Annual Utah Trip

This last week we went to Utah to visit family. We were excited to see my mom and sisters in Ogden and to see my sister Lesa's new house (she moved to Plain City). I was excited, as always, to see my little nieces and nephews. I always get a huge kick out of the funny things they say and do. I especially love to spend time with my sister Jenny's little girls. They remind me of my sister and it's the closest thing to seeing her as I can imagine right now. Especially Erin, she is the spitting image of her mom and Phoenix is turning into such a pretty little girl. My sister Mindy's little boy, Dallon is 5 and acts like he's about 25. He has this John Deere Gator that he drives from his house to my mom's every day to wake us up. He is always offering rides to the little kids and Phoenix especially loves riding with him. He drives with one hand and easily shifts it into second gear when he feels the need for speed (just like his dad).

We got the chance to go to my brother Todd's house in Cedar City and spend some time there with him and his family. I loved seeing where my brother lives. He's been there like 3 years now and it's about time I see his pad and family. Todd took us to Zion's where we planned to spend a day there exploring. We woke up early and made it to Zion's around 9 am and waited for the bus to take us into the park.

Pictured left to right: Jordan Sorenson, Savannah Higley, Todd Higley, Valerie Sorenson, Olivia, Marie Sorenson, Alex. Dallon is standing in the front and Jessica Sorenson in the back. The Sorenson's are my sister Amy's crew.

I was blown away by the beauty of the Canyon. It literally took my breath away and for some reason it felt like I had been there before. Maybe it was all my childhood summers spent in Lake Powell. It felt like home. Those tall canyon walls and the red rock and sandstone looked similar to Lake Powell. I wanted to hike a lot but the heat there is brutal in July. Plus, my feet were not cooperating terribly well. It's been 4 months since my last foot surgery. Perhaps, I'm pushing myself too hard! We did get to walk up to Weeping Rock. The kids liked that. Brent and Alex liked it and Isaac really liked holding his hand out to catch the water.

We also got to take the short hike up to where the Narrows starts. Isaac was not happy with the hike but made it after a lot of coaxing from Martin. The kids played in the water and we had a snack wherein we were attacked by a herd of squirrels. They were really bold and kept coming up to us begging. They stole my crackers when I put them down on the rock and one even climbed on my niece, Savannah's shoulder. She thought that was too close for comfort. My brother was even able to touch one on the head. The kids named all the squirrels funny things like Jumbo for the fat one, Edgardo, and Pom-Pom for the one with the bushy tail. (Ahh, kids...they find pleasure in such simple things)

Here's a photo of a part of Zions. I think this is Angels Landing.

I wish we could have stayed longer but the kids were tired and it got really hot so we left at about 1 in the afternoon (Martin and Alex stayed and continued hiking into the afternoon). I was glad we got to go but it's funny, the kids were more happy to go back to the camp ground and go swimming and play on the go-carts!

Olivia, Savannah and Valerie.

I'll write more about the rest of our vacation later.