Spring Break 2010 -- Roberts Family Reunion in Zion National Park

We got to spend Spring Break with a lot of Lee's family -- his dad, step-mom, and four sisters (along with their families). This was an extra special treat because this was the first ever Roberts reunion, and we got to spend time with family we rarely see. We were the lucky ones, because we only had to drive four hours for the reunion. Lee's dad came up from Tucson, Katie and Dorothy came down from Washington State, and Ramona takes the cake by flying over from Italy! And although Ruth only had to drive down from Salt Lake City, she still gets major points for housing both Ramona's and Dorothy's families! Katie's family stayed with us for a few nights before the reunion and we LOVED having them here! Now onto the fun:

One day we got adventurous and decided to take the kids (all but sleeping Audrey) on the shuttle bus to a ranger show. We lined them all up for a picture and then counted them all so we wouldn't lose anyone! In front is Elijah (Ruth's). Standing is Gavin, Kaya, Phaedra (Dorothy's); Kiersten (Ruth's); Aidan (Ramona's); Morgan and Brynne (mine, all mine!!!); and Jimmy (Katie's).

I mentioned sleeping Audrey who missed the bus ride. Well, she's so darn cute that I had to get a picture of her in here somehow (she's on the left)! Aidan loved holding Audrey's hand and walking her around the camp. They were really cute together. :)

Kaya, Kiersten, Phaedra, and Morgan in the front of the second car of the shuttle bus. These older girls played so well together! I am seriously very impressed with how polite and friendly all the cousins were with each other!!

Each day we had a couple activities for the kids. The first day the kids made "Un-Birthday" cards, and then we had an un-birthday party -- complete with a dutch oven cake (thanks, Ruth!!!). The second day Ramona did a big Easter Egg Hunt for the kids and then taught them to make lanyards. In this picture Kiersten, Brynne, and Aidan are enjoying some Easter candy and picking colors for their lanyards.

I'm sad I don't have many pictures of the actual siblings all together. We did get one picture of everyone together (no guarantees about happy kids!), but I have to wait to get a copy from Ramona. Just before we were getting ready to pack up and head out, I took this picture of Lee with his dad and twin sisters -- Dorothy, Lee, Trout, and Ruth.

We had TONS of fun at the reunion! The only real problem was how cold it was the first night (35 degrees), but we all survived -- the girls actually made out great because they had super duper nice, new, warm sleeping bags -- and had a great time!

Spring Break 2010 -- Hiking in Zion National Park

During the Roberts Family Reunion, we had the chance to go on two family hikes. The first one was a casual stroll on a trail that goes along the river. We stopped several times to throw things in the river and to climb rocks. Two of my favorite pictures of Brynne from the whole trip were taken while she was climbing rocks on the trail. Here she is at the top of a rock:


And here Brynne is discovering that is more difficult to climb down rocks than it is to climb up them!

I also got a really good picture of Lee when he was rock climbing with the girls. Pretty handsome fella, don't ya' think?!

How'd this picture get in here? Oh well, here's Brynne hunting for Easter eggs in our campsite (thanks for letting us borrow the screen tent, Mom and Dad!).

This picture is great because it shows Brynne's personality really well -- she has her monkey on her back. The monkey has velcro hands, so she wrapped his arms around her neck and took him hiking with us! (This is all assuming the monkey is a "he"...)

The picture of Brynne and monkey above, along with all the rest of the pictures in this blog, were taken during our second hike. We went on a 3-mile round trip hike to the Emerald Pools. There is a lower, middle, and upper pool. Here's another picture of my handsome husband, this time in front of the upper pool. You can see the waterfall in the background that starts all the water flowing to the different pools.

On the way back down from the upper pool, we found yet another rock to climb on (always one of my kids' favorite things to do!). Morgan climbed up for a great picture of the waterfall that leads to the upper pool. This picture shows only a little over half the distance the water falls. It was amazing!

To get past the middle pool, you actually had to skip across rocks. Morgan paused in the middle for this super-cute picture: (In case you're wondering, the scarf came from Grammy Lo -- she brought a box of stuff for kids and grandkids to dig through and take at will. Thanks, Lo!)

I think I'm only in three pictures out of the 100+ I took during the trip. I guess that's what happens when you're the photographer. :) On our way back down from the Emerald Pools, we passed this little water well on the side of the path. Morgan was kind enough to take a picture of me next to the "well" so I'd have some sort of proof that I was actually there! :)

On the way home from Zion National Park, we decided to stop and tour Cove Fort. It's a fort that President Hinckley's grandfather built and "managed" for the church many years ago. I hadn't realized that it had rooms in it; although I'm not sure what that means I thought it did have. The girls loved climbing up to the top of the fort and looking through the look-out holes. Lee and the girls are standing at the top of the fort in this picture. You can see one side of the fort behind them. I've always wanted to see Cove Fort, so I'm really glad we stopped!

Even though we had tons of unpacking and cleaning to do when we got home, I absolutely loved everything about our Spring Break trip! Zion National Park is an amazing place, and Lee's family is made up of amazing people!