Cove Fort Days

I know. It has been a while since I have posted on this site. My only excuse is that we have been very busy preparing for Cove Fort Days. I was asked to write the schedule and execute it for Cove Fort Days. It turned into a much bigger project than I ever imagined.

What is Cove Fort Days you ask?

Once a year we invite all sorts of artisans and musicians to join us to put on a big celebration. We had stagecoach and wagon rides, hot dogs and ice cream, entertainment, a pioneer village as well as artisans such as blacksmith, soap maker, pottery aritists, bread makers, and a number of other artists. These folks were joined by more that a hundred volunteers from the local communities to help us celebrate. There were more than 5,000 guests that showed up during the two day celebration.

During the Cove Fort Days celebration, we had an opening ceremony that included a wonderful flag ceremony by the Utah National Guard, including canon blasts. There was also a play which featured Sister Heninger as Adelaide Hinckley. It was so good that you will find a photo of her in last week's
Church News.

Left to right, Ira (Elder Barton), Adelaide (RoLayne) Elder Crosby, and Brigham (Elder Petersen)

Outside of working at the fort, this has pretty much taken up my full interest and time for the past month. Fortunately, it was a huge success. We had more than double the number of guests they had last year.

Now on to the news of the past few weeks.

Our daughter Kim and her family are in the process of moving from Orem to Cedar City where Ben will be  teaching at the university. They  have sold their home in Orem and have an offer on a home in Cedar City. Lisa, Eric and Jensen moved from St George to Missouri where he is attending dental school.

We had a wonderful family reunion where all families were represented except Lisa, Brian, and Paul. It was nice to see everyone. We did also miss Jacob who stayed home to paint houses.

We have had a number of great visitors during the past month. I will include photos of some of them. They include my sister Linda and her husband Dave. During their short visit, Linda's daughter and family stopped by so we had a mini reunion. Dave and Mary, RoLayne's brother visited us and we had the opportunity to meet them in Manti. My brother Steve and his wife brought Jane down for a short visit. It was wonderful to see them.

My sister and her daughter and family

Steve, Karen, and grandma Jane during their visit

The family visited Cove Fort during the reunion

Work here at the fort continues to be busy but I suspect it will start to slow now that kids will be going to back to school.

Thursday, we went to St George and had the opportunity to visit with some friends that used to live in our ward in Vancouver. It was fun to see the Mowrers.

We continue to make memories and have spiritual experiences. We love the work but miss all of you. This great experience will be over way too soon.