Independence Day

 The 4th is on Saturday this year which would make it so people wouldn't get a week day off from work, so some places closed on Friday.  For me it did not matter...it just made me want to celebrate for two days!  On Friday Paul, Bean and I went to see the new Angel/Wonder studios movie, Young Washington.  It's a terrific movie and made me thankful for men who were called by God to do a work to help America/The United States become a free land where the gospel could be restored and where finally, all people could be free.  Today we are having a little get together with Ferf and her kids who are down visiting with her.  Moss and Christie and family asked to join us for the too.  Lots of good food, good visiting and fireworks (by the city) and a few that Brynnli and Ryan will bring.  I got up this morning and took my walk on the Red Hill and felt blessed to live here and be free.  I also posted an old picture I took and have as a side thing on this blog.  I found more pics of flags that I or others in the family have taken.  And I thought of the song we used to sing long ago in week day Primary: 

I love my land America with blue skies big and wide;

I love my land America with seas on either side. 

The prairie corn grows tall and green, the wheat is amber gold;

The rivers run from mountain peaks where the stars and stripes unfold.

I love my land America, and as long as we are good, 

the Lord will bless America, in love and brotherhood.

Here are the pics from our gathering.  The fireworks pics never turn our very well in the dark.  We also celebrated Kai's birthday as part of the evenings fun!  Good times with good folks!  We enjoyed meeting Kennis' friend, Aliya, and also Jared's daughter's Shelby and Koda.  

Yankee Meadows, Haka dancing, Easter picnic, Easter!

We went up to see Bean and after a great lunch in Parowan we drove up to check out a picnic spot in Yankee Meadows.  It looked really nice.  We may reserve it for our Memorial Day picnic.  It was a beautiful spring day and fun to see how they had restored this little picnic area after flooding had wiped it out a few years ago.  

  Another fun thing happening this week was Supe joining Haka dancers at the Siva Pacifica 20 Year Anniversary program at Tuacahn.  It was a great program.  We didn't really get a close look at him, but Beacher provided a great picture of the whole family.  She and the kids danced at a preshow earlier.  Jem is very into his Hawaiin dance class!  It's nice they can join in celebration of Beacher's Polynesian heritage.   

New guidelines for the no meetings on Saturday evening of General Conference made it available for a little family Easter picnic!  The weather was great for an outdoor gathering in the yard.  We had a fun time visiting with some from every family except Jay and Brynn.  It was so nice to spend time with people even though I was getting a cold.  

I don't know if it's good to lump Easter into all of these other  happenings, but they all kind of ran together.  It started with me being asked to speak with the other wives in the bishopric for the week before Easter sacrament meeting.  I was not excited.  After I quit hating that I had to and started preparing I felt like prayers, mine and Paul's, were answered and I found things to share that were meaningful to me.  I was rewriting till the morning of, but finally felt satisfied.  I didn't feel that great about it afterwards because there was a lot of emotion involved, but after the fact I finally felt good about what I shared.  Poor bishop's wife couldn't find her notes and spoke off the cuff after me.  She did a great job though!  Later she found her notes in her scriptures where she had  put them.  Must have been for a reason.  I have heard many Easter talks now from conference and from reading and studying for the talk and just to get ready for Easter, and I feel like what I shared was from the heart and my testimony of the joy of Easter, particularly the resurrection with regard to Weed and Bean.   I actually feel grateful now that having to speak put me in more of the Easter celebratory mode that I would have been in.   Thank you...after the fact, for having to speak.  I'll try to remember that next time I'm asked to speak! 

Christmas fun + Christmas Eve - 2025!

 We have had many Christmas activities with our Single Adult Ward.  I don't have pics from all of them, but we had a toy drive/white elephant activity, Tuacahn Live Nativity/DQ night and a great Hawaiian Christmas Party. We have had  fun with them.  They are some wonderful people living good lives that have so far not included the marriages they hoped for.   

We went to Trigg and Zade's Christmas Band Concert!  Wonderful!

Juge and Lance hosted a Christmas Adam party (a few days early)!  It was such fun and we had delicious food that everyone helped with!  

Other fun activities:  2 new kids in our class at school didn't have school pics for their ornaments, so I took them so they could have one.  They are cute kids from hard places.  The girl, Harli, drew an amazing picture of Santa's reindeer and sleigh in one writing activity.  The little ornament was made by a child from our ward Primary who has been leaving us  cute things on our porch as a secret grandchild.  

Christmas Eve day we took Bean and went to see the new City Hall.  Really cool mosaic there.  We also went to the new county building and saw the stuff from the Desert Reserve and some statues.  Then we went to the Visitor's Center and saw the amazing stained glass replica from the Rome Italy Temple and the manger scene.  Also, Paul and I have been enjoying my time off school mornings by taking walks to see the sunrise and the beautiful Christmas lights, etc.  

More Christmas Eve fun - we had a delicious dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted carrots and rolls.  All Delicious.  Then we did some Christmas light looking.  We actually started the night before and used the Hedgehog Electric map to find some very beautiful light displays we would have otherwise not found!  Then we went again on Christmas Eve. After that we came home and had our traditional gingerbread with whip cream dessert.  Merry Christmas Eve.  

