Spring Break Part 2 - Goblin Valley and Hiking

We headed to Goblin Valley the next morning after everyone slept in and ate some breakfast. The park was about 25 minutes away from our hotel. It was simply amazing, even at first glance. You're in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden, there are a million of these Goblin statues everywhere. It was beautiful. It was windy. It was way fun! 

We spent the next couple hours running, climbing and searching in the valley. The boys even found a couple of geocaches! 

Next we headed to Little Wild Horse to hike through the slot canyon. We stopped under a huge rock and ate our lunch, leaving "no trace behind". The boys had a blast. Running, climbing, jumping and exploring every nook and cranny. 

One of my favorite things to see was this huge rock with thousands of other rocks on top of it. We all found a rock, made a wish and added ours to the pile.  So cool!

It was fun and so beautiful. We live so close to so many amazing sites that nature has produced over long periods of time. Again, I am so thankful be so close and to experience nature at its finest with the ones I love the most. 

Egg Hunt and Home Depot

 Before leaving on our trip to Goblin Valley, the boys had the opportunity to go to the Millcreek Park for an Egg Hunt over Easter Weekend.  In the first and second pictures, you can see Brigs (white & blue T-shirt) and Nathan (red sweatshirt) ducking under the barrier and going after the eggs.

 And here is Preston in the white T-shirt and his hat.

 They got quite the hall of eggs, and Preston even got a larger egg that allowed him to win an Easter-themed music box.

From there, we headed to Home Depot where the older boys paired up with a younger boy to work on the Kid's Craft. It was a planter box craft. Will helped Brig's, Tyler helped Preston, Jackson helped Nathan and Gavin worked on his project all by himself. They all turned out cute. The rest of the day was spent cleaning the house, packing and then playing with neighbor friends. 

13 Weeks of Sunday Family Pictures

As one of my New Year's resolutions, I wanted to try this year to take a family picture every Sunday. Sometimes Scott is at work or someone is sick and doesn't go to church or we're on vacation...Whatever the situation, though, we take a photo to document our family. It's been awesome so far, and I thought I'd share the first 13 weeks with you.

If you want to follow these updates live, you can follow me on Instagram under the username "LorisFabLife" or check out the hashtag "#AfterChurchThompsons".

Spring Break Part 1 - Little Grand Canyon, Buckskin Pass Road and Geocaching

For Spring Break we decided as a family to head south to Goblin Valley. We made a few pit stops along the way, like the Little Grand Canyon (Wedge Overlook) and other neat historical spots. 

There was a ton of Geocaching to be done along the way. Scott found a bunch of easy and neat ones for the boys to find. The first one was on the ledge of the Little Grand Canyon and it was awesome! It was one of the family's favorites. 

While hiking near the geocaches in the area, the boys found a dinosaur track! AMAZING!! 

(This was a fake one made by Will, Jackson and Tyler for the younger boys to enjoy)

After the Wedge Overlook, we drove along Buckskin Pass Road, and we were able to stop off and see a Petroglyph wall that was pretty cool.  Nearby the Petroglyph Wall was another Geocache!

 Another stop along the Buckskin Pass Road allowed us to stop and see a mark left by Mat Warner (wanted wild man of the West and a part of Butch Cassidy's clan).  He had written his name, date and a picture of a bull on the wall on February 17th, 1920.
  

 At one of the rest spots near the Buckskin Pass Road they had some cowboy silhouettes that Jackson loved and a giant oil rig that Preston thought was pretty cool.

We stopped to hike across this suspension bridge that was near the end of the Buckskin Pass Road.

The last stop on the Buckskin  Pass Road was this spot called "The Sinkhole".  This is a spot where the ground underneath softened up and the earth just sank away.  Of course, the boys were worried that the earth would swallow up our van because it was so close and so heavy.  

The boys nailed another Geocache that was close by.

Once on Interstate 70, we stopped at a scenic overlook to see Spotted Wolf Canyon.  Will thought this was a great spot to show you how high he can jump and I think he did a pretty good job clearing this whole canyon in one jump.

I was truly amazed at how we were able to see various types of vegetation growing and thriving in such a desert landscape.  What a glorious thing our Heavenly Father's creations are!!