Easter Sunday morning we ate a delicious crepe and fruit breakfast then everyone got ready for 11am church. We took family pictures before we walked across the street to the chapel.
The Alexanders
The Moultons
After surviving a sacrament meeting where the kids moved around so much trying to sit by all their friends, (on a dare from Dan, Ben even got up and sang a song he didn't know with the Primary...so cute!) we had egg salad for lunch and the Alexanders went to visit John's grandparents. Some of us got naps and then we went to walk around the temple.
My sister sent this great shot of my cute parents ready for their church on Easter Sunday.
We had a lovely Easter dinner (Ham, funeral potatoes, fruit, rolls, and salad) and the kids ate on the patio.
After dinner Rachael planned a couple of Easter activities to help us all remember the true meaning of Easter. We went on an Easter walk and found different items (something living, something non-living, etc) then told how they represented something in the Easter story. Then Charley had 12 Easter eggs filled with items that also symbolize part of the resurrection story. We read a story in the Friend Magazine. Some of the kids bore their testimonies then sang Gethsemane, which is always so powerful!
We had peach cobbler for dessert then the kids went to bed. The grown-ups stayed up to make some plans and talk, talk, talk.
Monday we packed lunches and left by 10:30 to head to Zion's for some hiking. The weather was a little chilly for my liking, but much better than blazing hot.
This was right after we got out of the car.
We at lunch on the lawn by the main lodge.
The kids played around while we all took turns using the restroom.
Trying out the packs
Getting started on the hike to the Emerald Pools.
We wanted to let Anna try walking for at least some of the hike so I wan in charge of holding her hand while Dan was carrying Bethany in the Bjorn. We quickly realized Anna was slowing us down quite a bit so I put her in the hiking pack and began carrying her. I was pretty dang proud of myself for hefting an extra 30lbs!
This was a little waterfall down to the first pool.
As we arrived at the second Emerald Pool it started to sprinkle a little so we made an executive decision to turn around and head back rather than continue on to the third pool. I knew I couldn't carry that extra 30lbs much more back down the hike, so Dan and I decided to switch girls. I sat on a little step and put Anna down on the ground still in the hiking pack which has a sort of kick stand to stabilize it when on the ground. Dan took Bethany out of the Bjorn, I put the Bjorn on, adjusted it, put Bethany in the bjorn, and just as Dan was turning around to sit down and put Anna on his back, she tipped over and her face slammed into the ground! Thankfully it was a sandy/dirt area and not a rock. The sand and dirt was all in her mouth too. She had quite the fat lip, part of her gums were pulled away from between her front two teeth, and a bloody nose. Dan stayed super calm in spite of all the blood. He carried her in his arms (not the pack) all the way back down which was about 1.2 miles. McKenna decided to wait with Rachael at the first pool while everyone else headed back down. Sweet big sister worried for her little sister.
The picture on the right is at the first pool before Anna fell. The second is at the bottom--two baby girls asleep and one injured. :( But isn't the scenery beautiful? :) The shuttles back to our cars were SUPER full and made it a little tricky to keep track of our little people.
We could only do minimal clean up because it hurt her so bad.
She got to eat lots of popsicles and figured out how to drink from a straw through the corner of her mouth instead of a sippy cup. This is the pack she was sitting in. She also didn't really like me taking pictures of her because she didn't like the way she looked. I don't blame her.
That night for dinner we ate out at Marv's Diner which had great burgers and shakes. It rained a lot more that evening. When we got home the kids played Nintendo and also had popcorn and watched Turbo. After the kids went to bed the grown-ups talked and talked and played a really fun game called Hoopla (made by the same people to made Cranium).
Tuesday we went to an 11am showing of Zootopia. Super cute movie the kids loved.
Then we went home and had mac and cheese for lunch. It was too cold for the kids to eat outside so the kitchen was a little cramped and we had to eat in shifts.
After lunch we went to the Children's museum and met some other Bountiful friends, the Roths. Again, because the older kids do such a good job playing nice with their friends, we couldn't really keep up with them and mostly have pictures of Anna. She loved the grocery shopping area. Thankfully Rachael got some great pictures of the older kids.
Remember Bethany's fever and runny nose that came on Thursday before we left for St. George? Well it turns out all of us had colds during the trip. No fun and I felt pretty bad about possibly passing it on to our friends. Since Anna spent the night at Primary's Hospital last August for labored breathing and low blood oxygen level (diagnosed as Bronchiolitis), every cold she has had leads to more labored breathing. Unfortunately, the cold she had in St. George began to cause some rapid and labored breathing again. We tried an inhaler which the Alexanders use on Desi but it didn't seem to help so we left the children's museum early and took Anna to Instacare. We kept her entertained with snacks, playing with Bethany, and blowing up rubber gloves. You can also see her fat lip had already gone down quite a bit.
We told the doctor about the Bronchiolitis back in August and she was surprised to find out we hadn't followed up with a respiratory therapist and that children diagnosed with Bronchiolitis often have respiratory problems their whole life. Boo! This time, thankfully, her blood oxygen levels were good, but they still took a chest x-ray. Initially they said it didn't look like pneumonia, so they sent us home with a prescription for a steroid to help open things up for her breathing. Two days after we got home, the Intsacare called and said the radiologist said there was in fact evidence of pneumonia and we should start an antibiotic.
Tuesday night we had leftovers for dinner and the Moulton's headed back home. After dinner we had baths and had a fun time throwing pillows at the kids as they ran by. We talked with the Alexanders till late and then went to bed.
