I am finally posting about Fall break from October! For the past few years, Nate & I have gone to St. George for our Fall Break to visit Melissa, Sam, & Jenna. This year Nate had to work (it is sad with him not having all the holiday & school breaks anymore) but he was nice enough to let me go visit with my mom & sisters. He's the best!

My mom & I left Friday right after work & got to St. George at about 10pm. Jenna had called while we were driving & was so cute. We asked what her bedtime was & she said either 6:30, 7:30, 2:30, or 4:30, haha! But she said she probably be awake when we got there because she would stay awake in bed. We visited with Melis & Sam awhile & then went to bed.

Saturday morning Jenna came & woke us up & we went on a long walk, talking Lulu with us(Jenna's puppy). Some runners came by & when they were pretty far away, Melissa set her down. She ran extremely fast & chased them about 1/2 a mile without them knowing while my mom & I were chasing after her! Then we got donuts & had a relaxing breakfast. Afterwards, we headed up to Cedar City to see the fall leaves changing. We went to a pretty lake that we had gone to last year & walked around the lake. I love seeing the fall colors & it almost makes me want to live somewhere cold(for a month), but actually I'd just rather visit it!! Jenna caught a little frog & carried it around in her hood with her jacket on backwards so she could see & talk to it, haha! We went to a park with the most gorgeous,bright yellow trees surrounding it & a little river below. I could not stop looking at all the beautiful leaves, it really was gorgeous. Then we headed to a pizza place where we got some delicious bbq chicken pizza. It had tomato sauce on the crust & then BBQ sauce drizzled on top, genius!! I am going to try & recreate that at home!



Sunday we went to church & it was fun to go to classes with Melis. Afterwards, we relaxed, had dinner, played with Jenna in her amazing fort that Sam built, & visited.

Monday morning Brooke came with Britt (who apparently slept the whole drive as well as each day in the car during her visit... haha!), Rhett, Ethan, & Kade. We met at a pizza place to have lunch & then got some delicious ice cream at the Red Barn. After that we went to the most amazing swimming pool. It was indoors & had a big twisty slide with no line & no monitoring, lily pads, & lots of things for the kids to jump on. We went on the slide about 15 times & then stopped once the boys discovered you could spray hoses at whoever was coming down.. It was so fun all being together!



Tuesday we went hiking in the red rocks & down in some lava tube caves. It was such a pretty hike & amazing weather. The boys were all really good at hiking in the caves & rock climbing up the red rocks. Jenna was brave to & loved the caves! In the evening we went to the pumpkin patch. It was so much fun watching the kids go down the big slides, bounce on the huge trampoline, & just seeing all of the fall decor & cute little animals. We went on a hay ride & then headed back to the house.





Wednesday morning mom & I went to the St. George temple. I had never been inside & that was my favorite temple growing up so it was cool to be able to go inside. Afterwards, we made a picnic & went to the most amazing kids park with everyone. It had all of these crazy park features, waterfalls in the splash pad area, & even a volcano that erupted & had smoke every 45 minutes!! We were a little disappointed there was no lava though, would have expected that at a St. George park.. Brooke was pushing the kids on this big thing where you sit in seats and spin & this little boy came up and asked to get on. Brooke said, "not right now" & then a minute later he was back with his mom & asked to get on. Not seeing his mom, Brooke said, "you need to wait" a little harshly & the boy & mom walked off. We were all cracking up & then a minute later Brooke hoped on the ride with plenty of room, hahaha!! We had a picnic for lunch. Mom had bought rolls, meat, & cheese & as we were eating it Jenna said, "this food is not very good", not impressed. After lunch we headed back to AZ.


Classic party in the pantry with Jenna, haha!


It was such a fun visit. I love my sisters & mom so much & am so thankful for how close we all are!

This post is late & out of order, but I wanted to post about our weekend in Snowflake this summer. We stayed at my Grandma & Grandpa Flake's big house. I love that house, it has so many good memories. Everyone sitting in the big room on couches, chairs, & the ground to talk until everyone starts almost dozing off. Eating fresh baked bread & crab apple jam while visiting with my sweet grandma. Sitting next to grandpa on his recliner & laughing with him, he still always knows how to make everyone laugh. Riding quads in the cedars. When I was little, my dad would take me on the giraffe neck, which was a hill that went up & down & seemed soooo huge. This year I rode on the back of the quad while Nate drove us up & down the giraffe neck & it seemed so little!!! Sitting on the big lawn & watching all the boys play kickball & enjoying the perfect temperature & green everywhere. Swinging under the big willow tree with my sisters. The parade & watching kids get hit with candy & dance to the music. Time visiting with aunts, uncles, & cousins. Getting ice cream from the old fashioned house. Visiting the old Flake house & reading stories of our ancestors. Going to the night rodeo in Taylor, watching the bucking broncos & eating way too much kettlecorn. I celebrated my 29th birthday (can't believe I'm almost 30!! I went the whole year thinking I was 27, turning 28 until Nate corrected me!) & we did fireworks in the field & mom made my favorite chocolate mousse pie. It was a great birthday surrounded by family!!!

My grandpa isn't doing too great & this year, we had a family meeting talking about options. It broke my heart thinking that their big house might be sold. There are so many wonderful memories there & I have always dreamed of bringing my kids there. I am thankful for all of my wonderful memories in Snowflake & with my grandparents & family. We have such an amazing family & I know that the important thing is that my grandma & grandpa are taken care of. They are the best!

A few weeks ago, Nate & I went to slide rock with Mom,Dad, Brooke, Cody, & the boys, Britt, & Matt. When we were younger, we used to go there once a summer. Brooke's boys hadn't ever been though & neither had Nate! We found a Saturday that everyone could go & planned to leave at 6am to get there when it opened. That morning we looked at the weather report & it was stormy & rainy. Brooke & Cody had already woken up & left at 5:45, so we decided we might as well still head down there at the time planned. We drove down with Britt & Matt. We all met up at a restaurant & got hot chocolates & snacks while we watched the pouring rain & hoped it would stop. It was actually really nice & relaxing just being able to visit & watch the storm. After about an hour, the rain suddenly stopped & we headed to Slide Rock. There were hardly any people there so we hurried down & got a prime spot to be by the main rock slide. Half the fun is watching people awkwardly slip and fall and seeing their faces going down the slide, haha!!

The sun came out & even though the water was freezing, we all went down the rock slides over & over again, going in a train with everyone! It was so much fun! We took a break for lunch & then headed back down to slide down some more! It ended up being such a fun day!!!

Slide rock pictures are always the best!!!