For an excellent family reunion, we met up with Dan's family in St. George. But before all the fun had with extended family there, we had some adventures getting there. First, we stopped at the Great Sand Dunes, which I hadn't been to since I was in high school. The kids absolutely loved that giant sand box and would get so far ahead of us they looked like spots and we feared they wouldn't have enough energy to make it back to the van. But they sure did! Added bonus: spending the night at my BYU roommate's house with her awesome family. My son kept asking me for a while when we were going to go back and play. I guess he forgot it took 5 hours to get there.
The next day we headed off for the Grand Canyon. Did you know that GC National Park has its own health clinic? We didn't know that either, but after spending almost all night walking the hotel halls with a very sick little girl, I found out quick. First thing in the morning we headed there and Danny mentioned his ears hurt. So I let him come back with me and lo and behold, he had a double ear infection. He was so cute being in the back room with his little sister, though. After being checked on the doctor was afraid she might have pneumonia, so N had her first x-ray. There was streaking in the lungs and she was diagnosed with pre-pneumonia. When Danny heard she would receive a shot of antibiotics he insisted on staying with her to help comfort her. So sweet. When we left the clinic we had antibiotics for 3 of our 4 kids and I was apologizing profusely to Melissa on the phone for accidentally bringing a sick one-year-old to her house. Of course she was awesome about it. She has 5 children and is a total pro at this whole kid thing.
What do you do with a sick kid when you are supposed to be hiking the Grand Canyon? Carry her. Carry her while she is awake. Carry her while she is asleep. And thank God the antibiotics worked so quickly.
None of us had been the Grand Canyon before and we absolutely loved it. I had mentally prepared myself to go and see it for myself and say, just like I did when I saw Mt. Rushmore, "Oh, looks just like the pictures." Pictures do not do this place justice! It is just as amazing as everyone says and certainly lives up to its landmark status. We talked about making another trip to come back before we even left. K and I hiked down to Ooo Ahh Point and decided we would love to hike all the way to the bottom someday. As always, strangers on the trail would complement her on what a great hiker she was. She is a natural at anything she tries and enjoys! 
Tired of cheesing for Mom, perhaps?
Tired of cheesing for Mom, perhaps?
We made it to the four corners just in time -- the place closed about 2 minutes after a kind person took this picture for us. The children were pretty confused as to why we bothered visiting there because really, isn't it strange to say one foot is in CO, one foot is in Utah, one hand is in Arizona, and one hand is in New Mexico? How often do we just make stuff up?
Being with hubby's family was so much fun. There were plenty of boys for D and plenty of girls for K and M. Subtraction by addition is certainly true in this case. It was so relaxing and wonderful to connect with family that lives so far away. N felt better soon and still thinks her Grandpa is neater than most anything. The adults had a blast having a giant foosball, ping pong, and air hockey tournament and I must say I was quite happy with our outcome in the pack. We were also introduced to the game Celebrity and liked it so much we had friends from our old ward over to play it soon after coming home.
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