We were told by the groundhog that we'd be seeing Spring and we thought that was the case the way the month started out, but then we got more snow, and rain, and wind, and sunshine and snow, and rain, and wind, and sunshine and ended the month with more snow, wind and rain!! I guess Mother Nature doesn't listen to the groundhog.
Something I do know that is really happening is work is still being done on the renovation of the Salt Lake Temple- and it's not going to stop until it's all completed.
An estimated 800 construction team members involved in the renovation project gathered beside the pioneer landmark anchoring the Temple Square headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City for the midday “topping out” ceremony, a building tradition marking when the structure’s final beam or equivalent piece is placed.
For the Salt Lake Temple and its Tuesday topping out, the sixth and final reinforcing steel pyramid was placed on the central-west tower. It marks the return of the temple’s six signature towers that were removed for refurbishment nearly four years ago.
“It’s a joyful feeling to know that anyone can now look at the temple and say to themselves, ‘I can start to see and recognize something that is familiar to me,’” said Josh Fenn, Jacobsen Construction project executive and project director overseeing all renovation work on Temple Square, in a report published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. “I hope people will take satisfaction in seeing more and more things that are familiar come back to them.”
There's still another year or so of work to do on the temple to have it all done however, it's been quite the process.
I got in a trip to get away to some warmer weather with my "Golden Girls' for a weekend. Kathy Bullen, Jeanette Petersen and I caught a flight out of the Provo Airport and headed to Las Vegas to see a couple of shows and see some sights.
We saw The Exhibition: Princess Diana and the Royals, showing that shared info. and artifacts about Princess Diana's life. It was interesting to walk through and read some of her letters to her family and understand her feelings better.
We walked the Las Vegas Strip some and boy were there a lot of people out. I felt like I was walking down a main street in New York! The Super Bowl will be played in Vegas the following week and the day we were out walking was Media Day to get everyone excited about the big game.
The next day we went to the matinee show of "Menopause the Musical" which was hilarious! We felt like we laughed through the whole show. So much we could relate to. Fun times.
We did a little window shopping and had a late lunch and then got ready to go see Donny Osmond's show. We were on the seventh row, so we had great seats. His show was a "Through the years" review. It was very entertaining and has been performing in Las Vegas for almost 15 years, with his sister, Marie, and solo at various Caesars properties on the Strip. He recently extended his contract with Harrah's Place to continue his show until the end of the year.
We stayed up late reminiscing of the days we'd watch different shows that Donny had done with Andy Williams and his sister as well as countless others.
He was our "Star Crush" when we were young, so it was kind of fun to see him in real life.
The next morning we slept in and ate a late breakfast, said our good-bye to Donny, and caught an Uber ride to the airport. We got stuck in traffic and eventually came to a standstill once we were closer to the airport. We ended up just getting out of the car and walking the rest of the way to the airport so we could get checked in for our flight.
Come to find out Pres. Joe Biden had landed two hours earlier than the airport was told he would land and they had to secure the area. Airspace was closed and it caused a lot of delays in flights. Our flight home was delayed 2 hours because of the ripple effect of this.
I got home and Dale and I went to watch some USU basketball. They lost to Nevada in a close game, but won against Boise in a close game. USU also honored Coach Stew Morrill by naming the basketball court after him. He was a coach for the Aggies for 17 years.
This is from an article that Utah State put out --
Morrill and Utah State gained national attention in March 2001 for their 77–68 upset of Ohio State in overtime in the NCAA tournament.
On January 17, 2008, in an 82–78 victory over Boise State, Morrill logged his 226th Aggie victory, passing E. Lowell Romney to become the winningest coach in Utah State basketball history.
Morrill has a record of 602–281 overall (.682), and 384–143[3] (.729) with Utah State. His 500th win came in January 2010 at Idaho, coached by his former assistant, Don Verlin. He has also racked up an incredible home record of 193–13 (.937) in the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum as coach of the Aggies. Following a victory over San Jose State on March 9, 2009, Morrill became the only coach in Utah State history to have back-to-back undefeated seasons at home, extending the streak to 34 straight home wins. He is also the only Utah State coach to win thirty games in one season, a feat he accomplished in the 2008–09 season, and the 2010–11 season. During the 2009–10 season, he became the only Utah State basketball coach to win three straight regular season conference championships. The next year, he won his fourth straight regular season conference championship.
I helped with our Stake Relief Society Women's Conference themed "Hearts Knit Together in Unity and Love". We had an opening session to introduce the theme, a variety of 30 min. mini classes, and tables of food to snack on in-between classes. I was over an on-going service project to tie quilts, blankets, and make yarn hearts. It was a lot of work to pull together and set up, but it was worth it. I think all that attended had a nice time and left feeling filled physically and spiritually.
With Dale and I serving at the CVHC we have had the opportunity to work with some kids from the Logan River Academy. These kids come from different states in the U.S. for their schooling. They've had small groups come all month. The last group finished a mat and were so excited that they wanted their picture taken. Fun kids and great leaders. It's things like this that makes serving so enjoyable.
