Family Photos

We went with Byron's parents to Picture People in the mall to have family pictures taken last Saturday (4/19). I think they all turned out great!

Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour 4/18/08

Byron's parents, Jim and Laurie, came to visit so Nikki decided to try and get them tickets with Papillon Helicopters, the company she works for, to take a Helicopter tour down into the Grand Canyon. We had so much fun! Abov is a picture taken by the gift shop in front of the helicopter before take off with the Pilot, Erin (far left).

We flew over Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. There's a lot of interesting history in our area. Then we flew down into the Canyon. The flight takes about 30 minutes from Boulder City. It's really neat.

We had lunch inside the Canyon and got to walk around and take pictures. It was a lot of fun! The top picture is of Nikki and Byron, the bottom is of Jim and Laurie (Byron's parents). There was a picture taken of all of us inside the Canyon, but it didn't turn out. :(

Victoria's First Birthday

Victoria officially turned 1 on Friday, April 11. We had Nikki parents and Barb (a close friend to the Dennett family) come over for dinner and cake. First, we all ate dinner, some new Mexican recipes that Nikki had been wanting to try. Then we had Victoria open presents. It was hard getting Elizabeth to let Victoria open them. Below you can see some pictures of some of the presents that she received.

Then it was time for the ritual eating of the cake. We gave Victoria her own miniature cake, but she didn't care for it. She didn't like the sticky icing.

So we gave her a piece of our cake, which was chocolate marble with icing that was more of a cool whip texture. She loved that and ate several pieces.

Then it was straight to the tub for both girls. It was a fun birthday for little miss Victoria. She loved all her toys and is so cute to watch when she is playing with them. Her clothes that she received are adorable and I can't wait to put her in them. Thanks to all who joined in the festivities!

Echo Bay Marina (Valley of Fire Weekend continued...)

That night, after a day full of hiking, climbing, and sight seeing, we went back to our campsite for dinner. We had lots of fun roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire. Elizabeth had never had a S'more before, but she thought they were pretty good. Although, she did prefer just eating the marshmallows as soon as she thought they were toasted enough. The stars were beautiful, and to calm the kids before bed we sat in the tent trailer and watched "Every One's Hero", an animated movie that the kids had never seen. It was pretty cute actually.

To finish our weekend at the Valley of Fire, on Sunday we went to the Echo Bay Marina. They have this neat little restaurant where the inside resembles a ship where we had breakfast. It was actually quite good. Then we went down to the actual marina. There are lots of ducks, black geese-like birds, and fish that are just waiting to be fed. We used our left-over bread and hot dog buns until they were gone. Then we went to the little gift shop/deli and bought popcorn to feed them. We had some too. Byron had lots of fun looking at all the boats that were being stored at the marina. Victoria was very tired and fell asleep, and Elizabeth just loved feeding every bird and fish she could possibly see. Our weekend was fantastic, and very refreshing. It was like a mini-vacation. On the drive home Elizabeth asked if we could go camping again. :) That made Byron happy. After all that, we went home and showered/rested and went to Nikki's parents' house to catch the last part of General Conference and have dinner (yummy barbecue ribs). We can't wait to go camping again!

Vallely of Fire April 4-6, 2008

The first weekend in April, we decided to take our family to the Valley of Fire. We left a little late on Friday night so by the time we got there it was dark and we were tired. The campsites were all full in Valley of Fire so we decided to keep driving since Overton was only a few miles away. We saw some trailers/RVs parked off the road so we pulled over, threw up the tent trailer, and went to sleep. By this time it was pitch black and close to midnight. When we woke up the Saturday morning, Byron counted 37 trailers/RVs that looked like they had been there for quite some time. Yep, we woke up in Nevada's version of a Tent City (which happened to be on BLM property). So we quickly closed up camp and decided to find an actual campsite before we did anything else that day. Since Valley of Fire was booked through the weekend, we were directed to Echo Bay by Lake Mead, only about 14 miles away from Valley of Fire. So we went, set up camp, had lunch, and went on our merry way. Nikki was determined to see some of the sites in Valley of Fire.

Our first stop was the Beehives. These are large rocks that have been eroded and wind beaten in a way that they create shapes looking similar to beehives. The family picture above was taken there. Elizabeth had so much fun climbing and hiking through all the nooks and crannies.

From there we went to Atlatl Rock. You have to climb this huge flight of stairs (see below) to go up and see petroglyphs made by Indian tribes long ago. It's called Atlatl Rock because there are petroglyphs of the atlatl, the pre-cursor to the bow and arrow. It was neat to be there when we were because there was an Atlatl convention going on so we actually saw people throwing these spears with a little hook that it rests on and you hold. It was a lot of fun. Behind Elizabeth you can see some petroglyphs.





After Atlatl Rock, we went to Rainbow Vista. It's beautiful to see all the different colors on the rocks. The pictures don't do it justice.
We did one hike after this that we only took one picture of. It was Silica Dome. We didn't get very far on the hike because it was like walking through beach sand. All the walls around and the sand were white. A lot of the rocks had this almost spider-web look to it. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see it on the rock that the girls are sitting on. Also, notice how big Victoria is compared to Elizabeth! :) We learned that quite a few movies were filmed there and that some of the set of the 1970's (?) movie The Professionals is still there along that hike. It got to steep to take the kids so we didn't make it the whole way, but the hike was nice (good exercise to). Next we went to a look out point where you can see the difference of where the rust in the rock is showing, and where the white silica is more dominant. It's almost a straight line that cuts the valley in half. It was amazing to see.










Last, we hiked a trail to Mouse's Tank. On the trail, there are all kinds of petroglyphs all over the sides of the hills. You just have to pay attention or you will miss them. At the end of the trail there is a basin where water collects and stores for months at a time. Mouse's tank is named after a renegade Indian who hid out in the are around the basin. The hike was pretty easy, which was good because it was getting toward the end of the day and we were tired. You can see Byron climbing one of the walls that has all these little hiding places behind the flat front of rock. The other picture is of Elizabeth trying to climb and hike on everything she could. Below is a sweet image of Victoria. Don't worry...Byron is behind her holding on tight (you can see his hat and shoulder).

Easter 2008

We had so much fun Easter morning. First, we woke up and saw that the Easter Bunny had come with a beautiful basket. He had lots of presents and treats (most of which he carried all the way from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson in Georgia). We had fun opening all the fun toys, books, soaps, and treats. Even Snowflake the kitty got a toy. :)

After the basket, we went to the corral for an Easter egg hunt with cousin Alex. Kieth, a friend of Grandpa Dennett's, helped the Easter bunny set up an egg hunt filled with treats and money in the hay stacks. We had so much fun digging through the hay.

After the hunt, we went to Grandpa Dennett's for Easter breakfast. He makes the best breakfasts. Anyway, we had waffles, bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast...all the good stuff. It was very tasty. After breakfast, we went home and got the girls ready for Church with their matching Easter dresses. They both looked so cute! Then it was a great Church session. Nikki and Byron were asked last minute to be in the Choir. We just love Easter Sunday! Elizabeth started to actually understand the true meaning of Easter this year as well, which makes Byron and Nikki so happy to see her growing faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.