Visit from our cousins!

A couple of weeks ago our cousins Judy, Donald, and Hanna from England came for a little visit. We had a great time while they were here. The main reason for their trip was for Hanna to be in the St. George Arts Festival but we did lots of sight-seeing while they were here. She brought her dad and aunt with her. I took a little bit of time off of work so that I could spend as much time as I could with them.

Me, Ady, Grandma, Carol, Judy, Donald, Hanna, Emma, and Grandpa
I have always loved Zion National Park but I realized that sometimes I forget just how breathtaking it really is. It is a real reminder of just how beautiful it really is when you go with somebody who is seeing it for the very first time.

This is Hanna's display at the arts festival. She paints such fun pictures. I bought a whole bunch of stuff and now I need to figure out where to put it all! Ben had to work the arts festival and since my cousins were there, I spent the majority of two days at the arts festival enjoying the nice weather and watching my kids play.

Kristi, Me, Hanna, & Mason - 2nd Cousins :)

On Saturday after the arts festival I did a dinner at my house for everybody. It was really fun and we were able to squeeze a lot of people into my house.

Sheila, Carol, Donald, Barbara (my mom), Judy - 1st Cousins
We did a little photo shoot after dinner.

My little family with our British cousins.
We went over to England about 1 1/2 years ago while my parents were serving their mission there. We had so much fun getting to see all of our cousins and Ben and my girls getting to meet them all. I spent a summer in Europe back when I graduated from college and I lived with my mom's cousin Judy (who is standing next to me in the picture). It was fun having them come over so soon after our visit. Ady still remembered them and was very excited for them to get here.

Brandon, Ben, Brayden, Carol, Adylaide, Grandma, Emma, Hanna, Judy

On Easter Sunday we drove out to Snow Canyon State Park to have a little picnic. The place was packed but we did find a spot for our picnic in the parking lot!

Brendon and Ady holding a cute little dog.

Kalli, Marlee, Adylaide, Miley, and Emma - more cousins
The little girls decided to go off on a little adventure through the wilderness. Emma is quite an adventurous little girl. She did NOT want to be left behind when all of her cousins were out exploring!

Hanna and Ady at the Grand Canyon
On Monday morning we drove out to the Grand Canyon. The North rim was closed so we drove out across the Arizona strip to view it from Tuweap. This is probably my favorite part of the Grand Canyon. There aren't a lot of visitors, no railings, and a straight drop off. The wind was blowing so hard that we didn't dare get very close to the edge.

Hanna, Me, and Ben at the Grand Canyon
You can really tell in this picture how windy it was. My hair doesn't normally do that!

Judy, Grandpa, Donald, Hanna, Carol, Ben, Emma, Grandma, & Ady
We had a little picnic at the rim....on the menu we had Sand sandwiches, Sand salad, Sand chips, and Sand cookies. I guess that is what you get when you are eating with the wind blowing 50 miles an hour all around you!

Ben and Hanna enjoying the view:)

Hanna, Emma, Ben, Brooke, Ady, Judy, Grandpa, Grandma, Donald

The next day we headed out to Bryce Canyon. It was sooooooo cold and the wind was still blowing quite hard. We decided to skip out on the picnic and find a nice warm restaurant!

Hanna, Carol, Grandma, Ady, Me, & Judy

Ady's nice outfit!

Ady's zipper on her coat broke a while ago but I haven't worried about it because I figured that she would be grown out of it by next winter and we didn't need it anymore this year. However, I hadn't realized that Bryce Canyon was going to be so cold so she ended up wearing some of grandma's clothes!

Hanna & Ben
This is how much snow was still at Bryce Canyon!!!

Ady, Hanna & Emma
It was sad when it came time to say goodbye. My girls really had a lot of fun and Ben and I definitely enjoyed the time that we had to spend with the Nivens also.

Donald, Emma & Ady doing "rocks"
The girls taught Donald how to do rocks and every time we would see him or each night when we left they had to do it. Emma would walk around the room giving everybody rocks.

Judy, Ady & Emma

Ady, Grandma, Brenda, Donald, Judy, Hanna, Ben, Emma, Me, Grandpa

We had a great time while they were here and we were sad to see them go. Hopefully Hanna will be back for another arts festival!