Hotel Highlights

Staying at a hotel is always a treat. This trip we stayed at The Crystal Inn.

The boys love it when there is free breakfast. I don't know why, but they always think that is a great feature. Probably because they can try a little of everything.

But the kids favorite feature of staying at a hotel is the

swimming pool.

We went swimming everyday we were in St George.

Including Thursday night.

Emily loves to swim, and has gotten really good at it. She has been working on learning the different strokes this year, and was having fun practicing them in the pool.

Even though the kids have been taking swimming lessons for a few years. Last summer the boys would still not leave the side of the pool. They would hold on for dear life the entire time we were at a pool.

This summer the kids have been taking lessons from a great teacher, and I couldn't believe the difference it has made. Instead of holding on to the edge this trip, Josh was all over the place............as long as he could touch the bottom.

Joe is a lot more confident in the water too. He still likes the swim noodle, but he was willing to leave it on the side for a bit this trip. By the end of our trip the boys were even doing the rocket glides they had learned in class the week before.

Valerie on the other hand is not afraid of the water at all. I took her into the pool the first night and she loved floating around with me on a noodle at first, but then she started wanting to do it herself.

One of her favorite things to do was to Jump to me from the side of the pool. she would jump and I would catch her. then she would say "Again! Again!" After a few jumps I decided to let her go under the water a little on a jump. That time she said, "Towel, I need a towel!"

I thought maybe she would be done with the game after that, but after wiping her face off, she jumped in again. then she wanted to try swimming without me . She kept telling me "Get off! Get off!" Luckily Aunt Jenny had a tube she could borrow. So I could just stay close to her.

Saturday between the wedding and the reception we all went swimming in the pool. The kids loved having Grandma and uncle Jon there to play, because there is nothing better than a good water fight.
When we went to Cedar City last summer, Valerie's Favorite feature of the hotel was the mini fridge in the room...............


I think that was a favorite this time too. After the first night of swimming, she went right to the fridge and got out her leftover spaghetti for a bedtime snack.

Thanks for the fun Trip to St George Grandma and Grandpa!

Put On Your Dancing Shoes

Saturday was the wedding day.

Laura is my age, and so as children we played a lot together when she was visiting my Grandma from St George.

I am so happy for her and her new husband Aaron.

The wedding was at the Dixie Alumni House.

It was so fun to be there, and see everyone.

The kids were very well behaved during the ceremony. They were disappointed when there were no treats at the wedding.

However the Candy Bar at the reception made up for it.

The last half of the reception was dancing.

There were not many adult dancers, but the kids were having fun. Joe was trying to get Valerie to dance with him, but she wanted to do it herself, so I told him he should go ask Great Grandma to dance.

My Grandma was happy to dance with him (after she helped him tie his shoes.) This was my favorite moment of the day. Watching my Grandma teach Joe how to dance.

After that we all took turns dancing with the boys.

Zions National Park

Friday afternoon, after my cousin's Bridal Shower, we headed off to

Zions National Park.

The first hike we went on, was The hike to the Lower Emerald pools. When we got to the pools, it was very wet. there was water running down the rocks. One of the rocks actually looked like it had one of those man made curtain fountains on it. the water was running down in little streams spaced almost perfectly.


On this trail the boys noticed a little side trail that they wanted to go on and explore. So on the way back from the pools we checked it out.

They liked seeing all of the holes in the rocks carved out by the water.

Valerie was a pretty good hiker, but she also liked getting rides for a lot of this hike. Grandpa was happy to let her.

There are so many visitors in Zion now, that you have to take the shuttle to the different stops. Valerie thought the shuttle looked like a train, and she was very happy to go on rides.

There were quite a few dear along the sides of the road. Valerie loved it when we saw the baby dear.

The other hike we went on was called the Riverside Walk. This hike is at the end of the shuttle ride, and the end of this walk starts the beginning of The Narrows.

The path is 1 mile long, but it is a nice easy walk on a paved trail.

It was very pretty.

