Ben & Rea Whicker

The Cycle of Caring

2012-01-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

As I contemplated the stages of Brother Hammond's life, my life...everyone’s lives, I wrote the following. It is a strange but cemented cycle, even though the emotions and behavior are not the same for everyone:

First you are born, and others are wholly responsible for your well being. The world centers around you! And you have absolutely no idea of the love and sacrifice which is offered to you!

Soon you are a teenager and you want to do everything your way, because after all, most of us KNOW what the best way is by that time!

Then you fall in love, get married and begin the process and progress (hopefully) of taking care of your relationship to your mate, growing together. This is an important and sometimes slow, difficult part of your journey – but can be SO worth it!

Now you have children. Or you do not find a mate and you don’t get married. Either way, you are very close now to the part of the cycle where you care for one or more others that need your help. Your children, or perhaps your parents. Maybe your grandparents or an Aunt or Uncle, a friend or a neighbor. You want to be of assistance in the needs of all those you know and love.

As the children become adults, you do all you can to aid them in their quests and lessons and trials. You are healthy and have the energy and now to serve. Then your children or those you care for become the center of the world for you. The future, as pertaining to these you care for, somehow misses your focus. Their well being and health is front and center.

But no matter how you have seen this happen many, many times before, you do not expect to continue your life without your parents or others who cared for you earlier in your life. When they leave this earth, there is a great time of adjustment. Many times we feel that our very foundation surely must be crumbling!

You are suddenly a step further along in the cycle. YOU are the one now in the final step of this probation!

There comes a time when you become the care-given. And THIS is the real adjustment! In your mind and heart, this most likely had not yet found place! Quickly it becomes very real that your graduation to the final earthly step will be soon. You will have many of your own caregivers during this stage of your progression, and it will be sweet and painful. Painful, partly because you are now fully aware of the love and sacrifice you are receiving.

There is no going back; what you have done or wanted to do for others has flown. And that is as it should be. It is time.

I longingly pray and hope for each of our loved ones to face that time with joy and anticipation, having learned that this is only a new step in what shall surely be many more steps in this beautiful cycle called Life.

Love,

G'ma

Harvest Fun!

2011-11-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Black Harvest Farms

October 27, 2011

Grandma & Grandpa took us to Black Island Farms in Syracuse last Thursday…it was SO much FUN! We went right after school, so the sun was still shining…but BOY, was it COLD! There was a huge field area with great big slides supported by hay bales, some awesome, creatively shaped swings made out of old tires, a corn-launching game and of course, the maze. It was a-MAZE-ing! (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.)

I’ll bet you can guess where we headed first. You got it! The SLIDES! The very tallest one wasn’t open yet, so we went for the tallest hay slide. Even Grandpa got in on the fun! It wasn’t so easy climbing to the top, as the bales of hay were steep and slippery. Thankfully, a sparsely woven net of heavy rope was firmly-staked over the “stairs,” or we may have NEVER gotten Mommy up there!

Then, the BIGGUN’ opened up for business…and it was a BUMPY ride! It was made out of some type of ribbed sewage piping or another, and it was FAST! Grandpa discovered that if you sat on an old potato sack, you could REALLY fly! He went SO fast that Mom even missed the shot with her camera as he zipped past her area of aim before her finger could hit the button! (We all thought he should go again, just for the picture…but for some reason, he actually CHOSE not to! Imagine that!) After that, we ALL used those bags, & Mom abandoned all care of what others thought as she jumped up and laid across a big bale so she could stretch her camera out to catch our faces just as we exited the darkness of the slide.

After we were pooped from the slippery sewage pipe, we headed toward the maze…stopping to play a silly game on the way.

The spinning wheel stopped on a phrase that ordered you to do something silly, smile as you walk around with your hands on your knees…and off we went, with Grandpa being the most dramatically obedient to the command. J (Boy…wish we had a picture of THAT! He’s a hoot! There’s NO way any other kid had a Grandpa that fun exploring with them…we are so lucky!)

Grandma decided not to venture into the maze, so we found her a place to sit in the sun, shielded from the icy wind by the little popcorn shack. Then, off we went to find the entrance to the corn maze. But Grandpa turned back after a few steps, to KISS Grandma goodbye. They’re so mushy! (How can a relationship be firm as a rock, and mushy-squishy at the same time?)

By the time Grandpa, Gabe & Mom got to the entrance, the rest of us were 15 feet ahead of them…but they couldn’t SEE us and didn’t know which of the three paths we had taken. So, they took the middle one. Maybe they figured that was the only way to be sure they were close, anyway. I guess Gabe will have to tell you about their amazing journey…cuz all the rest of us know, is that we didn’t see them again for a lllooonnng time, well after we were out playing on the slides again…

Okay, so Grandpa and Mom went with me into the middle trail. The ground was packed so hard it was almost like concrete, without a dip-free foot in sight! The first thing Mom noticed, after being glad they hadn’t brought Grandma onto the rough path, was that nearly ALL of the corn was still on the tall stalks…but too old to be eaten. She was so upset at the wastefulness of so much perfectly-grown corn having not been harvested in time to eat! But, Grandpa soothed her with the hope that it was still going to be used to feed cattle.

We each had a little map in hand, but Mom quickly decided that would be cheating…and stuffed hers into her pocket so we could get good and lost.  Well, I’m here to tell ya, THAT didn’t take long! We thought it all started to look the same after a while…and eventually, we realized that’s because it WAS. Once we found out we had gone in a few circles, Grandpa spent most of the time looking down at that map, then up to the sun and back down again…but all seemed hopeless. Mom began feeling thankful for the wind-shield of the tall corn stalks, and Grandpa was probably glad he had kissed Grandma good-bye!

Me? I didn’t care. There was dirt, family, and corn cobs I could secretly launch up into the blue & orange sky by picking up a broken stalk and swinging it into the air, watching the cobs pop off in an unplanned direction. That was all the fun I needed, until Mom caught sight of me right before hearing someone in a nearby path say, “Ouch!” Mom’s eyes flew open WIDE…and I thought about running, but was saved by an explosion of laughter streaming through the cold air, from the same direction my corn-missile had landed. Grandpa pretty much held my hand after that. 

Mom finally decided she would have to use her map. She pulled it out and looked for a sort of shape they might recognize. There was a heart-shaped opening in the map, so when we accidentally stumbled into a little clearing, which was the heart, Grandpa and Mom were finally able to find our way OUT.

Once Mom, Grandpa and Gabe joined us again, Mom rounded up all of our reluctant selves for a group picture in front of a wall of stalks. We asked a 9 or 10 year old to take it so we could all be in the photo. There’s nothing more frustrating than being in a wonderland, posing repeatedly with the cold wind in our faces, just so Mom can get the “perfect shot.” But, eventually, the shoot was over and we all wandered off again.

Grandpa & Mom figured out that the corn is used to feed cattle through the winter. Then Grandpa told a story about a guy he had flown with a few times, who had spent some time in a “hole” for many months back during a war and the only thing they gave him to eat, was corn stalks! Not the corn…just the super-tough stalks! He still has intestinal issues from the damage that did! Then they got to thinking about how good the food must have tasted to the Prodigal Son when he returned home after eating only husks that the swine were fed.

It was suddenly getting too cold to endure the outdoors any longer…and we had worked up quite an appetite. The adults decided it was time to head out, but Mom hurriedly grabbed a few of us to go across the open field to get a few pictures on the nifty swings, as well as one of the mountains to the East.

Mom got Paytie to pose for one final photo by the entrance. It was amazing that she got her to smile, because she did not want the fun to be over, or to part from Grammy & Grampy! She was the only one that never got cold. But as you can see, Mom pretty much had her dressed & layered like an Eskimo…so that was no surprise.

We said our goodbyes to Grandpa and Grandma, thanking them for a “sick” time, and yet another fun, lifetime memory…then headed home, chatting lively about our great adventures at Black Island Farms.

Mr. Seth

2011-08-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

I met a new friend on our trip to Ohio. His name was Seth. He is the first green-colored Seth I've ever known! He is Seth, the bamboo plant pet.

Rachael brought him with her to Ohio because she felt that Katie would love him as much as she (Rache) does. However, I guess Katie was in no frame of mind to pay any attention to a stranger. BUT, he had a wonderful ride from Utah to Ohio!

Seth lives in a glass house filled with rocks and water...no dirt! (The lack of dirt was the first attraction for me.) I looked at him (and at his Rachael) with more than a little dubious-ness when I would catch her talking to him in the back seat.

I have talked to plants before, and I absolutely know that they react to that, but I thought it was just the warm air from my breath that inspired them to continue to grow beautiful leaves! I have failed to talk to them with such passion, though, and I guess that was the reason I did not previously experience the communication that was revealed to me during our trip!

The second day out, Rachael went to sleep on the seat, thereby denying Seth any ability to observe the outside world. His new station became the floor of the back seat....not a happy place. I looked at him, and he was CRYING! Well, at least he must have been crying because his leaves were wrinkled from what I assumed to be the dampness from wiping the tears. I immediately took him up with Gpa (Dad) and I, setting him in the drink holder between us, where he could feel the sun and witness the beautiful tree tops beside the road.

The only words I spoke to him were, "There, that's better." But they must have been very much appreciated, because without further communication, it only took about 10 minutes for his leaves to smooth out, brighten up and he honestly seemed to be smiling!! The really amazing thing was that he was reaching those uplifted leaves toward his hero.............ME! It was evident that he was reaching for me, but still, I thought, it COULD just be my imagination, couldn't it? So, I turned him 180 degrees to check it out.

Ten more minutes passed before I checked on him again. Once again, he was definitely reaching toward ME! It was incredible!