I also was able to join Amie, Zandra, and Danica (Lindsay wasn't able to come, and Diana lives a bit to far away to come)at "The Rusty Spoon" restaurant in Willard for a Galentines brunch. We had a good meal and visited. Thanks Danica, for pulling us together for this. We love our gals.
Dale and I went to the Logan temple and did some sealings and also for Valentines Day we went to Cherry Peak Resort for a nice dinner and a concert.
With the snow storms we had, Dale got in some pretty good skiing. He went to Beaver with Andrew, in between storms and his friend, Lynn Stevens and also with Amie and they found some nice powder. He also went skiing at Snow Basin with Amie and Langston, where they met up with Garrett. That makes this month the most he's skied all season so far to make his season pass worth it.
(The skier is Amie, bot Dale, but it shows the new powder they got to ski in)
There's been some killer airfares show up and Nate and Diana took advantage of one and headed back to Chamonix, France where they got in some quality skiing. They know when to make the most of those moments.
The Mallory's seem to end one sport, just in time to start another one. Kennlyn finished up her Freshman Girls Basketball season with an impressive Region season loss of only two games. It has been fun watching her play and improve.
She even got to help cut the net down when the Varsity team took State.
Langston and Mazin are still hitting the hardwood playing basketball and also playing indoor soccer on their league teams. They are definitely staying in shape.
Kennlyn, Langston, and Mazin were in a soccer tournament that was held in St. George & Mesquite, NV. Dale and I joined them to help get the kids to their games.
They each played three games. They won some and lost some, but we all had a good time. They all played great and we saw improvement in each game.
Danica, June, and Brooks were able to come watch one of Mazin's games and Doug and Donna Brady, Dales sister and brother-in-law, were able to come and watch Kennlyn in one of her games in Mesquite, NV. Family support means a lot. It was nice visiting and having them at the games.
In between games Kennlyn and I went on a walk to a look-out at one of the parks we were at, Dale and Jaxson got in some tennis, we went to some of Matt & Amie's friends place and soaked in the hot tub while the kids swam, and we played games and visited. The weather was nice and I got home with a tan on my arms, neck, and face!
We were able to go through the Red Cliffs Temple Open House in Washington, UT before we headed home. What a beautiful temple it is.
Amie is still employed at Cherry Peak over the ski school as well as helping coach the kids in their sports in one way or another.
Jaxson has been getting things ready to turn in his papers to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It's hard to believe that he'll be 18 in May!! He hopes to leave soon after he graduates. Pretty crazy, but exciting.
Andrew took advantage of the snow that Snow Basin got and went skiing with Garrett. There's something about hanging out with your little brother that makes it a good day, right?
There's also something about taking a vacation with your family that makes it a good five days! Andrew & Lindsay took their family to warmer weather as well by going to Disneyland and Universal Studios.
With the kids being a bit older they were all able to ride most of the rides and got in all that they could. Fun times and great memories were made.
While Andrew was home from his work tour he put in some time teaching a class for USU's Aviation Technology class.
Here's what their Facebook heading said -- Helicopters are cool.
Recent photos show Andrew Hansen, a tree saw helicopter pilot for Aerial Solutions, talking to the Heli Club about his line of work.
The Heli Club's speaker series is a great way to learn more about job options in the helicopter world, make connections with current pilots, and ask questions that can ultimately guide your career.
Eloise turned 11 this month!! Happy Birthday Eloise!!
For her birthday date with us she chose to have breakfast for dinner at Denny's and then go ice skating at our new outdoor ice rink at the Laub Plaza on Main street. It was a bit chilly, but we had fun and we got to see the Zamboni do it's job before we left.
Garrett's been toying with the idea breaking away from Academy Mortgage and join up with Diversified Loans and finally decided to go with it. The crazy thing is it was just a couple of days after his official last day he got word that Academy had been bought out by Guild Mortgage! Maybe this was a good move for Garrett. Time will tell, but we wish him the best. Here's what he posted on Facebook about this change ....
In his down time he's done some skiing and spent time with the family as well as got recertified so that he can do loans with Diversified.
Zandra is still teaching beginning ski lessons at Snow Basin and serving in the schools PTO affairs to keep busy.
The Hassell's celebrated Jason's birthday by going to St. George and enjoying some golf and time out in the sunshine. Can't think of a better way to do this. Happy Birthday Jason!!
They also got to spend a weekend at his mom's place in Garden City with his siblings and got in some skiing and snowmobiling. June was able to go along on the ride for both of them and Danica and Brooks were cheering them on the sidelines. I'm anxious to see how next years ski season goes for the family.
They headed south again over the President's Day weekend and got in more sunshine and fun with family, spending time with Jason's dad and grandpa.
Jason had a work conference in San Diego for four days so I went and helped Danica out for a couple of days. It was fun seeing how cute June is with her little brother and how she gives him little hugs and kisses all the time.
I read her nighttime stories and we colored pictures, watched Lelo & Stitch, played with her puzzles and toys, went shopping, and to a trampoline park. Garrett & Zandra and their kids visited while I was there too.
Brooks was fun to snuggle and June was fun to play with. It was just what this Grandma needed, and I think Danica did too.
This February was a leap year and we got some blue skis, sunshine, and beautiful sunsets to end the month with I hope this is a sign of good things to come.
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