Tulips - Thanksgiving Point

 

Totally out of the blue on Friday, May 12, Grayson texted asking if I had anything going on that day. I'm pretty open. I thought maybe he needed me home for a delivery but he proposed a trip to Thanksgiving Point to see the tulips. We the colder spring, the Tulip Festival had been extended later into May, and there were lots of blooms. 

Like last year, there was a Dutch theme, with wooden shoes hidden throughout the walkways, and a couple spots with big shoes for picture taking poses.  

We had gone to the Tulips in 2022 too.

... and a family tulip trip back in 2011.

Check out Cal and Kate's 2022 trip to Holland.

Keaton's Corner

 

Keaton had been thinking he'd like to try this "adulting" thing and get a place of his own. After looking at apartment possibilities for a few months, he found one he liked and signed a lease. He's not far, about 10 minutes away in South Jordan, just a little NorthEast of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  It's a house, and he's in a newly finished basement apartment. It doesn't feel like a basement though, there is a lot light. He has off-street parking, then he walks around the side of the house to a rear entrance. 

Here's a peek at the inside ...

Home Sweet Keaton Home.

MS Walk~ Team Ana

 

Last year Grayson's sister Ana was diagnosed with MS. Multiple Sclerosis.  It's a tough diagnosis and disease, but Ana has been doing better now that they know what the problem is and getting treatment. When there was a local MS walk, we decided to participate as a family. 

It was Saturday, May 6th. We got up and headed out with most of the crew (Colton had basketball practice, and I don't know if we'd remembered to tell Cal and Kate about it). Courtney came with the two boys (Clay had church obligations but was able to come at the very end, bringing Milo) and Olivia came with Ana's family. If you donated a certain amount, you got a bright orange t-shirt. There was a big Start/Finish but the walk itself wasn't super specific. It was just a loop (or two, or three) around Veteran's Memorial Park in West Jordan. There were lots of informational booths set up, and games and a band, and people cheering everyone on. 

Here's just a quick peek at the morning ...

The weather was nice. It was a little cool. It rained later in the day, and we were glad it held off until after the event. 

2023 ~ May Recap

 Memories from May ... 

• Jen's Medical: The head is healing ... it's a pretty big/bad scar this time, that not even a lot of hair covers up all the way. It's been a little tough getting back to the exercise and eating. Walks on the treadmill and Zumba have been fine (there was even an evening Zumba session with the Young Women), with pickleball added back in. A tetanus shot was needed near the end of the month after some gardening ended with an encounter with a rusty piece of metal ... and the day after that Jen was hit with dizzies and nausea. Couldn't get out of bed for the whole day (500 steps on the Fitbit). Hoped it was a one day thing, but it stuck around for about a week, getting only slightly better each day. But it was a solid week without leaving the house, and not leaving the bed much. Missed out on Colton's Wolves basketball tournament :(
• Car Stuff: Gray's truck wouldn't start mid-month ... and luckily we're in a pretty good situation with Coop/Jen able to share the Durango, so Grayson was able to take the Tesla while the truck was in the shop. Landon has been driving a work vehicle for a while, but with the divorce final and the house sold, he was in a good spot financially to finally get a car. It's a  2023 Toyota Camry - and it's RED! In addition to Colton's Charger having the spoiler ripped off at the car wash (and that's not something they claim responsibility for) his front license plate gets bent every time he goes through. He installed a plate frame to help with that issue before it broke off completely.
• Ice Ice Baby: Our icemaker in the freezer has been having issues for a long while. Sometimes it would work fine, then other times ... nothing. Then it would drop some ice cubes and pour water directly over them creating a big, solid block. We are super spoiled with out nice commercial pebbled ice maker, but we want the bigger cubes too. I called for repair ... it took FIVE trips. But we have ice again. Finally.
• Keaton's Corner: Keaton moved into his place back in March. Not many photos were taken the first day, and we hadn't been back to see him settled, until now. So if you wanted to see his spot, you can check out the blog post HERE. 
• Blackham Bunch Activities: The Blackham's got together for an MS Walk at Veteran's Memorial Park, super close by! You can read a little more about it HERE. We also gathered to try out Clay's new pizza oven (the WJ Blackham's have a couple ovens that have been used quite a bit the last year or so). The dessert pizza was a hit!
• A Trip to the Tulips: Gray surprised Jen with a day date to see the tulips at Thanksgiving Point ... with the cooler weather, there were still a lot in bloom later in May. You can see photos HERE. 
• Mother's Day: A lovely bouquet of flowers. It was drizzling, but we did a little family pickleball in the rain. Cal and Kate had been gone but got back in time to drop by in the evening.
• Pickleball: We've been hitting the pickleball courts each week. Originally Keaton had said he didn't care for the game as much, but he's become one of our regulars as well. He has a crazy lob! So there are five regulars (Jen, Coop, Landon, Cal and Keaton) and once in a while we get Gray and Colton out too. Jen also plays once a week with the relief society ladies, and went with a friend to an evening session in Murray. 
• Basketball: Colton had a tournament with the WJ Jags the first week of May. Jen's still been cautious (especially in the evenings, driving and going out alone) and so Landon accompanied her to the first game, Keaton was the chauffer for a late Friday night game (the boys had a great comeback). Colton has still been practicing with Metro and with Coach Scott. He had a final tournament with the Wolves (they won the championship) and Cal's men's league has started up again, and Colton has been filling in there when they need an extra man. 
• Hiking Hubs:  Grayson's hiking adventures were mentioned in the April update, and the dedicated blog post about all his activities has been updated. New hikes, pictures, maps, there's even a haiku and new lyrics to a hit song (with a little help from ChatGPT). Scroll down HERE to see the latest updates. 
• Books! Jen's Bookclub read(s) this month were Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (had a bit of a "To Kill a Mockingbird" feel. Wrote a lot on the GoodReads review!) and The Measure by Nikki Erlick (what would happen if everyone over the age of 22 suddenly had the choice to see how long they had to live?) Tons of discussion ideas on this one. Horse by Geraldine Brooks was another favorite.
• ByeBye Beta: Colton had received a little Beta fish last year (an answer/ask to a date/dance). The kitties loved to drink out of the beta bowl (ewww, fishy poop) and one day I found the bowl knocked over and poor Beta exposed. I scooped him up and put him in water, and he was alive, but never quite the same after that. It was a bit of a relief when he was out of his misery, and flushed. 
• Cal&Kate: It was a busy month for these two. They had a weekend away in St. George, then a trip to Oregon. Kate also had a birthday!

