Cedar City Reunion

This year for our Hanson family reunion, we spent some time in Cedar City, Utah. 

Highlights:

• Staying in a cute house owned by my Uncle Dorr. It was fun to have all our families in one place. 
• Soren and Charlotte took to each other instantly as kindred spirits. Liam tried herding Luke and Sylvie around, without much luck. 
• There was splashing in a little swimming pool in the back yard. The big people played dice and badminton and volleyball. 
• We watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which was a delight. 
• We celebrated Luke and Sylvie's 2nd birthdays with cake and a pinata. 
• Auntie Amanda broke out some glow sticks for the kids. Soren and Liam sword-fighted (fought?) themselves to sleep on their air mattress that night. 
• We saw Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors in an outdoor theater as part of the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. It was truly riotously funny. 
• Exploring Cedar Breaks. There was hiking and picnicking. Charlotte diligently completed all the requirements to became a Junior Ranger and even got a badge. 
• Celebrating our dad's retirement. We ate dinner in a nice steakhouse and, above the din, shared shouted memories about Daddy's working years. 
• Mostly, of course, it was just so good to spend time all together . . . the parents, the sibs, the sibs-in-law, the nieces and nephews. 
• Ya'll, I scored big in the family department. I love every single person in my family. My parents are da bomb (For reals. Ask anyone who knows them.) My siblings are the very, very best, and all three of them married amazing and delightful people, who, in turn, have helped produce amazing and delightful nieces and nephews for me to adore. 

Some pictures:

Here we're all crowded into the kitchen for a meal. 

I got all excited when I noticed that my nieces (Arielle and Calysta) and I had similar swirly designs on our shorts. Abe was forced (by me) to take a picture. I would just like to comment here that my bum stands up pretty well next to those firm little adolescent tushies.

A gorgeous panoramic view of the Breaks. 

Ready to go on what turned out to be an electrical hike. There was rain, there was thunder, and there was lightning. At one point everyone's hair started standing on end and Abe felt an electrical current move through his body. We beat a hasty retreat. 

Another hike let us to this scummy pond.  

 Here, Soren attempts to eat his brother. 

There were thousands of beautiful wildflowers decorating this gorgeous area. 

We discovered an awesome old-fashioned mining shovel outside a museum in Cedar City.

 The boys were very concerned for our safety while exploring the machine ("Mommy! Don't go up there! It doesn't look sturdy!"), but were eventually persuaded to sit in the scoop for a photo.