More fun Zion pics

Kate and I went horseback riding to the Court of the Patriarchs. Wow, it was amazing (hot as heck, but worth it). Kate rode a mule whose name was Wally and my horse's name was Havey. Yes, I was nice and sore after...I think this picture is hilarious. My three girls, all in almost the same position, leaning a little to the left. Kate playing with Carli out on the grassy field in front of the lodge.Brandon, Christian, and Aaron hanging out on the rocks at The Grotto. They had fun together. Brandon is sure happy when he has some boys around rather than just his sisters.
Mom with her cast. She was blinking. Sorry for the bad pic, Mom. :) Ben and Carli at The Grotto picnic area. These are all 2nd cousins. They had so much fun together. Here they are making visors to wear. Megan showing off her visor. We had a small visitor to our picnic area. We saw this turkey a couple days in a row.

Fun Geography Game

I was 16 miles off. What was your score?
http://www.addictinggames.com/50statesv2.html

Johnson Family Reunion at Zion National Park

What a blast our weekend at Zion was! We had almost the entire extended family on my dad's side there. We had family from California, Vegas, Utah, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was so nice to hang out with aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters-in-law, my sister, parents, and my grandma, who is the matriarch of our family. She's amazing. I'm so glad she could come and be with everyone! We had a grand time--especially the kids. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and went to a fun little mexican cafe in Springdale, just outside of the park.

If you ever go to Zion you must know that you cannot drive into the park anymore (years ago you actually could, but it was so hard to find a spot to park, congestion was awful and there were so many people) so you have to take a shuttle. I think these are great! It is so easy to hop on a shuttle and get on and off when you need to instead of fighting traffic and tons of people. The park is so peaceful and quiet and so beautiful. It has really made a huge difference in the way the park feels. You actually feel like you are enjoying the views and being outside than in a popular tourist attraction. So, since we were staying at the Zion Lodge inside the park, we had received these red parking permits that actually allowed us to drive inside the park. The trick was that we could go no farther than the Lodge or you would be in huge trouble. This would normally be fine, but with 40-some people in our group and the picnic area a 1/2 mile up the road it was not an option to just haul all the camp stoves, coolers, boxes of food, etc., up there on the shuttle or on foot. So, we were able to talk them into letting us have a handicap permit to drive up there (thanks to having a 90-yr old grandmother in our group--actually, she just turned 89, but my aunt thought it sounded better that she be 90 and it worked!). They didn't want to give us one just because we had tons of food and prep stuff to haul up there. Anyway, it worked out and we were allowed to drive the truck up to The Grotto, as it was called, to take all the stuff to fix our meals. It was fun cooking out every day with the fam. We stayed in cabins that were 4 rooms hooked together (each had their own bathroom).

In the evening the kids enjoyed playing Go Fish inside the cabin.

Claire (my cousin's daughter), Kate, and Megan posing for me at the lodge. It was so spectacular to stay in this setting!The dear came right into the lodge area to eat. The kids thought this was super cool (so did the grown-ups!).This is Carli hauling around a long tree branch she found. I just thought this was hilarious! It's so much bigger than she is. :)

My brother, Spencer, Kate, Missy (his wife), and Megan.
Carli had fun making William (my cousin, Beth's baby) smile. They were cute together.Kate and Megan were so excited when Aunt Missy got there! She is so sweet to them.Ok, I've spent a long time trying to get this post up so I'm going to sign off now, but I've got more Zion pictures coming!

Tip Junkie Giveaway!

Here are the rules to play! http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com/2007/07/contest-rules-1.html

Happy 4th of July!

We are so blessed to be in this country. We have so many freedoms that we don't even realize! I am so grateful to be in America and be able to raise my family here. So today is the 4th. Ben is spending today building shelves in our laundry room. What a guy! The kids and I are spending today in Cedar City, UT, at Grandpa and Grandma's house. I took Kate, Megan, and Carli to the parade downtown this morning. It was fun. Kate even got sprayed with the water--which she was waiting for. Megan, on the other hand, was not happy about getting wet. She just got a few drops on her back because she started running away when they came by. Carli was pretty content to hang out in the stroller, thankfully. We left the parade a little early because we were right next to the park where they were doing a carnival and Kate and Megan wanted to play on the inflatable castle. So we bought tickets for them to jump, then they wanted blue cotton candy (I forgot how yummy that stuff is!). We then headed back up the hill to my mom's. So now we're just hanging out and getting ready to have all the fam to dinner tonight, baked potato bar. Should be fun and yummy!

Watching the parade

Waiting in line for the inflatable castle. Beautiful mountains in the background!

Cotton Candy mustache.

Pouting Megan. Not sure why.

Katri's Etsy Store

This is a new friend of mine in Texas and she is just awesome! She makes the most darling things. I just wanted to put a shout out for her. Here is the link to her Etsy store. She makes wonderful blankets and lovies for kids and has just started making the lovliest little dresses for girls. Take a peek!

My 4 Faves

Four Jobs I've Held
(These were all before kids--I've been so blessed not to have to work since!)
Companion for my great-grandmother
Copy Center at Southern Utah University
Wal-Mart
Computer tech support

Four Movies I can watch over and over
Pride and Prejudice (newest and A&E versions)
Sense and Sensibility
You've Got Mail
Any of the Hayley Mills films (Parent Trap, Pollyanna to name 2)

Four places I have lived
*Hmmm, I've moved a ton so here are the last 4 (these are all since being married--before that is a whole other list!)
Texas (Austin then Ft. Worth)
Indiana
Michigan
Utah

Four TV shows I watch
Grey's Anatomy
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Rachael Ray
Heroes

Four places I have been on vacation
(basically growing up we went to Grandparents' houses in UT--these are all since being married)
Newport Beach, CA
Orlando, FL
Snowbird, UT
Virginia Beach, VA

(I've got big plans to see the world outside the US someday!)

Four Favorite Foods
(k, I love to eat, but here are some staples...hee hee)
Potatoes (in almost any way, shape, or form)
Chips and Salsa
Popcorn
Chocolate

Four Websites I Visit
MyFamily.com (Mavens site and family sites)
Friends' blogs
Executive Homemaker
LDS Friends

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now
With my hubby (he's in TX, I'm in UT)
Out with friends (anywhere would work!)
However, I'm so happy to be here with my family spending some good time with them. I love all these big family parties! We always miss out on these being in TX.
The only other place I can think of is somewhere in Europe seeing it's beauties.

Four People I'm Tagging--copy and tag four more people! Have fun!
Charisse
Thayne and Kailee
Rachelle (read her blog--she's having quints!)
Rochelle (I know you're on vaca, but you'll get to it eventually, right?)

(Wow, am I really not putting any pictures in this post?)