Spring Break

This post has many many pictures and they are not in any particular order. I wanted to get all of them in so that we can remember our spring break. We went to St. George for new nephew, baby Milo's baby blessing. Bryan stayed Friday, Saturday and Sunday night before he had to go home to work on an upcoming deadline for a project he is working on. It was so nice to have the weekend and enjoy the entire Sunday before he left the next morning. We did not have to leave on Sunday to be home by Sunday night (which is usually the way it goes when we visit Bryan's family in St. George). We missed Bryan but the kids had school off for spring break so the kids and I stayed there the rest of the week. We just enjoyed the pool and cousins and Grandma and Grandpa and friends.

Cecily and Bentley in front of the "Cliffs" sign which is the subdivision where my parents home is. They were in Italy with the rest of my family and let us stay in the St. George house. This did help to keep my mind off of the fact that they were touring Italy without me.

Lucy dog came along. Since I don't trust her in anyones house but my own (where she has a doggy door) It was rather frustrating to have her with us. In the house I had to have her on a leash so I always knew what she was up to and when she was out in the yard she found a way to jump the rock fence. I couldn't figure out how she was getting out until I saw her actually do it once. She can really jump! Thanks to my friend Ryanne for dog sitting her at her house one of the days! It was good to see her and have her and two of her boys over for a swim. I guess I didn't take any pictures of them. Too bad.

Everyone enjoyed the pool. Even Lucy!!

For the weekend, Mady Heaps and Shawn stayed with us. Mady spent one of the mornings swimming with the kids and taking cool underwater pictures with her waterproof camera. (see below). Thanks Mady!!

Mady swears she did not coach Cecily into this pose.

The kids swam so much that they got sunburned and bruises around their eyes from the goggles. They never complained that they were tight but I still feel bad about it.

Up and down up and down. Up the water fall, jumping in. Up the water fall jumping in. Bentley even taught Cecily to do it!

We even got to enjoy the clubhouse pool which was heated! It was wonderful. We swam there two times. The first time it was just me and the kids and we swam under the stars until 10:30pm. Needless to say there was no bedtime on spring break.The kids were so excited and had so much fun. I can't believe how big they are getting. Cecily takes a big breath and puts her face down in the water and gets those legs kicking and can swim at a quick pace! She is like a fish. So is Bentley. He bought a snorkel mask with his own money at Target and he snorkeled like a pro. It was so much fun but I had an empty spot in my heart because Bryan wasn't with us.

The next day Moana, Krew, Kiah, Rebecca, Noah, Maddy and Josh joined us at the clubhouse pool.

The first night Cecily didn't have floaties and she did well but there is a place where it is deep and she had more freedom with the floaties the next night.

On Wednesday we went to the sand dunes with Rebecca Juassi and her kids. It was a nice day. The wind was on and off and so kite flying was a bit frustrating though. We tried.

Cecily and Maddy.

Bentley

On one of the days we had so many friends and cousins over it was CRAZY! They had fun though and no one got hurt. And it was so nice for me to see some friends like Susie and Rebecca. And also to spend some time with Bryan's sister Amy. It was only after seeing this picture that I thought. "I wonder how many kids peed in the pool." And now I'm thinking that many kids is not a good idea. Sorry Mom and Dad.

Audrey, Cecily, Maddy and Brianna

Krew, Bentely (who by this time had to wear a shirt in the pool because his shoulders were so sunburned), and Noah.

One night Grandma and Grandpa Rowland took us all to Pirate Island for dinner and games to celebrate Krew's birthday. We had a really fun time (still with a little emptiness without Bryan). Thanks Kim and Marlene! Here are Brianna, Cecily and Grandpa Rowland.

Cousin Brianna and Cecily.

Cousin Krew and Bentley

Bentley making the jump into the hot tub. I try to get him to do it without plugging his nose but it looks like that is not going to happen.

Lucy Dog the escape artist.

Bryan's sister Amy's family. Brianna, Audrey, Amy, baby Milo, Phil and Quinn on the blessing day.

Bentley and Krew. The kids really enjoyed the yard and playing together with their cousins. They built a fort in the front yard and played all kinds of games.

We all had wonderful food to eat after the blessing. Here are Bryan's Grandpa and Amy.

We all sat around and listened to old stories from Grandpa. Many about the way he survived during the war when he was just 18 in Germany. He did not smoke or drink and so when he was given his cigarette ration from the army he would save it and trade it for all kinds of things to those people that were desperate for their fix. He also told us about the way he got into acting. He has been in many movies. One part of a church movie you may remember is in "The Lamb of God" a movie about Christ's life. There is one scene where Christ heals the blind man. The blind man was played by none other than Oscar Rowland. I saw that film in Seminary when I was in highschool. (before I had even met Bryan or his family) and the entire film touched me so deeply and gave me a greater understanding of Christ's love for each of us and one of the most touching scenes was that scene. So when I met him I couldn't believe it.

The girls always enjoy playing with Grandma Rowland's dress ups. Brianna, Cecily, Audrey and Kiah.

Audrey, Cecily, and Brianna.

Another favorite of the kids while in St. George is to catch snails.

This was Bryan's Grandmother's car before she passed away last year and Bryan's Grandfather drives it now when he is in St. George. Cecily came in side and told me in all seriousness that "GREAT Grandpa's car is a RACE CAR!" I told him she thought that and he told me it was a 26 year old car. But Cecily saw the tail fin on the back and it must have looked like a race car to her. :)

Sneaky dog. She's kind of like a mountain goat you could say.

Bentley boy in the pool.