The Weather in Early Spring is Crazy

After living in the desert climate of Las Vegas valley for the past 24 years my husband and I are rather amazed by the differences in the weather of Southern Utah at 5800 ft. in the spring time. One day we get 9 inches of wet snow and everything is a Currier and Ivies print. It’s really beautiful, but horrible to drive in. Twenty-four hours later the snow is almost all gone!

We wanted to plant a dogwood tree in our yard, but the lady at the local nursery explained that the tree gets too confused by the weather and doesn’t do well here. The weather warms ups, the tree buds out, and then it freezes and/or snows and kills the new growth. I finally understand. So instead we planted a dogwood bush, a variation which does much better but still has the white blossoms.  [This is our Juniper tree that has the bird feeders--the local McDonald's of the Thistle Seed.]

When we want a change of pace, or want to thaw out we drive down to St. George, 45 miles south and 2500 ft. lower to warmer temperatures, and visit Costco and Barnes and Noble. About 15 miles south of our house the altitude starts dropping and the snows start disappearing. It’s really quite amazing what a difference a few miles make.

A few weeks ago we had two birthdays in the family. Jordan , Dustin and Erin’s youngest daughter turned one, and Carlee, our youngest turned one year older.

Carlee and Tom celebrated with a weekend in San Diego minus children. Sleeping late and visiting the aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, headed the list of activities for the weekend. In the meantime Katie Jane had an “unbirthday” day at Winner School. Tom’s been enjoying the above average snow pack in the mountains for his Friday ski day. (Those four day work weeks for Utah state employees are something to be envied.) Jack at age 7 is pretty accomplished on skis too. Check out this video that Tom posted:

Jordan and invited guests had a special cup cake party with the birthday gal really getting into it with frosting everywhere. She’s taking her first steps so what she’s not getting into now, she soon will be. She’s a really cutie, but then I’m biased.

This past month Dustin with the help of Grandpa Bobbie, made Paige’s Park became a reality. Paige loves to play outside. Now if we can only teach her to leave the woodchip outside in the yard.

Winter in Cedar City

[Family and Friends Friday]


Winter in Cedar City could probably be summed up in one word: cold. But that sounds pretty harsh. It is cold, but it’s also sunny and unbelievably beautiful with snow on the surrounding mountains. The sunrises and sunsets are pretty awesome.

It’s true we do enjoy our shopping trips south to Costco in St. George, UT. What a difference 45 minutes south and 2500 ft. lower in elevation can make in the temperatures.

We’ve found that if you have the right clothing the cold doesn’t bother a person as much, and staying in the sunshine helps. Cedar City hasn’t really gotten that much snow this season and what it has gotten usually has melted before too long. In the surrounding mountain that is another story, the skiing at nearby Brian Head Mt. has been pretty good this year with 62 inches of snow.


Our largest snowfall, about 8-10 inches, arrived over Thanksgiving weekend. Of course Bob and I were spending the holiday with our grandchildren in Las Vegas where it was a bit warmer. On Sunday we were fine driving home north on Interstate 15 until we were about 15 miles south of our turnoff. We were on Black Ridge where the elevation increased and the rain changed to snow and we hit fog. Needless to say, the last leg of the trip was a white knuckle ride. The traffic slowed to stop and go in both lanes, and we saw 3 cars and a semi in the ditch. There was ice on the highway under the snow and it was slippery, as the people in the ditch could tell you. Once we got off at our exit, we were able to breath easier and travel better. When we got home we learned that the Interstate conditions were like that all the way north to Salt Lake City, normally a 3 ½ to 4 hour drive. Who knows how long it took those people driving in blizzard conditions. And guess what? Monday was a beautiful, sunny day! It was just a great day to shovel out your driveway,

That following week it was sunny almost all week and by the weekend the snow was almost all gone! We had a brown Christmas Eve, but it did snow over the holidays, just a few inches. However it’s been so cold that the snow has been slow to melt and it’s been rather pretty. I’ve decided I’d rather have a snow covering than all that brown ground.


We spent about 4 days at Christmas with Carlee’s family in Salt Lake City. How the red headed rascals have grown. Jack is 7 and Katie Jane is now 4. We spent a day in Cedar City to recharge and then spent 5 days in Henderson with Dustin’s family, helping them move over New Year’s. Their blondes are growing like weeds too. Paige will be 3 in February, and Jordan will be 1 in March.





Back in Cedar City to start 2011, we’re back doing volunteer work. I’m the Toy Lady at the Catholic Thrift Shoppe, and Bob is the Dishwasher one day a week at the Senior Center. Bob has joined a rock hound group that goes out on field trips once a month searching out interesting rocks in the area. While I’m searching out other weavers in the area so I have someone to talk fibers with. So far I’ve found about 5 other weavers. Now we’re going to work on getting together.