Utah Trip - part 1

The day after Mary's musical theatre performance, we started off on our trip to Utah for a family reunion. We decided to just drive half-way the night before, so we stayed at a really cheap (translation: dumpy) motel in Page, AZ. Yuck. The kids were astonished at how old and gross it was.... we had just stayed at a fancy resort the weekend before, so I think they had raised their standards pretty high. They were also pretty disappointed that the three of them had to share a bed. (They are getting kind of big for it, so I don't blame them.) Thankfully it was only one night.

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Brighton sky resort where we stayed with Jay's extended family. His uncle had arranged for wonderful accomodations, but there were LOTS of people, so the kids still had to share a bed. Though it was much better this time. (Mary is going to be pretty embarrassed if she ever sees this photo with her nightgown scrunched up to her waist.)
We had a great time in Brighton, visiting with family we don't see very often, eating lots of good food, taking hikes, and having talent shows. We went on lots of short hikes nearby with the younger kids, but Jay took Collin and an older cousin on a longer hike up to where we could there were patches of snow. Mary and Jack were disappointed that they weren't able to go on that one, so I took them for a walk around the lake. It was beautiful! We saw moose and deer, a family of ducks......... and snow! They were delighted, even though it was disgusting and dirty. (Those little desert rats are easily impressed.)