You get a current (ish) event today because Annie is probably my most faithful reader and I know she would like to see this post. And I love to cater to my readers. Annie is Ivory's bestie who left us last summer and moved to Florida. Traitor. It wasn't her choice, so we forgive her. You can find her on the blog here and there, but she has been part of Ivory's life for many years.
Ivory visited last summer. (Yep, that's a post that isn't written yet.) So it was Annie's turn. Her parents surprised her at Christmas with tickets to Utah, but Ivory wasn't supposed to know. Ivory is ridiculously good at figuring out surprises before they happen, so she had her suspicions, but she was still adequately surprised when Annie showed up during the State Wrestling meet. (Yep, Ivory wrestles. That's also a post that isn't written yet.)
Ivory was so thrilled to have Annie there.
We only got to watch one match. (We missed the others) This round was to determine third and fourth place. It was pretty brutal. Ivory pinned the girl the day before and the bitter girl was back with a vengeance. Ivory was never pinned, but she got a bloody nose and was creamed in points. But I don't think she even cared. She got 4th in STATE!! Way to go.
Somewhere in there, Isaac arrived. Isaac is Ivory's guy and Annie's great friend. The weekend wouldn't be complete without all three of these hooligans.
Once State was done, we headed home, packed the car and took off for a birthday trip. Ivory wanted to ride horses. We had a trip planned nearby, but it fell through and option B option E was down near Zion's National Park. We got a late start, but the kids were patient in the car and we had a fairly relaxing ride down to the resort. We found our key and cabin easily and soon had everyone tucked in so we could get a few winks before the next day.
The next day dawned sunny and gorgeous. We hadn't seen the lovely canyon the night before in the dark, but it was a stunning place.
First off, we had breakfast.
Just kidding, that was NOT breakfast. But you have to have treats around for people to snack on. Ivory chose some of her favorites for the trip.
Everyone was in charge of helping with a meal or cleaning up. Everyone was so good about pitching in. It all went very smoothly. Our breakfast paninis were a hit. I wish I could thank the lady who mentioned this recipe in passing one morning at the school. I've gotten so much mileage out of it.
As you can see, the cabin was lovely. It even came with its own hot tub which Tyler and Pearl used right away. Nothing like a morning soak.
We all kept busy and teenagers will be...teenagers.
Annie and Ivory were on lunch prep. They were so great to pack lunch for everyone so we'd have food after horseback riding.
We even had time for a quick game of Bang Dice before we left, although the poor Sheriff's were put out of their misery quickly in both games.
Then back in the car to drive out to our adventure. Normally the riding excursions left from the resort, but in the winter rides were half an hour away. That wasn't a problem at all. These kids love the car.
I had a small contest going to see who would get the horse with a name closest to the beginning of the alphabet. I guessed Dad would and I won (he won?) since he got Buddy.
Ivory was riding on Erp.
Daisy had Cobra, Annie got a Mule named Dolly, and Pearl was on Yeller.
This is King, who was Robyn's ride.
Isaac's horse, Romeo, had a cool brand on his flank.
And I was on Knocka (sp?) Everyone was able to get on their horse easily. It wasn't the most exciting ride. We stayed in a line and tried to keep our horses from eating the shrubbery, which didn't look that tasty considering it was winter and everything was dried and sickly. But the horses seemed to love it and no one succeeded in keeping their horse from snacking and grazing along the way.
My horse stayed in the back. She was the only Mare and didn't like to be followed. Our guides, Brook and Mormon gave us lots of info about the area and plants. It was a nice relaxing ride. It wasn't nearly long enough. We got to the slot canyon and turned around. Now everyone was in reverse order, except for me...I was still at the back.
A group photo was a struggle. It's hard to get the horses to stay in place and we make a long line. This was our first try. Notice anyone missing?
After backing up a bit more, Brook was able to get us all in the photo. Nice job!
Then a few more photos because why not? Can you spot Mormon and Brook in one of them?
We found a pretty funny sign on the way there and stopped to take a picture. I wonder how many people actually get mixed up and take this road, only to find out that it is NOT the road to Zion. Bummer.
On the way home, we stopped by a gem and rock shop. Why is there always a dinosaur out front? We saw several other shops and most had a dino out front. Is it a thing? Is it supposed to make the rocks feel older?
We had a lot of fun browsing. There were some really beautiful things. Ivory and Annie bought matching purple rings since that is their birth month color.
Back at the cabin, there was plenty of time to lounge and play. Lots of people got into the hot tub, and everyone who wanted a nap, got one.
I worked on dinner while the kids snoozed. I asked Tyler to heat up some beans with cheese on them. This isn't exactly what I meant...
