A Trip to St. George and a Goodbye to 2025!

Two Days after Christmas, we (Charly, Josh and I) went to St. George for a few days. We enjoy going to Southern Utah in the winter to enjoy warmer temperatures and sunshine. 

We stayed in our Worldmark timeshare condo. 

We got to St. George on Saturday afternoon, so Sunday morning, we went to church in St. George at this church building.  It was a good worship service, and we enjoyed the friendly congregation. 

After church, we went over to the St. George temple visitor's center. 

There were lots of interesting things at the St. George Temple visitor's center, like a display of many nativities from different countries and time periods. 

The visitor's center is a cool place with some great Christian art. 

Sunday night, we went back to downtown St. George to see Christmas lights.  We started out at the St. George Temple.   

I loved the outdoor nativity at the temple. 

These are the lights at the St. George City Center.  They were pretty, but not very colorful.  They were all red and green, but still very nice.

Monday morning, Josh and I went out for a hike.  It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day in St. George.  We hiked in the Santa Clara River Preserve area.   It was a nice hike, and I enjoyed being outside on the trail.   The trail is about five minutes from the house we bought in Southern Utah about a year and a half ago.

Tuesday morning,  we left St. George and drove back home.  While we drove, we listened to and finished the audiobook, 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson.  We were back home by mid-afternoon.  Our drive was good with no problems. 

Wednesday morning, Charly and I walked at the mall before the stores opened.  You can see that the Christmas decorations were being removed.  After our walk, we did a little shopping, then went home to clean the house and do laundry. 

New Year's Eve, we decided to get Chinese food take-out.  Charly and I then watched some TV.   We had a quiet, low-key New Year's Eve.  

We watched a documentary about an 1980s rock band on Netflix, then a Youtube documentary about daycare and healthcare fraud in Minnesota.  The video has recently become viral online because it exposes fraud of tax dollars by members of the Somali community in Minnesota.  It was super interesting and concerning, and I would recommend it to all taxpayers - those who support Democrats and Republicans.  

During the past year, I read 67 books, which is down from 75 books in 2024.   I hope to get back up to 75 again next year in 2026, but I won't stress if I don't. My favorite historical fiction book was The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd. A close second was The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe. Both were excellent! The best nonfiction I finished this year was 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson. Everyone should read it.

Things that happened last year (2025) that I am thankful for:

• Josh graduated from college.
• We sold our small condo. 
• We found and are in the process of purchasing another home for our retirement. 
• I am completing my final year as a teacher. 
• We spent a lot of time with our grandchildren. 
• We had some nice trips to Arizona, Idaho and Southern Utah. 
• Charly and I managed to stay pretty healthy.

As 2026 begins, here are some things I am looking forward to. 

• We are buying a new place to live in Northern Utah - Utah County.
• Josh is moving into his own place. 
• We will be selling this house we currently live in.
• I'm retiring in May after teaching for 25 years. 
• Our oldest granddaughter is getting ready to serve a mission after she graduates from high school. 

That's it for this post and this year.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy New Year! 

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"New year - a new chapter, a new verse, 

or just the same old story?

Ultimately we write it. 

The choice is ours. "

~ Alex Morritt

Christmas Week - Monday to Friday

This past year has gone quickly.  I can't believe that another Christmas is past.  I hope that you had a truly memorable holiday, and that you were able to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ - the Savior of the World - and make some great memories with those you love!  Here are some of the things that made this busy past week and Christmas a good one for me and my family.   

Monday of this week, we went to our daughter's home in Utah County to deliver the Christmas gifts we had for them.  A flu bug in their family meant that we just exchanged gifts on the driveway of their home, so I didn't get any pictures.  Hopefully, they are all feeling better soon! Later, we stopped and had lunch at our favorite Utah County lunch spot - the BYU Creamery.   It's always fun to get a burger and fries or onion rings at The Creamery. The food there is so good that burgers from other places just do not compare at all.  The rest of Monday, we were busy making last-minute Christmas preparations. 

On Tuesday, we met our grandson for lunch because, although he lives in Utah County, he was working near our home for a few days.  After lunch, we told him to come and have dinner with us before he went back home in the evening, so he did.  We enjoyed having him here and told him to come by whenever he wants.  Here is our oldest grandson, almost 20, with his grandpa.  I have no idea where the years ago, and how I can possibly have a grandson this old! 

