Utah Trip Part 6: Zions and Shotgun Shooting

One of my favorite parts of staying at Cody's parents house is watching the sunset from their back porch after the kids are all tucked in bed. Then you get to see the moon rise; so amazing. One night this lovely image was waiting for me. Such magnificance is breathtaking.

On Monday morning, we headed out bright and early to visit Zions National Park.

This year we decided to do the River Walk to change things up a bit. The kids were excited.

I love the way the rocks are such different colors and how it just seems to keep going and going.

Happily for all of us Grandma came along. Papa had back surgery last fall so he kept the home fires burning for us.

My big boy!

Such a strong family I have.

The Virgin River.
It actually rained quite a lot while we were there...for Southern Utah that is.

At the end of the River Walk you have to cross the river to go into the Narrows and keep hiking. It is a potentially difficult and dangerous hike so we called it quits there and just played in the water for a bit.

Hazel woke up from her nap and decided to check things out.

Morgan and Pepper were quick to make friends, despite the fact they weren't speaking the same language.

Morgan was so proud of himself that he climbed up on this rock.

Just taking a break on the hike back.

Like always, despite the natural majesty, the big highlight of the trip was the bus ride to and from the River Walk.

We stopped at the Lodge to have lunch and then headed home. It was a fun and beautiful morning. I'm excited to think that once the kids are a bit older, we can explore more of the different trails that Zions has to offer.

Pepper helping Papa bar-b-que.

On Tuesday morning, Cody, Morgan, Papa and I headed out to do some shotgun and rifle shooting. This is something Cody looks forward to every time we visit and he thought Morgan was finally ready to join in on the fun. He also thought I needed to be included to I tried to be as enthusiastic as possible.

The men hard at work.

A very happy little cowboy.

Fantastic view in my opinion!

The shotgun was not my favorite because it is so heavy to hold and the kickback killed my shoulder.

Morgan's job, besides wielding Cody's old toy gun, was helping Papa load the skeet.

Now onto the rifle.

Papa showing us all how it's done.

Here's a video of Morgan's first time shooting the rifle:

Sometimes it hurts my heart how fast this little man is growing up.

Shooting is still not my favorite but at least this gun is kind of fun. Especially, since I can actually hit something with it.

Pepper just loved all the girly attention from Grandma. She would do her hair and let Pepper play with her makeup. The kids also love her big bathtub and popsicles before bed and all the other fun little things about Grandma's house.

Cody and his parents at Oscar's Cafe in Springdale.

Tuesday night, we got a babysitter and headed out for a grown ups only dinner. It was so fun to sit and chat with Cody's parents without the kids. I drove Cody to Las Vegas on Wednesday morning and then had lunch with an old friend from Florida. It was hard to say good-bye to Cody but I was glad the kids and I had a few more days to play before heading home.