April started out with a little getaway to Vernal and exploring Dinosaur National Monument. It was on our bucket list this year to this kind of weekend trip to a park or monument in Utah, and this fit the bill perfectly.
Well, we actually started out the month playing friends and family. It snowed on April 1st and Maelle came to play. Ellie had her first job interview, which was kind of weird. It included an Easter egg hunt. I ended picking up Anna and giving her a little TED talk about the superiority of Kdramas. She didn't believe me, which is unfortunate for her. They stayed up late that night and slept in the next morning. I think I folded 7 loads of laundry before anyone else woke up that morning. I took them all to the Paleontology Museum at BYU and the MOA. Afterwards Holland and Darcy played with friends, and then we drove to Vernal.
We took the new Sequoia. It was so nice to have a big car with 4 wheel drive to go over the mountain pass. We even let Eliza drive to get some hours in which was terrifying, especially on the drive home when it was dark and a lot of traffic.
We stayed the night in a hotel room (not an Airbnb for once). We all loved being together in one big room at least for just the one night. The next morning we headed to the Monument. We hit the visitor center first and then up to the big quarry exhibit. We did a couple of short hikes including the Fossil Discovery Trail and Hogs Canyon. We also hiked to some petroglyphs and enjoyed the view. We learned about Josie Bassett Morris, who homesteaded by herself at the end of the Cub Creek Road for over 50 years. She was fascinating. We saw some turkeys in the grass that might have been remnants from her flocks.
Who first studied dinosaur fossils here? Earl Douglass found eight tall bones of an immense sauropod dinosaur sticking out of the ground in 1909. He was a paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
How many animals are here? Paleontologists have collected fossils from almost 400 different dinosaurs. there are 1,500 fossil bones remaining. They are from 100 individuals.
Are there more fossils behind the wall? We know from excavation records that what you see here is the main bone layer. This rock layer continues outside and beneath the building, and there are many more bones in it.
Darcy practicing her writing with a word of her choice. :)
More dino bones coming this week!
I love the old photos of people coming to see the bones.
This section is so cool with the large bones, spine, and skull.
Such a cool skull, and the dinosaur skull is cool too. :) The sign said that this Allosaurus skull is one of the best preserved skulls ever. It was discovered in the quarry in 1924.
It was so cool to be walking around and see fossils in the rock!
A big spine up there
Makes me appreciate how much effort it must be to get the bone removed in tact from the rock
I think this part is just pretty
Visitor center bathroom break
Next on the agenda was walking to see the petroglyphs
The lizard was so cool
We made it to the top!
Hog's canyon
This canyon is where the homesteader kept her hogs. She used the three walls to help contain them.
Ellie found a rock and did some awesome poses on it!
We saw turkeys likely descendants from the homesteaders flock.
We almost had a kiddo in an MCO video. It is crazy to me that our kids have never really been in those despite all the years and recordings they have been to.
We were all upset about the tariff wars, and Holland picked up on it.
starting the repair work on our yard
President Nelson's last general conference address
My mom's beautiful amaryllis
We made real French Onion soup. It was delicious but not as amazing as the soup we ate in France.
Dandelion crown
This is the most amazing amaryllis
Our own little tulip festival!
The peach blossoms are gorgeous even if they aren't as nice smelling as orange blossoms.
I hope these come back next spring
Thanksgiving Point with Jenessa and her boys. I love hanging out with her.
Samuel is almost exactly one year younger than Darcy, but they are about the same size. They look like should be the same age.
Eliza and I had such a fun date to Uptown Cheapskate. Thrifting with her is the best. Definitely a new addiction.
I loved conference weekend. A main highlight is that repentance is needed. We had love from God. We also need to have compassion and less judgement. We listened to it a lot while working on our pool surround. It was so tiring. On Sunday we also loved conference. There were so many messages of love, hope, and peace. I felt the Holy Spirit testify of God's patience and eagerness to forgive.
Our next door neighbors fenced their backyard, and I have never felt so low key validated as when I saw the installers pull our a jack hammer to dig the holes. The rock layer in our soil is no joke. At the same time I am so proud of what we have created. The spring flowers are so lovely--tulips, trees, hyacinths. We reseeded the south grass and worked on the grading around the pool. I am so proud of the progress we were making.
I love laying in our new clover. One day Ellie and I relaxed there while looking at a flower catalog. That same day I hosted bookclub. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the spinach artichoke dip. A lot of people came and seemed to have a good time.
I taught a lesson about goals and habits to the middle YW class. They didn't really seem to be able to take it in, but I still learned a lot. Atomic Habits was such a great read.