Here I am with Miles, our oldest grandson.  He is really a nice young man, and we are very proud of him. 

By Wednesday, Christmas Eve, our door was full of Christmas cards from friends and family.  I love sending and receiving Christmas cards, and appreciate all those who stay in touch. 

I took some small Christmas gifts and left at the doors of some friends and members of our church congregation Tuesday afternoon.  

On Wednesday, the morning of Christmas Eve, Charly and I walked at the mall.  It was early - before stores normally open, but many were open to accommodate last-minutes shoppers. After the walk, we stopped at the grocery store for a few things.  There was a Salvation Army bell ringer there.  This is the first bell-ringer I have seen around here this year.   When our children were little, we would give them money to put in the kettle, so I was happy to make a little donation to The Salvation Army in honor of good memories of our little ones. 

We had no snow on Christmas Eve, and it wasn't cold, but it was cloudy and windy.   I went for a walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon, and I listened to the Christmas Eve service of the church that my blogging friend Faith, over at Gold in the Clouds, attends. She, her husband, and her oldest daughter were all singing in the Christmas Eve service choir. 

Our  Christmas Eve dinner was slow-cooker Mississippi Pot Roast, with mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted carrots, and green salad.   It was very good. 

After dinner, Charly, Josh, and I played this new game, Runs in the Family, which I recently purchased, especially for Christmas Eve.  It was a fun game, and we laughed a lot, as we tried to read each other's minds. 

This is our living room with our Christmas gifts ready around the tree on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning was more low-key and relaxed than when we had little ones. We slept in a bit, I made a special Christmas breakfast, we talked to our daughter and grandchildren on the phone, and then we opened gifts. 

We all got some nice things that we wanted.  One gift I gave myself was early bird tickets to BYU Women's Conference. The conference doesn't take place until April 30- May 1, but there was a special Christmas discount if tickets were purchased by Christmas, so I got online and bought my tickets and put this fun event on my calendar. 

In the afternoon, I took some cookie plates to friends and members of our church congregation. 

Christmas evening, we decided to go see some Christmas lights.  We went to Utah County to a place called Riverwoods that our daughter had told us about.  The Christmas lights there were beautiful.  Here are some pictures. 

We enjoyed walking around Riverwoods and looking at the lights.  Riverwoods is an outdoor shopping area, and while the stores were not open on Christmas night, we plan to return when they are open.

On our way home, we passed this city park that was beautifully lit up. Almost every tree in the park was covered with lights.  We got out and walked around, and I took pictures. Here is what this beautiful park looked like Christmas night. 

I am so grateful that we were able to get out and see these beautiful lights on Christmas nights.   It was a nice way to end a memorable Christmas Day!

Friday morning we walked at the mall again.  None of the stores were open early, and there weren't many people there.  I noticed some workmen taking down the Christmas decorations.  

I wasn't really planning to take our Christmas decorations down on the day after Christmas, but since we are planning a little getaway in the coming days, I decided that it was best just to get everything taken down and put away. This is what the living room looked like this afternoon with all of the Christmas decorations gone. 

While we were taking the Christmas stuff down, I finished listening to this audiobook, Lions & Scavengers by Ben Shapiro.  The author is a conservative political commentator, and this book was about politics, history, and current events.  Parts of it were interesting, and I agreed with most of what the author said, but overall it was just average, so I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads.   This was the sixty-fourth book I have completed this year.  I hope to finish two or three more books in the next week, but my reading dropped off this year, and I will probably finish ten fewer books than 2024. 

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I worshipped at our nearby temple Friday afternoon, which seemed the right thing to do on the day after Christmas - when we celebrate Christ's birth. 

Thanks for stopping by to share my Christmas week.  I am going to be absent from blogland for the next week or so.  I hope to see you again on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"What the new year brings to you

will depend a great deal on what you 

bring to the new year."

~Vern McClellan

Highlights of the Week and Weekend Before Christmas

It's been another busy week and weekend.  Here are some of the highlights, and things, big and small, for which I am very grateful this week.

Last Tuesday, the sale of our condo closed. The whole thing basically went off without a hitch, and we are both incredibly grateful that everything went OK, and that we have closed this chapter, and made a little money that we will roll over into a home we will move into when I retire. 

