Spring Break in Utah

What a wonderful weekend we had this weekend.  Sam stayed home, but the three kids and I came down for Spring Break/Easter.  We brought down Megan and Mallory Nelson and dropped them off with their grandma near Ogden.  Kass, Anny and their kids decided to meet us up there at Brigham's grave. I love my sisters so much.

The cousins have met many times here.  It is a special time for them.  This time, Jackson and Max were throwing the Lacrosse ball around the cemetery.  I hope it wasn't too disrespectful.

That night we had tin foil dinners and smores out in Kass's backyard.  Sammy met us up there and stayed for the weekend. We enjoyed him so much.

Friday morning was an early one, but well worth it.  Jackson, Max, Abby, and Aliza were able to go to baptisms for the dead at the Salt Lake temple at 7:00 in the morning.  When we got there, since we brought family names, they let Anny and Kass do it as well.  I decided to hand out the towels.  :)  The Spirit was very strong there while everyone got to watch each other get baptized instead of going right in to get dressed.  It was Aliza's dream come true.

On the way back to the car, we noticed the Young Women values colors hanging up at the Conference Center.  It was fun to see since the General Young Women's meeting was the next night.  They were sad we weren't coming down to see it live, but it would have been a long night.  We watched it at Kass's church instead then went to Leatherby's afterwards.  

After the temple, we went to get yummy bagels, then fixed some lunch and went to Draper Park and hung out there for 4 hours.  So fun. We even go a little sun.  Janelle, my niece, met us there with her kids and Traci Arave, my high school friend who lives in Lehi now, met us there for an hour too.  It was fun to see her.  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of us.  So bummed.  That night, Kass, Anny, and I went over to Rhonda's and watched Pitch Perfect.  Elle and Kenzie were there, and Lauren (JJ's wife) and her sister came over as well.  Rhonda and Elle had made cookies, popcorn, and had lots of candy.  What a great night.  We were there until 1:00, I enjoyed spending time with my sisters.

Before the YW conference, we had an Easter Egg Hung in Kass's back yard.  Aliza, Abby, and Sammy hid the eggs and candy.

 It was so fun so watch all the kids running around.  Jackson and Max were at a Lacrosse camp so weren't around all day.  We missed them.

It was a quick hunt and fun to watch.

Easter Sunday was a great day, fabulous dinner, enjoying talking with the fam.... then, at 8:00 at night, Maren comes running in crying saying she fell off the scooter.  It looked like she had a broken arm, so we took her to a walk in clinic.  They took some x-rays then decided they couldn't help her.  They sent us to Primary Childrens Hospital.  Aliza and Abby were so good and went to the Urgent care with us.  They were very supportive and help make Maren forget about her pain.  We had to say goodbye to them though when we went to the hospital.  No telling how long that would be.  Kass met Anny and I to pick the girls up, then Anny and I took Maren downtown.  We got there at 10:00 pm and left at 

2:00 am.

Maren was a brave little girl, there was a chance that they would have to put her to sleep to put her arm back in place, but they decided they didn't need to.  Maren was praying all night that it wouldn't happen and her prayer was answered.  When the Dr was putting her splint on, he had to press somewhat hard to set it.  She was saying "OW, OW, OW,  I want to scream, but I don't want to wake anyone up"  So cute.  The Dr. told her she was amazing.  

Besides the broken arm, the weekend was fabulous.  I'm so thankful for the my family.  I'm thankful for the Savior,  for the Atonement.  Without his sacrifice, we would all be lost.  

Spring Break Part 2 Tropic!!!

Tropic

While we were in California, I talked to Anny, and found out that Jim was going to be out of town during their spring break, my mom was out of town, and she just didn't want to be there by herself. So, of course Sam and I said come and meet us in Tropic. I had to coax her a little, but she did agree to come. She got to talking with Kass, who had spring break too, and they had nothing to do, so we invited them as well.

A BIG THANK YOU TO NICK AND HAYLEY...SAM'S DAD...AND MEGAN!!!

Nick and Hayley were out of town the same time we were going to be there, but they offered their home to Sam and I, which also became a place to stay for Anny, Kass and their families. We appreciated that so much. Everyone had a place to sleep, plus some. Thank you!!!

We also were able to go down to Tropic each morning and have a wonderful breakfast of ham and eggs, pancakes, and milk made by Sam's dad and Clint. It was so yummy and a great start to the day.

DAY ONE

Circle Cliffs

This place, is where Sam's dad goes and gets some petrified wood with a permit. He wanted Clint and Sam to go and help him bring some out. Little did he know that this was going to be a huge outing for three plus families (a 2 1/2 hour drive).

This Bronco is the car that Sam bought while our first year in professional school. He bought it for $500.00. It is now his brother Nick's vehicle, who just got it "fixed up".

Sam was pretty excited to take it out in the hills.

He had to jump start it....an hour out of town he (Clint) had to put an alternator belt on it....and made it out to the field sight. (more to the story later)

We had a fabulous time looking for petrified wood. Abby and Aliza found some great sticks and played old ladies.
We sort of got left behind by the MEN........

So we started looking on our own. We found some great petrified wood, so we thought, the girls started digging.
Big and small. Maren found some beautiful rocks petrified and non.


Here are all the great finds we found. We all had some heavy loads, carrying them back to the car to see if Grandpa approves. After meeting up with him halfway there, he looked at our loot and, lets just say we had a much lighter load the rest of the way. Apparently the wood wasn't completely petrified yet, so wasn't good enough. Darn!

Oh well, we had fun looking, and the scenery was beautiful!!!

