St. George, our last day, Sunday

It's hard to look at the whole weekend and pick a favorite part, but if hard pressed this would definitely be it for me. . . Sunday at church. It was quite the nostalgic experience for me, and on looking back, I think it was because it reminded me of growing up with the church in small wards and branches compared to the church that I experience now in Utah. Both are strong and vital to the church's growth, but there is something unique in the Sunday church meeting experience when you're meeting in the old buildings with small congregations, and yet hear the same message and the same doctrine that you would in modern buildings with overflowing congregations. I loved Sunday morning on our vacation. The weather at the cabin, because of the elevation, was always several degrees cooler than St. George, but on this particular morning we all could feel the warming spring in the air. We woke and got ready for church and then started packing up so that after Sacrament Meeting we would be able to pull out and hit the road. Naki had a fireside that he was singing in that evening back at home so we wanted to give ourselves enough time to get back. Naki got a couple pics of the outside of the cabin.

Church was a unique experience because the size of the "chapel" was about my kitchen and living room together.

It was hardwood floors and every sound seemed to be amplified. When we walked in you can imagine the stir we made. There was not a single other child in the room. Apparently the community doesn't sport many young babes. This is a picture of the town map. (The town map is the one on the left.)

Actually, when we walked up to the chapel we were given the option to let the kids run around in the overflow below or sit in the chapel above. I really wanted to have the chapel experience, but it really was no place for little babies. Any squeak they made seemed such an interruption to the meeting. So, after the sacrament, here's where the babies ended up.


Eva passed out too. All the big kids found her bundled up in this blanket taking a little nap.


Naki and Kolei while watching the little ones outside found this plaque and I just had to take a picture of it. I'm not sure if you can read it, or if you can make the picture bigger, but it tells some really neat things. One of which is that the wood from the yellow pine trees from Pine Valley were cut down and hauled all the way to Salt Lake for the organ pipes in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. We were just so amazed at all the history.

Before we took off we took some more pictures just for memory's sake. Notice the grass on the side of the sidewalk? That was the parking lot. We were parked in the grass!



The whole Sunday morning experience was the icing on the cake of a perfect getaway with our St. George Cousins. Thanks again you guys for making it so memorable. We love you!