Lots and Lots of Swimming!

The best part of our vacation to St. George was not having over-scheduled days. We could do whatever we wanted. It was very relaxing. The thing the kids wanted to do the very most was SWIM! There was an indoor and outdoor pool at the place we were staying. By the end of the week I was totally water-logged! Here are a ton of swimming pictures we took:

Shane and Katie with the kids

Alex and Jon

Jon and Leah

Caleb jumping

Leah with her new swimming baby

Mom and Alex

Braydon

Caleb

Papa with the grandsons

Leah

Leah jumping

Braydon jumping

Alex jumping

Leah

Papa getting splashed

Nanny and Leah

Caleb

Nanny and Papa with all of their grandkids

Angela, Alex, Braydon and Shane

St George Utah Temple

Our good friends Jim and Carolee Morris recently moved to St. George and graciously watched our kids for us one day so we could attend the St. George Utah Temple.

It is a beautiful temple and I really enjoyed the spirit I felt there.

You can go here to read some interesting facts about this particular temple.

Dad and Mom

Katie and Shane

Angela and Jon

It was so nice to be in the temple with my entire family!

Tarzan at the Tuacahn Theatre

We were so excited to see "Tarzan" at the Tuacahn Theatre

It was really good!

The kids were amazed by all of the gorillas flying above them.

The kid who played Young Tarzan had an amazing voice and was so cute in the play.

This is the background for the play when it begins.

The river plays an important part of the opening act!

Leah's 6th Birthday

Leah celebrated her 6th birthday while we were on vacation in St. George. She had a fun-filled day! We started out by having a girls shopping trip at the Outlet Stores. Before we left, Katie gave her a crown, a rose sucker, and made her a rose ring!

Aunt Katie's present was to pay for Leah to have her first manicure!

When she saw Katie getting her acrylic nails Leah commented, "I want THOSE kind!"
Ha ha ha! It was funny! Maybe one day she'll be getting acrylic nails for her birthday--when she's OLDER!

Me and my mom enjoyed getting pedicures
while Leah and Katie were getting their nails worked on

Leah got to pick out her birthday outfit from Nanny. She tried on a bunch of skirts and picked one out based on how well it "twirled". She also got to pick out the present from mom and dad. She had been asking for a duck pillow pet. I couldn't find one at any stores, so Leah decided that a ladybug bean bag chair would be the next best thing.

The thing Leah wanted to do most for her birthday was to go swimming. So, we went to the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center and she was able to show everyone how she's able to go off the diving board and how she dives into the deep water. They also had a fun water slide and a great kids area for them to play at.

It cracks me up that Caleb's feet aren't even touching the diving board!

We went out for Leah's birthday dinner at The Brick Oven.



Then...we had cake and ice cream!
I feel quite guilty that Leah's cake wasn't made by mommy,
so maybe one day I'll have to make her another one.
Buying a cake from the grocery store was just easier being on vacation and all.

Happy Birthday Leah!!

Zion's National Park

We went to Zion's National Park for the day and had a great time. The first hike of the day was at the Temple of Sinawava. It's a nice paved trail until you reach the end, then it's hiking through the river! It was very cold water and the river rocks were so big and slippery! The river was past my knees in spots, which made it past the kids' waist! What an adventure...

Our next stop was Weeping Rock. It was a short hike, but a little steeper than the first one. Shane sat this one out due to a hurt ankle (from a swimming pool accident). It was such a beautiful place.

It was like rain coming down! Water was dripping all around us as it came dripping out of this huge rock surrounding us.

Our last hike was to the Emerald Pool Trail. Shane sat this one out too, and we had accidentally left our camera in the bag that was with him. So, we have no pictures of that trail. That one took us about an hour to complete. It's a series of 3 pools, but we only went to the first pool. If we didn't have the kids with us (who were extremely tired by this point) I would have loved to go see the upper pool.

Hiking at Zion's made for a really long day. On the shuttle bus ride back to our car Leah was almost asleep and everyone was really tired. We hoped they would all sleep on the drive back to St. George, but once everyone got into the van they were all WIDE awake and fully of energy!?! They did sleep well that night though. We had a great day at Zion's National Park!