Well I have finally decided I need to make this post before it is ancient history. But the Joseph Cottle family reunion was held in Monroe and we really had a good time. Our entire family was here for most of the first week of August.
Early in the week the kids found the sprinklers and even Reynolds and Jane had a great time running around the back yard in the "cold" water.
During the first part of the week we enjoyed quite a few evenings on the back porch watching the kids play. The "men" also played golf almost every day when the weather cooperated.
We have some budding musicians
Of course each morning began with a freefall in the kitchen. We went through boxes and sacks of cereal, gallons of milk, and even some good old fashioned bacon and eggss.
On thursday everyone was in Monroe and the highlight of the day was the water slide. We had it for four hours in the afternoon and the kids and adults had a time of it. The water was close, however it didn't seem to bother anyone, even the little kids. We also had a badmitten net up and to warm up vigourous games were played. Tom brought a lawn game that was tried and was very interesting.
Saturday was the day we planned on going on the mountain. Unfortunately we had a lot of rain that morning and the picture below shows us coming back down after a trecherous section where we wondered if we would stay on the road. We ended up going to the Monrovian park and cooking a wonderful Dutch Oven dinner (thanks to Tom and Johanna) and the kids played in the river, and climbed the nearby peaks. We had a nice warm fire and it was a wonderful few hours.
Well that's about it. I'm sure many of you have other pictures of our week, but we concluded Saturday evening at our home where we had another excellent meal (Weston grilled steaks on the grill) and then we assembled in the house and had a wonderful testimony meeting. I guess we plan on continuing this tradition, but now it will be every other year. We will give some time for the in-law families to meet!!!
Thanks for making the time to come together. It was well worth it. Next time we will have a few more new ones.
Johanna and her children, Andrew and Haley, visited us in February and Johanna couldn't be satisfied with just visiting. She and her mother conjured up a peoject in the upstairs front bathroom. Before I knew it the wall paper was in a pile on the floor and we were committed to doing something. Well the plan was for some paint on the walls and tile above the shower surround.
The wall behind the mirror was painted a darker chocolate and it looks quite nice. The rest of the walls in the bathroom were a lighter gray color and compliments the darker color.
I drew the short straw regarding the tile. It extends above the shower to the ceiling with a decorative strip about 6 inches below the ceiling.
We finally got everything put back together today and everything looks pretty nice. So to celebrate we drove to Fillmore for a Carl's Jr. Can't be anything better than that!!
Our little adventure began on Friday the 22nd of January. Carol and Gordon Berthelson and Ann Marie and Sherwood were "snow birding" down in Arizona and we thought maybe we would drive down and check out this phenomena. We started in the afternoon and drove to Mesquite, NV the first day. We were so surprised at the changes in Mesquite. We hadn't been through this area for several years and the growth was amazing. We had a reservation at the Falcon Ridge hotel which was new and had no gambling associations which was nice. We drove around a little and one big surprise was that the Oasis Hotel and Casino was closed. It was one of the founding casinos in Mesquite and it was all dark. A new casino across the freeway from the Virgin River was still unoccupied. It’s a mystery how one could be very successful and another one nearby fails!
The next day we headed down I-15 to Las Vegas and took the US 93/95 exit in North Las Vegas to Henderson and BoulderCity. The expansion of housing and businesses was amazing. We ended up taking US-95 to Searchlight Nevada, a parallel road to the Colorado River. The drive was interesting, however, and we stopped in Searchlight for gas and a bathroom break and then continued on to Needles where we picked up I-40. In another hour we were in Lake Havasu, Arizona. Pam and I had passed through LakeHavasu in 1991 when Johanna and Tom were married, but we didn't remember much. We located our hotel and then took a drive to find Carol and Gordon Berthelsen’s resort. They were staying at Echo Resort which was about six miles south of Parker Dam on the California side of the river. They had no idea we were coming and were very surprised when they opened the door of their 5th Wheel. As you probably already know, Pam and I seldom make plans--we just go! They really had a nice location on the river and were very comfortable.
Sunday was the next day and we drove to Parker, AZ to attend church. Carol and Gordon were there when we arrived and in a few minutes Ann Marie and Sherwood walked in and boy were they surprised to see us. I told Sherwood we were checking up on them. We enjoyed the ward and they really took good care of all the visitors. We spent the afternoon with Ann Marie and Sherwood. They were in a different resort, called the River Resort about 10 miles south of the Echo Resort on the California side of the river. They also had a very nice setting on the river and seemed happy to be there.
Monday was a "play day" and the first thing I did was make a tee time at a local golf club, the London Bridge Golf Club. We had the morning to ourselves and drove around the city and ended up at an Inn and Out Burger restaurant for lunch. It was next door to the London Bridge park and we wandered around seeing this massive structure and taking pictures. Finally we headed to the golf course and enjoyed 18 holes of golf on a very interesting course. Two courses were tucked in amongst beautiful homes. the fairways were green but all the rough areas were dry grass. We had a great time and we played as a twosome and that was nice.
Pam shot a 104, which was pretty amazing and included a 49 on the back nine. I shot a 79 and had a 38 on the back nine, so the back nine was good to both of us.