When we got to the end of the path the kids had fun throwing rocks in the water. I think a couple of them even stuck their toe in it.

I love the red rock of southern Utah.

It is so beautiful.

As the sun went down we headed to get some dinner. We stopped at a place just outside Zions. The kids loved the statues in the restaurant.

Especially this one of Wiley Coyote holding a stick of dynamite!

St George Temple

To finish off my parents visit, we headed down to St George for my Cousin Laura's wedding.

Ryan was not able to Join us on this trip. Sadly his Uncle passed away this week, so he was headed to Las Vegas with his family for the funeral. The kids and I missed having him with us. Especially when we were doing the tourist things.

We arrived in St George Thursday night.

Friday we started our day by visiting the St George Temple Grounds.

We went to the visitors center first, were we watched a presentation on the importance of an eternal family.

The kids noticed that there are a few similar things at this visitors center, like the Statue of Christ and the map of all of the important places Christ went during his ministry.


I really enjoyed going into the annex where they had the history of the St George Temple. I learned a few new things. I did not know that they built The St George temple on a swamp. I also did not know that when it was first built the prophet lived in it when he was in town.

Visiting the temple was a fun way to start off our trip. It is a beautiful temple full of history.

Cedar and Shakespeare

We took a trip last weekend to Cedar City with Ryan's parents. We had a great time and took lots of pictures, so get ready for a long post. (Josh did not like being photographed)

Grandma and I loaded the kids up in her Durango and headed down early Thursday afternoon. Ryan had to work so he and his dad were going to join us later. Grandma and I decided it would be better to get the kids there early so they could burn off some energy before bed.

After we got checked into the hotel, we went to find dinner and a good place for the kids to run around. Grandma grew up in Cedar, so she knows the town really well.

We ended up at East Canyon Park. The kids liked running around, and Valerie, the dare devil, could not get enough of the slide. She kept climbing up the ladder. She was a little upset that I would not let her go down the slide by herself, but I am not ready for that.

There is a river that runs through the park. So The kids went down and got their feet wet and threw rocks in the river. They found a few rocks they really liked and decided to
start a rock collection on the vacation.


When it started to get dark we headed back to the hotel.

I thought the kids would be really tired, but when we got into the hotel room it was like someone flipped a switch inside them and they went into hyper mode. They were all really excited. Valerie Quickly discovered the fridge. It was just her size, she could open it herself, and when she did open it she found a sippy cup full of milk just for her. From then on every time we went in the hotel room, Valerie headed straight to the fridge and visited it often.

Our favorite place to stay when we go to Cedar is The Abby Inn. The kids love it too, because of the breakfast buffet. Emily can't get enough of the waffles you make yourself.

Friday morning we all headed to Brian Head Resort. Ryan and Emily brought their bikes and were heading out for a day on the trail.

They took a shuttle up to Brian Head Peak and then rode (and walked some) to Panguitch lake.

It was a 14 mile ride and they were both pretty tired when they got back.

While they were on their bike ride the rest of us entertained ourselves with some site seeing. It was cooler than we expected there so the first stop was to buy a jacket for grandma. We looked at sweatshirts for the boys, but the only ones they had that would fit them had Utah in big white letters on them. Grandpa has corrupted my children so when they see Utah all they think of is the U of U (which Ryan and I love) and they wont touch it, because they are devoted BYU fans. Grandpa tried to explain to Joe that it meant the State of Utah, but he didn't care. They finally settled for t-shirts that kept them a little warmer.

Now that we were appropriately attired, we headed to one of Grandpa's favorite trails. The Twisted Forest. The boys had a little snack and were happy to get hiking. The trail goes through a forest of Bristlecone Pine Trees. These trees are the oldest living organism known on the planet.

The trail started out pretty simple and the boys liked all of the funny shaped trees and roots. They found one that they decided looked like a surf board.

A little ways down the trail the hills started getting a little steeper. The boys were still excited to be on the trail though and did not seem to mind too much. But when it was time to go back down the hills there was a problem, The trail is made of loose shell rock, and it is hard to get good footing.

