January Birthdays

Happy January Birthday to:

Debra Wood - 6th
Angela Knight - 7th
Laila Talivakaola - 7th
Michelle Eades - 8th
Heather Pinegar - 11th
Lori Hewett - 13th
Kellie Richins - 17th
Amy Allen - 20th
Khari Avalos - 21st
Ashlie Adam - 27th
Brook Triplett - 27th
Jessica McCann - 27th
Dusty Butler - 30th
Julia Gammon - 30th

January Lesson Schedule

January Lesson Schedule:

January 5th: Presidency Message - Diane Barlow
January 12th: #1 Our Father in Heaven - Kristen Thorne
January 19th: #2 Our Savior, Jesus Christ - Carol Poulsen
January 26th: Conference Talk - Deon Wilson

Spotlight: Brooke Stilson

Spotlight: Brooke Stilson

Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Salt Lake City but moved to Park City when I was 7 years old and spent the rest of my childhood there.  So that is where I consider home.

What brought you to Saint George?
I moved to Saint George after graduating high school to attend Dixie College, where I met and married a Saint George boy, who will probably keep me here forever {which I wouldn’t mind}.

Where did you go to college? What degree did you earn? What have you done since then?
I attended Dixie College where I received my Associate’s Degree in Science 1 week after having our first baby girl.  I was just happy to have my degree!  :)  I have loved staying home since then and being a stay at home mom.  I teach piano lessons from home a few days a week which has been wonderful!

How did you meet your husband? How long have you been together?
Casey and I met after I moved to Saint George for college.  He was hanging out with my best friend before she brought me along one night and he decided to “switch.”  It took awhile for me to fall for him but he finally worked his charm and I did a year and a half later - The rest is history!  We’ve been married for a fabulous 4 years!

What are the names and ages of your children?
We have a 2.5 year old daughter named Mckinlee and another baby girl on the way; due April 1st.

What are your hobbies and favorite things to do?
I love boating, camping, being with family, crafting, playing and teaching piano.  I love projects and have been learning how to sew which has been a lot of fun.  I love meeting new people and hanging out with friends.

What is something unique about you?
I received an Achievement in Music when I was 10 years old for piano.

Spotlight: Natalie Stephens

Natalie Stephens

Where were you born and raised? I was born and raised in Riverton, Utah.

What brought you to St. George? My husband was offered a football scholarship at Dixie State College.

Where did you go to college? What degree did you earn? What have you done since then? I attended Snow College for 2 years and Dixie State College for 3 years.  I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.

How did you meet your husband? How long have you been together? My husband and I met in our student ward at Snow College. We have been married for 8 ½ years.

What are the names and ages of your children?  We have 2 boys.  Drew is 2 ½ years old and Davis is 7 months old.

What are your hobbies and favorite things to do? I love spending time with my family and friends.

What is something unique about you? I have been teaching 1st grade for 6 years and I love it.  But someday soon, I hope to be able to stay home with my boys.

Christmas Breakfast!

Just a reminder of the Little Valley Ward Christmas breakfast, TOMORROW, Saturday December 14th at 8:30 am. Please join us for a breakfast and program by the primary children. It will be a fun morning for all. Please invite all your neighbors to this fun activity! We hope to see you there.

Merry Christmas!!

Spotlight: Amy Allen

Amy Allen:

 Where were you born and raised? – Everywhere or nowhere depending on how you look at it.  My dad was in the Air Force so we moved around a lot.  Growing up, I lived in Wyoming, Alabama, California, Germany, Nebraska, Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada.  During my last 3 years of high school, I attended 4 different high schools in 4 different states. 

