Momentous March

Dale and I had a full month with lots of memories packed in with it. One memory was it started off with snow! We SO need the snow, so it was a welcome sight. It just didn't stay long enough. The next day it was a whole new look. Welcome to Cache Valley!

Dale had a couple of weekends where he went camping with the scouts from the ward. They went to the Niter ice caves in Idaho and up Green Canyon above North Logan, UT.

We went with the wards "Empty Nest" group to the Old Barn Community Theaters production of Mary Poppins. We have some great people in our ward and neighborhood. It was fun to get to know them better.

I did some ushering as well as served in the temple clothing and Youth Center areas, and also helped with Kindergarten testing for Greenville Elementary. Those little ones are so excited to be starting school! Oh, to be a kid again.

Amie came down from Oakley, ID and we went to Tremonton, UT and sat at a booth for a Bridal Fair. We promoted The Haight Home Bed and Breakfast that Amie manages.

 It was the first time this area has done a Bridal Fair so it wasn't real packed, but we got the word out and got a solid booking, with other potential stays. It was good girl time if nothing else.

Dale and I went to Nashville, TN where Dale had the NASBA conference with members from the Cache County school board. Neither of us had been to Nashville, so the new territory was fun to explore. 

We arrived in Nashville, got settled in our rooms and met with the group for lunch. Hattie B's Chicken was where it was at. Highly recommended by the Grunig's and Norton's who had arrived a day earlier. It gave us a taste of that southern fried chicken. 
Then the women checked out the area while the guys had meetings. We caught a shuttle that took us to a park that has the exact replica of the Parthenon that is in Greece. It was closed, so we just took pictures and walked around the area. Pretty neat though.

Day 2: We all went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum .

Elvis Presley's "Solid Gold" Cadillac

and Gold Piano

Gold and Silver Records

Taylor Swift's Diamond studded Guitar

We also  took the Studio B tour. It's the recording studio where a lot of famous artists recorded their songs.

Elvis Presley being one of them.

Piano used for the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood Show

Piano that Elvis Presley used when recording

Then we went to the original Grand Ole Opry Building and toured it. There's a lot of history in this town! Pretty cool!

Day 3: The guys (and Kathy) had meetings, so the ladies (and Mike) walked around town a bit and checked out the area.

Then we went to The Johnny Cash Museum.

We also checked out a famous clothes designer store, Manuels American Designs. He has made a lot of clothes for the rich and famous and has designed and made up a jacket representing each states in the USA. Pretty cool!! We even got to meet Manuel He's 82 years old and pretty hip.

The jacket representing Utah that Manuel designed.

Manuel chatting with Mike Christiansen.

Then we toured an Episcopal Church. It was beautiful and had some beautiful stained glass as well as woodwork.

If that isn't enough for one day, we went back to the Parthenon and got to tour the inside of it. It's quite the building! 

We went back to the hotel and rested our feet, then we met up with the guys, loaded up the van, and headed to the new Grand Ole Opry building to see a show. We ate at The Gaylord Hotel. It's huge and feels like a city is inside it. 

The show was fun and they kept the same format that the Opry did when it first started by making it appear that it's being aired live and on the radio. Very entertaing and HUGE!!
The area was packed. 

It was a very full day, but well worth it. 

Day 4: We lounged around a bit and met the guys for a USBA sponsored lunch. They gave us all cowboy hats as a souvenir. 

Then while the guys (and Kathy) went back to meetings......

The rest of us took out the rental car and Mike drove us to The Hermitage. It's the home that Pres. Andrew Jackson lived in. He and his wife and kids are buried there, and the home was kept in the family until the state took it over and made it a tourist attraction.
It was beautiful, with a step back in time.

Day 5:  We walked to The Upper Room Chapel.  It's a beautiful chapel with a large stained glass window and a big beautiful mural wood carving of the Last Supper. 

 

In the basement it had a museum that had a collection of Nativity's and Ukrainian Easter Eggs as well as other items. Pretty interesting as well as beautiful.

We said good-bye to Nashville and are glad we went. It's a beautiful place.

We got home and Amie and the kids were here. It was their Spring Break, so they headed our way for some fun. We also celebrated Jaxson's 9th birthday while they were here. We went to the Seven Peaks Fun Park and played mini-golf, lazer tag, did a little bowling and played some arcade games. We dropped off Amie and Jaxson at the Energy Solutions Arena where they met Matt's dad, Russ Mallory. They went to a Jazz game. Jaxson even got to be on the Jumbo-tron screen! 

Matt' was in Washington DC with kids from the school chaperoning the trip for work so he missed out on the party. 

Amie made up a Jazz cake for his birthday. Happy Birthday Jaxson!!

Garrett found out that he passed the NMLS S.A.F.E, exam with a 90%. He was the top of his class and is now an eligible mortgage loan officer. He got a job with Academy Mortgage and so he and Zandra flew to Seattle to check out places to live and so Garrett could meet up with his new employer and check out the surroundings. They found an apartment and three weeks later Garrett and Zandra packed up a  Penske and headed north. 
They and stayed with us a couple of days and then headed to Seattle, WA for Garrett's new job with Academy Mortgage. Danica stayed home and took care of Tag and worked. She's going to miss her big brother.

Garrett found out that he was made a member of the John M. Huntsman Deans list by getting a 3.5 or better GPA. Way to go Garrett!

We found out that we'll be adding another grandchild to the group. Zandra is expecting a little one the end of Oct. They sent us a text with a little Lego Family, saying that they were adding an addition to the family. Fun times ahead!!

Dale and I  went to Seattle as well in our car, and helped with the drive.
We stopped in Burley, ID for gas and I think the price of gas drastically rose or that sign was wrong. We didn't gas up there though!

We stopped and stayed at a hotel in Sunnyside, Oregon and then got to Seattle the next afternoon. We did run into some snow and rain, but did just fine. It's a pretty drive for the most part.

Seattle Temple

Downtown Seattle here we come!

We found Garrett and Zandra's new home and Zandra's mom, Gloria , showed up with juice and bagels. Then while Garret and Zandra were doing the final  paper work I got a call from Nate. He was working in Seattle and got done early and wanted to know if we were still moving or needed any help! He called at the right time, cuz we were just heading over to the truck to start unloading it! It was good to see the guys in action and the muscles came in handy.

We got the truck unloaded and then took it back and all of us went and got a bite to eat.
Nate headed home and we went and checked out downtown Seattle a bit. 
Garrett showed us where his office/work is and we went and saw the space needle and ate on the waterfront.

We stayed the night with Garrett and Zandra and helped unload boxes and get the place looking homey.
While visiting with Nate we found out that he's been doing some climbing and took a Row & Run 100 mile challenge. It was suppose to take 30 days and Nate did it in a week!! I think he's trying to kill himself! 

Kim completed the USA wrestling sports performance coach training. She'll be over  heading up weight lifting classes for women at the gym she's working at. Way to go Kim!

Andrew did training for his new job in Kentucky for 4 weeks. Lindsay and the kids held the fort down in Cache Valley.

Danica took a couple of days off of work and went to Orem, UT and spent some time with a couple of her IWCC soccer gals. Her friend, Paige, flew here from Iowa so some of the gals got together. They also met up with Coach Canada.

Danica also got a burst of energy and she and her boyfriend painted her room!! It looks like a new room! It went from lime green and blue to Latte Brown.

A lot of big things happened this month and it was a busy one for us, hence the name Momentous March.