Finally the Kitchen!

BEFORE: Jan. 3, 2020.  Right before New Year's, our fridge had started making a weird rattling noise and leaking water, so that was the beginning!

Another shot of how the kitchen used to look.  2020 brought many problems for everyone, of course, and for our kitchen it brought the demise of every.single.major.appliance!  First the fridge, then the microwave door busted completely off and shattered the glass (poor Kenzers was just randomly having a snack one evening!).  Then the dishwasher started leaking all over.  Chris tried to replace a few parts, but they only helped temporarily each time.  Then the oven started burning or undercooking things at random.  

Apparently I didn't take a BEFORE picture of the dining room area, so I'll use this one.  I started trying to update things, but then the earthquake hit and I went through a short period of wondering, why bother to fix up the kitchen if it'll just be destroyed?  Once I got over that, I bought a bunch of supplies from Home Depot's website and spent "quarantine" and the rest of the year slowly, slowly painting and updating the kitchen.

All summer the kitchen was in various states of upheaval!

Chris did all the heavy lifting.  He installed the microwave and dishwasher, and for my birthday present he installed a new sink and faucet for me.  

He was a good sport coming home from work and attaching the new hardware on the cabinets or whatever else I had going!

With the exception of appliances, most of the updates were relatively simple - the paint was not expensive, just time consuming, and things like the curtains and drawer handles were just purchased cheaply on Amazon.  Replacing the countertop was the real splurge.  It was a laminate that had been painted, and it looked pretty good for a few years, but was really chipping and peeling off.  Thanks to "Biden Bucks" (what Chris calls the stimulus package) we paid off Parker's braces and then bought new quartz countertops!

AFTER: This weekend I finally put the final coat of polyurethane on the very last section of the cabinets, so it's pretty much completely finished!  (I do need to still paint the trim in some places, but that's about it).

It is much brighter in our kitchen now, even at night!

Chris was teasing me because he wanted to eat lunch Saturday, but I made everyone stay out of the kitchen until I was done wiping everything down for a picture!

Then five minutes later it was taken over again!  I guess that's kind of what the kitchen is meant for anyways!  

Baby Animal Festival

Today we headed out to Cross E Ranch in Salt Lake for the Baby Animal Festival.  It was very chilly, and muddy, and was raining the entire drive until we arrived, but thankfully did not rain on us while we were there!  The boys still love a good duck race, so that was our first stop.

Parker found the donut stand right away and pointed it out quite helpfully (or was it hopefully?).

It is beyond sweet that Parker is always the one eager to interact with the animals.  Kenzie and Cameron both alternate between petting the animals and standing back not wanting to, but Parker is always right there willing, no matter if it's a tarantula or a fluffy bunny.

Cameron said, "Wow, those are some large horses!"  Kenzie told him, "I think you just haven't seen many horses!"

Kenzie and Parker's new goat friend.

Apparently my new goat friend!

I'm not a huge goat fan, but baby goats are quite adorable!

You can see in the background another little kid letting the goat climb on his back.  Many little kids were getting a huge kick out of letting the goats climb on them.  My kids wanted nothing to do with that.  Cameron wouldn't even enter the petting area until I pointed out the adults who stood up straight were not being climbed on!  Then he did pet a few with me.

We went back by the bunnies because Parker and I wanted to pet them again.  Next time maybe just the two of us will go!

Parker held the little chick so tenderly!  It was really chirping away, but enjoyed the warmth from Parker's hands and settled in for a bit and quieted down.  

Utah had such a dry winter that the tulips have all bloomed very close to the ground. The tulip field is not quite as impressive as usual!

We still got our shoes very, very muddy so Kenzers could take a few pictures of the water on the daffodils.

Parker saying hi to the little donkeys!

Cameron had discovered the zip lines early on, but they were closed due to the weather.  As things dried out, some of the activities started opening up.  When Cameron saw the zip line was going, he started running to it!  One nice thing about the cold day was fewer people, so he went back and forth many times without waiting in line.  Kenzie and Parker were pretty patient waiting for him.  They agreed that since Cameron used to wait in his stroller for them, it's only fair now that they stand around and wait for him!

As we were leaving, Parker was eyeing the rock climbing wall, but he had just barely pointed out it was lunchtime.  He obviously really wanted to try it since it delayed getting his lunch!  Right after this picture, he slipped ("It's a good thing there's a harness!" he exclaimed) so he didn't quite make it to the top, but his shoes were muddy and everything was wet so really he did quite well.  

