Zion in Winter

For Christmas we gathered almost the entire Bailey family together -- my mom and dad, brother Ryan and his wife Hanni, Sister Shalise and Steve, (brother Matt was a scrooge), and with all of our kids spent the weekend in St. George. It was cold. Dixie of Utah my foot. Phoenix has nothing to worry about, believe me. But in Phoenix, you can't see Zion in winter, and that is worth frozen extremities any day, if you ask me.

Intrepid souls that we are, ice and snow did not dissuade us from taking at least a couple of short hikes. And was it ever rewarding. Not only did the kids get to "ice skate outside" (much to my horror at times), we were rewarded with views that could not be beat.


This picture does not do justice to the Great White Throne. There was no way to capture the scale of that thing. Amazing.


Here we are at the gateway to the Narrows. The shot below perhaps gives a sense of the immensity of this place.

Here I am with my dad and boys along the Narrows trail. Dad and mom both worked here after graduating from high school in the 50s. It was nice to be back with them some 50 years later.

After leaving Zion, my dad, mom and Shalise's family spent some time with my family in Snow Canyon, playing on the sand dunes there. The photo below is Keegan and my dad. (Check out the look on Keegan's face-- he is full of it, I'm telling you.)

My only memories of this place were as a kid many years before, with my parents watching me and my siblings as I now watched my kids. Coming back with my kids and my parents was an interesting experience. Sweet with both memory and new fun, of course, but also odd to be here as a parent, together with my parents.

I found myself wishing hard that my parents were young again. They treated us to such wonderful times as kids, and I wanted them to have the same experience all over again with my kids, to share in what I was feeling watching them. As much as they enjoy my kids (and frequently remind me that it is much more fun to be a grandparent than a parent), with my parents in their 70s Father Time hangs a little heavier over the joy of these moments. It makes carefree, uninhibited exuberance a bit harder to come by. How nice it would be to have them as same-aged family or friends, seemingly with time to spare and just watch my kids enjoy life and grow up. I don't really believe in regret, it is a pointless emotion, but if I have a regret in life, it is that Kath and I did not start our family a little sooner. Nothing to do about it now, of course, except make the most of the time we have left with all of us on the same planet, and so that is what we did.

Here is Kate taking a flying leap.

Alden and his cousin Liam were in heaven. Just blow that picture up and look at their faces -- everything that is wonderful about little boys can be seen right there.

Needless to say, a little sand in the hair is a small price to pay in a place like this -- good thing there were showers at the house we rented.

Here we are at the end of the day, a great day to be alive and with family. I will post later about more fun with the Bailey Fam in St. George.