City of Rocks

This past weekend we realized the kids and Dustin both had the day off.  That doesn't happen very often, possibly never.  Dustin gave me the "go ahead" to plan something fun for us to do.  He had previously mentioned he'd like to go see City of Rocks and that sounded perfect for this weekend.

I called the little Almo Inn and that's where we stayed.  We were the ONLY ones there.

There was a big Jacuzzi tub and so the girls had a good ole' bubble bath.

The next day we headed to go see the rocks.

The kids LOVED it and so did we.  Thankfully the weather was gorgeous so it turned out nearly perfect.  There was hardly any people around at all.  I must admit I love having my family all to myself.

We did multiple little hikes and lots of exploring.

We just had one small melt down when told we had to put our tennis shoes on again for this hike and not the flip flops.  You see those cactus?  They were everywhere!  Those poor toes would have been sad if they got poked!

I sure love these two!  Lincoln loved every single second of it.

You can see which kids are our fearless climbers.  It was Molly and Lincoln this time.

Ella doing her famous pose

And dad doing his.  lol..

This was my favorite spot of all.  I love these people soo much and feel so thankful for such a beautiful world we have to live in.

Alissa pretending to be stuck.

A picture Molly took of Lincoln going for a ride.

After exploring we checked out Durfee Hot Springs right down the road.  Again we were the only ones there until we were ready to leave (like 2 hours later).  It was amazing.  Dustin was debating in his head how we could do it all again tomorrow.  :)  We are welcoming spring with open arms.  It's so nice to get outside again!

Molly girl is getting big

This sweet girl is so motivated lately.  

She currently goes to gymnastics and started learning to play the piano about a month ago and recently asked to start going to a jump rope clinic too.  She is super uncoordinated with the jump rope but I was impressed at how hard she has been trying.  She will just be sweating and still trying to swing that jump rope so she can jump.   Every day she is the first one up and dressed and generally the first to get her chores done.  She has realized that when she does it she gets good consequences.  She is motivated by her chore chart and every Saturday reminds me she needs her money.  

We took her to open a savings account where she has me put the money she earns every single week after she takes out her tithing.  

What a good girl.  I am thankful for her streak of motivation and hope it continues.  It sure makes life easier on me and her too!

Gem State

Ella's ballroom group competed at the Gem State competition this weekend.  They did an awesome job as a team performing.  As much as she claims to not like to dance with her cousin, you can tell she loves it.  Big smiles!

They took 3rd place out of 5 or 6 teams and Ella and Ian got to represent their team.

Hooray!

The next day they competed as couples doing multiple dances.  It took about 4 hours and was pretty constant dancing.  The individuals weren't nearly as prepared as the group however a few people still did get an award from their team.  Overall it was an excellent experience!  Sure love my little Ella dancer.