Is Our Time contemporary dance concert in April. Lizzy performed in Are We There Yet, and Time Heals All Wounds. Contemporary dancing is quite different than ballet, I am grateful that she chooses to do both. She did a great job!
Let it begin, the practices, the games, the snack shack, and the fun! I love Mueller Park Baseball. The neighborhood baseball fields are inciting to any athlete. They are close to home and a great place to gather with friends and family. No pressure here, just some neighborhood kids enjoying the sport of baseball.
Ben's first up to bat for the season he hit it to the fence. He played well up to bat, and on first base. Here's looking forward to a great 2014 season!
Saturday morning, at the spur of the moment, Meg, Lizzy, and I decided to hike to Ensign Peak. This has been on my bucket list for quite some time, so I was excited for the hike. We read on-line that it is an easy mile long hike. Hmm….I must not be a great hiker, because it wasn't that easy for me. Short hike yes, but easy? Maybe going down the mountain, but definitely not up.
On Utah.com, it say this about Ensign Peak:
"Ensign Peak is a prominent small mountain peak at the north end of the Salt Lake Valley, above the State Capitol building. From the top, you have marvelous views out over the Salt Lake Valley and Great Salt Lake.
Two days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and seven other pioneer leaders climbed the mountain to survey the valley. From its summit they laid out in their minds the city they intended to build. A small monument now sits on the summit."
A big thanks to Brother Brigham for a job well done!
I would love to hike this trail again at dusk or at night were you could see the beautiful sunset, or the stunning city lights.
This cute girl celebrated her 21st birthday in Malekua, Vanuata this year. This will be the one and only birthday celebrated in the mission field. She told me that in Vanuatu they don't celebrate birthdays because most people don't know when they were born. Fortunately, she was in Port Vila for training on her birthday, and was treated to an ice-cream cone by another Sister Missionary.
She loved her new birthday pillowcases and especially all the treats. The kids went wild when they saw all the candy. This is what she had to say:
"Thank you too much for all the birthday wishes! I officially feel old. I love my singing birthday card, and the birthday pillowcases are absolutely adorable! You always send creative things. I am glad that now that I am, 21 I wont be carted off to prison when I get home. I was a little worried there for a second. Police hate me for some reason.Thank you too much for sending all my taxes in...haha I am already wanted by the police when I get home as is, so thank you for not making it the FBI too!"
Sister Brown had received a speeding ticket, and plead abeyance to keep in good standing. That means you have to go 6 months without another traffic violation or the ticket comes back, and you are in trouble. Weeks before she left on her mission she got another ticket, voiding her abeyance pleading. Funny thing, she forgot to mention this important thing to her mother before leaving on her mission.
One day a constable came to my home, served me papers, that demanded that Katelyn and her parents appear in court. Of course that wasn't possible in many ways, so I called the Hearing Officer. She wanted to have a telephone conversation with Sister Brown. Since she was on the island of Tana at the time, and a telephone conversation was impossible, the officer was lenient, and let it go. She told me to tell Sister Brown not to drive on her mission, and that since she was turning 21 soon her allowable traffic points would increase and clear the problem up. We are glad that Sister Brown is now 21.
I miss this girl like crazy. She is so vivacious, funny, and keeps us all in line. We called her "the Boss", in Vanuatu they call her 'the Chief'. Whatever, you choose, she is full of life adventure, service, and has become a spiritual giant. I am sure Vanuatu won't be the same place when she is through there. Lover her!
I often tell my kids to embrace all the beautiful seasons of Utah. If it's winter, learn to love winter sports, if it is summer enjoy summer activities. Upon our return from Spring Break to sunny St. George, we were surprised to come home to a winter wonderland. It was snowing, and had snowed about 5 inches while we were gone.
Keeping to my motto of embracing all the seasons, Friday, I took the kids out of school for a ski day at Snow Basin. It was such a lovely day! The sky was a light blue, with the sun beaming brightly overhead. It was a day requiring light jackets only. For us, "fair weather" skiers, it was the perfect day.
Ben was excited to learn how to ski, until his skis were on and we were ready to go. His nerves got the best of him, and he opted out for awhile. He sat at the outdoor tables of the lodge waiting as Lizzy and I skied.
The resort was amazing, with magnificent scenery, and gorgeous lodges. We rode the high-speed gondola up to the top of the mountain to Needles Lodge for a delightful lunch. The views from the restaurant were spectacular. At the bottom nestled among the mountains was Pineview Reservoir, one of our favorite summertime destinations.
