wow, what a loooong weekend.

As most of you may know, The Creator and I went to St. George for the weekend to visit with his oldest sister and her family. The nephew named Alex got baptized on Saturday.

Friday we left work early in the hope of getting on the road early, but that was delayed due to forgetting some very important items that needed to be completed before we vanished for the weekend. But once that was over we were out of SLC by noon and on our way.

Seeing as how I have never been anywhere within the state of Utah (except Zions) John and I decided to make a little vacation out of our family trip. We stopped at Kolob Canyon on the way down and it was beautiful. Now, granted, it's just a big canyon and where it's located it's not all red rocks and beauty, but it was still beautiful. I loved going out and seeing the natural wonders of our beautiful state.

We got to Kristin's house around 5:30 pm and enjoyed the time with the family it is always so fun to see them the kids are all getting so grown up and good looking. John's niece has turned into such a beautiful young woman. I was really surprised when I saw her she has changed so much since we were down last July.

Saturday I got up early... 8 am on a Saturday is early for me and after 12 people showered we got on with our day. Half the family went on an excursion to Costco for groceries and the other half went on a hike to the Temple Quarry that's up on the plateau there in St. George. We walked probably about 1.5 miles round trip and we didn't even go to the end of the train, but it was really neat. The Quarry train is just opposite of the airport so we would stop and watch the airplanes take off and land for Lucy and Alex.

John and I did have to make a voyage out to In-N-Out Burger in Washington City on the corner of Green Springs Dr. and Telegraph St. (It's kind of by Costco). Our Garmin got us there just fine. The eldest of my brother's needed a new T-Shirt, and since we were down there we figured we'd oblige. John and I got shakes since Kristin had already fed us dinner (Vegetable & Chicken Curry) John got a Chocolate one and I got a Vanilla one. They were both very good. As we were driving down St. George Blvd some lady with Nevada license plates honked at us and asked "Are those In-N-Out Burger cups?? Where did you get those?!" she was so excited so we told her where it was and probably made her day.

The Baptism was at 5:00 and it was great. I love going to baptisms and seeing the cute little kids making a choice that will effect the rest of their eternity. There is always such a sweet spirit there and it's always so strong. I have felt so spiritually numb for the past few years that the past month that we have been back to church it's been really nice to be reminded of things I have missed and I know that I need in my life. It's rough, but we're working to be where we need to be. Alex is such a special little boy (as all my nephews and nieces are) and it was a pleasure to have been invited to be a part of his special day.

That night I even went to Les Miserables with Lari and Scott down at Tuacon. That was awesome. I had never seen the musical version of it. I've seen the movies and I think I saw a shortened version when the theater group put it on when I was a Junior in High School (12 years ago!) and I have seen the 25th Anniversary special on PBS a lot but they just stand up and sing the songs. It's much more powerful and depressing when you get the full effect. Les Miserables was great. I would recommend it to everyone.

Sunday morning came and again there was the 12 people to 2 bathrooms wait for the shower and the sit around time before church started at 1:00 and to top it all off it was fast Sunday in a house full of Hypoglycemic people, one pregnant lady, one toddler, and one with PMS. What a joy! It's a miracle no one went home early. Alex got confirmed during sacrament meeting and then we all went home for lunch and to get ready to trek back north to our own homes...

John and I were planning on stopping at Cedar Breaks on the way home because I have never been there either and since we had paid $25 to drive up Kolob Canyon just a few days before we figured we should use our receipt again and drive through Zions on the way out. Well, John's dad decided that they wanted to go that way to and that we shouldn't go to Cedar Breaks, we should go to Bryce Canyon... so we did. We followed John's parents and had a really great time. My Parents-In-Law are great I loved the time we got to spend with them on the way home. Bryce Canyon was beautiful. I loved it. We made it there barely at end of sunset so it wasn't as lit up and beautiful as it could have been. John has promised me another trip down in the day light.

We finally made it home at ... 1:30 am! There was no way I was getting up for work Monday morning so we took the day off. John had 2 Vault drinks on the way home and he finally came to bed around 5:30 am but didn't really sleep at all Monday.

So needless to say, be are both completely tired from this trip. I hope we make it through the rest of the week.

Next year there will be two more trips to St. George for a homecoming (I can't believe Nick's been gone so long) and for a farewell.