Zions part 1

The Entrance into the Narrows at Zions. We didn't go in.


Well Hello!!
This Post is Laate!
Sorry. We have had some crazy goings on lately. We got back
from Zions and had a crazy bout of the stomach flu that lasted for 3 weeks! Ellie's big
school project was due, Things finally fell into place for us to start a big family project(Yeah!), and Emmy(with Barry and I) got to spend 4 days in ICU and have surgery.
Whew!
That made me tired just thinking about it.
Here is Zions in pictures.

For Spring Break this year we went to Zion's National Park. It was BEAUTIFUL! The pictures are NOTHING, they don't capture a millionth part of it's beauty.
I actually felt very silly taking them. It just isn't the same in a little photo.
Anyway,
IF you've never been there, it is worth the trip. :)

We stayed in Hurricane, in a pretty run down nasty hotel. It was cheap, I'll give it that. Clean, I won't give it. Thumbs down.
The hotel was about 20 mins from St George, while we were in Southern Utah, we visited Brigham Youngs house, saw the St George Temple, and went to Chili's TWICE.
Chili's was certainly the highlight of the kid's St George experience. :) 
The first day we went to the park early in the morning. It was freezing! Bone chilling cold. I was soooooo cold. We hiked for about two hours before I got warm.
The kids seemed fine, Barry was fine, I wanted to stay on shuttle until it warmed up. After that, I tried to dawdle each morning so we didn't get to the park before the sun came out. (Hence the curled hair and makeup ;)

There is a shuttle that you ride from the visitor center to different key spots through out the park, a lot of the park is closed off to outside vehicles, so you HAVE to take the shuttle, ...or a bike,
or I guess you could walk, to get anywhere.
We dined on cheese sticks, granola bars, yogurts, almonds, and little oranges. Ellie was a sport and carried our food backpack the whole time. I carried my camera and diapers and extra clothes, Barry carried Em. She loved it!
She was on top of the world. :)

 "Stay on the path children."

 Lauren was wearing James' coat, I kept thinking she was James. She thought that was pretty funny.

 Super Daddy, carring TWO children.

 James and a squirrel who didn't appear to be afraid of humans.

 This is Weeping Rock. It is always rainy there. :)

 The view.

 Under Weeping Rock.

 The kids, for the most part, did awesome on the hikes, I was really impressed. On one hike, even though we were being super careful, Ellie slipped under a guard rail and we almost lost her down a ravine, That was super scary!
I was ahead of her and didn't even notice, until I saw the people coming the other direction, gasping and pointing. I turned around and Ellie was on her side hanging on the WRONG side of the lower rail by one arm.
It was kind of crazy she didn't even call out. She was laying on a small angled ledge before a HUGE drop-off. Barry immediately grabbed her and helped her up. We are so glad she grabbed that rail and we still have our ELEANOR. :)

 On the way to the Emerald Pool, the pool itself (more like a large puddle with some moss in it)  was a huge disappointment, but the hike was gorgeous.

 My favorite picture.

 We drove into the park on the second day and went through a really long tunnel and found a cool spot to just relax and hike around a bit. The rocks were bright orange and looked like butterfingers.

James turns 6!

 I made him cinnamon rolls pancakes for breakfast, with cream cheese glaze. He loved them!
(that is the back in the picture) Recipe here: http://life-in-the-lofthouse.com/cinnamon-roll-pancakes/

6 Things I love about James:
1. He is so darn handsome
2. He is crazy creative. He is always working on some new creation and is full of ideas. He has an amazing memory.
3. He loves his Mom, and loves to cuddle with me.
4. He is kind and soft-hearted
5. He is an awesome athlete and runs like an Indian.
6. He choose to come down and join our family .... even though he is surrounded by sisters. So happy to have him here and we couldn't love him more!!!

 He got some great presents. He was excited about. Ellie gave him 6 dollars, he knocked Ellie over, he gave her a hug so big.

 We went to James' favorite spot to doing a little exploring on his special day.

 Emma in her new carrier. Yes, Barry's eyes look weird

 Running

 Walking

 Dangerous cliffs

 Hidden Lakes. Can you spot anyone down there?

uh... where is James? you might ask. He didn't want to waste time with pictures, he was too busy exploring.

 

 ah! There he is! Looking for a new fishing spot.

 Children scaring their Mom.

 Super James!

 Yep! Love him!

Yeah, I know the cake is a bit sad looking, It was a before-church-special ...while I was busy making rolls and getting a hundred other things ready. It was super delicious though. I made a lemon filling for it, and frosted it with lemon-cream cheese frosting.

 

The END