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Monday, July 12, 2010

Our trip

I have finally found some time to update my blog. So sorry for the months of nothing new. We have had a busy summer. Awesome and busy. In June we took a trip out west for about two weeks. It was a wonderful whirlwind. We "DROVE" from Columbus to Utah with the three kids in our van. It wasn't as bad as one might think. With Grandma's well thought out cooler of food and limiting stops to once every six hours, we were good to go. We drove from Columbus to Lincoln Nebraska the first day and then from Lincoln to Salt Lake the second. We stayed with Grandma Pat in Salt Lake and took in some sights.

Here are the boys at Temple Square. I don't think they are ready for this yet. We saw the Christus and an organ recital. I was in the cry room at the Tabernacle and we were outside most of the time. But they did say they liked seeing the temple. I was fascinated by how clean it is there. Very proud! We spent time with our family and loved seeing everybody. It was Cafe Rio with the Horne's and a great backyard barbecue with the Grants. Thank you everyone for making the effort to see us. We love you!


Next it was off to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Four Seasons which is the top few floors of Mandalay Bay. The hotel prides themselves on being kid friendly. The room was equipped with perfectly sized bathrobes and slippers for the boys. All of the furniture was covered with padding so the kids wouldn't hit their head and they had bath amenities for kids based on their age. It was great. They also dropped off a plate for each child with M&M's and Gummi Bears and had written their names in chocolate on the plate. Big points. We took Jack to see "The Lion King" and Max to see "Phantom of the Opera." Little did we know how much Max would love it and how often would be hearing the music. We are a little tired of it now and it's two months later and still going strong.


Next was the Gale Family Reunion in St. George. YEAH!! Our first day we hiked the narrows in Zions National Park. Here is Claire thrilled. She wouldn't wear any other hat and fortunately, cousin Brenna had an extra bandanna that we could tie on her head to keep it on.

Here is the group congregating in our great "Green Shirts" getting ready for the hike. It was so perfect to have them all so we could identify everyone along the trail.




Everyone in the water in the beautiful canyon.



One of the only dry places on the hike. Beautiful waterfalls!


Next day we took it down a notch and went to the St. George Temple Visitor's Center. Here is cousin Dallin and Max listening to the Missionaries there. They were quite the buds this week.


The great condos at Las Palmas. Highly recommend them for any family reunion. They were big, well furnished, and we loved them.


The next day was Sand Hallow Reservoir. With much concern around "Swimmers Itch" we decided to push forward anyway. We were the only people swimming, Hmmmm. But we did great. Here is Claire in her shaded floatie. She loved it.



Our Wave runners. Very fun. We ruined skiing for anyone else, but had a blast. As luck would have it, the wind picked up early and and so we headed out and jumped into the pool at the condo complex. The chlorine killed any bugs we had and we were all set. A few kids threw up the next day but we are not sure how and if they were related to the lake.


One of the fun things we did all week was the Grandma and Grandpa Store. They made up some funny money and cleaned out the St. George Dollar Store. All the adults were armed with bucks and looking for good deeds from the kids. When they did a good deed, they got a buck. Here is Max taking his turn shopping at the store. He was very motivated by this and it was a huge hit. Great Job Grandma and Grandpa.


The last day was a day at leisure with family pictures at the end. Here is a picture Grandpa took while we were having ours done. The red rocks were beautiful and it was a great time. Thank you uncle Jeff for the great photo shoot.

After this, we headed out to Colorado Springs where we stayed at the Broadmoor. I don't have any pictures on this computer, but I think it is the most beautiful resort in America. We rode the train to Pike's Peak and had the most delicious Mac and Cheese I have ever eaten. After that, off we were to St. Louis and then home. 18 days of family time and we were happy to be in our own beds and and back home to the weeds and chores to do. Thank you Eldon for all your hard work and contacts that allowed us to stay in such wonderful places.