St. George Part 2!

After swimming for hours, we got cleaned up, grabbed dinner, and went to the Tuacahn Ampitheatre to see "The Little Mermaid"! I still can't get over how gorgeous that area is, and the show was so amazing, way more so than "Grease" we saw a couple weeks ago, and that one we had thought was amazing too! The kids loved the show, but having it start pretty late, being super hot, and having worn the kids out earlier in the day, Ashton didn't make it too far past the intermission! Brayden was tired, but forced herself to last through the show because she loved it so much!

Cooling off during intermission under the mister!

Our last day, we ate brunch at this cute little place called Bear Claw, then went to see some more sites. The first place we went to was Brigham Young's winter home. Mike and I had already taken the tour of it the last time we were there, but we knew Brayden would love it! Plus, I just love all of the older missionary couples and other people who run the tours - they make everyone feel like you are their own grandchildren! So sweet! I hope to be like them one day!

Old jailhouse!

Then we took a tour of Jacob Hamblin's home - very cool!

I made Mike drive us out to the Silver Reef ghost town on our way heading home. There wasn't much there, but it still felt a little eerie! We checked out this old graveyard filled with a bunch of unknowns from the 1800's. I read that this was a pretty rough town with cowboys and people killing each other left and right like in western movies, so I guess this is where some ended up! Brayden was a little freaked...

Ashton pretended to shoot whoever was in this grave...with his thumb? I guess we need to teach him how to do a finger gun! Ashton has been obsessed with zombies lately because of a game he's been playing, so this graveyard was the only thing we saw that day that he was interested in!

Then we started on our way home! This was a random thing we saw at a gas station we stopped at for a potty break...

There was a petting zoo basically in the gas station parking lot in the middle of nowhere with this zebra and some other random animals! Kind of funny! Anyway, we had a great little trip, and can't wait for the next one!

St. George...this time, with the kids! (Part 1)

Mike and I had so much fun on our anniversary trip in St. George that we couldn't wait to go back and bring the kids, so that's what we did this week! We were there for 3 days, and I have to say, one thing I'm good at is planning trips and things to do, and we were able to pack a LOT into this little trip! We had so much fun! Sorry ahead of time for the outrageous amount of pictures!!

As soon as we got to the hotel we went swimming! The kids had so much fun playing marco polo with Mike and he worked on teaching them how to dive...of course our fearless Ashton got it down pretty fast, doing flips into the pool! It was so funny watching them play marco polo...Ashton hated keeping his eyes shut when he was "it", and kept peeking. When we caught him cheating he said, "But I can't see with my eyes shut!" He also kept saying "marker" instead of marco, and everytime he said that, Mike and Brayden would respond with "crayon", then he'd realize and correct himself!

Then we headed out to the St. George temple and visitor's center!

Ashton wouldn't be serious for any pics, as usual! This was the most "normal" out of what we took!

The next morning we went to the historical district and they have this water feature that kids can play in. The kids loved it!

I was sitting a distance away with Mike, and looked over and saw Ashton doing this...meditating! Ha ha! I love how his fingers are crossed! Later I went over and showed him the right way to do it! :)

Ashton with his new buddy!

After that we let the kids ride the carousel that is there!

Then we walked around to check out the sites for a bit. Here's Brayden in the tabernacle!

Across the street is this little candy shop that has been there for over 100 years! It looks pretty authentic inside still. We let the kids pick out some candy, and Mike and I found some that we hadn't seen in years that we had to make the kids try! It was so fun!

The last time Mike and I were in St. George we were given free passes to the Sand Hollow Aquatics Center on the live tour we did, so we had to use them! We then grabbed some lunch and headed over! This place was so fun! We were pretty much the only people there, so it was awesome!!

This slide was so much fun! We were addicted!

The rest of our trip pics to come!

My Bro Came to Visit!!!

My little bro and his wife Aubrey came to visit from Reno last week! It was so good to see them!!! The first day they were here we went swimming with them and Aubrey's younger siblings, and then later met back at my parents' house for pizza and to roast marshmallows with my family and Aubrey's family! We all had so much fun! Aubrey's siblings are close to my kids' ages, and they all get along great and have a blast together!

Some of Aubrey's fam...Dan (Aubrey's dad), sis Sadie, Jan (her mom), sis Sarah, Aubrey, Cameron

Brayden's eye was really swollen because she wanted to try a tiny dab of the Nutella I had out for a snack before we went over there (seriously, a dab the size of her pinky!)...I had no idea she was so allergic to hazelnuts! Poor girl had a watery, swollen eye all night (even after Benedryl), I felt so bad! But luckily it didn't stop her from having fun! Anyway, this is Emily and Sam with Brayden!

Two peas in a pod, Ashton and Sam!

Roasting some giant marshmallows!

Ashton with cute Sadie!

My bro Cameron!

It's rare to get him to pose NORMAL for a picture...

The kids had so much fun playing in these tents and the bounce house we brought over! I'm so glad they get along so well! They all hated it when we had to go home!

Then between Cameron and Aubrey's visit, Mike and I had our anniversary trip (posted below) and the day we got back we went and saw Jason Hewlitt (comedian/singer) at the Draper Ampitheatre with my parents and Cameron and Aubrey. Some of us had seen him perform back in June for the Extreme Home Makeover benefit concert as the MC, but we were excited to get to see his whole show this time! He is so funny and talented! We loved it! Unfortunately, this was his last public concert in SLC, he is now doing just private shows, so we were so glad to catch him one last time!

This was our first time going to this place - I thought it was great - you can bring in whatever food you want, blankets, chairs, whatever, not strict at all so perfect for kids!

Ashton was a little moody and acting tired when we were there, and ended up crashing only a half hour through the show! I was sad he missed it, but it did make it more relaxing for Mike and I! :)

Jason Hewlitt doing Michael Jackson!

I'm sad I missed getting pics of Cam and Aubrey there - they showed up a little later - but we had so much fun hanging out with them last week! I hope someday they can move back here because they are so fun to be around! Until then, we'll have to enjoy every second of their visits that we can!!

Celebrating 10 YEARS!!!

August 18, 2001

I can't believe 10 years have already gone by! I remember friends of mine having their 10th anniversaries and thinking that is SO long! Time has just gone by so fast - it feels like we were newlyweds not that long ago!

To celebrate our anniversary this year, Mike and I took a short getaway trip to St. George. We enjoyed relaxing in the pool when we first got there, had a great dinner, and did a little outlet store shopping before heading to the gorgeous Tuacahn Amphitheatre to see their production of "Grease", which was amazing! Pictures just don't even come close to doing this place justice, it was so beautiful! I couldn't get over it! Unfortunately, we got there just before the sun went down, so we didn't get to enjoy the view long enough! I guess we'll just have to go there again! :)

The next day, we decided to take a tour of some of the historical sites there. We did the St. George Live tour, where we were taken to several sites and spoken to by people dressed as important people in St. George history. We really enjoyed it and learned so much, not only about St. George, but some interesting Church history as well. We are excited to go back to see more that we didn't get a chance to see this time around. This is the only pic we got in that area...the people were so into character and serious, I didn't want to affect the mood with pictures during the tour!

It was a really short trip, but we had so much fun celebrating together on our little getaway! I can't wait to celebrate MANY more anniversaries to come! I love you, Mike! Happy Anniversary!!!