Gates Family Vacation at Zion Ponderosa

Dave and I stayed at a cabin atZion  Ponderosa in May after he has been traveling a lot and we needed a reconnect. It was so awesome that we decided it would be fun to rent a bigger cabin and invite family to come enjoy it with us. 

Almost everyone that we invited was able to come!! We missed Chevia and Danny, who are working and pregnant in Denver; Cody, who had to work and finish moving his family into their new house (hero award); Cinthia and Landon and their family (and Malisa), who had car troubles and couldn't make it; and Tim, who was on tour with Due West (which is bitter sweet cuz although we LOVE Due West to tour and get their music out to the masses--and we're crossing our fingers that this tour skyrockets them to the next level--I was really hoping that we'd get to spend more than 2 hours with Tim as just Tim...)   Anyways...we missed all these peeps tremendously, but other than that  we had SUCH a fantastic time!! 

First day was mostly about discovering the cabin and reconnecting... And yummy food made by Davi... 

The next day was Sunday, so a bunch of us drove into Orderville for church. It was such a cool, old building, and I wondered if any of my Leany ancestors helped build it. I'm wishing now that I would have taken a picture of us in front of it. 

We had a baby shower for Mekenze after church. We skyped Chevia in so she could join us. Technology is just awesome!! 

The rest of the time was filled with activities like paint balling, swimming, riding the zip line, miniature golfing, and rock wall climbing! 

 

Oh! And 4-wheeling and bungee trampoline jumping and swinging and horseback riding and sand digging... 

 And lots of EATING!!

Grilled glazed pineapple by Berta (one of her many amazing dishes 

Kaluah pork with Hawaiian macaroni salad and rice by Zach and Brét, 

Spicy chicken sandwiches and Mexican corn by Mekenze and George...

And much, much more that was devoured before I thought to snap a photo... 

I can't wait to see all the family photos taken by Davi (the magician behind Sophia Shay Photography).

Of course this is only a small representation of all that went on at Zion Ponderosa. It was an almost perfect get away--at least as I and my family are concerned (I am only speak for myself, of course). We came home rested and ready for another burst of excitingly crazy busy-ness!!