Later, when Seth was back in his rightful position with Rachael, she also turned him around a few times, and every single time, he would end up reaching for her in a few minutes! So I am now a true believer!

The second motel-stay night, I am not sure what happened, but I think he was in too dark a place. Yes, I realize that other bamboo people grow in dim and damp surroundings, but Seth is not a conformer. He either didn't like the dim light, or else he was too cold, because the next morning when we realized his discomfort by his drooping arms (some people call them leaves all the time), we placed him in the window to bask in the sunshine while we hurried and got ready for the day. We didn't notice how long it took before his arms were stretched up and outward in a joyous and graceful, grateful form! But when we did notice, there was absolutely no doubt....he was happily shouting "Good Morning!" in his bamboo language!

I was supposed to bring him home with us, but I forgot. He may never speak to me again.

-- G'ma

Rachael's Point of View: "I sleepily start to awaken from my nap in the back seat of my parents car on the long drive to Cincinnati. Stirring, I slowly remember where and why I am and soon I remember Seth my bamboo plant, but I realize he's GONZO! So I sit up and see THIS VERY SIGHT:

A Memory from Buddy

2011-08-23T18:15:00.001-07:00

When I was 16 or so, I was riding with Gma and Gpa Whicker in their old-people car in downtown Salt Lake. In fact, we were just headed down Capitol Hill. Some argument had arisen between the two of them, and it got just about as tense as I had ever felt it between them, which isn't very tense at all. But it was definitely contentious! And the subject matter was quite silly, too. I remember thinking, "Wow, why are you arguing about this again?" But at the same time I was formulating my own position in my head. Anyway, there was then a moment of heavy silence that could have been hewn with a butter knife, and it was Gpa's turn to rebut. I can't remember the subject, but for the moment we'll assume it was directions. I'll never forget what he said:

"Well, you always did know your way around better than me." He smiled at her, and then looked back at me and winked as quick as lightning.

Feelings of jest and love came swiftly to diffuse the tension, and I stood all amazed. Actually, I was sitting at the time. Since then I've tried to do what he did just as quickly and effectively, but I have not yet succeeded. But I'll never forget it! And someday I hope to achieve the same!

And one last thought--having heard a bit about Gpa's temper in days of yore, I ask this: Is such change possible without the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I say unto you, NAY!

Summer...

2011-08-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

....is about over, and I have not written any emails to speak of to any of you, so here's a quick synopsis.

Most of you know that Dad/Gpa and I went to Ohio to be with Glenn, Pam and Katie for a couple of weeks during the last of July and half of August. Rachael went with us, leaving her personal activities and time with Brooks and her boys and girl (4 boys, 1 girl!!) for exactly a month, hoping to be of as much help as possible to Pam and Katie while Glenn had to be back in St. George. That was a great and loving sacrifice, and yet she kept telling Dad/Gpa and I over and over how grateful she was that we gave her that opportunity! Thanks YOU....so much, Rache.

Katie has been brave and in my opinion, VERY tolerant with a lot of pain and inconvenience and endurance. I believe that this was possible because of her own faith and the faith and support of her parents and sisters, brothers and nieces and nephews, as well as the extended families of Stones and Whickers, and her friends. It has been a long, painful and yet sometimes very boring time for her! There was never a moment (except during the actual surgeries) when Rachael or one or both of her parents were not with her, except at the very last when she felt stable enough to wander some in the Ronald McDonald House by herself. She is truly a blessed and loved young lady!

We stayed in a "hotel" that was actually an old hospital.......in fact, still operating as a medical clinic and light surgery hospital every day. They made the 3rd floor into rooms for families to stay in while they were supporting loved ones in the Children's Hospital. It is less than a block away (as the sparrow flies) from the hospital. We were quite pleased when we checked out and found out that because they gave us a weekly rate, we only ended up paying $33.33 a day! The accommodations weren't perfect, but considering the absolutely horrible road placements in a very UNplanned city............I was so grateful that we didn't have to navigate to a regular motel every night and back again the next day! We had to buy a GPS there just to hope to get from one place to another, as even landmarks seemed to change locations! (Ry's note: it was SO cold at night in that hotel...that Rache took the following photo of our Daddy sleepng in Mom's hoodie. :))

We had a good time seeing some new things, such as the Cincinnati Museum and the Zoo. The tickets for all of the things that any of us attended were donated by different organizations, to the Ronald McDonald House, for whoever wanted to use them! I couldn't walk around those big places, so Dad had to push me in a wheelchair, and that made the Zoo quite miserable for me, even though I enjoyed the things we saw. It just wasn't good for Dad to have to do that, because that Zoo is very, very hilly. Had I known that, I would have stayed home and let the rest of them go! He was pretty worn out that night and the next day. Pam pushed Katie, too, as she wasn't strong enough yet, and it was hard for her, too, but of course, she didn't have nearly as much weight to manage. I will check the terrain before I do anything like that again!

My favorite thing was the Wright Brothers' Museum and field. They had a display of the history of parachutes there which was fascinating, too. Those two little boys (Wright Brothers) had NO idea what part they were playing in history! In fact at one time they declared that this flying business would never work, or something to that effect! I was especially impressed with a quote from one of the boys that was on a large display in the museum. It said, (paraphrased) "The secret for success is to be born to good parents and grow up in Ohio." Not a profound statement, but such a humble and sincere and grateful one!

Katie, Rachael and Pam also got to attend a Cincinnati Reds game after Dad and I left, and I think Katie's very favorite thing was probably the tennis matches that they witnessed on the following Saturday. They all got too much sun that day, but for Katie, at least, it was worth it!

Rachael worked for hours and hours on a special necklace she wanted to finish for Katie during the month. I don't know if she got it done or not, but it was quite beautiful, even unfinished! That takes so much time and focus and coordinated hand work! Not my kind of thing to DO, but I sure do love to see the finished products! Rachael also gave Katie a piece of amethyst that she broke off from a larger piece that she has at home. She (Rache) has studied a lot about the healing and encouraging properties of different stones and rocks...she'll have to explain about the amethyst.

When we went to church with them, we met a Dr. who specializes in the research of DNA and cells, I believe it is, and he had taken a sample of Katie's blood and sent it off for research on Treacher Collins. I hope we get to hear about any findings they gather on that project. He is very interested in Katie''s case.

Well it is now Monday Morning, and we have heard that the Glenn Whickers and the Rachael Gibbs got home safely, which was wonderful news! Yesterday evening, we went to the Waltons for a little celebration for Nathan's birthday and got to have a nice visit with them, which is rather rare even though they live 3 miles away! Then later, Jeff and Lynda and Taz paid us a visit, which is also rare! What on earth has happened to the front-porch-rocker visiting? Time seems to be our problem, and time is such a sneaky thing!

Love you all,

Mom/Gma

Our Mission: Mobile Mouse Maternity

2011-07-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

“AutoMouseMultiplication”

by Rea C. Whicker

(A true story, from our Cove Fort mission days!)

This is how it works, at least from the viewpoint of Molly Mouse: True story.

First, you find a very nice, clean automobile. One that has an owner who cleans EVEN THE ENGINE when he washes his car. This owner has just recently done that very thing, and the engine is almost clean enough to use for a picnic table! Actually, it IS clean enough -- just has a few too many bumps to be practical.

Secondly, you search for a space approximately 6 inches long and 3 or 4 inches wide, that is completely safe, warm but not too hot, tight but still has enough airflow for your new little family to survive. Aha! There it is -- a small, comfortable compartment just under the air flow ducts that allow air into the people part of this automobile. The weather is still cool a lot of the time, so there surely won't be TOO much cold air flowing there for TOO many minutes at a time. PERFECT!

Now, we have the building lot. Let's see, what materials shall we use for the house itself? We'll need at least 200 small sticks, from one to three inches in length, to give it stability. Whew! That took awhile. We need to hurry, because the mommy is getting close to her due date! Oh, look, there's something soft on the underneath side of the top of this big engine's roof! I wonder if I could get my teeth into that? Hmmmmmmmm...

Voila! It is just right! We'll only need to tear the covering off of about 24 square inches or so, and dig into the soft stuff underneath! Wow, it is WARM and SOFT and CUDDLY! Easier to get down through the vent holes than the sticks were....

Weaving, pulling, pushing, weaving................there, finished! Now, I need to rest before this little one comes.

What's that noise? OH, NO, the engine is starting! I wonder if we really will be safe? This is really scary!

The wind is blowing through here, but it isn't cold yet, thank goodness. Hey, watch those bumps! I'm a bit big to be bounced around right now!

Wow, that was a short ride. I think they got out. Maybe I can have some peace now.

(6 1/2 hours later) Ah-h-h-h, that was a great nap! It's a good thing, I think the little ones are coming!

The engine again??? Why can't they leave a girl alone in her hour of travail? OK, hang on, maybe this will be a short ride like the last one.

It was! These people sure do move a little distance at a time! You'd think they'd just let me be and WALK if it's going to be that short distance!
__________

Oh, sweetie, you are such a little doll! Just look at that beautiful grey hair and cute tail! I'll be glad when you open your eyes and look at me! I can't wait 'til your Grandma sees you! We'll just stay in our cozy little home until you get a little stronger and I feel a bit more rested.
___________

My, you are hungry so much of the time! You eat every few minutes it seems. You gonna be a beeg stronga boy? I bet you are!

Oh, oh........what's that funny noise. It's not the engine. Oh, my, they opened the roof! The sun is SO bright it hurts my eyes. Hey, put it back down! There's a baby eating here and I want him to go to sleep so I can catch a nap. What are you doin'?

