Easter 2024

Easter was a little different this year. After we got back from Nashville but before Maxine had to go back to Logan, we had our family Easter egg hunt. I grabbed some pictures from video. 

I took Mark and Mikayla to the Winchester egg hunt. Merril and Juliet were still at the robotics competition in Costa Mesa and Jack was at work.

Mark found some prize eggs. He won a blanket and some watermelon sour peeps.

Mikayla just got candy. The weather was a little cold but waffles at grandpa Campbell's house were as good as always!

Right now the TurkEaster feast is in the oven!

Temples in March!

St. George Temple is open!

Our family went to the Nashville Temple for baptisms.

Merril and I visited Manti for the open house. We waited for 50 minutes in the standby line and made sure to dress warmly. It snowed on us about half the time. The lady we were standing next to was not dressed for the weather. I was trying to shield her from the snow with my umbrella. Volunteers handed out blankets, which she took.

Red Cliffs Temple was dedicated and I did initiatory the first day it was open.

Juliet had baptisms scheduled at Red Cliffs but Costa Mesa Robotics landed on it. She gave it to Mikayla and I took her.

It's going to be fantastic to have 2 temples so close to us! No excuse not to go!

Costa Mesa Robotics Trip

Merril chaperoned the robotics qualifier in Costa Mesa, CA. He was there with Juliet and the HHS Robotics team. They competed and made it to the semi finals but didn't qualify for Worlds. I think Juliet is okay with it because she's missed so much school already.

They went to the beach in Cali. Looks cold to me but Juliet said some of the boys got in.

She got her ACT score while they were there. She got a 30! She wants to take it again but she feels pretty good about that score!

The trip home was a mess. They left around 5 p.m. on Saturday evening and there was an accident by Baker. It added 6 hours to an already 6 hour trip home. They made it Easter morning at 5:00 a.m. So gross. Juliet had agreed to accompany two songs at church at 9 a.m. She pretty much slept the rest of the morning/early afternoon to recover. 

Gunlock Falls 2024 and San Felipe 250

I missed Gunlock Falls last year. I kept waiting for everyone to be available and it didn't happen and then the falls dried up. I wanted to go this year and just said, "I'm going! Anyone want to come?" Merril was out of town at the San Felipe 250 with Kadin Guard but the girls came. Kadin got first place! Mark and Jack stayed home.

It was great!

Mikayla's trying to freak me out.

I realized I was sitting next to a pile of ash. I believe it to be some dead person's ashes. Gross. I suggested we move.

It was a lovely afternoon and I'm glad I was able to go!

Nashville TN to Visit Megan and Lucas

To afford 7 plane tickets, we flew in the middle of the night. Our flight left around midnight out of Vegas.

 

We arrived at Megan and Lucas's house at around 6 a.m. and crashed for quite a few hours. When we woke up, we decided to go see downtown Nashville.

Since we're not huge country music fans, we didn't even go inside the hall of fame.

Broadway was extra.

We ended up getting BBQ that night. The next morning we went to the Loveless cafe, home of biscuits, jam and fried chicken. 

This bridge is the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge.

We stopped to admire the bridge. Then we noticed Jack had climbed it. Um, I don't think you're supposed to climb it.

We drove to Franklin to see some Civil War history sites.

Then we went to the temple in Nashville. It's a baby temple but we were able to do baptisms for the dead.

And more BBQ.

Later that night, Merril, Maxine, and Lucas went back to downtown to listen to music. Most of the bands were rock instead of country. 

The next day, we went to Fall Creek Falls State Park to see the tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi River.

We got brave and hiked down to it! Jack carried Madeline.

It was straight down and with Merril and I still recovering from knee injuries, we went slow.

Early the next day, we flew home. We left Megan's house around 4:30 a.m. They were wonderful hosts. I enjoyed our time there.