Wallace Family Reunion- Smith's Mesa

This was the first Charles Clifford and Sarah Miles Wallace Reunion. Aunt Sara Kieser organized it and there were a lot of people there that we didn't know so it was great. We had family members from as far away as Minnesota come to it. It was great getting to know everyone. The first thing we did was go to the Bradshaw Hotel Museum in Hurricane.

It was the first school in Hurricane and Sarah Miles was the first school teacher

They had lots of cool stuff like Zona Wrights Molasses Candy recipe that I have been eating my whole life

Lilly liked the old school desks

The kitchen had lots of antiques and a list of foods served at the hotel

Sarah Miles- my great grandmother

My Grandmother donated this picture and this is what she wrote

They had some cool antique pieces outside also

Great Aunt Beth is the only surviving of the Wallace kids. After the museum we drove by the house that my Grandma Roma was raised in and Aunt Beth told us stories

The house has changed and been built around but this is it and they owned all the property up the hill. My Grandma Roma said she lived in a "heaven on earth" with every possible fruit tree and bush. Charles Clifford was a fantastic gardener

Next we went to the Toquerville Cemetery where some family members were buried. This is Wynn Stout with one daughter Crystel and three granddaughters- Anna, Abby and Krista

Marshall Stout talked about the graves. The original Hamilton Monroe Wallace (my great, great, great grandfather) was in the Mormon Battalion and stayed in California and settled the San Bernadino area. He struck gold and when Brigham Young came to visit he is said to have given Brigham enough gold nuggets to pay off the church's debts. When Brigham Young called the saints back from San Bernadino, Hamilton refused to go back and was ex-communicated- I am not sure for what but it's definately interesting what one can find in one's geneology!

These are the graves of Jane Stapley's parents who married Hamilton Monroe Wallace II and they were the parents of Charles Clifford Wallace- my great grandfather

This is Hamilton Monroe's grave. You can See Smith Mesa beyond where we are going next

Charles Clifford owned land up here and dry farmed it. Then eventually he sold it to my Grandfather Emerald Stout who married Roma Wallace

The first stop was the Zion look out

It looks like John needed a little help. Thanks Canyon!

This land is now in a trust of the Emerald Stout posterity. It's a great place to go for a picnic

Mmmm- Barbeque beef sandwiches, salads and chips

But frogs in the pond

It's also a great place for four wheeling and target shooting!

And don't forget picking grass Lukie!

Then we drove and hiked to the hole in the rock

Just look at that view!

It's not a big hole but it can fit 15 at least because that's how many we had in there at one time

Some of the Stout boys

The road to get there looks like this

With a mountain on one side and a cliff on the other. They filmed the horror movie "The Car" up on this road. They killed "the car" by blowing up the mountain on top of "the car". I have never seen it myself- just heard 

After lunch on the mountain we came back and the kids got to ride in a covered wagon

Three falls- you can't see it but I used to hike up there and dive off the first fall

Wynn Stout, Jim McArthur, and Jack Lemmon

Cute little Ann

Then the kids got to do a candy cannon

Sorry Sondra, but it's the only shot I took of the candy cannon

Joseph made a haul

That night we had a catered meal at Emerald and Roma's place

We got to hear from Aunt Beth all about her siblings and then a member of each family talked about their parents. It was very interesting

I am disappointed that I didn't take more pictures of individual families and couples. For those I did talk to I feel privileged to have gotten to know you a little better!

Zion National Park, Emerald Pool Trail, Canyon Overlook Trail

From the archives of 2009. I grew up in Hurricane, Utah which is 25 minutes from Zion National Park. We had the run of the place back then. There were no shuttles, no tourists, we could park anywhere we wanted and we could hike anywhere we wanted. I even went tunnel running at night with friends once. My Grandpa helped build those tunnels that run through the park. I even did a 10 mile run from where the River Walk Trail starts all the way to Springdale which is a little town at the entrance of the park. It was amazing!
Things have definitely changed. You can't do anything but hike on the specified trails. You can hardly breathe with all the tourists. It's definately not so bad in the Spring or the Fall which is when I would recommend going. For many years I never took my kids there because I knew it had changed so much, but we did go in 2009. We did three trails. The Emerald Pool Trail, The River Walk Trail and another day we did the Canyon Overlook trail. It is still one of the most beautiful places on earth.

The Emerald Pool Trail

Ya, we took a bunch of kids. The more the merrier I say

The River Walk Trail

The shuttle buses were new to me

The Canyon Overlook Trail

On the way back down the switchbacks from the Canyon Overlook trail we stopped and went swimming in a water hole that I didn't know about but my siblings did. Other people came but not a lot. It was fun for the kids. They went polliwog and baby frog hunting

We saw this bull in Springdale. He was pretty forbidding