Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend and football! There's not much better than that, oh wait yes there is! How about a long weekend, football and St George!! YES PLEASE!! We found out when the high school football schedules were released back in May that we would be playing Dixie High School on the Friday before Labor Day! So we immediately decided that we would be making a small vacation out of it! And one of the funniest parts about it is that Dixie High is where my BFF Tammy works! That made it even more fun!! :)

On Thursday right after Will's school let out I met him in the parking lot to give him a subway sandwich and a Gatorade for the road! Then shortly after that they loaded onto a very nice travel bus and headed to Cedar City. They stayed in a hotel there and were able to eat at Southern Utah University!

 They also were given a tour on Friday after breakfast of the campus and heard some pretty funny stories! Will passed on a few of the stories to us over the weekend and most involved ghosts- not sure how true any of them were!

 The SUU cafeteria were the ones who provided them the food, which I am sure helped keep the costs for travel down, it was very nice! And apparently it was good food too!

On Friday they had a walk through practice before getting on the bus for St George. They got to use the SUU field which is a very nice facility!

We got a late start Thursday night heading down because Chan was having some phone issues, but we finally hit the road around 7pm and picked up Halle on our way down. We were very excited to come down because this time we were going to stay with Kay in her new house! She sold her old one and moved into a retirement type development that is smaller and has an HOA that takes care of a LOT! It is SOOO nice too! We LOVED it! Check out the view from her front door...

It doesn't get much better than THAT! After getting in some sleep we woke the next day and while I was unloading some items from the back seat of our truck I heard a familiar noise. It wasn't a noise I WANTED to hear either! I heard a leak in the tire! Thankfully we found the area where the leak was and went directly to the tire store to get it fixed. They were CRAZY busy, so Chan went and dropped us girls off at Pizza Factory for lunch and went back to get it fixed. Pizza Factory lunch specials are my FAVORITE! It was yummy!!

After we filled our tummies, Chan still wasn't back, so we went down main street to look at all the funky antique stores etc. It was fun! I haven't been in those at all and we saw some very cool stuff. After that we met up with Chan at a candy store where we all got a yummy drink and a treat. We decided to get out of the sun for a bit so we went back to Kay's until game time.

 It was so strange to be watching a football game at Dixie High! I have visited Tammy a number of times at work but never thought I'd be watching MY son play football on that field! It was a hot day, but thankfully there was a lovely breeze so it was just perfect! Chan grabbed my umbrella from the truck and didn't even care that it was pink! Haha! It was a good look for sure!

Once the game got started it was evident pretty fast that we weren't going to win. Dixie's team took State last year so I knew they were going to be good... but WOW!

 At times it truly looked like we weren't even trying! Tammy was even surprised and sent me a text with a surprised emoji with "What the Hell?" It made me laugh, which I REALLY needed! It was tough to watch!

 Tammy took this photo of her and Brianne- I LOVE it! It does make Brianne look older though! Kinda freaks me out a little! They both look beautiful! What a lucky gal I am to have them both in my life!

 Will unfortunately didn't get in on the game. It was too tough and they never took the starters out. That made it a very long way to travel without playing, but with each game comes a new lesson. I am sure he learned a lot and got closer to his team! That time they spent together is truly priceless!

After the game we headed to Iceberg to drown our sorrows in some very yummy shakes! There's are truly the best too!! Then we just went back to Kay's to hit the sack because we were all pooped!

Saturday morning we all slept in! It was wonderful! After we all got up and running we went to the grocery store to buy a few deli salads and drinks and went over to Tammy's house for a birthday BBQ for Matt- he turned the big 40 that week!

The food was great and it was fun to visit with Tammy's brother Chris and his wife Lauren as well as her Dad Rick. While we ate we watched the BYU vs Nebraska game. It was also fun to see Tammy's new dog Flyer. I was shocked at how much bigger he was! He is still darn cute though! :) After hanging out, eating, singing happy birthday and digging into his cake we left to go to the Apple Store. Kay needed a new computer and wanted Chan's help in buying the right one. So we went and picked her out a good one! Then we hit Lowe's to buy her a new shower head for her guest shower. It was needed! So we went home and Chan installed it and got her computer set up while we took the kids swimming in her community pool. Another bonus of the new place!

It was wonderful to sit and visit while the kids played in the pool. Once we got back Chan showed her all the bells and whistles of her new computer and then Kay taught us all a new game called Chicken foot! It is played with dominoes and is super fun!! The kids have already requested that I go buy some dominoes so we can continue to play it at home! We also played Scattegories which is always a blast!

On Sunday, once again, we slept in which is such a treat! Once we got up Chan and I went out and started making breakfast. We made hash browns, bacon and eggs with orange juice. It was yummy! After we filled our tummies Tammy and Matt came over to see Kay's new place. They got the grand tour and we visited for a bit before heading out to the new desert park. We went there the last time we were in St George but Chan & Matt hadn't been yet, so we HAD to visit it again!

 It's so pretty there and even though it was hot we found s shady spot to sit and look at the beautiful surroundings!

 We also snapped a picture with Kay! We were so happy she came along with us!

 These benches are our favorite thing at the park! I would love to sit and watch the sunset there!

 They finally added some fish to the area too but the water was pretty murky so I couldn't get a good picture of them. But I did get a good picture of this guy! :)

And I loved this picture I got of Halle and Brianne! They are such cute friends! They have known each other since they were babies! So awesome!

After our visit to the park we took a long drive out to Santa Clara and on through Snow Canyon State Park. It's so incredible out there! The landscape is just stunning! And I was surprised how much it has grown out that way! I almost didn't even recognize the area! There are a lot more homes out there now and they are all in very nice communities! When we got back to Kay's the kids wanted to swim again so we went back over, with Chan this time, and spent some time at the pool. After swimming their guts out the kiddos had a hankering for something sweet so Chan sent them to the store for some ice cream! It hit the spot! We played some more chicken foot and a game of clue before going to bed. It was the perfect ending to a fun trip!

Going home from such a great weekend is always a bit tough! I just love St George! I know I say that after every visit, but I really do! I feel like a piece of me is still there! I am sure it is because I have such fond memories there of my college days, meeting Chan, and our first months of marriage. It was a precious time! Each time I am there I am flooded with those memories as well as all of the new ones I have made since with my kids and friends! Hopefully someday we'll find ourselves back there! But until then, we'll visit as often as we can! :)