Happy Thanksgiving 2025

 It was in-law year, so we were small in numbers, but it was still lovely and delicious.  We had some trouble with the smoker, so we had half smoked/half baked turkey...very good!  Ferf and Kennis joined Paul, Bean and me.  They brought lots of yummy food to add to what we had.  It was good to visit with Kennis since she's been off at school at U of U.  Ferf's other kids went other places this year.  I always think I'm not eating too much...not too much of one thing, but there are so many good things that you still end up feeling very full. Ferf and Kennis couldn't stay too long because they both had a lot of homework waiting for them.  Ferf is in nurse practitioner school right now.  Kennis is focusing on Computer Science I believe, and is a TA.  She seems to be doing pretty well.  She's like her mom and always works hard and gets good grades.  My pics are not the best ever, but they're what I have!  After Ferf and Kennis left Paul and I sacked out for a nap.  Then we took Bean and went out for a walk at Snow Canyon/Johnson Arch to get the body up and moving!  It was beautiful.  We were there for sunset. After we got home Juge and Eden stopped by to eat some pie with us!  More good times!  Happy Thanksgiving 2025!  Small but good!  

Soup, salad and dessert party/pre-Thanksgiving family dinner - Zion #12!

We decided that since the kids all go to the in-laws for Thanksgiving this year we would have a little get together the Sunday evening before at the church.  There was so much great food - about 8 different kinds of delicious soups, a wonderful salad, homemade sourdough breads, and great deserts!  Afterwards cousins had fun playing basketball, hanging out visiting, and lots of the adults and some teens enjoyed playing a really fun game that Juge brought.  It was some work getting it all put together, but looking back, I feel like it was worth the trouble. We also sang happy birthday to Zion for his 12th there.  

Memorial Day Picnic Fun!

 School's out, graduations are over and it's onward toward Summer vacation!  But, before we take off and get going we always enjoy the Memorial Day Picnic that has become a tradition now.  This year was better than others in some ways, and a little bit scary in other ways.  The Weavers usually have a Sheffield boat trip/picnic conflict which makes things hard for them, but this year the boat trip was scheduled just a bit later and that did away with the conflict.  Yea!  We had 31 people able to make it.  We missed quite a few, but we do what we can with who we have.  Jay and Brynn always come for that weekend and that's pretty much how we got the tradition started.  This year Paul was a bit down for it because of his recent knee replacement surgery.  We took a cot for him to lay down on and an ice chest full of ice to put on his knee.  He actually did pretty well.  And, it turned out that the cot was a good thing to have there for another reason...that was the scary part.  Moss brought along a hammock and he and Jay hung it up in a couple of trees.  It must have seemed solid, but not long after Moss lay down in it, it crashed to the ground dropping him on a chopped off stump which hit him in the back near his kidney area.  He sat rather dazed for a little bit afterward.  I know it hurt lots for him to do that.  Luckily he didn't land on his backbone on a big rock that was also below it.  Then he came over by the tables with Christie and suddenly he was turning pale and passing out from shock.  She and other people caught him before he hit the ground and managed to get him on the cot.  He was having a hard time staying conscious for a little bit and then Ferf stepped in to help with her skills and nursing bag.  She got his blood pressure and did other assessments.  Supe had 911 on the line just about to head our way when Moss seemed to come out of it so they didn't need to come.  They got him laid down and into the shade and calmed down and with Ferf's skills she found that nothing seemed broken or injured internally.  He did have some scratches on his back which she carefully took care of while keeping a close watch over him.  Christie was just about to lose it herself I think with worry for him.  So thankful that it wasn't worse than it was.  He's fine now.  It really showed me how much shock can do in a situation like that.  Moss is very able to do first aid on others, but this time it was his turn and there was nothing he could do to get past that shock without the help he got from others.  I don't think that he thought that it would hit him so hard. The rest of the day went well.  The weather was wonderfully cool.  Pine Valley is such a beautiful place.  The cousins and older peeps had fun visiting.  We had a great lunch of sloppy joes with lots of sides to go with it. Games were played, hikes were taken, people caught lizards and saw snakes (non-poisonous).  Juge and Lance brought their new kitten, Pippin, who was a real hit.  Supe and Beacher brought their dog, Auri, and she is much loved too.  Later we broke out the s'mores and had a good time roasting marshmallows for them and getting very sticky eating them.  It was just a wonderful, relaxing - except the incident with Moss - day!  I always want to stay longer, but the time came to leave so we could clean up and head home.  Jay and Brynn and girls went over to Moss and Christie's after we got home so their kids could swim in their neighborhood pool.  Paul and I stayed at the house because he needed to rest and get his knee up with ice.  It was a great day!  Happy Memorial Day! I remember Weed at this time when  people are visiting graves of military and other family members.  I don't remember Weed by visiting her grave usually, but that doesn't mean I don't remember her. So grateful for family members alive and those gone ahead.  And so thankful for those who gave so much for our freedoms.  I am thankful to live in the "home of the free because of  because of the brave."  

President's Day weekend fun times!

