Let the fun begin.....

Monday afternoon, everything was packed, the van was loaded. And loaded withOUT the soft top carrier. How great a packer am I? Gone for a month, with a family of 6, and everything loaded in the TRUNK! Now, I have to give a shout-out to the new van I guess. The trunk is HUGE and there is another compartment that lifts up behind the drivers seat for underneath storage as well. So with my amazing organizational packing and the great van, we made a GREAT team!!!

After supper, about 6:00, I said to Sam, "Why don't we just leave tonight instead of tomorrow morning." He said, "Sure, why not?" All we had to do was pick up his dry cleaning in town and we were good to go.

It was after 7pm Monday when we got on the road. We made it to Hill AFB in Salt Lake City in about 4 hours. We got checked in, after finding our way on an old outdated base map. We crashed, but didn't sleep all that well. It was pretty crowded. The beds were SMALL, so small. I shared with Kaitlynn, Sam shared with Tiff, Kaebrie had one of the blowup mattresses and Collin was on a pull out chair.

We then were able to make it Zion National Park yesterday right at the 3:00 check in time. Sam found the PERFECT little motel. Individual cottages with a view of the cliffs in every direction. It is gorgeous! Small, but gorgeous.

We let them swim yesterday afternoon, then took the (free) shuttle into the park, rode the (free) shuttle 45 minutes to the very end, then hiked the River Walk Trail. The sun was going down, the lighting was beautiful, and I had the best time just taking pictures and experimenting with the different controls on the camera. Some of them turned out so beautiful.

{I wish I could show you right now, but in our spontaneous early leave, I forgot the card the reader for the computer, so for now, the pictures are stuck in my camera.}

We slept better last night, getting to bed before 11 pm instead of after midnight like last night. Kaebrie woke early, but everyone else slept until 9. She cuddled with me and actually stayed quiet!

We took the car in today and drove through the famous tunnel and saw the arch, then puled off onto the side of the road and the boys went mountain climbing. Way higher then was comfortable for me to watch! Made for some awesome pictures, but whew, that was hard to watch. Then Sam left Kaitlynn and I in the park and took the rest back for a swim, and a MUCH needed nap for Kaebrie.

Kaitlynn and I rode the shuttle, got off at several different stops and just walked and talked and took pictures. I gave her a few more lessons on the camera and she had a great time creating her own pictures.
I will be able to load hers onto her blog shortly, as this computer will accept her camera card, so check out her site at
www.kaitlynnsphotographyworld.blogspot.com
soon for some actual pictures!

We got back before the MAJOR thunderstorm hit. The pool is closed because of the weather. And we are a bit antsy at the moment with all of us stuck in this one small room.
I am thankful for DVD players and MOVIES!!!!

I asked Kaebrie what she thought of all this, and do you know what she was MOST impressed with? The roly poly she found yesterday. :)

We leave early tomorrow so we can make it to the Grand Canyon before the sun gets to high in the sky and ruins the view and the pictures. We are going to the not-so-used North Rim, which is supposed to be the prettiest part, but it is harder to get to because you have to come to it from the north.

Zion is SPECTACULAR. Just gorgeous. If you have a chance to get out here, DO SO!
MUCH more later, when I can!
Please continue to pray for safe travels and getting along!
ADIOS!