Elder Gilbert, the Church’s education commissioner, was called to fill a vacancy in the Quorum on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, following the recent passing of President Jeffrey R. Holland. He was ordained on Thursday, February 12, by President Dallin H. Oaks and the other members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
On Thursday Paul had some toe surgery done to hopefully correct some things and make it a bit better. So far he's making a good recovery. On Friday the 13th, for Valentine's Day, we used a gift cards the kids gave us and went to Nonna Ina Italian restaurant for lunch. It was SO GOOD! They have this big wheel of Romano cheese that they light on fire to make it all melty. They they dump your pasta carbonara in the middle of that and swish is around until it's covered in creamy cheese. Then they twist it up and put it on you plate. Ahhh...so wonderful. We had enough left for dinner that night too.
Another cool thing that's been happening is Paul doing some stonework here at home and also doing a job for the city. They built a new City Hall and out back they have a little area that they have decided to make into a Japanese garden. Paul and Tim did some nice stonework there. It's getting close to finished and looking so nice.
We put in some miles on Friday. We went down to the yard and walked the bike path up a little arroyo and got in about 3 miles. Then later that afternoon we drove up Cottonwood Road and then hiked about 6 more miles down/back Cottonwood Creek canyon there. It was such a beautiful day! We were kind of dumb and didn't take any water, but the hike was mostly in the shade because of the high canyon walls, so that saved us from being very thirsty. We could have stopped and turned back sooner, but we had a bad case of let's see what's around that next corner. We had hoped to hike to where the canyon walls end, but didn't quite make it. We actually hiked out faster than we came down. We did less sight seeing and rock collecting then because we wanted to get back and get a drink. This creek should have been running cold water from melting snow, but we didn't see any water. There was some dampness here and there left from the last big rain. It was a perfect spring day, too early in the year, but we loved it for what it was. We stopped for a snack as we drove out and enjoyed the peace and beauty there.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.)
