Zion's & Grand Canyon

Mike and I went on our last trip of the summer (and hopefully until Christmas!) on the 13th thru the 17th of July. It was a family reunion with Mike's family. We went to Orderville Utah and stayed in a cabin. We had a good time. Tyler and I went up on Wednesday with Mike's sister and mom, and we met his younger sister and Sister in law there. We got to drive through Zion's National Park on the way there and I really liked that. I had not been through there for a long time!! We got to drive through the BIG tunnel and then out to Orderville. Wednesday we just got things put away and settled in. On Thursday we just relaxed and talked. Mike and his dad Ken came up Thursday night after work and got there just in time for dinner. Friday we got up and got ready and went into Zion's. We had great plans of getting there early so we could hike around a little before it got too hot-but we did not make it! We did do a short hike to Weeping Rock which was really cool and the kids loved it. After that we just rode the shuttle to the top of the road then back down to the bottom. It was fun and Beautiful, but I wish it would have been cooler so we could have hiked more of the trails. O-well hopefully next time!! Here are a few pictures from Zion's...

Kristy, Tyler and Mike at Weeping Rock
Looking up at Weeping rock
Alter at the Temple of Sinawava
The other side of the park is so different-I was surprised

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Friday night the rest of the family showed up and Saturday we woke up and drove to the Grand Canyon. It was AMAZING!! I can no longer say that I am 30 years old, have lived in Utah or Nevada my whole life and have never seen the Grand Canyon. (I am glad that I can't say that anymore!) If you have never been I was absolutely suggest that you go!! We were only there for a couple hours which is a shame but it was still worth it! Next time we will spend a lot more time there though. We went to the North rim where the lodge is. There was a hike there that we did. It was short, but my one sister in law was right about it not being for the little kids. I helped Emily and Danny with their 2 year old because it was a narrow trail with Grand Canyon drop offs on each side, usually not at the same time though. Ken was unable to make it to the end of the hike because he is not very sure of his balance and was quite nervous! I don't blame him, but the view at the end was remarkable!

The Grand Canyon

I loved seeing how GRAND this Canyon is

Sunday we had to go home. We had a great time and were sad to leave but happy to get back home. We took our time going through Zion's again. We did a hike by the end of the tunnel out to a great view point although next time we will be better prepared! Mike's sister and nephew were in flip flops and we didn't bring any water. We thought it was an easy quick hike. Tyler and Ken stopped half way through because Ken was unsure of his footing again and it was nice to not have to carry Tyler so we left him with Ken. The view was amazing when we finally got there. After that we rode the shuttle again for one last look at the park before we headed home. Mike and I stopped in St George to visit Shirley and Oceia. It was Oceia's birthday so we went for her party. We had a great trip but are SOOO glad to be done traveling for the summer. We are looking forward to spending some time at home.

Preschool program

On August 7th, 2008 Tyler finished preschool. We were very lucky to have such great teachers for Tyler the past two years and I was very sad to tell them thank you and good bye. Can you believe that Tyler is going into Kindergarten!?!

This is Tyler and his teacher Ms Rhonnie. She loved Tyler and spoiled him. Tyler was asleep almost the whole program that they did, but Ms Rhonnie helped him hold the pictures for the other kids to see while they sang their songs.
She also helped him play the sticks for their favorite song.
This is Ms Rhonnie, Tyler and Mrs Turner.

I am so thankful for them and the time that they put into helping Tyler.
Tyler receiving his certificate from Mrs Turner. It's official! He is done with preschool.

Camping

On July 25th we went camping with my family. We go each year for mine and my brother Bill's birthdays. We had a great time. We went up Manti canyon near Duck Fork Reservoir. This is looking off of Wood Tick Point near where we camped- What a view we had!!

This is Bill and Mike doing dishes.
Mike and Tyler on Skyline drive. We had to take this trip alone because everyone else had to get home to work so we couldn't get a picture of the three of us, but we got one of Mike and Tyler and a separate one of me and Tyler.
This is a picture of Duck Fork where we were camped from Sky Line Drive. A major rain storm hit while we were on this trip. I guess we were glad not to be there because we didn't get rained on at all where we were, but I wish we would have covered our fire wood and put our chairs away so we had someplace dry to sit when we returned. We will remember that for next time!!
This is Mike playing in the mud. There were several mud hole near camp because it rained everyday we were there. But it felt SOOO good. Mike is driving with Tyler and my brother Kevin in the cab with him, my sister Shirley and her kids, Oceia and Tory are in the back holding on for dear life. I was excited to get away from Las Vegas where it was a cool 115-120 while we were gone. We DID NOT miss that!!

We can't wait to go back next year!!