Cedar City Rock and Mineral Show

The kids have loved attended Rock and Mineral shows in Atlanta and DC.  So it was one of the first events that we looked up when moving to Cedar City. It finally arrived and was a little disappointing in comparison.  We really liked the educational displays that they had in

Every Kid in a Park - Free National Park Annual Pass

The National Park Service has a program -- Every Kid in a Park -- giving every 4th grader and their family a free annual pass to all of the National Parks. Savannah and I went to the National Park office and claimed her pass. We're excited to tour

Star Gazing Party, Cedar Breaks National Monument

Every Saturday during the summer, Cedar Breaks National Monument hosts as Star Gazing Party.  The night sky is so incredible by our house that we were eager to see how much better it would be far away from city lights and at 10000' elevation. We arrived to find that

Carson Dirt Biking

Carson has enjoyed a little electric dirt bike that we bought.  He goes exploring the trails near our house regularly. We just received a larger 48v 1800W motor for it, that we will connect to a better motor controller and 52V lithium ion batteries (from our lawn mower), that should

Beaver UT Creamery

As we were moving to Cedar City, we saw the Creamery in Beaver UT.  It sounded really good and we had heard good things about it, so we finally went. As we pulled in, the parking lot was full of cars.  The shop was just as crowded.  I had expected

Pokemon Trade and Play at GameStop Cedar City, UT

Tucker saw that there was a Pokemon Trade and Play event at GameStop.  So we decided to go.  As we walked in, Tucker announced to the employee that we were there for the event.  Looking around, we saw no one. Surprised, the employee said, "Wow!  Someone came in!"

First Day of School (and College)

We officially launched our school year, continuing to home school Tucker and Savannah.  Carson has enrolled in a New Testament seminary class and enrolled in graphic design and programming classes at the community college.  He'll continue to do some home schooling and ACT preparation, but not quite as

Scooter Repairs

With Carson starting college, he needed transportation.  After some research and discussion, we ordered a Xiaomi M365 Scooter.  Washington, D.C. had lots of similar scooters for rent to get around town, so we thought we'd give it a try. We eagerly awaited its arrival to find it

Thunderbird Gardens Trailhead, Cedar City, UT

About a mile east of Cedar City is Thunderbird Gardens Trailhead.  It is the starting point of lots of hiking, biking, ATV trails that explore the red rock canyons.  They also have a disc golf course that looks fun. We went for a brief hike, exploring the area.

Cliff Dwellers, Marble Canyon, Arizona

On the way to Phoenix from Cedar City, I drove through a small area called Cliff Dwellers.  It had several unique little houses built around the boulders scattered throughout the area. The area was beautiful and the houses were intriguing.  After some research, it turns out the area was settled

2019 Cedar City Council Primaries Meet and Greet Event

To get to know the candidates running for Cedar City Council, we attended the Meet-and-Greet event this week at the Great Hall at Southern Utah University.  As we entered the room, we immediately noticed the banners representing the core principles of SUU and paintings of past university presidents.  It was

Pioneer Day Parade, Enoch, UT

Enoch is a small town just north of our house.  It is actually closer to our house than downtown Cedar City.  It was fun to see our friends in the parade. Afterwards, there was a town party with live music, games, a dunking booth, and good food. They cemented in

Pioneer Day Parade, Cedar City

Savannah and Tucker were part of the Cedar City Pioneer Day Parade.  It was fun to see them dressed up and celebrate our history. This was our Ward's float, pulled by a neat old tractor. Comments Anonymous (Aug 02, 2019): Are you living in Utah???? We haven'

Berry Family Reunion at Silver Lake, CA

Silver Lake is a beautiful lake south of Lake Tahoe near Kirkwood ski resort.  The lake was beautiful and the weather was perfect. It was so nice to spent time with family and even meet relatives new to us. Angela brought a box of family photos that led to fun

Taylorsville, California

Grandma and Grandpa Knight invited us to visit Taylorsville, California with them.  We took the scenic backroad -- a narrow, windy, dirt road that meanders through the hills, past creeks and dormant volcanos on the way. It was a beautiful area and delicious food at the little market in Taylorsville.

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa Knight

On our way to Angela's family reunion, we stopped in Sparks and spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Knight.  Of course, no visit is complete without a visit to See's Candies. Cabela's was also hosting some family-friendly events.  So we made some crafts

Happy Birthday Tucker

Tucker's Birthday this year was celebrated with cupcakes, candy, electronics, and books. An entire tub of marshmallow cream. Tucker received an electronics / soldering kit from Aunt Andrea and Uncle Brent.  It was an electronic dice machine. The finished electronic dice.

Utah Midsummer Renaissance Faire

Cedar City hosts the Utah Midsummer Renaissance Faire each summer.  They had Renaissance themed food, booths, and performances.  Some people went all out in dressing up for it.  I'm not really sure what Belly Dancing has to do with the Renaissance, but apparently it does since some dancers

Dirt Bikes in the Yard

Ok, it's not really our yard, but our house backs up to hills and jeep trails, so the kids and I have been exploring the area on our dirt bikes and bicycles. We have a small, relatively cheap, electric dirt bike that does surprisingly well on the trails.

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Carson's Custom T-Shirt

Carson designed a custom T-shirt last week. He designed all of the graphics by himself -- including an original font. Midnight Design is Carson's online moniker.

Patriot Camp

I heard about a day camp called Patriot Camp, and it sounded fun, so I signed up. Tucker and Savannah would be campers, Carson would be a youth leader, and I would be a Team Mom. Every day there was at least one historical character dressed in costume, and the

2019 Cedar City Fourth of July Parade

Cedar City has the most patriotic 4th of July Parade of anywhere we have lived (including DC!).  They had floats dedicated to the founding of our nation, highlighting the key events. To make it even better, all of our children participated. Carson held a banner for 'Lexington and Concord&

Hiking in our Backyard

We have loved exploring the hills behind our house. This garter snake was about 4' long -- I've never seen one so long:

Touring Cedar City

We toured Cedar City with Grandma and Grandpa Aksland. An old LDS church near the center of town. Savannah on the SUU campus. The family performing at the reproduction Globe Theater on the SUU campus. Italian sodas at Bulloch Drug. Playing at Cedar Canyon Park. Coal Creek, which runs through

Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Each year on the summer solstice, the sun aligns perfectly in the gap at Parowan Gap.  People gather from all over to view and celebrate this unique area, even holding a free bbq and discussions about the history of the area and the petroglyphs found there. We skipped all of