School was wrapping up as the month ended ... so things will shift into a summer schedule for the next few months.  Here's a look at a month of memories one second style ...

https://youtu.be/PTgKoSoepcM

My Hiking Hubs

Symphony Homes, and the Health Insurance provider EMI have a hiking challenge going ... "Beginning April 1st and ending on September 30th, all members of EMI Health’s medical insurance are invited to lace up those hiking boots and get on the trails! The goal is simple: complete 20 hikes before the season is over."

Grayson got going!

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve - San Diego, California

Three mile hike from the trailhead to beach, then along the beach back to the trailhead.

Gray and Landon had gone on a quick getaway to SanDiego. In a text to me, Gray wrote "I think I may have set the wrong expectation on this one" (to Landon) "I called it a walk, or a mile hike."  Gray had done a six mile run in the morning, and added the three mile hike to that, and was topping 20k in steps. I mentioned Cooper was close to catching him in steps .... Grayson said "he better not" ... oops! April 21, 2023

Adam's Canyon

From Grayon's email to me and to the Symphony challenge... "ZLichtie and I reporting in on conditions in Adam’s Canyon this morning – brisk and icy – but exquisite nonetheless. Hike was 4 miles and in better conditions we would have been done at least 20 minutes faster. We. Needed. Spikes. On our shoes. There was much slipping and sliding. Coming down was not fun. I do want to do this one again but prepared. Good start to the day. A hike can be pretty cathartic."  April 28, 2023.

Orson Smith Trail to the Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge

Weather report – a far cry from Monday earlier in the week. Cool bridge and overlook – enough climb to get your heart rate up. Saturday, April 29.

Living Room Lookout Trail

Not a long hike but almost entirely uphill to the overlook. Downhill was a quad-killer – rubbery legs for the rest of the day. Weather Report – perfect. Sunday, April 30, 2023

South Deuel Creek Trail

Creek flow is very heavy – and beautiful. All bridges were cross-able with only some sketchiness. Trail condition is great up to the rope swing. The rope swing itself seems to be ready for the coming season of swingers (that sounds weird now that I read that back). We trekked past the swing about 3/4 mile and end up in mucho snow before we turned around. All in all, an excellent hike. Bonus: about 1/2 mile up (give or take) springing up from the base of the canyon is an absolutely exquisite tree in bloom. The attached pic doesn’t do it justice in any way. You have to go see it. And unfortunately the blooms will probably be gone in very short order.

