MERRY CHRISTMAS 2014

Merry Christmas, 2014

Before delving into our doings in 2014, we want to express our sincere hope to each of you that 2014 has been a wonderful and memorable year, and that you will have a very Merry Christmas. Further, that 2015 will be even more satisfying and rewarding for us all.

2014 was the year that Ruth Ann and Felt finally did something about the cold winter and inversions that occur in northern Utah. We constructed a second home in warm, Mesquite, Nevada. Located 30-40 miles south of St. George, Utah, and about 100 miles north of Las Vegas, we are in a “55 and older” community called Sun City Mesquite, a Del Webb development. The house is a two-bedroom, single story structure; stucco exterior walls, Mexican tile roof, with plenty of glass to let the sunshine enter. The yard is beautifully landscaped and features a spring emerging from a rock outcropping, at least that is what we tried to create. We both find entirely too much enjoyment sitting in the warmth, and watching the water spill over the rocks into a small pool. No, we are not moving, but we can foresee the day, in the not too distant future, that we will spend the summer in Northern Utah, and the winter in Nevada. But until that occurs, we are making an effort to spend a week each month in Mesquite. We do still serve in the Logan Temple, so when the temple closes for General Conference and again for cleaning, we will extend our stays in Nevada.

Now if the second home did not cause sufficient consternation amongst our children, when Felt found and purchased a bright red, fourteen year old BMW Z3 sports car like he has been searching for, well, the children’s anxieties seems to have “boiled-over.”

With that out of the way, now let’s get to the important things in life. We now have six wonderful great-grand-children, with two more on the way. That will be our big news in 2015. Tyler Calder’s wife Liesel is due in February with their first child, and Rachel and Jeff Naylor’s third, is due in April. We figure, if 6 are great, 25% more should be absolutely wonderful. We have discovered that our position is more like cheering from the grandstands, than occupying a position of responsibility. But that is just the way it should be.

We see Julie and the G-Grand-children at least 2 times a month. Unfortunately, we see Scott and his children less frequently, Mary Lou, only about once a year, and Ali even less. Next year we hope to see Mary Lou and Scott more often, and visit Ali and her boys in Alaska.

Mention was made that we serve in the Logan Temple, however Ruth Ann is a Counselor in the Ward Relief Society, and Felt is the Ward Clerk. In addition, he teaches priesthood once a month, so we have maintained our intensity and commitment. We have found great joy in serving our Heavenly Father, and the people that we have association with at church and in the community.

With so many that we know facing trials and challenges, we feel very blessed to enjoy health and happiness. Each morning as we awake, we find reason to rejoice that we have still another day to be together and find joy. We extend a genuine hope that you too will enjoy that same blessing as well.

We are grateful to call you friend or family. And we are especially grateful that as we mature/age our Savior and His atoning sacrifice for each of us becomes more real in our lives. Our hope is that as you celebrate this wonderful time of year that you too will realize that He (Jesus Christ) truly is the greatest gift of all.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year

Felt and Ruth Ann Stirling

As a gift for you we are including a link to some Christmas cheer
This one is beautiful music and video.

‪www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNlCGlDuCEI Cached‬

ALMOST CHRISTMAS

Christmastime Blog

I don’t seem to be able to keep up to date with the BLOG. So I will try again.

We are doing well. I will attach our Christmas greeting or maybe put it in a separate BLOG post.

We have been well and have enjoyed a couple of more trips down to Mesquite for a week (4-5 days) at a time. The more often we go the more we enjoy it. We have enjoyed several trips on our RZR with our neighbors and had some good adventures. They vary from 4 hours to almost 8 hours and we definitely enjoy the shorter ones more.

Felt has spent the last couple of weeks making Peanut brittle out of the River Road recipe book his mother gave us. We are trying not to eat as much as we package to give away. He has become very adept at the process and it comes out perfect each time – after one botched batch at the beginning. It is almost as if we need to ruin one batch before we can make it the right way.

We have had a very mild fall and early winter. We have had a couple of very light snowfalls. Nothing that stays on the pavement. We are not complaining.

We have been able to go to a couple of Christmas concerts or programs and they definitely increase the Christmas spirit in our home.

We did decorate our Utah house for Christmas – we put up a small tree and wreaths on the doors. We also put up a nativity and some poinsettia plants. Much less than in the past and I think the house looks great. Down south we took a cut glass bowl and filled it with brightly colored ball ornaments and hung a wreath on the door. Both worked just fine.

We are spending Christmas in Utah. We don’t want to miss seeing the great grands at Christmas.