Allred's: Never slow to the food table.

 Thursday, June 2

We decided to have a family dinner/goodbye party with all our kids still living in Arizona.  It was great fun to have many of our grandchildren together as well as their parents.

Averee, Liesl & Brynlee

Some of our Grandchildren

On top of that, Brynlee's birthday was just around the corner and so celebrated that as well.  After dinner, we had some time to sit in a circle and share our feelings.  It was a wonderful time spent together, reminiscing about things we have all enjoyed as a family.  At about 8:00 PM, we had a couple of the YW in the ward come over and watch the little ones while the rest of us met with Pres. Toone for the setting apart.  It was a sweet occasion as promised blessings were given.  We said our goodbyes while it rained (tears, that is), and headed home one last time.  

Sister and Elder Allred with Pres. Toone

Friday, June 3

Departure Day

Will it all fit?

Here's the view of the house in the early morning as I am trying to figure out if the luggage will fit in the car.  It was rather snug, but it all fit.

One of the things we did before we left was to visit as many of our family as we could in their homes.  It was really nice to have that one-on-one time with them.  We decided to rearrange our straight-shot up to Provo by taking the scenic route and visit some of our other loved ones.  Our first stop was with my brother Gary and his wife Margie who live in Pine.  

Margie and Gary

Wow, what cool things they have done to their property.  It's like an oasis.  We picked up the trail and headed to Snowflake to see my Aunt Edyth Jackson.  She is dear to me as she was the closest to my father when they were little.  

Nancy and Aunt Edyth

She lives next door to her daughter, Nancy Titus, and we had a great time together.  Thanks for the doughnuts.  Back on the road again, we headed North, all the way to Cortez, CO to see another brother, Darren and his family.  After his dogs got a whiff of us and thought we looked like hors d'oeuvres, we all went out to eat and

Darren (center), Kate and family

had good time visiting about the beautiful mountains and lakes in the area.  We said our goodbyes and struck out for Monticello, UT,  where we stayed the night.  We must have gotten the last available room in town.  It was packed there.

The famous Monticello Inn

Saturday, June 4

The Last Leg

The wind blew all night.  I woke up at 3:35 AM and couldn't sleep after driving all day.  Why?  Probably the wind.  I managed to get a couple more hours of sleep, but felt kinda groggy and mopey-eyed.  We packed up and headed over to see the Monticello temple.  Then I saw it.  The reason for my ill-tempered sleep.  Apparently, it has been so hot in Monticello lately, that they brought in these giant fans to cool the place down.  Unbelievable!

Monticello Air-Conditioning

Monticello Temple

We stopped by the temple and walked around it.  The entire south side is planted with lilac bushes.  The scent was heavenly.  They also had planted pansies everywhere.  Here are a few shots of the loveliness.

My beautiful Pansies

No trip through central Utah is complete without driving through the red rock country.  It's an exotic place with beautiful rock formations.  Just like this formation called "Wilson Arch".

Wilson Arch

At Bear Country with Zachary and Marissa

We made it to Springville and visited with Michael and his family of rambunctious kids.  We ended up in West Valley with Zachary and Marissa and they hosted us in their "newish" home.

Sunday, June 4

We went to church with Zachary and Marissa and then made a quick trip to Temple Square and heard an organ recital and got a personalized tour of the Arnold Friberg exhibit with the original paintings printed in the Book of Mormon.  We had dinner at Michael's in Springville, where he and his lovely bride Brittany, cooked us a most delicious dinner.  Then we had some fun taking some pictures with the kiddos.

Maverick, Hazel and Elijah

They love their little sister