On our way to grab some lunch, the kiddos all said they had fun, so it was still a good little outing for us!

Easter

Sunday we colored some eggs.  I think it's cute they all still look forward to these simple things. 

Running about looking for eggs!  Cameron was so excited that he ran right past many.  

Even Kenzie likes to grab her basket and search for some eggs.  She isn't too cool to collect some candy!

They approved of the new animal-looking eggs I found this year!

My big little kids!

Eagerly digging through each egg to find the goodies within!  We did have a simple ham dinner on Sunday and the Easter Bunny also stopped by, but I managed to not take a picture of those events.  (Cameron was funny this year leaving a big thank you note on the door for the Easter Bunny, though.  The Easter Bunny responded, "You're welcome" and Cameron was quite impressed!).  The boys got some new Pokemon cards and even more candy, and Kenzie got a book, a stuffed animal, and yes, even more candy!  Let it never be said these kids went without candy in their childhood!

Heading Back Home

Friday we had a long drive back home from Flagstaff (about 8 hours).  We stopped for Jack in the Box tacos along the way.  Strangely, the Jack in the Box was completely out of chicken nuggets and chicken strips, so we ordered the boys some tacos and hoped they would at least try them.  They both loved them and devoured them in record time!  This is important for two reasons: one, we all ate lunch for $12 so it's great they'll eat the cheapest menu item with the rest of us; and two, it's become tradition to stop if we're near a Jack in the Box, so it was just cute to me that the boys are now excited about it, too.  Someday Jack in the Box might come to our neck of the woods and it'll lose its appeal, but until then it's fun to stop when we actually see one!

One last shot, of everyone enjoying the view of the rocks through the sunroof!  Then it was back home to say hi to the cat, unpack the giant car, return it, and settle in for a weekend of Conference and laundry!

The Grand Canyon

Here is a picture of the kiddos patiently waiting in the back seat... for 2 hours (!!) as we sat in the line to enter the park.  The line was backed up from the entrance station clear into the Grand Canyon Village town!  We waited, though, because we have no intention of being back through that way again anytime soon and it seemed like we should make the effort.

Once we finally entered and found a place to park, we hadn't gone far before Cameron spotted a little bunny, so we had to stop and admire him.  Cameron also spotted a squirrel a little later, so he was happy.

We finally made it!

Pictures really don't capture the scope of it, since of course it was massive.

Sadly most of the shuttles weren't running, so we didn't walk too far (since we had to walk back!). 

The kids can now say they've seen it, though!

Chris and I both at the same time mentioned that Yellowstone was probably more "worth it" for the entrance fee, just because there was so much variety there.  Here there was just the one view.  If we were extreme hikers, we could have gone below the rim, but with kids that didn't sound like fun at all being worried about someone falling off the side.  We stayed up top!

Goofy kids were good sports about the long wait!  The drive back to our hotel was much faster!

Walnut Canyon National Monument

Our last stop Wednesday was Walnut Canyon, just outside of Flagstaff.  This area was quite pretty, and was a little cooler than Phoenix but still was pleasant outside.  

Just above Cameron's head in this picture you can see more examples of crazy people living on a cliffside.  

Parker reading the signs.  The people who lived here used the natural space under the rocks and built some walls to store things in.  

We went down a lot of stairs and then could walk along viewing what was left of all the storage area rooms.

We could go inside a few, which Cameron always enjoys.

The view looking back out.

The climb back out of the canyon was no joke!  High elevation + many, many sets of stairs (I didn't count, but online said about 350 stairs) + wearing those lovely masks = yikes!  We made it, though!  (Had to work off the cheesecake from the night before somehow!)

Mesa Temple & Montezuma's Castle National Monument

Wednesday we left Phoenix and headed to Flagstaff.  On our way out of town, we stopped by the Mesa Temple.  It's been undergoing renovations, and it hasn't opened up yet.  There were still some ladders outside and the front doors were covered, but we still got the general idea!  

I had always thought this temple looked neat with the ancient look and the palm trees.

Our next stop was crazy busy - Montezuma's Castle National Monument.  It's just off the freeway, and it's a very short walk to these ancient ruins that are way up high, so it's quite a popular spot.  We waited in a long line to park, and then another line for the bathrooms, and then well, there it was, and that's it.  

I would have no interest in living up in the side of the cliff like that, thank you anyways!  Neat to see once, and it was at the halfway point so good to stretch our legs for a minute!