March Madness!

Who doesn't love to eat corned beef and cabbage (well, at least once a year) 

and watch national college basketball teams compete against each other?

March brings the opportunity to do both with St. Patrick's Day and NCAA March Madness.

When the first round of the NCAA Tournament is held in SLC, Rick gets tickets and takes his son, Josh.

Josh is serving a LDS mission in Hong Kong, so guess who Rick invited to go with him for the 2017 tourney.

We drove up north the day before and I got to hang out with Jodie and the girls and Blake 

while Roger and Rick got to see four games in the Vivant Arena.

They saw Gonzaga play S. Dakota State . . . 

. . . Northwestern (first time ever in the NCAA tourney and they had lots of loud-cheering fans)

 vs. Vanderbilt (what a close exciting game!) . . . 

. . . St. Mary's play VCU . . . 

. . . and Arizona play North Dakota.

The excitement, the noise of the bands and the fans and the high level of competitive play 

made it such a fun day for Roger and Rick.

We also got to have lunch with Mindy, Jeff, Charlie and Fiona the next day before we drove home 

at a great new place called, Slap Fish. Yum!

And Mindy took us through the beautiful home in Alpine they are going to buy and remodel.

She has watched lots of HGTV, notably Fixer Upper, and has excellent designing sense 

and she is so excited to tackle a big project.

Because we would be driving home on St. Patrick's Day, 

I bought a corned beef to prepare for our dinner 

the Sunday before we went up north, 

and I put it in the crockpot. 

But as I was leaving church, an old USU friend who has moved into our branch, Steve Whitmer, 

with his wife, Viki, invited Roger and I over to their home for Sunday dinner. 

They had also invited another couple, Mike and Charmaine Anderson,  

and they served barbecued ribs, asparagus quiche, among other tasty dishes. 

We enjoyed delicious food and pleasant conversation on their patio 

overlooking the scenic waterway of the Sunbrook Golf Course.

Sooo, we still had a large, cooked corned beef and decided to invite Mike and Kathy Cranny over on Monday night for an early St. Patty's Day dinner and share it with us. 

They are also old USU friends who still live in Oakley, Idaho, and have a second home down the street 

and were in St. George for a few days.

In March, we also took a quick day trip to Vegas to return a defective new toaster we had bought at Primm 

and to use some great coupons soon to expire at Mon Ami Gabi.

Because it was almost free with the coupons, we ordered their shellfish platter for a delicious lunch.

Okay, back to our trip up north for the NCAA tourney, Sadie had some time off at BYU 

and she and Abby (Katie couldn't go) drove to our home in St. George on Thursday 

and Rog and I returned on Friday. 

Saturday morning we fixed a big breakfast of waffles, bacon and strawberries, 

then they headed out to hike in Snow Canyon, then go to the new Tonaquint Park .

 I made up a big batch of my tuna salad for lunch, then they went swimming at the Sunbrook pool. 

That night we drove them to Mesquite to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Lupes. 

We joke that the best Mexican restaurant in St. George is in Mesquite!

It was such fun hanging out with these cute granddaughters!

Sadie said that one of the best parts of their little road trip was getting to drive her dad's car! 

She drives a beater at BYU, unsafe for a long trip on the freeway.

Thus far, March has only brought Madness in a very happy way!

We made it to March!

Hey, it's been a long winter!

Even Sunny St. George has had more wintery weather days than usual.

Things are looking up - March Madness and St. Paddy's Day are around the corner . . .

. . . and beautiful things are happening everywhere!

Last night Roger and I received two musical recordings from our two grandkids in Hong Kong, 

where they are both sharing their musical talents 

 their pure goodness 

and their testimonies of Christ.

I want to share:

A Mandarin-speaking friend of our granddaughter, Sydney, attended a baptism 
where our grandson, Josh (Elder Stratford), played a piano solo, How Great Thou Art. 
She had met Josh and knew he was Syd's cousin so she recorded it, unbeknownst to Josh, 
and forwarded it to Syd. 
She then forwarded it in a text to us. 
It made us so happy to hear him play again!
It is in two parts.

