Southern Utah for New Years

We spent New Year's in St. George this year. We decided to bunk in with everyone at Los Palmos instead of staying at my family's condo so that we wouldn't have to make the 10 minute "commute" multiple times per day.

We took a day trip to Zions National park while there. Believe it or not, I had never been to Zions before. It was in the 20s and 30s and so was not crowded at all. Since we didn't really plan ahead clothing-wise, we just drove through the park and walked around a little. Next time, I'm sure we'll do more hiking. This picture is our best attempt at a family picture using the timer on our camera. If you look closely, you can even see Chandler's head poking out.

Chandler appointed himself to the position of family navigator. He kept telling us what number we had to go to on the map. He is also wearing a fanny pack that he wanted more than anything else in the gift shop. We had to tie it around him to get it to fit.

Chandler and Preston on a very high rock. One false move, and we would have been making an ER run.

Joyce (with lots of help from Julie) made a wonderful, authentic Swiss cheese fondue for New Year's Eve dinner. We'd like to make it a tradition, but we're not sure if the cooks are up for it.

Our niece, Hayley, sampling the chocolate fountain that we had for dessert on New Year's Eve.

The older of the boy cousins in St. George. I tried to get a picture with all of them looking at the camera, and sadly, the best I could do had poor Mark covered up with Preston.

Chandler playing the Hansen's Wii. He was very good at bowling (and even beating his much older cousin, Mara) right from the beginning. If we can find one, maybe Santa will bring one for Christmas next year.

Chandler showing victory at bowling on the Wii. We had a great time down there. It was a nice break from the snow and cold. I almost forgot that one of my favorite parts was coming across some polygamists in the Van Heusen outlet store. I have recently read 2 different books about polygamy, and was anxious to have a sighting. Before the sighting, I kept asking to go to Kmart so we could look for some (that's where we have always seen them in the past), but got lucky at the outlets. I know, I'm very weird.