He's pulling some big long thing away from the glass above me. Then he drops it back onto the glass! SO NOISY. I can see him now. He sure is funny looking. He has a little bit of hair, but it isn't pretty grey like mine and the baby's. He has something shiny on top of his head......oh, maybe that's the sunshine reflecting! Hope he doesn't see me down here. I'm keeping an eye on him.

Ugh! I think he's looking at me! I'll hold really still.....maybe he won't see me here.

Ohmigosh! He's taking my roof with the holes in it away..........what will I do? Hey, babe, wake up, we may have to make a quick getaway here.......Mortimer, did you hear me? We may need to RUN! ARE YOU DEAF, KID?

Well, I looked straight into his eyes, and now he's reaching down in here, so here we go! Hang on, kiddo! We gotta find our way outa here!

*************

The next chapter shall never be known by human beans. The little mommy, with her babe hanging on to his feeding tube for all he was worth, found their way out of the car and off across the field, with Grandpa looking on in complete surprise.

Well, the above story is the prologue of my visit to the Dr., which is explained in the rest of this letter. We very well could have been exposed to the Hanta Virus through that little experience, so we are checking it out. I've been pretty much in pain for a couple of weeks, with the exception of one or two days. The little mouse nest was right in the air conditioning vent, so when we turned the AC on, we got the airborne dust from the urine and feces of the mice right in our faces.

Great Gma & Gpa's Home Sweet Home

2011-06-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

Father's Day Poem from Benj

2011-06-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Daddy Flying over House

2011-06-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2011

Whicker-Wide Photo Album

2011-06-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

Please remember that Glenn has created a photo site for ALL family-wide activities. We can post photo's of our family reunions, gatherings, campouts...so that all of us can access and enjoy them! Thanks, Glenn!

To view the photos, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/108326893341501531188

If you have pictures to upload & share, go to the above URL, then sign in as wikr@earthlink.net. (You will need to text Ry @ 801-529-4102, email Glenn, or call G'ma for the password, as this blog is viewable by all. But a text only takes a second!)

Family Party Planning

2011-06-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

We did the scheduling of this party so that those who are in school could come during their days off of school. However, we still ran into problems with the ones who were working. We could do it on a weekend in another year, since Christmas and New Year's Day are not always on Saturday. Here are some pros and cons about when and where to have our next get together. Jeff has suggested that we just have a one day get together on an annual basis rather than try for a three day reunion every five years or so. Please let us know what you think? If you have date preferences, let us know about those,

Seeing Through A Glass Darkly

2011-04-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dearest Family All:

I recently learned a valuable lesson as I read the other day, I believe it was Daniel Peterson in the Mormon Times. I have often pondered the scripture involved, (Corinthians 13) but it has stayed with me more forcefully because of Bro. Peterson’s treatise of the meaning of verse 12 in that chapter. My perception of what he was trying to say was this:

When Paul talks of "seeing through a glass darkly", most of us think of just not having the understanding we need in order to see things clearly. But Bro. Peterson explained that he thinks it is pretty plain that there is more to it than that. The whole of chapter 13 is devoted to the superiority of charity above all other gifts; indeed it makes it clear that if we have ALL those other great, great gifts named there, but do NOT have charity, we are nothing at all! Then, in verse 11, he moves to the contrast between childish understanding and mature understanding.....then comes verse 12:

"For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face:

now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I also am known."

He then closes the chapter by referring once again to the greatest gift....charity.

Bro. Peterson says that in the Hebrew language, the word they used for 'glass' actually meant closer to mirror. That made very good sense to me when finishing the sentence..."then shall I know even as I also am known"! For me, that changes the focus of the whole idea; now I understand that I am not seeing through a glass darkly pertaining to knowledge in general, but rather I am seeing through a mirror darkly -- in other words, I do not see myself accurately -- however, THEN shall I know myself even as I am known!

My thoughts continued on to connect the subject of the whole chapter, charity, in correlation to knowing myself as I am known. I can't really even explain exactly how I got there, but my conclusion was (and I believe Bro. Peterson indicated this also) that I desire to obtain the gift of charity AND use that gift to help others to know fully who they really are, as they are known by their Heavenly Father.

It has truly given me a much more meaningful perception of charity itself, as well as greater understanding of how well our Heavenly Father knows each one of us.

Love to all, forever.

Mom/Gma/Rea

Family Memories Entries Please!

2011-01-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

OK, here's the important section of this letter, for those of you who get bored or antsy taking the time to read my letters!

I need your help for a 2012 project. I would like to give all of you a subject each month and request that you write a short story (or long if you wish) about that subject. (Of course, if you don't want to do this, that's fine.)

For instance, for January, the subject is FIRST DATE

This could be about your very first date with anyone, including all it's painful awkwardness and possibly the phone call that led up to it or whatever is embarrassing, funny, tragic, stupid, tense, etc., etc.

OR, it could be about your first date with your spouse. (It would be fun to have the two daters write about the same date and see the different perspectives!)

Please be as descriptive and thorough in your explanations as possible.

OR, if you are below dating age, write about who you would like to go out with and what he/she is like!

I'll assign the subject each month, probably send you the other 11 months all at once sometime during this month. They won't all be funny........like one of them will have to do with where you were, what you were doing, and what your first thoughts were when you heard about 9/11.

I will be the editor and send each of you an ebook with all the stories at the end of the year. If we all like it like I think we will, then we will continue in 2013 and beyond.

The deadline will just be the last day of each month. If you don't make it in time, it may not be put in the 2011 edition!

****************************************************************************************************

We will continue in 2012 with our book project if we all enjoy it, not in 2013 as stated. When I re-read my letter, it sounds like this is a project we will start in 2012 instead of that being the year the first book would be ready! Actually, I am hoping to have it ready for Christmas of 2011. We start THIS month! I am excited!

Love, Mom

Whicker Winter Family Party 2010

2011-01-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

On the VERY snowiest, windiest, most dangerous night of the century (in Kaysville, at least) the Whickers held a family party. If you weren't there, you really missed some fun, but if you didn't feel good about driving in that storm, you most likely missed some UN-fun, so congratulations! We sure did miss all of you who couldn't come. We had 35 there, which is approximately half of what it would be if everyone came!

Actually, I was worried about all of you coming and going, and felt pretty relieved when everyone was home safely. It took Rachael and Brooks 45 minutes to get from Farmington to Kaysville because of the wrecks and visibility.

We felt especially bad for out little Ethan, as he was sick last fall when we did a party, and didn't get to come at the last minute even though he had been SO excited.....then Weds. he was excited again, but his wise father and mother didn't feel it would be a good idea to go out in that blizzard. I heard it was even worse in West Haven, where they live.

Anyone who took pictures that night, please put them on the website that Glenn wrote about. I especially want to see them!

Christmas!

2010-12-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones:

I hope everyone had a very joyful time celebrating the birth of our

Savior.

The Halls came over Christmas eve afternoon and brought gifts. They are

such fun! Ryanne had spent many many hours making a beautiful album for

me for my birthday with pictures of me as a baby and gradually

progressing to a grey haired old lady! It is really a nice one, and I

can't wait for the rest of you to see it. Paytie had me polish her

fingernails and then she polished mine! Good thing it was clear polish,

because my knuckles wouldn't look too good in red!

We had fun at Rea Jo and David's house Christmas Eve. We had their names

this year, so we went over and took pizza to add to their other goodies,

and ate with them. Then we opened the gifts from them to us and from us

to them. Rea Jo suggested we each give the receiver of our gifts a wish

for the coming year, and that was fun. Amazing thing-- RJ wished I

would be headache free (I can't remember if she said all year or what)

but anyway I was TOTALLY headache free on Christmas Day, which hasn't

happened for a very long time! It was wonderful!

Christmas Day we spent visiting, then when we came home, Fred came over

and spent some time with us, which was GREAT! We haven't been able to

spend that much time talking to him for such a long time! Penny and her

Mother had gone to her sister's in SLC for a quilting project, so he

didn't have to get back home or anything. It was a great Christmas

present for us! Jeff, Lynda, Christopher and Michael came over while

Fred was here and they were all so glad to get to visit with him, too.

They brought us some of their wonderful Christmas dinner, which we really

enjoyed, as we hadn't had much but junk snacks for lunch!

PARTY

I want to let you know that the Glenn Whicker fam will with us!

I would like to try doing our Minute to win it party a little differently

this time. I think it would be fun to have all of us watching when

anyone is doing a game. I also would like for the little kids to be able

to compete within their own peer group as much as possible. Soooo,

here's an idea:

These are the age groups of the little ones that I think will be there (I

haven't heard from all of them yet, so I may be wrong)

Besides the tiny babies, we have:

2 18 month olds (Chloe and Ella)

3 2 yr. olds (Aubree, Sierra, Jaycee)

2 3 yr. olds (Sophie and Payton)

2 4 yr. olds (Lexi and Addie)

2 5 yr. olds (Kayden and Ethan)

I want the little kids to have their time in the spotlight, and I want to

watch all of them, so what do you think about having a game that all 5 of

the youngest could attempt together, the the 5 that are 3 and 4 years old

do one together, and let Kayden and Ethan compete against each other in

some kind of a relay race, etc. We could do all of them,and then divide

up into teams for the adults to play.

I believe we will have quite a number of adults and young people there,

so I hope that we can have each team pick one person to do each game to

represent their team, and have about 8 games. We will pick the teams

when we get there, as it depends on how many of us there are. When those

games are done, then we could do like we did last time and have a free

for all, letting everyone try any game they want to all at the same time.

To do this, I would like to request that parents of one of the youngest 5

prepare a game for that group, parents of the 3-4 year olds prepare a

game for that group, and Benji or Mikelle prepare a game for their two.

As we did last time, everyone please bring a dish of any kind (dessert,

salad, soup, or main dish).

