Come to Zion, come to Zion!

You guessed it. Andrew and I spent the last weekend in.... Zion! Zion National Park, that is. We drove down on Thursday (OK, Andrew drove and I watched Cars on his laptop) and stayed in Hurricane (pronounced Hurri-cun") for the night.

On Friday, Andrew and I and most of his family toured Zion National Park. All five siblings (two of his brothers couldn't make it) and their kids, plus Andrew, his parents and me, crammed onto a small shuttle bus to see the sights. I held Kalissa, my soon-to-be niece, on my lap and talked up musicals with Emily, another niece, as we walked to the river and took pictures there.

Once the kids were exhausted and everyone else was heading back to the park for a picnic, Andrew and I decided to check out Weeping Rock, this beautiful mossy cliff with water droplets falling everywhere. We headed back to the park for lunch after that, and I took a nap (I'm a wimp during weekend excursions) while Andrew swam with his nieces.

We finished up the trip with a stop at his sister's house, a few hours at a great park where we took some fun pictures that might end up on the announcements, and a quick trip to St. George to see the temple, since I'd never been there. I was completely floored to discover palm trees in Utah!

A lot of Andrew's siblings joked about how I still had about two months to back out on the marriage now that I'd met the whole family. But you know what? It was fun to be in my own Zion with Andrew's siblings and parents. Sure, they're not perfect. None of us are going to be lifted up like the city of Enoch anytime soon. But they love each other purely, and they accept and love me purely, too. And that's what matters most to me.

I am less than two months away from starting my own little Zion with an incredible husband by my side. I can't wait to begin that journey.