Sam, Clint, Mick, Jackson and Anny's two boys stayed behind to look some more. We got home about 8:00 p.m. The boys got home at 1:00 a.m. The Bronco "ran out of gas" an hour and a half out of town, three miles from the nearest gas station. Clint was driving ahead of them in a small truck with David, but didn't see them stop. Mick, Sam and the boys started walking when Clint finally turned around and found them, towed them to the gas station and found out it wasn't a gas problem.....it was broken town. Darn. So, they all piled into this small truck for the next 30 min. Then Steven (Sam's brother) met them and drove the rest of the hour. Poor guys.


DAY TWO
We started the day slow, we were going to go to an Easter egg hunt in a near by town, Cannonville, but we were tired and were talking about not going. It was 9:30, the hunt starts at 10:00, we were 15 min. away. We then decided that the younger kids would not be too happy if we didn't go, they were looking forward to it, so........

We quickly got the kids gathered, threw some sweats on and took off to the park. On the way down, I called Clint and told him to get Randon and Casia (Megan's daughter, Sam's sister), and meet us there.

PHEW! We made it just in time to get in their age group area, get some excitement and GO!

Everyone had fun finding all the candy that was everywhere!!!
Max, Jackson, Randon, Cade, Bree, Abby, Zack, Blake, Aliza, Brooklyn, Brynn, Casia, Maren

Later that day, Anny, Mick and Kass took some of the kids to Bryce Canyon. I stayed at Nick's while the two youngest kids slept, and Sam took Zack, Max and Jackson out looking for arrowheads.

They came back with some great pictures. I wish I could put them all on.

Some other Highlights of the Tropic Trip

• Swimming at Ruby's Inn
• Watching Sammy and Patrick build a rock/mud dam in a river at Circle Cliffs
• Playing Spades and Hearts (I won a game of Spades!!!)
• Eating Dad's best dinners...spaghetti and chili YUM!
• Taking a nap while Megan colored eggs and made play dough with the girls. (Thanks Megan)
• Getting to see Sam's family that are down there. It is always so fun.

Spring Break Part 1----California!!!

About 5 months ago, when it was getting "close" to Maren's birthday (in March), she said she wanted to go to Disneyland. I thought, well, Spring Break is about 10 days after her birthday, so, maybe we could. As we were planning on going, Sam of course had that week off as well, and said, "What about MY break? I want to go to Tropic". So, we put both vacations in one week. We flew down to Vegas, rented a car, drove to So. California for two 1/2 days, drove to Tropic for three days, then back to Vegas. It was a very fun filled trip. Here are some fun picts. and things we did.

Dinner at Aaron and Brock's

I can't believe I didn't get ANY pictures of this fun activity. We got to our Hotel at about 3:30, rested for a little bit, then drove about a 1/2 hour to Aaron's (my youngest brother) for a wonderful Barbecue. Aaron grilled some great burgers, potato salad, and strawberries. We then went to a nearby park and let the kids run wild. (We were traveling since 5:30 that morning). Thank you Aaron and Brock for a wonderful time.

The Beach
The next day, we got up, and headed for the beach. Rain was predicted a few days earlier, but ended up being a beautiful 80 degree day.

We were supposed to meet Clint and Amy, but we got our beaches mixed up, and ended up 10 miles from each other....They didn't want to move since they just got settled, and we were meeting Brock and Cameron at the spot we were, so we switched some kids around, and the cousins played together.

Karissa and Aliza

Cameron was a little shy at first......
but later started playing with the kids and had a fabulous time. I guess this was the first time he played in the water....thanks to Karissa (Amy's daughter).

Maren went to play with Randon on "their" side of the beach, and had a wonderful time. Thanks to Amy or Clint who took great pictures, I wish I could put them all on.
Sammy, Patrick and Patrick's cousin, Alex, who lives in California, hung out and boogie boarded the whole time. They had a lot of fun.

I just can't believe I didn't get ANY pictures of Jackson. He was back and forth with Sam and in and out of water. But, overall, we had a fabulous day at the Beach!!!

Disneyland

Tuesday was Disneyland, we met up with the other Pollocks at the front gate...took "The Picture" (without Clint or Sam...great).....then headed off for some fun!

Patrick and Sammy took off by themselves, with a phone, and we didn't see them very often...probably for the best :).

The lines weren't too bad. Normally a 30 min wait. We did wait in one 60 min line for Space Mountain.
Some of the favorites...Space Mountain (Sammy & Aliza), Splash Mountain (Jackson), Matterhorn (Maren), It's a Small World (Becca), and Thunder Mountain (Sam--his hat fell off and the guy behind him caught it...phew)
Jackson and Paige met up with Patrick and Sammy halfway through the day, then I finally caught up with them and got to go on It's a Small World with them. First time for them, second time for me. It was a little chilly when the sun went down, hence the rain gear :) (there was a chance of rain, so we had some ponchos just in case)


After the fireworks show, Sam took Maren and Jackson back to the Hotel, Amy and her girls were shopping, so I got to go on a couple of more rides with Patrick, Sammy and Aliza. When it is dark and chilly, Splash Mountain isn't so "cool" :) They were a bit wet, cold and done!

It was a fabulous day! We are so glad we went, and that Clint and Amy's family were able to be there as well!

Other Highlights of the trip:

• In-n-Out Burgers...three times.
• Swimming pool at the hotel.
• The Roaring Lion at the hotel.
• Having beautiful sunny warm skies.
• Seeing Joleen (one of Sam's assistants) and her family at the hotel.
• Getting to see where Aaron and Brock live (very beautiful).
• Being on the top floor (14th) and facing Disneyland...we had a wonderful view of the fireworks show Sunday and Monday night.