TEMPLE, MOISTURE, AND MISSION CALL - BLESSINGS IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY

 As a community of members of the church, we have been praying for our temple to be able to restart and for needed moisture. We were asked to fast for these things and the Lord heard our prayers and recognized our fasting. Shortly after our fast, we got word that the temple construction could begin again. The Utah Supreme Court ruled that the church could go ahead with construction even though there is still a law suit pending its legality. With the idea that the building would be torn down if the ruling went against the church, the judge said that construction could start again. The church must feel pretty confident that they will win the law suit as construction vehicles can be seen working at the temple site. This is a blessing from the Lord as any further delay would mean millions of dollars added to the construction costs and our temple would not be a reality for many years to come. We pass by the site almost everyday and love seeing the gates opened and people working.

We also fasted and prayed for moisture. This has been one of the driest winters in Utah ever with very little snow falling. Our snow pack is at record lows and the fear of no water for the summer months was real. At our HOA meeting, we were told to expect limited water for our lawns and that an almost dead lawn is slightly alive.  Our prayers for moisture were answered with snow falling in Heber so that means the mountains got several inches. The next week, we had rain and the forecast for the first week of March should bring more moisture. Another answer to prayer and fasting.

We got upward to 8 inches over a three day period

Another great thing that happened this month was that our granddaughter, Lydia, received her mission call. She attended one semester of college at BYU Idaho before returning home to get her wisdom teeth out and then to submit her mission papers. With that finally accomplished, she was anxiously awaiting her call. It finally came at a time when she was home alone as her parents were on a cruise. She couldn't wait for them to get home before opening it so she did so over Facetime with her parents. She has been called to the Arizona Gilbert mission and leaves the first part of April. That is an unusually fast turn around but she is so excited. She will make an incredible missionary. We are so proud of the beautiful women she has become and for her desire to serve the Lord.

Basketball would be the next item to discuss this month. The basketball team was performing well and the prospects of a high seed in the tournaments was looking good. It all changed just minutes into one of the first games in February. Richie Saunders, one of three main players and the leader of the team, tore his ACL and would be out for the season. Since the injury to Richie, the team has lost most of their games with the rest of the season looking pretty bleak. We knew Richie was important to the team but we had no idea he was the motivation behind the winning season they were having. He has been missed terribly.

On a more positive note, at the game on February 14, Jimmer Fredette was honored as they retired his jersey. It is now hanging in the Marriot Center with only 4 others that have received that distinction. When we got to the arena that day, they were handing Jimmer cards and each seat had a jersey bearing the number 32, Jimmer's number. We were able to find medium jerseys to take home for Nathan and Grace who are avid BYU basketball fans.

The arena with all the white jerseys on the seats.

 

Paul donned his shirt during the game

Fredette's many trophies

Jimmer accepting this honor

His jersey hanging in the Marriot Center

We attended one of Aria's gymnastic meets this month. She is doing quite well at level 6. She moved up from level 4 this season. At the meet, she mastered her beam which was a great accomplishment for her as she had fallen off the beam at all her other meets. Speaking of other meets, Kailee and Todd have had to travel to California and Washington state for those meets with Aria. Gymnastic is quite a commitment for the family. It will only get worse as Avery is loving gymnastics, too.  We haven't seen one of her meets yet, but we did see videos and she is looking good, too. 

On a side note: We went to see the movie Melania. It was a depiction of the 20 days leading up to President Trump's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. It was amazing to see all that the incoming first lady has to do in preparation for all the events that take place on that day. She is such a beautiful and accomplished first lady. We loved the movie that critics said was terrible. We think those critics must have been suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.

I only have one meme for this month but it is a good one.

