Utah Road Trip, Part 2

Tom arrived in Utah on Tuesday night, so Wednesday morning we continued on our Utah road trip and headed south. Tom knew of a hotsprings outside of Meadow, Utah, that he had to check out. It looks like a cenote out in the middle of the desert. Interesting? We decided to drive down to Bryce Canyon since we hadn't ever been there. It was so beautiful, we had to have a picnic. The picnic table was located next to the bathroom, and the Subway sandwich wasn't very good, so we had to downgrade the picnic to a 6. The weather was perfect for a hike. We took the Navajo loop trail. Someone told us it is the best 3 mile hike in the USA. It really was. It was so cool climbing down into the slot canyon, hiking among the "hoodoos" and then back up again. We ate dinner in Hatch, a little town in the middle of nowhere and then drove to St. George via Zions National Park. Thursday morning Tom went golfing, so I got to spend time with Kay, Shonna, Caleb and Lily. We went to a fun Splash park and had a picnic. Tom joined us for the picnic. After the picnic, Tom and I went to the St. George temple. What a beautiful place! That night we went to Hairspray at Tuacahn. It was really cute.
Friday morning while Tom went golfing, I went on a 3 mile walk that turned into a 6 mile walk because I got lost. Oh well, it was a beautiful day. Shonna's family, Kay and I went to downtown St. George, to another water park. Caleb and Lily loved it. Tom joined us after he and Ken finished golfing and then we went on a picnic It was so hot that we chose to go to the Washington city park but we compensated for the location with awesome food. Tacos al pastor and a delicious turkey sandwich from Capriotis. Friday night was the start of the Lyman Gabrielsen Jr. family reunion. We all met at Paradise Bakery, ate dinner and got reacquainted. Whitney was the "kid magnet". Saturday morning was the big Gabrielsen Open Golf Tournament.Ken won the Duck trophy for the older generation, and Tom Young won the Swedish Boy trophy for the 2nd generation. While the guys golfed, we made potato salad and baked beans and then all met up at the Sunbrook Rec. Center. We had a delicious picnic lunch with hoagies, salads, famous baked beans, chips and krispy kreme donuts. After lunch we took family pictures. The Gabrielsen siblings. The Morris "Trasher" family representatives The John Gabrielsen family, all except Ali's family. The complete Stratford family. The Mickelsen family,Evan and Kelly's family, plus Tricia's Preston. The Hinton family, minus Kristen and Michelle's families. Hal awarding Ken the highly coveted "Duck trophy". and while the kids played games, we had a family meeting. Ken telling stories about his big golf win. After the picnic, we hurried home to Kay's house and changed and went to Pam and Roger's stake center for a special family baptism. Tom and Stacy's little Maddy got baptized. It was such a nice program with 13 year old Jake giving a talk on baptism, and Stacy gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Pam and Sydney sang a beautiful duet. After the baptism and confirmation. Mindy and Jeff's little Charlie was blessed. It was so nice to be a part of these special ordinances. Tom, Whitney and I headed north on Sunday morning. We dropped Whitney off in Provo and then drove onto Boise. Whew! That was a long blog post, but it was a wonderful week that just confirmed to me the fact that Families are forever. Thanks Pam and Roger for hosting us. I know Grandma and Grandpa Gabrielsen are so proud of their amazing posterity and the fact that we love being together.