This year we decided to go on a little "Pre-vacation" before our actual Thanksgiving vacation! We headed down to Capitol Reef on Tuesday morning. We had such a great time. I think we are going to make it a yearly tradition. We did something like this when we just had Camille and Garet and we were reminiscing about how much fun it was. We went to Goblin Valley in 2007 and camped for 2 nights. Well since we have a new baby and 5 children to tote around we opted for the hotel this time. We got a sweet deal on a hotel in Torrey that had 2 queen beds and a couch bed, so we were set. Of course, all the kids cared about was the swimming pool:) Tuesday night we drove around Torrey to find a place to eat dinner and discovered that only one restaurant was open. It's a very seasonal town and everything shuts down during the off season, so luckily one restaurant was still open! It was a yummy little mom and pop diner. Camille and Garet enjoyed doing the little Jr. Ranger program also. They got a badge for their hard work:)
A little board walk to see some petroglyphs.
We went on a little hike to Hickman Bridge. A very impressive arch.
You can see the arch in the background and some tiny little people (me, Camille, Garet, and Mason) standing at the bottom of the arch.
On our way to the arch we found a mini Gemini Bridges (for you Moab fans)!
The weather could not have been more perfect. Southern Utah in November is beautiful.
Camille trying her hand out at the camera.
Of course, little Paige just slept the whole time. She is 5 weeks old in these picts.
One very cool thing about Capitol Reef is that the Mormon pioneers settled a little town called Fruita and planted a whole bunch of orchards, which are still kept up by the National Park Service today. This old barn, an old schoolhouse, and a blacksmith shop are still standing.
If you visit the park during the harvest you can walk through the orchards and pick/eat the fruit. They have apple, peach, pear, cherry, plum, almond, and walnut trees. We just might have to visit during September next year!
We drove through the campground to check it out and saw all these deer.
And a buck! They were very tame and shaggy looking. The ranger at the visitor center told us that they are small and shaggy because they eat the fruit from the trees and it's not good for them. Interesting!
On Wednesday afternoon we headed to Goblin Valley on our way to Duchesne. The kids love this place and we spent a couple hours exploring the goblins and eating lunch!
This was one of the only times Garet stopped so we could take a picture. He ran and ran the whole time.
It is so fun to go do things with our little - I mean "not so little" family. The kids were so good in the car and we had such an enjoyable time exploring our beautiful Utah.
Now on to the "Vacation".....
Next stop...Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's house for Thanksgiving!
The pie spread! We had 2 pumpkins, banana cream, coconut cream, lemon, 2 chocolates, pecan pumpkin, cherry, and peach! Wow!
We also go to enjoy the new kitchen! They just finished it two days before Thanksgiving. It was so spacious. It didn't even feel too crowded with everyone trying to make dinner.
The feast! Mason decided to throw a fit right as we were about to eat. His plate is at the bottom of the picture. He missed eating with everyone, but eventually ate afterwards. He threw quite a few fits during our stay. I think lack of sleep and too much excitement sets him off sometimes. We keep telling ourselves that he'll eventually out grow it....I think I can....I think I can... keep being patient with that boy!
Friday we headed to the mountains the chop down a tree. We were thinking there wouldn't be any snow, but were very surprised when we got up the road. Me, Dallin, Jared, and Mason went hiking up the hill to find the perfect tree! We found a beautiful one!
Dallin eating lunch in the back of Will's truck.
Will brought the razor and the kids were in heaven. Luke and Dallin were happy to just sit on it and push buttons.
A load of kids and Grandpa. Hang on!
Group photo in front of the trees. We were missing Jason and Melissa:( They went to Montana for the holiday.
These are just random photos.
Our first snow storm....Dallin's first snow. He loved it!
Mason showed him the ropes of playing in the snow and even took him on a sleigh ride. What a good brother!