NEW YEAR BRINGS TWO VISITS FROM THE WESTOVERS AND THREE BIRTHDAYS

This month, we were privilege to have two visits from Andrea and Casey. The first visit was so they could babysit their grandson, Arthur, while Maggie went to New York for an illustrator's conference. Because they needed to be at Maggie and Kacey's home by 7 each morning, they rented a home close by in Provo. As a result, we didn't see much of them. We did invite them to come to lunch with us at The Pizza Factory one afternoon after Paul and I attended a temple session. Charlotte, Allison and Lydia came too. Lydia had come to Utah with her parents so she could visit a few of the temples here. She had just recently receive her endowment. She made an appointment for the session we were to be in so she could be with us. We got into an earlier session so she ended up alone in the temple but loved it still. 

The next visit of the Westover's came at the end of the month.  This time, Andrea and Casey pulled a huge trailer filled with a blow up laser tag arena in it. They had sold it to a man in Pleasanton and came to deliver it to him. This time they stayed with us so we got some quality visiting time with them. They stayed till Sunday after dinner so we were able to celebrate both Andrea and Allison's birthdays that day. I had made Hostess cupcakes that week so they each had a plate of them for their birthday cake.

Aria had a birthday this month and she wanted a Labubu cake so that's what I made her. Labubus are a small stuffed creature that is all the rage with the young girls right now. Kailee was able to find two Labubu's for us to give Aria for her present that would stay up here to play with when they come to visit. I decided to make clothes for the dolls. I made two different styles of dresses and a pair of overalls for each of the two dolls. The project would have been much easier if my machine would have been working right. As a result, I had to do a lot of hand sewing to finish them. Aria was thrilled with her cake and her dolls and their clothes.

The Labubu cake

One of the two dress styles I made for each doll

The overalls

The Westovers were here when we celebrated Aria's birthday so we had quite a crowd to share in the festivities.

Avery having fun with the costume box

Lately, Paul has been concerned about where we will be buried when that time comes. He thinks it's important to secure burial plots before we die so there would be one less thing the family had to worry about. We looked into plots in the Heber City cemetery but then thought about the possibility of being buried in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. One afternoon, we went down there to check it out and loved an area that would be opening up in the Spring. We decided Pleasant Grove would be a logical final resting place for us as both of Paul's parents are buried there and it would also be much easier for our children in Utah to visit the graves with them being on that side of the mountain. (We laugh about the fact that not long ago we were excited to look at plots of ground to build a new home but now we are looking at plots to be buried in.) While at the cemetery we checked out the grave sites of one of Paul's high school buddies as well as his grandmother.

Deon and I attended the bridal shower for Bryce and Alexia. Bryce is Don and Dana's youngest son who finally found his eternal companion. They will be married civilly first and then travel to Rome, Italy to be sealed in the Rome temple. We gave them a framed picture of the Rome temple with their names and sealing date on it. Paul and Gary drove down to Alpine with us and then picked us up so we could make it to the BYU vs Utah basketball game. It was a full day and a great one since BYU won.

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This is the picture that was in a beautiful white frame.
We had ordered it custom made from Deseret Book
and it came in just the day before the shower.

There are two more things to report that were special this month. The first was the kindness of the manager/owner of our  local Jersey Mike's sandwich shop. We went there one Saturday afternoon for lunch. We always order 2 kids meals which consist of small ham sandwiches, a drink and a cookie or chips. The people know us there as it's our favorite place to have lunch. As we were finishing our lunch that day, the owner came over and gave us a sack with two more sandwiches in it to take home. He had included the ham and cheese and, in a separate container, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers - just exactly what we order when we come in. When asked why, he said he just loves to give back. Such a kind thing to do for us. 

The last special event was attending the movie, "Standout, the Ben Kjar Story." We found out about this movie in a Facebook post from a friend in our ward. It turns out that this Ben is her brother-in-law, married to her twin sister.  There were a couple of special showings that very day at the Ideal theater. We decided to go to the first showing in the afternoon and were so glad we did. It was a documentary of Ben's life. He was born with a rare condition where the skull does not grow properly causing deformity of the head. The story was of his many surgeries and his battle to win even when facing much prejudice. Through it all, he became an All American wrestler. It was a great movie and made even greater with a visit at the end from Ben, himself. He spoke to the audience, which consisted of the wrestling team from Wasatch High. What a motivation for all of us to face difficulties with courage and faith.

