OUR ANNUAL SEPTEMBER TRIP TO ST. GEORGE ESPECIALLY FUN WITH FAMILY

Each September, we plan a trip to St. George to watch the three shows at the Tuachan Theater there. We always invite Deon and Gary and who ever of my family that would like to attend with us. This year Ed and Deb couldn't come because of school commitments but Don and Dana were able to be with us. Dave and Suzette live in St. George so we spent lot of time with them also. Kathy and Curt Morgan just happened to be there at the same time so they joined us a couple of nights for dinner. 

It all started on Friday, September 7, when both Deon and Gary and Don and Dana came to our house. We attended the BYU football game Saturday night which was a disaster. We lost to Cal State, having scored only 3 points until late in the 4th quarter. A sad display after the upset they pulled off the week before in Arizona. 

Sunday, we got up early and attended Garrett and Kristen's ward at 9:00 and then left for St. George around 11:00. We stopped at Dairy Queen on the way for lunch and were checking into our condo by 4:00. We upped our game this year and reserved a penthouse 3 bedroom suite in the new Estancia World Mark condos in St. George. It was a beautiful unit complete with upgraded appliances, granite counter tops and a jetted tub. The pool area was especially nice, too. As soon as we unloaded the cars and got settled in our rooms we started dinner preparations. We had invited Dave and Suzette over for a tri tip dinner. It turned out that only Suzette could come as Dave was in flight returning from a volleyball tournament. (He helps coach the women's volleyball team for Dixie State.) Dinner was delicious with tri tip, garlic potatoes, broccoli, and corn. Suzette brought a lovely green salad. The potatoes and corn were fresh from our garden and were a big hit. Suzette and Dave returned later that night, once he landed, and we visited into the late evening. 

Monday, we settled in, went shopping, and had lunch at In 'N Out. We then went with Dave and Suzette so Dave could show us the condo units he has been decorating. Don and Dana are especially interested in seeing the available living accommodations in St. George as they are considering retiring there in a couple of years. We loved his work and especially the built in bunk beds he makes. It was dinner at Rumbi Island and then onto the first of three shows. Monday night's show was Cinderella. It was the typical Cinderella story line with a few twists. Very enjoyable.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary
Kathy and Curt

Tuesday, we just had a laid back morning at the condo's swimming pool. It was nice to just relax. We fixed lunch of cheese sandwiches at home and visited and napped. That evening, we all met at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Kathy and Curt and their friends joined us. It was fun to all be together even though the food wasn't the best. it was Kathy and Curt's 50th wedding anniversary so we had the waitress bring them a special dessert to celebrate. The show on Tuesday was Prince of Egypt....an amazing production complete with live camels and the parting of the Red Sea. 

The whole group at the Mexican restaurant
including Kathy and Curt's friends from their mission

Wednesday, we left St. George and drove to Cedar City to attend the new temple there. The St. George temple was closed so that gave us a good excuse to see the beautiful and new temple in Cedar City. It is a small temple so we had to get there early to make sure we could all get into a session. The sessions only run every hour and a half so we didn't want to have to wait that long for the next session. We were glad we made the effort to get there early as the session was completely full by the time it started. 

We joined Kathy and Curt at the Cliffside restaurant for dinner.  It was situated on the top of the red cliffs of St. George and the views were spectacular. Dinner was delicious also. Paul and I had a salmon that was to die for. It was served with coconut rice and a mango salsa.  We hurried off to our last performance of Matilda. The show was very well done and kept us laughing the whole evening. Each show was so different yet so enjoyable. As we did every night, we had peaches and ice cream at the condo after the show. It was something we all looked forward to.

Gary loved finishing up the sweetened peaches
after eating his peach sundae.

All too soon, it was Thursday and time to say good bye and head for home. We love our annual trips the St. George and especially when we can share the time with family. Our trip home was non eventful until we reached about Nephi. It was then we started noticing billowing smoke up ahead. It got bigger and more angry looking as we got closer to Payson and Spanish Fork. Luckily, it was burning on the back side of the mountain but was threatening to crest and burn toward the homes in Woodland Hills and Elk Ridge. The residents there were evacuated by 6 that evening and remained out of their homes for over a week. The smoke followed us to Heber and by Saturday we couldn't even see our mountains because the smoke was so thick. We were glad when the winds changed and cleared our skies.

Notice the Payson temple in the foreground

A picture posted later in the week showing the extent of the flames

The smoke in Heber was thick for few days

Before our trip to St. George, we attended our Stake Fiesta. Each Fall our stake puts on a stake outdoor party and this year it was a fiesta in honor of the Spanish Branch that is in our stake. We were amazed at the number of people who attended. They planned for 2000 and we think there had to have been more than that. The dinner was a taco salad. There were several inflatables for the children to play on, face painting, fishing booth and lots of other things to involve the crowd. Throughout the evening, a Mariachi band played and at the end of the evening, there were Mexican dancers to entertain everyone. It was quite a successful evening.