What brought you to St George? My husband hates the cold!!!                                                                            

Where did you go to college and what degree did you get?  What have you done since then? I graduated from BYU Provo with a BS degree in Family Science with an emphasis in Human Development.  I’ve spent the last 12 years working for Hewlett Packard Company in various roles.  I’m currently a Senior Manager of Business Consulting.  I have a great job that allows me to work from my home office where I spend most of my day talking with people all around the world.                                                             

 How did you and your husband meet?  How long have you been together? My husband and I met at an LDS mid-singles activity.  I wasn’t sure if I could fall for a “cowboy” but it was VERY easy and has been the greatest blessing of my life.  We were married in the Mesa, AZ temple and recently celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary.                                                                                    

What are the names of your kids? I have 3 step kids who live in Colorado – Ethan: 22, Jake: 20, Emilee: 18.  They are great kids.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 What are your hobbies and/or favorite things to do? I love to travel and learn about new cultures.  I also really like to bake and eat what I’ve baked. J  I love spending time with my family and developing true friendships.  I also absolutely love my nursery and young women callings – it’s really the best of both worlds!  We have the sweetest nursery age kids and the best young women around!  I love animals and really enjoy taking care of our Pug (Mack), our 2 goats (Buddy & Bailey), and our a pot belly pig (Pearl) thanks to my husband and my neighbors (you know who you are!) for helping me become a “farm girl”.  I also really enjoy having neighbors & friends (you’re all invited!) over for our Fast Sunday evening bonfire & s’mores.                       

What is something unique about you?  I was able to visit East Germany while still under Communist rule on a few occasions and had the incredible opportunity of going with my YM/YW group to help knock the Berlin Wall down after the fall in 1990. 

Spotlight: Courtney White

Courtney White

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in SLC but moved to St. George when I was 4.5 years old.  I am grateful my parents moved here, I love the area and the people here.

Where did you go to school?

I loved going to West Elementary, the 6th grade Center, going to Dixie Middle and Dixie High School and then on to Dixie College where I got an associates in science.

How did you and your husband meet?

Kerry knew my older brother and sister so it took him a long time to ask me out my first year of college.  He finally got up the courage, I guess you will have to ask him, and took me to Dixie College’s Homecoming Dance.  It was the best night of my life.  We unfortunately stayed out past midnight with our big group; we were at Jeff Andrus’ parent’s house.  On the way home Kerry fell asleep at the wheel and hit a parked car.  I was already fast asleep, getting up at 5 that morning to clean the whole house by myself because my parents and younger brother were in SLC for something for my little bro Cameron and there was no way Travis my older brother had time to help me because he was going to Homecoming himself.  Needless to say we ended up in the hospital that night.  Luckily my parents and little bro felt the need to get home which I didn’t know about until after the accident.  And so the story goes on to say we ended up a month later getting engaged, 3 months later getting married.  Almost 21 years later, 8 kids later and I am still living the happily ever after. I tease my husband that we had to go through the accident so he would see me and not the missionary he sent off a month before we went to Homecoming!!

What are the names and ages of your kids?

Nikolas is 19.5 years old and getting ready to go on a mission, Maddisen will be 18 on Christmas day and she is a senior this year. Chandler is turning 16 on Thanksgiving day this year and he is a sophomore.  Maceson is 14 and is a freshman.  Kayelee is 12 going on 20 and she is in 7th grade.  Ethan will be 6 in January and he loves Kindergarten.  Nathan will be 4 in December and he is my handful.  Holland is 21 months old, all girl and is the baby of the family which means she has 7 other parents.

What are your hobbies and favorite things to do?

Hobbies and favorite things to do, I have to laugh I knew what that was once a upon a time….. family is my life.  I love to go to the temple every Friday with Kerry.  I love to watch movies and play games with the kids.  We like to put together puzzles, and have hot cocoa in the winter, spring, summer and fall.  I am a mom 100%, a wife 150% and I love it 200% of the time.

What is something unique about you?

I consider myself an 8 cow wife and I love being a mom to 8 wonderful children.  I am grateful that the Lord has blessed me and that he trusts me enough to raise 8 of his own. But thank goodness the Lord felt that 8 were enough.  I am lucky enough to be squished between an older sister and younger brother who are great and that I have an older brother who was a great example to me.  Not that my other brother and sister aren’t.  TEE HEE!!

