One More Trip to St. George!

I know what you are probably thinking- holy crap! Are these people ever home?

Well, the answer is NO. We have been gone so much lately, so we figured, Hey! What's one more?! And we headed down to St. George this last weekend for a 3 day trip.

The best part of this little trip though was that it was with Robert's family!

Robert's sister Tina and her family were in Utah for a couple weeks and Rob's brother Ross and his family were in Utah as well. They decided to plan a trip to St. George so they could see their parents (if you remember, they are on a mission on an Indian reservation right now and live just 4 hours from St. George). They invited us to come down as well and there was no way we were passing up the chance to see all of them and to see Grandma & Grandpa Hunsaker. I brought down Devanie (niece from another of Rob's sisters, Amy) & her friend Emily with me. (Dev is living with us right now before college) Rob's brother Mikal and his son Bryce decided to fly in from CA to see everyone too! So in conclusion, we had 5 of the 7 siblings represented! The only big bummer was that Rob wasn't able to be there, but he is off taking care of our family in CA and we love him for it.

So the meeting spot was St. George for 3 days! It was short, but we packed in lots of fun!

The drive down produced this picture that I just have to share because it makes me laugh! 

(He's going to kill me someday!)

When we first got to St. George (Thursday afternoon), we got settled and then headed over to the hotel that the family was staying at (we stayed at my Uncle's trailer home to save money). It was so HOT! I love St. George so much, but not in the summer. The heat makes me so anxious. The pool was the perfect way to cool off and to spend time together! The kids were adorable to watch.

Boy, was Drake excited to see these two! Grandma Hunsaker said he ran up to her and gave her a giant hug (I was lagging behind and missed that cute moment). He loves them both so much and thanks to Skype, we've been able to keep that relationship strong while they've been gone.

These pictures describe them both perfectly! :)

 Nancy made us a dinner that she's learned on her mission- Navajo tacos. They were delicious! We spent the night reuniting, wrestling, playing, and visiting!

What great aunts and uncles to pay so much attention to Drakey!

Some of the cousin buddies

 Ross, Elaine, Jess, and Collin read us scriptures in Spanish and Ross translated. It was pretty incredible to see all that they had learned living in the Dominican Republic!

Then, Calvin & Nancy gave us a special report on their mission and shared some neat experiences which were wonderful to hear.  

Drake couldn't get enough of his Grandma. He followed her everywhere and expected her to follow him too.  I know he has missed her so much. There is no one who has quite the same soft touch with Drake as Grandma does. (I love this moment of them together)

Beautiful St. George sunset-

On Friday, Blake & Tina took us on a beautiful hike (Red Cliffs Trail) and we got some great pictures. Well let me expound on that- I decided not to bring my big camera on the hike and grabbed my phone to take pictures. While packing things in a backpack, I dropped it and shattered the screen. Yeah, it was really fun and I was really happy about it too. Luckily, it still worked so I got a few shots with it during the hike, but was mad about the situation. Thankfully, my sweet sister-in-law backed me up with lots of great pictures. (I'm still so mad about this- any suggestions of where to take it. I have no insurance cause I bought it used)

Despite the stupid phone incident, the hike was gorgeous! Drake had an absolute ball! And so did the rest of us- it was one of my favorite parts of the trip!

(Great picture of your dad, Tina!)

(Look at that red face- he was working so hard during this hike- throwing rocks...kicking sand...running...inspecting the bugs...)

 I loved watching Grandpa taking pictures of Drake. :)

                

 

After lunch and naps Friday afternoon, we swam again at the hotel (this time with everyone) and had a ball. I loved playing with my cute nieces and everyone entertained Drake. The older kids played basketball. Just awesome family time!

The night ended with dinner at The Pizza Factory and then Emma wanted ice cream. Great idea Emma! 

So, to Nielsen's Frozen Custard we went- Mmmmmmm!

 Oh my goodness, little Lucy is so cute!

Saturday morning, the adults were able to go to the temple. What a wonderful experience and something I really needed right now. 

Gorgeous St. George Temple-

I love my in-laws so much and feel extremely blessed to be a part of this family!

 (Mikal & Bryce went earlier so we didn't get a picture of them)

Blake & Tina headed for home after the temple. But, the rest of us headed to Antigravity (a trampoline place) to let the kids play around before the long ride home. The adults ended up having just as much fun. We left there sticky and sweaty! Slushies cooled the kiddos right down though and I had to snap a picture of my darling nephew Collin!

One last stop for lunch at the best burger joint around was the perfect way to end the trip.

 This truly was three days of memories made! We had such a great time and we already miss our Hunsaker family so much. I feel like Drake just starts to get warmed up to everyone and then we have to say goodbye. :( It's a bummer, but we will take whatever time we get together and make the very best of it!  It was so good to be with family. I was kind of having a couple of rough days- dealing with some hard potty training days, a car problem, a broken iPhone, and my overly crazy emotions about Robert being gone and about us moving in the coming months. I felt like a bit of a wreck and it was truly relieving to be able to vent to my mother-in-law and sweet sister-in-laws and to receive love, hugs, and compassion from them. I felt so much better after being with them. Thank you so much to everyone for putting this together and inviting Drake & I down. We miss you!