Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

Mom and Dad came down for the weekend and we had a good time enjoying beautiful fall weather in St. George. We drove the loop up through Gunlock, Veyo and back to St. George. We watched the Jazz game on the big screen at Aaron's clubhouse. On Saturday we hiked up Water Canyon in Colorado City and got an ice cream at the dairy. The boys went on an amazing bike ride near Hurricane and Virgin. They did fine until Dawson hit a rock, got a flat, and went flying into a sage brush. He had to push the bike the last 3 miles but he said the scenery was amaznng. We'll go back to this one! We toured a pioneer museum in Hurricane while we waited to pick them up. That evening we went to Tuachan and watched a nice performance by the BYU Young Ambassadors. We enjoyed a relaxing Sunday and devourered mom's famous apple and banana cream pies. They headed home Monday morning and we headed back to work and school. Tell next weekend...

Special Friends

We are grateful to have special friends in our lives. They enrich us, uplift us and help us keep life in perspective. This weekend we were able to enjoy our friend Brandy on Halloween night. She helped us carve pumpkins and hand our Halloween candy. I was grateful to have her watch a 'chick flick' with me and do things like go out to dinner with me when all the boys went to the Conference Priesthood session.

We also got to celebrate Sam's 20th birthday at the park with many friends and family. He always has a hug and kiss for us and makes us feel like we are the most special people in the world. What a wonderful spirit full of unconditional love.

I had the chance to volunteer and help teach a special dance class with Sam's mom a few years ago. I had the opportunity to make many new friends. I am also blessed to get to visit teach a special needs sister! She amazes me with her knowledge and insights. We are grateful at this Thanksgiving season for special people in our lives.

Fall Park City Trip

We traveled up North to watch the State Cross Country Meet at Highland High School. Danielle flew in from Portland to spend the week with us. She had missed Cafe Rio since moving, so that is one of the first places that we stopped in Salt Lake. We also ate there in Provo and Park City!

We stopped by Gardner Village in South SLC and walked through the shops and saw all the witches and pumpkins on display.

We had dinner with Danielle's in laws, the Jackson's in Orem. Danielle met her new little neice, Taylor. We shopped in Park City where we love to visit the art galleries. We also hiked the trail to the famous white barn and saw all the scarecrows on display. Dawson scraped his leg climbing up inside the silo at the barn, but luckily we didn't have to go to the emergency room. Every time we stay in Park City we usually end up there!

We had a lunch picnic along the Provo river in Midway/Heber and enjoyed the fall leaves. We watched a few movies and enjoyed the out door hot tubs at the Marriott Mountainside. Dawson took the ACT test at BYU on Saturday morning. The main reason for the visit up North was for the BYU vs UNLV game on Sauturday. It was a beautiful fall day in full sun as we watched the cougars defeat the rebels. Danielle and I were able to attend a baby shower for my sister in law, Lesa, married to Jon, after the game. The boys met up with a cousin, Jason, who had flown out from Tennessee with his Priest quorum to see the game and tour BYU. They also met up with cousins Jonathon and Justin.

The highlight of the trip was the chance to see our prophet, Pres. Monson, who just happened to be making a presentation at the Mo Tab choir broadcast that we attended on Sunday morning. After that we dropped Danielle off at the SLC airport and headed for home. Steve would have liked to have joined us but he had Dental school tests on Monday and so he needed to study. (He ended up getting the second highest scores in his class!)