Viewmont V 

Conditions – very, very schwetty. Excellent views of the valley and our Great Salt Lake puddles . Since the “peace” sign is the official BeWell hand symbol (don’t look at me funny, I’m just following the book), it seemed a fitting hike for the theme. So yeah…..and done.

Bountiful Lake Loop

Conditions – W-E-T. I tacked this “hike” on with a morning run directly out of the office. About 1/3 of the trail is under water so I was doing some serious high-knees through much of it and returned with sopping shoes. Listed at 6’ of elevation gain, yes, SIX FEET, this one was a grunt. Luckily it was breezy keeping any mosquitoes away. Probs won’t be recommending this one even though it’s on the list of suggested hikes. My suggestion…..skip it.

Wild Rose Loop

Above North Salt Lake

Conditions – Perfect. Cool and fresh from some light rail the night before. Greenification is still in the works. Numerous options on this jaunt that can extend from 40 minutes to well over an hour, if you want. Great views of our stomping grounds in Davis County. Unfortunately, no roses, wild or otherwise, to be seen.

Ensign Peak via Bonneville Shoreline Trail

May 10 ... Hammered out 6.35 miles with Zac dragging my sorry carcass to the finish. Speaking of carcass, the elk or deer remains on the trail certainly got our attention wondering who’s dinner this was and if we were next. On our return trip to Tunnel Springs Park, the photo ops were in FULL BLOOM – grads, engagement, bridal, missionary….what have you. They are were all there. While the views are mostly urban and less mountain-y, this was a great loop. The city overlooks are worth a glance. Trail conditions were perfect.

Farmington Creek

May 13 ... Farmington Creek Trail 

This oft-forgotten trail needs its minute. 2023 may be its year and quite possibly not have another year like it. Why, you ask? The falls……Oh. Em. Gee…..the FALLS. Neither my verbosity nor any picture will help. This hike is worth its ending. Hard stop. To summarize some info: The actual trailhead is about one mile above the Farmington Canyon gate which is currently closed/locked and will probably remain that way for another month, plus or minus. There’s a parking lot right below the gate. Park it there and start walking. Because Zac-Attack is an animal and takes no prisoners, he made me park at Farmington Pond and add another mile to our jaunt. Because of course. At the first switchback in the road you break off to the trailhead. The greenification of the canyon is still a work in progress. Not sure what bug we encountered but it was def worth a close up. Along the path, the tale of casualties coming from the road above is told by the vehicular carcasses still on display at the canyon floor. R.I.P. whoever was inside whence they descended. For those who will venture out on this hike, waterproof hiking shoes or better yet, hiking boots are invaluable. There are 3 stream crossings which I would call small, medium and large. Being able to get into water at least ankle deep will make your voyage a bit easier. About 2 miles from the trailhead you reach it….your destination….your purpose for being there that day. The Falls. Here’s the kicker – to get down to the base of the falls where you can really take in the proportions…..nay, its majesty… there are two routes: Rope descent – not a rappel but marvelously sketchy nonetheless. Muddy switchback – not as bad as it sounds as it will be drying a little bit everyday and making it much more passable. The choice is yours. The payoff, if you don’t tumble down the hill into the raging rapids below, is beyond any description. And I shall not attempt one. Now you can wait until the gate is opened in a few weeks and park right at the trailhead. But you risk the waterflow dropping to a more normal level. To reiterate….the pics just don’t capture it. Real life is the only way to experience it.

Here's a little video (https://youtu.be/py9WbQxqb7Q)

Parrish Creek

May 16 ... Gonna go ahead and say cross this one off your list unless self-punishment is part of your regimen. Parrish Creek Trail (not to be confused with Parrish Creek Pictographs Trail).  A tad over 6 miles. Over 2000 feet of elevation gain. Scenery and views decent but no climactic ending point. Just a heave almost the whole way. Note to self: no more light grey shorts. There’s a reason I wear black. Won’t going into details.

Fun fact: I did not know that Milk Duds grew naturally in the wild. A tad bitter at this stage, so I’m guessing they need to ripen a little bit. But Jon Olson will be relieved to know he no longer needs to spend absurd amounts of money when he can harvest them naturally in the foothills of Davis County.

To reiterate….proceed at own risk! GB Out.

Mueller Park - Elephant Rock

I asked Gray how they got the cool shot (below) of them on the rock from a distance. He said that Zac spotted a biker who had just arrived at the point where you start the scramble to the rock. We yelled up to him and he obliged. Then we scrambled back to the trail so he could text it to us. Even the full images aren’t particularly good quality but they were much better than nothing.

