Graduation Trip Day 3 - Spokane and Friends!

Day 3:
We spent Thursday touring Spokane. It is a beautiful city and I definitely wouldn't mind living there if we ever had the chance.

First we stopped by the temple. Michael really enjoyed finding that the exterior of this temple looks nearly identical to the Palmyra temple in New York where he served his mission.

 Next we headed over to Spokane Falls. The Spokane river runs right through the middle of the city then drops to form these falls. We were lucky enough to catch them at their "peak" when snow run off has the river flowing very full and fast. They were the largest waterfalls I've ever seen in person and the crazy part was you could look off in any direction and see 10 story buildings!

Next to the falls there is the River Front Park. The highlight of the park was this huge Radio Flyer wagon. The handle is a slide!  Hazel and Eliza went down numerous times and even Michael had a turn. Okay, let's be honest - I wanted to go too but at this point Lenora was asleep in the wrap so I couldn't. Who wouldn't want to slide down the handle of a giant wagon?

Just for some perspective here's Eliza next to one of the tires!

Go Bulldogs!

Before we left Michael and Hazel rode the carousel. Hazel loves carousels so much! Eliza was tired by this point and didn't want to go. Once they were done we headed back to the hotel for nap time.

 After naps we made a quick stop at Discovery park then headed over to a friend's house for dinner.

Love my girls!

On Michael's mission he was companions with Elder Ryan Fox for 11 months (that's like an eternity for a companionship). Ryan's cousin Marjorie also served in the same mission during that time. Marjorie and her husband were nice enough to have us all over for dinner at their house. The kids played, chased chickens, and got filthy dirty while the adults visited. It was the perfect visit and overall a great day!

Graduation Trip Days 1 and 2: Coeur d'Alene

 Over Mother's Day weekend we took at trip to Spokane for Michael's thesis defense and graduation! If you don't include trips to visit family, this is the first family vacation we've ever taken. Especially after a long and grueling semester, it was so nice to spend time all together and have some fun!

Day 1: The Drive Out
We started our 12 hour drive at 3:30am in the hopes the girls would sleep through a good portion of the trip. It worked! These three were awesome troopers. They behaved so well the whole way. In Missoula, Montana Lenora started to get a bit fussy. We saw a sign for the Elk Country Visitor's Center so we stopped to check it out. It was a fun little place and a nice break from driving. After the short break we hopped back in the car and they were fine the rest of the trip.

Day 2: Coeur d'Alene
We spent our first night and the next day in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho which is about a half hour from Spokane. It was amazingly beautiful! The drive in to town, the mountains, the lake. Everything is stunningly beautiful. 

 

While looking up places we wanted to see I found the "Mudgy and Millie" trail. A local author wrote a book about a moose and a mouse playing hide and seek. Then she worked with a local artist to place 5 statues around the downtown/board walk area of the lake. You follow the trail to see all 5 Mudgy and Millie statues plus see all the major sights along the way.

The girls LOVED it! Because of construction we couldn't follow the trail exactly and did some statues out of order but it was still great. We spent all morning tracking them down while taking in breathtaking views of the lake. Then we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park. It truly was the perfect day!

Statue 1 - Tubs Hill

Lenora and Millie are hiding

Shhhh!

Statue 2 - The Library

The world's longest floating boardwalk.

Statue 3 - 3rd and Sherman

Statue 4 - City Park

Statue 5 - Independence Point

 After lunch we spent about 2 minutes splashing in the lake. It was honestly the coldest lake water I've ever felt!

Then we buckled in to drive the rest of the way to Spokane. That night we found a local favorite for dinner - Mike's Bugers Royal. It was awesome! 

Lovies need to keep safe too!

Lessons from Children

 I love my sweet, sweet girls! They teach me so much every day.

Hazel:
Today during the Sacrament Hazel told me, "Mom, plain bread doesn't taste very good. But for Sacrament it's worth it! It helps us remember Jesus." She also recently told me, "I don't like onions. Or when you have to leave."

One day Hazel told me I couldn't go in her room because she was working on something and it was a surprise. She cleaned her bedroom all by herself (normally it's like pulling teeth!) Then she told me she decided to clean up because the Holy Ghost told her she should. Love you so much Hazel!

Eliza:
Little Eliza, where do I start? Lately she has been loving playing babies. Either she is a baby or Ellie is a baby almost all the time. She also is going through this phase where she thinks she needs help all the time and with things she can do on her own. It makes me a bit crazy at times!

Eliza loves to follow Hazel around and do what she does. But then you get her on her own and it's clear she's much quieter than Hazel and a bit shy at times. She is such a tender heart though and is always thinking of others. If I'm reading a book to her she always makes me wait to start until Hazel is there too. She also is always remember to bless others in her prayers. My mom's health has been poor for a while now and she's had to go through several surgeries. Eliza is always praying "bless Gram to feel better soon!" We love you little EE!

Lenora:
Beautiful little Lenora is 3 1/2 months old already! She is still just the sweetest, clam baby. She smiles all the time. Recently she discovered her hands and loves sucking on them. She also loves looking at her mobile. For whatever reason, she also really loves holding on to cloths - blankets, dish towels, burp cloths - she just likes to hold them.

Some days being a mom is tough. The girls bicker back and forth, Hazel grabs something for Eliza and Eliza screams at her, and on and on. Hazel startes being silly, Eliza follows and when I turn my back for a micro-second Eliza has accidentally pulled Lenora off the couch (yes that really happened - today in fact). It's easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated when it takes us an hour to do their simple chore of cleaning the bedroom. But I'm slowly learning not to let things get to me. I'm slowly learning to be more patient and remember these years will pass far too quickly. These three girls teach me so much!

Today Elder Worthin, our area Seventy, came to our ward. Our Stake President introduced me to him as Brother Ballard's wife. After the customary nice to meet you, he said something that really touched me. He thanked me for my work. He told me that, while un-seen and under valued, my work as a mother was the most important and that often it was the hardest. Then he thanked me again.

 It was such a timely reminder for me! I'm so thankful I've been trusted with the all important job of being a mother. And I'm especially thankful I was given such wonderful, beautiful girls to teach me.

Finally made it to Freemont!

The weekend after Easter we finally made it down to Freemont to visit Michael's grandma (Grandma Great as the girls call her). Freemont is a teeny-tiny cow town but was so much fun!

Our trip started off with an adventure. As we were driving we saw a field of sheep with lots of little lambs. I thought it might be fun to stop so the girls could see them. As we were slowing down I saw two lambs outside the pasture trying desperately to get back to their mommies. I then insisted we stop and help them. We were able to open up a gate and chase the lambs back in! Lesson learned though - lambs are fast and chasing them in way much harder than anticipated (it took us a good 15 minutes to get them both in). But, we saved two lambs! Not bad for some city slickers:)

We had a wonderful visit with Grandma. Michael took his cap and gown down to show her since she won't be able to be at his graduation (sneak peak of what will be happening this week!!!!)

 Saturday night after the girls went to bed Michael and I played with the ATVs for a bit. I'd never ridden one before and had a great time!

Sunday we went to church with Grandma then she gave us the grand tour of Freemont. Micahel rode the ATV while I drove.

At one of the large cattle ranches Hazel got out to explore.

Who knew a drive in the country was so exciting! On one road the cows were all surrounding the car.

Cow!

Cow!

 Hazel even took a spin on the ATV with Daddy. I was surprised she wasn't scared to try it, but she loved it!

It was truly a wonderful visit! Nothing like a nice slow weekend in the country with Grandma-great!