No clue what to do

 I am late for work, waiting for the water guys to come and fix a big problem.  I was leaving for work this morning and went out to the car and saw a flood.  I called a few people, and was told someone would be here soon to fix this broken secondary water pipe.  I am grateful it was a pretty simple fix for me.  I don't know how to own a home anymore, it is stressful.  Luckily Shannon will be home in a few months.  

Weekend Adventure

 In March I was feeling a little bit of an itch to get away for a weekend.  I looked ahead and saw a 3 day weekend in April and got with Grace and a trip to Phoenix was planned.  I am not much of a traveler, but if I do say so myself, I (with Grace's help) planned a pretty fun weekend adventure.  We took off early from work/school on Thursday and flew home on Sunday.  Now Phoenix wouldn't normally be a vacation destination for me with the heat, but I heard April was a great time to go.  The weather was actually beautiful.  I was nervous, but Gator wore a sweatshirt in the evenings and the days were warm and sunny, but not hot.  It even rained really hard on Friday night, which was actually scarey to drive in, but we made it.  We went to the Phoenix Temple, the Mesa Temple, a botanical garden, the zoo, and an aquarium.  The zoo was actually disappointing.  I am so glad we didn't end the trip on that.  The botanical garden was really cool.  There were some beautiful wild flowers, butterflys, and tons of huge cactuses.  I absolutly loved the Mesa Temple grounds.  The town of Mesa made us a little nervous, but the temple grounds were the prettiest I have seen I think.  But then I don't know, because temples all have beautiful grounds.  The aquarium was a little bit of an after thought, but I am so glad we went.  I actually wish we would've skipped the zoo, and hung out at the Arizona Boardwalk all day.  There was a ton of stuff to do there and we only had a couple hours to walk around there, but it was a great place to end our trip Saturday evening.  We ate way too much, slept way too little, and walked a ton.  We had so much fun on our little weekend adventure. 

 It was a tiny plane, but Gator just curled up and got all cozy.  

On Thursday we flew in, got our car, and went to the hotel.  We didn't have a ton of time, but I had found this "hike" that said it was a cool thing to do at sunset.  So we dropped our bags and went and found this place called Hole in the Rock.  It really wasn't a hike, more of a short walk up this rock, but it was really cool to watch the sun set up there.  We walked down and got a sandwich then went back to the hotel for bed.  

Friday morning we went to the Botanical Garden.  We could've walked around there for hours because it was huge, but we got tired, and Gator wanted to go lay by the pool before we went to the Phoenix Temple that evening.  The sun was very deceiving.  It wasn't hot at all, and it kept hiding behind clouds, but we got fried.  After the temple, and dinner, we went to Target to find some after sun lotion.  

The butterflies

So many pretty wildflowers

Some of the cactus blossoms

The Phoenix Temple

We had an early appointment at the Mesa Temple Saturday morning, so we woke up early to get there.  It was the perfect time to go though.  

The Phoenix Zoo.  I feel bad because I normally love the zoo, but this one was just not good.  We do love flamingos though, and the rhino was playing with a huge tire.  I've never seen a rhino play before, so it was still good.  

Last stop was the aquarium.  Where we got a yummy treat before going in.  

Thank you Phoenix, we had a blast!  

Back at Lagoon

 I took a few years off from getting season passes to Lagoon.  Gator wanted one again though, and I thought it would be fun to go back to having a pass.  I asked Brady & Zoie's moms if they would consider getting them a pass and we'd take them with us.  They were more than willing to get them a pass.  It will be fun to have them to go with this summer.  We went today and had a great time.  They went on Wicked, but said no to Cannibal.  I bet by the end of the summer, we will get them on Cannibal.  

Spring Break

 We planned to go to Milford for spring break.  Our dog sitter couldn't help out anymore so I had to stay home.  Gator and Blake went ahead to Milford though (which means I didn't get very many pictures) and met Krissy's & PJ's family there for a few days.  They did all the Milford things like shooting guns, going for drives, lots of exploring, and eating ice cream at the creamery.  I stayed home and didn't do much.  I worked a little, but I was pretty darn lazy.  I drove Gators car one time and left the lights on so it killed her battery.  Which led to us changing out the battery on our own.  Owen and Davis chimed in on FaceTime, laughing their heads off at us.  I guess seeing us doing work on a car was entertaining.  We did it though!  I did get out of the house to see a movie over spring break.  We went and saw Snow White.  It was a cute movie.  The rest of the week Gator was with friends.  She planned a temple day, and just hung out the rest of the time, enjoying not going to school.

Eternal Family Day

After planning the day to celebrate Eternal Family Day, I watched the weather all week so upset that it was supposed to be snowy and windy.  The drive up to Pocatello was snowing, hailing, raining, and windy.  At times the sun would poke through, but it would always find another cloud to hide behind.  Once we got up the mountain it was snowing pretty hard.  We had a little bit of a hard time finding a spot that wasn't full of cross country skiers, but we went back to Owens original spot and the weather cleared perfectly and we had a very fun time together shooting guns.  Kylee, Kin, and Gator are pretty good shooters.  Me not so much.  Owen loved having his own gun that he just purchased, and Davis was a good sport when he took a clay pigeon thrown right at him that I attempted to throw for him.  After we were done, we went to dinner at the Red Rabbit Grill.  It was a very tasty place for burgers and fries.  On the table they had a bucket of questions.  I pulled one out and it asked "what is your love language"?  Everyone agreed that mine is quality time.  And that is so true, I love being with my family more than anything else in this world.  I love that they celebrate my Eternal Family Day with me every year.  March 13th shouldn't go to waste, it is still worth celebrating!  

Gator seized a moment where Kylee was showing how to use my watch to take a picture.  

Still got a pretty good picture though even though I am really slow learning about technology. 

The mushroom swiss burger was delicious, the battered fries were so good, and the company was the best!

Her celebration with some friends

 Just because she likes to celebrate all week long for her birthday, and I guess weekends are easier to celebrate also, Gator and some friends went to Crystal Hot Springs tonight.  

Happy 17th Birthday

17!!  It wasn't just another day of school and work for us.  We celebrated Gator's birthday.  I had a couple surprises planned for this non ordinary day to celebrate this non ordinary girl.  She really is one of a kind.  Growing up and getting closer to graduation and moving out is her only flaw.  I hope she felt extra loved today.  

At the day care, they told the employee's that all of March was off limits to ask for time off because of a state audit.  I texted Gator's boss and she let us come visit with balloons and cupcakes for all the kids.  Working on your birthday is kind of a bummer, but it's better when your best friends come see you for sure.  

Brady insisted that he was paying for Gator's dinner.  He brought his wallet and was so proud to "take her to dinner" for her birthday.  

Averee took some pictures over the weekend.  We had "17" balloons, but we always have the worst luck with those big number balloons.  This year, Gator walked by a rose bush and the thorns popped the 1.  And despite me falling flat on my back in front of a big crowd, we got some cute pictures.  After that we went to Freddie's for icecream.