SOUTHERN UTAH ADVENTURES

We took a Saturday ride to Berle to see our friends Bonnie and Ray Stokes and their house they are building in the "valley". It is past Enterprise and near Berle just past Berle junction. Then we went over to Pine Valley and visited some more friends, the Spilkers. This is the Pine Valley Chapel.

Pine Valley was so lovely with a cool stream running through the trees. It was so beautiful, peaceful and cool.

You can see Pine Valley off in the distance.

I picked some sage. I want to plant some sage bushes in our yard.

Enterprise is a farming town. We saw many tractors and farm machinery at work. There are approximately 3,000 people living in Enterprise.

This was the coolest cedar tree.

We passed by a dairy farm at feeding time.


A tower in the town of Berle. There are only a few houses in Berle. Most of the houses are spread out around the area.


Here is a cool old building in Berle. There are about 1,000 people living out and around the Berle area.

Another view. Just imagine this was someone's home at one time many years ago, way out in the middle of nowhere. What is the history of this little house? What stories would it tell?

An abandoned train station in Berle.

A small shed behind.

Well, that was our trip to Berle and Pine Valley. I love Pine Valley and would love to have a cabin up there so we could get out of the hot summers here in St. George. It was 113 today in some parts of St. George. It's so hot that the house doesn't cool down when it gets to those temperatures. It's really nice in the wintertime, though. You just have to get through these hot summer months. We had a lovely spring this year.

A NEW LOOK FOR THE HANCEY HOUSE

Here is our house with it's new coat of paint. It's not quite finished and only the front is painted to this point. As you can see, there's still paper up to the windows.


Ever since we built the house I wanted to add these additional boards. It's only taken 18 years now to get them on the house. The color change was a whim from a website I was looking at where I saw a building in Solvang painted something like this. The one I liked had the red basic color with blue boards and small white boards next to the blue ones. We were discouraged from the blue color so we went with the boards white and the house red. I think it turned out pretty cool. Notice the picture with the small blue boards next to the white ones. It certainly is not like any other house on the block...or in Ivins anymore. I really like it. What do you think?

IN MEMORY OF A DEAR FRIEND

Yesterday was the funeral of my dear friend Sherry Lyn Petersen. She was an amazing person and she will be missed very much. Till we meet again.

CHINESE NEW YEAR DINNER 2009

Chinese New Year 2009 is the Year of the Ox. We had our annual Chinese New Year Dinner on March 14th with 35 guests attending. Here I am in my Chinese dress.


THE CHEF - DENNIS! He works hard preparing all the food for the evening. He starts several weeks in advance shopping for his special ingredients at the Chinese markets. We usually make a trip to Las Vegas around the middle of January. Most things you can get here but some things you have to get at the Chinese market. He is a fabulous cook and everything he made turned out so yummy and delicious!



The menu was as follows:

Appetizers:
Spring Rolls
Paper Wrapped Chicken
Shrimp Skewers
Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce

Main Course:
Corn Egg Flower Soup
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Teriyaki Vegetables
Ham Fried Rice
Lion's Head

Dessert:
Mandarin Orange Sherbet topped with Mandarin Oranges
Lychee Nuts






We played games and socialized after dinner. We always play a Chinese game called pop, pop, pop. It is named that for the firecrackers they light off at New Year's.





Here we are after the dinner cleaning up. My sisters-in-law Helen (left) and Nadine (right) worked hard after the dinner helping clean up the dishes, kitchen and dining room. What would I have ever done without them? Thank you very much!

It was a fun evening and good to just sit back and relax after it was all over. Until next year.

Dennis had a long day! Another triumph, my dear!

GETTING READY FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR DINNER

ITS THE YEAR OF THE OX!

Dennis is chopping, chopping, chopping, stirring and cooking up a storm. The rice is cooked ready to be made into fried rice tomorrow. Lyons Heads meat is marinating, spring rolls are wrapped and mighty tasty. Ron and Helen came tonight along with Kevin and Nadine and helped wrap the spring rolls and paper wrapped chicken. Helen, Nadine and I set the tables. It all looks great! No I am tired. It's 11:20 pm and I'm going to bed. I'm excited for the dinner tomorrow night. We have 50 people coming...if they all show up. Dennis is a fabulous cook and the dinner will be great! I'm excited.

There is also a picture of the Chinese plates that are set on the tables.

LITTLE BABY LUKE

My daughter Sarah had her baby last Thursday. He weighed 7 lbs. 5 ozs. They are naming him Luke James Spilker. He is so adorable and cuddly and smells so good. It was wonderful being there and seeing the new baby and all the other grandchildren that live up north.

BEAUTIFUL SOUTHERN UTAH

This is a picture taken a few years ago when we went hiking around Southern Utah. This is my granddaughter Sammie. We went to see the dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time.