So Jessica Can Vacation Vicariously...

Dear Jessica,

We really missed you on our trip! We tried not to have too much fun without you though.

Thanks for finding us the perfect accommodations. All the grownups had rooms and beds and there was ample space for all the kiddos as well. The backyard had soft green grass to play in and trees to climb. With Maddy and Missy we had built in babysitters so we adults could just relax. The pool was a bit chilly--actually it was frigid, but it was still perfect for tossing rocks in Eli found. That's what Dave, Daniel, and I were doing around the pool, fishing those rocks out before we left.

Saturday we went to Snow Canyon. If only you had been there...Scott could have followed John through St. George instead of Dave and probably saved himself crossing three lanes of traffic while Dave decided whether or not to follow my directions.

We stopped at the Sand Dunes first. The burst of hot desert air we were expecting to hit us when we opened the car doors did not hit. It was a bit chilly and breezy. We warmed up with a game of capture the flag on the dunes with boundaries far too wide and up hill both ways. The boy team beat the girl team and we collapsed to bury Cheyenne in the sand.

Next, we emptied our shoes of sand and started out on the "Pioneer Names trail" to find some historic graffiti. Each of the kids attempted to be reborn through a hole in the sandstone. Eli is quite a daredevil when it comes to scaling red rock. He climbed the highest of all.

We attempted lunch when the wind decided that if the sun couldn't make us take our jackets off with his warmth, the he would try to blow them off of us. We had our picnic in the shelter of our vehicles, and then decided to head to a calmer clime.

Romney and Scott introduced us to Nielson's Frozen Custard. A delicious way to rinse the sand from our teeth. Full of creamy goodness we attempted one more shot at the great outdoors. We drove up the road to try and squeeze our custard-full bellies through "the crack."

I found it a little overwhelming to be stick between two giant slabs of sandstone to the back and front, a whiny three year old to one side, and an anxious six year old to the other. But actually it was fun to do. The boys thought it was the best part of the trip and all the kids went through over and over again. Jocelyn took a liking to Isaac, or IceWick as he was known to her. They were little buddies.

We all went back to the house then and cleaned up. Isaac lost his very first tooth that evening.

Dale and Daniel joined us from their trip to Goblin Valley. We ate and played games. There was Spot It--that was my favorite, Wacky Six--a game similar to Nerts (whatever that is), BuzzerWizzer--trivia, and Funny Bones--what we are playing in these pictures.

Sunday, after sour dough pancakes (recipe please) we cleaned up (and fished rocks out of the pool) and drove over for a walk around the beautiful St. George Temple. I love how the brilliant white contrasts with the red rocks, green trees, and blue skies. If you had been there you could have done some amazing things with your camera!


Afterward we went back to the crack hoping to find a little bit of heat to bask in to enjoy Romney's phenomenal chicken salad (recipe please also). The Gardner girls and family headed back north and the rest of us delayed a few more hours to play Zombies in the sun.

We hope you and the sick baby got some good rest, but we missed you then and we miss you now.

Love,
Heather