April is the month of Easter, Spring and many birthdays. Easter and birthdays came and went but not Spring. We had several days of snow this month as well as cold weather. Hence, the trees have yet to blossom and the lawns are still brown here in Heber. We will have to wait till May for our springtime to come.
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| The only blossoms on our trees were 'snow' blossoms. |
Our month started out with a trip to Moab, Utah with the Fullers. The new Worldmark finally opened up and we were able to get a reservations for a three day stay. It was a beautiful facility, sitting among the red rocks of Moab. We were the first occupants in our condo as we arrived on opening day. We enjoyed, not only, the facility but also the beauties of God's creations in this area. On the first full day there, we were able to get into the Arches National Park and spent the better part of the day touring the area. We had been there last year with the Westovers but it had been at least 10 years since the Fullers had been there. No matter how often you go to Moab, you are always amazed at the formations of the red rocks.
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| The new Worldmark campus |
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| In front of Balanced Rock |
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| At the Double Arch |
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| This is as close as we got to the Delicate Arch. Last time we were here Paul hiked up to it but not this time |
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| At the Fiery Furnace - at sunset these rock formations turn a brilliant orange |
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| We had a big laugh at this sign in the restrooms which were glorified outhouses. |
On our second full day in Moab, we visited two entirely different sites....The hieroglyph drawings in Sego Canyon and the panoramic views of Dead Horse State Park. To get to Sego canyon, we had to drive through the dying town of Jefferson Springs. It's just off the freeway but is surrounded by sagebrush and consists of decaying buildings. The hieroglyphs were amazing, though, when you consider they were from three different ancient civilizations.
Our next stop was Dead Horse State Park. It consisted of a single road through the park with several view areas. At the end of the road was an amazing panoramic view of the Colorado river and surrounding cliffs. The story behind the name of the park is that men would round up wild horses, coral them is this area, select the horses they wanted, and leave the others there to die. Too sad.
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| Looking down at the canyon that rivals the Grand Canyon |
That night, we took the dinner and light show river cruise up the Colorado river. We had done this with the Westovers the year before and wanted the Fullers to experience it, too. We loved it just as much the second time around. It started with a buffet dinner then we boarded our boat. We were shown many pictures created by the formation of the rock walls along the river and then, when it got dark, we were treated to a light show with narration depicting the history of the area. It ended with the playing of a patriotic arrangement of songs to remind of our great country. We left feeling of God's blessing on this country and grateful for His creations.
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| At dinner |
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| Our guide |
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| ET |
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| The Hollywood Bowl |
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| The wiener dog |
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| The Arches own Raptor |
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| Frankenstein |
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| The flying witch |
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| The sleeping cowboy |
The very next week found us in St. George. We drove down on Wednesday and, on Thursday evening, attended the Piano Guys concert at the Tuacahn theater with Ryan and Katie's family. This was Ryan's family's Christmas gift to us. They also treated us to two nights at the Jiffy Lube house, just down the street from where they are living. On Thursday morning, Paul and I went shopping to find something for me to wear to Maggie's wedding. We met up with Ryan's family for dinner at Zuppas before the show. The Piano Guys were amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed their two and a half hour performance. They had not performed for over two years, their last performance being at this same venue.
We left St. George on Friday with Ryan's family following us soon after so they could spend their Easter break in Heber with us. On Saturday, they went to the Red Ledges Easter egg hunt and breakfast and that evening took Aubrey and her boyfriend, David, out to dinner. Sunday morning I fix our traditional Easter breakfast of scramble eggs and a tea ring. After church, Ryan's family enjoyed an Easter egg hunt in our yard. The big draw was the golden egg hidden with $30.00 in it. They had to find at least 12 eggs each before they could look for the golden egg. During the hunt, Paul noticed the mailbox lid was opened and, when he went to close it, he saw the golden egg in it. Of course, he had to say to Aubrey and David, 'If you don't find it, the mailman will.' Aubrey said they were about to go look in the mailbox anyway. So much for spoiling the hunt for the others. Oh well, Aubrey needed the money as a struggling college student.
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| At the Red Ledges Easter egg hunt |
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| Nathan loved his bunny ears he got at the Easter egg hunt. He also loved the candy he found. |
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| Nathan decorating our Easter tea ring with M&M's |
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| After the Easter egg hunt in our yard. Aubrey's roommate, Alexia came up with Aubrey and joined in the Millar egg hunt as did Aubrey's friend, David. |
Later that afternoon, Charlotte, Maggie, and Kasey joined us for a traditional Easter dinner. With the addition of David, we had 13 for dinner. Our dining room table only seats 12 so I sat all the young people in the dining room with Mom's china. Ryan and Katie and Paul and I sat at the kitchen for our dinner. It was fun to listen to the laughter and talking coming from the dining room. It was a great Easter day. Side note: During Sunday School, I was asked to prepare a 3 minute presentation of my favorite scripture on the Atonement. The week prior I had been reading King Benjamin's talk in the Book of Mormon where he testifies of the Savior coming and atoning for our sins. I shared that set of scriptures, blubbering my way through the whole presentation. Before I began, I warned the class that I couldn't even answer the temple interview question about having a testimony of Jesus Christ without tearing up as I said yes. Oh well, that's just me.
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| At dinner in the dining room |
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| For a chuckle about Easter |
On a more serious note and the true meaning of Easter.......
