The Lord is Mindful of His Children

May 29th was the first anniversary of the death of Dean's oldest brother, Allan. It was, of course, a poignant week for his family in St. George, especially his wife Bertie.

Coincidentally--or perhaps not--Dean's assignment with Natural Resources took him to St. George, Utah, last week for his first field trip. His supervisor planned to go as well, but couldn't work it into his schedule. Our son-in-law Brett went along instead and rode shotgun. With their work done by evening, Dean and Brett gathered up all of Allan's family who live in St. George (daughter Liane and her family in addition to Bertie) and they all went to Allan's favorite buffet-style restaurant for dinner. Word is they talked and talked until the younger children said, "Enough already!"

The headstone for Allan's grave had just been placed the week before. Another highlight of the trip was going over to the cemetery with Bertie to see it and to take pictures to share with you.
What was Dean doing in St. George when he is supposed to be on a "mission" in Salt Lake City? Girls' Camp! The church camp area in the mountains, at 9500 feet, between Cedar City and St. George and overlooking Zion National Park does not have a potable water supply and the church has suggested they get one. Dean and Brett made a trip to the camp, complete with roadside snowdrifts left from last winter, and then met with the people who could make it happen in St. George. In fact they already have a good portion of the project done and now are finally asking church approval and input.  Dean's kind of people, they know how to get things done without getting bogged down in the bureaucracy. It was a great trip, except that Dean wishes he'd had his 4-wheeler with him!