ZION

Last week we went on an amazing family reunion to Zion Ponderosa Resort, just outside of Zion National Park in southern Utah. It is an awesome facility, with lots of activities available, and quite close to several national parks, including Zion, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon.  We had our last Merkley family reunion at the same resort, and we all loved it so much that we went again! Here follows the record of our adventures...

I know this picture is dark, but I love this one of Evie and Lacey.

We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and got all settled in.  It was so great to see Mike and Lacey, whom we haven't seen much at all since their move to Indiana in June 2010.  We also enjoyed seeing Chris and Rachel (plus the adorable Baby Jake!) and Tim and Tamera, who have all moved to Houston to sell pest control for the summer.  We sure miss not having any Merkley siblings living close to us. 

Hanging out in the patio area of the Moose Lodge, our primary gathering place.

Beautiful scenery behind us.

Lacey brought new sunglasses for the girls! They loved them, especially Evie.

I love these ladies! (and Jake too, of course)

We wasted no time in exploring the swimming pool on the resort.  It was our family's favorite attraction, and we visited it every day we spent there.

Claire got up the courage to go down the slide.  Love this face!

That evening we had a family court of honor for all the Merkley men who have earned their Eagle Scout award.  I think it is pretty amazing that all six of my brothers have earned their Eagle.  My dad has been involved in Scouting for the last 20 years, and has served as Scoutmaster multiple times.  He just retired from the Scoutmaster position in Doha (after his sixth son attained Eagle rank) and was awarded the Silver Beaver award, the highest award given at the regional level.  Pretty awesome.  Here they are all together.

All the Eagle Scouts who are descendants of Glade Merkley

All the Keith Merkley Eagle Scouts.

~ ANGEL'S LANDING ~

Wednesday morning, a big group of us went into Zion to do the Angel's Landing Hike--which really ought to be reclassified as a hike with a bit of freeclimbing at the end.  It is craziness! I cannot believe that they let anyone go up there and hike that! Well, they don't allow children (thanks again, Tim and Tam for watching the girls for us!).  But, since I am not afraid of heights, I loved it and the view was incredible! Anyone who is afraid of heights, even just a little, is advised not to go on this hike.  Lacey came though, even though she is really afraid of heights, and she did great! I was so proud of her for coming.  What a thrilling experience! You really feel a sense of accomplishment at the top, and it is very awe-inspiring.  I felt the grand majesty of God's creations, and Zion is one place in which it's impossible to ignore the Creator's omnipotent hand.  It was so striking.

On the park shuttle.

The whole hiking crew

A couple views of the stunning formations in Zion.  Look at the striated rock here.

I believe this rock is named Moroni.  An excellent name for such a pillar of strength.

Angel's Landing

When we got off the bus, this little fella was there to greet us.  I love the horns in velvet.

Yeah, see that monolith? We're about to hike to the top of it.

The views of the canyon were just so stunning.

As we got closer and closer to the mountain rising straight up out of the canyon floor, I kept thinking, "we're really gonna hike this thing?!"

The final section of the hike was done using these chains bolted to the rock.  It's a stretch to call the last bit a "trail".  More like light rock climbing without a rope! That little ridge was only about 2 feet wide in places.  SCARY!

On top of the world!! 

We did it! The views at the top were so breathtaking!  It was a very cool feeling to see hawks soaring BELOW you.

King of the Mountain!

Andy and Sheridan at the top

All the Kendall Merks who hiked to the top.

Livin' on the edge!

You can't quite get the scope in these pictures, but the ground is REALLY far down.

Just hanging out.

 

All the Keith Merks who made it to the top

Me with a cool beehive formation.

See that white bus on the road? That gives you some idea of how high we are.

Walking back down

We climbed up in this little cave on the side of the trail.

The cave led into this little fissure in the rock, which we climbed, of course!

Us girls got in this little mini-cave.

So we did it! It was tons of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who isn't afraid of heights! Quite strenuous, though--we were definitely huffing and puffing at the top.  And it's nothing like all the hikes at Arches National Park which say strenuous, but aren't really strenuous.  This IS.  But the view from the top is so worth the climb.

~ BARN DANCE ~

That evening we had a barn dance! We learned some line dances, we did some Zumba, and we had a great family dance.  Even 79-year-old Grandfather Merkley (the girls' great-grandfather) got up and danced to Surfin' USA with all of us! That was my favorite moment of the dance.  And I also got to waltz with my dad, which I haven't done since my wedding day, so it was lots of fun.  

Me teaching Zumba!

Dancin'!

Later that evening, we had a bonfire, roasted some marshmallows, and broke out the glow sticks! 

