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!  

 

Merry Christmas Day 2025!

We didn't wake up at the crack of dawn!  I've been enjoying getting a bit more sleep during this school break!  Paul and I took our walk and then Supe texted us letting us know that we could come over any time...so we saved breakfast until later and opened our presents at home so we could head over there.  I forgot to take a picture of the most amazing gift that Paul gave to me...us.  He talked to a travel agent to start the process of us taking a Hawaiian Islands cruise over Spring Break next year.  We are hoping to see Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center and then be able to visit other islands and go to the two volcanic national parks there.   After that surprise gift, we went to visit Supe and Beacher and kids.  So much fun with all of the kids excitement about the cool toys that littles get!  Jem took us into the darkest room in the house to show us how great his new light saber was!  

Next stop was Moss and Christie and kids. They are a mix of teenage fun and still some littles with Kai!  Christie made them some really fun shirts that they opened on Christmas Eve!  She's so creative!  

After Moss and Christie's we came home and had some breakfast.  Ferf and family were still waking up and not ready for us that "early".  She had all of her kids plus Brynnli's fiancé, Ryan, and Tavin's significant other, Eli, there this year.  It was good to see them all!  

Then we were off to visit the Smiths.  They are another place with all teen agers that like to sleep in!  Tasia was down from BYU.  We had a fun visit with them and learned a lot about Tasia's summer internship at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab.  She worked with exotic birds and showed us a collection of beautiful feathers that she was able to gather as the birds dropped them.  We also got to visit with Ellie (Sister Randall) while were there.  Lou shared Ellie's call from her mission Christmas day visit with us while we were there.  So fun!  

Next we came back home and had a break, ate, took a nap and talked to Jay.  We didn't get to talk to Brynn and the girls.  It's kind of hard to connect when it's convenient for everyone during the busyness of the day, but we did enjoy hearing about their Christmas from Jay.  They will be down for a New Year's visit soon!  

About 3 pm the Weavers arrived at our house.  They always visit us on their way to a big Christmas dinner, etc. with Lance's folks.  We had fun doing it outside because it was a beautiful afternoon.  They all opened their presents and then we opened some group gifts from our kids with them.  One of them was a new BIG screen picture showing device for our counter.  The other gift is an airplane flight with Lance and his stepbrother/pilot over the Zion area.  They said it will be more close up than the helicopter flight we did last year was and probably longer. Lance will come along to tell us about the geology probably.  We are excited about both gifts and confused about which is from who, but many thanks to everyone! We also had fun participating in Lance's treasure hunt for his Christmas present from Juge (a new climbing rope).  She left it here after she bought it and then sent us clues to hide to help him find it while they were here.  It was fun to be a part of it.   

We left about 4 pm to drive up for a visit with the Randalls.  It's a fun tradition that they are so nice to include us in their Christmas dinner and then we open presents!  Then we played one of their new games - a Sherlock Holmes version of Clue.  It was fun, and I actually won by some fluke of luck.  

We gave rather boring presents - socks to the grands, See's candy and dinner gift cards to the parents.  We appreciate how hard they try to give us something exciting every year.  

Starting in the weeks before and  then after Christmas we attended four funerals.  We started with Anna Lou, then Kade Smith, and then two people from our ward also passed away.  One (Brent Snow) was like Anna Lou's was, with a worn out body getting released to enjoy Heaven's peace. Kade's felt like too soon, but yet a relief from his terminal illness. The other one was a man of only 54 who was a great husband and father and stepfather to 10 kids in all.  They all loved him.  It was such a shock and so sad and unexpected.  Through all of these funerals of such varied circumstances there was peace. Our gratitude for the Savior's birth, life, death and resurrection was brought front and center to our hearts.  We are so thankful for that matchless gift to each of us that Jesus and Heavenly Father gave!  Merry Christmas 2025 to all!!!

PPS - Jay and Brynn came down on the 30th and brought our Christmas present with them.  It's such a fun gift.  It's a box of many games for two or more people.  We used it all during the holidays taking it to other people's houses and here at home with them learning to play new games, and enjoying playing some old ones too!