Zion Day 2

The views from our hotel were amazing.

Our hotel had breakfast, and we were fed and on the way into the park by 8 o'clock. The lines can be horrible, even this early in the season, but the day was fairly slow. We drove 6 minutes to the Visitor Center and got parked early. Then we started our first hike. 

Just having some breakfast!

It was only 30 degrees, which we weren't very prepared for, but moving fast helped us stay warm. The Watchman hike left right from the Visitor Center, running about 3 miles. It was a lollipop up the ridge, which looked back over the valley. We climbed steeply up to the foot of the Watchman, which is a round rock tower than looms over the park entrance. We enjoyed this hike and the lighting was perfect this time of the morning. 

Zion was super pretty in the early morning.

There was frost on everything.

We are freezing, but we are making it!

Look at those mountains!

Seth loves to climb.

Mom was the only one with a coat.

So pretty!

This time with Mom!

Someone took our family pic!

The Watchman

Since we were safely parked, we rode the shuttle out to our favorite hike in Zion called Emerald Pools. This one walks along the ridge until it comes to an overhang. Water drips right off the edge into the pools below, and since it has been snowy the last few days, it was really running! 

This trail has beautiful views.

It turned into a beautiful day.

There is one part through a narrow canyon.

The Lower Emerald Falls.

You can walk right behind it.

Next, the shuttle took us to end of the road. We didn't do the Riverside Walk that leads into the Narrows, but we enjoyed the towering rock walls. Finally, we rode the shuttle back to the Visitor Center and Mom made lunch in the van. 

The end of the line.

We had to drive out to our last two hikes, neither of which is listed in park literature. The first was a long uphill walk along a mostly dry wash. This hike is called Many Pools, and that was an apt description. We hiked up the wash past dozens of shallow, stagnant pools. It was really pretty, but it was steep and ran two miles round trip. It ended at a nice little grotto, and we scrambled up to the top of the final rock so that we could see back down the wash. This was a fun bushwhack, but it was hard on old ankles. 

We had fun exploring all of the pools.

Seth getting ready to dive in.

Some pools were quite large.

But most were small. 

The end of the trail, or at least where we stopped.

The rock formations were super cool.

Less than a mile down the road we did the Petroglyphs Hike. This one was really short, but it took us under the highway to some nice petroglyphs. We thought about going farther because we heard there was a slot canyon ahead, but it had been a long day of walking. We finally decided to drive back to the hotel and sit for a few minutes. 

We find petroglyphs so interesting.

Around 5 o'clock we walked to dinner at a sports bar right near the hotel. The food and service were great, and everyone ate really well. We didn't go back into park after that. Instead, Seth used the hot tub, and we watched the BYU-Utah basketball game.

The scenery at the hot tub was top notch!

Zion Day 1

In 2024, we visited 4 out of 5 National Parks in Utah. We only missed Zion. When the district gave the kids a consecutive Friday and Monday so the teachers could work, Dad decided to take his personal days. We spent the 4-day weekend in Zion. 

We rolled out mid-morning on Friday and made a stop for lunch in Cedar City. We ate in the car and kept right on rolling to Kolob Canyon. We hadn't really visited this area for a long time, and we were surprised at the weather. The fog was socked in, and the snow was at least half a foot deep. This area is so beautiful, but honestly, we couldn't really tell. We'd planned a hike, but decided to postpone it for next time.

There was a lot of snow. 

It snowed back in Lehi most of the time we were gone.

We were not prepared for such weather. 

We continued on down to St. George and visited a museum instead. This was a small historical airplane museum at the airport. We only spent around 45 minutes, walking among the planes with a zealous guide. The planes were pretty cool, but Dad liked the M*A*S*H jeep packed into a box for shipping. The boys liked climbing in one of the cargo planes and peeking out the windows.

Not sure I want to ride with this pilot.

There was one large bomber we could go inside and peek out.

It was a fun museum to explore.

Having a fun time!

The guide offered to take a family pic after he saw me taking a selfie.

Our next stop was a park that Mom has had her eye on. She offered Seth $10 for modeling at the park, but that kind of backfired because Mark and Dax wanted the $10, too. Soon, all the boys were mugging and posing like runway models. Fortunately, that made the park extra fun, and Mom got some great photos for the website.

Seth is always our best photo model. 

This slide was super fast!

Mom and Dad had to try, too!

This park was also next to the Virgin River.

There was a mini waterfall. 

We love exploring along the riverbanks.

We chose this park because it was right by the new temple. Mom had an appointment for baptisms, and though we'd been to the Open House last year, we hadn't been back. The boys really liked being in the temple, and since it's exactly like Saratoga, we easily found our way. Mom commented that she loves that we can all go to the temple together on vacations now. 

Beautiful grounds and scenery at the Red Cliffs temple. Also, Mark is a pro at taking pics.

Someone nice took our photo!

We love going to the temple together.

It was quite windy and Seth's hair was hilarious!!

Our favorite pizza place, Roy's has closed, but a new pizza place popped up in the same building. Not only that, they sold everything to the new place-- plates, cups, art, so we barely missed anything! Mark dove right into the pizza, which was a small miracle, too.

Finally we made the hour drive over to Springdale to the hotel. We had a pretty nice place to stay, and we turned in early so we could get a good start on Saturday.

Basketball

All three boys played basketball in the Lehi Rec League, and guess who got to coach? Mark played his last year with his friends, and they had a great season. All of their games drew massive crowds of mostly high school girls. Though the year ended on a sour note, with their opponent using two illegal players to oust them from the tournament, the boys had fun. Mostly, they were collecting and celebrating mission calls during the season. All but one of the nine boys decided to go, and they were spread all across every continent. We have a pretty little map that shows the following:

Nate to Chile

Conner to Taiwan

Mark to Argentina

Mason to Portugal

Max to Ghana

Will to South Africa

Tyce to Australia

Robbie (pending)

Missing Kayden, but Mark's team!

Mark is a great team captain.

It has been a blast watching Mark play basketball. 

Dax's year in basketball was also exciting. Since his school boundaries realigned and he moved to Lehi Junior High, he lost a lot of his teammates from previous years. Luckily, Dax picked up some other players, including a few from the neighborhood. We fielded a pretty good team. Our record was around .500 again, and we did okay in the tournament. In the final game against a juggernaut, he scored 30 points and brought us back from 10 down in the last minute, draining a logo three to pull us within two. We had a chance to win, but a teammate missed a three. Best of all, Dax worked really hard on helping others to realize their potential and on being a patient teammate. We were really proud of the progress he made on who he is becoming.

Dax's team

Dax has quite the style when he plays.

Dax grew up so much this year. His long three was from that white line.

Seth played basketball with his good friend, but it was a pretty frustrating year. They were the only two real basketball players on their team of ten, and Dad had to keep one of them on the court at all times, or we couldn't even bring the ball up. This meant that they only played together if someone was missing from the game. Still, they worked hard and won about half their games as well. Seth was a great scorer, and an even better passer and rebounder.

Seth's team

Seth is a great point guard. He had a lot of assists.

We are lucky to have the best coach in our house!