April is the month of family birthdays. It's starts out with Jon and Gavin on the 11th and 12th, followed by Clark on the 15th. Braydon and my birthday is on the 28th with Avery's on the 29th. We called Jon on his birthday, texted Gavin and Braydon to wish them happy birthday and letting them know that we has sent their card and money to their home. Not knowing where to send Clark's card and money (He was in the process of moving into a new apartment)), we arranged to have him meet us at PF Chang's for dinner to give him his card and money. We had a nice dinner and conversation with him.
For Avery's birthday, we had a celebration at our home the Sunday before the 29th, as we would be out of town the Sunday after her birthday. I baked and decorated a cake with unicorns and found a few gifts for her. She loved her Chelsea dolls and car and camper set. In fact, she cried when she had to leave them here. We give Todd's girls $50 for them to spend on a toy they can play with at their home but the gifts we buy them are to stay here so they have toys to enjoy when they come up here.
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| Avery's shopping spree with the $50 we gave her. |
Another birthday celebrated this month was my brother, Sam's. We went to his home for our quarterly dinner with the Fullers, Morgans, and Bulkeleys. We all dressed in black as it was his 70th birthday. We had a lovely dinner and then Deon presented Sam with a darling candy gram. I brought dessert which was a Pazookie, one of our Mom and Dad's favorite desserts. It's a big chocolate chip cookie, warmed, and topped with ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream. We added a candle to Sam's and sang happy birthday to him. It's always a fun evening getting together with siblings and spouses.
And then there was my birthday. Paul took me to Ruth Chris's steak house in Park City on Wednesday night. My actual birthday was on Thursday but he committed to sub for someone at the temple on that night, hence the early birthday dinner. I was able to make appointments at the temple for an endowment and sealing at the same time Paul was subbing so it was a great way to spend my birthday.
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| At Ruth's Chris |
I received many birthday wishes from friends and family. Andrea and Ryan each called me on the phone to wish me Happy Birthday. Todd's text message brought me to tears and Kailee sent me a video of the girls singing "Happy Birthday." It also touched my heart. Jon wanted to surprise me for my birthday by showing up at In 'n Out where we usually eat after our Friday temple shift. Because I had already invited Deon and Gary to come down and meet us for lunch on that day (part of their birthday wish to me), I insisted we couldn't go the In 'n Out. Long story short, Paul had to spill the beans and tell me about Jon's birthday surprise. In the end, Jon didn't meet us at In 'n Out nor did Deon and Gary come down for lunch. Instead, after the temple, Paul and I grabbed a quick bite at In 'n Out, went home to relax for a couple of hours and then drove back down to Orem to meet Jon and all 6 of his boys for dinner at Korinor's Indian restaurant. Though not a surprise, it was wonderful to be with Jon and all his boys. (Taylor even came which was great as we hadn't seen him for ages.) Jon spent the night at our home so we got to visit with him for a bit but he was off early the next morning to drive to Kaysville to watch Jaiden run the 100 yard dash at an invitational track meet. I guess Jaiden's really fast for a being just a freshman. Family is the greatest blessing we could ever ask for.
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| At the restaurant |
Paul has been busy again this month spring cleaning the yard. His last project was the water feature. Every year it is filled with leaves from the three trees close by. He picks the leaves out by hand, often moving the rocks to get the leave that have fallen between the rocks. Its a long and tedious project but it was finished before the end of the month. The yard now is ready for the leaves to come out and the lawn to turn green.
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| Paul working in the water feature full of leaves and tumbleweeds. |
We received some exciting news from our granddaughter, Charlotte, this month. Her three act musical called Eternity was selected by a committee at BYU to be edited (and hopefully performed) by a class that will be held next semester. She had been working on this script for a couple of years....9 rewrites. This is a big honor and tells Charlotte that she has a real talent not only with script writing but in creating original lyrics and music. This musical has 18 original songs written by Charlotte. There will be a reading this fall of her script which we will attend, for sure. Another one of her writings was selected for performance at BYU. It is a 10 minute play that will be performed along with several others. And then....a local theater company selected a one act play she wrote based on her father's childhood. Charlotte says its considered a farce. She is coming back to Utah for the reading of this play in June and if it is selected, it will be produced here locally. They will be selecting two of four plays. She is amazingly talented and it's fun to see her getting some recognition for her efforts.
There's one last but very special happening that I must cover before closing this blog entry. As Elder's Quorum President, Paul has been arranging for the building to be cleaned every Saturday as this is our ward's responsibility this year. We learned that there was to be a memorial service in our building Saturday morning for a young boy, not of our faith. His father is a pastor of a small congregation which meets in a room at the rec center. They were in need a bigger facility to hold the memorial. The day of the son's death, a member of our stake presidency offered our building to them. They were so grateful. Because of the happenings at 10 am on Saturday, it was arranged for a group to clean the building on Friday night. We were part of the cleaning crew. The parents came to the building to set up displays of their son and were amazed at the volunteers there cleaning and. later, setting up chairs. The day of the memorial, our stake provided a meal for them family and their congregation. Again this family was taken back by the outpouring love and service rendered to them. They referred to us as 'the hands and feet of Jesus.' That comment alone made all our efforts worth it.
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| The beautiful young man for whom the memorial was held |
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| A message of thanks from our Stake Relief Society President to all who helped. |
Of course, I have to continue my tradition of funny memes of the month.........
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| Not really funny but sadly too true |
I'll end now with a special message that touched our hearts from Aria and, of course, a darling picture of Lincoln.
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| Definitely grateful for all the blessings we have been given. |
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