st. george

Our family's love for beautiful St. George started while we were young and growing up.  This was the one place that we would go on vacation year after year, and we just have so many fun, lasting memories of our adventures there.  Whether it be riding around in a golf cart everywhere when our car broke down, our daily visits to the Market Basket for Jolly Rancher sticks or Wacky Wafers, staying at the swimming pool and swimming all day long... only taking a quick break to eat the tuna fish sandwiches that my mom packed for lunch... watching the sunsets over the red rocks, or listening to Burt Bacharach records... all the memories we share of staying in Bloomington and St. George are still favorites for every one of us.

And it's fun because all of my brothers and sisters, including myself, want to carry on the tradition and love that we share for St. George by taking our own families now.  This past June, we took a really fun, three-day vacation to St. George with most the members of my family.  We stayed in Bloomington and had an absolute blast!  Our vacation was filled with daily and nightly swimming adventures in the hot summer weather, playing at the neighborhood splash pad, visiting the St. George temple, going to see a cute movie, Toy Story 3, and then out for our traditional pizza dinner, this time at Pirate Island, and then more swimming, of course.  Josh played a little tennis for the first time with Richie and really liked it.  The kids just loved everything about the vacation!  And I know the thing they loved most was being with their aunts and uncles and cousins.

Before we left for our vacation, I explained to Josh and Jane that we were going on a trip to St. George with the family.  And each time we talked about it, Janie would say in the cutest way, "I'm just going to go up and shake his hand and say, 'Hi George!'"  Once we got there, it didn't take her long to realize that St. George was a place and not a person.  Now it is one of Josh and Jane's favorite places to go, just as it was mine when I was growing up.  I hope its a tradition we can continue for  many years to come because it really is a simple and fun place to visit.