April 8, 2026

Darren and I are doing Spring Break Arizona style.  We flew into Phoenix yesterday and drove down to Tucson to start out.  Last night we failed at finding some good Mexican food which you would think would be hard to fail at but we did.  We drove to my choice and quickly changed our minds.  Then we went to Salsa Verde which ended up being OK but definitely nothing to write home about.

Today we explored Saguaro National Park for NP #25 for us. We had a fantastic first stop at Valley View Overlook on the west side of the park.

Look at us out here looking at cactus flowers and getting new birds. Morning in the desert is really cool.  It's a noisy silence.  Like it's quiet yet you can hear bees and birds and things moving.  I like it.  Saw the cutest little cottontail bunny but make sure you don't step off the trail because out here everything is trying to poke you.

Got some cool birds today - a roadrunner, a gila woodpecker, and cool thanks to Stevie nicks and Edge of seventeen - white winged dove! 

Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she's singin'
"Ooh, baby, ooh, said, ooh"

We also visited the East side where we drove the scenic loop and stopped for lunch at Javelina Picnic Area. I love a good picnic spot and this was one.  We both decided the West side is better than the East (Rincon).  And the amount of saguaros on the west side was staggering.

We decided to spend the afternoon at a mall theater watching Project Hail Mary. Great idea for the 93 degree weather. We loved it and then headed back to the west side of the park. 

Ended the day with a desert sunset, hearing a couple coyote hips and then seeing a small coyote trotting up the side of the road.  That was a good National Park experience day.

April 5, 2026

Highlights of my Easter morning. Listening to President Oaks, Freeman, and Uchtdorf, seeing Cam dab and Rylie gangum style, eating Peeps, and being reminded of this hike.

Highlights of my Easter evening. Eating cookies made by Kenzie, playing Catch Phrase (Mason pulls out good games we don’t play all the time), and chatting with Em, Kelcie, Clayton, and Sandee.

April 4, 2026

Had a good time together today. We had a pretzel and pizza party (including fruit pizza) for pre-Easter celebrating complete with a scripture scavenger hunt for some peeps and snacks. Today included lots of laughs.  Here's an example:

Kenzie farts.  Rylie says, “Do you want to play that game with me?”

April 3, 2026

Had a really good hike this morning with Lorien. We went up Dry Creek (steep as Dry Creek) and made it to the base of the falls. Neither one of us had been here before despite hiking here many, many times over the years. The falls were lovely! We soaked it all in and just watched and listened to the water for some time. There was ice on some logs and the way the water cascaded over the rocks was fascinating. It was lovely to enjoy our destination for a while. 

After my hike I saw Sadie was working so I stopped and grabbed some costa Vida lunch. “Is that my mom?” 

Early this evening I watched as 10 robins were sitting in our aspen trees. Then I went to dinner with Darren and enjoyed chatting with him and eating at Wok the Line. 

Ended the day losing to Rylie and Cole in SkyJo and some Kindle reading. 

April 1, 2026

Rainy day walk up the road to avoid mud with the nieces (and Sadie came with us). They are awesome and appreciated the beauty of the snow frosted trees. 

March 31, 2026

Had so much fun at Nickel City today with Sadie, Kendyl, Laynee, and Blake - especially getting stuffed dinosaurs, playing Sadie in Dance, Dance, Revolution and Guitar Hero. Then it was hang out with my birthday bestie for a while. I love when the Biblers come to town. 

Listening to the two oldest Bibler girls with my two younger girls laugh and giggle makes me smile. 

March 29, 2026

Some thankful things I thought of on this Sunday:

March Madness and watching full basketball games. A little Arch Madness and remembering “the birth of a day” at Jacob Hamblin Arch. Game night with Mason and Rachael playing Azul (amazingly Mason didn’t win). Kenzie morning with her Dr appointment and Cubby’s to eat. A Froyo visit DKCS. A hike with the complete Canyon Crew. Being a lead tester. Birds singing in the morning. Finishing my audiobook as I finished my run. Having a few fun mornings (which is probably why my knees hurt). A walk with Kelly where she helped me work through some thoughts. Grabbing lunch at Costa where I said hi to Sadie and her friends gave me the kids meal for free. Older kid Palm Sunday Easter egg hunt. Swinging with Annelise. Playing Hitster in South Jordan.