Labor Day Weekend

For our holiday weekend we took a family camping trip with my parents & sister to the Grand Canyon. We drove up Saturday & arriving late afternoon to the clouds & the beautiful (only to some) cool weather. As we put our tent up the dark clouds were rolling in. As we learned from our last camping trip, our tent leaks, and so we found a nice spot under some trees hoping for a little protecting. David made burger bundles for dinner over the fire & as we started to eat it started to rain. Zhara slept in the camper with Grandma & Grandpa that night and Alyssa slept with us. We went to sleep and were awaken quickly to the sound of rain that continued to get harder & harder. David & I kept watching for the water to leak on us & as the lighting & thunder woke Alyssa up we watched our tent begin to leak. We eventually fell back to sleep only for David to wake in the morning completely soaked. He was so wet that he had to dry off with a towel. After breakfast we went to see the Grand Canyon. It was a little anti-climatic since it was foggy & you could barely see anything. It didn't seem so Grand at the time but we walked around anyway as it started to rain & eventually ended up at the visitor's center & hung out there while it POURED down rain. After it stopped raining the girls got to take their first bus ride back to the car...which they loved & wanted to do again. For lunch 5 adults & 2 kids crammed into the camper and as patience was getting a little thin............the sun came out! After some took a nap & we all felt refreshed we went back to see the Grand Canyon for real and it was, for lack of a better word, GRAND. It was so amazing & beautiful. My sister wants to hike to the bottom next year....it is a long ways down. After spending a few hours just walking & looking we went back & had dinner & a fire. The sky was clear so we were able to spend some time looking at the stars. Every time I go camping & I look up at the sky I feel so small but so in awe of Heavenly Father's beautiful creations. It was so nice to go camping & get away from work & the daily grind & to remember what is important.........our faith & our family. Despite the rain we had a wonderful time. The girls loved playing in the woods & collecting as many acorns as their little pockets could carry. They were able to see what Daddy goes hunting for...there were 5 elk just sitting at the campground entrance. We loved being in the cool weather even if it was wet!!