Living the dream

     Carter leads a pretty charmed life! With the money he made on the sale of his R6 bike he was able to pay cash for a pop-up tent for his Jeep and this cool 2015 Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle. He also bought himself a new hand-gun. Starting out 21 like a boss!

The pop-up tent is on the Jeep in the background. 

I'll take this motorcycle over the bullet-bike any day.

There might be a little envy in Isaac.

    And I got another bright and fun set of gel-nails.

    And Mark is also living a bit of dream. He got to take the driving test at UPS, he passed it, and now he will be leaving soon for Texas to do the week long driving school and will be a temporary UPS driver soon and then, eventually, a full-time driver. A real miracle!

    And, of course we can't start off May without another photo addition from the best calendar ever made. Anyone need a little help in the garden!?

Brock and a small Carter highlight

     Greg and Brock had a great time on their young men's campout last weekend. Here are a few photos Greg took.

A surprise 'air-show' was happening on a road out by the hot springs. Super cool!

    And as we near the end of Brock's high school days we got a request to share a few photos of him for a slide show the ward leaders are putting together for all the seniors from our ward so I thought I'd share a few here.

He's come a long way!

    And we're just two sleeps away from Carter's 21st birthday and, since he's leaving early Sunday morning to go fishing, it only seemed appropriate to give him his birthday gift a bit early. Hopefully this new reel brings him all the luck!

How is he 21!?

    So that's the best of our week. There were also some prayers answered on Mark's behalf and, if you're reading this, feel free to pray that Mark's dream of becoming a UPS driver comes true in the near future. I won't air any dirty laundry here, but the kid could use all the help he can get.
    And now on to May. How are we already in the last week of April? Stay tuned for May's calendar photo. You know it won't disappoint! 

Camping and bonus photos

     Here's the camping photos I promised. These are just a handful of the photos Greg took. Greg, Brock, McClane and Charlie had a fun time with several great families down in Goblin Valley. Lots of yummy food, fun adventures and the coolest views in every direction. Spring Break WIN!

Hikes & more

    And here are some bonus photos of cute Reese, courtesy of her mom. She's getting so big!

    

        And now, Greg, Brock and McClane are headed out for another weekend camping adventure, this time with the young men. Greg is making good use of the new tent and utility trailer.

       Not much else to share. We're getting down to the wire for Brock and high school graduation, how crazy is that!?

Easter 2026

    I apologize in advance for my poor video skills. I filmed Carter's motorcycle ride horizontally and it did not upload as I'd hoped but it is what it is. First we had a fun Easter and a great General Conference weekend. The girls were more than happy to go on a short scavenger hunt to find their little Easter bags and then loved hunting for eggs in the backyard. 

 https://youtube.com/shorts/A5hhZuqC8gA?si=hIFFyisdJOrlxqzn

https://youtube.com/shorts/K_JtQBgOdsc?si=qK2zDxefN_Q2vQBA

 

    I have another fun set of gel nails that I love. 

 

    And here are the videos that I uploaded to YouTube that aren't that great but it does document the final ride Carter took on his Yamaha R6 before sending it off with its new owner. 

    It was quite the negotiation but Carter got more than the bike was worth and that was the only way he was willing to part with it. I may have teared up a little thinking about how hard it is to say goodbye to a vehicle you've loved but I'm not sad about Carter no longer driving this very fast motorcycle.

https://youtube.com/shorts/0l2IxxWuvFU?si=6-Cbh32YADFCtmYD

https://youtube.com/shorts/F66beDe1-b0?si=C8C-F2YLsqHhN8er

So long!

    We're currently enjoying our Spring Break so stay tuned next week for photos from Greg and the 3 youngest kid's camping adventures to Goblin Valley.

Throwback to today

     I didn't have a lot to photograph this week but Greg had a project he got done so I thought I'd share that. This collage is a combo of a throw-back and a present day photo. Greg has been wanting to dismantle the old tent-trailer in the backyard and convert it to a hauling trailer so the only photos I could find of the tent-trailer was from last years Easter egg hung for the girls, hence the two cute throw-back photos of Beau and Harley. Anyway, his hauling trailer project is well on its way to completion. He really wants it done in time to take it on his Spring Break camping adventure this coming week, but time will tell.

 

    Next weeks post will have current photos of these cute girls hunting eggs for this Easter celebration. Bring on Easter and General Conference!

Camps and Easter anticipation

     It's that time again. Hello Easter! 

Easter egg hunt, anyone?

    And here's a few photos from Greg and McClane's camping adventure, last weekend, with the young men. 

The new tent has officially been 'broken-in'. Pretty much the Taj Mahal of tents.

Cliffs, 4-wheel adventures in the jeep and silly times with buddy, Beau.

This camp-out was a "riot", according to Greg, he had the time of his life!

    

    And, in case anyone is keeping track, Carter has added to his vehicle collection. He now owns, two jeeps, one Honda, one Motorcycle, and, not photographed, one mountain bike. Pretty much a car hoarder!

