my program at byu requires me to go straight through to december. good news: i will be finished within the year. bad news: no breaks or vacation until after graduation. in light of this, we decided to take a family jaunt to st. george (i had never been before) to catch some rays and enjoy a long weekend before i am put through the wringer. and that is exactly what we did....
since we left early thursday morning, and weren't necessarily in a rush to get there, we stopped along the way at the church history site, cove fort. it was so fun to take the tour (led by the cutest little sister missionary) and to hear about the stalwart faith of pres. hinckley's ancestors in heeding brigham young's call to create a resting place for saints who were traveling across the desert.
we got into town at about 1 o'clock, so we had plenty of time to lazily walk the temple grounds as well as visit a dinosaur fossil museum.
we were glad to see our girls are on the right track, even at such a young age:)
this museum was pretty neat... it was very small, but it was built around a the remnants of a pre-existing lake that was filled with fossils and prints. we probably found it much more interesting than the little girls did...
on friday we just shopped, ate, and lounged by the pool... it was wonderful. then on saturday we went and visited zion's national park...
...for free! it would have even been worth the usual $25, but we got in free as some sort of promotion happening that week. it was absolutely GORGEOUS! jordan and i discussed how completely insignificant you can feel among these towers of rock--and yet at the same time, it was all created just for us to enjoy....
...simply amazing.
on friday, in addition to lounging, we also visited the jacob hamblin home (which was another church history site) as well as brigham young's winter home. if you have never heard of jacob hamblin, research him. you will NOT be sorry. not only was he an incredibly faithful saint, but he also has a lot to do with the settlement of the west. how have all of these sites been in the same state as me for almost 4 years and i haven't visited them before?
on sunday after church we began the drive home, but not without making a quick stop at the kolob canyons (another entrance into zion's). it was a perfect trip. we were able to fit so much in, yet it was incredibly low-stress and relaxing.
see you again in december, vacation time....
p.s. some trivia for you: did you know that utah was declared a state in the st. george tabernacle? also, look up why st. george is called st. george...pretty interesting:)
