Kaebri's temple endowment day at the Cedar City Temple

 It was a beautiful, windy Cedar City type day. We had to be there at 2:45, the whole group could only be up to 16 people because of Covid concerns. After all of the last group left we went in. Kaebri and I went with some lady temple workers to get dressed in our temple clothes and so she could go through the initiatory work and get the new name. I went to get the new name and then waited (I was her excort) for her. Then she and I got to meet with one of the assistant temple matrons and have a lovely talk about the initiatory and the garments and other things about the temple that were very helpful in preparing Kaebri and a great refresher and updating for me. Then we joined everyone waiting for us in the chapel and went up to do the endowment session. There was much sanitizing of hands and some pretty big changes in the way tokens were given, but it was still the same teachings. Some updates included more participation from women, which was nice to see and probably long overdue. After we all went through the veil we enjoyed a sweet time in the celestial room. After that we met outside for a few pictures and then went to Milt's up Cedar Canyon for a nice dinner and visiting time. It was a wonderful day for Kaebri and all of us be together and celebrate this great event in her life and in her mission preparation. So glad we could go back to the temple finally for this special event. I have missed the temple and hope it won't be long until it will finally be more accessible.

Great date night fun - Happy Earth Day!

 

We walked Dog Town Wash up and back for the end of our date night.  It was as beautiful as ever with wild flowers blooming and rocks being so amazing and full of variety.  An owl hooted to us on the way back as the sun was getting low.  The sounds of water flowing over the rock and frogs croaking added to the wonderfulness of it all.  I love getting out and enjoying the beauties of God's creations.  It's a drink of water to a thirsty soul. It fills me to the brim and overflowing.   Happy Earth Day to us from Heavenly Father!

 Date night walk a few weeks ago.  Jenny's Canyon at Snow Canyon.  

A Wonderful, Joyful day for Bean (and us)!

 I can't think of much that could have made this Sabbath day any better.  We started out prepared with all things in readiness for things to take place later on (food preparations that Bean and I took care of yesterday mostly).  It was a beautiful day weather wise.  Paul and I got up and took a walk in the cool of the morning and listened to scriptures for the Come Follow Me lesson and a podcast to go with it.  I made a really nice breakfast and Paul got off to his meetings.  Even though our fridge went out on Friday, thankfully we have a freezer and old fridge in the garage that are taking up that slack until we can (hopefully soon) get the part to have the fridge fixed completely under warranty.  We went to church and I got to give the opening prayer and for once I didn't get all choked up and could say what I felt I wanted to without having too much emotion get in the way.  The speakers today were YSA that Paul and I have both worked with and seen good things happen in the process.  They both gave wonderful talks from the heart.  And it was just a good day to greet many as they arrived.  

Afterwards we got home and I did some YSA computer updates and then called several that we hadn't seen in a while and was able to get some moved out to where they are now and invite some that are still here to come and join us.  Hopefully they will.  Then we had a wonderful, simple dinner of grilled salmon, rice pilaf and broccoli.  (I didn't over eat all day).  

Then we went down to the church so Bean could get re-baptized/confirmed.  He has worked with two bishops in his SA Ward and with our home stake president toward this for quite some time.  And today, April 18th, 2021, was the big day when it could finally happen for him! Both bishops, the counselors and their wives, the stake president and two other men who have been very influential and meaningful friends to Bean, and the high councilor of their ward, all of our kids, spouses and grandkids except Beacher and Jem, Derek and Trigg, Jay and Brynn and girls were able to come.  Kaebri set up Zoom for those not able to attend and took care of everything for that for us.  And Grandma even felt able to attend.  So much wonderful love and support was there for Bean.  Bean's bishop did a beautiful job of conducting the meeting.  Paul did the baptism and confirmation.  Christie and Brady were the witnesses.  I gave the opening prayer and Kris Johnson gave the closing prayer.  It was a wonderful meeting. (Tavin is on his mission, so he missed it.)

All of the family came to the house afterwards and the evening was beautiful and cool.  We sat outside and enjoyed cheesecake/and or brownies with many toppings and an evening of visiting.  Bean did his eat and run thing.  He's not much into sitting around talking with a big group, but I do think he was touched by their support in being here for him at this special time.  

Sarai brought down some sweet thank you notes and cute little things she made for Paul and I (for her birthday presents) which we read before she and her family headed up the hill.  

It was a pretty much perfect, best ever, shout for joy day! (Should have taken more pics, but I was too busy just enjoying the day.)

 

April - Christie #33, Essie #7, and lot of other fun!

Christie, Moss and family were in the middle of moving to a new house right during her birthday.  We dropped something off in kind of a hurry so as not to get in the way of their hard work!  Another long evening we went down to see the new statues at the Town Square!  On a Saturday afternoon, Paul, Bean and I took our bike up to Pine Valley to ride the bike trails/road.  There was still some snow to impede some shady spots, but it was still a lot of fun!  

Easter came the same day as General Conference!  What a wonderful day and way to remember our Savior's wonderful sacrifice and all of the blessings that come to us through it!  
 

On the last day of Easter Break we took a drive to Seegmiller Peak on the Arizona Strip.  Almost got stuck one time, saw some new scenery and enjoyed a picnic lunch looking at these cool rocks.  The cute lizard is on our front porch!  Paul made it, of course.  

Sometimes I take some wonderful walks on the Red Hill behind our house.  It does my soul good.  It did this little bird's soul good too - he was singing away! 