This is Ben talking to the audience

Ben shaking hands and taking pictures
with those from the audience as we left.

And that's it for the month of January.

FUN TIMES CELEBRATING OUR 60TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY AND CHRISTMAS IN ST. GEORGE WITH RYAN'S FAMILY

 We decided to travel St. George for our 60th wedding anniversary and Christmas. We reserved a Worldmark condo and totally enjoyed a change of pace for Christmas this year. We arrived on Monday, the 22nd, checked into our condo, then went with Ryan and Katie to Anastazi Steak house for a special anniversary dinner. It was quite an experience - cheese fondue, steak cooked on a stone at our table, and chocolate fondue for dessert. So yummy and such a fun way to spend our anniversary. 

Gooey cheese fondue

Steak cooked on a stone

Tuesday, Paul and I went to the Red Cliffs temple then to Jersey Mike's for lunch. After relaxing at the condo for a while, we had dinner at Ryan's and then went with him and his family to a live nativity at the Tuacahn theater. It was a very simple event put on by local wards but a nice depiction of the reason for the Christmas season. We topped the evening off by going to the Christmas lights at Red Hills Desert Gardens. As we walked through the gardens, around every turn, the lights there were absolutely amazing. A wonderful day.

The next day we spent some time at the St. George mall where I found a pair of light blue denim jeans for $16.00, regularly $50. It paid to shop the day before Christmas. We then went to Ryan's to help prepare for their Christmas Eve celebration. We had a ham dinner with all the trimmings followed by a Nativity portrayal and a Christmas letter from Santa. Katie's sister and her family joined us along with a couple who would have had to spend Christmas eve alone. 

Christmas Day, we got up early so we could be at Ryan's when the children walked down the stairs to see what Santa had brought them. It was fun to be with them as they opened their presents, Everyone opened their stockings before taking a break for a breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham and a tea ring, a Millar tradition. Presents were then opened. We were given several presents as I think Ryan and Katie didn't want us to be there with nothing to unwrap. It was a nice morning. Because of threatening weather, we decided to leave that afternoon for home. It was a great several days with family.

Other happenings of the month included decorating our home for the holidays, Mindi's birthday celebration, and a basketball game with Todd and Avery. It took us a couple of days to get all the decorations up but so worth the effort. We love our home when it's all lit up with Christmas.

Mindi's birthday is in the first week of December so the following Sunday we celebrated it with chicken in cream sauce for dinner and a tea ring for dessert. A little strange request for a birthday dessert but it was loved by all. (Speaking of tea rings, I made 22 of them to give away this year.)

For the first BYU basketball game in December, Todd and Avery joined us. The Fullers were out of town so we switched tickets with them. We gave them ours for when we would be in St. George and they gave theirs to us for the game at the first of the month. We loved having Avery and Todd with us. Avery was all decked out in BYU colors, including her nails painted blue with white 'Y's on them. So cute. 

 At the game, they were giving away BYU tank tops. We got two. Wek new we would never wear them so we gave them to Deon to give to her two grandsons who are avid BYU fans. They went to the game with our tickets while we were out of town. They loved the shirts and wore them to the game.

We received a Christmas card from some dear friends we knew in Spokane. In it we learned they had moved to Utah and living in a facility for seniors. We called them and arranged to go visit them in their new home. It was a nice two bedroom home which was a short walk from the dining room where they eat most all their meals. It is a package deal - rent for the home and meals in the dining room. We loved visiting with Bob and Janet Rands but realized we could not live in that kind of an arrangement. 

One last thing to report for December was Lincoln's Preschool Christmas program. It was held at his preschool and was darling. He was in the front row and sang so loud we could hear him above everyone else. He was darling dressed in his pajamas and a Santa hat. Such a change from when we attended Aria's preschool show where she wouldn't even look out at the audience.

Cute Ledger

Now for our monthly memes.......

And that's a wrap for this month of December.