Family Pictures at Capitol Reef

As I was planning our trip to Capitol Reef I had the "brilliant" idea that we should get family pictures taken. I found a local photographer named Faun, but she couldn't meet us until Monday. Who wouldn't want to pay hundreds of dollars to get pictures after three days of camping?! ;) Thankfully, even though we went for a hike in the morning and were running late, they all turned out great. We were all thrilled that the ones of Audrey turned out so good. We'd say "Smile!" and she'd smile. Score! We brought Adam's "Erik Bear", because we wanted to include him in the picture. 

Here are some of the family pics. 

 Some with my parents

Sarah

Steven

Adam. He had normal colored shoes and socks, but no one noticed when we left. The green socks and red shoes are very Adam, so it fits. 

And the lovely miss Audrey in her family photograph debut. The pictures are all similar, but her smile is different in every one, so I couldn't exclude any. I love them all!

My boys

"Why so serious?" ;)

Last but not least, my man and me. I know I've said it before, but I thank my Heavenly Father Every. Single. Day. That I get to be married to him. He's as good as he is handsome. 

We finally have a new picture hang over the mantle, and a lot of pictures to fill our blog book. 

Capitol Reef and Easter

We weren't sure if Mike would be home during spring break, so we planned a trip to start the Saturday of spring break and the kids would just extend a little and miss the following Monday and Tuesday. (I'm writing this in June and doing this caused some problems for Sarah's grades since she missed too much school. Oops!) We planned a trip to Capitol Reef and invited my parents. We didn't see as much as I thought we would, but it was a nice, relaxing trip.

We got there late on Saturday, so Sunday was our first full day. I always forget something, and this trip it was Sunday clothes for everyone but Audrey. We went to church in Torrey and made sure to sit in the very back so no one would have to smell us. ;) The kids all wanted Easter basket items, but agreed to hold off on doing an egg hunt until Audrey cared. (Having older kids has its benefits)

Mike bought a hammock to take on his deployment and he and the kids put it to good use on the trip.

After church we went on a long drive Mike had wanted to do. Along the way we made a few stops to look at rock formations and found "Glass Mountain". It was really cool! Pictures don't do it justice.

On Monday we went on a short hike on the Overlook trail.

When we came with my sister last year I didn't feel like we had enough time, and this year, I felt the same. Capitol Reef is somewhere I could spend at least a week enjoying. The campground is beautiful and fun. Sarah liked going to the Gifford House and buying her own personal pie. They sell tens of thousands of them each season, and they're worth every penny. Mmmmm......

Here are some gems I found on my phone. Never a dull moment with this kid. :)

Happy Anniversary handsome man!

On Sunday we not only celebrated Easter, my favorite holiday, but we also celebrated 15 years of marriage. A few days before we left I heard Mike playing a song that I recognized. (He didn't realize I was able to hear him) He took the electric keyboard with him to Qatar and taught himself to play, "All for Love" from the Three Musketeers soundtrack, which is one of my favorite songs. He learned it to play for me as an anniversary gift. I figured he would play it for me when we got back, but Sunday morning he pulled it out from under our bed and played it in our trailer. I seriously count my lucky stars every single day that I get to be married to such an awesome man.

Although it seems right that we've been married for 15 years, it also seems like a REALLY long time. Long not in a drudgery kind of way, but long as in "Holy Cow we've been married for FIFTEEN years!" It has been the best time of my entire life.