This was May 25, and here's Grayson's write up for the work competition ...

So I said to ChatGPT, I says…. “Write a satirical haiku poem about our hike on Mueller Park Trail to Elephant Rock” (I am not responsible for this content. Blame ChatGPT. I’m just the messenger)

Perfect day to hike,

Zac and Grayson hit the trail,

Fashion show begins.

Zac, hot and stylish,

Hiking gear on fleek, they say,

Nature's catwalk star.

Seven miles conquered,

1099 feet uphill,

But Zac steals the show.

Elephant Rock waits,

Scrambling to a fierce pose,

Overlooking views.

Fashion-forward hike,

Zac, the trail's top model,

Nature's runway won.

 

Deuel Creek - Attempt

May 26 ... with a crew of five. Creek had overrun one of its crossings. We couldn’t find an alternate. Had to back out. Bummer. Decided on breakfast instead. Again, Grayson turned to ChatGPT...

Grayson completed the hike himself a few days later.

Bell's Canyon

Gray hit Bell's Canyon in Sandy on May 21 (alone) and then again on May 28 with Landon. Landon has been getting into hiking now too. Grayson doesn't want to dominate the Symphony hiking challenge, so he's not even submitting all his hikes. No clever write up for this one. 

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Gray and Zac hit three different trails ...

... more HIKING in JUNE/JULY 2023 and in AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2023

2023 ~ April Recap

 

April ended ... time for a recap!

• Weather/Nature: Can you believe there was a SNOW day, in April? School moved online and Colton's basketball banquet had to reschedule. A little later in the month, we had some lovely showers with a rainbow though. Mid-month, all the grass seemed to turn green. Gray and Jen went and walked around the Capital to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. 
• Staying Active: We are pickleball people again, starting up our weekend sessions outdoors again. Jen is still Zumba-ing (with a little break this month ... yeah for backup teachers!) and she, Coop, Colton and Landon share the home gym. Gray has been hiking, and biking. Symphony Homes has a hiking challenge going, and Grayson wants to be king of the mountain!
• Basketball: The high school season officially ended with the end of year banquet and awards. Colton has been training with Coach Scott on Mondays and some Saturdays, with Metro every other weekend, and had his first travel tournament in Arizona (traveled with the team). 
• Gray's Getaways: Grayson and Landon flew out to San Diego to have a weekend in the sun and have a little fun. 
• ER Again: Jen fell down and broke her crown. Again. Details here ...

Other activities this month ... four of the SuperSmash(Blackham)Bros went to see the Mario movie, Aunt Olivia made a haircut housecall, Colton had Prom and there was some Blackham Blackjack in play. On the Westra side, it was McKenna's baby shower, and it was fun to see all the updates to the Havenmoor House and visit with family. We had some annoying power outages (Power Ponderings). Lots of family bought expensive FunkyPop Popcorn (Colton's basketball fundraiser), we had Skookie and ate the last of the shaped Reeses (now we have to wait until the pumpkins come out for Halloween. But that should be ... July?)

Here's a look at the month - one second style

https://youtu.be/G_vjrW4ZQwI

Power Ponderings

 

Monday, April 24, early in the morning, there was that sound ... "shvooom" then silence. Everything in the house had powered off. It only lasted a moment, then "shvoom" and things powered up again. Lots of beeping. A grinding sound from the ice maker. The washing machine was agitating again on it's own. The clothes dryer required a manual restart. My laptop re-booted, but still needed a nudge to bring up the monitor. The older desktop computer was off, and I knew it's restart would probably take 10 minutes. It doesn't like not being turned off correctly. 

I moved to the microwave and hit the required buttons ... clock, the numbers for the correct time, clock again. At least it's easy. Next up, resetting  the stove. Let's see ... clock, start, 3 for a.m., now input the time, now clock again and done.... and "shvooom". Really? Again? I'm glad I hadn't even tried to turn on the desktop. I was heading out for a little while, and hoped things would be back on when I got back. "Shvoom" ... the power was on. That was good, as since Grayson changed out the garage door opener I'm not sure how to detach it and open manually to get the car out. 

When I got back a while later, the microwave was blinking. I'd reset the clock there before I left (again) so the power had shut-off at least one more time while I was gone.  It continued to happed a few more times during the day. Once, while Cooper was on the treadmill running at a good speed. That is NOT a good time to have things come to a sudden stop. Luckily he was able to catch himself without injury. There in the home gym, the elliptical and the recumbent bike aren't plugged in, so even without electricity, one could work out with them. Of course normally we have the television keeping us entertained, and a fan blowing to keep us cool. 