 Finally Jay and Brynn and girls got to come down for a visit.  They had hoped to come earlier on MLK day, but it was so cold it didn't seem like a great idea.  The weather cooperated very nicely for us to have some good times with family while they were down.  They arrived late Friday evening.  On Saturday morning we went on a little hike with them after an amazing French toast breakfast.  It was the south Hell's Hole hike out in Ivins.  Jem came along with us and it was really fun to listen to all of the cute things he had to say!  He's a great little hiker too.  It did get scary one time when we had to cross a pond that had collected from the rain and in the process of it Jem got dropped into the water.  It was pretty terrifying for him and us, but it all turned out well and no harm was done. The water was so cold, but luckily his mom had packed a full set of extra clothes for him and we got him changed at a sunny spot and he didn't cry anymore.  Most little kids would probably have freaked out and been screaming for a long while, but he was happy again very soon and loved wearing Clara's pink sweatshirt for the rest of the day.  It really scared me!!!  I was so happy that it all turned out with no problem.  Lots of family came over after that and just visited and enjoyed the sunny day.  

That afternoon Jay, Brynn and girls and Juge, Lance and family and Supe went climbing.  (Paul and I stayed home and got in a nap and got dinner ready for the group.)  They seemed to have a really good time.  After dinner the kids played and some of us watched the NBA Slam Dunk Contest with Brenden. It was crazy when a 24 year old, 6'2" white G-team player won it!  It was a pretty fun day!

Sunday turned out to have many different church options with on-line church and a couple of stake conferences to choose from.  After that at 4 pm we had family dinner!  It's pretty crazy with all of those people in one place, but Jay and Brynn cooked up some amazing Cup Bop type Korean rice bowls.  They did the meat and noodles and all of the rest of us brought things to go on them.  They were SO GOOD!  Moss and Christie brought yummy cinnamon roll cake for dessert.  It was still good enough weather we could get outside for lots of the day! Moss and Christie brought a fun adult game and we all hung out and the kids did their crazy thing and seemed to have a good time too.   Jay and Brynn also found a spot of time on Sunday to visit Anna Lou which made her very happy!

On on Monday morning we went to the Sear's Invitational Art Show at UT Tech.  It's kind of a tradition for us each year.  They always have an Art Scavenger Hunt page set up for the kids.  This year they had 2 pages.  Ferf, Koen and Torin joined us.  The kids had such a fun time doing the hunt and eating their candy rewards.  And we all enjoyed the beautiful art too!  Then we invited all who could come (us, Jay and Brynn, Moss and Christie, Ferf and kids, Beacher and kids) and bring their lunch for a picnic at Highland Park in Washington.  It was still great weather and everyone had a great time!  (Jay and Brynn also visited Supe and Beacher that morning.) Later that day Jay, Brynn and girls headed home with terrible traffic, but they made it safe and sound and got to see all the folks at this end of the state! They packed a lot fun into a very short time!!! Good times!!! 

Family Dinner #1...with the added fun of the Brooks!

 

We got an unexpected treat due to an unexpected death.  Tony's nephew, Paul Brooks, passed away so quickly on December 26th, after just shortly before that finding out that he had cancer.  We had so recently spent time with him and Tony when Tony's sis-in-law, Carla Brooks, passed away.  Janet and Tony were both able to come down for Paul's funeral and they stayed with us.  We were excited to have them stay since usually they had stayed with Carla or Paul on other trips down.  I'm not at all happy either of them has passed away, but it was fun to have Janet and Tony here this time!  Ferf invited everyone over for a Family Dinner on the Sunday after New Year's at the last minute and Janet and Tony ended up being able to come with us!  Not all of the family was able to make it, but those that could did, and we had a great time! The night before Supe and Beacher and kids had come to our house, so they got to visit with them too.  Such wonderful people.  They, like all the rest of us, aren't getting any younger, so it was good to get to spend this time with them.  Tony says, "I'm 84, and going for more!"  Janet is 79.  This last year has been a hard one for me and my siblings health wise.  Marilynne has knee replacement, Janet had lots of very painful trouble and finally had a nerve ablation to take care of it, and Denny is not in good health at all with lots of lung problems.  He's been in and out of the hospital and is not in good shape at all.  So, seeing siblings is getting to be a pretty big priority it seems.  So, I'm very glad they came to visit even for a sad reason!  

Happy #11 Madi + cherry picking fun with cousins + family dinner fun

We have to catch birthdays with these girls in person when we can.  We were a couple of days early, but it's fun to enjoy it with them here!  It was #11 for Madi this time!  Glad we got to wish her a happy one here this time! We also gave Essie the little bit we didn't send for her bday last month to finish it off!

Christie can always find something fun to do in the area.  We went cherry picking cousin party!  We all had a good time and the cloud cover cooperated by making it a lot cooler than we expected!  Such cute grand kids we have!  

We can also add the fun we had at Family Dinner!  Ferf and Ryan brought their tiny new puppy to be cuddled by everybody!  It was great good and great to be together.  Still feeling so grateful for these good times after the Covid starvation.  And it's always fun when Jay and Brynn and family can be down for one of these occasions.