It was wonderful to reconnect as a family...and spend time with our family members up there.
Pat has 4 siblings up there (some of them with some health concerns), and my mom is up there as well.
We have lots of friends in the Utah area as well (and we LOVE you!), but knew that we needed to focus on our family this trip.
We left here about 5am on Tuesday morning, with 2 trips scheduled for the day.
Pat's mom, (who recently broke her arm quite severely), and our dear friend, Susan.
We enjoyed a nice visit with both of them, and then made our way to our first stop.
Pat's mom, (who recently broke her arm quite severely), and our dear friend, Susan.
We enjoyed a nice visit with both of them, and then made our way to our first stop.
We spent our first night in a KOA campground just outside of Williams, AZ.
This particular campground made us wish we had an extra afternoon and evening just to relax...there were all sorts of activities available to the campers.
We'll definitely do KOA again (and I would highly suggest this one if anyone is in the area).
We did the KOA cabins so that we didn't have to haul our tent along.
This picture is of the kids playing ball the morning before our long drive to Utah.
This picture is of the kids playing ball the morning before our long drive to Utah.
We really encouraged them to run and play as much as possible, knowing they would be cooped up in the car for HOURS.
Our next stop: Waiting in line to pay our entrance fee into Grand Canyon National Park. 
The first glimpse, right off the side of the road where we parked.
The kids, getting a better look. 
Sam was enthralled by the Grand Canyon. (Thanks to the Little Einsteins episode with the little red train falling into the Grand Canyon, he knew all about it.) 
Yup, it's straight down.
That is enough to freak any mother out.
Grand Canyon "cheese". (Our photographer really had us say that! It became our joke of the trip anytime anyone had to snap a photo.)The next morning, we were up bright and early (after a midnight arrival), to catch the Pioneer Days parade.
We opted to go to Spanish Fork for a little "smaller" celebration.
My kids have never had any celebration for Pioneer Days except a Stake potluck at the church field and ramadas...so it was nice to have them experience a little more intense celebration.
Here we are getting settled for the parade.
We watched an amazing fireworks show the night of the 24th down in Spanish Fork.
We sat just off of the field where they were fired from and it felt like we had the entire field to ourselves.
The kids ran to their heart's content and then crashed to watch the beautiful show.
My sister surprised us and came up for the weekend. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with her. She is a joy to be around, and it's been way too long since the kids really got to spend time with her.
Friday, we had a nice BBQ with Uncle Lorin, Aunt Julie and Chantal (and Wrinkles the dog). Uncle Lorin had just gotten out of the hospital the day before, so we were grateful that he was able to spend time with us. Chantal had watched the kids earlier in the day so that we could attend the Mt. Timponogas temple together...so Pat, Mom Lunt, Rebecca and I all got to go together, so the kids loved seeing her again. We lit sparklers that night, and the kids had a wonderful time just running and playing.
6 comments:
Looks like it was a fun family trip! Your family is so cute. You must have so much fun being home with them! I didn't know that your mom lived in Utah either. Did she ever remarry? How about your sister. She is beautiful. I didn't recognize her all grown up. Sad how fast we are getting older and how fast our kids are growing. Thanks for sharing!
What a fun trip! One of the sad things in Georgia is that even the little stake picnic in New Mexico would be a huge celebration.
Great pictures! I imagine it's quite a feat to prepare your whole family for a long road trip! But I think that family vacations are great memory makers and well worth all the effort! I'm jealous you got to go the Mt Timpanogas Temple! My family and I hiked the mountain when I was a kid. It's so beautiful!
What a fun trip! We were in UT at the same time.
your kids all look so cute! :)
Looks a really great trip. Our boys LOVED the Grand canyon. They were memorized.
We hope all the family is on the road to health(meaning extended family). We can't wait to see more pics.
Your kiddos are so dang cute.
Jamie freaked at the Grand Canyon as well. Of course she gets nervous with any height over 10 feet so you can imagine what the canyon overlooks were doing for her...
I do miss the big Pioneer Days celebration in Utah. It would be fun to run the Immigration Canyon marathon they do that day each year.
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