The Glitter Hole

 

One morning we went and did some rock hounding. My mom had met a lady previously who had dug up some beautiful rocks. I thought that Ben would really love to do this also (since it included being outdoors, rocks,  hiking and digging, all in one). So Mom found out where to go, and we all loaded up and headed to Arizona. The drive from their house in Ivins was about 45 minutes, on a lot of dirt roads. We took Kayla and Elise in our car, and Grandma and Grandpa drove in their own car.

This is our car-full on the way. Kayla, Emma and Elise are in the back. Ben and Spencer are in the front. I have no idea what Spencer was thinking about in this picture, but he looks pretty upset about something.

 

 

I didn’t take any good pictures of the rocks we were to be digging for, but I found a fair picture of it online. It’s called Calcite (at least that’s what the lady at the gem shop told me). It comes off in layers, and some pieces are really clear (you can see all the way through it) and others are a little more cloudy.

 

I know, I’ve put in a ton of pictures here. This is the little hill/path that we walked down into the “Glitter Hole”. And then there is the bottom.

Most of these are just some random pictures of all of us digging (or standing around – like me). We tried to get an early start, but it was still really hot.

      

 

This hill here, was seriously all calcite. It was made up of small pieces of the rock. None of us could believe how much of this rock was just lying around. It was so much fun!

   

 

My cute little boys! Ben said many times how this was the best vacation ever; How this was the best day ever; and how he wanted to live here! It was so fun to see him so happy and so in his element!

 

Grandma and the boys weren’t quite ready to go as soon as the girls were. So they went for a little walk. Spencer needed an extra hat too. :)

  

We picked up the hitchhikers (Ben and Grandma) down the road a little way. We had such a good time, and plan on going again next time we’re in Ivins.

Ivins

So after we left Kelly’s house we headed to Dad and Mom’s. It was about a 3-4 hour drive the rest of the way. The kids always get so excited when they start seeing the red rocks along the highway, because then they know we are almost there! This is a watercolor that Chris did of the red mountain that you can see from Dad and Mom’s yard. I just love it! If you would like to see more of Chris’s artwork, check out his website here. :)

 

 

 

Well, like always, it seems like we never take enough pictures of everyone while we’re there. So here are just some random pics of our stay in Ivins.

 

Kelsey and Emma on the trampoline.

Mitchell, Spencer and me having breakfast at Wendy’s house one morning.

Grandpa, Elise and Adam at breakfast.

Wendy and Jeff

Mitchell, Spencer, Kelsey and Ben cooling off in the water.

 

 

One morning Adam and Ben went to Dixie Rock (or Sugarloaf – depending on where you’re from). Ben absolutely loves being outdoors and hiking, so this was a fun adventure for the two of them. Ben had a great time!

 

Here are some pictures of the view from the top of the rocks.

Vacation Time

 

A couple days after school got out, we packed up and headed to my parents house in Ivins, UT for vacation. We stopped along the way at Temple Square. Mostly I just have a bunch of pictures to post.

Here we are at the Church History Museum. The kids (especially Spencer) were really into posing for some pictures. So here are just some cute pics of the family.

 

    

 

We also visited the Tabernacle while we were there.

 

And the Assembly Hall.

 

And we walked around a while, and wore everyone out.

 

And then we went to the Beehive House.

 

After that we had dinner with our friends Brian and Nicole. Unfortunately we failed to take any pictures while we were there. :( But Nicole made us an amazing dinner, and we had such a good time visiting with them. Nicole also makes and sells the cutest, best car seat blankets! Check out her etsy shop when you get a chance http://www.etsy.com/shop/thebutterflynet

That night we stayed with Kelly and Don and Dominic in Provo. And of course we forgot to take pictures there too! But it was so good to see them, and we’re so grateful they would let us stay with them! The next morning we went to Thanksgiving Point together. None of us had really been there before, and it probably would have been really fun, except that it was freezing cold! So we had lunch together and then our little family drove the rest of the way to Ivins.

School’s Out!

 

I know, I’m about a month late on this. But, oh well. Here are Emma and Ben on their last day of school. Emma just finished second grade and Ben finished Kindergarten!

 

Who’s silly kids are those?

 

And here are some pictures of Ben’s Kindergarten Graduation.

Here he is coming in with his class. What a good boy with his arms folded!

 

The three kindergarten classes sang a few songs together. It was SO cute! I cried through most of it. And then Ben with his graduation paper/poem thing that his teacher passed out.

 

And here he is with his teacher Mrs. Glindeman. Both Ben and Emma had a great year at school. It’s so fun to watch them growing up! (And it also goes by a little too fast at times).