This weekend we escaped to southern Utah and enjoyed two wonderful days in Zion National Park. It was absolutely, jaw-dropping beautiful.
The mountains are simply unreal. Towering sandstone cliffs on every side.
And oh, the fall colors! Golden trees everywhere. Miniature orange/red maple leaves . . . oh! be still my heart.
It was quiet, peaceful. Relaxing. A wonderful escape from real life.
There was lots of time together as a family in the outdoors, exploring, hiking, discovering. That is my absolute favorite kind of family activity.
Everyone understands that I like to take lots of photos so the boys took the lead on our hikes while Anna & I followed behind (me with my DSLR, she with her point-and-shoot). I loved her company and her observations as we pointed out rock formations, the plants, canyons, trickling streams of water, etc. to each other. We joked that we were the only ones taking the time to "admire the beauty". The boys had their own kind of fun, though . . . imagining and acting out secret agent missions with a sci-fi twist along the hiking trail.
It was such a great trip and with a year pass in our pockets we're already thinking about the next one! Next time we want to try out some of the park's slightly more adventurous hikes. The Narrows.
Below, I have included a video with a few highlights from the trip. In a series of awesome video clips we each take turns squeezing our bodies into a hole in the side of the sandstone mountain. Including me. Check it out!
Click to watch the VIDEO HERE.
On the drive home today we stopped in St. George to attend church and check out the temple and visitors center. I've never seen this one up close . . . . it is beautiful! The white is so very striking. Payton even said, "It's so white I can barely look at it." Yes, it was pretty bright.
