Virgin, UT

Lautzenheiser Family Christmas was at Duane’s new-ish house!

The Family without Beth :(

Unfortunately, the day before we were all meeting, Beth ended up in the hospital with chest pain and dizziness. Fortunately, she is okay, however, we greatly missed her presence at Duane’s. I gave her a hard time that I was going to have to drink all the wine by myself, which may or may not have happened ;).

We enjoyed a traditional Christmas morning of exchanging gifts with each other followed by an always beautiful drive up Smith’s Mesa and along the backside of Zion. We’ve done this a few times and it’s just as impressive each time.

Topo makes every trip better.

Duane has been wanting a Class C motorhome; Marcia got him one, haha!

Searching for a cave.

Duane played tour guide and brought us to Little Black Mtn, area full of petroglyphs. Over 500 carved pictures covered the rocks; scientists estimate that they represent native populations in the area spanning over 8,000 years. We then ventured to Glitter Mtn, an area that Scott and I had been too long before kids. This old selentine mine is open to the public for your mining pleasure. Adults and kids enjoyed chipping away at the layers attempting to pry off large intact pieces.

Chipping away!

Miles was thrilled when his persistence paid off!

The miners!

Dinosaur Tracks at Johnson Family Farm.

This super kind staff member, Hannah, shared so much information with us!

We wrapped up our trip with a stop at the Dinosaur Discovery site at Johnson Farm, where over 1,000 dino tracks have been preserved! Everyone (especially Miles) thought it was super cool to imagine these giant reptilian beasts walking along the same paths we were on.

Last year, we weren’t able to all be together on Christmas, so this was a great reminder that a home base with nearby adventures are always a win for the Lautzenheiser Family.