"The cold never bothered me anyway..."

Ice Castles in Midway near Park City has been on my bucket list for a long time. Every December I tell myself I'm going to make it happen "this year"...but then because the operating dates are dependent on weather, I have to wait to make an appointment. And either I completely forget, or by the time I get on their website our schedules don't align with dates they still have available, or it's already March of a dry and warm winter and they are closing early. "This year" I was a little more determined, deciding that I'd also make it a big family event and invite all the older kiddos as well. And though that meant an even trickier time finding a day that would work for all seven of us (Brandon down in Cedar City wasn't able to make it) we got it scheduled and tickets purchased! 

The appointed day arrived and it was snowing. All day and fairly heavily. I was a bit distressed over this. Because although yes, this is a winter activity and snow is very much part of the equation, I was worried that if the actively falling snow was too heavy they might just close the place down for the evening. And wouldn't that just be my luck?

The drive through Parley's Canyon was a bit dicey at times, but by the time we made it to the Ice Castles, the snow was falling lightly and prettily and rather perfectly for a winter activity like this. Honestly, it felt a bit like we were hanging out in a snow globe. We had timed our reservations for our arrival to still be in the light so we could get a full view of the natural snow and ice, with sunset fast falling so we could also take advantage of the colored lights within the ice that come on after dark. 

It was truly beautiful. We so enjoyed our little winter adventure up in the ice and snow. I'm so glad that "this year" ended up actually being this year. 

A month's worth of Easter

Easter kind of felt like it encompassed the whole month of April, much to my deep satisfaction and joy. All four Sundays were a spiritual feast. Though the main Lamb of God performances had finished, I had been selected to perform the work at the MTC in Provo one Sunday evening, and then again at the Utah State Prison another Sunday. Both of these experiences left me humbled, emotional, and extremely thankful. They just added to the testimony building that had already happened the month before during the traditional Lamb of God concerts. But in addition to those two weekends, we also had General Conference at the beginning of the month...and then of course, Easter Sunday itself. My heart was just so full.

Easter Sunday was indeed lovely. I had filled my home with daffodils, tulips and lilies. All of my children, including our cute married couple who decided somewhat last minute to come down for the weekend, woke up to baskets filled with spring goodies. We dressed in our Easter finery and attended our church meetings which of course, being Easter, were wonderful. I was asked ahead of time to share an experience in Sunday School to do with feeling the Savior's love and had the opportunity to talk a bit about some of the insights I'd had while rehearsing and performing Lamb of God.

Because we were trying to accommodate three family's Easter celebrations (Croft, Braden and DiReda) it was decided to color Easter eggs immediately after church. Two years ago, before Rebekah and Tanner were even engaged and when Julianne and Jordan were dating before her mission, we colored Easter eggs together and took a picture of the event. We decided it would be fun to recreate that picture even down to Brandon in the background drinking out of a water bottle. 

2019

2017

After dying eggs Rebekah and Tanner left to join the Braden's for Easter dinner. Julianne and Jordan stayed for a bit longer but then headed over to the DiReda's extended family celebration already in progress. We made sure to take a picture of them all before they left. It's quickly become one of my all time favorites.

We weren't entirely sure who we'd get for dinner and were completely prepared for a smaller meal of four people or a bigger one of up to eight. By the time I finished cooking our Easter feast a few hours later, we sat down with Bryan, Lilian, Brandon and myself. And it really was a lovely, peaceful meal. (Julianne and Jordan came back and joined us for strawberry shortcake dessert later in the evening.) Truly, it was a beautiful day...a beautiful month full of Easter-like Sundays. What a treat for the month of April.

Spring Break staycation style

Every spring break I always talk big about doing a trip of some sort. And most every year when all is said and done, we end up doing a staycation. Lately it's due to the fact that between USU, UVU and Davis District, all of us have completely different weeks off for spring break! Makes it a bit difficult to plan anything that will involve all of us, as you can imagine. But hey, staycations are pretty fun and we enjoyed our little adventures around town.

Monday we drove up to Crystal Hot Springs...a place I had never been, believe it or not. It's completely bizarre to put on a swimsuit and venture outside in 40 degree weather, only to feel overheated shortly after climbing into those hot springs. Truth be told, Bryan was in his element. He is not a fan of cooler swimming pools, even if it's 100 degrees outside. He's pretty adamant that if he's going to take a dip in a pool, it really should be on the upside of 90 degrees always. (Well, unless he's chasing waves in the ocean. The waves makes the cooler temps worth it.) Brandon however could hardly stand the heat and spent much of his time only submerging the lower half of his body. It was nice that there were many pools, some not quite as hot as others so we could each find one that felt comfortable. I really enjoyed it. I wouldn't mind heading up there again sometime, even if on my own, just to soak for a few hours. Felt really good.

Another day we checked out the Last Course dessert restaurant that has recently opened nearby. Oh my, I'm conflicted about this new place. My taste buds are thrilled, but my waistline might object.

Lilian and I got fish pedicures at the Seaquest Aquarium one day. I have the most ticklish feet on the planet, but somehow this I can handle...barely. It's the strangest sensation, but oh, how soft our feet were afterwards!

Lilian and I did some mini-golfing one day, and then also took in a movie, some shopping and lunch at Marie Callendars.

And we bookended our spring break week with a couple of birthday celebrations for Tanner and Oscar at the beginning...

...and ended with General Conference. Julianne and Jordan even got to attend one of the sessions in the Conference Center downtown.
Overall, it was just the right balance between fun activities and plenty of relaxing time. Just what a spring break should be, yes?