I remember the tragedy of a power outage when the kids were younger. "What can we do?" I think I even had a list of things (play a board game, battery powered games ~ this was when the handheld Nintendo devices were popular. Now, everyone has an iphone, hopefully fully charged. Read a book, play ping pong, take a nap, play outside. This would also be impacted by the time of day (or night rather ... candles or flashlights needed?) and temperature (no a/c, thermostat) could be a complication with any extended outage. 

The off/ons continued Tuesday. Social media can help determine how widespread the issue is. This time, it seemed to just be our little neighborhood loop. Someone said they had made a call to Rocky Mountain Power to make sure they were aware and looking into the issue. Every time the power would cycle, the router would take several minutes to get back online. Thank goodness for cell service. It was also a perfectly nice day weather-wise. Not to hot, not too cold ... which made us wonder WHAT was going on as wind/snow/heat wasn't part of the problem. 

I was glad it was a "make" day for sourdough, as this would have made baking difficult (I did do some baking on Tuesday and had to turn the oven back on once after an outage to finish up my bread). The ice maker had been malfunctioning, and as I heard it "griiiind" every time it powered back up, I rather hoped this might kick-start it back into functioning (limited success here, it did start pouring water in, I got a huge hunk of ice). It's funny to notice the random little things ... like the heated toilet seat. So spoiled! You never know the joy of a toasty tushy until it's turned off. The master shower had recently been renovated and these power stops and starts screwed something up with it. Sometimes we can get too technical ... there are no knobs to turn the water on manually! It was able to get back in business after being unplugged for a bit. 

While this was really a minor inconvenience, it was annoying. I went ahead and restarted my computer and was writing an email to Gray to give him an update and 'schvooom' ... oh, I hope it had auto-saved my email! 

Power ... it's powerful. Happy that 99% of the time it's smooth sailing.

Oops - Jen Did It Again

 

Early in 2022 ... we had a medical scare when I blacked out in the kitchen one Sunday evening.  I smacked my head as I fell. We weren't sure if it was a seizure, there was some shaking, but it was hard to know what was related to blacking out, and what might have been a result of hitting my head. That accident was documented here on the blog (Jen Fell Down and Broke Her Crown). Trying to look at the positive side, at least it happened in January that year, and then after we'd paid a number of bills, we hit our deductible and out-of-pocket for the year. 

There were a number of follow-up tests ... an echocardiogram to check the heart, a consult with neurology and an EEG and MRI. No red flags, no explanations. I recovered with no ill effects and we hoped it was a "one and done" ... but alas, it happened again. 

It was a Saturday night, Easter was the next day. I figured I'd make a quick run to the store to grab a few things. I'd been at Smiths about 15 minutes; I was pretty much done with the shopping. The next thing I knew, I was in the Emergency Room. Gray and Landon were there. I couldn't believe it had happened again ... not only blacking out, but also cracking my head. Ambulance. ER. The whole thing.  While the head laceration seemed to be a bit worse than the January incident, and I had no memory for a full 40minutes, overall it didn't seem quite as bad. There was a little nausea, but I didn't throw up. I had been unable to move for hours after the first fall and was feeling absolutely awful, but this time I was able to talk, joke around a bit, and was discharged after a couple hours. At home, I took a shower and then headed to bed. 

While Jordan Valley Hospital is nice and close, just a minute away from both the Smiths store and home - it is NOT an in-network hospital (something I am all to aware of, dealing with an insurance issue from last year ... remember how I said everything else SHOULD have been covered for the rest of the year?) I think this was one of the first things I was concerned about once I regained lucidity. It should be okay, as it was an emergency, but it's always stressful dealing with medical bills and insurance. We are lucky we have a decent plan though.

We had a pretty low-key Easter Sunday ... there were no Easter baskets laid out, although there was a mysterious "Easter Emergency" bag with some Reeses eggs. I had an impressive bruise on my arm where I'd had the IV, and a blood blister on my finger where the pulse ox had been monitoring. I had a bit of a head ache, but nothing extreme.  After the Jan2022 boom, my jaw was super sore and my tongue was aching where I'd bitten it. I hadn't felt anything like that this time, but when I went to try to eat and drink, I did have some difficult and realized I had bitten my tongue pretty good again. 

Things were pretty much back to normal on Monday, with the guys going to work and school. I did NOT go to Zumba, but I did still prep the playlist and one of the gals came and picked it up and lead the class (and delivered the bread, that I'd still baked on Easter). I went ahead and made some more sourdough too. I was quite cautious for a while, staying at home, I tried a little treadmill walk after a few days. Slowly got back to life ...

