Easter in Iowa

Happy Easter!

Easter fell on the first weekend of Spring Break in 2026, and we decided to take a road trip. Dad took a half day on Saturday, and we rolled out of Lehi about noon headed for Iowa. The plan was to spend Easter with Gary's family, and then continue on to Nauvoo. Finally, we'd spend a day with Tyler's family in Kansas City where he is finishing up his internship, and then we'd return home.

We chose a good stop over site to stay the night in Nebraska called Ogalala. We'd arrive about 10 o'clock with a stop for dinner, and then finish the drive on Saturday. We were moving along I-80 pretty well until we started to get close to Laramie. Dad was driving, and snow was blowing across the road so thickly in places that visibility would drop to zero for a second or two. One lane was covered in blown snow, but our progress was still okay. We decided to stop in Laramie for dinner in hopes that it would blow over. 

This was the start of the snow.

Dinner was delicious!

It was a good stop!

After dinner at Perkins, Mom noticed that the map app was sending her back west on I-80, so she hopped on going east, assuming it was a mistake. Within a quarter mile, we noticed that traffic was backed up, the freeway was indefinitely closed, and no one was getting through. She made a crazy decision to flip the van around right in the middle of the freeway and drive backwards up the ramp. Miraculously, we didn't pass a single car, and we got on I-80 going back the way we'd come. Maps rerouted us south toward Fort Collins, which looped down into Colorado. It was nearly dark, and it added about 75 minutes to our drive. Worse, the road was iced over and really treacherous. But it turned out to be the right decision, because after we crossed into Colorado, we didn't see another bit of ice or snow. Soon we joined 1-80 back at Cheyenne and made it to the hotel around 11 'clock. 

On the road again!

We listened to General Conference on the drive into Gilbert where Gary lives, and things went much better. We arrived before 4 o'clock, and it was good to see family. John had come into town for Easter eve. We dyed Easter eggs, and had a few contests. Gary gave away $10 to the winner of each game. Mom won the ring toss game (of course), and Seth won the card game. Shelley, Emiko, and John won the egg dyeing contests. Then we settled in for the night. (Well, Dad and Gary talked until 3am.)

The ring toss game was similar to ours, but way tougher.

We love dying eggs!

Seth made some great eggs.

Randy tried to sway the judge by dying an egg that said, "I love Gary."

Mom went for pretty.

Dax was super creative.

The egg judging!

On Easter morning after breakfast, Matt showed up. We had a few more contests, including egg spinning, which Matt won. The idea was to spin your egg for as long as possible. Then we crashed the spinning eggs into one another, preparing them for deviled eggs later. We also had an egg hunt. Ten eggs were hidden for each person to find, and they were timed as they found them. Then the eggs were replaced for the next person. Dax won this contest easily. 

Dax ended up being the fastest.

Mom was not fast.

All morning Emiko worked on ramen. She let us knead the home made noodles with our feet, walking them flat. Then she made us each a piping hot bowl with corn, carrots, cabbage, sausage, and a boiled egg. It was easily the best ramen we'd ever eaten. 

We all took a turn making the ramen noodles.

Dad, too!

Dax soon became the noodle maker.

Emiko put him in charge of the ramen noodle maker.

The yummiest ramen ever.

Even Seth ate it!

After lunch we played a few more games. Then we went for a walk down at the local park. Finally, Gary took us down to ISU and showed us his office and walked us around campus. Dax even acted as if he might be recruited to come out to Iowa for school!

There was a lovely sunset on our park walk.

The lunch room at ISU.

The bell tower.

On Monday morning we woke up and fielded Mark's call. Matt and John had gone on Sunday night, and Shelley was at school, but Mark had fun talking to Gary and Emiko. It was a really amazing Easter that will stand out as one we'll always remember.

We played with the dog Chewy a lot.

He loved the attention.