Goblin Valley, a big event.

For Easter break, we headed to where else?...Goblin Valley!  We always have so much fun in the desert.  It is such a great destination for kiddos and adults alike.

We had a lot to celebrate:

Lily's first camping trip.  (And my first trip since Fall 2009-yikes!)  She was a wonderful little babe.  The 4-ish hour drive was unbelievable.  She was a gem.  And she did so well playing the part of pack monkey.  She gets the gold star for being our best baby in the pack.  Bayli was pretty good, Chase screamed a lot, Lily just wants to go.  She loved being up high and smiling at everyone.

our cute little pack monkey

And there is her infamous tongue!

Lily's first little hike.  I didn't venture to far with her on my back.

Grandma and Grandpa's first go at a slot canyon.  They did pretty great I thought.  Even if Grandpa insisted on bringing his pup.








Chase turned three!!!  We adore our little man and his busy as a bee-ness.  Give him some dirt and he will improvise with the rest.  What better place to celebrate your birthday than in a big sandbox?  Our little dirt monkey had a wonderful time.
He is passionate about trucks, trailers, tractors, loaders, graders, dump trucks anything that rolls down the road.  He is our material mover.  Give him a dump truck, a shovel, and a pile of dirt and he will have it loaded and moved before you can blink an eye.  He is also passionate about tools.  Not just hammers and wrenches.  Any object that has a purpose is a tool in his eyes.  Hair clippers, because they are the tool that cuts hair.  The vacuum, because it is the tool that cleans the floor.  The toilet plunger, because, well, you know.  His eyes light up when he goes down to dad's shop and watches him build.  He will improvise with anything to turn it into a tool.

He pretty much swam in the dirt.

Setting up shop to "cut some wood."

Mm-mm his favorite, Strawberry Shortcake!

Present time!  Loving the Thomas Pez'.

He couldn't wait to break into the Big Dig.

Super stoked about some knew trucks.  Hopefully he doesn't disassemble these ones.

Hello, Easter!!!  Easter morning brought a downpour of rain, not to mention super chilliness.  We celebrated the morning with cold cereal and baskets while Jed packed up everything for the journey back to civilization. 

Tangled + Books + Smiles = Happy Kids

Special thanks to Casi for being cute little Bayli's hiking buddy.  Bayli absolutely adores her cousin.

And Tanner was Chase's favored companion.  He was a great sport and held hands with him through the canyons.  Chase wanted to do everything that Tanner did, which made for a pretty slow pace.  He wanted to scale all of the sides, or "mountains" as her referred to them, as Tanner did.

This is pretty much what the scene looked like as the kids had their fun in Goblin Valley.  Chase was always trying to catch up with them.  He so badly wants to be a big kid.

Trying to do everything that big sister does.

Always our little poser.

 Chase followed suite.

Peaking up from the cave-love her!

Pure joy!

He was so fascinated by all of the rocks and dirt.

Our almost attempt at a family picture.  Bayli was too busy chasing after Casi.

I LOVE the men in my life.

We found a cool hidden chimney near camp.  We were so excited to venture up it.

I totally look like a man-yikes!

Bayli was super nervous, but she did really well.  As much as she kept telling us that she was going to die and not live through it, she was proved wrong.

Jed was just glad that he didn't get stuck.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Dixon for coming along to let us bunk up with you!  As fun as it was, we plan to have our own quarters next time.

And thanks to the Branch's and Atherley's, we had us a good dirty time!