Sunshine!

We spent last weekend in sunny, southern Utah. Our first stop was Zions National Park. They had received more-than-normal snowfall in the mountains. This made for some great photos.

We went on a couple of hikes and enjoyed being outdoors.The kids were in the mood to do some posing.

Vanessa looked for "tunnels" along the trail. Here she is showing off one of her many finds.

Then we have our two little tree huggers. Literally.

We also enjoyed spending some time in the outdoor pool. I took a picture of AJ and the girls.

 

Then Ethan asked me to take of picture of him. This is all I got. Yep, that's him.

We visited the St. George temple grounds,

and Brigham Young's winter home. It was very interesting learning more about pioneer life and the kids seemed to enjoy it as well.

We also went bowling (I left my camera in the car.), to the new Percy Jackson movie (It was good but not as good as the book.), and out to eat in several different restaurants (With a family this size, that is always an adventure.)

The main reason we went south for the weekend was for Esteban to play in a soccer tournament. His games were played in Mesquite, NV. It was a 45 minute drive but, the temperature was 10 degrees higher (around 75 during the day) so, it was worth the drive. Vanessa found a friend and some entertainment. She buried her soccer ball in the hillside.

Esteban's team played well. Their final game was against a team that has beat them two times previously. This time, we held them scoreless. The games ended 0-0. They were still tied after a shootout. We ended up losing in a sudden death shoot out 7-8. Here is Esteban right before his shot. He has struggled with PK's in the past. This time however, he made it!

 After this obviously disappointing loss, I asked him how his friend was feeling after missing the last shot. He said, "Oh he's fine. I told him not to worry about it. Pros miss in shoot outs all the time." That right there is better than winning, it's is like sunshine on the inside.