We put a lot of thought into trying to figure out a pickleball schedule. John and I snapped at each other about it. I am grateful for a person who is willing to say sorry and work through issues with me. We had several hard conversations during this time. Every couple needs to have reset conversations. I am lucky to have him. I still think that even though at the end of April he told me something that made me pretty devastated. It was a rough time. Lots of emotions and late night conversations. We took some concrete steps to help the situation. I am grateful that we both want to fight for our marriage. I remember having a dream during that time during which someone was trying to convince me not to marry John. I was so mad that someone would try to mess it up. When I woke up it made me want to fight for my marriage even more. I talked to Erica a lot during this time. She was seriously an answer to prayer. She was so encouraging, understanding, and helpful. So grateful for her.
On Palm Sunday we started to learn a new song. We also had a family discussion and a reenactment. We even trimmed off palm leaves from Miriam's palm to do it. (They were the ones that looked sad anyway.) We went to Millie's house for a Pearson family dinner and had a nice time chatting with everyone. Matt brought a girlfriend, but unfortunately that relationship ended soon after. It was the first time he had ever done that.
I listened to the book "The Moment of Lift" for bookclub. It was heartbreaking but really incredible to learn about. I am so lucky to live where I do and have the rights that I have. It truly isn't fair. After that heavy book I particularly enjoyed "The Murder of Mr. Wickham." I read that whole series in 2025.
Darcy is doing so well as preschool. It is her favorite thing to do number sentences (adding and subtracting).
Miriam and her friends won battle of the books for the district for the third year in a row. She had them over to celebrate. Holland went to district for her school too. So proud of them. Eliza and Miriam each had two babysitting jobs that weekend. So proud of them. They work so hard. We work hard too. We worked hard putting our path around the pool. I love to see the mess that we made in the yard get fixed.
John and I recreated our first date. We dressed up, played pool, got massive a Handal's milkshake. We reminisced and listened to Rascal Flatts to prep for Stadium of Fire in July when we would hear them live! We loved listening to the early 2000's country.
Easter Sunday was lovely. He is risen! Darcy singing all of the words to Gethsemane in church. We did a crepe brunch and testimony sharing. We hosted Dad and a bunch of Pearsons. I really missed my mom.
I love playing games with Holland in the morning. She told me that she wants to get a locking bookshelf to help her focus on her work. John got an email from Darlene Cardon from our Phoenix ward asking for discrete help with an Amazon purchase. It was such a funny hack email.
One day at school Miriam called me after she was done with testing and said she wanted to hang out with me and Darcy since they were just playing at school. I loved being with her! She helped with preschool and then we played a game.
We spent a whole Saturday learning how to put together the pool equipment. It felt glacially slow but is an important step, and hopefully we learned it right. We did a double date with the Davises that night. It was so fun! Such long, easy conversation. The kids were happy here too.
The next day at choir practice Holland was the only soprano. She sang out with such confidence--it was lovely and adorable. That night we had a family dinner at Kayla's house. Darcy sang "My Own Sacred Grove" for my dad. It was beyond precious, and he had tears streaming down his face. He told me the story of his stroke and how he felt my mom and the love from Jesus.
So much work to rebuild our yard.
Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt
Palm Sunday reenactment--those MCO costumes getting another use
These longtime friends won district AGAIN in battle of the books!
Holland went to District too--they were the champs of their school
Crop circles started forming in our clover. No idea why. Aliens? Overwatering? Fungus? Who knows...hopefully it stops soon. At least the grass inside the circles seemed happy.
The tulip festival with Jenessa. So pretty! I love hearing Darcy exclaim about the flowers and plants.
We had to come back with the whole fam!
Love the big blow up slide
Still a little cold that day
Trying to protect our fruit blossoms from a late freeze
Egg coloring
Date night! John killed me at pool. Handals is always the best--chocolate and coconut shake
Easter morning!
Easter Sunday
Our own hunt!
We had some family join us for Easter Dinner
We named this philodendron "Hope." She lives at John's work.
Making some progress on the pool area!
Preschool bubbles
Another day at the Tulip Festival. We love gardens and flowers!
Afternoon nap with my girl
A recipe I printed. It was so absurd.
I love my herbal tea collection!
School dance for Miriam!
She went with one of her best friends, Aeris.
Multicultural night for Holland's school. They made leis, and we listened to a few songs with horchata and cotton candy. They are so cute!
Rainy day with Darcy
Fun quotes from Darcy (and others) in April:
"Fish are for nothing. Animals aren't supposed to be alive."
D: Mommy are you available for shooting?
K: Shooting people isn't nice.
D: I am just shooting with my fingers.
"I want a mad room in our house that we can go in and be mad. Oh my single heaven."
"I can tell it's a weed because of its supple root."
"Remember don't buy food from your enemies! Chapter 1!"
J: No dress spoilers! Those are the worst kind!
"I am a talker and not a listener."
"Your real name is Kylee but I call you Mommy because it makes more sense."
While I was getting ready for the day, I heard Darcy singing/blowing into the recorder. She stopped and started cheering for herself, but then added an enthusiastic, "That sounded amazing!"
"Daddy will you grow sideburns for me?"
E: (about a kid she babysat) To be fair he is cuter if you are not looking down at his face.
"Are you sure you know the letters to spell Pearson?"
