January 13-30, 2016 – Trip to St. George, UT

I catch a bad cold at the beginning of January and everything grinds to a halt.  I am hoping to be well enough to take a trip to Utah the last two weeks of January. We have a wedding in Florida in February to go to and March and the beginning of April are consumed by our trip to Italy. So if not now, when?

Luckily the cold subsides and we are on the road. It is so nice to see the hills a bright green. Last year at this time everything was still brown due to the lack of rain.

East of Bakersfield heading towards Tehachapi the hills are green
East of Bakersfield heading towards Tehachapi the hills are green

There’s a different color on the mountains as we approach St. George.

Snow on Pine Mountain as we approach St. George on I-15
Snow on Pine Mountain as we approach St. George on I-15

A little cooler weather doesn’t stop us, though. We use the warmer afternoons to take walks or play tennis.

John serving on the sunny courts in St. George
John serving on the sunny courts in St. George

There’s plenty of other tennis activities as well since the Australian Open is occurring and we need to cheer on our “old” favorite, Roger Federer.

Watching Roger play at the Australian Open
Watching Roger play at the Australian Open

Another exciting development is that Entrada has opened a new grill room with a bar! We go over a couple of times to enjoy camaraderie with other Entrada folks, have some drinks and bar snacks, and, look who’s on the bar TV!

The not-too-populated bar at Entrada. Federer on TV.
The not-too-populated bar at Entrada. Federer on TV.

The two weeks zip by and it is time to go home. Hopefully we will be able to come back in April.

January 11, 2016 – Happy 7th Birthday, Sam!

Today is Sam’s birthday. He is in first grade now and is turning 7! John, Sarah, and I go over to Jon and Ryan’s house with some treats and some presents. We give him a couple of games and some Legos. We all play one of the games.  His birthday party with his friends will be celebrated next weekend.

Sam is 7!
Sam is 7!
Sam looks at a birthday card with Auntie Leigh
Sam looks at a birthday card with Auntie Leigh