St George - President's Day Weekend

For the last several years, we've been able to go to St. George for President's Day weekend because of the Icebreaker's Soccer Tournament that our kids have played in.  Usually we have 2 kids playing, but this year, Emily's team was the only one that played in it.  It was the perfect balance of having soccer games to go to, but also having down time to enjoy the beauties of Southern Utah.  

We were so excited to have my parents and Rich & his family come with us!  Last year, I had reserved a 5 bedroom condo down there and it was wonderful.  It's so nice to have a place to not only sleep, but make meals, play games, visit, etc.  

We checked the kids out of school early on Friday (having them miss their Valentine's Parties) and headed down so that we could arrive in the daylight and to avoid the traffic that heads down there for the weekend.  

On Saturday morning, we drove over to the Sand Dunes in Snow Canyon.  It was warm in the sun and cool in the shade.  The kids played and played and it was absolutely gorgeous!

 My cute dad held Sam a lot for me. 

 Misty soaking up the sun

 Kate

 Emily & her best friend Kate.  We had Kate stay with us as well and she was a delight.

 Hannah

 Owen

 My brother Rich is the best sand digger ever!  He dug a huge hole to put the kids in :)

 Sophia

 Max

Cute cousins

 The teenagers took the opportunity to get a little sun

 Rich's hole getting deeper

 Lindsey

 Rich

 My mom

Emily had a game on Saturday afternoon and late Saturday night.  We all went to the first game and only Jon went to the late one (I think it started at 9:00).  We got delicious pizza for dinner and played games.

 A fun game of Ticket to Ride going on

 My dad and I attempting a selfie.  

 We loved the hot tub in the backyard

On Sunday, we went to Sacrament Meeting (along with all the other out-of-town-visitors in St. George).   Then, we attempted to go to Zion's for some hiking, but after waiting over an hour in line, just to pay in order to drive up the canyon, we decided to turn around.  We stopped at DQ for blizzards and then had dinner at the condo with Claudia Talbot.  I had made poppyseed chicken and brought it from Salt Lake, so it was easy to just put it in the oven.

On Monday morning, Rich and his family left for Salt Lake.  My parents and our family headed to Emily's last game.  Afterwards, my parents left to go back as well.  We had reserved the house for another night, so Jon took the Hannah, Hailey, Kate & Jack fishing at the small pond at the condo, and I took the oldest girls and Sam to Target.  Then we all went to the Children's Museum there and then to dinner at Smashburger.

Hailey came back from exploring at the game with this huge stick.

We had a great time with our family and enjoying the sun after a snowy winter in Salt Lake!  Emily played great and it was fun to cheer her team on!