Return to the Jazz...

Quent and I went to Salt Lake on Tuesday, January 30 as Quent had a meeting in Salt Lake on Wednesday, January 31, only to find out once we got to Salt Lake that the meeting had been canceled. Wednesday evening we went to the Jazz game, my first time back to Energy Solutions Arena since I left on June 8, 2007.

Joyce and Bill joined us for dinner in the VIP prior to the game, after dinner I went down to the press room to check out the room I designed and never saw completed. It was fun to return and see everyone but I was reminded of why I left.

After the game Quent and I went down to the family room and said hi to all the players and coaches, it was a great night.

A big thanks goes to Derek and Hannah for helping us out with our dead battery in the parking lot after the game. Who knew that if you left your lights on for about 4.5 hours your battery would go dead, apparently I bumped the lights in the car we had borrowed for the night and didn't realize we'd left the lights on.

It's Snowing!

As usual we are on the edge of the storm that is hitting St. George which means we usually only get the gray clouds, and not the precipataion that the rest of Southern Utah gets. Well this afternoon as I was driving home from the post office it was actually snowing. The blurry stuff in the pictures is the snow. This is the view off our front porch.

Run Bessie Run!

This morning as I was sitting at the computer reading the morning news (national that is, they don't post Big Water daily news on the internet) something just north of the house started to move. Most of you know that our computer sits in our den looking out over the north end of the hatchery and there are some small cottontails that I have adopted as my own, this means Quent can't kill them. I don't feed them, play with them or talk to them, they are just mine to watch. In anycase the movement was much larger than my cottontail friends. I looked just past the computer monitor and realized that we had three cows in our yard eatin go our rabbit brush.

The BLM allows grazing on property just north of the hatchery but the cows like to head south from time to time and hang out around the hatchery, I guess it's because we're so cool. Quent hates it when they come down as they like to get into the hatchery area and tear things up. I tried to get a picture of the cows eating but when I got outside I must have spooked them as they went running for the hills. I did get a couple pictures of the cows running that I'd share with everyone.

I think the cows are scared of me!

This it the black cow posing for me once he realized all I wanted was a picture.

All Quite on the Western Front

No more rock trucks at 6:30 a.m. or 9:30 p.m. the construction at the hatchery is now complete. I will admit it was kind of nice that during construction there was actually some noise in the area and people moving around. (of course the beeping sound of a big dump truck backing up got annoying). But in any case the construction is over and I'll post pictures soon.

Post Office Update

Rumor has it that the post office has hired two new people! We're excited to have our "old" post office employee back after having a baby in December. She wasn't originally going to come back but after all the trials and tribulations with her replacement they talked her into coming back three days a week. The other employee is new to the area but has "limited" post office experience so we'll see how things go.

Now that we're back up and running it might be time to start pushing the city to apply for our own zip code.

Blinded by the Light

Who knew there were so many versions of Bruce Springsteen's Blinded by the Light? Don't forget to vote for your favorite version. (Poll on the right)

Monument Valley

Here are the pictures of Monument Valley...I never thought it would be so cold in south eastern Utah, come to find out that in the winter it's colder than Salt Lake.

Mexican Hat

Monument Valley with Snow...
who would have thought it gets so cold down here.

This one's for you mom, the elevation sign says 5210 FT.

Moab, a cold cold town.

It will come as no surprise that Quent and I took another road trip...We are currently in Moab for another meeting with the Colorado River group. (The official name of the conference slips my mind at the moment and Quent is fast asleep next to me so I can't ask him.)

Who would have thought that a town that gets so blasted hot in the summer would be so cold in the winter. The high here today was about 32 degrees, there is snow on the ground and tomorrow they say will be about 27 degrees.

I guess after living in the Salt Lake City area for the first 33 years of my life I would have never suspected that this area of the state gets so cold.

We drove through Monument Valley last night about midnight and from what I could see in the dark it seems like an area made for the camera. I will make sure to take lots of pictures tomorrow on our way home in the daylight.

Changes at the Post Office!

It's no secret that I have had issue with our post office since I moved down here. I wish I could say that we have our own zip code and that we will be getting a full-service post office, that that simply isn't true and I don't see that happening in the near future. The exciting news is that the "new" post office worker who took over in mid October is no longer at the post office, yesterday was her last day.

I was a bit shocked when I went to the post office on Tuesday and the Mayor was behind the counter but around here you never know what's going to happen although I've never seen the Mayor work the post office before. Yesterday the weekend worker was working and she mentioned there would be some changes and today Quent confirmed that the lady that was causing the entire town problems is no longer at the post office.

I guess I have to say that I am hopeful that our new post office person will be a step up from the last one, I don't think it's possible to get worse.

Christmas 2007 In the Books...

So in my excitement to post the pictures from the football game I spaced out posting anything about Christmas. Quent and I were able to spend Christmas in Salt Lake with both families. On Christmas Eve we went to Christmas Mass and out to dinner with Quent's family before heading to Farmington to exchange gifts.

Christmas morning we were at my sister Nicole's house, it was fun to open presents her daughter Alyssa and her husband Steve. Then it was off to my mom's house for our traditional Christmas brunch and the opening of gifts.

We returned home to Big Water the day after Christmas but not before hitting a couple stores to purchase some clearance Christmas decorations. And today we finally took down the Christmas decorations in our house.

Now we're back to plain white walls, for now anyhow.

Happy New Year!!!

We hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday season. I am excited to be at home for a few days without having to drive more than and hour (or two) to get some where. We hope you enjoyed 2007 and hope that 2008 will be everything you hope it will be.

Cindy & Quent

Family in Town!

We had my family down this past weekend to celebrate the new year. To be honest they were here as my house is a good place to stop when headed to Phoenix and because we were all going to the football game on 12/30 everyone decided that they should celebrate the new year with us. Joe and Joy arrived on Thursday just in time to get a bunch of squares cut for Morgan's new quilt.

On Friday Cindy and Joy quilted the squares and Cindy finished the quilt on Saturday (see picture below). On Friday afternoon my mom and dad, Rick and Ashley and Slim arrived. We had fun playing games and hanging out Friday night.

On Saturday we went into town for breakfast and Slim, Rick & Ashley went to the Dam to take the tour. A pretty relaxing day for everyone.

Sunday was the trip to Phoenix (see post below) and we returned home on Monday about 2:30 p.m. All of us were pretty tired Monday night but we did stay up long enough to say happy new year and then it was off to bed.

Everyone left on Tuesday morning as they had to get back for work on Wednesday. And now the house is quiet.

Joy working on her grandmother's sewing machine.

Cindy and Joy working on the quilt.

The rag quilt before it hit the washer...I don't have a post washing picture, but it turned out REALLY CUTE.

Dinner Saturday night complete with a casserole and salad.

Fun and games with the family...and a horrible picture of me!