Before we came to Utah we told Russ and Teresa we wanted to be able to check out the new condo they renovated in St. George. Memorial Day weekend was the perfect weekend for the whole family, so we all headed down south for the holiday!
The boys and I got to head down early with Grandma Teresa and Grandpa Russ-
They look sweet in these pictures, but the were actually not all that great.
Lots of crying and whining came from these two!
Luckily we got to stop in Kanosh and visit Grandpa Christensen to break things up a bit.
We got to visit Grandma Christensen too. :)
We finally made it to St. George and hit the pool FIRST THING!
Luckily Uncle Todd and Aunt Kelsie got their with June the same night we did and Uncle Todd was so nice to play with Thad since there were no other kiddos and Dad wasn't there yet.
Wes really likes rocks and dirt. At least he's cute when he gets dirty!
He also loves Bumbos...
We had to hide it so that June could use it when she needed it!
Funny boy.
The day after we got there we were lucky enough to meet up with some of our favorite Connecticutters-
~Wes and Tillie Rose~
I would not be disappointed if this hook up ended up working out somehow.
Thad was of course TERRIFIED of the "big water" and wouldn't even let Dave take him in a little circle around the pool.
I'm so glad Lizzy came to Utah one last time before heading into the hospital with her twins.
It had only been a few weeks since leaving, but I sure miss all those east coasters.
We had such a fun afternoon chatting, swimming and eating. Luckily Brian was able to go golfing with Dave the next day, so he didn't totally miss out on catching up with them!
Later that evening we headed to a splash pad to wait for Dad, Kelli, Merit and Kayci to arrive.
We had tons of fun, but they were pretty chilly by the end because of the shade.
We were mostly just happy dad finally arrived!
(and yes, I forgot a swimsuit for Wes, so he sported Thad's swim top and a diaper!)
MOST of our time was spent at the pool and of course I don't have pictures of us girls basking in the sun, but I got the boys playing shuffle board!
I even joined in on a few rounds myself and it was actually super fun!
One night we headed out for dinner and ended up at a doozy of a Hawaiin fast food place that I will never return to, but the second half of the night was AWESOME!
Brigitte suggested a yummy place called TruBerry, and it did not disappoint.
These awesome frozen treats took a long time to make, we have a big group and we were the only ones in the joint, so we took advantage of the entertainment!
Naturally we made Kelli and Merit start things off...they ended things too, I guess, because no one went after them. :) They love Shania, so it was perfect to have them as our one and only duo.
Another couple came in for a date night, so we invited them to play Heads Up with us--
We each took a turn and it was a TON of fun!
These boys sure love their daddy.
It was a beautiful night and probably the only day we all got ready, so we took pictures, of course!
The Monsen Girls
And my favorite picture of the trip:
I love those three boys so much and I love when we can all get a picture together.
What a beautiful view we have from the backyard -- one I'm sure we will witness many times over the years!
Zions National Park
On Sunday we headed to Zions because I don't know that I have ever been and it had been a LONG TIME for anyone else that had gone before.
We scored this fancy backpack from one of Aunt Haley's awesome neighbors and Wes couldn't have loved his life more.
Is it not the cutest thing ever that he grabbed onto the handle too??
I can't remember the name of the trail, but it started out nice and easy and got gradually harder.
We reached phase one of three of the hike and it was GORGEOUS!
These falls were to die for-
Sorry Bri, I couldn't not post this. Wes' face is just too good!
We headed up to phase two -- Thad was brave and didn't act too tired at this point.
We enjoyed a rest there and then some of us headed to the third phase.
We were probably a little crazy, but we convinced Thad to come along with us.
He did pretty darn good, and we finally made it to the jackpot at the top of the mountain!
Wes was a little excited to be out of the back pack for a minute.
We didn't get to spend too much time there as we realized Todd and Kelsie left June's bottle and formula in our bag, Thad had to go #2 (there are NOT port-a-potties at the tops of mountains), and Wes was EXHAUSTED.
Stacie and Kayci were awesome and headed straight back down as soon as we got to the top so that Todd and Kelsie wouldn't have to deal with a screaming babe.
After the bathroom situation was taken care of we headed down too.
And luckily Uncle Merit was there!
Thad's legs started "hurting" and he was not excited about going all the way down the mountain.
Dad had Wes on his back and Thad doesn't think I'm as cool as Merit, so luckily Merit is the coolest uncle around and helped that kid get down the mountain!
Haha! Wes luckily got a little nap on the way down.
Props to Dad for carrying that boy the whole way!
What fun day to discover Zions! We can't wait to go back!
Before heading home on Monday, we swam for most of the morning.
Thad took a HUGE step and let Brian take him around the perimeter of the pool!
He threw several fits previous to this happening yelling things like, "No, I'm going to stay on the step for 100 days!" and "I will never get in the big water!" but we were excited for this anyhow.
We begrudgingly packed things up for the six hour drive back to Logan, but were so glad we got spoiled by Grandma Teresa and Grandpa Russ! I hope we come back to this same place lots and lots of times. What a fun, awesome family we have!
We decided to stop in Holden on our way back to visit a grave that three of the four of us had never visited before-
Sometimes it's hard explaining that Dad had two dads, but Thad accepted it and we had a nice time visiting and teaching our boys about their heritage.
We surprised the Monsens and showed up after they had dinner and luckily there were more darling kids for Thad to play with to get his wiggles out!
Uncle Gary.Brian.Great Grandma Monsen.Great Grandpa Monsen.Michael. Aunt Chris
We had such a wonderful visit and there were quite a few people there that we were able to see. We don't catch up with them very often and it's always nice when we get the chance.
I'd have to say Memorial Day Weekend 2013 was a major success!
