Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thankful for Zion and free food

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon hiking in Zion National Park. I can't believe we live so close to such an amazing place. There were many other hikers there today from all over the world - lots of Asians, Europeans... this is a big trip for them, and it's right in our backyard. Add that to the list of things I probably take for granted...
Brianna enjoyed most of the adventure. She wanted to be OUT of her toddler pack more than we could allow her (for time's sake - the sun goes down too early, so we were rushing, and she only goes fast when SHE feels like it). She did a lot of song-singing, and got upset if we didn't join her. She wanted to count everything, and furiously tried to wiggle out at each waterfall or stream, saying "Ah wanna tuhz (touch) eht!".
Our camera hates me (or maybe it's the SD card - I'm getting a new one at a BF sale tomorrow) so these are some cell pics:

Oh deer. Brian took a picture on his phone of me taking a picture on my phone. I told Brianna the mule deer was Bambi. She totally believed me. Sucker.

Sorry - just turn your head to the right.

The extra 30 pounds on my back all afternoon felt really great. Really.

Our favorite part was the Emerald Pools, so I'm stealing some photos of it from the www:As society dictates on this day of shameless gluttony, we also ate a lot. It's an interesting story... we had planned to just find somewhere near the park to get something. But on my bike ride in the morning I saw a Shakespearean-themed place called Bard's with a THANKSGIVING sign on it. So we called, and it sounded like they were doing a traditional holiday feast at a reasonable price. We showed up hungry at 11am and spotted an elderly man from our ward going in at the same time by himself. We invited Brother Massey to our table and spent the meal enjoying his company and his funny stories about his 11 yr old twin daughters from his ex-wife (Brother Massey is at least 70 yrs old...yeah, with biological 6th grade daughters... you do the math). We had only met him twice before - once at church, and once when he broke his foot a couple months ago and we brought dinner to him. I'm never met a more gracious person - you'd think I had saved his house from burning down or something like that. He seemed to really enjoy being with Brianna - he kept commenting on what a good eater she is (until she noticed the pie and started yelling for it - before that it had been, "mooh bocki (broccoli) peez! Mooh cahatz (carrots)!") At the end, I whispered to Brian that we should take care of his tab too, but before he could tell the waitress, she brought the whole bill to Brother Massey - he had already asked her for it! He wouldn't take no for an answer. Such a generous man - it wasn't a cheap tab! I later asked Brian what his favorite part of the meal was - expecting him to say the potatoes - and his answer was, "the fact that it was free!"
So overall, it was a wonderful holiday-day for us. The only thing that would've made it better is being a part of the noisy fun going on in the background at my parent's house in WA when I called today {sigh}. But we're headed there for a little trip in January (thankyou cheap airfare!)

8 comments:

Crystal and Jordan said...

awesome! Sounded like a great day! i love the family pics!!!! you beautiful as always

Malerie said...

How fun! I went to Zions for the first time last spring. It was so beautiful and the hikes were so fun. I enjoyed Emerald Pools, too. Luckily Madeline was little enough to stay in the pack and sleep a lot. I don't know how you did it with a toddler!

Marilyn said...

It sounds like you had a good holiday. We did too. We traveled to my cousin Sharalyn's house to eat the turkey and socialize. Dad webt with us.
I like the family pictures. Brianna looks cute in pigtails.

Amy Hunter said...

I've never taken advantage of Zion's either. We are definitely going come spring! Gorgeous. Meet you there?

Sally Jackson said...

Hi Chelsea! I went to check out your FB profile, then ran into your blog address. I'm a blogger, too! Your family is so cute!And I love the way you describe the way Brianna talks. It's really funny, for reals.
I keep meaning to respond to your email, then never get the chance, dern kids, so hopefully I can just chat with you next time we meet up about LLL stuff, eh?

Mandy said...

That sounds like the perfect Thanksgiving! I love that you were able to keep company to someone who may have been a little lonely otherwise! (I'm laughing at the fact that he's 70 with 6th grade twins!)

And GOOD FOR YOU for getting in some exercise too! :)

Unknown said...

I love Zions National Park. I have only been there twice, but Randy and I keep talking about going back there. You guys should have come to Thanksgiving at our house. You are always welcome!

Ivy Lou said...

Ahhh. This makes me homesick for my Mother-in-law. She used to love to go to Zion National Park and we would always do as many hikes as we could. Good times. Thanks for the post!