I think it's time to increase this kids rent!

    Lots of car things going on at the moment. Hopefully we'll see at least one car leave the property soon if Brock gets his additional car sold. We definitely have more than this property allows! 
    There's always something going on around here. 

Spring is in the air

    We had a great weekend! We loved visiting with the Atkinson's, even if it was a short visit. Sadly, I failed to get any photo evidence of that visit. I did get before and after photos of Charlie's hair. A hair cut was a long time coming. 

And our good friend stopped by in his new golf cart and took Greg and the grand-kids on a little adventure. 

Grandpa's of the year for sure.

And another fun chrome finish on my nails. 

I'm all set for Spring.

    This weekend Greg & McClane are headed out for a camping trip with the young men. The rest of us are on our own. 

    The rest of the events of the week aren't fun things, so we'll keep this update short and sweet.

Champions

    Charlie's team, by the skin of their teeth, won their final tournament game and are officially undefeated champions. What a fun season and now on to Spring!   

The intensity of this game is hard to describe. There was an overtime after being tied 19 to 19 and free throws won it for them in the end. Phew!

Go Team! And the coach kindly gifted all the girls their own basketball as a parting gift. Cool!

    The all around "champions", living the dream, are these two creatures! Seriously, could they have a rougher life!? 

    

Time change and longer days are what I'm about! Bring on the the warmer temperatures. 

Updates

     It took the whole season, but Charlie finally made some points in basketball. She was playing at her first tournament game this week and made two baskets and, one of two, free throws. She made some great progress throughout the season and her team is currently undefeated with one more game to go. Fun times!

    Here's a photo of the cool ring and earrings I got in St. George, my belated Valentine's gift.

    And I had to re-share this photo of Reese when she was here several weeks ago. This is the cute face I see every time I open my iPad. She's adorable!

        Not much else to share from this past week. We got a little snow today, the clocks spring forward this weekend and I'm still in a bit of disbelief that we're really in the month of March already. Bring on the longer days!

Let us welcome March with another gem!

     Who's excited to see March arrive, and even more excited to see March's calendar photo!?

Let's hear it for striped socks and ripped arms!

  

      And before we move on to our St. George adventures, here's my bright, fun, metallic nails.

This week Greg and I got to get-away and spend most the week in St. George. Greg had his water conference to participate in but we still had plenty of down time.

First night, dinner at Joe's Rusty Crab. $$$ Second night, George's Corner. $$$$

     

    Then the gun-shooting event, that is always fun. This time Greg brought Carter's shotgun and didn't end the night with a black & blue shoulder. 

He still didn't do great but free ammo and clays is a win no matter how well you shoot.

    

    I failed to photograph our dinner and activities Wednesday night, catering by Costa Vida and gambling hosted by one of the big venders. It's always fun, and again, free is always a win!

Our hotel is across the street from DQ so that means at least one dilly bar stop.

    At the last full day of the conference, Greg finally won a prize from the raffles he put in for. 

Thirty years working for the city, and who knows how many water conferences, and he finally won something. Pretty cool/cot-tent.

    And for our final dinner, Longhorn steakhouse. Yum.

    I also failed to photograph my morning walks and Greg's evening treadmill walks, but we had to work-off all the yummy food we had.

    Now back to reality. LAME! 

P.S. Just as a side note, Greg had a very interesting and odd experience at the water conference with a woman having a complete nervous break-down. It's a story to be shared by him and in person. 

    I also picked up a new ring and earrings as a belated Valentine's gift. I'll share a photo another time.

Piano bars are fun!

     We had a fun Valentine outing, one day early, with great friends. First, the Hunters Expo, no photos, but a fun time. Next, a bar/grill for dinner, then, lastly, another bar/piano bar, for fun drinks, entertainment and the best 'people watching'. Bonus, our very kind and generous friend put dinner and drinks on his tab, so a fairly cheap date night, too.

Paul's our very generous friend and the reason for the fun 'bar-hopping' night.

Some very talented piano players and some wild music and performances.

A selfie at "Keys on Main" is a must.

    

    Then we had two silly, matching boys, headed out to the gym that I insisted on capturing in a photo.

    We also, finally, got a little snow and Greg had a very long day, Wednesday, but it's done for now. 

    Next stop, St. George water conference and a small break from reality, for me, anyway.

Best Wednesday night of 2026 so far.

     We had the best request for Wednesday night, "Can you watch Reese for a few hours?" ABSOLUTELY! That's a no brainer. She is just the cutest, craziest and fun girl. We love every second we get with her. 

She wasn't sure what to think about Carter in her space.

She found 'her' brush.

Charlie was happy to help keep her entertained.

She wasn't here long before she remembered she needed 'her' glasses. (And kudos to Small's for the great photo bomb.)

Dinner and a stool obstacle course to finish the night.

And one last minute with Papa before he had to leave for young men's.

    Such a fun visit with sweet Reese. No other highlights to share. Happy Valentine's day!