I had Valerie on my back, and was trying not to fall myself, so Grandma and Grandpa helped the boys. They were getting tired and they were also a little scared. Josh fell a couple of times and was not happy about it. When we made it to the easier part again they were happier, but the pendulum had swung and they were not happy little boys.

By the time we got back to the car, the boys were both fighting and crying. They calmed down pretty quickly once we got back in the car. I am still not sure what they were fighting about, but I suspect it had something to do with being first.


After the hike we checked in at the bike shop to see if Ryan and Emily had returned. They were still going to be a while, so we took a drive up to Brian Head Peak.

The boys were getting along again and in a good mood. They liked the view, but were getting a little tired of pictures. Josh refused to let us take any of him. Joe was willing as long as he was doing a silly pose. This is his gangster pose.

When we first arrived at Brian Head the boys noticed the ski lift and asked if they could ride on it. We told them maybe later after Emily got back. I was hoping they would forget about it, because I am not a fan of high places when there is not much to stop you from falling especially taking little kids on those high places. But one thing about my kids is they don't distract easily and they never forget.

So after Emily and Ryan returned from their hike, Grandpa and I (Ryan is really afraid of heights) took Emily, Joe and Josh on the lift.

Joe and Emily rode with Grandpa and at first hung on to him like they were going to die. Josh was relaxed as could be the entire ride. When the lift turned us to go down hill I heard a scream come from Emily and Joe. Josh just thought it was really cool. It was a really pretty ride with a great view.

After the long day the kids were all pretty tired so we headed back to the hotel.

After a little rest we went over to the Green Show at the Shakespearean Festival. The boys were more interested in playing on the lawn, but Emily seemed to enjoy it.

Friday we started our day on the Bristlecone Pine trail. This is a very short, easy and beautiful walk.

The kids were still collecting rocks, and Joe found the perfect shark tooth rock. He announced that when he got home he was going to polish it and turn it into a necklace.

Grandpa carried Valerie for some of the walk, but she was happy to hike a little on her own.

She loved looking at all of the plants, and she began her rock collection too.

At the end of the trail is a great big Bristlecone pine tree. This is Grandpa's favorite tree.

Our next stop was Cedar Breaks. I forget how much I love the red rocks of southern Utah.

The kids were all a little cold and the boys were trying to bundle up in their shirts.

Joe got almost his entire body in his shirt and then announced. "I'm in Minnie mode."

After Cedar Breaks Grandpa and Grandma, the boys and Valerie continued on to other site seeing adventures while Ryan and I took Emily to her first Shakespeare play. "Much Ado About Nothing"

There were signs that said not photographs, but I had to get a picture of Emily in her seat. Ryan kept telling me I was going to get my camera taken away, but I decided it only meant during the show. At intermission we treated ourselves to a tart. Emily loved the apple one.

We loved the play. The cast was great. Emily was laughing almost the whole time and loved it.

After the play we met up with the other kids and had dinner. Grandpa Emily and Ryan headed over to the green show, but the boys were not that into it the night before, so they stayed with Grandma and I at the hotel. Ryan and his parents were going to see Macbeth that night, so when it was time for Grandma to go we drove her to the university and picked up Emily. She got in the car with a giant sucker. Of course the boys wanted one too. They had all brought their money on the trip so they gave Emily money and she went in the gift shop and bought them one too.

While Ryan and his parents were at the play the kids and I had a party in the hotel room. I had gone to the store earlier and bought popcorn and chocolate milk. So we popped some popcorn and found a movie on TV to watch. I would like to say that by the third night the excitement of the hotel had worn off, but the kids were still a little hyper. (maybe from their giant suckers)

After the movie the only way I could get them to go to sleep was to turn everything off, but as soon as I did they went right to sleep.

Sunday we slowly headed for home. I am so grateful to Ryan's mom and dad for planning the trip. It was so much fun and a great way to finish out the summer. School starts next week. I am not ready. There is still so much to do.