However, since there will be so many of us, I would like to have you

prepare a game if you want to so that we will have at least 8 games

besides the little kids games, but as long as we have 8 we will be good,

so everyone won't HAVE to prepare one. If we have more than 8, it will

work out fine.

DUPLICATES

Let me know which game you would like to do just so we won't have

duplicates. Glenn & Pam are doing the Kissing Christmas tree

ornament...that's not the official name, but you will know if you've seen

it. We will have Nut Stacker again. That's all I know of as of now.

The set up of tables and equipment for games, etc., will begin at 3:30

p.m. We have the church reserved until 8 p.m. A lot of people have to

work, so we will plan on eating at 5:30, then playing games after

cleanup. If anyone wants to bring things that the little kids would enjoy

playing with while we clean up and after they get through with their

games, please do.

We will bring the paper plates, cups, utensils. I haven't planned any

table decorations, so if someone wants to guide us on that, I would much

appreciate it. I'll bring whatever you tell me to bring for that! I

have some garland stuff, etc. I'm just no good at planning it. Maybe

we could all just bring a centerpiece? Does anyone know where to get the

white paper to go on the tables? PLEASE let me no promptly!

This takes place at our church building about 800 East on 200 North.

Any questions or suggestions, send immediately!

Should be a lot of fun! See you there!

Love,

Mom/Gma

a little history

2010-10-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

Thought you grandchildren might like to read this bit of our history, although I'm sure you've heard some of it. Lyndsey asked us about reasons and dates, etc., for moving around the country. The first part of this I had already sent to her earlier this month. This letter is just about the reasons for our moves. Love,Gma

The moves we made for the first 7 years of our marriage were usually because of the Air Force. However, we moved many times while we were stationed at one base, always hoping to find a better place to live. We were the lowest in pay scale, and at that time, air conditioning was only available in the houses owned by wealthy people. Most of the rental homes around a base did not even have a foundation of cement, but rather wood studs, or whatever you call them. This allowed many, many cockroaches and other disgusting insects to get into our houses, especially in the kitchen. I will give you a few such situations.

Gpa was going to Flight Engineer School at Rantoul AFB, Illinois in 1953. When we moved from Rantoul to Champaign (just a few miles apart) it was because of large, overgrown, sick flies! We lived in a small lean-to that was built onto some kind of a business; seems like maybe it had to do with mechanics working there, or something. We had a small bedroom, which also served as a living room, a bathroom that had a door so narrow that when I was 6 months pregnant with our Rea Jo, I began to have to somehow twist through the door instead of just walking through it! The kitchen was tiny...that's all the rooms we had. The wood around the large picture window in the living/bedroom was rotting and full of holes, and we could watch the termites entering and leaving this favorite abode of theirs!

We adjusted to the termites and we didn't have to live there in the winter, so it wasn't too miserable.....UNTIL, one night when I got up to make a trip to the bathroom, with bare feet, I stepped on something that crunched and was also mooshy. I screamed and Grandpa jumped up and turned on the light to see what was wrong. (Now this is no exaggeration, although it will definitely sound like a Halloween story!) As we looked down at the floor, horrified, we saw literally hundreds if not thousands of larger than normal and slower than normal, black crawling flies. They covered our floors, our kitchen cabinets, sinks and everything that wasn't in a cupboard or drawer!

They couldn't fly. Obviously, they were somehow diseased or disabled. More and more of them seemed to be slowly emerging, congregating on the floors, so we followed their direction (backwards) until we found that they were coming from a hole in the baseboard near our back door! Every time I remember this incident, I still cringe. We left the apartment (?) and went to the store to purchase some poison spray. We sprayed into the hole and all over the house to kill them. After quite awhile, they stopped coming out of the hole. We gathered up our belongings (which were not much at that time) and immediately went to Champaign and rented a two room apartment in the upstairs of a very nice house, where we stayed until we were assigned to Randolph AFB, Texas.

We bought our own home in Bowers Beach, Delaware, and it was the happiest time of my life before we moved to Utah. We joined the church there in 1959, and our 5th child was born, so it was a huge turning point in our life. I dreamed of being back there many times, especially whenever trials came up in my life. It was as if my heart and mind thought that if I was back there in Bowers Beach, all the problems would be solved! It was always the same dream, and my joy was so great in the dream that I didn't want to wake up, even though I evidently knew it was a dream!

In the Spring of 1963, a major hurricane hit the beach area. I will never forget that morning. Grandpa was on a trip. The kids were just beginning to get up and start getting ready for school and/or the day. I went to the back window and looked out at the swampy area that was just beyond our back yard, and saw the water creeping up at a pretty fast rate, coming toward our house. I ran back up to the front of the house, yelled upstairs that we might have to leave, so they needed to hurry and get dressed. Immediately, I took another look at the back yard and was astounded at how far the water had advanced since my last look, so I RAN to the stairway again and hollered, "Never mind your clothes, just put your shoes on and come down to the car!" The quickly obeyed. Our car sat near the front door on the highest ground of our property, but when I opened the front door, the wind nearly knocked me over and I knew that only the 2 oldest children could possibly stand up in that wind, as the water was now up to the middle of the hubcaps on the car! I carried each child, one at a time, to the car. Rea Jo and Glenn had to also have my help, but I didn't have to completely carry them. I hung on to the support at the corner of the porch and then grabbed for the car door so that I could stay standing in the wind, and in the deep water I had to wade through. We ended up staying with a neighbor whose house sat on higher land, as we couldn't get out of town because of the deep water on the road. Our furnace was ruined in the flood. (It was a floor furnace) We didn't have the money to replace it, so we sold the house and moved in to Base Housing. That was a very sad day for us.

Side Note: Grandma and Grandpa Clodfelter were listening to the radio as the storm progressed when it was announced that a family in Bowers Beach with 5 children had drowned. Since it was pretty unusual for families to have that many children, and because there was no phone in service so that I could call them, they thought it must be our family. So, it was a pretty panicky time for them.

(3) Grandpa is not sure whether he told you this, so this may be a repeat. In 1964, Gpa was up for reenlistment, and had made the decision to stay in the AF 4 years longer. While he was flying on the day he was to sign the papers, he suddenly had the very plain inspiration that we were to NOT stay in the AFB, but get out and go to Utah. He came home that day, announced to me that we were getting out, and we started packing. He had no job, no insurance, no place to live in Colorado or Utah, but we knew it was right.

Why did we stop moving when we got to Kaysville? Because I was sick of moving! Also, because I fell in love with our house in Kaysville, as soon as I saw it for the first time. Even though Grandpa was worried about making a house payment that was a whole $20 more than the rent we had been paying in Centerville, he knew how I loved the house, and so he asked for a raise, got it, and we moved. It was such a wonderful day, and there's no doubt that THIS is my favorite place of all! Grandpa had to commute a lot to get where he was actually based for many years, but I had told him when we bought the house that I never wanted to move again....I wanted to be buried right here! He worked hard to honor that desire!

Well, that was probably a lot more than you wanted, but maybe some of it will be appropriate for your paper!

Love you, Lyndz!
Gma

Conf.

2010-10-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

We are at Glenn's and Pam's, having a great time. Yesterday, Pam and I (mostly Pam, of course,) were able to get a bunch of pickled beets done, which is Glenn's favorite (mine, too). One of the bottles exploded in the canner and got beet juice all over the kitchen and on to the burner, making the house smell like burned sugar! Such fun!

This morning, early, Glenn and Dad/Gpa got up and went flying in Glenn's plane. They went over Zion's and around. Now it is time for Conference. I am really looking forward to watching all of Conference this weekend.The Spirit is always so strong.

John and Ryanne are having serious water problems over at their house. Barely getting a little water occasionally until last night, then we had to have the water turned off completely, because we found out that the water meter is still running.....which means that there is at least a chance that water is running constantly somewhere, causing expense without the benefit of water in the house. It is such a mystery! Anyone have any ideas? WHY is it that every time we come to St. George, we have water problems of some sort at home???

Chuck, I have told them that they could come to our house for showers if they need to. They think they can get by for a few days until we can find the problem, so they probably won't be doing that, but just wanted you to know of the possibility.

Jeff, thanks so much for helping us with this problem. And Lynda, thank you for sending my forgotten flashdrive, camera and exterior back up disk. Sorry to have caused you both so much extra time and effort.

Often, as I am listening to a speaker, if I am blessed with the Spirit I find that truths come to my mind that are NOT what the speaker is saying, but are for my own particular learning. I can recognize these times because at each instance, I am able to comprehend all that is being spoken perfectly while simultaneously hearing the words for my own instruction. This morning, during Conference, Pres. Uchtdorf spoke of being sensitive to the needs of others. That concept led me to think of an instance recently in my life. I evidently said something one morning in a voice that was NOT sensitive to the feelings of my husband. I noticed all through the morning that he felt "down". Later that day, he said he was sorry for the times when he 'disgusted' me. Having no idea what had brought these thoughts to him, and not remembering being disgusted with him at all, I asked him when the last time was that I sounded disgusted. He said that it was that morning, but he couldn't remember what I had said or what it was about! I tried and tried to think what it could have been, and he did too, but nothing came.

Knowing that I have often said things that sounded different than I intended, I knew this was one of those times. I also knew that whatever had transpired was not at all the important
thing.........only my tone of voice had caused the pain in his heart. I would not have caused him that kind of pain for anything, IF I HAD JUST CONSIDERED THE SOUND OF MY WORDS BEFORE I SPOKE!

I've heard other spouses speak or act in uncaring and unfeeling ways to their mate, and I'm sure they didn't mean to appear that way at all. I have felt the hurt that has caused their spouse, although no verbal complaint was made on their part. It is then that I know I must change my own way of speaking and acting in all incidences. I intend to consider how my words sound before I speak, and how my actions will 'speak' before I act. I want to know that my words and actions speak only tenderness and caring, no matter the situation.

