Monday, November 24, 2008

A Quick Get Away!

Last month as I mentioned Les and I slipped away to St. George for a quick get away and break from the hassle and stress of work and church. The Golden Girls were performing for the pre-show of Thriller at Tuacahn, the theater out on the red rocks. We had never been there before but vow to go back again. It was a lot of fun. We got up the morning before the performance and took a beautiful little scenic drive to Pine Valley. A little community tucked away off the beaten path, nestled in the middle of the Pine Valley Mountains.It was so beautiful and so quiet. It would be a wonderful place to live. We stopped and talked to a gentle man along side of the road and asked him about the weather there. We asked if they got much snow and he said a little but it was much milder then our winters in Utah but not as hot as the summers in St. George. He called it their own private little Jackson hole but probably a lot cheaper to live there, and not as touristy. There was a beautiful little chapel there. Logs from the deep gorge west Pine Valley were harvested in 1867 and hauled to this side by ox team for the construction of the Pine Valley Chapel. Thought to be designed like an upside down ship by Ebenezer Bryce, this chapel was dedicated in 1868. It is one of the largest continuously operated chapels in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Wood for the Salt Lake Tabernacle organ pipes was taken from large yellow pines here in Pine Valley. The trees were cut into 30 ft lenghts, sawed into lumber at the saw mill in Pine Valley and hauled by wagon to Salt Lake City where they were fashioned into organ pipes.

Isn't it a beautiful chapel and so well kept. From here we went to the red rock canyon
One thing that Les and I both love about Utah is that you have mountainous as well as desert areas in Utah. Look at the Lava Rock, you find a little of everything in this area.
Next stop was the Mountain Meadow Massacre grave site memorial. It's so hard to believe that the Mormons actually massacred all those men, women and children. Especially the women and children, and after what they had been through themselves. My Great, Great, Great Grandfather William Holt Haslem was the rider who road to tell Brigham Young of the people from California and ask what they should do. It was a grueling ride of 60+ hours to Salt lake. President Young told them to leave the settlers alone and try to promote good feelings with them. By the time my grandfather had returned they had already killed the settlers, it was to late.
This is a photo of Les standing in front of the monument for the people who lost their lives in the Massacre. It was put their by the families of those people and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Les and I left there and went and bought a book on the Mountain Meadow Massacre to see if we could understand why the saints would do such a thing. They don't really know, many people speculate but no one knows for sure why this tragic incident took place.
Then it was back to St George where we meet up with Les's sister Susie and her two daughters Laura and Sarah and little Abbie Laura's little girl. We had a lot of fun together. They were able to get tickets to Thriller as well. This is me in my costume at the dress rehersal for "The Monster Mash." I ended up wearing something close but different since this costume was a little to tight.
This is some of the ladies from the my dance group. We all started in the same class at the same time.We're really pretty scary wouldn't you say? These pictures were take at dress rehersal where I could get others to take the photos and take some myself, I don't really have any from Tuacah. Sarah took some but she has never emailed them to me.
Also in October we were lucky enough to be able to have Jeramy and Hayden here with us for my sister Janets funeral. Jeramy found a cheap flight at the last minute and was able to fly out to be with us and Hayden got to fly free. You can amagine what Isaac, Jaron and Brynlee had to say about that! Hmmmm.Keagan and Lily really enjoyed having Hayden to play with since we don't have a little one around much any more.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

October Ends On A Sad Note.

October ended on such a sad note. My sweet younger sister Janet died unexpectedly in her home October the 29th. I still can't come to gripe with it. It's hard to believe she's gone. Life is so fragile. Just the week before she passed away she emailed me and told me how much she loved me and what a great man she thought Les was. I emailed her back and told her how much I loved her and told her I couldn't wait until the end of January when I would be retiring. I told her then, we would have more time to spend together and now she's gone. It's taught me a great lesson. I will try not to take things or people for granted. Janet was such a fun person to be around, she was always the life of the party and she always had a good story to tell that could make all of us laugh. It's strange even though she is gone each morning I get up and turn on my computer I look to see if I have an email from Janet. She worked Graveyard shift for 1-800-contacts and I would always find an email from her each morning. I am still in the habit of looking to see if theres one there knowing deep down that there won't be one. She loved her children and grand babies so much and her sweetheart Scott. They were the joy of her life. Janet we will miss you so much! Thank goodness for the gospel and our knowledge that we can be with her again. It brings me peace to know that she is with my Dad and she is learning and doing things on the other side that maybe she didn't have a chance to do here. I love you Sis.