Spring Break--Utah to Phoenix...

We woke up April 1st to a fresh blanket of snow. It was supposed to be the first day of Spring Break! Lucky for us, we had planned a vacation...the first in a REALLY long time! So we loaded the car up a little earlier than we had originally planned and hit the road. We met Grandpa Dave in Lehi and borrowed his GPS (which ended up saving our bacon numerous times.) We drove and drove and drove until we reached Las Vegas and checked into Circus Circus. We tricked the boys into staying on Utah time and got to bed early.

We woke up Friday morning and got ready to continue down the road. When we got close to the Hoover Dam, Spencer told Cam to stop the DVD they were watching because we were going to see where Megatron was hidden in Transformers. Then the boys wondered why Megatron wasn't there still. It was a little confusing for our 5-year-old. I took this pic from the car of the new bridge they are building. It looks pretty cool.

We eventually arrived in Phoenix, Arizona around 2 pm. The weather was BEAUTIFUL...between 80-85 degrees the entire time we were there. The original reason we'd decided to go to Phoenix was to see new baby, Cohen DuShane so can you believe that I didn't take one single picture of him? Yep, I'm lame. After catching up with Spencer, Adrienne, and Caden for a bit, we decided to go have dinner and make our way to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. We ate dinner at Forefathers and would recommend it to anyone living in or visiting the Phoenix/Tempe area. It was simply fantastic.

When we arrived at the Mesa Temple, we'd been advised by friends to just take a blanket and spread out on the lawn. We got situated and thought we had a great view but as more and more people came and sat in front of us, it got a little hard to see. However, the Easter Pageant was an amazing experience and although we couldn't see everything, we could hear it all and the message was so powerful.


Saturday morning we went with the DuShane Family to an Easter Parade in (I think) Chandler. It was a warm day and we all left with a little sun. They threw a lot of candy and the boys loved it.


That evening we met Uncle Tim, Cousins Rachel & Jacob, and Jacob's 3 youngest at Organ Stop Pizza. Once again, I'd highly recommend eating there if you ever get the chance. The atmosphere is one-of-a-kind.
This was a tradition when we'd visit Uncle Tim when I was a little girl. My boys absolutely enjoyed the entire experience, especially since the Organ Player ended his set with a medley from Star Wars. It was great to see Uncle Tim, Rachel and Jake. It's been a long time since I'd seen those cousins so I'm glad they took the time to come visit. We swam in the pool at the hotel that evening and got ready to say goodbye to the sun.

Sunday morning we went back to the DuShane's for the last time. After lunch we loaded up the car and began our drive northward. Here are a few shots of Cameron, Gavin, Owen, and Caden on the swing and playing the Wii. We probably should have taken more pictures but I was just enjoying catching up with Adrienne and holding Cohen to be bothered by the camera. Thanks to the DuShane Family for all the fun we had together. Can't wait to see you in May/June.