 

This Saturday we took a couple of hikes.  We wanted to do Spring Creek, but there were so many people there that we went a couple of canyons down and did Camp Creek instead.  The only other person we saw there was a Zion Park ranger there doing a check on it.  We did about 6.9 miles there in and out.  Then even though it was late afternoon, we went back and did another few miles into Spring Creek after some of the crowd had clear out.  All in all, it ended up being about 10 miles.  We haven't hiked that much for a long time because of Paul's bad foot.  He stuck out the pain and enjoyed it in spite of.  

We had another family dinner and it was good again.  Ferf and Ryan livened things up by bringing 2 new cars for people to take rides in.  Kennis worked on teaching Tasia to learn stick shift on the new Jeep and Ferf and Ryan showed us what it's like to ride in a brand new very FAST car!  And everyone is so glad to start getting to know the Jem child at last!  Knick names are coming for him - Jem Bob, Jemster...

Some more stone art ala the grand kids artistes (to go with Paul's big lizard).

And here's our Sweet Essie, such a cutie, on her 7th birthday, and our last of the April birthdays!  She said it was a great day and especially loved going out for dinner with her dad and having a giant bear pancake made especially for her!!!

March birthdays - Ferf and Sarai and Joel (celebrated) and other March fun!

 Ferf is so busy that trying to find time to celebrate her birthday must have just been too much of a chore.  We just dropped by a gift that afternoon and wished her a happy birthday on the front porch.  She didn't even have any birthday ideas...so a nice card and some green bills and chocolate pretty much had filled the bill.  Happy #43 Ferf!  We love you! 

Joel and Sarai both had birthdays in March too.  We got to enjoy Joel's (#7) at his house with the Randall's and Bryan's folks were there too.  We celebrated with Saria (#10) at our first after-covid family dinner!  

                                An evening walk at Snow Canyon....finally, longer evenings!

A great Saturday morning - a bike ride in Snow Canyon and soccer games for Eliza and Kai!  

Date Night with Kaebri - grand edventure

 

We caught an afternoon matinee with Kaebri for her date to see this movie/concert.  It was crazy trying to find matching schedules, but she was able to make it from work just in time for the beginning.  Afterwards we grabbed a quick dinner at Panda Express just in time for her to get off to her evening class!  Life is busy at her age, but this was totally worth the rush.  What a beautiful concert/movie experience.  The performance by the musicians - singing and playing of instruments was awesome.  

"Embrace the hope of Easter and experience the power of the last week of Christ's mortal ministry as told through the internationally acclaimed musical event, Lamb of God. This unique concert film brings award winning composer Rob Gardner's music to the big screen for the first time as audiences are able to see a new orchestration and new soloists perform a work that has been compared to Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Requiem. Witness Lamb of God as never before seen."

Oops!  So rushed we forgot to take any pics!  

More Spring Break Fun!

 We got Grandma's 2nd Covid shot done and then Paul and Bean were able to do the new Johnson & Johnson 1 shot vaccine.  We are all vaccinated now!  Paul got his biopsy done also...and thankfully it came back not cancer!  Just something that caused scarring on his lung and is often mistaken for cancer on a CT scan.  What a relief and blessing.  Moss and Supe gave him a blessing and when Moss was voice he pretty much blessed him to have everything be fine...and it was so.    

Another highlight (see other post) was Kaebri getting her mission call!  That was BIG, wonderful news!

After all of these happenings, Paul and I went on a rock trip to Ashfork.  It started snowing Thursday evening.  We took our evening walk in the Mall because it was too snowy to take it outside.  And the next morning we found 6 inches of snow.  We took our time and had a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel to give the roads time to get cleared off a little before making the drive from Flagstaff to Ashfork.  It was pretty slick and luckily, with 4-wheel drive we didn't slide off like some trucks had done earlier.  We did fine and got our load and the weather started clearing off some, so we were able to still go back through Jacob Lake (instead of going through Las Vegas).  We like that route so much better.  It ended up being a very nice little trip for us.  It snowed a little more by Jacob Lake and then again by Colorado City, but it was sunny at Navajo Bridge.  We stopped there to stretch our legs there and enjoy the gorgeous scenery.  

We came home to snow too...in St. George!  Saturday morning we took a walk and then drove out to Snow Canyon to see if any waterfalls had started.  One had just barely started.  Then in the afternoon, we drove up to Pine Valley and found it too mushy to ski, so we just hiked around in the about 18".  It was really pretty, but not too easy walking when you were breaking trail.  A lovely day.

On Monday we decided to see if the snow on Cedar Mountain at Deer Hollow Ski Area was good enough for XC skiing.  It was!  We had a fun afternoon enjoying that beautiful area as well.  All in all, what started out seeming to be just a medical leave Spring Break ended up being a really great time off!  

 

Kaebri gets her mission call!

 Seemed like it came pretty quick!  She's called to serve in the Jacksonville, Florida, English speaking mission.  If she could actually go to the MTC, she'd be leaving on May 5th, just a few days after her 19th birthday, but she will just do the on-line MTC starting that date and then leave for the mission field from here on the 25th.  She's beyond excited.  The evening of the day she received the call we (some close family and others via FB video) got together for her to open her call via computer.  That's how it works now days.  It was a sweet to be there gathering.  A lot of things have been crazy in Kaebri's life with all of the Covid interruptions in her life plans.  Hopefully this will be a nice change and a big step forward for her as she finally gets to really leave home and especially for the reason of serving the Lord.  We are hoping she will have a wonderful mission experience!

Kodachrome Basin State Park - Spring Break fun

I love this place!  It's so uniquely beautiful.  And this time is wasn't crowded and the weather was perfect for hiking!  Paul, Bean and I enjoyed a nice day there and the drive there and back too.  It was so good to get out!  It may be the only thing we really do for my Spring Break since the rest of the week is filled with medical things - Paul's biopsy and his and Grandma's Covid shots.  We might be able to sneak something else in (I hope so).