Las Vegas

The annual trip to Las Vegas is a favorite.

We asked our kids what their favorite Christmas tradition is and this year they had a new number one. They said that visiting the Poole's in Las Vegas was at the top of their list. So, after Dad's birthday, we got up early and drove down to Las Vegas. It is such a long drive, and we only stopped once in Cedar City for food and the temple. None of us had been inside, so we quickly changed into our church clothes and went in for baptisms. The temple was beautiful, and since they knew we were first-timers, they took the time to explain the special stained glass window that was rescued from a condemned Presbyterian Church in New York.

It was a windy day like every day in Cedar City!

Further down the road, we gained an hour and rolled into town about 3 pm. Then we spent four days eating Jonny's food (steak, pulled pork, french toast, spaghetti, home made bread, and wings). We played a ton of games with both adults and kids, and enjoyed being together. We also went to church with them and went on a few adventures.

The older boys played a new game with Josh.

Seth played light sabers with the Pooles and neighbors.

First, we went down to Hoover Dam. The Visitor Center and tours were closed, but we still went to the overlook and walked on top of the dam. There were a ton of people, especially for a site that was "closed," but we still got some good looks at the dam. 

Mom's favorite red heads.

Cousin buddies!

The bridge was almost as cool as the dam.

Boulder City railroad museum

Barely hanging on...for real!

This was a fun stop near Hoover Dam.

Jonny is so good to our family!

We love spending time with cousins!

Ben and Dax are buddies.

Dax hid in the leaves in hide and seek and was never found! 

Our second adventure was a half day at Red Rock Canyon. While there, Seth did the Junior Ranger program, and we did a couple of short hikes. The area was really pretty, and we enjoyed most of the overlooks as well. We were only a little disappointed that the turtles were in hibernation until March. We finished this fun day with food at In-N-Out. 

Mostly, the kids enjoyed the late nights, movies and video games, and sharing the loft with cousins. It was really great!

New Junior Rangers

This was our first time at Red Rock

We did a few short hikes.

It's nice to have people with us to take pictures.

We all climbed up on a huge rock for the picture.

We are enjoying Mark while we can.

Dad and Audrey struck a pose.

Our second hike was to a dry wash.

Every place is lovely when Mom is there.

We found a donut shop that was inviting Dad in.

November Highlights

The highlight was definitely going to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, but here are some fun photos from November 2024. 

We got to do a fun stargazing experience.

We went to Disney on Ice, but we were excited to see this guitar!

We love when our Canadian friends come to visit!

We are so glad to keep in touch with the LeBarons.

We loved the new aquarium lantern light show.

This was a fun photo opportunity!

Seth pretending to hold his breath under the water!

Seth won first place in Reflections for a photo.

We saw a cute Christmas movie.

Mark went to Sadies! 

It was a cute Mission Impossible theme.

Mark said it was so cold and windy for these pictures.

They had fun though!

It was fun that Mark got to go in the same group as Daniel. 

Dad and Mom went to their last play at Hale Center Theater. 

We went to a lot of Christmas lights even in November.

We have a lot of fun together.

Time for Luminaria! Mom's favorite!

Watch out Seth!

There is a new Tree of Life exhibit in the Gardens. Seth loves Captain Moroni.

Luminaria is the best!

We went to cut Christmas trees.

Mark drove one of the 4 wheelers this year.

Love this family pic!

Hawaii Day 7

We didn't wake up early for the sunrise on our last day on Maui. Well, Mom did, but she got outvoted. So we slept in. Then we headed up the mountain. The top of the national park is 10,000 feet up, and driving this road was as scary as the Road to Hana. There were switchbacks, but no blind corners. Surprisingly, Dax and Dad weren't feeling that well, with headaches, nausea, and severe fatigue. We actually may have had altitude sickness. Still, the view in the crater was stunning, and looking down on the clouds out over Maui was like being in an airplane. 

Good morning Grandma and Grandpa.

We drove up the mountain through the clouds. 

It was amazing to climb so high so fast.

This was our 37th National Park.

Looking back down over Maui and the clouds.

The large volcanic crater at the top.

Mark loves national parks.

We turned in the junior ranger booklets and did a short hike to the summit. We also did a few short rim hikes, though Dax and Dad were really dragging. Always on the lookout for birds, we were really surprised to see chukars walking around in the high-altitude parking lot.

Nicest ranger!

Chukars in the parking lot! What?!?!

We also saw them on the trails.

We loved the different colors.

It was FREEZING!

Seth hiked with Mom while everyone else felt sick.

The views were awesome.

We loved watching the clouds rolls in and stop at the edge of the crater.

Seth bought a fancy new hat!

We were pretty high up!

Such a fun national park!

On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at all the pullouts, but we also stopped for a short bird hike at Hosmer Grove. There was a bird there, called the i'wii, or scarlet tanager, that Mark had his eye on. Sure enough, we found a half dozen of the bright red, long-billed birds flitting through the meadow. We really enjoyed that hike. Best of all, when we starting driving down to the lower visitor's center, we spotted the rare pueo, or Hawaiian owl. This surprised us during the day, but we were excited.

We saw the owl right before this, but didn't get a picture as we were driving.

The nene greeted us on our nature trail.

This was everyone's favorite hike.

We saw lots of birds

The cute red one we all wanted to see.

Once we were off the mountain, we still had about 4 hours before our flight. Mom wanted to visit a spot where humpbacks can be seen returning to their calving grounds during November, but we didn't spot a whale. We decided to try a new beach on the south side of the island. This one happened to be located right next to a wildlife refuge, so while Dad watched Dax and Seth splash in the waves, Mom and Mark walked the trails looking for birds and fish. We spent a few hours and played cards on the beach all the way until the sunset on our trip to Hawaii.

No whales!

The beach we found was huge and not busy.

So pretty.

Dax and Seth love the ocean.

Still spotting birds.

Dad found lots of crabs.

Seth still loves playing in the sand, too.

We found a puffer fish--no longer living.

Building some family!

The sky was so pretty!

Mom and Dad love being in Hawaii!

It was the best trip! Sad to leave!

Taking fun pics!

Not ready to go to the airport.

After a quick stop for dinner and to fill up the rental van with gas, we were back on the plane. We were grateful the redeye had no stops from Maui to Salt Lake, even though we got in and had to defrost the car back home in 20 degree temperatures. We are still trying to warm up!

Fun photo spot in the airport.