The evening was really fun. Dinner was delicious and then there were games and LOTS of Henna. Isaac borrowed Ivory's tank top, which was very flattering on him.
We played a new game called Dixit. It was really fun and we enjoyed all the strange art. Robyn should make us some more cards. She clearly has the skills for it. Her designs turned out so well on everyone.
We tried some Ravine. It was a rough game. There was plenty of insanity. Isaac couldn't speak, Ivory ended up hugging him most of the game (the rules said so) and Tyler and I died almost immediately. Amazingly, Ivory and Robyn were rescued. I missed most of that since...you know...I died right away and went to read my book. :)
We spent a little time in the hot tub. The stars were so pretty. I'm sorry we didn't get pictures because even though the tub wasn't that 'hot' when people emerged into the cold air, they would steam. Annie said, "Isaac, you are literally smoking hot!"
We braided hair, and read stories. Isaac couldn't complain. He was surrounded by beautiful women. It was a fun evening being together.
It was a quick weekend in and out, so Saturday dawned and we packed and washed dishes and cleaned up the premises. I really have a great family and Issac and Annie were great too. Everyone chipped in and we tidied up quickly.
Pearl was out stalking the deer. She found one every day, and often multiple. She has a good eye.
Thank you Casa de Canyon. You were a beautiful place to stay. We may visit again.
I missed this photo op, but luckily everyone shared pictures so now the whole world (all five people who read this blog) can enjoy this model pose by Isaac.
These three amigos are so cute. I'm so glad they got to spend this weekend together.
On the way out, we stopped to play some mini-golf since it was free. (Only free during the winter months) The big hit was all the ice in the ponds. Everything was frozen over, but it was sunny, so there was melting, causing huge chunks of ice to split off. You could use your putter to hook the ice or chop at it. I think everyone played in the water at some point.
And of course, we also golfed. We split our group, letting the three ninnies go together. They were much faster than our other group.
At one point Isaac's ball landed almost in the middle of a frozen pond. But Tyler used some ninja moves to get it. I didn't want to have a Little Women reenactment happening on my watch.
The trinity finished early and spent some time in the gift shop, while Robyn and I duked it out for first place. We tied.
We had officially checked out, but we had more plans in town. We jumped in the car and headed toward Hurricane.
There was only one obstacle between us and our destination and it was kind of a big one. It was Zion's National park. You don't get in without paying a chunky fee. But to drive around is an extra 100 miles or so. So we paid our $35 dollars and I told the kids to not blink so they didn't miss a moment of the beauty we had just bought for them. I like that there are red roads all through Zion's. You can tell when you have entered their territory.
Brooke had mentioned that she often sees Bighorn sheep in the park. I saw some right away as we came in, but the kids missed them. Then there was a lot of complaining of how I made up said sheep since no more were to be found. Luckily, we stopped before a tunnel and Daisy spotted some above. See? They exist.
Like many families, we hold our breath through tunnels. This was a nice long one. We all died. There were a few 'windows' we passed and had we been allowed to take a small breath at each, I think most of us would have survived. As is, it was a tragic end for all breath holders.
It really was a beautiful trip and probably worth the money.
We were on a schedule since we had movie tickets for the afternoon. We went to see the new Tom Holland movie, Uncharted. It was full of action, and swear words. It was very entertaining. And they definitely set it up for a sequel. So stay tuned.
With some of our other time, we perused antique stores. It was fun to search around and find fun objects. Tyler found some blasts from his past; items that were just like ones his grandmother owned.
Then back in the car for the final leg of the journey back home. We got this. There was a lovely sunset and some sub par food along the way. Ivory tends to request home cooked meals and I can see why.
We arrived back safely and the trio got one more henna before parting.
It wasn't much of a parting. The girls were up early, literally waiting for Isaac around 7 in the morning. He wanted to come over for present opening and see Annie one more time before she left. United again.
We opened gifts early since June was able to be there with us. It was nice to have the whole family there, plus a couple extra.
Ivory got some great gifts. Annie gave her a really cool jewelry box, jewelry included. She now has a cute necklace with their nicknames, Banana and Angel on it. :) The most surprising gift was Norbert that we bought for her ages ago and managed to keep hidden. (See, finally something she didn't know about in advance.)
Then...all the goodbyes. It was so fun to see these three together and it was very sad to pull them apart again. First goodbye to Isaac.
And then goobye to Ivory at the airport. We are so glad you came Annie! I'm sure time will bring you all back together again. And you were definitely Ivory's best gift this weekend.
Hope you all enjoyed this rather long post. It is finally the...
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