WINTER IN ST. GEORGE

We spent the weekend in St. George Utah. Rebeca and Paul. Cathy and Pete with their two little kids were there as well. Becca and Paul have a neat home close to Interstate 15 in Washington, UT, on the outskirts of St. George. It was 62 degrees and their pool was 95 degrees. Here is Cathy and little Phillip, Becca and little Austin Le Roy. They have a pool and a small putting green in the backyard. This large development surrounds a golf course and there is a chapel with two wards in this housing development. Here is shot of their backyard. The snow is in the mountain tops where it belongs.

It is interesting to drive through southern Utah, so rich in Mormon Pioneer history. It is about five hours from our house. We met Becca and Paulo in Nephi and Paul drove our car and made very good time. We stayed in Paul's father's condo a mile away from their home.

St George has changed in the last 50 years since I was down there. There are housing developments everywhere as many have discovered this warm paradise in the desert. It is not as warm as Phoenix AZ so there are no grapefruit or lemon trees in the back yard but there are palm trees. There are golf courses and even a large reservoir for boating. Many retire down here to enjoy the warm and mild winters. It was 20 degrees in Salt Lake when we left.

I do not play golf so we enjoyed the time visiting with these two families and playing with the grand kids. The gals did a garage sale safari as we baby sat. There is a great Hamburger place in St. George called In and Out Hamburger. This is a California group who insist on using absolutely fresh ingredients and they were the best.

We just "hung out" (what the daughters call "blarbing" which is in no dictionary) and had the best time. We went to church in one of the wards in that development. Every ward has a different flavor and it was true here. The chapel and amusement hall were packed. In our Priesthood class, there was a discussion about volunteers for the welfare farm. They have a large regional welfare farm there. It is a huge orchard with 5000 apricot and peach trees that has a huge production of peaches and apricots for the local cannery and Bishop's Storehouse. I guess they were going to prune the trees and needed tractor drivers.

It was a great and relaxing time and it could be habit forming.

Well it is back to work. Am sitting here in the Missionary Department answering the medical hot line. Temple reopens tomorrow and that will be great.

The next big family event will be Mom's Valentine Party this Saturday.

Alles gute, Oma und Opa