Dave and Jan are happy that their son Stephen and family “escaped” from California two years ago to live in Cedar City. So it is an opportunity for a “family reunion” when daughter Alissa and her Crandall family make the trek to Utah from South Dakota where they live in the city of Huron – a trek they have made each year since Dave and Jan moved to Utah. Though Dave wasn’t as quick with the camera as he should have been during Andrew and Alissa’s visit, the camera did record a few fun times with family members along with a good family photo (with Alissa the photographer). Let’s start with a look at all six grand-children on the front lawn of Dave and Jan’s house.

One of the things the Crandall boys enjoy doing is exploring caves on the Maragunt Pleateau. Two or three years ago Andrew introduced the family to Mammoth Cave, a lava tube cave with a large entrance and several smaller exits hundreds of feet away. This year he led his family on a tour of Bowers Cave, a smaller lava tube cave a few miles away from Mammoth Cave, but Dave forgot to take his camera along for the cave tour – though the only thing the camera would have captured was the small opening with a tall metal ladder providing access to cavers.

Another of the things the Crandall boys enjoy doing is creating “dams” on Coal Creek (flowing through town near Dave and Jan’s house). Here are some dam builders, mud bathers (Elijah), and the project managers (Andrew and Alissa).

There are many trails to hike in Rainbow Canyon, just over or around the nearest ridge from Dave and Jan’s house, so one day’s adventure included a hike into the canyon with the Crandalls where some of the boys climbed canyon walls with Andrew while Alissa, Jan and Dave chose an easier route up a wash to the trail which climbed one of the many ridges in Rainbow Canyon.

Hiking down one of the many washes to the canyon floor led the hikers by an interesting rock formation, which Jan and some of her lady friends have named the Honeycomb, a formation which Ephraim and Silas and Andrew climbed and posed on long enough for a photo.

The Crandalls’ visit to Cedar City concluded with a family dinner on Jan’s birthday (a date which Jan shares with Kathleen, good friend and neighbor), so Kathleen was included in the family picture taken on the front porch.

Dr. James Dobson observed that no one ever says, as he lies on his death bed, “I wish I had spent more time at the office,” but many have wished they had spent more time with their families. Dave and Jan are very happy to enjoy happy family relations with both Stephen and Alissa’s families, and are always happy for times the families can spend time together – even though there are many miles between them much of every year.