95th Birthday for Grandpa

On September 29, we had a birthday party for my grandpa.   He turned 95 in September!  He's seeming more fragile and it sounds like he's sleeping a lot.  But he has lived a good life and we're glad he is still around. We had a barbecue in our backyard and it was so great to see a lot of cousins that I don't get to see often.

I'm just throwing this in with this post.  Either the evening before or the evening of my grandpa's party, this was the gorgeous sunset.  It seemed like we had some especially beautiful sunrises and sunsets in September.  

Cedar Breaks

After we spent time in the St. George and Cedar City temples, we headed with the Smiths into Cedar Breaks.  I had never been there before and neither had the girls.  Gabby was pretty cranky and didn't want to hike.  We really didn't "hike"...we took a 1 mile, flat nature walk to a pretty look out.  But she did an awful lot of complaining, whining, etc.  In fact, she complained so much that I actually made a bet/deal with my girls over that weekend that if they fed the dogs 4 x /week, walked the dogs 3 x/ week and only complained once per week until February, they could get a puppy.  They actually did so well for 3 weeks...they were so careful not to complain...and then there was a weekend with loads of complaining.  (However, I have to say that they actually have done pretty well about complaining less than they used to!)

Anyway, aside from Gabby's complaining, Cedar Breaks was beautiful. 

Pine Valley Chapel/Mountain Meadows Massacre Site/games/pool

So as I wrote before, over Labor Day Weekend, we headed to St. George with the Smiths.  On Sunday, we visited a nearby ward for sacrament meeting.  Then we headed to Pine Valley to see the chapel there.  It is the oldest LDS building that has been in continuous use.  It was built by a shipbuilder named Ebeneezer Bryce and they get hundreds of people each Sunday in the summer time.  It's tiny and so many of the families bring a blanket and sit outside the chapel on the grass and there are speakers so they can hear the talks, songs and prayers outside.  From inside the ship looks much like an upside down boat.  Some of the things I read online said it actually is but the woman who told us about it didn't say anything about that...so I don't know if it was actually designed to be an upside down boat or not.

See? It looks a lot like an upside down boat!

The Mountain Meadows Massacre Site was only about 10 miles away from the Pine Valley chapel so we went there.  It was heart wrenching to contemplate the awful events that occurred there.  How had members of the Church reached the conclusion that it was okay to massacre families that were just trying to stop and rest on their travel to California?  How could those who had been driven out, threatened and even slain by wicked men turn around and do the same to others?   I can't understand what happened there, but my heart ached for all involved.  It's definitely a dark spot in Church history.

After these visits, we headed back to the hotel.  We swam for a while.  Then we played games and visited.  It was a really fun weekend!  I am so grateful for our friendship with the Smiths!