Big Trip

I've been putting this blog post off for a bit because it was overwhelming - so many pictures to organize. I finally conquered them, so here you go!

We went to Utah for the annual family reunion, but left a few days early so that we could be with Father on Father's Day. The kids and I gave Stan, and we all gave Father, each an owl tie.

The next day, we went to one of my favorite places - Snow Canyon. Rachel was messing around with my camera in the car and took this inexplicable picture.

One of the things I love about Snow Canyon is all the different colors of rock - black lava flows, read and white sandstone. Its so pretty.

The kids climbed some petrified sand dunes.

We saw lots of little tiny tracks and...

...a couple dragonflies.

We found the canyon trail that we went on last fall and took it again.

It seemed about 20 degrees cooler in the shade.

Our nephew Tristan did some climbing...

...and found some interesting rocks.

We spent the next day doing laundry and getting ready for camping. The last few years, the family reunion has been on Pine Valley mountain. It is a great place to camp. This year especially, it had everything a good camping spot should have, starting with lots of dirt. This is Naomi about five minutes after we got out of the car.

Of course, the best way to improve dirt is to find a cousin to make mud with. Toddler heaven.

There were lots of cousins and lots of pine trees...

...fun places to sit...

...good food...

...and piles and piles of dessert.

Stan's coworker told him that roasted Starbursts were delicious. I was underwhelmed. Give me a good old s'more.

We saw a few deer...

...and Uncle Will caught a fish.


Oh, joy.

I fed my inner pyromaniac by building and maintaining lots of fires.

There was rest (sort of)...

...and relaxation. (What a lot of pretty girls!)

We left straight from the camp out on Friday to go north to stay with Derek and Holly for Genola Days. Kate came with us and her blow dryer was a little too noisy for her cousin.

Genola Days was a ton of fun. There was a parade with a giant chicken float.

There was a carnival and...

...our niece Natalie was one of the performers that took to the stage set up in the park.

The rodeo was the highlight. In between the events, they had activities for the kids.

The 2-5 year olds raced for candy.

People donated kittens, bunnies and chickens for the 6-9 year olds to chase and adopt as pets.

Finally, the 10-14 year olds got to chase the Cash Calf, a young bull with bills ranging from $1 to $20 duct taped all over him. It was pretty entertaining to watch :)

Heather and...

...Kate each got a dollar.


Here are some more rodeo pictures. I liked the bare back riding and the fireworks best.



Sunday, after church in Genola, we headed to Orem to see some friends and then took a short drive up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls.

Lots of people were wading at the base of the falls, but we were the only ones looking out of place in our Sunday clothes. It took multiple washings to get the mud out of Gwen's white skirt, but it was worth it.

Sunday night we were back in St. George, where I caught a toad in the front yard. I showed it to a cluster of kids and made my sister-in -law scream by surprising her with it, but I didn't kiss it because...

...I already have Prince Charming.

Farm!

For the last half of our Spring Break week, Summer and Rachel went to Youth Conference. They had a wonderful time staying up late, trimming bushes, socializing, weeding, speed dating, scraping calcium deposits off gravestones, ice skating, and dancing.

Summer was a "big sister" this year and, along with the "big brother" in their family, gave devotionals every morning and family home evening lessons every night.

One of the boys (...removed by teenage censors).

There is a farm on the Orange County Fairgrounds that had free admission this past weekend, so I thought it would be a perfect time, while my two girls who think they are too big for that kind of stuff were busy somewhere else, to take the five younger kids. We had a wonderful time!

The petting zoo was where we started and we had to visit again on the way out. It was all the kids' favorite part of the day.

This baby goat was still bottle fed.


That is a pig Kelly is petting.

They didn't have anything for the kids to feed the animals, but that didn't stop Gwen from trying. She started with her finger...

...and then the goat found her hair!




This was my view most of the day: five adorable kids looking over (or through) a fence.

Sometimes, I walked around to the other side of the pen to get a front view of an adorable kid looking over a fence.


These piglets went from taking a nap to eating in two seconds flat once they heard milk being poured in their dish
.
We watched the calves being bottle fed.

These two were trying to get the milk off each others' noses after they finished their lunch!

There was a big plastic cow to practice milking on.

Michael was really excited about throwing a hatchet.

He also found a mentor at the clay table.

Kelly made a covered wagon with horse and rider.

Michael made a cup, with help from his new friend.

Naomi made a table, all by herself.

Have you ever seen a banana flower before?

These sweet peas are for my mom :)

This looked like one pampered chicken to me!

Isn't this checkerboard bunny nifty?

If you want to see more farm animals, here they are - happy viewing!