As the incident happened at Smiths, we (and the police) had looked into video footage. We were able to get a copy and have that forwarded to my doctor if that might provide any clues as to what steps are next. Got the stitches out after two weeks. I hope my hair will cover up the scar ... Grayson has a couple small scars on his head that are visible, because he doesn't wear his hair long (what hair you say?) I've got a LOT of hair, but it is a bit on the natural part, and so far has still been showing. 

Hopefully we'll get some answers, and something to stop this from happening again!

2023 ~ March Recap

 

Picking up where we left off in February ... Jen was finally getting over her sickness (Covid, then maybe strep?) and Landon was at a work road trip to Reno. March was memorable because of the MOVE ... Keaton found an apartment and is going to try this "adulting" thing living on his own. That lead to some changes back at the Blackham house too, and Landon had some moving on as well. There were a couple getaways, book club, continued car concerns and some basketball (is there ever NOT basketball?) Read on for more details ...

• Keaton's Corner: Keaton's been thinking about getting his own place for a while. He didn't really want a roommate (he likes things how he likes them) and found a cute basement apartment that fit the bill. It's close by, about 10min away in South Jordan, just East of the Oquirrh Mountain temple. Upstairs it's three guys (two brothers and a friend) and the basement apartment is new. Coming from home, Keaton didn't have a lot of house stuff (we joked he needed a house "shower") and we spent a Saturday shopping for some furniture (recliner/loveseat) and kitchen supplies.
• Here at Home: With Keaton's room now unoccupied, the bed from the master was moved into it and Gray and Jen went shopping for a new bed (it had been many years with the existing mattress). New bed set, headboard and new curtains, and now there needs to be more updates to match the color scheme (of Gray/Black, what else) such as new nightstands, paint, flooring... since Jen's sickness in February, there has been snoring; so the backup bed is actually getting some use for the sake of sleep.
• Landon's Life: Landon finally submitted a photo of his office setup at work ... very nice! He had some moving to do as the house sold. He helped Sol and Rosa move (Rosa had kept her old place) and the divorce was finalized. Landon has been on a low-fat/keto plan, and won a weight-loss challenge at his work (30 pounds!)
• Cal & Kate continue to work and have fun. Kate sent some pictures of their activities, including climbing and TopGolf. They cut down the big old tree in their backyard. Cal's knee finally got better, and he's back to work, and basketball. 
• Car Concerns: Keaton's car has been giving him some trouble, with the electrical suddenly going out. We had it in to a couple places and got the battery replaced, and hopefully that will be the needed fix. While it was out of commission, Keaton borrowed either the Tesla or Durango.  The Tesla got a nail in the tire. Again. I think we've had to replace all four tires in the year that we've had the car. We got an estimate on replacing the spoiler on the Charger ...
• Coop went bowling with cousins/Olivia over Spring Break, and he and Jen are back to playing ping pong. With Keaton moved out, Cooper is picking up the slack on some of the odd jobs around the house, emptying the dishwasher and taking out the trash. When Coop started to put away some dishes that were dirty, we got one of those clean/dirty magnets to keep track.   
• Colton has been super busy. He had a weekend leadership camp (the school chose one guy and one girl to attend), a tournament with his Wolves basketball team, and several training sessions with Coach Sawyer, Coach Scott and his new Metro team.  He went on a Spring Break trip to Vegas with a couple of families... one of them his girlfriend's family. Yes, Colton has a girlfriend. He did a write up HERE.  
• Gray's Getaway: Gray and Keaton took the RZR down to Sand Hollow for a weekend, leaving West Jordan in a snow storm to head for sunnier skies. 
• Jen has stayed busy with books, baking and the usual exercise/activities. February bookclub had been pushed to March because of the big snowstorm, so there were two meetings in March. Jen loves books, and got through 22 stories this month. Still making sourdough, and she added a new long baker and has loved the results. Zumba-ing every Mon/Wed and most Fridays, with ladies pickleball on Thursday mornings. Treadmill and elliptical in the home gym. 

Here's a look at March one-second style ...

https://youtu.be/WzNTZcn7a6o

Spring Break 2023 (Colton &Co)

Abby's family goes to Vegas every Spring Break with another group, which happens to be the family of Colton's basketball buddy Ethan. Abby's family invited Colton to come along, and Ethan had his girlfriend attending also (Abby and Emmalee happen to be best friends too). There were lots of pictures from the trip, and I had Colton do a write up ...