I also want to apologize and ask forgiveness for the times I am sure I have seemed thoughtless to all of you in my family. Please bear with me as I strive to overcome this weakness! I know there is absolutely no rigihteous reason for sounding or acting as if the other person, especially spouses and children, are not the most important thing in the world to me, because all of you are just that! If we can speak kindly to others outside our home and family, then obviously we can find a way to speak that way to our most beloved ones!

I wanted to share that with you, and tell you all that I love you very much.

Love,
Mom/Gma

Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010

2010-09-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

Dearest Children and Grandchildren:

I received a letter from Alaina this week with her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was truly a gift to me; and I have since had a strong desire to let you all know of my love for you, and because I love you, let you know of my own testimony and my yearning for your real joy in life, along with asking your tolerance in my own weaknesses as I have journeyed and will continue to journey along my own path.

In church today, which happened to be our Ward Conference, I learned so much! I felt the Spirit more strongly than I have for months (which of course, I lacked only because of my own doing and choices) and it was such a welcome cleansing for me. I felt purely and sweetly the strong love that my Heavenly Father has for our children, their children, their children's children, and for Dad and me. I felt overwhelmingly grateful for the gift of our family and the individual gifts that each of you has brought with you. What a blessing you have all been in our lives!

I felt such incredible joy (it kept leaking out)! In Alma 26:11 Ammon explains that he was "swallowed up in the joy of his God" and that this is the kind of joy which none can receive save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.....and I felt all of that - swallowed up in joy AND the blessed relief of repentance in my heart AND such a desire to more diligently seek the happiness that I know is available to all of us.

Happiness was the theme of our Ward Conference. I had silently offered a prayer before we left that our special speaker today would be Bishop Lundstrom, as there is no one from whom I draw more understanding as he talks. He did talk, and I felt as though Heavenly Father had anticipated my prayer as preparations were made for this conference.

I seemed to actually "visualize", as it were, the importance and great need for the plan of happiness which has been authored by God and Christ. How I wish I could just transfer my feelings into each of your hearts! I know that Jesus Christ lived and lives. I know that His love and our Father's love are so much more than we can possibly experience as mortals............I also know that is probably a good thing, as even the depth of what I experienced yesterday was almost too much to bear!

I know that the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon testify of each other. Together they give us each personal solutions that are far beyond our own wisdom and knowledge. I know that a whole lifetime of studying and researching other "words of wisdom" cannot possibly give us the strength of character and the wisdom we need to choose the paths that lead to the happiness we all seek. Only our Heavenly Father and His Son know the beginning from the end, and our happiness is their very purpose.

There is a multitude of things I do NOT know. As Alma said, “I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom, but behold my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God." And I have a great desire to continue to learn and grow and be of some service to my loved ones.

I want you all to know that when and if you ever have doubts about any of my beliefs, I only ask that you only pray with full intent to know. The guidance of our Father will never, never lead us in opposing paths, even if we perceive that it seems so at times. Therefore, the "end" will be as the "beginning" -- unity in love and purpose -- for all of us.

Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. It doesn't matter whether that fact is accepted or not, the gift remains. It is in Him whose love we all have, that we find our foundation for true joy such as I was granted today. When we have that foundation, then the forces of evil cannot have power to harm us, and we cannot fall.

Helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

God's commandments are given because He wants us to experience this kind of joy, eternally.

I love you all so much. You, our family, come first in our hearts as parents, grandparents and great grandparents! And I am sure that when we graduate, you will continue to come first along with all of those who will follow in our family circle. I pray that you will all feel our love, even then.
In all that truly matters, we are always and forever "on your side"!!

All my love,
Mom/Gma

Love:

2010-08-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

28 August 2010

Hi All:

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, believe it or not! Sometimes it kind of, almost, hurts. I’ve known and said many times that “Love is the Answer” to almost every problem we face in this life; if we really understood and knew how to use it in our lives and relationships.

When Mom and I were discussing our lives, one time, while I was trying to figure out how she had been so strong and continued to love me even during our most difficult times, she made the statement that she knew who I really was; a very strange comment it seemed to me. How could she know that, when I was living and demonstrating such an unworthy life?

Free Agency, while necessary for our growth and progress seems to almost work against our relationships and families; however if we knew who our loved ones are instead of what they are we could give them a chance to learn from their mistakes and grow into who they really are. It is hard to keep in mind that no matter what they are at this point that they are a child of God and due to the Atonement can yet overcome the natural man, which they are, here in this existence and truly become who they are…a child of God.

The road is rough for all of us and even rougher for some. We had the opportunity to observe this truth, not only from our own personal experiences but through our Addiction Recovery Mission and those who killed John for some drug money.

What I’m trying to get across is that we all are God’s children and we all have weaknesses. Some are hard to see and seem inconsequential but sin is sin and all would keep us from returning to our Father without our partaking of the gift of the Atonement!

As I witness the difficulties that many in our family are experiencing I could easily get very depressed and some might say it would serve me right. I can’t help but realize that my horrible example for many years is bound to have had an effect on all our family; yet hopefully I can be forgiven by them as well as the Lord through his Atonement for all who will partake of it.

I want you all to know that I love you and would encourage all, no matter what circumstances you are in at the present, to remember to look at your mates, children, friends and all you know as God does and love them, no matter what; that doesn’t mean accept all they do and what they are at this time, just continue to love them and encourage them to take advantage of the Saviors gift to all.

I sometimes get concerned about how the Lord is going to straighten out my life but I’ll leave it up to him. I know that he is aware of the love I have for all of my offspring and the desire for them all to prosper and grow, and for us to all be together in his Kingdom.

Well I guess that is about it for now. I only ask that you all consider what I have been trying to say here and remember the commandments, keep them and when you stumble repent and turn around.

Love one another for who they are and not what they seem to be at this time. Repentance is the first step in taking advantage of the Atonement.

Love one another through thick and thin, no matter what.

Love Dad / GrandPap

Dover Stories

2010-08-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Families (especially grandchildren who may not have already heard these stories!)

When we lived in Dover, Delaware, one of the members was a lady named Marion Tracy. She and her husband were quite wealthy. I worked for awhile at their publishing office, using a varityper (Now not to be found anywhere but in museums!)to print the original of some of their publications. Marion was my visiting teacher, and one day she invited me and another sister who was on her VT route, to come to lunch at her house. Anyone who was ever in her house noticed that she was a the perfect hostess, i.e., she fixed nice, semi-formal tables with centerpieces and everything, and her house was perfectly kept. We had our first 5 small children at the time, with only one of them in school, so I had to take my four little boys with me to lunch. My boys were very polite and I had told them to not be roudy or anything, so all was fine until we sat down at the table, my boys with wide eyes looked at the beautiful flowers at the center of the table, the silverware placed perfectly, the beautiful china.....and the napkins! In a quiet but very audible voice, my 3 year old asked, "Mommy what are these for?" holding up his nice CLOTH napkin! I was a bit embarrassed, not much, though. I explained to Marion that the 'napkins' at our house were two washclothes...one at each end of the table, or paper napkins if we wanted to be extra fancy; our dinnerware was durable Melmac (anyone remember that?) the glasses were plastic because we couldn't afford any breakage, and the centerpiece was a large bowl of the main course and/or a salad, because I didn't have a big enough energy or a big enough table to allow for the extra time and space that it would require for a centerpiece!

Another story that turned out to be funny after it was all over: We had five children that we took to church, and of course, the Heeshes had five also. We would have been in trouble if there had been a seat belt law at that time! We had a small station wagon that we used for these 12 mile trips to church and Primary. One Sunday, we visited out on the Green for awhile, as usual, and then loaded everyone (we thought) into the wagon and returned to Bowers Beach. When we let the Heesh children out, we were shocked to find we only had 4 Whicker children left! It was no surprise, though, to realize that the missing child was our 6 or 7 year old Chuck, who had always been (and still is) our music maker and had/has the unique mind workings of an artist/philosoper....creative, but absent minded, and often not aware of anything going on around him if he was involved in his own thinking! I was panicked, and we hurried back to Dover to find him. When we got to the church, everyone (except our Branch President and his wife) was gone and the building was locked up! Now I was really worried, because there was no sign of our Charlie outside anywhere! The Branch Pres. hadn't seen him, either! We called and called him, and there was no answer. As we stood there, thinking what to do next, we suddenly heard singing....coming from INSIDE the building! They unlocked the door and we located him -- in the bathroom -- totally unaware that church was over and everyone had gone home, and that it was almost an hour that he had been there, probably composing his own song, which he did often! As we all know, he now has many original and powerful songs. He also remains a thinker, along with all of our children, and we have enjoyed lots of family circle discussions after church as the kids grew older, because all of them were very interested in learning about the gospel.

Love,

Mom/Gma

Sunday New Edition

2010-08-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hi, Everyone!

We've had a trying 10 days, at least trying for Dad who is having to take
care of me. I twisted my knee (I didn't FALL, though!) trying to adjust
the back swing. I had been having trouble with that knee for about two
weeks, and then when I twisted it, it "POPPED" so loud I couldn't believe
it came from ME. The pain was excruciating...I couldn't even put an
ounce of weight on it. Glenn, this was about an hour after I told you I
was doing very well! I was so encouraged when I talked to you;. I have
been swinging on the backswing and riding my bike, and it gave that knee
quite a bit of relief, so I thought it was getting well.

I didn't want to go to the hospital emergency because I was so afraid
they would tell me I had to have a new knee! I just don't want any more
surgery if I can help it...that's why I was so happy with the progress I
thought I was making with the backswing and the bike. I will see our
family Dr. this week and see if I can at least do some walking in an
effort to try and strengthen it.

