ST GEORGE GET AWAY......

For the first time in about 5 years, we had a family get together in

St George on the weekend of May 29th through June 2nd.

(the last time we went somewhere all together was when Lexie, who is 6,

was a baby and we went to St Go to run the Red Rock Relay)

Mandy and Jon came from Arizona and the rest of us met

them down there on Friday night, the 29th.  (Brandon and Miranda

and Jordyn were not able to join us this time, but everyone else was

there!)  We were blessed to get their safely and had uneventful drives

except for the fact that Mandy had the car all packed and ready to go..

when she was hit with some very serious lower quadrant abdominal pain...

ovarian cysts again.... and they hesitated to come until Saturday morning.

However, Jon had to give in to Mandy's insistence and they did finally get 

away in the early afternoon.  Mandy still wasn't feeling great when they got 

to St Go... and they ended up making an ER visit at 3a.m. Saturday morning.

An Ultrasound showed that it was only cysts... on both sides... we were

grateful for that but Mandy really didn't feel great most of the trip.

Clay had his arm in a cast.... (see earlier post about his unfortunate

and poorly timed bike accident and fx'd elbow)  

First on the agenda was to stock the amazing kitchen in the

very spacious and comfortable condo we rented in Las Palmas resort.

It was four bedrooms and three baths.... lovely huge kitchen 

and gathering area... Really nice patio with an exquisite view.

Here little Miss Gracie is helping us put away our groceries!!

And Gavyn was ready for the pool as soon as we go there!

Jensen and Ira playing Dominoes....

or was it throw the Dominoes??

Next time we rent someplace we are going to have to be

sure they have an empty cabinet somewhere.... cause this empty

spot kept little Mr Jensen happily entertained for quite sometime 

each day of the trip... and of course the girls had to get in on the fun

And how about we ALL get in together???

We went to the children's museum.  Here the kids are busy buying

groceries... Ira taking them out of the cart, Clay ringing up his purchases,

and Kaimee returning the goods to the shelves so we could do it all over again.

Reese couldn't get her cart stuffed fast enough...

Busy little shopper... thus, the blurry picture.

Lexie in the "Frozen"room....where she 'built' her three snowmen.

Then off to the airport where pilot Gavyn, on the left front,

is taking Reese and Ira on a little flight to who knows where...

But who cares.... this is great fun!

Grace and Reese watching Gav under the car

doing a little mechanical work.

Jensen and Grace trapped inside this wonderful play area

while the other kids sent mining buckets flying over their heads.

No pancake breakfast is ever complete in the Johnson household without

some alphabet pancakes.  Here Gma made an "R" for Reese and "A" for

Alexis and an "I" for Ira.... and ha ha!!! It spells IRA!!

Much more fun to eat a pancake that is a special shape just for YOU!

We went on a tour of the Brigham Young house.

It was very enlightening and fun to see how they lived

and how they decorated etc.  Learned a fun thing about the woods

in this house... they were all pine but "faux" painted to look like

other types of wood....and I thought faux painting was a 20th century idea.  

Then to the splash pad in the center of town... It was really fun but 

crowded and I was very stressed to keep my eyes on these little cuties cause

they just went up and down and all over playing in the water.... I had to keep 

walking up and down with them to keep them in my view.

Did not want anyone to snatch them up!

Monday morning we went to Snow Canyon!

This was my first time to actually be on sand dunes and I was 

fascinated!  I could have stayed there for hours. I couldn't believe

how much Grace and Jensen liked it and how they just climbed all 

over in it and loved it!  Those tracks in front of Jens are the tracks

he just made scooting down the hill and he is now on his way back up.

This little pickle is just an angel.... I swear she would be happy

anywhere she was!! She loved the sand and wasn't the least bit hesitant 

to crawl all over in it!  Poor Clay... just not as fun with your arm in a 

cast and sling!!! 

We did a couple of little hikes... One up Jenny's canyon...

Short little hike up to a slot canyon.  Loved watching

the little ones hike together!! Here is Ira taking the lead

and Reese and Lexie following.  One treasured memory was

Dylan hiking along with Ira and he kept calling him "little Buddy"

and when they came to a slick spot Dylan lovingly picked his little buddy

up and carried him over it!  So cute!  and then Dylan picked a flower

for his little princess sister... and when Reese saw it she of course wanted

one too... so Dylan to the rescue... He got one for her too!

So fun to see the kids (both the grandkids and the big kids) interact with 

each other and to build relationships and friendships...