March 25 (Saturday) I got dropped off at Abby’s house around 3:00 to just hang around for an hour or two before getting ready to leave. After about an hour and a half, I helped Dustin (Abby’s dad), pack up all the luggage into his truck and we left for the dance studio that Abby had rehearsals at. Once we got there, we picked up Sydney (Abby’s sister), who just got done with dance, then Abby headed into the studio for about 45 minutes for rehearsals while the three of us waited in the car. Once she got out, we left for St. George. We made two stops on the way down there, once in Payson to get food at a Beto’s, we also stopped at a gas station to get some drinks before we got back on the freeway. Then we stopped once more before St. George at a gas station again for treats and snacks. A little after 10:00, we arrived at their condo in St. George where Hannah, (Abby’s sister), and Erica (Abby’s mom), were already there. Hannah had just gotten her tonsils out so Erica had flown down a day early to be with her for a bit. We only stayed up for about an hour more just chilling around the condo then we all headed to bed.

March 26 (Sunday) I don’t remember the time everyone got up but we pretty quickly packed everything up that we used so we could get on the road. For breakfast, we had some store-bought cinnamon rolls that were not very good, especially the frosting. Hannah had a lot of little gifts like treats from coworkers that we helped pack into her car, then when leaving, Abby and I drove Hannah back to her apartment as Hannah wasn’t really supposed to drive. We hung out there for just a little bit then Abby’s parents came and got us in the truck. We stopped at a gas station once more for a drink then were on the road to Vegas. We left at around 1:00 and got to Vegas at around 4:00. We Facetimed Ethan and Emmalee as we were arriving, who were already in the hottub of the hotel, so Abby and I just hurried and dropped off our luggage at our rooms and headed down to the pool to hangout with them. We swam for a couple hours and went back up to the hotel rooms.. Everyone just hung out for a couple of hours, then Abby, Emmalee, and Sydney got permission to take Dustin’s truck to head to the store to grab some stuff for Sydney. Back at the hotel, Ethan and I showed a magic trick to the adults that took them a long time to figure out. I had a couple other magic tricks that I was just completely blowing everyone’s minds with. After an hour, I got a call from Abby, telling me and Ethan to walk downstairs and across the street to the casino that had a really good place to get shakes. We thought it was weird that they couldn’t just come pick us up, but we walked over and saw why. They surprised us with a prom response poster, “We hit the JACKPOT for Prom! Yes!” They just went in on a poster together to respond to both of us. We took some pictures then got some shakes before heading back up to the hotel. For the rest of the night we played some games then Ethan, Emmalee, Abby and I watched a movie. We fell asleep for most of it but Ethan and I had to wake back up to head to the other room to actually fall asleep.

March 27 (Monday) Woke up early on Monday at around 7:00 to go on their usual hike (this trip/hike is a family tradition). Took about 30 minutes to get ready, pack up lunches and clothes before heading off. It was a 45 minute drive to the start of the hike in Arizona. The first hour of the hike was nothing special, just walking down the trail talking with everybody. After an hour, the trail led into the middle of these canyons, which was really cool. Just basically rocks on both sides of us while we were walking in the middle. Two hours in we came across the Colorado river. There were tough hills to hike up shortly after that. On the way down one of the hills, Ethan slid and landed his hand right on a cactus. Dustin, not very carefully, plucked the spikes out of his hand and we kept going. A few minutes later, we arrived at the streams of the hot springs. Also came across some nude old men on that part of the hike which was very fun. I changed into my swimsuit and some water shoes for this part. Ten minutes into the streams we came across the actual hot springs. There was a big ladder that led to four different pools of hot water, each getting hotter as you go higher up. We walked through all of them to the end, placed all of our bags and food down, then headed back into the third pool to relax for a bit. We talked for a bit with some other hikers then got back out to complete the second half of the hike. We ate our lunches after getting out and started walking again. The hike back didn’t seem as long, but it was a bit harder. We had to go up some large hills and canyons. It was particularly hard for Erica, this being the most strenuous work she’s done since her chemotherapy in just a few months ago. She had breast cancer last year but was able to beat it. We finished the last bit of the hike and then had the drive back to the hotel. The parents dropped all of us off then went back out to do some grocery shopping. Abby and I took a little nap once we got back. We just chilled out for the rest of the day as everyone was pretty exhausted after the six mile hike. The parents made some frozen lasagna and enchiladas for dinner that we all ate while watching tv. Luckily, Abby’s family is also obsessed with The Office, so that was always an easy option to turn on. I spent a lot of time in the room messing and solving the Rubik’s cube that Dustin brought, he is also able to solve one and we spent a lot of the week geeking out over it. Nothing else really happened for the rest of the day, the four of us watched another movie to end off the night before Ethan and I headed back to the other room. 

