Snowy Thanksgiving in Cedar City

It snowed just about every day of Thanksgiving week, so we enjoyed our time sledding and making some delicious food.



Sledding on our driveway.



Our homemade apple pie.

Homeschool Thanksgiving Party

There's a homeschool group that puts together holiday parties throughout the year, and we recently participated in the Thanksgiving party that took place at our church building. 

The party was structured like this: kids rotate through 7 stations in the gym, spending about 10 minutes at each one. I was asked (the night before) to be in charge of the "History of Thanksgiving" station. So I went to the library and checked out some kids' books on the history of Thanksgiving so I would have some pictures of ships and pilgrims. Then I found some other visual aides (one of them being my pioneer costume, which worked well, cause the bonnet is really droopy so it looked similar to a pilgrim hat).

It turned out great. There were different age groups, so I had to adjust my presentations accordingly. You can see I am holding a tiny globe. I always started out pointing to the United States and then going across the ocean to England and Holland to show where the pilgrims came from. If you look closely, you can see Strawberry Shortcake and Huckleberry Pie on the edge of the table. I used them when I described the different roles of men and women while they built up their new colony. 

Cutting Down Our Christmas Tree

For years, I have wanted to have the 'Cutting Down Your Own Christmas Tree' experience.  Living right next to the Dixie National Forest office, we walked there and paid $10 for a permit.

With all of the storms this week, we had about 2' of fresh snow to tromp through and play in.  We didn't really have a winter last year since we were in Costa Rica, so the kids really enjoyed the snow.



After quite a bit of hiking, we decided we liked this Subalpine Fir (at least, we think it is a Subalpine Fir). 





Immediately on entering the forest, the kids jumped in and made snow angels.



Some areas were a little difficult to hike and, at points, were about 3' deep of soft fresh snow, making it a challenge to keep moving.



The results.  Not exactly the picture perfect tree, but we like it.

Iron Axe - Axe and Knife Throwing

Savannah's friend told her about a business their family was starting -- Iron Axe, on Main St in Cedar City.  They have a Monday night Family Night promotion, so we tried it out.

Axe and knife throwing aren't exactly the first things that come to mind for a family activity, but we had a great time.



We were surprised when Savannah's friend came in to bring her dad dinner while he was working.  It was fun to see her try it too.

















After throwing axes for a while, we tried out the knives.  Savannah really liked the knives.

Daughters of Utah Pioneers Cedar City Museum

Inside the beautiful Cedar City Visitors Center is a small Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum.  The friendly docent gave us a nice tour, explaining various artifacts and telling stories from Cedar City's past.

The kids really liked the gift shop in the visitor's center.

Carson's edited photos

I edited a few photos that we took on our Brice Canyon trip. Here they are:

Tucker appears to have attracted quite a few animals there.

For this one, I edited myself in because I wasn't in the original picture. See if you can find me!

Bryce Canyon National Park - Navajo Loop Trail at Sunset Point

Sunset Point was our favorite area at Bryce Canyon National Park.  It had great views, but the hiking trails really differentiated it.  The kids and I took Navajo Loop, a 1.3 mile loop that brings you up close with the hoodoos.

We started by hiking through 'Wall Street' -- trails surrounded by steep sandstone walls and hoodoos.  We were all in awe and the incredible geologic formations.















The trail was steep, but the well made switchbacks made it easy to navigate.

Eventually, you descend into a slot canyon.



See the tree growing in the middle of this canyon? There were trees growing in random places.











You hike past a dry stream bed to arrive at Two Bridges -- two small stone bridges.



On the way back, you get a good view of 'Thor's Hammer' (on the left of the picture below).



There are two neat stone tunnels on the way out of the park.

Bryce Canyon National Park - Bryce Point

Southern Utah and Northern Arizona have so many red rock geologic formations to see.  We figured that Bryce Canyon would be 'more of the same'.  It was awe inspiring.  Even the kids that had been reluctant to go were oohing and awing.

After the Visitor's Center, we took the quick 1.5 mile drive to Bryce Point, where you have a great view of the Bryce Amphitheater.

It was full of hoodoos -- large sandstone pillars left from the erosion of all of the material around them.  Bryce Canyon has the largest concentration of them in the world.