Right after our reception on May 4, Joe and I set off on our first adventure together... Our Honeymoon!
For the first night, we drove up to Eden where we stayed at the "Snowberry Inn." It was an adorable bed & breakfast and we loved our stay there. We woke up to hot french toast sticks, bacon, eggs, sausage, fresh fruit, milk, and juices. Yumm! Soon the next morning we were off to continue our adventure. The whole honeymoon was a surprise to me, so I followed Joe's lead as we got in the car and headed off!
One of our family friends, Brother Crowton, had written "Just Married!" on the back of our car before we left home the night before. We loved having this decoration on our car and even got a few honks from passing cars congratulating us. It was awesome!
The first full day of our honeymoon was spent in Park City. We stayed in a gorgeous Marriott Hotel right near the Historic part of Park City. Since we were honeymooners, they upgraded us to a fancy suite and brought us chocolate covered strawberries! Awesome! We walked around for the afternoon, grabbed some lunch at a little cafe, rode the tram, did a little shopping, and found a few gems at the old town shops. We enjoyed the sunny, warm weather and got to relax as we enjoyed our first day as husband and wife.
The next day was Sunday, so the two of us gussied up and went over to what we thought was our typical ward building; however, we found out that the Spanish Branch was meeting at that time, so we joined right in with them. Now most people would probably think that the fact that I don't speak Spanish would be a problem (I was one of those people!), but during Sacrament meeting my Spanish-speaking husband was able to coordinate for me to have headphones where I listened while someone translated the whole meeting. It was sweet. The rest of the time other people helped me and I learned that regardless of the language, the Spirit was the same. My heart was touched by the love of these people.
Next,
We "hit the town" the next day by exploring Historic St. George. We stopped by Judd's Store for lemonade and rootbeer candies, read picture books at the St. George City Library, rode the merry-go-round and walked by the stream at the City Park, and explored some crazy antique shops in the area! We didn't have a plan, but kind of just went to our own beat. When we started getting tired, we finished the night at the cinema watching "The Avengers."
When we were in St. George, we also made a point to stop and do a session at the St. George Temple! The sister temple workers were so sweet and kept telling us how adorable of a couple we were. We had a really sweet experience in the temple and were surprised as we left to run into Joe's aunt Sarah who had just finished doing work in the temple as well.
Afterwards, we drove up above the condo where we were staying and found a neat hiking spot with some caves and narrow slots. We spent the afternoon climbing up and down the red rocks and got some fun pictures with the view. We laughed and played which made for a good, memorable time.
That night Joe spoiled me by taking us to a fancy-shmancy restaurant and art gallery called the Anasazi. HOLY COW! SOOOO GOOD! At this restaurant we were treated to a cheese fondue with the works: bread, apples, broccoli, and carrots. Then Joe and I shared a steak which was brought out on a sizzling hot 400-degree stone. The steak was nearly raw but was cooked as we sliced off pieces of fresh steak and cooked it to our own liking right in front of us, piece by piece. Because the stone was so hot, the pieces cooked within seconds and made for the juiciest and most delicious steak we had ever eaten.
One of the days we also got to go on a big adventure by going up to Zion's National Park! It was my first time and we loved it! The scenery was absolutely beautiful. We went on a few different hikes there and spent the day exploring. We loved being out in the sun and taking lots of pictures in this beautiful part of Utah!
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| Oh, and we saw a deer. |
As it turns out, we liked hiking so much, we decided to go again the next day! Except for instead of going to Zion's, we went to Snow Canyon. Here we played with the red sand that turns to clay when water is added to it (blew my mind!) and took pictures by the red rock. On our hikes we explored some lava tubes that took us underground. I was surprised to find that it was cold in there, but it was a nice break from the heat outside. By the end of the day, we both had definitely gotten our share of sun and had tans/sunburns to prove it!
On the last day, we made our trek back home. However, we couldn't go the whole way without a little excitement, so we stopped at a dollar store to see what we could find. We picked up some silly string and kites and then went to a park for a picnic. After eating our picnic (leftovers from Olive Garden the night before), the silly string led to a "war" between the two of us, resulting in pink and green silly string all over us and the grass around us. We laughed so hard! It was great!
Next we pulled out the kites! It was nice and sunny outside with just a little bit of a breeze... perfect for flying kites! Joe was able to get his up quickly, but mine was a tad more stubborn than his was. Eventually, we were both able to fly our kites together and really enjoy our time at the park! A fun and relaxing way to end our trip!
We made so many fun memories and had a great first week as husband and wife! Thanks Joe for putting it all together! You're the best and I love you!
