Life Between Cruises!

 I loved the snow-covered mountains we enjoyed this past winter.  I keep trying to take photos while Steve drive's in the car and I'm rarely successful.  This one was taken as we approached the downtown SL area from the north.
One evening, we were fortunate to tend Jameson and AJ while everyone else had other commitments. We read and played and danced.  Steve really got into the dancing with the boys.  They loved to have their grandpa dance with them.

 The next evening, we attended Shrek, The Musical at Ridgeline High School.  Britton did a wonderful job as the captain of the guard.  We thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We wish we didn't live so far from other grandchildren so that we could see them perform also.  We are sure Jessica's performance of Bugsy was top notch.

 In between events, I have been working on organizing the quilting fabrics and supplies I purchase from Missouri Star throughout our mission.  I am eager to begin new quilt projects.

On Feb. 24th, Jenna participated in a ballroom dance competition at Highland High in SL.  We drove down and were able to watch her perform several times.  She is an outstanding ballroom dancer and we loved watching her dazzle the crowd and the judges.

 We enjoyed spending time with Hilary and cheering Jenna on to success.

 I believe she and her partner won first place in her quick-step division.  She also placed in another dance.  I think it was the cha-cha.

Sunday, the 24th, we celebrated with Jenna on her 16th birthday.

 Jenna is always cheerful, pleasant, kind and inclusive.  The little boys adore her.  Hope she has a delightful 16th year as she participates in her dance and many other activities.

 Once again I tried to capture the beauty of the sun on the mountain peak above our home in CV.

We try to diligently walk every day.  This dog was happy to join us one brisk winter day in CV.  We got a kick out of him.

                                                Beautiful sunset over Oquirrh Mountains!

We have been working consistently to prepare the upstairs part of our house to be a short-term executive rental.  Steve Kerr came over and helped me one day to clean our kitchen.  When he finished it was spotless of course.

 When Steve had to repair the washing machine downstairs, it felt like old times on our mission.

 The upstairs is starting to look really nice.  I expect someone will really enjoy it.

On Saturday, March 2nd, Tanner, Steve and I met up with Hilary, Jenna and Korinne and Roots Tech.

 It is such an amazing event.  We loved hearing Elder Bednar and his wife encourage us in our family history and temple work efforts.

 We had a delightful few hours checking out all the displays and some of the presentations.

 Afterwards, Tanner took us to his office at Pathway and gave us a tour.  It is really impressive and this internship has been a marvelous experience and learning opportunity for Tanner.

 My birthday balloons have lasted an entire month.  Hilary's little boys really have enjoyed seeing them whenever they stop by for a visit.

Of course, that is not all they enjoy when they visit.  AJ found out he likes kiwi fruit and Jameson is really good at building things with the Lincoln logs.  We love their random visits!

 Winter hangs on but it is beautiful!

 Here Steve is working on preparing our new travel board so we can post the map our neighbor's gave us.

We finally added box springs to our sagging bed.  It really made a difference.

We had a lovely Relief Society Birthday celebration this year focused on finding joy in the Savior's Light!

We had to postpone the birthday lunch with my friends who share February birthday.  Instead, we ended up having dinner with some friends since college, Ross and Mynon.  Ross told us about a used car he purchased from a dealer in Bountiful.  He was very pleased with his purchase.  The next day, we decided to call the dealership to have them keep an eye out for a slightly used Toyota Highlander.  We have been casually looking for one since returning from our mission.  They aren't available very often.  To our amazement, they had a white one on the lot.  I sent Steve up to check it out.  Viola!  He purchased it and saved a ton of money over getting a brand new one.  It had everything we wanted except for the black seats.  We felt very blessed and so far Steve really enjoys driving it.  There is room to pick up 6 people and their luggage from the airport which should include any of our family members traveling to visit.

While we were on our mission, our neighbors purchased a new travel trailer.  One sunny day, they decided to remove the winter cover so they could take it back to the dealer for some repair work.  We took some photos of them taking care of this chore.  That alone would discourage us from owning a travel trailer.  We decided we would stick to cruising.  It's far less dangerous and less work.

 We love having Hilary's family over for Sunday dinner when we are in town.  This two young men keep us laughing.

On March 11th, Tiffany and Shawn closed on their new home in Bullard!  Everyone should plan a visit.  It is beautiful and they have a nice guest room.

 This is the snowy landscape, we left behind on March 14th when we left on our next big trip.  We packed for heat and humidity as we flew to Hong Kong.