Utah Part 2

After all the fun times with Nate's family, we packed our things, picked up my sister Tiffany and her husband, and headed down to Zion National Park. My parents and my sister Missy's family got a later start than they thought, so we ended up meeting up with them at a Burger King in Fillmore, I believe. It was definitely a surprise to see my dad coming to the restrooms as I was walking out of it! So we ended up following them the rest of the way to the cabin that my parents rented. It was in a place called Zion Ponderosa and it was awesome! There were enough beds for all of the adults to have one and some of the kids had one too. There was enough space to gather to chat as well as to play some games. There was even a Foosball table! Zion Ponderosa camp had a pool and hot tub area, miniature golf, rock climbing wall, and other little rides for a small fee (well, the pool and hot tub were free). And of course, the great outdoors where the kids ran around and made a hut.

So the first day was spent traveling and exploring our cabin. We also played a game that Shawn's family plays (Missy's husband) called the shoe game. It turned out that the in-laws were the only ones left in the game! I guess the Davis's aren't as good at keeping a rhythm. (or the judges were biased) ;)

JJ and Tiffany are still in this one, but they soon got out

The second day, we all headed to the park to do some small hikes for the kids. It was pretty funny, because you have to take a shuttle to get to these hikes, and when we got on, we basically filled up the whole thing! Here come the Davis's!

One side of the shuttle...

The other side

Close up of us since we were in the back

That day we hiked Weeping Rock and Emerald Pools. After we hiked Weeping Rock, we spent some time eating lunch and listening as my mom told us about Cable Mountain and my ancestors that were involved in that. They didn't have enough timber in the valley for their needs, so they made a cable coming from the top of the mountain to the bottom at an angle. It also had some sort of platform on it. They would cut the wood on top, then send it down the cable to the bottom. They also sometimes sent people on it, which seemed scary since it went really fast and had a bit of a bounce on it when you hit the bottom!

The Fam at Weeping Rock (except my dad who took the picture)

Where we had lunch and listened to my mom

Tired girl. It turned out she was a little sick

Nate & I at Weeping Rock

Emerald Pools

The wet rocks at Emerald Pools

Us at Emerald Pools

A fun place the kids found on the way down from Emerald Pools

I had to go up to take pictures for Missy, since she was 7 months pregnant, not that I minded

Darn Blogger. I was trying to put this up where we were all on the bus
The baby suite. Looked quite comfortable for Spencer

After settling back at our cabin, and after eating, Tiffany had a fun little treasure hunt for the kids. The treasure was a bag of candy and she had also stuck a binkie inside. Since Spencer was still such a new baby, I thought Tiffany had put that binkie in there so Spencer would get something since he couldn't eat candy. It turns out it was an announcement! My little sister is pregnant! And she's almost 6 years younger than me! It was a bit of a shock and I was a bit jealous, but I got over it and I'm very happy for her! She's having a girl! (Of course, we didn't know that at the time)

Our first view of the water. There were a ton of people there,
but it slowly got less and less the farther we went

The next day, the boys and I headed off to hike the Narrows while the women and kids went to a kids ranger thing. Tiffany and Angie were going to go, but with Tiffany's pregnancy and being so tired, and Angie's new baby, they opted out. And it turns out, that that was probably a good idea. The hike was much more difficult than I had anticipated, but it was beautiful and I'm glad I was able to do it. It is just hard on the ankles and knees because you are walking through knee deep or higher water most of the time and only rocks for ground. The current was also pretty strong in some places and I was very glad for the sticks to help me stay in place! We went up the Orderville side until "the end" where there is a small waterfall. On one part, I had to just swim because I couldn't touch the bottom. And let me tell you, it's pretty tough to swim with huge shoes on your feet and a camel pack on your back! My dad, Nate, and I just headed back slowly while the others also went up the other side and ended up catching up with us. My knees were absolutely killing me so I was very slow moving. Despite the pain that day and for a few days after, I am glad I did it. It certainly is a unique hike and something I have always been wanting to do. 

My dad took off his pants and wore his swimsuit!
I had to  take a picture so my mom would believe it!

JJ, David, Me, Nate
Notice the rocks. That's what it's like under the water as well

This was the part where I had to swim. We didn't get a picture of that though.

Nate was so great to stay with me the whole time

The end! I took this picture. Shawn is on top of the waterfall

To prove I made it too

Crazy David scaling the rocks on our lunch break

Then he jumped in.

When we came back, we had to drop off our rental shoes and sticks, and then some went to the hot tub or went swimming. But they also had to get ready for pictures! At least, I think we did pictures this day, it might have been the day before. Since it has been awhile since our whole family has been together, we had to get family pictures taken. And of course, Missy took them and did a great job!

It was lucky the sun came just when it did!

Grandparents and grandkids

It had been a year since our wedding, so we thought we might as well get "family" pictures

The evening after hiking the narrows, my mom had a presentation (with coloring books for the kids) about her parents, specifically her dad. It was fun to learn more about him since none of us ever met him. She also gave us each a book of songs that included many of the songs that my mom taught us on family vacations in the car which she had learned from her dad. It's great to have the words to them so we will be able to pass on the tradition in our family! 

The next and final day, we packed up, but before leaving completely, JJ and my dad set up some repelling and rock climbing. I am normally all for doing this, but after hiking the Narrows, I didn't think I would even be able to hike to the spot to get started! So I let Brinley borrow my shoes (yes, my niece has the same size of feet as me) because hers were all packed away, and I wore her flip flops and stayed behind to help watch  babies. Brinley did get all hooked up to go down, but she ended up getting scared. I was proud of her for trying though! The first time (and the first step) is the scariest! I think the only ones who did it were David, my dad, Angie, and JJ. Rob and/or Shawn may have as well, but it was quickly getting late and we all had long drives ahead of us. And Nate wanted to get to see his family one last time before we had to go back.

All in all, it was a great trip and we loved seeing our families! We can't wait to see them again at Christmas!