I still really wanted to go somewhere else because every other time my parents have flown up to Utah to visit all of us, they've stayed in Provo or Lehi which makes it very easy for all of us to just keep working and going to classes and just stopping in for a dinner or two and then other than that visiting with my parents whenever we have the time. This time I was determined to get far enough away that we would all be trapped in one spot with no way out. :)
So, we rented a nice little house for a week all the way down in La Verkin, Utah (near St. George and Zion National Park). And it was SO fun!
We celebrated Christmas together on our first full day together (December 29) by getting stockings and doing a gift exchange. My parents thought it would be hilarious to give us all money, but we had to get to it before it belonged to us. They had found these funny little puzzle boxes where you have to get this little metal ball around a maze to a specific spot that makes it possible to unlock the box. It was super difficult! And super funny to watch everyone trying to figure it out. I gave up, and had my dad try, and then ultimately Ryan solved my puzzle box. :)
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| Oh, and look at these adorable monster slippers my mom got for Rose. Have you ever seen cuter monster feet?? |
On Monday, my dad took everyone that wanted on a 16 mile bike ride through Zion National Park. I didn't go because I am totally out of shape and my lungs are being compromised by a little alien baby inside of me. But those who went seemed to have a lot of fun. Those of us who don't like exercise drove down to the little town at the opening of Zion to have lunch and wait for the bikers to come back so we could have bumbleberry pie. (Except they all wanted real food, so I'm the only one who had bumbleberry pie.) On the way back home we stopped at a rock shop, because I love rock shops and who doesn't have a little child inside of them that tells them that rocks are cool and worth picking up and sticking in your pocket? (except I didn't pick any of these rocks up to stick in my pocket because that would be called stealing.)
On New Year's Eve, everyone was a little tired and grumpy so we decided to find a video of the ball dropping in a different country so we could watch it at 9 pm instead of waiting until midnight. We watched the Dubai New Year's Eve video and I have to say that I really enjoyed watching that one. The music was much nicer than whatever pop music normally plays here in the US. The house we rented had shot classes so I filled them all up with Martinelli's Sparkling Cider and we all toasted to the new year. We also bought those fun cracker things to pop at midnight (ahem 9 pm) and we got those out too. They all came with colorful paper crowns that everyone was required to wear for a group picture and then we played games until everyone decided to go to bed.
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| Rose was actually asleep for the celebrating of the new year, but I just love this picture of her and my mom. |
We ruled out actually hiking through Zion National Park because Carson isn't much of a hiker, but one of my favorite hikes ever is at Red Cliffs State park and I dragged everyone along to that, even Carson, who declared after walking about 10 steps that he "hates nature!" haha He's a good sport. ;) Ryan took me on this hike on our honeymoon 3 years ago, and it's so fun and pretty! You have all the beauty of the red rock, and there are little caves and nooks that you can crawl around and a giant old dead tree that's hollowed out that you can stand inside and another cool tree that braver people than I can climb (Ryan and Jared) And at the end of the easy part of the hike there is a little pool of water and a waterfall. It's the perfect hike for a family like mine that grew up with basically no hiking. And it even turned out to be the perfect hike for me, with my pregnant belly and compromised lungs.
On the last day, just before leaving, a group of us drove to Grafton, a small ghost town in the middle of nowhere. There's an old church/schoolhouse, and a handful of houses. It was super cool to walk around and the sunset was so pretty. We didn't stay for long, but I would like to go back again and explore a little more.
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| Rose gets a little nervous when she's separated from me, so she was a bit upset when my dad took her into this dark building to capture this picture, but how sweet is that smile when she saw that I was right there? My heart! <3 |
The only downside to the trip was a stomach bug that decided to make it's way around. I spent all day Monday throwing up. After a shopping trip in St. George I asked my mom to pull over so I could throw up on the side of the road. People in St. George are nice, because two cars pulled over at different times to make sure we were alright. I thought it was just morning sickness, so we told them everything was fine and they went on their way. I threw up 2 more times for the rest of the day and never really felt better so I went to bed early.
On Thursday night, Ryan and my mom spent the whole night throwing up and were sick for most of Friday, so obviously it wasn't morning sickness that was going around.
Other than that, the trip was the wonderful mix of eating lots of good food, playing games, relaxing and exploring the area. We didn't do anything crazy special, but I think it was a perfect break from the reality of life. I didn't have to cook anything or do any dishes, my mom didn't have to take care of my grandma for a week, Carson got to watch lots of tv, Rose got all the attention she loves and deserves, and everyone else got a break from work, school, and homework.
Carson missed his friends and Texas, and Ryan missed his music but other than that I hope we get to do another vacation like this someday and it will be even better because Emily will get to be there. And we'll have another little girl running around with Rose. <3
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