April's long walks

Ben made a bet or deal with his buddies over the NCAA championship. The loser had to walk back home from Bluffdale, almost 21 miles away. Ben was a man of his word when he lost, and he picked Saturday, April 12. JB said he would do it with him, and I think this will be something Ben remembers for the rest of his life.

I dropped them off just after 7 a.m. and took this picture with the copper mine in the background to prove to Ben's friends that they were in Bluffdale, but I think he also shared his location with them so they could track him all day.

Then I took this picture as they started walking at about 7:20 a.m.

The rest of the time they sent me updates and I tracked Ben's phone location as well. Walking with dad meant stopping for good food like gourmet tacos and frozen custard. They also took pictures at some landmarks in the valley.

Here's JB's watch when they got home at 2 p.m. showing the distance and steps.

April's other long walks per this post title came during JB's backpacking trip with friends in Southern Utah from April 24-26. They went to Angel Arch and Druid Arch in Canyonlands National Park. Angel Arch was about 17 miles, and Druid Arch was about 11 miles.

Hot springs hike and Spring Break adventures

JB took James with him on a hike with Richards cousins to Fifth Water Hot Springs in Diamond Fork Canyon in Utah County on March 15. And it got snowy!

Spring break was the week before general conference, and I needed to be back at work on the Thursday before, so we went to the Richards cabin in Escalante after school on Friday March 28 and drove back Wednesday April 2.

One of the favorite parts of the cabin are playing games, like this giant chess set and puzzles at the table and a new game called Qwix.

On Saturday, March 29, JB took the boys on the "Cosmic Ashtray" hike in Garfield County.

Sunday, March 30, we went to church in Escalante.

My phone:

JB's phone:

That week JB also got out the BB gun for some target practice.

I love how long the kids play outside.

On Monday, April 1, we drove east then north on Highway 12 and took Burr Trail from Boulder to see Singing Canyon.

Then we kept going north to Torrey and Teasdale, where we saw the RV and glamping resort that our sister-in-law Collette and her sisters have worked so hard on by Capital Reef National Park. It's amazing.

We had homemade pizza at the cabin as well.

And we made Smores. I think Andrew had his shirt off to fan the fire to get it going.

When I was at work all day Thursday and Friday for general conference prep, JB treated the kids to some fun for their last two days of spring break, including a pizza taste test with Marco's Pizza and Little Caesars.