Celtic Crossroads

After KR finally made it to St. George, we went to an interesting concert. This is not the first time we have gone to a presentation of the Celebrity Concert Series, but I thought it was worth a mention here that these events are usually full, no matter who the celebrity might be, and the venue holds several thousand people. However, what is interesting is the sea of white hair that attends these events. We were one of the young couples in the crowd. I don't think these St. George events would exist without snowbirds.

Seahawks

A special congrats to the Men in Blue for a wonderful roller-coaster-ride of a season and a great playoff run. They almost pulled off two straight road playoff victories, but lost a heartbreaker in Atlanta. I am looking forward to even better things next year. Wilson rocks!

Taxes

I spent several days organizing my records for the SIX sets of tax returns I have to complete in the coming months. Did you know St. George doesn't have an IRS office? I needed some 1099 forms for reporting mortgage interest and these particular forms were not available online. Aarrgghhh! On the 23rd we had a major change in plans and I went north to gather up KR and her things, hold a family meeting in Morgan, visit the Provo IRS office, watch Kyle's basketball game in Lehi, and still make it back to St. George. We got in after midnight. All in one day!

Our Entrada Home

We have owned our casita in St. George for almost a year and it has been such a success so far. It has been used by the two of us, by our family, and for rental far more than we anticipated. We are so happy with it. It also appears we may have timed the low point in the market perfectly. But who knows. It is so peaceful here and a great place to recharge your batteries. A few pictures of our getaway. Ahhhh.

KR Makes the Grade in Ethan's School Art

As if she needs to be coaxed after finding a willing partner to play ANY game. Ethan is one that appreciates her efforts.

Grant, The Master Kegler

Grant enjoys his kegler moments. Here he is watching the ball roll slowly down the lane after pushing it down the metal kid's ramp.

Helping Out With the New Baby

I stayed with Mom for a few more days, then headed to St. George on the 14th. Mom and I greatly enjoyed a meeting with Donna's family on the 12th, where I introduced them to the Anderton Archive and gave them copies. KR stayed in Springville a couple of weeks, helping out during that crazy time following the birth of a child. Needless to say, she got many good pictures of the Dover family in action.   

Logan Dover

Between the wedding and the Big Event, I went back and forth between Morgan and Utah Country, hitting a couple of major snowstorms in the process, while KR helped Amy in Springville. Logan was born the morning of the 10th. I headed down early, getting to the hospital in Payson just minutes after the birth. Leah, Mike and KR stayed with Amy throughout her labor. Another boy grandchild was added to the mix. That makes 13 boys and 3 girls. He has very cute little squirrel cheeks.  

Hill-Brown Wedding

We spent a full day in Salt Lake City on the fourth of January, attending the wedding and reception of our nephew and his bride, Jace and Krystal Hill. We drove Mom down early in the morning for the temple ceremony and the wedding breakfast. Kim had arranged a hotel room for Mom in the afternoon so she could rest, then we went to the reception with her. I left a little early to get Mom home after her full day; KR stayed longer and enjoyed the festivities. It was all very nice, and VERY cold outside. When we left Morgan in the wee morning hours, it was more than -10F. I am not sure how accurate the car thermometer was, but it was cold! One of the highlights of the reception was the unexpected competition for the bridal bouquet. Kallie must have thought those stems were made of gold, as she brushed aside the other aspirants and dived in Olympic fashion to nab the prize. We took advantage of the proximity to Church Headquarters and the several hours we had between the wedding breakfast and the reception to inquire about tickets for the Honduras Temple dedication and try to find someone in the Missionary Department that could give us some info on PEF mission opportunities. We hit pay dirt on both. We got all the information we needed on tracking down tickets to the dedication, as well as the cultural event. We were also able to meet for forty-five minutes or so with the PEF senior couple coordinator. He was able to give us a little introduction to the responsibilities of PEF missionaries and we were added to his "rolodex" - they try to match up the actual missionary applications to people that have expressed some interest in this type of assignment, if possible. The reality that we may be going on a mission later this year got another step closer. Pictures: 1) wedding announcement, 2) Rod and Marilyn huddling together to keep warm during pictures, 3) Eric at wedding breakfast in the Lion House, 4) Kallie after her incredible dive, and 5-6) dancing with Jace - Krystal and Kim. 

Superpacker

The first part of our year was quite the odyssey. We shifted our base of operations to our house in St. George, even using it as the origination point for our trip to Central America, since we decided to fly out of Las Vegas. As we would be gone for so long, we needed a lot of stuff for our trips and projects. The question was, did we really want to rent a trailer? But then Superpacker went to work and managed to get all of the items into the Pilot. Here she is with the the finished product. Bungie cords = one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

The New Year

As we plan for 2013, it is becoming clear that this is going to be a transition year for the Ancient Wenatchians. We are probably going to serve a mission for our Church sometime this year, as well as be away on several extended trips. We may not be at home for more than 20% of the entire year. It will be difficult to be away from our family for so much time. However, we are excited to see what these new experiences may have in store for us. Check in from time to time for updates.