It took over four years, but we finally arrived in St. George

Over four years ago, we decided to take a family weekend trip to St. George. Shulamith was eight months' pregnant with her first child, so the two of us planned to do very little other than lounge by the pool and drink Diet Coke, while Gerald hiked and Matt climbed rocks and the others did whatever they pleased. We booked a hotel, packed our bags, and planned to leave first thing the following morning.

Then this happened.

And we never made it.

And time went by.

And lots of other stuff happened.

But in the true Erichsen-Webster spirit of determination, though it took four years, we finally made that trip happen. Not everyone was able to go, but we are grateful for those who came: Gerald and I, Isaiah, Seth, and the four Monsters (Monson-Websters). We stayed in a lovely condo with a nice pool and hot tub and ate copious amounts of food.

Because for Shulamith and me, it's pretty much all about food. And since she and Matt have visited St. George a couple of times recently, she had a solid list of “must eat” restaurants, and I'm proud to say we managed to squeeze in every last one of them. Can I take just a second here and talk to you about crepes? Oh. My. Goodness. There is this place called The Crepery, which serves a variety of delectable crepes, both sweet and savory. Shulamith and I went there both mornings while everyone else slept (well, Gerald went hiking), and both times I ate the most perfect crepe with cheesecake filling, strawberries, bananas, and chocolate sauce. I'm not even kidding.

Then there was this pizza place she had told me about, with a thin, crispy crust and 4-cheese blend. I got one for Gerald and me with mushrooms, olives, and feta cheese. Mmmm. Then on our way out of town, we went to the Mexican place I'd heard so much about, and once again, I was not disappointed. Warm, miniature corn tortillas with grilled steak, chicken, or pork (okay, Seth got beef tongue because he's Seth), augmented by a salsa bar that included pinto beans and guacamole.

In case this is all making you too hungry, let me switch it up and share some memorable quotes from the weekend:

“It sounds like she's dying up there.” --Isaiah, in response to Kennedy screaming because she wasn't quite ready to go to bed.

“Of course I type in h, t, t, p, colon, backslash, backslash, w, w, w, dot, whatever. There are options other than http, such as ftp, so the browser needs to know which one.” --Gerald, trying to explain why he insists on typing all this every time he goes to a new website, even though we all know you don't have to.

“Why the eff are we trying to speak French?” --Seth, in a group family text chat discussion of the proper way to pronounce the word “crepe.” Which is of course with a short /e/, rhyming with “prep” or “strep.”  It's an imported word from French, and yes, we should honor its correct, French pronunciation. Duh.

“They took out my cocktail insert.” --Isaiah, when he and Shulamith and I ditched everyone else and went to an upscale steak restaurant because Shulamith had a gift card. As the host handed us our menus, he left the cocktail insert in Shulamith's and mine but deliberately removed it from Isaiah's. It's okay. He's only 25 after all.

“I TOLD YOU SO.” --Matt, when the only cupcakes left were one coconut, one pumpkin, four chai tea, and a few banana. So the cupcake place was yet another item on the “must eat” list, and if you go there after 7:00 p.m., cupcakes are half price. We are always all about a deal, but Matt kept warning Shulamith that if we waited until 7:00, all the good flavors would be gone. She didn't listen. That said, my banana one was pretty tasty, though I would have loved to try the chocolate raspberry.

“How many monkeys are too many monkeys? One or two?” --Dumbest Fibbage question ever, directed to poor Isaiah, who was utterly baffled by how to answer, leaving us all laughing uncontrollably. And....you probably had to be there.

“Why does Matt always peer pressure Seth into doing these crazy, scary, dumb things? Ugh, I hate it when he does this.” --Terrianne, as Matt attempts to convince Seth to climb up a tree, swing on a rope, and land in a pond of freezing cold water.

“Mom is about to mess her pants.” --Shulamith, while we watched Seth prepare to swing from the rope, and my anxiety was in the stratosphere.

Even though it took us four years to get there, our weekend in St. George was definitely worth the wait. We know that families are forever, and I'll gladly spend forever with these guys, as well as the ones who weren't with us. We are blessed indeed.