Parkinson Family: St. George retreat

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

St. George retreat

Of course, we wouldn't miss a session in the St. George temple- so beautiful!

Aaron and I had the opportunity of taking a little getaway vacation with just the two of us to St. George from June 14th-18th. It was a wonderful 4 days!! We stayed in Sandy at my parents' on Friday night, and then headed out on Saturday morning. We are so grateful to my parents for watching the kids for us while we were away!

Our first stop was a small museum off the highway just 15 min. North of St. George. I love ghost towns and really wanted to stop and see one. There was not much left of this one, but it was really neat to see what was there. It is called Silver Reef. It was a mining town that boomed around 1870. The Wells Fargo Bank and another bank are the only remaining buildings left standing, but the museum was fascinating and we took a little tour. I loved the tour guide- he was like the classic mountain man and so fun! They had a mini model of what the town would have looked like back then. It was fun to imagine what life would've been like for them.

Aaron and I also spent an evening hiking in Snow Canyon, where there are tunnels called "tube caves" that were formed when lava was flowing through the canyon and the top cooled faster than what was underneath. We had fun climbing through a few of those tunnels. They are practically hidden until you get into the canyon and explore a little.

On Sunday, we took some time to visit some of the historic sites in St. George. St. George was one of the first mormon settlements, so there is a lot of history there. We visited the Brigham Young home and the Jacob Hamblin home.

I love taking a step back in time and learning about the way they lived. It definitely makes me grateful for my life and the luxuries I enjoy! As a woman, I am particularly grateful for all the conveniences we have now, and wouldn't trade those women back then. I admire their faith and strength. I feel like kind-of a wimp compared to them, and makes me want to be more grateful and enjoy the life I have!! I like to say that I would have made a really tough pioneer woman, and I'm sure if I was born into that time, I could've done it and maybe even done it well. I would just hate to have them step into my time for a day and say, "what is your problem? You have it so good!" It's true.

On Tuesday, Aaron and I decided to do something adventurous and we hiked up Angel's Landing in Zion Canyon. This is something I've always wanted to do and never had the chance. We brought the kids to Zion in the spring of 2012 when I was pregnant with Jordan, but we only went on short hikes we could take the kids on. Even though I was 22 weeks pregnant this time, the hike wasn't too bad. It took Aaron and I about 2 hours ? to do the whole thing, if I remember right. We took a little break at the top to enjoy the view.

Enjoying the view from the top

Notice the chains that have been put into the
rock for extra safety- I was grateful for those,
as it was pretty scary for me in a few places!!

Behind Aaron is the narrow climb up to the very top.

We had the opportunity of going to the Tuacahn theatre for two shows that week, one on Monday night and one on Tuesday night. I was so sore on Monday night after climbing Angel's Landing, I could hardly walk!! That night, we watched the "Wizard of Oz", which was amazing!

The second night we saw the play "The Little Mermaid". I would've been extremely impressed with the Wizard of Oz alone, but after seeing "The Little Mermaid", I would rate "the Wizard of Oz" a 6 and "The Little Mermaid" a "10"! It was over and beyond what I had expected!!! Wow! The way they used water on the stage for all their effects was simply phenomenal!! We would definitely go again!

On Tuesday morning, we spent some time golfing at a course nearby. Aaron golfed 9 holes while I sat in the cart with my book :) The weather was perfect, pretty mild for June. Aaron always calls me his "good luck charm" because he usually does really well when I am with him. (I know he's just trying to impress his girl...) Some of the other golfers commented on how well he did, especially for someone who just had back surgery 4 months ago.

It was a great vacation! It has been 3 years since we went on a trip with just the two of us so it was much needed! We would love to get away like that every year! It just makes every- day life a little easier to handle when you have something like that to look forward to.

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Parkinson funnies

Nov 2012- Aaron was watching football on TV and Jared came out saying, "I want to go watch grass!"

Dec 2011- Heidi said one morning, "Mom, there's frosting on the house!" (on a cold day when frost was on the house).

June 2, 2011- Driving in the car Kyle said to his sister, "If you don't learn to talk, Jesus will make you talk Spanish." (He explained later that he actually meant sign language. That's how he thought it worked.)

Feb 28, 2011- Kyle said, "I don't like to have babysitters because they are only supposed to take care of babies!" Then we explained that they can take care of bigger kids too.

Dec 15, 2010- Kyle said, "I know how they make egg nog. First they dump in the eggs and mix them around. Then they put in the nog..."

Oct 20, 2010- Kyle said, "Mom, is some cheese blue?" I said it is called blue cheese but isn't really that blue. He said, "Well, then does it taste like blueberries?" I love all the questions he asks about how the world works- He's really trying to figure things out.

Oct 7, 2010- We were driving by Arctic Circle and Kyle said, "Is that the hamburger hut? I like that hut." I am wondering if he was remembering a time when we went to "Pizza Hut".

Aug 12, 2010- We were driving by a farm where there was a big fire burning up the field and Kyle said, "Dad, is that where the indians live?"

Aug 8, 2010- We were driving in the car and Kyle said, "Dad, I think I 'm truck-sick." "You mean car sick?" "No, truck sick- when you're sick in the truck."

Aug 2, 2010- We were headed off to a doctor's appointment for the baby and he was crying. Kyle said, "Mom, I think he's crying because you said he is going to get a shot."

June 28, 2010- The other day at dinner it was Heidi's turn to pray and daddy was helping her. She was just repeating everything word for word when he got to "Please bless it.." and said it 3 times. Finally I had to open my eyes to see what the hold up was. Well, little Heidi was just stuffing spaghetti in her mouth as fast as she could and it was hanging out all over. We all just bust up laughing. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer!

May 19, 2010- On the way home from the hospital after seeing their new baby brother, Erika said, "When I was born mom and dad said that I looked blue." Kyle said, "And when I was born I was pink and red. "

Dec 9,2009- The other day we were eating dinner and Kyle didn't want to eat. He said, "I don't like to eat aliens!" We told him there were no aliens in his dinner. Then, realizing what he was talking about, I said, "You mean onions?" He kept calling onions "aliens" and we got a kick out of it.

Nov 20, 2009- Erika lost another tooth at school today. Kyle said to her, "Erika, when my tooth gets loose and comes out, I'll give mine to you."

Oct 10, 2009- Today Erika said, "Mom, someday when I'm older, I want to get that recipe from you!"

Sept 9, 2009- We couldn't find our puppy anywhere and had driven all over the neighborhood to find him. Finally about 2 hours later Kyle showed up holding him and I said, "Where did you find him?" He said, "In the killer-box". "The what?" "The cooler-box". He had stuck him in a cooler in our backyard and forgotten about it. We were glad he was okay!! I felt terrible and gave him some extra TLC for a little while.

Sept 4, 2009- Erika said tonight, "You know what my favorite thing is about school? It's lunch... and learning... and break!" We said, "Isn't that the whole thing?"

Aug 17,2009- We were camping and had brought all our bikes. As we were leaving camp for a little while, Aaron commented that it might have been wise to bring a chain to lock up our bikes so they wouldn't get stolen. Erika said, "Or, we could have just brought a sign that said, 'DON'T STEAL!'".

July 12, 2009- Today at church Kyle looked at my Young Women's Medallion and said, "Mom, is that you on the necklace?"

July 3, 2009- Kyle had been sleeping down in Erika's room with some friends and came upstairs before we went to bed. He said, "Mom, there was some noise down there. I think it was the tooth fairy, coming to get the loose tooth."