1870 Washington County Court House - restored

 A group called United We Pledge decided to restore the original Washington County Court House (built in 1870).  They had Paul come in to help in doing some restoration work on some of the old brick features.  They had a grand opening event Saturday and he was invited to say the opening prayer.  I didn't attend the program, but went down later to see how the building turned out.  I had gone in with Paul while they were still working on it.  It turned out so beautifully.  Later that day we attended the wedding/reception of a dear ward member.  It was a 2nd marriage for both of them and we hope it will be the wonderful they need after the unwonderful that came before.  It was a lovely temple sealing and reception.  It was a really nice day!  

Owen's Loop with critters

 Saturday Paul and I made Owen's Loop our morning walk on the hill behind our house.  It got spiced up a little by some cool critters we encountered.  First we saw a coyote.  It was strange that it was still out and about in the early daylight time.  It seemed very curious about us and stayed in sight much longer than I expected it would.  On the way down we saw a pretty cool bird sitting on the edge of the cliff.  It looked like some kind of bird of prey, but we are not sure what kind.  Paul kept inching closer and closer for a better picture, until it finally flew off.  Pretty cool to see these critters in our own back yard!  Not the best pics of either one, but the best we could get.  

A ride over Cedar Mountain with Bean!

 We went up to see Bean in Cedar today.  He wanted to eat lunch at Park Place.  They have wonderful food, especially their dessert crepes.  You can also have your sandwich made into a crepe, which I did today.  It was really good.  After lunch we decided to drive over Cedar Mountain.  There's not much snow for this time of year, but it was still very beautiful.  On the way we saw some people with their Jeep stuck just off the road.  They were from CA.  We stopped to help and other people did too, and between all of us we were able to get them back on the road and on their way.  It was a good day and we enjoyed the time together.  

A little rock trip to Fredonia!

 On the last day of my Christmas/New Year's school break I went with Paul to Silver Arrow to pick up a big rock for a job he's doing for the city.  He's helping build a Japanese Garden behind the new St. George City Hall building.  It was a beautiful day for a ride in the truck and then to walk around the Silver Arrow Stone property and look at all the amazing stone.  I like just moseying around seeing all of it while the men do their business.

 

New Year's Day and more 2026!

We did lots of fun things with family after New Years during the time Jay and Brynn were down!  We  went and walked the Dragon's Tail to get a little exercise!  

We went to the Visitor's Center to enjoy the around the world nativities and the stained glass from the Rome Temple exhibit.   

We went to Urban Renewal and saw lots of fun old stuff and tried on funny old glasses and clothes!

We had our Girl's night at Ferf's.  We ate good food and then painted portraits of each other!  Some were more beautiful than others!  

We went bowling at Dixie Bowl. 

Jay and all his girls except Clara (not old enough yet) went to the temple very early to do baptisms for the dead one morning.  Paul helped with the confirmations afterwards.  This was Essie's first time to go!  After that we went to Kneader's for breakfast and then took some home for Brynn and Clara.  

 Cousins and sisters and grandkids are fun!

 A sad event occurred on New Year's Day here in St. George.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve Apostles had passed away earlier and he was laid to rest in the old cemetery here on New Year's Day.  People lined the streets in the rain as the hearse passed by. He grew up here and his wife and in-laws had lived in our neighborhood in younger and older days.  I'm sure he was so happy to be with his wonderful wife again.  We will miss him and his inspiring messages in General Conference.  He sometimes visited our ward when he would come down here to visit his in-laws and when he presided at their funerals, so we got to enjoy  him a little more than most people.  

Another thing that happened over the holidays was Jay and Moss setting up our new computer.  It was quite a huge job getting all of that stuff transferred over and up and running.  I took a few days of their tech expertise to get it all done.  We are so thankful to them for making it happen!