Day 4- The Narrows

Not pictured- getting stuck behind the wrong truck at the park entrance, looking for parking, finding parking, paying for parking, using our first pit toilets of the trip, waiting in line for 45 minutes to catch the shuttle, or the super hip Gen Z who told us all about his crazy adventures in the park. 

Once we hit the trailhead, none of that mattered!

On this day, Jason and I officially decided we're old. Not really, but we did agree that we have nearly 23 years of wonderful memories together to sort through anytime we try to revisit a place or recall a memory. We've definitely been here before, but when was it exactly? I can officially declare that it has been 22 years since took these pictures in September 2004.

And we had fun recreating them! 

Hoist! 

And lower.... ouch! 

Same spot, 20 years later? Not quite, but still! So cute! 

The pictures hardly do this amazing slot canyon justice. We were in heaven!

And yes, we have been to Ledges. It only compares to the Narrows in happiness while visiting. 

It got deep fast!

The weather was perfect, the water was not too cold, and the crowd was manageable. There were a LOT of people there though. This is one of the most famous hikes in Zion! 

We hiked for about three hours and would have loved to stay longer, but we had so many other adventures on our to-do list for this trip! Eventually we had to turn around. 

Noah got soaked!

This was Jason's #1 pick of things to do on this trip, and it was definitely worth it! We will definitely be back again, hopefully in less than 20 years from now!

Day 3- St George Temple & Les Mis

We said goodbye to family, picked Adam up first thing Saturday morning and headed south for the first time... in years. ;) It was a perfect chance to catch up on sleep as needed. 

The fires were close enough to smell. 

When out West, one must partake!

Our first stop was the beautiful, historic, pioneer, recently renovated St. George temple. 

There is never a time when the peace of the temple isn't exactly what we need in our busy lives. 

We brought Leah with us! 

Not pictured- checking into the hotel, a mid dinner at Texas Roadhouse (future self, just give me the rolls and cactus blossom), and a Walmart dash because we needed water, hiking food, poles, and shoes for tomorrow's adventure. We didn't spend much time leading up to the trip securing any of these things, so it was a small miracle that we got it all done just in the nick of time! 

Our first big adventure of the trip was to Tuacahn to see Les Miserables!  Holy smokes, we were definitely in the desert, and it was gorgeous. 

And windy! 

Adam auditioned for the BYU camp relatively late in the game, and we didn't have plans to make a trip out of picking him up until just a few weeks before it actually happened, so we debated getting what we thought were not great seats for the show that I saw as a teenager and thought was dark and depressing (it is). But ultimately we decided to go for it and we dove headfirst (Noah and I, especially) into learning the story, the music, the magic that is Les Mis. So when the big night came, we were SO ready for it! 

Such an incredible setting. 

The one illegal picture I took, while Javier is singing Stars. They put stars on the mountains! And there were stars overhead! It was magical. 

But it was SO windy. Before the show started, we could all see and hear the lights and speakers above us swaying in the wind. During the show, costumes were malfunctioning, mics were blown out, props were flying across the stage, and they had to stop and reset in the middle of I Dreamed a Dream because the set on wheels was literally blowing away. Everyone cheered SO loud when Fantine came back on stage and picked up right where she left off, belting out, "and there are storms we cannot weather!" 

They cancelled the rest of the show after intermission. Even with all of the mishaps in the first half, I didn't think they would do that. But alas, no Javier's Suicide, no On My Own, no death of that little rascal Gavroche or Eponine or Jean Val Jean. Just nothing. We were shocked! 

Thankfully, we bought the inclimate weather protection, so we recieved a refund for the tickets. It would have been very hard for us to make it to another show in St. George, Utah anytime soon! But boy were we shocked and sad that they cancelled the show. Ultimate first world problems, indeed. 

Silver lining though- we got home before midnight and had that much extra time to sleep before our next adventure the next morning!

Adam's Concert

 Spoiler alert- we did not, in fact make it to Adam's concert in time. We *thought* we would make it in time, but we showed up 15 minutes late, not 15 minutes early, and the concert had already started. (One schedule said 5:30, one said 6:00.) We missed two of Adam's three performances in the concert and I cried a little bit. Good grief, we just try so hard at all the things and we still get it wrong sometimes and that is hard. Thankfully, there was a second concert, and you can bet your boots that we were EARLY to that one. He did a wonderful job! 

Not quite show choir, not quite A Capella Reign, this was a good challenge for Adam! 

So much pointing, and I loved it!

He was in the blue group! They sang Mr. Electric Blue. 

Now, a month later, I regularly see his phone blowing up with messages from this group. 

There's my blue boy! 

He said his favorite parts of the week were picking up new beatboxing tricks, learning more about engaging stage presence, and being around SO many nice and funny new friends. I have a feeling he'll be back again for more of this next summer!