Chuck has been doing all the cooking and dishes, all the mowing and most
of the trash gathering. He is a very big help, especially right now.
Gpa/Dad has been working on his new flyin' machine, in between his
wife-babying activities. He's only been up a couple of times this year,
I think! The red tape with the FAA now that they have to have "N"
numbers, is terrific. He has to go to Tooele to get his inspection and
training to finalize his license, and he couldn't do that until he got
his "N" number, so it is taking months to get everything done.

Years ago, I happened to strike up a conversation with a woman in the
Salt Lake Family History Library. Before long, she mentioned that she
lived in Dover, Delaware! I asked her if she was LDS, and she was, so
then I told her that we had been in that branch when we were baptized.
It was so amazing, because I don't usually get involved in conversation
with anyone when I am doing research there. We moved from that branch
the month before she and her family moved IN! She told me she was
writing a history of the Dover Branch and Ward! We knew a lot of the
same people, of course, so it was really fun talking to her. I told her
a couple of our stories from our Dover Days, and she included those in
her history This past week, I received a copy of that history! It was
so fun to read! We found out a lot about what had happened to those we
had been so close to.

One very interesting thing was about the little boy who was trapped under
the garage door and saw and/or heard birdies while he was unconscious.
I'm sure you have all heard that story. Well, he was the son of a couple
in the Dover Ward! We didn't know them, but that was fun to find out.

I'm making all of you a copy of it (at least the 5 of you who were there
with us.) as soon as I can. It is 91 pages long, so it will take a few
days! Or maybe I can scan it. Would Cute PDF take a lengthy document
like that, Glenn? It was sure fun for us!

Connie, Sarah, Jaycee and Callee were here to visit last night while Dad
was at the Temple. I really enjoyed having them....kind of a rare chance
when they get to come!

I was so sorry to miss the two blessings last Sunday. I don't like to
miss that kind of thing in our family! Those babies are all so darling.

Dad and Chuck are home from church, so I'll quit and eat the dinner Chuck
has made for us! We always love to hear how each of you are doing, and
LOVE the stories about your little ones!

Love to all,
Mom

My History

2010-07-25T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hi All:

I was sitting here at my computer this afternoon, counting my many blessings and thought of one of the better decisions I have ever made in my life, but before I go into that day I want you all to know that I couldn’t possibly have had any better parents or siblings. I so enjoyed watching and listening to my Mom and Dad interacting with one another; they truly loved and enjoyed their time together. They laughed and joked around much of the time; especially when they would do dishes or other housework together which was practically every day when I was in high school and living at their trailer court. I remember once when they were kidding around and Dad popped Mom from behind with the dish towel; she laughed and grabbed a stick that was holding up the kitchen window by the sink and went after him, he squealed and started back stepping to stay out of her way and fell across the bed across the hall and laid on his back with his legs above his head. She started swatting him with the stick when all of a sudden he got the most startled look on his face and she stopped; it turns out that the stick had a little hail through the end and she had landed a whack with that; of course she was sorry about the whole deal but they both almost collapsed in laughter! They had so... much fun.

Even though I always felt loved I didn’t remember ever hearing my Dad tell me he loved me; men in those days were very reserved. I knew one man who was not reserved and that was my Mothers baby brother Floyd King, he didn’t care what anybody thought as he was big enough to take care of anything or anybody; he used to embarrass me and I’m sure my Dad; if Uncle Floyd had been away from the family for any length of time he would grab you in a bear hug and kiss you on the cheek when he saw you; of course nobody ever said anything as that was just Uncle Floyd and that was the way it was. You need to realize that Uncle Floyd had been a tri-state Golden Glove, heavyweight boxer in his younger years and was afraid of no one. I naturally, as I was growing up, wanted to be like him and even went out for boxing in high school for a short time but they always stopped the fight as soon as I got tagged on the nose since it would bleed rivers of blood; I (thought) knew if they would have let me go, even though bleeding, that I could have whipped every one of those guys. But, as everybody knows, they have silly rules in high school.

When we would go home for a visit after we got into the Air Force, Dad would come up to me stick out his hand for a handshake and give me kind of a halfway hug, which I would return. I decided that wasn’t good enough and thought about it for months before we went home again; I had decided that in one thing I preferred to be more like Uncle Floyd than my Dad.

The next time we went home we drove into the driveway at the trailer court and Dad came out to greet us. He stuck out his hand, I grabbed it and pulled him into me, gave him a kiss on the cheek and said “I love you Dad” He kind of stuttered a bit and said “I love you too son” We both had tears in our eyes and our greetings and goodbyes always included that kiss for the rest of his life and he would initiate it. I still consider that one of the wisest decisions I have ever made.

I determined from that day on to never be lax in letting my boys know that I loved them and to kiss them when departing or returning from anyplace; it was not easy at first due to my upbringing but I am so grateful that I stuck with it. I remember at times when a lot of people were around I still felt a bit nervous about it. But I started early enough with the boys that they thought nothing about it and when I would drop them off at school, or anyplace, they would all give me a kiss even if the whole gang was watching. As wild and rowdy as we all have been, I’m sure, nobody ever thought of any of us as sissy’s.

I want you all to know that I love you and am so grateful that we all are not afraid to show our love and gratitude for one another.

When I think about my Dad and that first time he kissed me and told me he loved me I still get teary. I’m sure he may have done that when I was a baby but I hadn’t remembered. I am also grateful for my Uncle Floyd who was my example of a “He Man” that had a very soft and loving heart.

Then of course we must not forget the girls! They never seemed to believe me that I couldn’t stand little girls, no matter how convincing I tried to be. The time I remember the best is when I came in the back door from an extended trip Ryanne was hugging my leg while I was kissing everybody hello, I looked down at her and said “you know I can’t stand little girls!” She smiled sweetly and said “But I love you Daddy” I was a complete failure with the girls too! I never fooled anybody!!!

Love, Dad…G-PaW

Berlin Wall Era:

2010-07-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Hi All:

They had a special on TV a week so ago and while we were watching it I started telling Mom about the trip I made to Leipzig East Germany in the winter of 1973. We picked up a load of 200 breed hogs in Chicago, for delivery to Leipzig, with a fueling stop in Shannon Ireland. Hogs are a pretty delicate cargo as they don’t sweat so they need to be kept plenty cool. When we stopped in Shannon they had to bring fans and open all the doors to keep the hogs cool enough even though it was winter time; Shannon never gets very cold. We did lose about 15 or so even at that. There was some concern as to how we would pay for the fuel in Leipzig and they thought we would need cash so we took quite a delay in Shannon while they rounded up enough cash. As It turned out when the East Germans found out it was Saturn Airways they gladly accepted our credit card. Saturn had quite a reputation throughout the world. Howard Korth the owner was very honest and always kept his credit rating perfect. As an aside when he bought his first stretched DC-8 and the crew went down to pick it up at the Douglas Factory He paid them cash, something like $8,000,000. Douglas had never had anybody pay cash for an A/C and didn’t even know how to do it so there was a slight delay in getting out of there. A few months later Korth went down to buy the second DC-8 and they treated him like a King! He paid cash for that one also. When we landed in Leipzig it was snowing lightly and was quite cold. As soon as we opened the door they rolled the air stairs up to the door and I opened up; a very large frauleine came on board immediately and made us aware that she was in charge at that point, she would have made at least 2 of me, as far as size is concerned. They off loaded the pigs rapidly. The tower operator came into the cockpit to help in filing the flight plan for us to get out of East Germany. He was a nice young man and spoke English fluently. He was very careful of what he said to us especially when the fraulein was within ear shot. While they were cleaning the aircraft, which was pretty smelly by then, the lady, I’ll call her lady, as she was a female, was worried that somebody might stow away on the airplane and escape from East Germany so with me in tow she stepped over all of the little corrals, about 10 as I remember, to get to the back of the A/C where the lavatory was and make sure nobody had hid in there to escape. She went outside with me and watched as I did my walk around inspection. While walking around with me she noticed that we had 4 belly pits on the A/C where we normally carry the baggage and sometimes some freight. She insisted that I had to open each pit and let one of her police check in there for stowaways. It was so stupid as we had only been on the ground a few minutes and there was no one there that would even have the slightest idea how to open those pits, let alone get up in there without a ladder unnoticed; anyway I opened each, one at a time, and they hoisted a guy in to crawl around and see if anybody was in there; he actually couldn’t go very far as the pits were filled with the seats that we used for passengers. All of our jets were convertibles and it only took about 5 hours to convert from freight to Passenger and vice versa. When she was satisfied she placed a guard at each hatch with a rifle to make sure nobody tried to get in.

What we need to know is how precious freedom is. The people in East Germany were as bad off as those in Russia, and we need to realize that there is actually little, if any, difference between Marxism and Nazism, and I might add progressivism which many are trying to pawn off on this country at the present time; they are all one and the same trying to take away freedom and the Free Enterprise System. I wish all of our family could have the opportunity to visit all of the places I have observed during my many travels. Our freedoms are precious and we must not let those seeking for power to take any of them from us; there has been too much blood shed over the years to preserve them for us. Believe me there has never been a country in the history of the world that has done so much for the worlds millions. We can’t say we are perfect but far better than any previous government experiments. I suspect the only civilization to come close to our accomplishments would have been the Roman Empire in its’ earlier days before they were taken over by Emperors. They took a lot of progress to much of the world at that time, but the greedy for power got in control just like they are trying to do in our country. When the government has more people dependent on them for their living than those who are independent they will have the votes to keep the power hungry in control of the government.