This is that house! After we signed papers for the sale of our condo, we went to the home inspection at this townhome we are buying in Utah County.  Yes, this is a different house than we thought we were going to buy, but his one is much bigger and in much nicer inside.  In fact, it is just perfect for us, and we are so grateful that the home inspection went really well. This townhome has been well taken care of, and is beautiful and spacious.  We will move in a little at a time because I need to stay in our current place until the end of the school year, but we are very excited and grateful to be moving closer to our grandchildren and many other things we love in Utah County.  We are also keeping the house we bought in Southern Utah about a year and a half ago. Right now, we are renting that house, but eventually, we plan to make it a second home and divide our time between Utah  County and Southern Utah.  

This is the street our new home is on.  I love the awesome mountain view. 

Also last week, I received this wonderful, thoughtful Christmas gift from my long-time blogging friend Faith over at Gold in the Clouds. Faith and I have been blog friends for many years.  Hers was one of the first blogs I followed when I started blogging "back in the day."  This National Park tote bag, pouch and stickers, which she sent me, is the perfect gift because I love the National Parks and we try to visit these special places in our nation whenever we get the opportunity.  Thank you so much, Faith!

Friday was the final day of school before Christmas break, and official end of the first half of the school year.   I am counting the days left in the school year, as you can see.  When I go back to school January 5, 2026, there will be 97 days left in the school year.

Our school admin tried to make it a fun day for the students. We had shortened class periods, then there was a student vs. teacher basketball game, and then school was dismissed early. 

A student gave me this sweet note on Friday.  The note was completely unsolicited and done on her own.  I found it my box Friday morning, and it honestly brought tears to my eyes.  I had some problems with this student my first couple of weeks at the school, then I decided to focus on forming a positive relationship with her, and it has succeeded. She also turned in a lot of assignments and brought her grade up in the class.  It made me feel like I might miss teaching just a bit after I retire. 

It was nice to be out of school early, and after school, Charly and I went back to take care of some more business having to do with the purchase of the home. We stopped and had lunch at our favorite Asian place, which will be a lot closer to us after we move to our new home in Utah County. 

When we got home, I was tired and a little stressed and decided to relax with some homemade hot cocoa, which my daughter made and gave me.  It is really good - much better than store bought stuff, in my opinion. 

Friday night, I finished reading this book Cratchit - A Christmas Carol Continues by R. M. Bouknight. I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads.  It was not anywhere near as good as Dicken's original A Christmas Carol  - but then, most sequels by someone other than the original author are not.  

I'm also pleased and grateful that my Christmas Cactus is blooming  again.   This is how it looked on Friday. 

Saturday morning was rainy.  We still haven't had any snow in the valley.  It has just been too warm.  We walked at the mall before the stores opened.  

Saturday afternoon, we went to a wonderful Christmas performance that focused on the true story of Jesus, his birth and life.  It was awesome.  Our son-in-law got the tickets for us, and he and two of our granddaughters met us and watched the performance with us.  It was a great event that focused on Jesus Christ and the real meaning of the holiday we are celebrating. 

Sunday was a blustery day - cloudy and windy, but no snow or rain. The high was about 60 degrees.  I got up about 6:30 a.m..  Before we went to church, I called my birth mother and talked to her for a while, thanked her for a gift card she sent us for Christmas and wished her a Merry Christmas. 

We had a special Christmas service at church, and we sang lots of Christmas songs.  You can see that our congregation is not very large.  Rumor has it that our congregation may be combined with another nearby congregation in the near future. 

After church, we had refreshments - mostly Christmas cookies and milk. 

Most of the people in our congregation stayed, and we visited as we enjoyed some Christmas cookies.   There are many older people in our congregation, but also a few younger families with children.

Our Sunday dinner was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and green salad.  Comfort food.  It was good. 

As the new week starts, I am reading three books - Charles Dickens' original Christmas classic - A Christmas Carol, Christ versus Caesar by Connor Boyack, and Christmas Through Jewish Eyes by Mitch Glasser. 

Gratitude:

• Selling our little condo. 
• Attending the wonderful Savior of the World performance.
• Making it halfway through the school year.
• Finding a great townhouse in Utah County to buy and move to. 

Praying for:

• Josh as he moves into his own place in January and looks for a new job. 
• My grandchildren. 
• Our nation.

Looking forward to:

• Taking our grandson to lunch this week. 
• Seeing our grandchildren when we take their presents to them. 
• Christmas.
• A post-Christmas getaway to St. George.

That's all for this post.  Have a good week and have a 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Until next time, 

🎄Deb🎄