Then, right below that is Sydney singing a solo at the Asia Women's Conference. 
She is accompanied by a pianist and a cellist from interior China and Singapore.
Roger and I felt tears of joy as we listened to each.

Yes, things are definitely looking up!

Four Great Visits Up North

Roger's sister, Chyrrl, and her husband, Glynn, have long looked forward to serving an LDS mission 

and were thrilled when they got a call to serve in historic Nauvoo, Illinois.

Glynn will be a teamster with the horses 

and Chyrrl will rotate as a guide in the restored homes and Visitors' Center.

They will perform at night in the stage presentations in full pioneer dress.

They are so excited, well, except for Glynn not being too thrilled about the singing and dancing part 

that he will have to do in the shows!

Before heading to the MTC, they spoke in Sacrament meeting in their ward on February 26.

Of course, Roger and I wanted to see them before they go and hear them speak, 

so we headed up north on Thursday morning to a winter wonderland.

Because we were up north, it was a good chance to spend a little time with Patty and Hal, 

so we stayed overnight with them in their beautiful home in Elkridge. 

Patty prepared the yummiest homemade soup and sandwich supper, and we visited the night away. 

Next day, she prepared a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and English muffins, 

we visited some more, then we ate at one of their favorite bakery/sandwich spots for lunch 

before we headed further north.

We surely do love those two and treasure the time when we can be together!

The only pic we took is this one of the pillow arrangement on our bed, 

which is what we routinely do whenever we stay with someone so that 

when we change the sheets and make the bed, 

we will do it right!

Luckily, the roads cooperated on our northward trek. The mountains looked beautiful!

When we arrived in Ogden, Roger dropped me off at Jessica's to get my hair done, 

then Roger and Grandma picked me up after and we took her for a salad and a slice at Pizzaria, 

which has the best pizza in town. 

We love staying with Roger's mom; she always makes us feel so welcome!

  We stayed up late catching up on the news of all of Roger's relatives. 

Grandma is amazing how at 92 she can keep track of all of those names 

(over 90 great-grandkids and a couple of great-greats) 

and what's going on with them!

On Saturday we had lunch at her favorite place, Chuck A Rama, ran some errands 

and spent a pleasant afternoon and evening reading and visiting.
Such a cute mother and son!

 Chyrrl and Glynn came over and we, with Mindy's help on the phone and her tech savvy, 

helped Chyrrl set up a website where she can blog about their mission. 

Oh, and I have to mention there was a lot of cheering and shouting when we watched BYU's basketball team 

beat Gonzaga, ranked #1 in the country!

The "farewell" in Sacrament meeting the next morning at 9 was bursting with friends, neighbors and family 

who heard lovely violin music (played by grandchildren and accompanied by their daughter, Sheila) 

and heartfelt talks by Chyrrl and Glynn.

The delicious meal after church fed throngs of well-wishers,

 including Chyrrl's work force and doctors at the hospital 

where she worked for over 50 years, 

their inner-city mission missionary friends they served with, 

and their many relatives and friends.

We loved visiting with family and seeing some old friends.

Roger and I then headed to Salt Lake to Rick's home where Jodie prepared an amazing meal for us 

and Mindy, Jeff and kids, who drove up from Highland.

 I have to say here that Jodie is such a good chef 

who makes the most delicious orange rolls and the most amazing homemade chocolate cake!

We got to chat and catch up with the Linds, and after they left, 

we had a Family Home Evening 

with Rick and Jodie's wonderful family and then stayed up talking with Rick and Jodie.

What an amazing and heart-warming Sunday it was!

Again, the only pic we have of this special day is of the pillows on our bed! (Sigh!)

One last super visit was with our dear friend, Karleen, who met us for lunch at Market Street Grill in SLC.

We had had a lunch date at Christmastime when we were up north, 

but it got cancelled 

because Karleen came down with the flu. 

So we had lots of catching up to do! 

We exchanged our Christmas gifts 

and she gave me a lovely necklace for my birthday.

We drove home through a blizzard and a near white out, but were grateful we made it home safely. 

As we reviewed our wonderful visits on the long drive home. we surmised 

that we are very lucky indeed to be blessed with such loving family and friends! 

AND in our next loved-ones home visits, we will take pics besides of the pillows!