They survived and we reluctantly came home.

    This week I saw a glimpse of my future as an empty nester and I got a little excited! Long jogs with no stroller and no time restraints. Soaking up the sun by the pool for as long as I could and only having to fend for two for every meal. I didn't make a single bed, I didn't do a single load of laundry or wash any dishes. I didn't make a lunch or take out any trash. It was AMAZING!!! Now I know life can't be that blissful all the time but I could handle a week like that every few months!

     And incredibly things here at home went quite smoothly with Kayli in charge and all the kids did their best to cooperate for the week. I only got two phone calls for the whole week where there was an issue and even than it was nothing serious. The rest of the communication was just to touch base and see the kids faces on face time.

     Kayli took the younger kids on lots of little adventures throughout the week so they weren't miserable or missing us at all. I would definitely call this little week getaway a success for everyone involved.

     Right before we left Monday afternoon Brock won a 'Raskal' award at school. This means he has been one of the best students in his class for the past month. They pick one boy and one girl from each class in each grade every month for this award. It was quite exciting.

Brock and the other 2nd grade 'Raskal" winners.

       We spent a little time at the red rocks.

Greg found his name that he carved into the rocks over 25 years ago.

It's a fun little place to explore.

    A nice guy that Greg knows (I promised not to put his name with the pictures. ) let us go explore the exterior of his house that overlooks Snow Canyon in St. George. It was quite amazing! He wasn't in town while we were there otherwise I'm sure he would've taken us on a full-blown tour of the interior as well. As it was he made it possible for us to get into this gated community and into his backyard to see his little oasis.

Talk about a spectacular view and some very nice immediate surroundings.

The front and back of the house. Not too shabby!

    Obviously pictures don't do it justice but you get a vague idea of how amazing it is. Plus it was getting late in the evening so it was hard to get real good pictures.

     These are some seriously cool rocks that I came across on one of my jogs.

Again photos don't quite do justice.

    This was where we stayed all week and on the cities dime, which was a major perk!!

    Not a day without a little pool side sun soaking.

I could have used another day or two by the pool.

    We even got a little alone time in the hot tub. These photos were more to embarrass the kids and we NAILED IT! :-)

     We had some great dinners every night but the Anazazi steakhouse had to be the highlight of the week as far as dinners go. And the bonus was getting to enjoy it with the Cox's and Greg's co-worker Travis.

Cooking your own meat is actually pretty awesome.

   And to finish the week Greg got to go clay pigeon shooting. Super fun and it was all paid for ammunition and all.

    Back at home Kayli had some fun with McClane and Charlie.

Donuts!

  And they finally got to meet their little cousin, Elsie. 

Charlie and cousin Elsie.

     And then we had this very 'sweet' video dedicated to Greg by Mark to watch just hours before heading home. Just a side note, Greg likes to be the first one to mow the lawn at the start of every spring season.

     If you watch it you'll get the gist of why he did it but if you don't watch it just know that Mark was a little bitter that Greg took me to St. George instead of him.

     And now we're home and I've already got laundry going, a soda spill across the kitchen floor to clean up, the 2-year old in the bath and countless other reality checks! Our getaway has already become a distant dream!