Doug and I had a really fun Labor Day weekend! We went on a fun family vacation with his family down to St. George! I have only been to St. George one other time, so I was pretty excited. St. George is sooo beautiful!! For the most part, the houses and buildings there are the same color as the landscaping so it won't take away from the beautiful scenery.
Saturday morning we started our 4 hour trek down to southern Utah. We stopped in Cedar City to get some lunch, and then we got to the hotel just in time to watch the first BYU football game of the season. Doug and Wayne stayed and watched the first half, while Stacie, Phil, Danaca, Kari, and I went to the pool to play. I looove just sitting and standing in pools. It so comfortable and relaxing! There was also a hot tub there that I couldn't go in, boo. But after the pool, we went and watched the rest of the game. BYU ended up winning, which was great because then Doug was in a fantastic mood :) After the game we went to Brick Oven for dinner and then went to Tuacahn amphitheatre and saw the performance Grease. I loooove the movie Grease so I was verrrry excited, Doug not so much, but he isn't too into musicals, but he went with no complaints! Overall it was a pretty descent performance, I enjoyed it because of it being Grease, but it could have been better for the price of the tickets. Doug explained it by saying that it was just like they got a bunch of BYU students to do it. What was super weird was that I knew the guy that played Kenickie. I went to Middle School with him.
We woke up on Sunday morning ate some breakfast at the hotel and then headed over to the church that was right down the street and stayed for Sacrament Meeting. I have never been to a ward that was sooo full! They had 3 baby blessings that day, plus it was Labor Day weekend. Lets just say if there was a fire, there weren't any clear paths to any exit. There were even people who sat up on the stand in the choir seats. We only stayed for the first hour and then we went back to the hotel and just hung out for a while. We went to Chuck-a-Rama (an all you can eat buffet) for lunch/dinner and I ate sooo much! I even had enough room for ice cream with some sprinkles on it. The rest of the day we relaxed in the hotel room, went to the pool, and then later that night, all of the kids went and hit up Wendy's for a late night dinner.
Monday morning we woke up, got dressed, and packed up all of our stuff. We went and ate some breakfast and then headed out to Zions National Park for some site seeing/hiking. The day before we talked about how we weren't going to be able to do Angels Landing because we thought it was 10 miles round trip, and decided that was a little much for us, so we just decided to just do a few smaller hikes. When we actually got there though we found out that it was only 5 miles round trip! I was super excited because I hate being told that I can't do something. (Which I get a lot now-a-days being pregnant. It's always "you can't lift that," "you shouldn't do that," or "that will be too much for you." It drives me crazy. I know when I'm at my limit and I will decide if I can do something or not.) Anyway, so we first hiked Weeping Rock - .5 miles round trip. I was shocked when it was over. It was so short!
Then we headed over to the fun hike - Angels Landing. I have a wonderful husband who knows that I can't stand when people tell me I can't do something so he was very encouraging the whole entire way. I told him at the beginning of the hike that I would tell him when I needed breaks, or water, or if I needed to turn around. He never once asked me to stop, so I was more willing to tell him when I needed to take a short rest for some water. Hiking to the lookout point (where the bathrooms are) was hard, but I was still doing good and so was everyone else. Doug and I made it to that point first, and everyone else came up about 5 minutes after us. We sat and rested for a little bit, then headed up the rest of the way. The last bit of the hike is up steep rocks and there is a chain for you to hold onto for stability. This part for me was the most fun. Trying to figure out how to position my feet so my belly didn't get in the way was funny to watch. Doug helped me up a few spots by just holding my hand and pulling me up, but I still claim I did the entire thing by myself. Once we got to the very top I was sooo excited! It was so beautiful and I was so glad that Doug was encouraging the whole way. He kept saying things like "you are doing great," "I can't believe you're doing this almost 8 months pregnant," and my favorite "you're killing it." Going down was harder for me then going up, but mainly because my stomach was hurting a little bit. Then Doug taught me the correct way to go down a mountain and I did good the rest of the way.
At the bottom of Weeping Rock
The whole family at the top of Weeping Rock
Wayne and Doug
Kari and Stacie
Phil and Danaca
The Saddle (the lookout with the bathrooms before the rocky hard part of Angels Landing)
Stacie's Profile
Me and Doug at the top of Angels Landing
Man I was tired
Kari and Phil
Doug and Wayne fighting
We had a great trip! It was a much needed vacation for all of us.
