Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Vancouver Temple



I took Katie, Kelsey, Hannah and Preston for a quick trip to Vancouver BC to see the new temple! We had such a fun time...spent the night in Bellingham and then drove over the border early Saturday AM and toured this beautiful new temple. We loved touring each room. Our only camera was on our phone but this gives the general idea. It was a wet and rainy weekend but still fun times!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Whirlwind

SPRING BREAK APRIL 2010
Warning: This is the longest post ever...

Where to begin? We just returned from an amazing Spring break trip. We drove to Utah, spent 5 days there, then went to Las Vegas for 4 days and then drove home. The drive home took us 24 hours minus the 6 hours we slept at the Motel 6 in Wells, Nevada, Population 800. The kids were troopers.

First event: Emily's Junior Recital which was amazing!


So happy to be done!

And the whole family....
And her Vienna Study abroad family...
Preston took great pride in handing out the programs before the recital. He then listened to the first couple songs and fell asleep for the rest of the program. Sean helped entertain him after the show.

CONFERENCE
We loved listening to conference on the weekend. Saturday afternoon, Emily, Katie, Kelsey and I were able to attend in the conference center. It was amazing!
YW photo!

We were one of the last ones into the main floor of the center and sat in the special needs seat on the very last row. Leg room was awesome!
We ran into a handsome bunch of Soundview men walking out of the conference center.
Random fun at the Provo Mall....After seeing the movie, The Last Song, with the girls while the men were at the Priesthood session, the kids had a blast doing this bungee/trampoline jump at the mall.

Preston was fearless and a pro at doing somersaults.
EASTER SUNDAY
We had a great time at Ben and Rachel's...eating a yummy Easter dinner, Easter egg hunt and visiting. Our whole family was there, and grandma, and also Merlene with most of their family. Also fun with new boxer puppy, Max.
Ben and Rachels new Boxer puppy, Max.

Little Birgita is so cute!



Skiing at Brighton Resort, Big Cottonwood Canyon.
This was quite an adventure. We haven't been skiing for about 5 years and so Preston and Hannah did ski school for a few hours in the morning. Then they loved skiing on their own for the afternoon. Christian got right back into snowboarding and had a blast. It made it especially adventuresome since the mountains recieved over 30 inches of snow during our 2 days of skiing. It was so powdery and light.

The Bateman Boys!

It was great to ski with Rachel, Braden and Christian too!

VIVA LAS VEGAS!
So, we drove from snowy SLC to 80 degree Las Vegas. What a fun contrast! We enjoyed our pool at the Grandview Resort, Preston learned to swim without his life jacket which he has been very attached to, we enjoyed walking the strip and attending a few shows: KA Cirque at the MGM grand, Lion King at Mandalay Bay and The Blue Man group. Everyone's favorite was KA.


Hannah and Preston made some new friends! Eva and Noah from Los Angeles. Their dad is the producer of the bachelorette and their mom is an actress! I had fun talking with her at the poolside while the kids played together.
Walking the strip.....M&M store, CocaCola store, the lions at the MGM grande....so much to see.

BAPTISM
It was so fun to be in Las Vegas for the Baptism of cousins Jackson and Leighton. They are the cutest, funniest and biggest 8 year olds and we love being with them and their family.
APRIL 10th, 2010
Christian's 18th Birthday...after the baptism, we celebrated at a local park.

We are so proud of Christian. He is headed to BYU Provo in the Fall! He is suffering from Senioritis and looking forward to graduation in June.

Getting ready for the 24 hour drive home.....