On our way

A very important event each morning...  Susie made these cute countdowns for the kids :)  Meanwhile I prepared for our trip in March by planning and packing up the gear and food for nine days of adventure in Southern California.  The family van was bursting at the seams.  

We made it through an unforeseen snowstorm before stopping in St. George. 

Yea! We made it to the Las Vegas temple before meeting up with my cousin Courtney.  The temples were definitely some of the highlights of the trip!!

The Venetian gondolas.  The story goes that the waterway was drained three times for repainting before the hue was just right. 

The Water show at the Belagio.  The spring themed botanical garden in the lobby was very impressive.  There was a glass greenhouse with hundreds of butterflies and hatching cacoons.

The replica architecture was fun to see, but mainly we were glad to see Courtney.  As a side-note, this was my first visit to Vegas and now we can say that we don't really recommend it....  

Little Ben is in the middle with the boys piloting the plane Matt flies for work.

Matt always has lots of fun stories.  They were great hosts!  We enjoyed visiting them on the way to California and on the way back home.