This deck are will be an extended kitchen, entry way,
sitting room, and pantry. Where the garage door is now
will be a solid wall for another downstairs bedroom.

Before the BYU/Cal game, Paul and I met Mindi at the home they purchased and are remodeling. We had seen the outside but had not been inside. On that Saturday, we toured the inside and could see the vision Mindi and Jon have but right now it is pretty rough looking. They are tearing out walls, carpets and flooring in the basement trying to get bedrooms ready so they can move in sometime in October. The kitchen is livable as is the living/family room so once they get the bedrooms done downstairs they can be somewhat comfortable there while they finish adding on to the kitchen, changing the front door location, finishing a loft area and a master bedroom, and building a detached garage. It'll be a lot of work but this is the neighborhood Mindi and Jon want to live in and with their effort it could be a very worthwhile venture.

This will be the back door eventually.

Later in the month, we attended another BYU game on Ryan's birthday, the 22nd. We were a little discouraged at first by the way the team played but they got their act together and won 30 to 3. They played McNiese State from Louisiana . BYU had beat Wisconsin in a major upset the week before at Wisconsin. Wisconsin was ranked 6th in the nation until they lost to BYU. After that game, BYU was even ranked in the top 25 but that only lasted until they lost badly to Washington.

It was off to college for Jillian and Charlotte this month. Andrea and Casey drove them both to Rexburg, Idaho to attend BYU-I for one semester. They got them each settled into their new apartments and had to say good bye to them until Thanksgiving. These are our first two college attending grandchildren. So proud of them.

The last Friday of the month, we flew to California to attend, our niece, Kim Sorenson's wedding. We flew into Burbank airport, rented a car, and made it to Deon's by 10:30 Friday morning. We were glad we could come a day early so we could help with whatever was needed. Friday, Deon and I cut up vegetables and finished cutting cheese and fruits on Saturday for the appetizer table. Friday night, we went to the wedding site for a rehearsal and then on to dinner at the family's favorite Mexican restaurant, La Casina. Most all of Deon and Gary's family were there, along with ourselves and their new granddaughters, Jordan and Morgan Howe. It was quite a gathering of 30 plus people. 

On Friday afternoon, all of Kim and Eric's children joined them outside on Gary and Deon's
patio for a painting activity.  Each of the family members were given a different color tube of paint. Each
took turns adding his/her color to the canvas. Another canvas was pressed on top of the painted canvas
then pulled apart to create a beautiful picture. This was to show that combining two families,
each person with unique differences, can create a family unit of beauty. The finish pictures were
on display at the ceremony and the Stake President made reference to them in his talk.

The next morning, we drove to the place of the wedding to help set up tables and chairs. By the time we arrived, Kim realized they were short three tablecloths. We were given the assignment to drive to the rental place and pick them up. We were glad to have something specific to do. The wedding was scheduled to start at 5 and we arrived earlier to help take care of any last minute things that needed to be done. We were there in time to greet Mom and Dad when they arrived. We were so grateful that Sam and Kathy were willing to bring them down to celebrate this exciting occasion with Kim and Eric. 

The wedding was performed by their stake president and was beautiful. The program included Kim and Eric's 6 children singing a song from 'The Greatest Showman,' which was perfect for the occasion. Kim and Eric exchanged vows and then, after pictures, joined us for a sit down dinner. It was an amazing event - the venue was unbelievably beautiful, the wedding ceremony wonderful, and the dinner delicious. We are so happy for Kim.  She deserves to find this kind of happiness after 10 years of being a single, hard working mom. We were glad we could be a part of this grand occasion.

A priceless picture

We spent an extra day in California so we could relax with Deon and Gary on Monday, October 1. We went to Newport beach, sat in the sun, watched the enormous waves crash onto the beach, and had a delicious lunch at a local beach side restaurant, The Beachcomer. The perfect ending to a fun and busy weekend.

And now for Aria and Avery........

Todd and Kailee took the girls to the state fair. 

Todd was the best daddy ever to ride all the

 kiddie rides with Aria.

All ready for church

Before we left for California we had the opportunity to take care of Aria and Avery. Kailee had a hair appointment so after attending a temple session we drove to Lehi to help her out with the children. It was fun watching the movie, Cars and playing with Aria. Avery wasn't feeling very well so she was quite subdued, sitting in her chair quietly until she got hungry. When we got ready to leave, Aria started crying, grabbing onto my skirt, and saying she didn't want us to go. After we left, Kailee texted us to tell us that Aria was in a full sobbing mode because we had gone. She took her to get pizza to get her to calm down. We love that she likes being with Grandma and Grandpa.