Super Saturday

When we auditioned for the Mesa Arizona Easter Pageant way back in November, we had just a little glimmer of an idea of what a marvelous experience awaited us. But there was no way of measuring the magnitude of how much we would feel the spirit, grow our testimonies, and strengthen our family by participating.

Super Saturday was held on Saturday, March 26th and started at 7 am. We spent a whirlwind of a day receiving missionary training, learning security procedures, and practicing multitude scenes.

Each family pitched a tent on the temple grounds so we would have shade, a resting place, and snacks between scenes. I loved how symbolic that was: facing our family tent toward the temple (actually the stage, but on the sacred temple ground).

It was really a fun, fast-moving day. We got our costumes for the first time and tried them on, got our first up-close look at the magnificent set, and really started feeling the spirit of the Easter Pageant.

April Fool

We had such a super-fun April Fool's Day this year! First, Jeremy borrowed a for-sale sign from a friend of ours. He went out at midnight, dug a hole in the yard, and installed the sign while nobody could see him. The next day we had lots of very worried friends and neighbors. What a laugh!

Isaac went to school and found a pile of fake poo in his cubby. Ms. Cheri is so silly!

And all the kids surprised their parents at the end of the day by wearing a moustache!

It was "duct tape outfit" day at Taylor Junior High. Spencer spent hours and hours making this suit, shirt, tie, and shoes. Unfortunately it was 101 degrees that day as he sweltered at school!

Noah got in on the action, too, with his duct tape top hat, jewelry, and shoes. It was crazy fun to see the creations all the other kids came up with.

At dinner that night we had our traditional mixed-up April Fool dinner. Isaac was thrilled with his first course: ice cream WITH a bowl. His only problem was eating it without a spoon.

Poor Jacob. His first course was a knife, a cup, and a roll. It could have been worse!

Noah's getting used to this game by now and was fine with drinking his milk out of a bowl.

Spencer made the most of his first course by building a sandwich with his roll and his chicken cordon bleu. He even had a handy napkin to place it on.

I LOVE April Fool's! We try to just do silly stuff that isn't hurtful to anyone's feelings and it makes for a great day!

Honor Band

Spencer and Noah both auditioned for the Mesa School District Honor Band this year. We ended up with a reversal of last year: Spencer was selected for the band; Noah was not. That's just how things go sometimes! Spencer really loved the music they played this year. My favorite was one called "Apache Wildfire" that premiered at the Honor Band concert. It was written to commemorate the Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002, the worst wildfire in Arizona history. Amazing sound effects! It really sounded like crackling fire racing through the forest. Awesome! I'm so proud of my boys for their accomplishments in music.

On the Road Again

On the last day of our Spring Break vacation we ran into a little trouble at the border. We had made the trip to Nogales, intent on letting the boys walk up to the border and touch the wall. We parked the RV in a secure lot and took a little walk through town. As we approached the checkpoint where people were passing through the border, we all turned around so Jeremy could take our picture. Immediately, three border patrol guards surrounded Jeremy, telling him "no photos!" They demanded to see what he had taken a picture of and looked through our vacation photos until they were satisfied. I was freaking out! After that, I lost all interest in being in Nogales and was trying to hurry everyone back to the RV. Once we were well away from the checkpoint, Jeremy and Spencer turned back to take some pictures anyway.

Jeremy wanted to window shop and browse through some of the stores while we were there but I was irrationally terrified that the border patrol was stalking us and would take Jeremy away. We quickly walked back to the parking lot and took this picture of the border fence and then we were on our way. Nobody was happy with me but I stand by my fears.

After that, we changed clothes and went to sacrament meeting in a little town called Sahuarita. When we walked in, Noah was immediately asked to help pass the sacrament. The members were disappointed when they learned we were just visiting.

On the way home we decided to stop at the Mission San Xavier del Bac, or the "White Dove of the Desert." Construction of the beautiful church was completed in 1797, long before the land became part of the United States. It is still a functioning church for Catholics in the area. The boys were fascinated by the candles, sculptures, paintings, and saints in the interior.

We arrived home safe and sound, thanks to Jeremy who is a master of the RV. Another fun family vacation on the books!

Colossal Cave

The next stop on our RV trip: Colossal Cave! Colossal is not a living cave but does have lots of history and some cool formations.

When it was first discovered, an enterprising hotelier would take his guests on tours through the cave. He always encouraged them to take a "souvenir" home and so many of the cave formations are damaged and missing.

This formation is "Old Baldy." Everyone was allowed to rub it as they walked by. Supposedly rubbing it brings good luck as you tour the cave; it is insurance against bumping your head on low-hanging rocks!

Well, nobody bumped their head and nobody got lost, so I guess it was a good day! Earlier, as we arrived at the cave and drove the precarious road to the parking lot, I had visions of Robin Williams in the movie "RV." I didn't think we would make it there alive! But as we exited the cave after our tour, we discovered another RV parked right next to ours. We weren't the only crazy ones!

Titan Missile Museum

OK. I show my ignorance by saying I had no idea what a Titan Missile was or why it existed. This is from the museum pamphlet: "The Titan II missile is the largest missile ever built by the United States. During the Cold War, 54 Titan II missiles stood alert in their underground silos all across the country, protecting the United States. In 1987, the last Titan II site was deactivated. Only one Titan II site remains."

We love to take our boys to see what is here in Arizona! I admit I couldn't see much of a draw to a missile museum but I ended up being fascinated by the history we learned on the tour. Good heavens, this happened during my lifetime and I was completely unaware.

We learned so much about how having such massive missiles around our country helped prevent a nuclear war that would have destroyed the world.

What a fun gift shop! You could buy everything from uranium infused marbles that glow under black light to a special pen that detects your exposure to radiation.

The tour was awesome. The size and destructive capacity of each missile was unbelievable.

Here we are looking down into the silo that holds the missile.

The next phase of the tour took us down 55 steps to the underground lauch control center and crew living quarters.

We were able to watch a simulated launch (and laugh a little at the enormous computers that would be hand-held today).

Walking through the corridors and 3-ton blast doors for an underground view of the Titan II made us marvel at the wisdom of the entire plan. We are so grateful to live in a country with resources and freedoms to protect and enjoy!

Besides being educational, we all thought it was such a fun and interesting tour! Now, on to our next adventure...

RV

Ahhh, Spring Break! We decided to stick close to home this year and had a good, relaxing, fun week. Since Jeremy only had one day off work we took a quick little vacation to Tucson on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The boys have always remembered and loved the time we rented an RV for a road trip so we wanted to do it again (with Isaac this time!). They were so excited when Jeremy drove up to our house and they got to put their things inside the RV. It was a great weekend for all of us. More to come...