After lunch, Ben decided he wanted to join the fun. With the help of a fabulous, and very patient ski instructor, Ben learned to ski the bunny hill. We tested his skills a little further by trying him on Beckett, a much longer, and little more difficult run. It was a little too much, too fast for him.
We had a wonderful time skiing at Snow Basin.
Zion's National Park is a 45 minute drive from St. George. It is a stunning array of towering sandstone cliffs of cream, pink; red rocks; a dazzling river flowing throughout the canyon; plants, vegetation, trees abounding; and wild life scampering about. It is paradise for hikers, bikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Zions Canyon Scenic Drive is one of the most popular drives in Zion's National Park. With limited time, we took the drive, stopping off at Emeral Pools for a 3 mile hike. Emerald Pools is an enchanting hike with breathtaking scenery. Waterfalls, pools, and rock formations are among the few highlights. With Mason on Meagan's back, secured in a hiking backpack, we thought we would hike to the first pool. The scenery was stunning and created a desire for us to hike further. We soon came to the second pool, assessed our situation, and continued to the 3rd pool. The difficulty of the trail increases with each passing pool. I was amazed with Meg's ability to carry an extra 30 pound load over strenuous terrain.We rested at the third pool, absorbing the beauty that surrounded us.
We thoroughly enjoyed this enchanting hike, and will be back again someday to attempt other hikes in this beautiful place.
Sunday morning while we were getting ready for church, I heard a big crash in the bathroom where Ben was showering. I ran in to find the shower door shattered, pieces of glass all over Ben, and blood. He was crying, and I was unusually calm assessing the situation. I expected to see an artery severed or some other serious injury, but was pleasantly surprised to pick chucks of glass out of his hair and on his body and only find superficial wounds. After wrapping him in towels to keep him from shaking, and calming his nerves a little, he took another shower (in a different shower) to removed all the small pieces of glass and blood. I was so overcome with gratitude for small injuries, compared to what could have been. I quickly said a prayer of thanks for protecting cute Ben. What a blessing!
Since we missed church we went on a beautiful Sunday drive. We took a short drive through the flaming red rocks above the boulevard, for a scenic view of the city. The weather was a little volatile, so we remained in the car.
Towards evening the winds and rains dwindle and the sun shone brightly, we took the Chuckwalla Trail, to Turtle Wall. It was a beautiful hike with red rocks lining the trail. We were glad that we talked with some hikers about Turtle Wall, because even with the information we had, we walked right passed it.
Another beautiful day, in sunny St. George!
St. George was our destination for Spring Break. I love adventures and have really been looking forward to our trip. We were hoping to have our whole family with us (excluding the missionaries of course), but Sarah and Jordan have a cruise coming up and had to work. We were delighted that everyone else could come. Meg, Mase, Lizzy, Ben and I drove down in the Suburban. Quinn came later and left early due to work commitments.
Friday morning we set out for St. George. We were enjoying the drive, with Mason watching a show on the I-Pad, when all of a sudden he started puking. I quickly exited in Nephi, and stopped at a Flying J, to assist with the clean up. With 2 moms, we had things cleaned up and ready to go in no time at all. Thanks to Flying J for having Febreeze, and car fresheners, we made it to St. George without too much discomfort.
It's been quite some time since we have been to St. George. We love staying at Las Palmos, and were reminded of the good old days when were had access to a condo there anytime, and spent a lot of time there. It was a busy time at the resort, but a lot of fun. Sunshine and relaxation were abundant. We enjoyed swimming, hot tubing, playing basketball, roller blading, and most of all endless hiking trails. Each day we ventured out to experience another hike.
Our first hike was Lava Flow in Snow Canyon. The Lava Flow trail transverses fields of ancient lava, travelling through some picturesque view points, and ends at West Canyon Road. Along the trails are crevasses that you can climb into. We watched as others enjoyed them. We hiked up large rock formations to the top where there were spectacular views.
We always ended the day at the pool, dining out, or barbecuing.
Ben performed Ride the Wind by Bober for Federation and his Spring piano recital. He received a superior rating at federation and rocked it at his recital! Way to go Ben!
The 5th Grade Braves team has been together less than a year, but are blending nicely. They are learning to emphasize the strengths of each player. Last night we played the Speed team for the Division II AAU Championship. The boys' couldn't have been happier to pull off a win.
We are the champions!
After the big state championship win, the Utah State AAU Director extended an invitation to our boys to be Utah's representative at the tournament in Cocoa Beach Florida. This is the largest tournament every year with usually all 50 states represented.
Unfortunately, not enough of our team was able to make the commitment to play, so we won't be going this year.
