The boys finish up soccer this week. I wanted to share some pictures with everyone of them in action.
Of course, the best part of it is the snacks after the game.
Kaleb slid to get the ball and scraped his knee.
Cole got an assist on this goal. They won this game 4-1.
Kyle did his first triathlon in St. George, UT this Saturday. I was so proud of him for setting this goal and accomplishing it.
It was a sprint triathlon, which means a 400 meter swim, 10 mile bike ride and a 5K (3.1 miles) run. His best time was on the swim, his favorite part is the bike ride, and he wants to improve his run for the next one. His overall time was 1 hour 19 minutes.
It was fun for the whole family and I am glad the boys got to see their dad compete. He plans on entering another triathlon in June in Provo, UT. This next race is an Olympic distance, which is double what he just did in St. George. I know he can do anything he puts his mind to.
On our way to St. George, UT for Kyle's first triathalon we went right by Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Page, AZ. We have been by there several times, but we just decided right then "hey, lets go in and take a look!" So we went to the visitors center and took the 45 min tour of the Glen Canyon Dam.
55 stories down the elevator (that was the kids favorite part) were these huge machines that convert the water to power.
We walked over the top of the dam where I took this picture of the beginning of Lake Powell. It is an awesome to see this reservoir in the middle of this huge desert canyon.
It is time to play soccer again! Spring soccer is here, although we have had a rough start. These are pictures from last Tuesday, when we started the first day. On Thursday we got snowed out and yesterday it was so windy we had to hold our chairs down so they wouldn't blow away!
This is Kaleb's 2nd full year (fall & spring) and Cole's first full year of soccer and they both play really well. They both have a problem sitting still on the sideline waiting to play, and they fight during practice. Besides that, they love it. 
They have pretty much the same team as in the fall with the same coach. They don't keep score at this age, but our team has won all of our games, I think.
This is one thing I never thought I'd see-- a bug limo. I wonder if it really drove like that!
I hope you enjoyed these pictures, because we sure enjoyed taking them.
On Friday morning we left the hotel for home. But on the way we stopped at two more National Monuments near Flagstaff--Sunset Crater and Wapatki. Sunset Crater is an old volcano that you can hike around. There were piles of lava rock, black sand and twisted trees to look out for. 
It was so different from other places we had visited because it was so black and barren. We all really enjoyed this hike.
Wapatki is more ancient indian ruins, but instead of cliff dwellings like at Mesa Verde, these communities are built out in the open.
At the end of the trail is a blowhole that had great suction power. They have it covered with a grate, but if you put your hat over it, it will suck it right up. The kids really liked that part.
We didn't see too much wildlife on this trip--some squirrels, rabbits and lizards. Here is a green lizard on the end of this sign. The boys love looking for animals and seeing who can spot the biggest or smallest ones. National Parks and Monuments are great places for kids to learn about nature and the world God created for us.
We spent the whole day on Wednesday at Petrified Forest National Park. Kyle convinced me he needed to take this picture with me in it because I am never in the pictures. I tried to explain the reason for that, but he wouldn't listen.
We took a mile hike through a huge field full of petrified wood. The wood is so pretty when it turns to rock.
This is a huge tree that is petrified. You can barely see the rest of the family sitting on it in the middle.
On a different hike we went close to what they call newspaper rock. They call it this because of all the petroglyphs that were left by the ancient people. The kids really like to look at these pictures.
The older boys filled out a booklet and took an oath to become junior park rangers. They love to get a badge and be all official. They did this at the Grand Canyon too. Overall this was a fun park to visit and spend time together as a family.
Tuesday night were driving around to find something to eat and decided to visit the neighboring town of Snowflake, AZ. We knew there was a LDS Temple there and we love to see temples when we travel. Snowflake is the cutest town that is predominately LDS. We ate at Pizza Hut for dinner, so while at the buffet I asked a older lady if she lived there and she said "yes, just up the hill by the temple". So we got directions and found the temple. It is beautiful--up on the hill with a waterfall in front.
On the way back to Holbrook (where our wig wam was), we saw this bald eagle sitting in a river right outside of town. At first we thought it must be fake, but we decided to make a u turn on the highway and check it out. It was a real, beautiful bald eagle and it actually let me take its picture before it flew away. What luck!
Tuesday and Wednesday night we stayed in a Wigwam Motel on the old route 66 highway. The kids really thought this was a cool place to sleep.
They had old cars parked in the parking lot, which the kids automatically associated with the movie "Cars". This one, of course, is Doc Hudson.
Here is what the whole place looked like, and actually it was pretty full that night. It was a small room for the 5 of us, but something different than the normal hotel.
Here, of course, is Mater. The kids thought he was the coolest.
Now we can say we have slept in a wigwam and it wasn't half bad. These hotels are what they based the "cozy cone" on in the movie. It was so fun!
Tuesday morning we left early and drove to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced canyon de shay) which is a couple of hours away. We went on a couple of short hikes there and had lunch.
I love to take these "freak out" pictures, but the kids were pretty good at staying off the edge.
There are cliff dwellings here and petroglyphs to look at and there are still indians that live here.
Wherever they are, the boys can find a place to dig in the dirt.
This is the first year we are letting Landon walk on the hikes, which means we had to keep them short. Before we always put him in the backpack on Kyle's back, but he is getting too heavy and wiggly to do that now.
