March 2021

 March came in like a lamb!  Lon and I started golfing on the 4th.  It is so much nicer to be outside getting exercise instead of walking around a circle at the rec district.  The sun was shining and no wind!! It was about 36 degrees when we began, but with no wind it was not bad at all.  It warmed up to 45 when we finished. Lon ended up golfing 10 times in March and I only made it 5.  Some days it was just too cold to golf in the mornings so Lon would golf in the afternoons while I visited with Mom.  

Judy and I are now able to go directly to Mom's room, after temperature check, and be there for an hour plus.  We curl her hair, Judy paints her fingernails and toenails, we make sure her supplies are good and just get to actually sit and visit.  Mom doesn't wear a mask but we are supposed to, and we try to keep them on most of the time.  But Mom doesn't really hear well if we talk behind the mask, she can't read our lips and usually can't tell which of us are talking.  Connie does the same thing on Saturday and Sunday.  It feels good to actually be with her and not outside or behind a shield.  Our covid numbers are going down.

Lon has done a couple of service calls for Kip.  We installed a storm door for the Pathaels.  It helps to have things like these to fill in Lon's days.  He has actually read a 4 volume series about Porter Rockwell, the life of President Eyring and President Nelson.  He finally has a ministering assignment also.  It is March Maddness so there is usually a game to watch as well. 

We left for Hurricane, Utah on Sunday afternoon the 14th of March, after I taught my Relief Society lesson.  We arrived at Gene and Norma  Van Wagoners  at 7:00pm.  It is a long drive but we are listening to a book on tape so it is not boring.  

Monday morning we got up and met Jon and Karen Hughes for breakfast.

We served with them in Santiago Chile East Mission

They were headed out of town for a trip to visit family. We were so thankful to be able to spend a couple of hours visiting with them.

Lon and Gene went golfing at 2:00 and Norma and I headed into St. George to visit the D.I. We had success as I found 2 skirts and 2 blouses and Norma found 2 blouses also.  I am looking for a white blouse with a collar on it but so far have struck out, even on the internet.

That evening we went into St. George to visit with Aunt Charlotte Whatcott. 

Charlotte is now 91 years young.  Darold passed away before we got home.  

(selfies still baffle us)

We had a wonderful visit.

We went to southern Utah to get out of the cold but woke up Tuesday to 2 inches of snow and only 36 degrees😡  Definately no golfing today! 

Gene's front yard

We really are in Hurricane, Utah, not Jerome

Winter wonderland in southern Utah, YUK!

We decided to take a drive.  We went past the temple that is being renovated.

They have a ways to go before it is ready

Then we drove past Brigham Young's home.  Of course, all church sites are closed due to the pandemic.

 

The photos of the front of the house didn't turn out??

Right across the street

We need to check this out and see if we are related

Then we went to the Jacob Hamlin Home.

The snow was melting away fast, but it was still very cold and windy

Lon, Gene and Norma

Gene had served in each of these sites so he gave us the dialog, even though they were closed.

We decided to drive to the Mountain Meadow Massacre site.  It is up a canyon.

Lon walked back farther than we did 

a good 5 inches here

We will have to come another time to be able to visit the rest of this site.

The parking lot

On our way home, we decided to drive through Snow Canyon.

We are out of the snow!

Snow Canyon was home to the Anasazi Indians and the Paiute Indians

Mormon pioneers discovered it in the 1850's while searching for lost cattle

The rock formations and colors were amazing

Snow Canyon is a 7,400 acre state park

Located in a 62,000 acre Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

There are more than 38 miles of hiking trails, a three-mile paved walking/biking trail, technical climbing and more than 15 moles of equestrian trails.

There were quite a few visitors as this is spring break week for many

This canyon was the site of Hollywood films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Electric Horseman, and Jeremiah Johnson.

The Tuacahn outdoor amapatheatre is located at the entrance of the canyon

A beautiful drive.

Wednesday morning the men went golfing again and Norma and I went to the Hurricane Museum and a couple of stores.  One of her favorite stores is the Catholic Second Hand store.  I picked up a couple of puzzles.  We went into St. George and picked up Aunt Charlotte and went to the Cracker Barrel for supper.

We went back to Aunt Charlotte's and played a round of Golf, (a card game)  We had a wonderful time.  We headed for home on Thursday.  Next week will be warm here😠.  We are hoping that it will be warm in Jerome also----(cold and windy most days!) Had 2 inches of snow on the 25th.

Our English Connect classes are really fun.  We have from 1 to 4 students each class.  We have one student, Saul, who has never missed a class and Leonel has only missed 2.  The others are very sporadic.  Another strange thing that we taught was that when we say anything that ends in a "t" and the next word starts with a "y" we say "It's nice to meechu" instead of meet you."

March the 26th, Friday.  As I was coming home from my visit with Mom, I got a call from my cousin Randy Newman.  I was so surprised.  I haven't talked to Randy for years.  He and his wife, Tally were on their way home to Baker City, Oregon from Rigby, Idaho and their truck broke down.  They were in Jerome so we had them come to the house and stay with us.  No one would check out the truck until Monday so they were stranded.

Randy and Tally Newman

 On Saturday Lon and Randy built a step for Al Whitby, who just had back surgery.  He needed a step to get from the family room to the main floor with his walker.  They also fixed a water leak in the kitchen.  Then we took a drive to Riley Creek and Niagara Springs.  Randy used to fish there with his father and wanted to see if he could recognize the area.  Too many years and too many changes. 

The biggest crawdad we have ever seen

At Niagara Springs
Then we took him past his old house, boy it was smaller than he remembered.  We also went past Grandpa Walker's and Aunt Joy's homes.  Randy remembered them.  On Monday morning Lon and Randy took the truck to Fred's Repair.  They thought it needed a small part and ordered it.  On Tuesday morning Randy found out that the part didn't work but that the truck needed a new transmission.  So on Wednesday morning we headed to Baker City to take them home.  It is about a 4 hour trip.  We were thrilled to be able to help them out this week and to get to know them better.  Randy and Tally have a beautiful home.  Randy made Lon a new fly rod that evening.

The plan is to have a fly fishing lesson tomorrow as we head for home.  It's been a cold month.  We have hopes for a warmer April.  So we end March in Baker City, Oregon.

As for the Covid-19 pandemic:  We attend Sacrament Meeting in masks and social distancing.  The Primary, Young Women and Young Men meet for 20 minutes in person after Sacrament Meeting.  Our Adult classes are still only on line.  Our temple is still only doing living ordinances.  

Hopefully April will bring good changes!