spring break

as the old adage goes, "if you don't have it, make it."

(or is it "don't want what you can't have"?)

and as many people know, BYU does not have a spring break.

this is a serious problem, because getting a little break full of sunshine and happiness and springtime is necessary, especially during the dull, busy, still wintery months of march and april in utah. 

so every year i've decided to take a spring break anyway and have a little weekend getaway to some seriously sunny places. 

some images of spring breaks gone by:

 an arizona escape with mindy and mallory

 and a fabulous trip to italy and switzerland

 i loved visiting this tiny italian coast town with james and allison. 

this year we decided that having an easter getaway with the fam at our favorite place, the camelback inn, was definitely a must!

you can't beat the place where time stands still. 

we headed out for easter weekend to spend some quality time with my family in arizona. 

before we left though, we had to get some egg dyeing in. 

having traditions is important. and also fun.

 dyeing eggs is one of my favorites! we ran out of vinegar about half way through, so we ended up trying to use lemon juice. it was only somewhat successful. 

easter egg lovin!

pretty eggs

then the next afternoon we drove to the airport, arrived super early, had our flight delayed multiple times, walked a mile to get pretzels only to find they were all out, and finally took off and were on our way. we did get to witness this fine example of "utah style"...

 we arrived just in time to put on some luscious robes and do some quality hot tubbing. 

the next morning we got up extra early to hike camelback mountain, which to our dismay was closed! (who knew you could close down a mountain?) we ended up heading to squaw peak instead, which was also great.

how good is this guy's hair?

i love my mom and my sista sista. this is probably one of my all time fave pics of us. 

wildlife inspires us.

the rest of the day was spent sunning by the pool, sharing smoothies, playing a wild game of three flies up, and a taking few naps here and there. 

fierce.

we had a delightful dinner at a place i've wanted to try for a long time - la grande orange.

the pizza was divine, and the company was wonderful. 

the red velvet cake was the best i have ever had!

we had another night of tennis and tons of fun. 

we woke up the next day for a beautiful easter church meeting, our traditional see's candy egg hunts, and of course, easter baskets!

can't get enough peeps!

easter is a holiday that is so special and so full of meaning. i loved being able to celebrate the resurrection of my Savior, Jesus Christ, with my family. because of his sacrifice and his resurrection,  i know i can be with my family forever! 

the words of one of my very favorite hymns capture the joy i feel on easter,

"He is risen! He is risen!
Tell it out with joyful voice.
He has burst his three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
Death is conquered; man is free.
Christ has won the victory."

Hoorayy!

to continue celebrating, we went to the fabulous easter brunch, which is just too good to be true.

cotton candy for all.

it was so fun to be with all of our cousins and family, and we all ate way, way, way too much.

four hours later we were able to move from the table to take some family shots.

love my guy.

it was a perfect, pretty day.

after post-brunch naps, we had an easter egg hunt with all the fam!

we had some great catching up on life with everyone, and then andrew had to go back to school.
(not fun)

we had another great tennis night, and got some rest for another sunshine day. 

it was a day of cucumber coolers, mango smoothies, and naps by the pool.

a much, much needed break.

 we enjoyed pretty arizona blooms,

and a pedicure at the spa. 

and after another great family dinner and more tennis, it was time to pack up and head out!

(some pretty shadows on a wall near our room)

leaving is never fun, but it's always good to be reunited with anj. 

and now we are back to the daily grind.

i must say, that was the best spring break we never had!