Family Vacation 2011

Prepare yourself for a barrage of pictures from our 8 day vacation.
There's no way around it.

We took just shy of a million pictures, I'm pretty sure.
So grit your teeth and.... ENJOY! (or just push your down arrow really fast a bunch of times.)

Kate fell in love with photography on this trip! She especially loves photographing flowers, bugs, birds, and other creatures.

Cove Fort, Utah was a huge highlight of our trip. We stopped on our way home with the intention of staying for about an hour. 2 1/2 hours later we were back on the road! Thanks, Elder Haney, for a wonderful tour!

We also loved our time in St. George. The Tabernacle, Temple, Visitor's Center, and Brigham Young Summer Home were just beautiful and spirit filled. Hot... but spirit filled.

Another highlight of the trip was a chance encounter with the Carroll Shelby World Headquarters and Classic Car Museum. On our way out of Vegas we stopped at a gas station by the Las Vegas Speedway and happened upon this museum. Jack, if you didn't know this, is capital C - CRAZY - about cars, trucks, motorcycles, semis... So you can imagine his immense happiness. He took a million pictures and came away with a bunch of fun Shelby posters and a little keepsake Shelby Spider car. Happiness. It's so easy when you're 5. :)

Some of our fun Las Vegas Strip adventures while Brad was in meetings and classes. Our favorite stops were The M&M Store, the Coca-Cola Experience, New York-New York, The Mirage, the MGM Lion Habitat, the Jelly-Belly Statue of Liberty, and especially riding all the escalators and elevators all over Vegas. We are SO small town, and SO easily entertained!

It was darn hot (in the low 100s most days), but we all did well. One benefit -- 90 degrees in Rupert today feels downright balmy!

Zion National Park is a must-see if you're in Southern Utah and have a day to kill. Wow -- we LOVED it here. The hiking was gorgeous.

One fun little happening... we looked up a church to attend on Sunday morning and showed up at a random (and very lovely, friendly) ward. While taking the kids to Primary, we ran in to a sister from Brad's mission. Even 20 years later they immediately recognized each other and we had a wonderful time visiting and reconnecting with her and her sweet family.

We are so blessed to have had so many days to spend together as a family. The trip could not have gone more smoothly. The kids traveled well and quietly (thank you iPad, iPods, and iPhone!). The car ran well (thank you new car). We spend lots of time together and created many wonderful memories.

We are blessed.