Now to get back to East Germany: They only had the necessities of life with little, or no, luxuries. When I first came down the steps from the aircraft there were probably 20 or so police accompanying the fraulein in charge. As I came down the steps they all started pointing at my shiny black boots; wanting to trade for or buy them from me. That is what made me start noticing how poor they really were; they would have traded everything they had for my boots.

When we got back to Shannon Ireland we laid over while they cleaned the A/C and put the seats back in. We ferried it back to New York and 3 days later we took a load of people down to the Caribbean with 254 passengers. While they were refueling the heat and humidity caused a strange odor to show up in the airplane as they had fumigated it good in NYC to cover the pig odor. I was standing near the door when the next 254 passengers for the return trip to the states. By then we had been sitting on the ground a couple of hours so the odor was pretty strong though not a pig odor; it was more like the odor of some kind of perfume.

The DC-8 we were flying on that trip was one of the ones that Korth paid cash for. The stretched DC-8 is my all time favorite A/C. It was so reliable and you could still fly it with complete electrical and or hydraulic failures; I don’t know of any other large aircraft in history that you could say the same about. It was such a reliable, tough airplane that they spent millions to update it with modern turbo fan engines producing much more power yet using much less fuel.

I have always been pleased that the U.S. doesn’t make a big deal about all of the good we do in the world but unfortunately, since they don’t make a lot of hullabaloo about our exploits our own young people aren’t aware of half of the things we have done for the citizens of the world. I know, because I was involved in many rescue and humanitarian missions. The U.S. military was always the first on the scene of earthquake, flood, and hurricane disasters world wide, and yet even many in our own country talk negatively about our contributions to humanity: how quickly the world forgets about World Wars 1 and 2 when Europe and much a Asia were spared from being conquered by the Evil Axis.

I wish all of our posterity could have the opportunity of visiting almost any part of the world, outside of the U.S. and Canada, other that the tourist areas. You would all be amazed at the difference that Freedom has made in the standard of livings. Paris, London, Amsterdam….any of the civilized countries of the world are very poor when you get away from the tourist attractions. Well I guess I’ll make this it, for now.

I love you all so….much! I just want you all to be grateful for the privilege you have inherited by being citizens of this country! It has it’s faults but we should be doing our best to correct them and must be careful in who we elect as our Representatives and Senators etc. there are far too many people in this country who don’t realize that freedom and the free enterprise system is why we are where we are today and if we allow our leadership to continue on this progressive and socialist road all of these advantages will disappear quickly. Socialism has never led any group to a higher standard of living except for the ruling class; a close case in point is Cuba, right here at our doorstep. Where FREEDOM wanes, so does the standard of living. As previously noted in this epistle East Germany was virtually enslaved until that wall came down and the free enterprise system was reinstated to some degree.

I LOVE YOU ALL G-PaW.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

I hope this day is special for all of you..-- fathers now or to be! We
sure do have some men in this family who are skilled fathers, and who are
striving to become more so as life goes on. Thanks to all of you who
have diligently taught our grandchildren! Taking care of their hearts
and souls is your quest, and I am so thankful.

Thanks, too, to those who have taken on the extra joys and challenges of
loving the children of others and caring for them as lovingly as any of
their other children! What a blessing you have been to us and to those
children.

Love,
Mom/Gma

Adventures with Grandparents, 1944 and 1945

2010-06-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of you, and maybe all of you, have heard my story about the runaway horse when I was 9. I don't believe that I have recorded it by written word, however, so thought I'd do that. Ryanne created a blog for Gpa and I, and Sarah has been putting all of our stories and letters in that blog. Since we don't seem to be doing so well at getting our life history down in story form, we have decided we can just use that blog, and keep adding stories.

June 1944
My folks took me to Udall, Kansas, where my Paternal grandparents lived, and I stayed there for two weeks by myself. I loved to be on the farm! I remember shucking corn, watching rabbits (wild ones) and walking what seemed like a far away area where the silo was, and right by the silo was the wheat "crib" that held the crop for that year. In the top room of the crib, Grandpa Clodfelter would let us cousins play in the stored wheat. What fun! In that hot Kansas sun, it felt so good to climb up into the cool wheat. The shade of the building with it's huge open sides to let any available breeze pass through so that the wheat could dry out - gave heavenly relief as we buried ourselves to the neck in the wheat kernels, wiggling our toes and trying to make "wheat angels"! (They didn't work, though!)

The silo itself was constructed of reddish, homemade bricks that my Grandfather made in 1914, when my Dad was 3 years old. I have pieces of that silo, along with a picture of it, in our entryway and I have attached a picture. My Grandparents rarely went anywhere in their car. They loved working on their farm and taking care of their animals. It was not convenient for them to go anywhere, anyway, as my Grandpa's right arm was severed about halfway up his forearm by a engine powered corn husker, when my Dad was 9 years old. He had a hook on his arm, and although he could drive just fine, I don't think he felt really comfortable in that operation! But their friends who lived a few miles away, had horses that they had invited me to ride while I was there, and so we got in the old Model A Ford and drove to pay them a visit.

I had never been on a horse before, but had always dreamed of riding. Of course, my in this dream, everything went perfectly smooth and I was in complete control. Reality presented me with a bit different picture! The owner of the farm brought out a young horse, one that he thought sure was gentle and calm, and I eagerly hopped right up into the saddle. They showed me how to hold the reins and how to get the horse to turn, etc., and off we went, down the long driveway to the West and then turned North on the dirt road. In just a few yards, we passed a place where the bushes were thin and I could see the barn by looking to my right, to the East. What I didn't realize was that Mr. Gentleness could also see that barn, which was his HOME where his MOMMY was!

Suddenly, he bolted to the right, crossed the deep ditch that ran between the road and the farm. He had decided to go back home! I hung on to the saddle horn with all my might, and was able to remain in the saddle as he continued toward the barn. I never saw the heavy wire clothesline ahead. A heavy winter quilt had been hanging on it for several days to air out for summer storage, stretching the wire into a sagging, choking danger. As I continued to glue my hands to the saddle horn, the wire caught me just under my chin! Everything went black, and I don't remember anything until I woke up on the ground several minutes later, with my sweet Grandpa bending over me, crying. When I looked up at him, I thought I was deaf because I couldn't hear his words. HE had thought I was dead; hence the tears. Later he told me that I had broken the wire with my neck (it was obviously the Lord that did that, not my neck!) He said I had stayed on the horse even when unconscious for about 10 yards, then my hands relaxed and I fell to the ground, and the horse continued on to the barn door. As I fell, his back leg kicked me in the forehead.

There were many signs that 1944 was not my time to leave this earth! If the wire had not broken in the center of the line, where it made contact with my neck, it would have broken at the end, in which case it would have whipped around my neck two or three times, probably decapitating me. The kick from the horse could have been fatal by itself! Also, it was a blessing that I had fallen off when I did, as the barn door that beckoned the pony to his home, had the top half closed. It would have struck a hard blow to my torso and face at the same time, knocking me off the rear
of the horse, if I had gone that far.

The ride to the "doctor" is clear in my memory, which means I was fully conscious as soon as I woke up. My grandparents couldn't afford the gas to ride to Wichita, where a licensed Dr. lived, so instead we went to the local midwife. She had no suturing materials, so she couldn't give me the stitches I needed. She simply filled my gaping neck wound with Iodine, the cure-all of the times. Iodine burns badly, especially when it is in an open wound! It was the most painful part of the whole ordeal! However, I do not even have a scar now, which is truly amazing!

On the way to the midwife's home, I pleaded with Grandpa and Grandma to NOT tell my parents, as I knew it would worry them! I guess I thought it would be all healed up and invisible by the end of my two week stay!

More than a year later, in 1945, I once again spent two weeks with my Grandparents. By now they had moved into town, Udall, Kansas, which was the nearest town to their farm.

My grandparents were Methodist, and lived just across the street from their church building. Grandpa was the janitor there, and on Wednesday nights, after prayer meeting, he could always be found putting the chairs away and cleaning the building for the weekend services. On August 14, 1945 was V-J day, the end of WWII. Grandpa and Grandma and I were sitting in their living room, reading scriptures as we did every evening, when we heard that news on the radio. Grandpa pulled on his shoes, told me to come along with him, and we quickly went into the church building and clear up the stairs to the tower! Grandpa started to pull the long rope that was connected to the bell in the tower, then he stopped, picked me up high and told me to pull the rope! I got to be the first one in Udall, Kansas, to ring the bell for the wonderful news that the war was over! I had no idea then, of course, what a momentous occasion that was! I just knew everyone was ecstatic!

I remember many things about my grandparents on both sides, but these two years were the most adventurous stories of my childhood!

Love, Mom/Gma

2010-06-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

The Wedding Business

Memorial Day

2010-06-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Dearest Families:

Hope you all enjoyed a great Memorial Day! Connie, I didn't get you called to tell you we couldn't be at your barbecue because we were going out of town, to Craig. Thanks so much for inviting us, though!

We had a good time with Lois and Gale for about 2 ½ days. Uncle Gale has a memory that absolutely amazed us! He doesn’t listen well to what Lois says (like most husbands!)……but then, he can’t HEAR well at all, so that’s not surprising! He told Army stories for about two hours to Dad, and they were very interesting, very detailed! He could remember every name of the full names of people he worked with and even was slightly acquainted with during his time in the Army. He had a fantastic scrapbook about 2 ½ inches thick and each one seemed to bring up a great story!

We stopped in GJ and took Aunt Maxine out to lunch because she couldn't make it up to Craig. It was good to see her and she seems really healthy and doing well. Ben couldn't be with us.

