This year for our family reunion that was just for us and our adult kids and their spouses, we decided to go to St. George, UT! We thought that is would be the best choice for ALL of us to be able to go! Reed's wife has family in St. George, so that would make it easier for them to come with their kids. It was just a 7 hour drive for Tami and Ryne from Idaho Falls, and also for us from Eagar. We picked up Chad and Luann. Barry and Lisa had a 7 hour drive also from Mesa, AZ. Bret and Suzy flew into Las Vegas, NV. then had a two hour drive. Bret came from a work trip in St. Paul, MN and had a heck of a time getting there. His flight was rerouted because of weather, but he finally made it. Kari and Kirk had to bring their family because they were all coming from a week in Provo, UT where some of their boys were at soccer camp. It was the hardest on Marks family as they had to drive 12 hours from El Paso. TX. But, we all made it, well, except Reed!! Little Eliana got sick the night before they were to fly out, so they had to cancel last minute! That was a real BUMMER!!
Day 1 Thursday
Our first day in St. George was visiting the downtown historical sites. Not everyone was there yet, so we were just waiting. Mark and Lisa got up early and did a workout! (that's why they look they way they do!)
Brigham Young's Winter home was really cool.
We walked to the first original tabernacle.
We also went to the Jacob Hamblin home.
Then we had to hurry to the 'Crepe Station' to meet up with Tami & Ryne and Kari and her two boys who had just driven from Provo.
We all hurried back to the house and got ready to go paddleboarding at Quail Lake. It was really windy, but we found a nice little cove. The kids had to air up all the paddle boards!
Someone had built a really cool little dock with a rope swing and boards on the trees to climb up to jump off higher.
Kaemon climbed super high into the tree to jump down!
Later that evening we all ate Thai food at Benja's. Suzy arrived with a friend who picked her up in Vegas. Then we all headed to Tuacahn Theater in Ivins, UT to watch Tarzan. It was thundering and lightening and raining, so we were worried that the show would get canceled, but it ended up being a perfect evening. We saw the most beautiful rainbow! Bret arrived half way into the show, his flight had been rerouted because of the weather.
This was Bret's view as he was flying back to St. George, but got rerouted because of the storm.
DAY 2 Friday
The day started out early for Mark, Lisa, Kari and Tami-they all went to work out. We all headed out to Zion National Park after packing our lunches and loading up our backpacks. Luann spent the day at the library downtown. We drove about an hour and then parked ($40 a vehicle) and caught a shuttle into the park. First we had to buy some warm clothes. It was rainy and cold! We hiked the Kayenta and Emerald Pool Trails.
The trail started out muddy and slippery. I thought it was pretty cute of Bret helping his brother!
These were the matching shirts they bought.
We like to tease Bret about moss because when he was a little boy he said, "when I get old, I'm still going to love moss!"
The full loop was over 3 miles and that was just about enough for me!
After hiking most of the day, we all went to 'Snowy Dessert Cafe' and had a wonderful treat!The fruity one was delicious, but so was the Oreo!!
Then we ate at a wonderful Indian restaurant that evening! Yes, we were hungry again!!
Then went to the Tuacahn Theater again to watch 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. It ended up being better than Tarzan! So cute!!
It was about midnight when we got home, so that was a long, but great day we all spent together!
DAY 3 Saturday
This was our e-bike riding day in Snow Canyon. We drove about 35-40 minutes and rented bikes from Tami's friend, Kim Hunt. All of us except Chad and Luann went. It was a blast! Of course the girls had to get their workout in before we went!!
This turtle just happened to be crossing our bike trail!
Some of us walked the 'petrified sand dunes'.
We still had another hour left on our rentals, but everyone was hungry! We pre-ordered burritos and ate them at home. Mark brought the game 'Azul' and they all really loved playing it.
Later we got all dressed up to go eat at the Painted Pony, a pretty fancy steak house. First we went to our next activity, which was the 'Escape Rooms'. I wasn't to sure about how fun they would be, but they were super fun. They divided us because there were 14 of us! We decided it would be siblings against spouses! Our room was 'the Witches Lair' and we loved it. We got out in about 42 minutes! The other group had a CIA type mission to solve and they got out fast too. Our kids are all so smart! Then because we still had an hour before our dinner appt. we decided to each go to the other Escape Room we hadn't been in and try to beat each others time. We had a harder time in that room.
The Painted Pony Restaurant- Yummy!
Oh, did we have room for dessert? You bet we did!
DAY 4 Sunday
Happy Fathers Day!! We all went to 9am church then came home and played games, Luann taught us 'quilling', we all cooked some of our favorite recipes, relaxed and had fun together.
This is the new Red Cliff Temple that will be open soon. Some of us left on Sunday. Some really early Monday morning. Holly's family was also having a reunion, so she took Kaemon and Milea who had been babysitting for Kari at the Airbnb they stayed in, so they all spent the day with us at our Airbnb. It was a GREAT family reunion! We got home about 8:30pm Monday night! That's LOTS of GOOD FAMILY TIME TOGETHER!
