Wednesday, January 18, 2012

a winter trip to St. George

On the previous Sunday, Danny and I were planning our week.  I mentioned the upcoming four day weekend the girls had from school.  As we discussed ideas of what to do on our days off...Danny (eventually) suggested St. George and I jumped on it!  Found and booked a hotel within 5 minutes!

JANUARY 13-16

DAY ONE:
We woke up, packed, picked up the house and headed out the door by 11:00.
We picked up Nana in Orem, had some lunch and headed down the freeway.
The girls watched My Fair Lady in the back with Nana as Danny drove.
The movie was over just after Cedar City so we played name that tune/artist with an ipod! (Ellie won)
We found our hotel...settled in and went for a walk.
It got too cold after 10 minutes and Danny went back for the car.
We drove to the St. George temple.
We walked around and then spent an hour in the visitors center...
which we had never done before but loved.
Then we met the rest of the crew (Amanda/Randy/kids and Sharon/Jason) at the Pizza Factory.
Went thrifting @ DI...Amanda is famous for finding amazing treasures at DI.


DAY TWO:
Sharon, Jason, Danny and I went to an early session at the temple while Cil and the girls slept in.
We ate breakfast at the Bear Paw...which was a hit (thanks for the suggestion friends!)
...and stopped by the antique jewelry store on the corner.
We headed back to the hotel and changed for the hike.
We hiked just outside of Leeds.
Before the hike started Amanda shared a story that Grandma had written about in her journal.
Their family had been camping at this very spot (Danny was hanging out with friends in St. George).  Grandma and Grandpa were in Overton so they met them for the day.  Grandma wanted to stay and camp but she was sure that Grandpa would want her to come home with him.  To her surprise, he insisted she stay and play and he would drive back to get her.  They had fun all night long...even though they nearly froze under the "emergency blanket."  They woke up to hearing owls in the early morning.  Grandma didn't get much sleep that night but loved every minute of it.

I loved hearing Amanda tell the story from Grandma's perspective and the hike was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!
After hiking we went back to change.
Visited our friends the Parmenters!
(The girls and Nana played cards, Sophie played with PrettyGirlShe'sALady (their adorable dog that I wanted to kidnap), and Danny and I caught up with Paul and Alison.
Then we met our crew again for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.
We finished the night hanging out at Amanda & Randy's condo.




 DAY THREE:
We got up early and met Grandma for church in Las Vegas!
It was early but worth it.
Then we all headed to Grandma's house for a little bit of work and a lot of food!
Danny pruned her tree...she watched out the window nervously as he cut off branches.
Everybody else gathered, stacked, swept and raked...and played.
The girls stayed outside in the dirt almost the entire day.
At 5:00 p.m. Judy and her family were there, Mike and Mary and dear Lynn.
We devoured Grandma's famous spaghetti and meatballs.
It was so fun being with her.




 DAY FOUR:
We slept in.
The girls, Nana and Danny soaked in the hot tub...
and I read a book.
Back on the road again.
It was one of our favorite trips!

5 comments:

rychelle said...

you tell the greatest stories with your photographs!

did you fall in love with flavia? i think she's an (not so) evil genious.

Shauna said...

What a wonderful trip!! Sometimes those spontaneous times are the BEST! My favorite picture is the one of Grandma leaning on the counter!

Alison said...

Love you guys! Pretty Girl does too... She's a lady.
Next step is moving here!

Tebbs Family said...

I loved reading about your trip! Hope you have "converted" to the St. George lifestyle like I have now... I'll have to find out where you went hiking in Leeds. We usually go to Snow Canyon or Zion and then ATV at awesome spots.

~Love Lis said...

What a fun family trip! I'm so happy that you were able to take a break. I love your photos.