Hiking the Highline Trail at Oak Grove...in January

 

We drove up as far as the gate to Oak Grove Campground and then walked in the rest of the way.  Spent some  time checking it out as a possible place for our Memorial Day picnic this year.  The road into the campground was completely destroyed from some erosion, but they will fix that.  But, you cannot reserve any sites ahead of time, so it probably won't work.  We hiked a tiny little trail to the Bee Tree that we had never seen before.  It's a huge old tree that's completely hollow and full of beehives, but still alive somehow!  After that we decided to take a short hike called the Highline Trail that we've never done before.  We saw some beautiful springs and views along the way as well as a really nice picnic table in the middle of nowhere!  We hiked a total that day of about 6 miles.  After that we drove down to the Children's Garden/Old Charcoal Kiln and ate a nice picnic lunch and walked around some.  Then it was time to head home.  It was a beautiful day for a hike.  It's sad that there was no snow though.  It should have been covered this time of year and too cold and muddy for hiking.  Looks like it's going to be a really dry year again for 2026, but for today, we made the most of it.  

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!  

New Year's Eve 2025

 We ended the year with a fun gathering at Moss and Christie's house.  Jay and Brynn and girls had arrived that day.  We ate good food, played games and enjoyed each other's company.  Paul, Bean and I only lasted until the eastern midnight (10 pm our time).  It's was lots of fun with fun people!  (The Weavers came later than my pictures lasted unfortunately.)

Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park & Bowl of Fire geology site

 We decided to go south for some fun since it's getting too cold outside here at the moment.  We enjoyed learning about this old fort and the beginning history of Las Vegas that it helped to bring about.  It's not a huge park that takes a lot of time, but it was worth the trip when you add in the coming home trip up  Highway169 and Northshore Road through Lake Mead National Recreation where there are and some amazing geological sites.  It's a kind of a backroad way to Las Vegas.  It's two-lane and 55 mph, but the scenery makes it worth it.  We had a great day of it!  

Snow Canyon airplane fun!

 

It was a beautiful and productive day.  Got lots of work done in the morning and took our little balsa wood airplanes to Snow Canyon sand dunes to fly!  They don't fly very well, but it was beautiful and felt good to get out in the sun.  We also walked to Jenny's Canyon.  On the way home we stopped in at Digby's for pineapple whips!  Yummy!  The year is almost over.  Crazy!  

Christmas gift from heaven...rain + more Christmas lights!

This crazy picture is of the rain puddle on our patio reflecting the Red Hill rocks behind our house!  That puddle hasn't dried up yet because of the wonderful rain we received in answer to long time prayers for rain.  It had been so long since we'd had any rain.  We had gray skies and then a lovely slow rain starting on Christmas Eve and lasting all night long.  Then we got a little more another day.  Christmas day itself was a beautiful, blue skies and rain washed day!  The desert responds to any water it can get with the wildflowers coming out!  We took a walk this morning and they were blooming everywhere!  So thankful for the rain!  It's a Christmas gift from heaven this year!  

A few nights after Christmas we finally went up to see the Christmas Lights at the Desert Garden.  We thought maybe it wouldn't be so crowded...we were wrong, but it was still fun!