After Christmas Fun

The day after Christmas Rick and I drove down to Moab.  

We made it in good time and checked into the Excursion Inn.  This is a cute little motel on Main Street that has been there a long time.  It was refurbished a few years ago and is really a cute little place for a motel.  After checking in we had dinner at the Moab Brewery.

It was a really cold evening so we were happy to get into the pool (semi warm) and the hot tub (nice a hot)

for a good forty five minutes.  We met some young adult men traveling from Switzerland (they were German, though) and visited with them in the tub.  They left and then we met a family from Northern Utah.  the water felt good and warmed us up!

Skylar and Sarah got in soon after we got ready for bed.

Their kids wanted to go swimming so Rick got his COLD suit back on and went and played with the kids.

The next morning we met up with the Phelpses at breakfast.

Rick and I were headed south to do a session at the Monticello Temple.  It is one of President Hinckley's small design temples the two saw a lot of back east the las two summers. What a blessing this temple is to the people way down there in South Eastern Utah!

It was cold and windy!  HAHA!

We met back up with the Phelpses that afternoon and went into Arches NP.  We had a good time hiking to Delicate Arch.  It is always so amazing to see!  I, of course, was the slowest of the bunch but Rick was good to stay back with me and help me over the rough patches.  The kids had a fun time exploring on the hike!  Oh, to have their energy and mobility again!

We got back from the hike just as the sun was going down.  It afforded us some beautiful views!

That night we went back to the Brewery for dinner.  

I was all for that because their root beer was AMAZING!

We got a couple of pitchers full and enjoyed our dinner:)

We all got into the pool/jacuzzi again that night.

The new people we met that night were from France.  

People come from all over to see these beautiful National Parks.

Since we got another annual National Park Pass we are hoping to get to some new ones this year!

The next morning after breakfast we all got into our vehicles and headed towards Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  Charles was happy to see that there was some snow on the ground and immediately started to make a snowman before we even got our rooms assigned.😀

We then went to the Hot Pools and enjoyed a good three hours soaking.

It felt really nice and everyone had a good time!

We ended up getting dinner close to our hotel at Chili's.  The BYU bowl game was on (against Colorado playing in San Antonio) so Rick and I enjoyed watching it while we had dinner.

We then went back to the room and watched the last of the game while Charles and Daisy joined us in our room.  They watched a cartoon on Rick's iPad until they fell asleep, which didn't take too long because they were tired!

The next day was Sunday and we all went to church at the Glenwood Springs Ward.  While we stayed for the second hour the others went back close to the hotel and took a walk.  Sarah said it was SUPER enjoyable!

After eating a small lunch in the Phelpses room we took the kids back to our room for some card games..

WE played for a couple of hours and that was good to give Skylar and Sarah a little break.

After the kids went back to their room we relaxed for about an hour and then went to Zheng Asian Bistro for dinner.  Rick and I had eaten there a few times before and loved it.  The food was just so so this time but the kids LOVED their noodles.  Daisy and Eric loved using the chopsticks!   

The next day was monday and we decided to take the tram up to the Glenwood Springs caves.

We had Charles and Eric going up the tram and had a great time but little did we know that the Phelpses car behind us with Henry and Daisy were in a bit of a panic.  By the time we got up to the top they were both in tears from the experience.  It was a little comical because at know time were in danger but is sounds like Henry is afraid of heights.  Since he was scared that caused to freak Daisy out.  Anyway, alls well that ends well.  We enjoyed the Fairy Cave Tour and then made our way back down the mountain.  We had daisy with us this time and both kids had a better experience on this second ride.

Entrance to the Fairy Cave.

After our adventure we stopped at Rocky Mountain Pizza for some SERIOUSLY delicious AND HUGE pizza pies.  Daisy's piece was as big as her head!  HAHA!

We all got really full with pizza and root beer and then got in our vehicles of the five hour ride home.

 It was a great time getting away from home for a bit and having a fun adventure for a few days!