March 28 (Tuesday) The girls had already scoped out the days of the trip that would be the warmest, so they had already planned that Tuesday was going to be a pool day. Abby and Emmalee were really looking forward to tanning by the pool and this was the best day to do it. We headed down to the pool in the morning, where it was pretty hard to find a table to claim. We eventually got one. We were at the pool for over five hours, I did pretty good with sunscreen, my only sunburns actually coming from Wednesday. Everyone showered up once we got back up to the hotel room and just hung out for a couple of hours. After a while, we decided to go to the outlets, which is pretty much a mall. We walked around the stores for a while, especially Nike since there was some cool stuff there. While the girls spent a lot of time in the Vans store, I got distracted by the little shops in the middle of the hallways that were selling some interesting rubik’s cubes. I bought a 3x3 cube that was built of spheres instead of squares. Abby and Emmalee bought some cool hats and once we got out of there, we all headed back to the casino where the shake place was and got some dinner there. They had some decent burgers and fries, which we all ordered. We only had a few minutes back at the hotel after, Abby and Emmalee wanted to do a little photoshoot with a digital camera on top of a parking garage right next to the hotel. It was really fun and we got some good pictures, even though we had to work through the wind. We just watched some tv once we got back then went to bed after.

March 29 (Wednesday) Wednesday was probably the least eventful day of the trip. Right after breakfast, Emmalee had to leave Vegas early, as she had a volleyball tournament starting up the next day. We hit the pool once again for a few hours, but it was a lot colder this time. The wind was blowing pretty hard so I spent most of the time in the hot tub rather than the cold pool. We tried a new board game that Ethan’s family had for about an hour. I did not enjoy it all though because it was long and complicated. We chilled out for another couple hours then Dustin suggested we go out to the big Cabela's store. We walked around there for a while and it was actually really interesting, especially the small aquarium that they had. Ethan and a few of the parents were really craving some fish tacos for a while so we hit up a fish grill a couple hours later. The menu showed what items were spicy and what items weren’t. Most of the fish items were listed as spicy so I just got some chicken tacos, which were still very good. We drove back to the hotel after that and played some more board games. Dustin showed me a short documentary on Netflix about some of the fastest speedcubers, which were people who competitively solved rubik’s cubes. Not much else happened that night, watched a bit of tv then just headed to bed.

March 30 (Thursday) This day was also not that eventful. We didn’t really do anything in the morning, watched a bit of The Office with Abby’s family and then Abby turned on the movie, World War Z. It’s an intense zombie apocalypse story that I definitely fell asleep during. Dustin snapped a funny photo of me and Ethan just slumped out on the couch while watching the movie. A bit later that day, we split up for lunch. Those who liked sushi went to an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant while the rest of us headed to Buffalo Wild Wings. Lunch was really good and we met back up right after where Ethan’s family split off to the outlets again to get a gift for Emmalee’s birthday. Abby’s family and I drove for a while around the strip looking at all the buildings. We got back to the hotel and watched some more of The Office, Dustin and I also watched some I.T. Crowd. I tried to learn some more magic tricks during that evening but it didn’t go so well. Once it got dark out, we all headed down to the hottub for our last night there. Dustin and Erica also picked up some shakes for everyone to eat while in the hottub. Once we got back up to the rooms, we just hung out for a couple hours before everyone went to bed. 

March 31 (Friday) Friday was just all about packing up and leaving. Ethan’s family was leaving a few hours earlier than Abby’s, and I was in their room so I got up a bit earlier than all of Abby’s family. I used that time to pack all of my stuff up and help Ethan’s family pack up everything they brought. From there, it was just more packing until we were ready to leave at 11:00. We made some stops on the drive back, we stopped in St. George to see Hannah for a bit and stopped by some friends of Abby’s family for a bit. We also hit a gas station to get some drinks and then we drove all the way back. I helped Dustin take everything off the truck and then Abby and I headed over to Emmalee’s house for her birthday. We were playing some games at her house when we had the genius idea that whoever lost the next game would have to swallow Emmalee’s new goldfish that some of her teammates got her as a joke gift. Ethan and I went into her room to see the goldfish when Carter also came in and just asked how funny it would be if he swallowed it while everyone was in the other room. We thought he was joking but we closed the door and he swallowed it. Highlight of the night.