{too-yah part 2: st. george}

We were so excited to be in St. George, and staying with Rick's brother Jeff and his family.  We love them!  My kids adore their cousins, and it was nice for Ryan to have kids around his own age.  We were there a week, and crammed in as much as we could.  It was really fun for us to show our kids we grew up, where we went to school, where we met, and all of our favorite places.  St. George was MUCH smaller when I was young, but the downtown part of the city was much the same, and I was so happy to see that most the best places were still there. 

We went hiked Zion National Park, Pine Valley Mountain, climbed the "Dixie", explored the town, ate at our favorite restaurants, spent a lot of time with family and friends, and enjoyed heat minus humidity.  :) We spent time with my very best friend growing up, and her adorable family.  She has 7 kids, so when you added my 6 into the mix, it was pretty fun--my kids LOVED it.  My other best friend came down from up north with his cute family, and to have all three of us together again was just like old times.  SO fun.  I also got to see one of my closest friends from high school, who also has a set of twins!  We talked for four hours, and it seemed like far less than that.  All in all, it was a great reunion with family, friends, and our hometown!!

{Red Hill...Climbing the "Dixie}

{Pine Valley}

 Henry's "walking stick"!

Rick, with is sister and brother, and their babies.  Four out of the five siblings had babies within a few months of each other, and this is a great picture of three of them.

{Zion National Park...The Narrows}

I LOVE the Narrows!  The whole hike is about 9 miles, through water up to your waist, and is absolutely incredible. I'm itching to do it again!  We did the first part with the kids, and on our way, planned to come back as adults to do the whole thing.  It's so breathtaking...I love it there.  Lots of great memories!!! My phone pictures don't do it justice at all, but you can see the idea.  :)

{brothers}

We spent some fun nights in Jeff & Heather's backyard with friends and family, and of course...boys will be boys! Rick and Rob were cracking us up with their wrestling moves...so funny! 

The week went by way too fast, and too soon it was time to move on to the next stop.  We loved every minute of it, and it was so good to be "home".

{too-yah part 1: the drive}

Jack-ism: Too-yah--The state just above Arizona and next to Colorado. ☺

We had been looking forward to our trip to Utah for months, but I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the drive there.  We've taken plenty of long road trips before, and I our kids are good travelers, but this would be a first with six kids, and also the first time we would drive from Texas.  From everything I had heard from friends that made the trip, the first day was  the hardest...since it to the whole day just to get across Texas!!!  

The big day finally arrived...we left super early in the morning, a little before 4am.  We wanted to get our hours of driving in, so we could stop early at the hotel and rest before starting really early again.  Can I just say that Texas is BIG???  It was 10+ hours before we saw New Mexico!!  On the plus side, there wasn't a lot of traffic, and we were able to make good time.  I sat in the middle back next to the baby, so I could feed her along the way, so we wouldn't have to stop quite as often.  Ryan was pretty excited about being able to sit in the front with his dad, and have control over all of the electronics.   

I have to say, it went really well.  Better than I would have thought, which was a nice surprise. The kids watched a ton of movies, ate a ton of treats, and played games on the 5 billion electronic devices we have.  Really.  It was pretty barren through Texas, but beautiful in its own way.  We totally laughed though, when we were driving through an area with NO houses...literally, we couldn't even see one house--but we saw an ENORMOUS football stadium.  Totally Texas.  The high school stadiums here are better than most mid-level college stadiums, and apparently that's true even in the middle of nowhere!  

We stopped the first night in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, not too far over the border.  We got in about 6pm, and had time to eat, relax, and get the kids down. The next morning came way too fast, but we just scooped the kids up and put them in the car.  We were headed to St. George first, so we decided to go through the Navajo Indian Reservation to save some time. It was beautiful...and deserted.  For 300 miles we mostly just saw scenery--not many people, and no cell service. Kate wasn't feeling very well, and it got to the point where we needed a bathroom right away.  I was worried, because there were no towns to be seen, and it's not fun to be a girl and have to stop on the side of the road, especially when you're sick.  But...lo and behold, we came around a corner and saw an LDS church, sitting all by itself on the side of the road. We were so excited! There was a big gate around it, but since it was Sunday, it was open.  We drove in, and everyone was able to go in and use the bathroom and get a drink. There wasn't anyone inside the building, but when we came out, the missionaries were there. They were living in a trailer on the back of the property, so they had seen us come in.  It was fun to talk to them and take a little break from driving. 

After New Mexico came Arizona, and the gorgeous red rocks continued.  It was feeling like home!  We stopped at a huge bridge right at the top of the Grand Canyon to get out and stretch, and enjoy the scenery.  We probably stayed a little too long, but it was much needed rest. After huge thunderstorms, and torrential rain for most of the rest of the day, we finally pulled into St. George that evening.  SUCCESS!!!  We were staying with one of Rick's brothers and his family, but another of his brothers was also there with his family to greet us.  It was so good to be home.  WE MADE IT!!!!

 I packed SO much food!!

We LOVE the rack on the back of the truck. It holds a ton, and we like it so much better than a car top carrier.  We had not one inch of extra space!

 

The bumbo had a prime spot on the back of the truck...

Sleeping in the bed the opposite way is perfect for my kiddos!

 Poor thing. She was so tired she slept anywhere, even in a hotel crib that didn't look super comfortable.

 

My view in the truck...

 

We brought 45 Pillow Pets...or at least it felt like that.

Stopping for a lunch break on the Indian Reservation.

We saw the most beautiful scenery throughout the entire drive.  Even a little in Texas. :)

 

It was pretty cool to be on Route 66 for a lot of the trip---my boys thought we would eventually get to Radiator Springs.  :)

 

The church on the Indian reservation...and it's where my sister served her mission!

Right outside the Grand Canyon...

We made it.  Home to where it all started!!!