Clockwork Angel, Prince, Princess

These books have changed my life! Ok, so maybe it's not that dramatic, but they are truly amazing! They are inspiring just as Harry Potter was, but with more drama and relationship development. Cassandra Clare is truly a genius making you believe that the Shadow world exists and even did in the 1800's where these books take place. They resonate so much good, joy, hope, and love amidst a breath-holding story that you live in with the rest of the characters as either a spectator in the Institute with them or imagining yourself in the place of one of them. Clockwork Princess is especially amazing with truths that we all should pattern our life after. I couldn't have asked for a better ending! Makes me even want to read the Mortal Instrument series again as well. A good read every couple years for sure!

Beaver Prom

I'd heard a lot about the Beaver Junior Prom and just had to go to it and find out myself. So apparently this is a tradition that goes WAY back. The community and families are invited and the entire junior class dresses in formal wear. The rest of the high school students can come but dress in semi-formal wear as did we. As you can see the gym is decorated more lavishly than any wedding I've been too- very different than my prom. The evening begins with an hour long program. First they announce the junior class and their dates and spotlight them so that we can see their dresses and tuxes. There are only about 100 students so it didn't take too long. Then there were a couple musical numbers- piano and guitar/vocal. They said a few thank yous and then proceeded with the 'Promenade'. The Promenade is a choreographed group dance that the junior class performs to the theme song which in this instance was 'A Thousand Years' which I swear was one of the main songs on the Twilight series movies. Anyways, the dance was super cheesy and you could tell the kids just didn't care about it at all. Then they announced the prom royalty which are also juniors. And lastly they finish with a daddy/daughter, mother/son dance. 

I have to say that the program wasn't all that bad, just cheesy at some points and really it seemed like it was something all for the parents. Like I could see how I'd love to see my kid at prom do something like this but would hate to do it as a teenager myself. It just seems like they need to have another formal dance without the parents involved because I guess this is the only one, not to mention most of the rest of the school doesn't come anyway. I went to 2 proms and homecomings and my parents weren't at any of them. Anyway, my favorite part of the program was definitely checking out all the dresses- so fancy and princess looking. The fashion now a-days is full dresses and super sparkly. Very pretty. But overall, my favorite part of the evening was slow dancing with my hubby. We finally made it to the floor, once most of the students were gone and most of the people dancing were adults. We danced to 2 slow songs and I felt all butterflies again like it was one of our first dances. It was the ultimate country/small town romantic moment; I think he liked it too. We had a wonderful date and enjoyed getting all dressed up too. (wish we had a picture!) So fun these small town traditions. :)

Ranger XP 900-Oooo

Introducing our latest and greatest 4wheeler: Polaris Ranger XP 900! It's a bench seat in the front which seats 3. It fits Dallen's car seat perfectly and has really nice accessories- a roof, a full glass windshield, more comfortable seating and doors, and most importantly, it's more powerful. We love the orange! Travis got it street legal and found a box for the bed to fit all of our gear. The only down side is that there isn't much room for Lily with all of us riding together. She doesn't fit well in the bed with the box and gets too hot back there without a roof. So I let her sit with me sometimes and we all just squish. There have been a few times the Ranger Crew, 6 seater, would've been nice to take friends but this one maneuvers much better and fits in more places than the Crew. I absolutely love having a Ranger and am so glad we decided to buy one now and not wait until the possible Crew 900 came out.

SFW Banquet with the Starleys

Nick and Travis took the weekend off for the infamous Beaver County Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife Banquet. And it happened to be a winter wonderland that weekend as well. So we took the kids out and went sledding, built a snowman, and ate some snow. Nick, Mindy and Cael also enjoyed skiing at Eagle Point Resort up Beaver Canyon. Jay and Tamara and Nick's cousin and family also came to town for the big event. So we got a sitter and headed over to the Elementary school's gym. 

At the banquet you purchase tickets to get in and for the dinner and then you can purchase raffle tickets to put in for dozens of prizes. There's also an auction for other prizes including guns, bows, specialty hunts, and other gear. Last year Travis won the auction for a pair of hiking boots that he loves that ended up being $100 cheaper then what retail would've cost. This year Nick had his eye on a bow in one of the raffles. Well they started the evening auctioning off a large cowboy buckle. I immediately tuned out the auctioneer since I of course was not interested in a cowboy buckle. While he was rambling on, I spotted my friend Shawna across the room and raised my hand to wave to her and say hi. Next thing I know the auctioneer is pointing at me saying 'we have $80 right here right here...' And then he stops. He looks at me and reprimands me for waving during an auction because I'm telling him, no no, I don't want it! My face must've been beet red! It was THE most embarrassing moment, but a laughable one as well. Thankfully I didn't end up with a cowboy buckle. 

Later in the long long evening, as they were drawing the name for the bow, we all were startled to hear Nick's name called! We cheered and were just so excited to have someone in our group win a big prize. :) Travis and I ended up winning a few small things and just enjoyed the evening out with friends. 

Moab with only 3 and Lily

Travis and I love Moab; we love that there is such a variety of outdoorsy things to do. This year we decided to keep our trip low key and just camp out the 3 of us and Lil. We went the first weekend in March so it was still pretty cold at night. So we altered our normal sleeping arrangements from me and Travis sharing a double sleeping bag to me and Dallen sharing the double sleeping bag. Travis used the cot and his new single bag while Lily ended up cuddling up between my legs halfway through the night. Besides the cold nights, the trip was perfect. The weather was wonderful for hiking and I even got a little sunburn the 2nd day! Can't go to Moab without getting sun burnt.

The first day we did a 4+ mile hike at Fisher Towers. It's 20 miles up the Colorado River, pretty far from the usual activities we do closer to town. It was nice and quite and just beautiful. Dallen hiked a whole mile through snow and mud and of course took a few breaks to play in the sand. He's such a strong hiker and insists on doing it all on his own, litter stinker. But after a mile he was pretty pooped and took a little snooze in the pack. I think this hike is one of my Moab favorites.

The next day we chose another hike neither of us had done before. It was actually on a 4x4 trail. Travis had high hopes that a Jeep would come by, but no luck. So we hiked the steep Moab Rim Trail to the amazing view of the town of Moab, Arches, and La Sal Mountains. It was a 1 mile 800ft climb up 'slickrock' that Dallen again insisted doing on his own. I was on the border of having an anxiety attack most of the time since there were a lot of steep drop offs that he of course had to wander on over to and check out. He again was a really strong hiker and probably out hiked Lily! She was having a really hard time getting up the steep rock, dragging that belly of hers with her back legs. Plus it was pretty hot and she was panting hard. Dallen ended up in the pack again after about a mile and took a nap. After he woke up we took a nice long break at the overlook and then headed back down. He hiked the whole mile down the steep rock and did a great job keeping himself from going too fast down the trail. It was such a different type of hike watching him and helping him that we both just thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

The last day we went to Hole 'N the Rock mini zoo. Dallen loves animals and this was the first time we've ever taken him to a zoo. It was so fun seeing him walk right up to the animals and hold out his hand trying to feed them like we do at home with the horse behind our house. It was a perfect ending to our little trip.