Blurry picture .... but this is at the end of the slot canyon.

Everything Lexie did... Reese had to do..

And everything anyone did... Ira had to do :)

Love this daddy son moment...

Jon showing Jensen how to smash the little rocks with big rocks

and make sand.... Jensen is in heaven!

Cannot believe the little girl that had to sit down to get off the curb just a short time ago

(Reese) actually climbed all the way up there... But again, gotta do what Lexie

does and Uncle Bryan is a great motivator!! 

Gavyn.... "take my picture Gma!"

Ira thought he was a great and wonderful mountain climber!!

There were GREAT pools at this facility and we spent a lot of time in them.

This little pool was only 2 feet deep.  Reese and Lexie loved swimming with out 

their floats.  Here they are playing a fun game....Let's swim over Aunt

Kaimee....... Kaimee really liked it ... Well, she was a really good sport!

Jensen was a champ in this little pool.  The first day he just walked

around.  By the second day he was laying on his tummy, putting his feet up

and kicking around!! Seriously, this kid is such a happy guy!

Some of us went to Beauty and the Beast...  It was wonderful!

And of course, Reese had to hug Belle.

All good things must come to an end.... and here I am 

hugging Reese goodbye and whispering in her ear how very much 

I LOVE HER!!!!..  I hate that we all went one direction home and 

Mandy and Jon went the other direction. It alway makes my eyes leak
when we leave them.... I love them so much!! 

Our family has this joke about "squirrel".... If you've seen the movie "UP"

you would understand... but many of us... myself one of the worst...

have an attention span of about 3 seconds... So we always are 

saying "squirrel".... And this lovely squirrel was in a yard by this house

we passed on our way to and from the condo... Had to get a picture of it on 

our way out of town.... (not only did this odd yard have this oversized

squirrel but there was an Indian, turkey, pumpkin..many other odd things)

Some of my favorite things about this trip:

Reese -  everytime a camera came out... she would say "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese" at about a low G and hold it out for at least 30-45 seconds.... and it did not make her face form a smile when she did it... but it made the rest of us laugh!

Ira - When we were sitting around the table talking Ira would interrupt occasionally and say "Hey, are you talking about IRA?" He really said it more like IWA... and we would say that no

we were talking about someone we work with or whatever... a little while later..

as the conversation continued...... "Hey, are you talking about Ira?"

Gavyn is literally a bottom-less pit... He can eat more than any of the adults did!!
He finished off many of the treats... which was fine... but how much can one kid hold without exploding!!! And he was such a great sport on the trip! I was so proud of him!!

And speaking of eating... Little Mr Jensen is NEVER happier than when he sits down to a meal..... and he is a very content, happy eater.... could care less if no one else is around
as long as he has a plate of food in front of him!

This is the first time Mandy's family has met little Miss Grace and what a treat they had!

She is soooooo pleasant. She just crawled around and entertained herself..... Her favorite toy was flipping the door stoppers.  I got a great video of Reese petting her and touching her little face and looking at me and saying "Gma, I just love Grace! She is so cute!"

My ride home with Dylan was entertaining... Too hard to write about but we had some good 

laughs over the "Cat Folder" button on my car stereo....He was such a great oldest cousin

to the little ones and is such a sweet, kind boy... He loved bike riding with his Dad 

and Jon... but came home pretty beat up... I'm wondering if he knows the object is to

stay on the bike.  

I loved loved loved helping put Ira to bed every night.  Apparently he thought it was a treat to have Gma read him a story and would only go to bed if I did.  (so good to have someone love you) It was such a treasure to read to him, read the scriptures with their little family

and then have prayers with them.  Claymee are such great parents!!! 

Bryan and Jon jumping off the diving board was a treat..... very entertaining to say the least.

Jumping while the sign behind them clearly said to NOT use diving board if you weighed over 200 lbs... They are probably just barely over that, right?!?

Reese was super brave and jumped off to her daddy... Again, Uncle Bryan is magic

and can be very motivating...

Speaking of that... Cortnie and Bryan worked with Ira in the pool and got him to be 

much braver than his Mom could... It takes a village and it is so great to have

other family members to help in the teaching and loving of these little ones.

OH!!! It was such great fun!!! I LOVE these kids and grandkids of mine more than

words could possibly express.  I am so proud of each one of them and LOVE LOVE

LOVE spending time with them.  SO grateful I am their Mom and Gma!