St. George Girl's Get-Away!

Had such a great time last weekend with my sister, Steph!  We drove to St. George on Friday and arrived mid-afternoon.  After a short rest at our hotel, we decided to go to a movie - because that's how we Hicks' roll!  We went to see "The Odd Life Of Timothy Green".  

It was really cute, very sweet and very odd.  But, we enjoyed it - and both had a good cry.  

Then, after dinner at Chili's we crashed at the hotel, checked in with our families and relaxed and read for the rest of the evening.  So great!

Saturday, we went to the beautiful St. George Temple and did work for a couple of our ancestors.  This temple is absolutely gorgeous inside and out.  I loved admiring the architecture of the building and the rooms are unlike any temple I've been in before.  I LOVE that!  Steph and I enjoyed wandering through a few beautiful and very different sealing rooms while we were there.  I hope to go back with Mike sometime and share it with him!

Then, after changing and having some lunch at Brick Oven Pizza (yummy fettuccini alfredo!) we went to the St. George City Cemetery in search of ancestors.  We found many Wallis' there and even though it was very hot, we enjoyed talking about them and wandering this beautiful cemetery!

And then after a little shopping, it was time to head to Cedar City!  First stop was a beautiful "Rock Church" - we really wished the doors had been unlocked so we could look around inside.  We even considered stopping by on our way home the next day when they had church meetings, so we could wander inside..... I'll do that the next chance I get!!

This is what I found out when I got home and researched it:  It was built in 1931 and is the only LDS chapel that was built entirely by church members.  It was also built exclusively from area materials.  The wood benches, tables, stair railings and doors were made from local Juniper trees.  The iron light fixtures which are still the original sets, were made from iron that was mined in Iron County.  The rock on the outside of the church was hauled in from Southern Utah.  Many of these stones were not just simple stones - silver, which looks blue in it's natural state, and copper, which is green are both on the building.  (That explains the bright blue and green, Steph!)  

 Then, after an Arby's dinner, we were off to the Shakespeare Festival to see "Les Miserables"!  The play was fabulous!  We both loved it!  

It was a wonderful, restful and uplifting weekend.  Thanks, Steph for suggesting it!  

Twin Falls Get Away!

  On August 1st Connor and Ashlyn left to go on a pioneer trek for 4 whole days.  What are parents to do with an empty house and no parental responsibilities??  Road Trip!!!  So, we packed our bags and headed out!

Our first stop was the beautiful small Wellsville Cemetery.  It was kind of hidden away and fairly secluded.

We visited the graves of my 4th great grandparents, James and Jean Wilson Nibley,
                                            

whose pioneer story is incredible.  They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Scotland in 1843 after listening to a local elder preach on the "green".  They traveled to America with their children to join the saints and arrived in Salt Lake City on September 1st 1860.
  
I took histories to read at their grave site and I felt very connected to them - I loved it!

Also in this cemetery are two of James and Jean's daughters, Margret Wilson Nibley Maughan
and Euphemia Nibley Maughan ,

 who were both married to William Harrison Maughan (who also has an amazing history) and are buried in the Maughan family plot.

             
   

Then on we went to the Logan City Cemetery.  It was also beautiful, although much larger and had tons of trees and lots of flowers on the graves - and there were even crows to provide ambiance!


Here we visited the grave site of James and Jean's son, Charles Wilson Nibley, who among his many contributions to society, became the 5th presiding bishop of the church in 1907.  In 1925, President Heber J. Grant called him to be the second counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, where he served until he died in 1931.  Nibley, Utah is named after him.

I thoroughly enjoyed our cemetery stops - and I can't wait to visit more of them!

Once we got to Twin Falls, Idaho, we checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn - which was very nice.  The next day we visited Shoshone Falls - which was amazing!  The pictures speak for themselves....

 And Mike decided to break the rules and hike down a very scary and worn out staircase..... rebel....

As we left the falls - we saw this awesome stump and had to pose with it.... Dorks.....

 Then we went to see Dierkes Lake - it was so cool!  There was a sandy beach with a barrier up so it was like a swimming pool with a lifeguard and everything!

These kids were cliff diving - brave souls, I could totally imagine Jonah and Connor doing it!

This park was right by the lake - so pretty!













The next day we took some family names to the Twin Falls Temple.  It was beautiful, but so small!  Smaller than the Oquirrh Mountain Temple - I didn't know there were smaller ones!  We really enjoyed it.

      

We had such a great time - I can't wait to have more Temple based trips!!  Where will be next......?  

Singin' In The Rain!

Last night I had the pleasure to see "Singin' In The Rain", the 1952 classic, on the big screen at the Cinemark theater in Draper - thanks to my Dad organizing the evening and inviting our whole family.  It was a one-time showing and it was the most fun I've had in a long time!

They showed a TMC interview with Debbie Reynolds (who was adorable!) before the movie and also had clips of interviews with Donald O'Connor and Cid Charisse, which I think, made the whole experience much more enjoyable!  I have seen this movie many times - but it brought a special insight to certain scenes to know what the actors were thinking and how much work went into them.

For instance, there is a dance scene with Gene Kelly and Cid Charisse involving a long scarf blowing in the wind - which I always fast-forwarded through when watching it at home - which she explains how long they worked to make the scarf flow just right and how many times they had to dance this number to get it perfect.  I actually enjoyed the scene last night, knowing a little bit of the story behind the scenes!

Of course the highlight is Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain!  The look of bliss on his face and his happy dance steps just make my heart lighter!  So much fun to watch!

I think my sister, Melanie hit on what made it so enjoyable for me, too when she said to me after the movie, "It's part of our childhood!"  I was so happy after seeing it last night.  I love spending time with my family and sharing classic movies that we all enjoyed together before we could even imagine our adult lives.  

Sent Ashlyn off to girls camp today.  I miss her already.  I wish she got excited to go and do things like this - she never wants to go and I have to kind of force her.  (Which makes it hard on mom, too!)   She seemed fine when I dropped her off with her friend, though.  They went to Lava Hot Springs Resort, so they should have a lot of fun!  They plan to go down the river on Friday - I hope she will participate and has fun with that!

Connor works all day today, so - lucky me - I get the house to myself!!  Yay!  I have missed the quiet and the clean since summer started!  And my music!  I usually have my music playing all day when I am the only one home and for the last month, the tv or Ashyln's music has been on.....
I will really be spoiled when Connor goes to school next month and Ash is in school, too!

But I will sure miss him!  What a mixed bag of feelings life is as the kids get older!!

Hello!  I'm a new blogger and so don't expect too much!!  The purpose of this blog right now is mainly for journaling - but those who wish to read about my goings-on are welcome!   It may evolve as I learn more about what I am doing and what I want this blog to be.

Today I am just grateful that I actually got this blog up and running!  I had a bit of trouble, but here we are!