The Randalls

During Téa's sixth grade school year, Officer Marshall, of the Lehi City Police Department came in to the school once a week for 15 weeks to teach the kids about the harmful affects of illegal drugs, violence, and negative media exposure. The program they use is called N.O.V.A. (Nurturing youth to seek out positive Opportunities, internalize good Values, and to accept Accountability for their choices in life). NOVA Principles reminds me of the DARE program I did in fifth grade. I don't have any great pictures but I wanted to document Téa's graduation from the N.O.V.A. program.



Téa is the blur in the black shirt and green skirt. She received her N.O.V.A. pin from Officer Marshall and shook hands with all the sixth grade teachers and the principle.


Téa loved the program and all the kids had a great time getting to know Officer Marshall. I think it helps kids to get to know officers so they can see they aren't just the bad cops that bust people. They are people who love their jobs and are trying their best to protect and educate the public. I spoke with Officer Marshall a few times at the school since I work there and he said this program was his favorite part of his week. He loves educating the kids and helping them figure out what kind of person they want to be and how to get there.

Our tradition of late has been to head down to Mesquite for Spring Break. It's the perfect weather down there and the pool at Nonna and Papa's house has usually warmed up enough to enjoy swimming. Unfortunately, the other tradition has been going down there without Mark. With all our family trips we have planned, he needs to save up his vacation days.

This year the Clark County Fair was going on at the same time in Logandale so we decided to check it out. It did NOT disappoint! Who doesn't love a bunch of old, run-down amusement park rides, scary-looking carnies and greasy fairground food?

The girls weren't sure what to expect from the County Fair. It's been ages since I took them to a fairground. I think the last time was before Piper was born. I have failed in my parenting duties. My mom suggested we walk around and see the rides first to see if it was worth getting an all-day bracelet pass or just paying per ride. We found plenty of rides the girls insisted they would go on over and over and over, so we got an all-day pass. I'm so glad we did.

All three of the girls rode pretty much every ride. The favorites being the Sizzler, the potato sack slide, the carousel and the Wacky Shack.



We took a small intermission for food. There were so many food stands to choose from. Calista and Piper chose the greasy corn dog option, Téa and I chose a huge chili dog with extra onions (yum!) and Nonna had a Navajo taco.




We walked around the craft section of the fair until we digested long enough before hitting the rides again. The girls were winding down after about 4 hours of rides when Piper decided she needed to ride (what she thought was) the scariest ride at the fair. It's called Zero Gravity. I'm learning that Piper is my more fearless child. I finally have a kid who will do the more intense rides with me!

Piper is the one in the pink shirt and blue jeans. You can see her super tense before riding Zero Gravity for the first time.



 And here she is, the smallest rider, riding for the fifth time in a row.


After the fifth time she was looking a little pale. I had to drag her away before she hopped on again. I didn't want to tempt fate and risk her losing the contents of her stomach. I think this is the start of her love of scary rides. I'm so proud!

What would our trip to Mesquite be without a stop to the soccer fields to play a little soccer together? It's the perfect place. These fields have nice turf and a sweet covered play structure with a spongy floor.


Of course we swam as much as the weather would allow. I should probably be more specific...the GIRLS swam as much as they could. I enjoyed the sun next to the pool with a good book.


Our last night at my parent's we had Papa's amazing ribs with artichokes that Uncle Bob dropped off as a gift. They came fresh from Lompoc and reminded me so much of growing up in California next to the flower and vegetable fields where we could get super fresh produce. I love that my kids will (usually) try new foods. They loved the artichokes. Maybe I'm just used to it so I didn't freak out, but Téa found this little guy hanging out in the middle of her artichoke...


I had to reminder her he spent 15 minutes in boiling water so it couldn't be alive (not the way to die!) but it was a little disturbing for her to find a worm body poking out of her food. Farm fresh, right? Another successful Spring Break in the books.

I don't have nearly enough pictures from egg dying this year. Actually, I only have one! So sad. We missed having Tamsyn with us this year since she is on her mission in Indiana. But we sent her a cool Easter package with lots of random things the girls like to send their missionary cousins. Things like giant paper clips, fuzzy pencil toppers, headband rabbit ears and Frozen stickers. You never know what you're going to get from our kids.

Next year I will be better at photographing the egg dying experience. Lately, I feel like I've just been enjoying our family moments instead of saying 'wait! I need to take a picture!'. Which is great, until I try to blog about our memories. Ugh.






Markee, Calista, Piper and Téa. It's always fun when we get together with family. Our kids love spending time with cousins and Mark and I love hanging out with the adults. It's a win-win in our book.