St. George

When our friends asked us a week or so ago if we wanted to come down to St. George with them, we jumped at the chance.  It was a great deal: good friends, the chance to babysitter swap and go out on a date, warmer weather, a fun town, and her parents have a beautiful second home down there for us to stay in.  In fact, this was the view from their kitchen.

We ended up spending most of our time lounging around the house, since both families have a little nursing baby, but I don't think that was a bad thing.  We hardly saw the kids, since the four older kids spent the whole weekend running around in the yard.  Sometimes even in their jammies.

Jasmine was very excited that we let her crawl around on the warm concrete out there.  She is constantly trying to head out the door when Tyler comes home from school, so when she got to run around with the others and chase the remote controlled car, she was in heaven.

And I have to throw this picture in just because it is so Kaitlyn.  Climbing all over, and using big hand motions to get the gist of her long-winded stories across.

My favorite part of the weekend was that we each got in a Valentine's date.  The other couple went out and wandered the Parade of Homes for a few hours one day, starting with the home three doors down that has the same layout as this one (and not as much view).  But for our date, we ended up making a little bit of a splurge.

The house was just 5 minutes from the mouth of Snow Canyon, so we went horseback riding!  Christopher had never actually gone on a horseback ride before, and I hadn't been out of a corral on a horse since I was a teenager.  Sure, these trips are just a slow walk on a trail, but when you are surrounded by beautiful red rocks, it is a wonderful and relaxing way to take in the scenery.

One thing I learned quickly, however, is that no matter how awesome the landscape is, trying to take pictures one handed while steering a bumpy horse with the other hand is not the easiest plan.

But the way the sunset lit up the rocks was too beautiful to leave my camera in the bag!

I was also fascinated by the blues and greens in the vegetation next to the red and black in the rocks.

And our guide was really great to chat with as we rode.

The only other activity we really fit in was a trip to the pool.  Which made me glad that I brought along my waterproof camera.  Underwater shots!

Someday we'll convince Tyler to close his mouth in the water!

Kaitlyn loved jumping in.

And then there was baby.  She thought the water was a bit cold, but still decided it was okay.  Since our house is still covered in snow up here, we certainly decided it was worth it!