Spotlight: Anita Stewart

Anita Stewart:
Where were you born and raised? She was born in Ithaca New York then moved to Maine, then around the age of 5 she moved to Logan where she had grown up.

What brought you to St. George? The warm weather. It felt like it was where we needed to be.

Where did you go to college and what degree did you get? What have you done since? She went to Utah State University then later went to Weber State where she graduated with a degree in accounting. Her most important job was a stay at home mom and had accounting jobs as needed. She is currently an accountant for Dixie State Athletics.

How did you and your husband meet? How long have you been together? She met her husband in high school. He asked her to the Junior Prom. They dated for a little over a year and then he went on a mission. They kept in touch by writing letters while he was on his mission. Upon returning from his mission they dated for 8 months and then got married in December. They have been married for 37 years this month.

What are the names and ages of your children? She has three sons and one daughter. Dan, Jeff, Cort, and Laura age range 35-26. She also has 15 grandchildren ages 12-1

What are your hobbies and/or favorite things to do? She loves to hike (She is hiking Havasupai in the spring) she has hiked the Grand Canyon twice. She loves to camp, read, bike, and play games.

What is something unique about you? She has ridden a century "100 miles" bike ride three times. She has also worked as a temple ordinance worker at the Bountiful Temple for five years and loved it.

December Lesson Schedule

December Lesson Schedule:

Dec 1st: Presidency Message - Lauralee Billingsley
Dec 8th: #23 "The Prophet Joseph Smith" - Kristen Thorne
Dec 15th: Special Stake Meeting
Dec 22nd: #24 "Reflections on the Mission of Jesus Christ" / Conference Talk - Deon Wilson
Dec 29th: Combined RS/Priesthood

December Birthdays

Happy December Birthday To:

Gina Jensen - 7th
Paula Madeira - 7th
Christina Clark - 9th
Melissa Wilson - 10th
Amanda Sorenson - 13th
Kari Ingram - 13th
Deon Wilson - 20th
Noelle Christensen - 20th
Dani Monson - 26th
Geriann Johnson - 26th
Kim Luthy - 26th
Crystal Burton - 27th
Kristi Hill - 28th
Edna Cutler - 29th

Spotlight: Kae Harrison

Kae Harrison:
Where were you born and raised- Centerville, Utah

What brought you to St. George- Brett has always loved St. George. A year
ago Brett came with our daughter to a swim meet in St. George and stayed up
all night figuring out a way to move our family here. He came home and told
me his plan. Every concern I had he had a solution so I kept an open mind
about the whole thing knowing there were still many obstacles that needed to
be solved. Brett convinced his boss to let him work remotely a few days a
week and then he found a house plan and put money on a lot before I had seen
this area. I am happy to report that we are loving it here and feel the
Lord lead us to the perfect place.

Schooling and career- I went to the University of Utah and studied
Psychology and have about 30 hours left to graduate. For years I have told
people that I retired from school, hoping to never go back and finish
because school was always hard for me. But I am realizing how foolish I was
so I plan to finish my degree in the next few years.

How you met your husband-Brett and I dated in High School. While on his
mission I "Dear John" him twice. The first one because I wanted to date
other guys I met at collage and the second because I had other future plans.
Luckily for me the Lord intervened and gave Brett a forgiving heart. Soon
after he came home we started dating again and were married 6 months later.

Kids (names and ages)- Annie 13, Becca 12, Josh 9, David 7, Jake 4

Hobbie and favorites- I love, love, love to read. I enjoy the gym and eating
good tasting food (which explains the gym love. I want to be able to eat
what I want when I want)

Something unique about you- I read the last chapter in books once I get
about 1/4 of the way through the book. I just have to know what I'm getting
myself into and it lessen my anxiety while reading. I am a Foot Zoner
(balancing the body by using signals on the feet). After suffering from
depression during and after my first 3 pregnancies I started getting zoned
and quickly realized I needed to learn this art so I could help my family
and friends. That was 10 years ago and I am so thankful I did because I have
seen it help a lot of people.