Tuesday morning was our getaway day. Before leaving we returned to Carol and Gordon's and visited and had lunch with them at a local restaurant and then began our journey home. It had been an enjoyable few days. At the intersection of US-95 and I-40 we turned east and headed to Kingman where we turned north on US-93 and drove to Hoover Dam. It was an interesting drive and we were amazed at how many people lived in trailers and other homes out on the hill side. I guess they liked the solitude. It took another hour to arrive at the Dam and 10 miles prior we ran into heavy road construction. They were building a new highway [divided] to support a new by-pass bridge 1,500 feet downstream from the Dam. The Colorado RiverBridge was the central portion of the Hoover Dam Bypass Project. Construction on the nearly 2,000 foot long bridge began in late January 2005 and was expected to be done this year. As we dropped down towards the Dam it was amazing to see the construction project, especially the bridge. We stopped at several viewing areas and took pictures and then crossed the dam and proceeded up the other side and on to Boulder, Henderson and eventually Las Vegas. We continued north on I-15 until we arrived in Mesquite where we stayed at the Falcon Ridge hotel again. It had been an interesting day.
Wednesday morning we finished our journey home with an important stop in Cedar City for lunch at Cafe Rio. It was sooo good! It had been raining and snowing in southern Utah but the drive wad fine. We found all well at home with the exception that our garage had been a Cat Hotel for the weekend. Every drop of food was gone and I'm sure Sydney holed up somewhere as the other neighborhood "tuffs" took over. Well we fixed that and got ourselves unpacked.
We enjoyed our little get away and Lake Havasu was an interesting part of the country and the geology was beautiful. I'm not sure we could live in a trailer and sit around and watch the river glide by, but believe me there were tens of thousands that do just that. Now were back to Winter! Hooray for snow.
Well the new year is behind us already and here we are half way through January. We have been enjoying life even though it has remained quite cold and snow is still on the ground. We have begun the lighting project in the kitchen and purchased cans for the ceiling (6) and then I took down the old lights. The ballasts were beginning to degrade and we continually had flickering lights on one of the units. I then installed all of the under counter lights. We bought another set to total six sets and I put them on it and we only had one disappointment. They would operate with a master switch. So we put them up anyway and got the power supplies all hidden away and they look and work nicely, just have to turn them on individually.
Pam has been working on another quilt for Aunt Win and it will look beautiful when done. It is for one of Aunt Win's granddaughters.
We have discovered a wonderful cassette and CD book collection at the city library. We listened to two of the Barroman books (LDS Author) on World War I and World War II. They were both excellent. We just finished a book on Harry Truman and it was really good and really opened my eyes to that period of time. When I was a boy I remember going to the movies on Saturday at the Egyptian Theater in downtown Ogden and during the news reels whenever anything came on about Truman, the audience just booed and booed. I always thought it was because of the bomb, but in this book I learned it was for firing General MacArthur. That was pretty awful period in US History, but history has determined that it was a good decision because MacArthur had turned into ego maniac. Anyway it was a good book. We are now listening to a book on Benjamin Franklin by David McCullough and his writing is very compelling and enjoyable.
Yesterday we took a long drive down by Bryce Canyon and listened to the book and watched the scenery go by. Still a lot of snow and everything is pretty. I have added a couple of pictures from Kingston Canyon. Some very interesting rock formations.
Today we began ward conferences and I enjoyed being in the Monroe 1st ward. All the meetings were very good. Friday evening Pam and I joined in their temple session and it was huge. Well things are going all right around here. Pam's Brother printer just seemed to die on her and she is not a happy camper. Hope everything is well in your homes.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
Well Christmas is finally upon us. We thought that we might be golfing on Christmas, but boy oh boy the weatherman was right for once. Last night the snow began and it didn't stop until early this morning and when it was done we had at least 10 inches on the driveway. It was absolutely beautiful and I didn't even mind shoveling it. Yah I know, I wouldn't want to do it every morning! But Pam and I have pretty much gotten everything ready for our solo Christmas. Of course Pam and Erin decorated our beautiful tree almost a month ago and it is still wonderful to look at, especially at night.
During the next couple of weeks Pam continued decorating in the house and outside and I finally got on the ladder and put the new lights (LED) on the gutters and they look pretty good.
This morning I finally got some warm clothes on and went out to survey the whiteness. It was just beautiful and you hardly wanted to make a mark in the snow. As the cars and trucks went by it was so quiet. But I finally began shoveling and this is what everything looked like this morning.
With the path around the north side of the house Sidney now has a path to the deck or I should say under the deck. But he has pretty much enjoyed the garage for the past few days as it has been quite cold. We have even let him in the house on and off!!!
We have enjoyed just looking outside and seeing everything so white and beautiful. I would imagine that Denver is getting the storm today. We surely hope every one has a great Christmas Holiday and that you are enjoying the messages and music of the Savior and this special time of the year. Pam and I were able to see the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Devotional a week ago and it was magnificent. Well have a wonderful time in your individual homes and we will miss you all. Look forward to visiting with the family on Christmas Day!
