Cedar City and Arizona

Disclaimer: Brace yourselves. This post is a bit longer than the rest because we delayed getting started with the blog longer than we had hoped and then we were delayed in posting it. We have a bit of catching up to do with this one and the one coming soon.



We began our two month adventure on Wed, Oct 4, 2017 (a.k.a. National Cinnamon Bun Day)! It just so happened that Maverick was celebrating and we got a huge, delicious cinnamon roll for $1! We were off to a great start!

We arrived in Cedar City (home of Shayla's Alma Mater, Southern Utah University, along with her old roommates) that evening. The next day, we went on a beautiful hike through the Zion Wilderness to a hidden waterfall that not many know about.

The water was a bit cold for swimming, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Shayla and Mariah were brave enough to jump in once though. Riley and Mariah both took some beautiful pictures along the way!

Before leaving Cedar City, we also had the privilege of meeting up with Mom, Tyson, and Alexa for lunch! They had been in Lakeside with Uncle Roy and Aunt Jeanne for a couple of weeks while Tyson and Alexa were receiving neurological treatment from Uncle Roy. We are SOOOOO grateful for his help with them! Anyway, they were on their way home so we met up at the Pizza Cart! SUPER yummy, by the way!
It was so nice to be able to see them all briefly! And, it was so nice of Shayla's old roommates to let us stay with them! It was fun for me to get to know them a bit better and to hang with Shayla at her old stomping grounds.

After Cedar City, on Friday, we stopped in St. George to visit our cousin, Shawnette, but we totally forgot to get pictures! We're gonna have to get better at that as this trip goes on. It was fun to catch up with her and thanks for feeding us ice cream, Shawnette! :) We also got to stop and serve in the St. George Temple. The St. George Temple is one of my favorites because I went to school in St. George 10+ years ago. I have many fond memories there.




After St. George, we arrived at Grandfather and Alba's in Mesa. It was so fun staying with them! On Saturday, one of my dearest friends, Jill, got married! I was so happy that I could be there to celebrate with her and to reconnect with friends that I haven't seen for a couple of years. The sealing was so sweet and the reception was a blast! Those of you that are reading this that have been friends with me in the past few years will be shocked at this next news... I actually danced at the reception!! It was that fun! :)

Sunday, was great fun as well! Our cousin, Bonny, came over to Grandfather and Alba's and we vandalized, I mean... decorated, the old pool table that Lynnae is inheriting. It was discovered that years ago Shayla and our cousin from the Rowley side of the family (Shelbi) had scratched their names in the bottom of the table when they were little, so we decided that we'd update it a bit for Lynnae. Lynnae, what can we
say, except, you're welcome.


After our vandalizing/decorating party, Shayla and I joined Bonny at her single's ward, which is an interesting story in and of itself, but we'll leave that one for Bonny to tell for those that are interested. :)









Sunday, night was so much fun! I had a little reunion with some good friends from high school. Shayla even had fun reconnecting with some of my old friends that had been somewhat like sisters growing up. It was very nostalgic and so much fun to reconnect with everyone, some of whom I hadn't seen for 11+ years!

Monday morning, we said goodbye to Grandfather and Alba, and went for a brief visit with Grandma Rowley and Ralph before we hit the road for our next destination. We wish we could have had more time to visit! We always love visiting with our grandparents, and it was certainly no exception this weekend. Our only regret is that we forgot to get any pictures with them! We sure do love you though!!

Well, that concludes our first six days of our adventure. Stay tuned for the next update! Thanks for joining us! :)

-Chelsea