Photo dump...AGAIN

I don't know why but it seems like this year I have had less time to myself than usual.  Maybe it's that I have more kids away at school so I spend more time on the phone with them or maybe it's just that I'm not using my time efficiently.  Whatever the reason it has definitely put me behind on my blogging.  My kids just the other day asked me why I hadn't been blogging.  Then I looked at my phone and saw that it was backlogged with photos so I decided to put it on my to do list today.  The only problem with doing it this way is I feel like feelings get lost because these pictures are from so many different events and if I try to say everything about why I took the picture the post gets really long and no one likes long posts.  When I try to make a separate post about each of these pictures, I get burnt out and don't have much to say.  So...today I will do my best to describe the pictures, why I took them and what is happening in the Belt home lately.

First off, I went on vacation during Spring Break.  It's the first time in a long time that I have been able to just up and leave because middle school state for wrestling is usually happening during spring break.  I decided I didn't want to stay home because Brad always back country skis and dirt bikes and usually that leaves me home alone catching up and doing chores and this year, I just didn't want to do that.  So, I went to visit my best friend from High School in Washington DC, Rebecca Goekeritz.  Not only was it fun reminiscing about our former lives and thoughts and feelings when we were young, it was just fun being with Rebecca now.  Some friendships never die and there is definitely something that keeps friendships from your youth strong...maybe it's our roots, or an understanding of who we were so we are understood as we are now.  Plus, Rebecca and I have a lot in common...from kids (we both have 5) to religious beliefs to sense of humor.  So, I wanted to visit her and I also wanted to visit the east coast.  It was my first time ever going that far east.  Rebecca took me to as many historical sites as she could in 3 days(all the smithsonians and Harper's ferry).  My favorite Smithsonian was the museum of Art.  I could have gotten lost in there all day.  We did get lost in there for a couple of hours.  There is something about art that just deserves a certain kind of reverence.  The following are some of my favorite pieces that I saw:

Okay, maybe not my favorite but interesting to say the least...an artwork piece of a toothbrush!

The following two just spoke to me.  I love the colors and the landscape.

This is a sculpture of a person playing guitar...all things music speak to me so I took a picture.

Also I got to see originals from my favorite artist...Picasso.  I am especially touched by his works during the blue period.

I also took photo after photo of artwork of women.  I sent them all to McKenzie so she could celebrate womanhood.

Rebecca took me to see the Washington monument:

Jefferson and Lincoln memorial:

Oooh, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and the cherry festival was happening so of course we took some pictures with the blossoms!

Also Rebecca took me to some adorable shops in her local downtown area where I found the perfect shopping bag for McKenzie:

I will be making it with my cricut next Christmas.

Despite my plane issues (late arrival and early departure and running in the airport like mad to make connection flights) it was a successful business.  My brother, Rick, also made a special trip out to see me.  It meant a lot.  Didn't get a picture with him though.

While I was gone Riley, Jake and Brad did do a little bit of snowmobiling and snow skiing.

And a little bit of volunteering to ref peewee wrestling.  Look how cute this ref is:

Also Ben wrestled....and celebrated his birthday away from home:

The next few weeks were kind of a blur, so I'll put my funny belt buckle texts in here:

Ben thinking he is Tyler Durden:

If you don't know who Tyler Durden is that's okay.  We do and that's all that matters for the above text.

Ben moving a cat lady:

Oh and we should insert here that our cat was pregnant and had kittens:

Four and regardless of what Kenzie and Brad want, I'm not going to keep them.  Don't want to be that cat lady.

Found a great recipe online to marinate skirt steak and make carne asada (my favorite!):

And we discovered that Brad has a secret modeling gig that none of us knew about until his friend, on his birthday, sent us this.

It looks just like Brad, doesn't it!  Ha!  Also now we know what to surprise him with next Christmas. knitted adult onesie!

Oh and Brad did turn one year older, we did put another year behind us in marriage and we have been trying to capture beautiful sunsets.

Now, back to the stuff I remember.  We are currently doing off-season spring wrestling.  One of our trips was to Utah to do a freestyle tournament there.  We got to see Ben, Jordan, Kenzie and Molly and they even came and watched the boys wrestle.  It's always a treat to see my college kids.  Can you tell someone left some surprise selfies for me on my phone?

And then it was Easter and I bought all my kids a lego set.  Can you spot the lego set here?

Speaking of treats, it's always a treat when I get sneak peaks at what my kids do together at college.

Can you tell who sent me these pictures?  It sure is nice having them all in one place.  Kenzie and Ben will miss Molly and Jordan a ton next year I'm sure.  Yes, Molly and Jordan are about to graduate (Jordan this weekend and Molly this June) and will be leaving Utah for Arizona.

The middle of April I went on a girls trip to Arizona to see my mom and sisters.

And to end this long post some pictures of Riley and his date ready to attend their junior prom.

He and his date had the opportunity to go to prom with Chris, Riley's good friend and wrestling partner for the last serveral years, and his date.

Yes, as you can see, they are pretty close. 😂