Our first home

It was 50 years ago when we moved into our first home.  It looks much the same today as it did in 1967.  It was red back then and is now beige.  Cement steps are now in place instead of the wood ones, and a dish adorns the east side of the house.  Otherwise the place looks the same.

The house next door now was exactly like ours, but now has a second level - a great improvement!

Front.

I taught music at both the high and elementary schools.  I was really impressed with the "small town" kids - so well behaved and so intelligent, eager to learn and delightful.  Sure there were moments of distress, but in all, teaching was a great experience. 

Back.

Back

Grandma taught at the elementary school - 5th grade.  She also enjoyed the kids and was impressed with their knowledge of life.  You see, they were all raised around farms.

Front

Sherry and Mike were born in the San Juan hospital.  Five days after Mike arrived, we moved.  Grandma did great through all this, as his was an easy delivery.  

Several years later we took our kids on a camping trip.  We camped in a tent on the backside of Blue Mountain.  The stars were brilliant as we gazed with wonderment at the night stars from a quilt spread on the ground.  We even spotted the "northern lights."  It appeared as a little, white curtain high in the sky.  No color but very beautiful.   

One highlight of that camping trip was our cleansing time at the town swimming pool.  (Please note that we used the showers before diving into the water)  I remember the local kids in the pool didn't quite know how to take us as we made our entrance. 
We were the object of quiet stares as we began to play in the water.  After what seemed like forever, they continued doing their thing.    

Now, back to the present!  Haha.

Monticello has really improved in appearance over the years.  Now the streets have curbs and gutters, and the town's only stop light, (It blinked yellow in all directions for the 2 years were lived there) has been updated to a modern, working system. 

And look!  Modern street lights now adorn new sidewalks!  Wow!

  I think the addition of the temple was maybe the inspiration for the new motels and general upgrading of the town, as people need a nice place to stay when they come from far away places to visit. 

We invited our friends to dinner.  PJ's was open, so that is where we ended up.  

We found that Blue Mountain Foods had moved to a new location - the old Jensen Food Market building.  We found a friendly clerk in the store who brought us up to date on all the town's people we previously knew and loved.