Thanksgiving!

We were all really anxious to head to the mountains for a ski day after our desert trip so we headed up for our Thanksgiving celebration.  We had fun but it turned out to be a really cold morning.  So we didn't stay up there too long, which was our plan anyway, but it was enough to get a few runs in our legs.

Since it was just our family we decided to head to a restaurant instead of spending all day in the kitchen cooking and cleaning.  It was an ok decision.  The food was meh and I kind of missed sitting around our table all talking so I don't know if we'll do that again but it was fun to do it once at least!

 

Zen or an attempt at finding Zen

 Matt was wanting to ride the Zen trail because he hasn't ever ridden it.  I went along and ran but I kind of wish I'd ridden my bike.  Oh well.  It would still have been a tough one.  This isn't my favorite trail in St. George, mostly because it's not super well marked.  So a couple of times I ended up running into a dead end.  Luckily, I had a map on my phone that I could follow, but still it was really frustrating to kind of zone out, follow bike tracks and end up at a dead end.  Ugh.  So I didn't really find my Zen because I was too busy trying to find my trail!  Oh well.  It was a great way to say goodbye to St. George. Sadly, we had to head back home.  This was a perfect trip with perfect weather and I'm so glad it all worked out!

Church Rocks and Elephant Arch

Church Rocks was the trail right by our house, so Tuesday morning I got up early and got a run in on this trail.  I rode my bike on it earlier on the trip but wanted to get my feet straight on the rock too.

It was actually kind of a nice hour on the trail because it was the one hour I was by myself and I didn't realize until I was out there that I was kind of missing my solitude of morning runs.  All week I had been focusing on gratitude as our Prophet had encouraged us.  I love how on my runs I'm able to feel a connection with God that I don't feel when I'm at home or running on the roads.  So I stopped for a minute and sat on a rock and said a little prayer of gratitude.  It was so awesome to be alone in the desert with the sun shining down with warmth even though there was a definite desert chill.  It was a beautiful moment that I hope I remember.

After that Jerry, Matt and Sara went on a ride so Kate, Abby and I hiked to Elephant Arch.  It is an arch that has been on my to do list for a while, but we've either run out of time or it has been too hot.  So I'm glad I was finally able to check it out.

We had a ton of fun just hiking there and checking out all the cool rock formations along the way.  Abby especially had a blast climbing up into the little caves and slots.  It was fun to see her be a little adventurous.

Elephant Arch!  It totally looked like an elephant.  It was fun to climb up around it and check it all out.

Abby had fun on the way out, too, climbing up more rocks and then she decided she wanted to be back to the car sooner so she started running and ran the last little bit.  It was really fun to watch her.  I was just happy that she was so happy and having fun.

 

Next up, Gooseberry Mesa!

Gooseberry Mesa is one of my most favorite places to run in St. George.  It's not a tough trail because of elevation gain, but it's techy and so much up and down and it just beats you up.  I'm always grateful to be running it and not riding my bike!  But it was fun to have Matt, Kate and Jerry on the trail with me.  It was another gorgeous morning and made my heart so happy!

 

After Gooseberry, we went to the JEM trails and rode with Sara and Abby there.  Abby did awesome again riding on the dirt.  She's getting more confident and Sara had fun doing some downhill shuttles! 

Zion!!

The next day, Sunday, we slept in, zoomed in to all of our church meetings (a covid bonus!) and then headed up to Zion National Park.  We brought all of our bikes and rode up the paved trail and then the actual road until we got to the Zion lodge.  There was a big grass section there that we just hung out on and had a snack and talked.  It was so pretty there that we had to have a picture.  But we didn't want to bother anyone, so we just had to set up the self timer.  It was a lot of fun!  And then we had the best part of riding back down!

Abby did so awesome riding!  We ended up riding about 8.5 miles and half of that was uphill.  She did great and I was so proud of her.  She was pretty happy with herself and was happy to be doing what the older kids were doing.  Great day!

This is the picture that we ended up taking with our self timer.  Not too bad!

This was our set up to get the self timer shot.  Jerry didn't think we'd be able to get anything to balance on Abby's bike, but we totally did!!  Yes!

 The views were amazing.  Zion is truly and amazing canyon!

Wire Mesa

With all this Covid stuff going on, we knew we weren't going to be traveling far or gathering with a lot of family, so we decided we'd go to St. George for a little vacation.  Unfortunately, there was literally no place to stay the weekend of Thanksgiving, so, not to be deterred, we just went down the weekend before!  We were hoping to beat some of the crowds, too, if it was going to be so crowded the next weekend.  It worked out so perfectly!  We had amazing weather, it wasn't crowded, we got to do everything we wanted...it was just a perfect little vacation.  There were some trails right next to our house and those were the first on the list of adventures.  There was also a playground right next to the trail head, so we all rode our bikes there and then Abby and I played on the play ground while the others rode.  It was perfect for everyone.

The next day Jerry, Matt and Kate rode Wire Mesa and Sara, Abby and I hiked part of it.  It was a really cool overlook and a perfect day outside.

We hiked out to an overlook and met up with them there at the overlook.  Sara and Abby wanted to run part of the way back so we did and it was so fun.  I was just so happy being in the desert and being outside on the trails.

 

Sara's a teenager!!

Yesterday was Sara's 13th birthday!!  I can't believe I have three teenagers! But I am so grateful for all my kids and I was happy to celebrate Sara on her day.  The highlight of the day was definitely going go-kart racing with her friends, Kate and Jerry.  They had a ton of fun together and every time that they finished a race, they came off the track saying, "That was soooo fun!"  It was fun to watch them.

Sara is a great part of our family.  She had a ton of fun mountain biking this summer and fall and really improved her fitness and her bike handling skills.  It was really fun to watch her improve and get the hang of racing.  She also made some really good friends that she has enjoyed keeping in touch with.  She works very hard in school and of course finds lots of time to hang out with friends.  We love our Sara and it is so fun to watch her find her own personality.  I'm so happy she chose our family! 

Abby's baptism!

 Abby's baptism in her words:

I felt good.  

My baptism was cool because I felt the gospel.  It was fun to have Matt baptize me because he's my brother.  I was nervous about getting my eyes wet because I usually wear goggles.  My favorite part was getting presents from people.  Something that I'll always remember about my baptism day is that it was on Halloween.  Something I don't want to forget is Matt baptizing me.  Going underwater was different than I expected it to be; it was shorter.  I felt like I was barely under the water, but Kate told me Matt let me go really deep in the water.  Some advice I would give to someone else getting baptized is that it's easy.  It was nice that my grandparents were there.  My Aunt Peggy gave a talk on baptism and my Grandma Johnson gave the opening prayer.  Sara and Kate were my witnesses and my dad confirmed me a member of the church and gave me the gift of the Holy Ghost.  And my mom help me get dressed in my baptism dress.

We were so excited for Abby's baptism.  I can't believe all my kids are now baptized! It makes me feel so old!!  I am so proud of Abby and her decision to be baptized.  She is a really good girl.  She always tries to obey the rules and choose the right.  She knows the right choice and is not afraid to make it!  I was so happy that she chose Matt to baptized her.  It was really cool to witness and I hope it is something that they will both remember for their whole lives.  I am so proud of him for being willing to do this for her and make this memory with her.  They have a special relationship and it is cool to see from the outside.  I love how Kate and Sara were able to be her witnesses.  It was great that they were able to be a part of it too.  I loved seeing them all support her on her special day.  I love our family and I love the ways we can all be together.  Abby is great and being eight is great!