Andrea's friend is baptized

On September 19th, the week after Andrea flew out to college, her good friend from high school was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon).  Andrea was on Facetime so she could see and hear a lot of what was going on.

Dave performed her baptism, and the sister missionaries who taught her are awesome.  It was a great day!

Taking Andrea to College- Provo--then Rexburg, Idaho

After flying in to Salt Lake City, I spend time with my mom in St. George.  Then my mom and Craig drove up with me to Provo. Dave flew in from Maryland to meet me.  Andrea had flown to Seattle first to spend time with James and his family, and then spend a couple days with Julia and Matt, and saw Daniel and Meg. 

[ Julia is working at an Interior Design firm.  Matt, Daniel and Meg are students at BYU in Provo.]

    

                                               The girls had a 'tea party' in the park.

For Daniel's birthday we [Dave, me, Daniel, Meg, Julia, Matt, Andrea] went to a place in Provo where you have a solve a mystery together in an hour with the clues in a room.   

That day we also rented jet skiis at the lake up in Provo canyon.  Julia, Dad and Andrea went for awhile.  There were fires in the canyon a few miles away and we saw helicopters dipping large buckets in the lake to take to put out the fires,

Then Dave, Andrea and I took off for Rexburg.  We stopped in to see Temple Square in Salt Lake City,  Then we drove to Shelley, Idaho where we had dinner and spent the night with an old missionary companion of Dave's.  They lived right on the Snake River, and took us four wheeling around their property.

When we reached Rexburg, Andrea was surprised by how small the town was.  But when she saw all the activities going on on campus to welcome new students, she was excited.  We dropped her off here at her brand new dorms.

A Visit to St. George, Utah

Andrea started school at BYU in Idaho in September.  Since we were flying into Salt Lake City, I decided to first go to St. George in Southern Utah to see my Mom, while Andrea visited Julia and Daniel in Provo.

 My mom got tickets to see Sister Act at the unique outdoor theater called Tuacahn, which is set in the red rock and had amazing views and acoustics.

                                                         me with my Mom and Craig

                                           We checked out a model home.  The whole community has a very low profile and cars are all in garages, so you don't really see anything bu the landscape.

                                       We had lunch at a shopping center north of town.

                                         We walked the labyrinth, but the sun was pretty hot.

 I love this intersection.  Red rock and statues of horses and Native American riders make a beautiful scenic monument.

 This was a stop of the Wells Fargo, and old bank vault is inside.

                    We ate at this park.  Beautiful, cooling water seems even more blue and fresh against the red rock background.

The beautiful St. George 'Mormon' temple was built by early pioneers though a lot of sacrifice, since there was nothing here when they came. It was complete in 1877.  Made of native red sandstone, it was then plastered white.

I also got to see my cousin Will, my Uncle Wes and Aunt Mary Jo. 

One evening I thought I saw lightning, and then realized I was seeing flashes in my eyes, as well as dark spots.  Since the next day was Sunday and all ophthalmologists offices were closed I had to go to ER, and then was referred to an ophthalmologist, who opened his office for me.  The problem was thankfully not dangerous to my vision. 

 As a precaution, though, the next day my Mom drove my rental car up with me the 4 hour drive to Provo, while Craig drove their car.  They stayed a night with us in Provo as we saw our children--

Andrea, Julia and Matt, and Daniel and Meg.