Easter in San Jorge del Sud

It's hard to beat Easter in St. George, especially when the whole family is in town to share in the outdoor activities, perfect weather, and holiday festivities.  Here is Grandma Julie surrounded by every last one of her grandchildren (congrats to Ashley, the oldest, for getting her mission call to Brazil), at an old CCC Camp in Ivins where her father worked.

Of course, the first thing our kids did upon ariving in Dixie was to hit the sandbox and swings (it's tradition).

We got in a little crack climbing with uncle Jason and cousin Ethan.

We explored "the red hill" (another tradition).

 



And of ourse we attended the world-renowned, annual Isom Easter Party -- a huge success, as always.

 

On of the highlights of this trip was the Easter service we held at Grandpa Ross's grave.  Each of the grandkids took turns talking about their favorite memories of grandpa, and then we release helium balloons and watched them float higher and higher.

And then we did a bit more climbing to make sure our knuckles were good and bloodies and that we wouldn't be able to lift our arms for the next week.

 

Some random shots of the beautiful drive home from St. George to SLC.  There are a million gorgeous views like this along the drive home.  We seriously love Utah.

 

And Tait earned first and second place for the best lines of the trip, both spoken the day after we returned:

 

1 - "I miss my best friend Maggie Drew."  (MD is his cousin, about 5 times his age.  They really bonded on this trip.)

 

2 - "I want to go visit my balloon to see if grandpa got it."  (And our hearts melt, since Tait was born two weeks before grandpa died and never got to meet him.  We're trying hard to make sure he knows about, and feels a connection to, Grandpa Ross.)

 

Also, we're totally in love with Souther Utah and we're already planning our next trip.  So many hikes/climbs/adventures, so few weekends!