Hallie LOVES glowsticks.

S'mores and glowsticks--it just doesn't get much better!

Once all the kiddies were in bed, we busted out the six-man Pinochle!

~ CANYONEERING ~

Thursday we went canyoneering!!! If you've never been canyoneering, it's a lot of hiking, rappelling, and a bit of downclimbing.  Everyone wears lots of gear and you have two guides to spot you and help you through it all.  It is very physical, very dirty, and there are lots of heights involved.  But I tell you what, it is a total blast!!  We had eight people on our canyoneering trip: Rob and I, Mike and Lacey, Ben and Jessica, and Kimmie and Anna.  There are eight rappels on the trip, and two or three downclimbs.  Since the whole group has to wait while each person rappels down separately, we had lots of time to take pictures of every step of the way.  Luckily it's incredibly beautiful scenery! The slot canyon we rappelled down has these awesome ridged walls which are worn smooth.  

The first rappel.  Approximately a 70 foot drop.

Canyoneering chic.  Helmet and all! :)

Such a cool canyon!

Our first downclimb.  The downclimbs were usually between 8 and 15 foot drops that we had to freeclimb down.  They were fun and scary because we had no ropes.

Go Jessica!

This is the third of the eight rappels.  It is the longest drop--about 100 feet straight down.  Very cool and beautiful.

Kimmie

Poised over the edge.

As I came down this one, Rob said "turn around and smile", and as I turned, my feet slipped off the rock and I swung around with my head right under the very cold waterfall! If you can see my face in this picture, it is a very surprised smile.

I was definitely wet by the time that one was over!

Ben

Mike

The rappel just after the long one.  I love this shot because you can see the long rappel above the one we just came down.

Such a stunning canyon! And made even better by being in it with great people!

The seventh rappel.  This one was the coolest view once you got to the bottom.

Kimmie

Lacey

Mike

Rob

At the end of our final rappel.  We are...canyoneers.

This formation is called the Elephant.  Do you see it?

And after a full and exhausting day of rappelling, we came back to camp at around 7 PM completely dead.  The next day we were SO sore! Between the Angel's Landing hike and canyoneering, our muscles were just crying.  But both experiences were so amazing, I wouldn't have missed them for the world.  So fun! 

~ RELAXING ~

After a couple days of serious hiking, we were ready to just relax and spend time with all our family.  We played lots of Boggle, Mormon Bridge, and Pinochle.  Boggle is my favorite game in the whole world and I loved being around lots of people who will play it with me!  We went swimming a lot--I don't think a single day passed that we didn't visit the pool.  We had another bonfire, played some Minute to Win It games, played glow-in-the-dark volleyball, and had a Mormon Bridge tournament.  Long live the dearly held Merkley tradition of Mormon Bridge!

Playing with the kiddos: My daughters loved being around their second cousins, Eli and Levi.  Mike and Lacey bought them this little bug catcher with some plastic bugs to play with and they loved hiding the bugs and then "catching" them in their bug catcher. 

Swimming!!

Sisters! Once upon a time I had no sisters.  When I was 13, I got my first one.  Now look how many I've got! I love these girls!

Me and my cousin Katie

 ~ FAMILY TIME ~

Hangin out in our PJs

 ~ MORMON BRIDGE TOURNAMENT~

Where Legends Are Made

~ RODEO ~

Walking to the on-site rodeo with Grammy and Grandfather.

Yee-haw!

Evie sure loves her Grammy and Fa-fa.

Saying hello to the massive Clydesdale horses.

~ MINUTE TO WIN IT ~

You have to knock over the waterbottles using the tennis ball ONLY.

Chris was the champion at this game.

The kids had their own game.  Keep the balloon in the air.  Hallie was so cute, she just lightly tapped the balloon so that it barely left her cupped fingers.  Very cute.

At the end, they all had to pop their balloons.  Claire is bracing for impact.

These tissue boxes are filled with ping pong balls.  The girls had to empty their boxes by shaking their hips--no hands allowed.  Absolute hilarity ensued.

~ GLOW IN THE DARK VOLLEYBALL ~

It took a bit of tweaking to figure it all out, but it was a total blast!!  Once we found out that an LED light would instantly recharge the glow of the ball, life was good.  We played several games and had a wonderful time! 

The red team- I was on the red team, but I was putting my kids to bed when this picture was taken.

The blue team- Rob was on the blue team, but he isn't pictured for the same reason.

We added a bunch of glow sticks to the net, too.  It was neutral.

It was an awesome way to end an awesome trip!  We loved all the fun things we got to see and do, but mostly, we just love being part of such a strong, faithful, loving family.  It is a very grand blessing.