Southern Utah just wasn't sunny and warm for our visit. When we got to St. George the rain had slowed to drizzling but the sun didn't really show it's face. We drove around for awhile just to get a look at the city. Glen drove us up on a plateau (all on paved roads) and then drove closer to the edge and scared the kids. Daryl was sure we were going to go crashing down the hillside and he was not ready for that adventure. We decided after that to check in to the hotel a little early.
Sunday morning was the real reason for our trip. Trevor's farewell. Church was at 9 o'clock and at least a half an hour from where we stayed. We made it on time. We reconfirmed a little fact about our family on this trip. If we are going to someone else's church we will be on time, but we really struggle getting to our own church, 10 minutes away and starts at the same time.
This was one of the "near death views" we saw.
The hotel had a swimming pool and although it wasn't indoors it was heated and the kids loved it. In fact that may have been there favorite part of the trip.
Their hot tub was inside and once the big girls discovered it, they went back and forth from the warm to the hot. I couldn't really get in the hot tub and Ruth didn't really like it so we warmed our legs and feet and tried to keep the tops of us warm.
It was really nice to have time together as a family with no other demands or extended family around for a little bit.
We went Poncho and Left's for dinner with the kids. Daryl was so tired from swimming that he nearly fell asleep before his dinner got to him. He was alert enough to tell the waitress when she brought us our chips and salsa that, "Um, Nachos have cheese on them." We had to apologize and let him know his real nachos would have cheese but this was just an appetizer. This boy really keeps us on our toes with what comes out of his mouth.
We shared a dessert and though all the kids said they were supposedly full, the dessert disappeared super fast. You can see everyone had their spoons in on the event despite fullness.
Any way... it was a great meeting. Trevor and Mark spoke as well as a young man from the ward. It was announced at that meeting that their ward would get a new bishop the next Sunday. Mark had been serving as bishop for the past two years but his work arrangement changed making it so he could only be home on the weekends.
He had been able to work remotely from home for a week and be in the office the next week. There were problems with other workers with kind of arrangement so they got rid of that option all together. It is hard to try and be a bishop when you are only home on the weekends.
Anyways, after the meeting we went to the Herpel's house for lunch and visiting. I did a horrible job of taking pictures there. We met all of KaLynn and Mark's kids and visited with them a bit as well as Aunt Mary Ellen and Bryan and Christina.
This is the Herpel crew minus a few grand kids that didn't make it to the meeting and Christina, Bryan's wife who was taking a picture as well. I will have to get back to you on everyone's names.
There was a memorable quote from Trevor's talk. He spoke on charity and how for a long time he thought it was just giving money and what not but had come to realize it was so much more. He mentioned how he noticed that some celebrities flaunted their charitable giving and work, and he didn't think they really understood it because they just wanted the praise of the world. He noticed that a few celebrities really seemed to understand it and didn't publicize their charity and that they really understood the sacridity of it. Then he paused and said, "Sacridity?...is that even a word? Oh well you're welcome dictionary!"
Bryan and Christina are really fun to talk too. Also since they got married just a couple months ahead of us it is really interesting to see how different everyone's lives play out.
We were really happy to hear that Christina's migraines were under control, or at least it seemed. She had been having them several times a week and only been able to start recovering from one when another would hit. They had tried all sorts of drugs and treatments. They had decided that the drugs and effects were too much and not helping so she had stopped them and was just having medical massages and it had been two weeks since she had had a migraine. That was great to hear since she has struggled with them for years.
After great conversation and food we decided we better head for home. We were talked in to taking a tour of the Pine Valley chapel on our way out of town.
The Herpel's hammock was a big hit with the kids. We may have to get one.
My pictures are in the wrong order but it is a beautiful building. If I remember right it is the oldest used chapel in the church and one of the only two story buildings west of the Mississippi River still in use. It was built by Ebenezer Bryce if Bryce Canyon fame and was built as a modified upside down ship as you can see from the picture below.
The kids are looking out from the second story where the chapel is. They had fun tossing pine cones and a stuffed animal up and down to each other.
As we were visiting a little more before leaving a pine cone battle broke out between the kids and Glen mostly but Bryan even ended up having cones thrown at him. (I told this to KaLynn just this week and she said that was totally fine and he deserved it! Definite sibling love.)
Once that pine cone battle had settled down we headed for home. It was a fun and successful trip.
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