St. George with Clan Peterson

For the first time ever, Tanner's parents planned a big family reunion. Kim did all of the leg work and booked us a beautiful resort in St. George during Spring Break, Arcadia Resort. My kids missed the last few days of school before going off track and Tanner made sure not to start his new job until we got back so it all worked out. We each had a nice, big room, we split meals and responsibilities, we watched movies, played games, had a nightly family devotional, swam, went hiking in Snow Canyon and just had the best time together! My kids were excellent and I had not one single issue with them. I am so proud of them!!!!

Highlights:

Scanning Kassidy's baby BOY and having Kaitlin surprise us with a pregnancy announcement and getting to scan her, too! (Saw the flicker of a heart beat!)

Having the kids swim and play so nicely together the entire time

Family park day at Thunder Junction

Family hike in Snow Canyon

Seeing Jacob twice and going on a Jeep Ride

Watching Napoleon Dynamite

Playing Mafia

Taking the kids to Culvers and to see the temple

The water slide and lazy river

Lot of good food

Lowlights:

It was a bit chilly and windy

Travis got the stomach flu and passed it around

Tanner didn't sleep so well

Tanner getting nailed in the nuts by Edi and Edi's non stop screaming

The day we got there, we took the kids to school, got ready, and then picked them up and drove straight up to St George. I'll say it once, and I'll say it again, I'm so thankful for good little travel buddies! My kids are the best!!! We got settled in, ran to the grocery store, went swimming, and had a nice dinner. The kids are thrilled with the big pool, epic water slide, lazy river, and hot tubs! Monte led a little family devotional that set the tone for the week and Rayleigh said the prayer.

The next day, Tanner went golfing with his Dad and brother so I took the kids to see Jacob. It was sooooo good to see him and catch up! I'm so glad he lives in St. George now. He has a beautiful home and was so cute and fun with the kids. He took us on a Jeep Ride through Snow Canyon and had me laughing the entire time! We came back and went swimming and Kaitlin and Kassidy showed up. Fun! I scanned Kassidy for the first time and it was a dream come true! Seriously so amazing! We had a yummy taco pie dinner made by Nicole and Kaydence and then the girls all went to a HIGH Fitness class that Kaitlin found. Look at me being a good sport!!!! Tanner played around with his drone and got the kids to bed. Nice! That night, before we all went to bed, I scanned Kassidy again and then said, "Ok! Who's next?" and Kaitlin jumped up and said, "Me!" Guess what?! She's 7 weeks pregnant! It was hard to see much of anything but we DID see a little flitter of a heart beat and that was the best thing ever! She's been through the ringer with pregnancy loss and failure and it was so wonderful to see that little heart beat!

Day 3, Kaydence was feeling a little sad that everyone kept going their own ways during the day (*cough The boys golfed every single day) So we made a plan to all go to the park together. We played at Thunder Junction for about an hour before the boys left to golf again. Everyone wanted to go back to the condo to take a nap. NOT ME! I grabbed my kids and we went to Culvers for burgers and ice cream. Yummmm. Then we had a little picnic near the temple. They are renovating the entire thing and have sanded the outside to reveal the red rock used to build it many, many years ago. I am so thankful for those stalwart pioneers and my ancestors who settled St. George and made their lives there. After lunch, we went exploring in Snow Canyon. We hiked Jenny's Canyon which was rad and then played at the sand dunes for a little while. It was cold and windy so we headed back but when we arrived all the adults and babies were napping and the kids were playing games. It was a little chaotic with the napping people wanting the awake people to be quiet. The kids went swimming again and I made chicken n rice for dinner which everyone loved. Nicole made brownies and we had ice cream which was delicious. We had another nice devotional with Kim (Kit Kat: KAT- Keep the commandments, Always remember Him, Take His name upon us) and then the kids settled down with a movie while the adults hung out downstairs and turned on Napoleon Dynamite. I scanned Kassidy and Kaitlin again (so fun!) and it was a great night.

Friday, we went on a family hike in Snow Canyon. I'd done the research to know where to go for Jenny's Canyon and that was super fun! Then we drove up to the petrified dunes which was awesome! We played at the sand dunes again (the sand is sooo soft) but everyone else left. So we went to visit Jacob again and I was so glad he was home (we surprised him) and that Tanner was able to chat with him! We played foosball and lost miserably. Rematch!!!! Jacob is seriously the best. When we got back to the condo, the boys were still out golfing (Tanner stayed with me cuz there were only 4 tee times). He went swimming with the kids and I made a yummy fruit charcuterie. I had to hide it from Nicole's kids because they don't have fresh fruit and berries or grapes very often and devoured any fruit that was available to them. We waited until the boys came home (with Swig! yay!) and then shared the fruit. It was gone in 60 seconds. Kim and Monte BBQed hamburgers and hotdogs for us. We let the kids have one last hurray in the pool and then we had our final family devotional. Monte showed us a sweet video about a man caring for his ailing wife. We got the little kids into bed and then played a few rounds of mafia before going to bed.

We woke up extra early the next morning so we could hit the road and be home in time to make it to the San Diego Temple. The drive was easy, although my stomach was bothering me (Thanks, Travis). 

It was such a fun few days and I hope we do it again in the future. Meeting in St. George is so easy and there is so much to do! We sure do love our Peterson Family!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4