I have to tell you a Jackson story! Jack and Natalie brought Jackson over last week in the evening while Jack got a massage from Chuck. I wanted to hold him, and he readily came to me, then laid his little head on my chest/shoulder and just stayed still for the longest time! Jack was amazed! He said he NEVER does that with anyone! Soon there was a noise in the foyer, by the organ, that he needed to investigate, so he sat up and leaned toward the noise. I tried to help him by lifting him closer to the door where he could see better. He immediately threw himself back against my chest and melded into me again! Again, he didn’t move for a long time! Everytime he thought he was going to lose his place there, he melted into me again! It was so darling, and absolutely and completely won my heart, of course! He stayed on my lap most of the rest of the time they were here.

Now a Gabriel story. Ryanne had all six kids in the car and as they rode, two of them started arguing and not talking very nice to each other. She said “Hey, is that the way we talk to each other?” One of them said something like, “well, I guess it is!”

Ryanne immediately replied “Not MY kids!”

Gabe quickly blurted out “You have KIDS?" and then in a very disgusted voice.."Why, you two timer!!” His humor is just so very different! Of course, that ended all tension in the car and everyone laughed together!

Another time, when Ryanne was just finished doing her one-day-a-week literature class at the little Christian school where her kids go and Gabe was with her, a married couple came in the school to inspect things and see if they wanted to have their kids go there. As they opened the door and peeked in to be sure they weren’t interrupting anything, Ry said, “Come on in!” And Gabe assured them, “Yeah, it’s OK. She doesn’t have a gun!” Ry could have died, but it was funny, nevertheless! When we stopped by their one day we saw a barefooted Gabe at the top of their city lamp pole at the corner of their yard. It is a black, slick pole. When he got down, I said, “Gabe how do you get up there?” He said, “I just lick my hands and then wipe them on my feet so they will stick better!” I told Ryanne about what he said, and she assured me she could have gone the rest of her life with having that visualization! He’s such a character!

Congratulations to our Brennen John! A mission call to Dallas Texas! I told him he will absolutely love the people and of course, they will love him! They are so friendly, or at least they were when we were there. It's a good thing, because the weather is NOT so friendly!! Has anyone heard from CJ? I am writing him an email today, wrote to JJ last week. JJ wrote a really nice letter on emaill, too.

This coming Monday and Wednesday will find our Jack and Mary another year older. Happy Birthday, you two! Ronnie just had a birthday, and Nikki, Shane Ford, Alaina, Kemarie and Rebecca all follow closely. Of course, if we go into the GREAT grandchildren, I probably don't have them all listed on my b.d. calendar. I do know Audrey Hart and Hyrum Wheeler and Tyler Hart all have their special days this month. I'm sure there are others this month. Everyone have a great celebration!

Aunt Maxine will be 86 on the 1st of July, same as Glenn's birthday. I really have a hard time thinking of her as being that old! Aunt Lois will turn 85 in November. All of your Dad/Gpa's and my generation is right up there in the top 3/4 of the century mark! Incredible.

We hope you will all come to the breakfast at DATC on the 3rd of July (Sat.) and tell them you are with the Whickers, 'cause Gpa is paying for all of us. Thanks, Gramps!

Glenn, we are praying for you as you approach this operation. I surely do hope that this ends at least most of the pain for you.

Love, Mom/Gma

We love you all

Noisy Joy

2010-05-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Dearest Families:

Yesterday was a supercalifragilistic day, following a great weekend.

Sunday, the chapel in Farmington was absolutely packed for C.J.'s farewell. Dad/Gpa and I counted around 60 from our family, and then there were all the Lindsey's besides many, many friends. C.J. gave such a great talk; we were all very uplifted by it. He will make such a great missionary! This morning, Rachael, Colten, Jacci, Buddy and his Rachel, and Bradley, the boys' cousin, all took him to the MTC and I hear that it was quite a tear-jerker when they parted! I know that C.J. is very excited for his mission, but this is his first time away from home, so it will be difficult in that way, at least for awhile. Let's flood him with letters....I'll send the address as soon as I get it.

Glenn, Pam, Katie and Lyndsey came on Saturday and we had a wonderful visit with them. RJ and David came to share that time for awhile Sat. night. Then Jami and James and their two little gals came on Sunday, and Alison. Perris couldn't make it. Connie and all of her children and grandchildren (except Mary, who only came to the farewell, and Richie, Jessica and Sierra) came over after the farewell, so we had quite a houseful! Rachael also came for awhile...we were so glad she was able to make it on such a busy day for her. It was a lot of noisy joy!

Yesterday (Wednesday) Spencer, Christopher and Colten all needed some assistance with their cars, so we got to see them all in one day! Grandpa enjoyed working with them all, and I enjoyed just visiting. Colten got a massage from Chuck while he was here and loved that, of course! Spencer was here too early for a massage. Spence brought us some brownies that he had made, and they were delicious. Very chocolaty (chocolatey? -- I know, there's no such word.) We missed seeing Jacci and Jessica. One more month (or less) and we'll get to meet little Brooklyn Ann Campbell!

In the evening, Jack, Natalie and Jackson came over for awhile. Jackson is just so cute that Jack can hardly stand it! (Natalie too, I'm sure, but she just doesn't say as much!) When I held him, he laid his head on my chest and just stayed there, calm and content! I thought it was because he was still sleepy from his nap in the car, but whenever I would move him a bit, he would glue himself right back to me and never let me separate us for at least half an hour! Jack says he never does that....lays so quietly and calmly and cuddly for so long! Natalie says he likes her Mom to cuddle with him, too, but not for that long! I was quite honored, as you might guess!! What an adorable 7 month old! I told them they have to come at least once a week now, because he is nearing the age where he may be a little afraid of strangers, so I want him to continue being familiar with who I am! He also sat on Grandpa's knee (Grandpa's usual baby-holding position) for quite a while, completely content and mellow!

Rea Jo and Anna came, too. I helped Anna a bit with a song she wants to play for her class today and RJ also "accepted" a massage!

So thanks, everyone for sharing your time and love with us.

Chuck is doing well in his school, learning a lot. He loves to have the practice of doing the actual massages, so please come on over if you would like one. Rebecca will be here in June for about a week. She'll get to experience a Kaysville 4th of July. Maybe some others will get to be with us, too. Fred and Penny, we hope you will come! I think Richie and his family will be here, right? WHICH REMINDS ME: Don't forget that Grandpa pays for all of you at the Kaysville breakfast. If you don't see us there in line, just tell them you are with the Whickers, as we will have already paid........assuming you won't be too early! We usually get there around 8:30 or 9:00. Call us if you aren't sure what the status is when you get there.

I believe Rachael Maria is planning to be here for the 4th, also. We'll all get to meet their new baby girl, too! It will be a great summer, and FULL of new babies! We are praying for all of you Mommies who will be experiencing that this year...........oh, and next year, too! (I won't tell you who that is, as she may want to tell you herself).

Love you all oodles!
Mom/Gma

To Those Who Are or Will Be MOMS!

2010-05-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

(You guys can read this, too!)

Do you all realize how many very, very good mothers we have in our family alone??!! How thankful I am for all of you!

In was so impressed with the talk that "someone" gave at General Conference....I was almost asleep, and don't remember the person who said it....but I think it might have been Pres. Monson.....and he said that the women in the church are to lead, not to be led by other women of the world. For some reason that really struck me. And it brought the memory of a story I thought I'd share, in honor of those women in our family who are leading by example and obedience. This story has to do more with confidence than leading, but there is a link between the two, I think.

When we were in the Air Force and had not yet begun studying the gospel, I was invited to join the NCO Wives Club. I've never been a "joiner", but for some reason I decided to give this a try. So, I went to the first meeting. I was 23 years old, pregnant with my fifth child. Everyone there was dressed very nicely in fashionable clothes and beautiful hair styles. I probably wasn't as strange looking as I felt, but my clothes were at least 6 years old, because I know I had not purchased any new clothes until quite awhile after we were married (when I was 17). Being pregnant with my fifth child seemed to cause quite a stir among several women, and I didn't feel anything positive from them! I felt frumpy, out of style and completely unknowledgeable compared with the conversation that they shared with each other.

Well, you can guess that I decided I probably didn't fit in there! I lacked confidence anywhere at that time, and only felt worse in this group.

We began studying with the missionaries shortly thereafter. I think you all probably already know that it took us a long time....four months of very intense studying and praying. -- before we were baptized.. Your Dad/Gpa was converted long before I was. I had to prove everything by prayer AND the New Testament, since I wasn't sure about the Book Of Mormon yet. (That's another story, though!) Everything was definitely there, in the New Testament, but it did take a lot of studying.

Anyway, by the time that we were baptized, I guess I knew more of what my life's purpose was and who I was. I didn't realize that I had really changed in my feelings about myself that much until I went to my second meeting of the NCO Wives Club......(don't ask, I cannot imagine why I went to the second meeting!) It had been several months, and I think they were still trying to recruit me. The surprise was that all the time I was there this time, I had NO feelings of inadequacy, frumpiness, unstylishness or lack of intelligence! But my eyes were now open and it was clear to me now that the things these women talked about, that I didn't know anything about - were mostly very shallow and not much worth learning! I didn't feel "above" them in any way, but I was just surprised that I hadn't been aware of this before! Without casting any shadow on them, I have to say that they were still, without realizing it, women of the world. I had no interest in spending time with them when my time was such a rare treasure, in which I could study and read and learn! I wished that I could share the gospel with them, but I was way too young and shy and as yet unprepared to do that.

Thank you, all of you, who are so valiant in your leadership! Your role as mothers, friends, wives and sisters and daughters will have much more lasting value than you can realize now.

Love, Mom/Gma

What Legacy?

2010-05-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

Someone in our family, some years ago, wrote this and I found it in myold Word Perfect files. It gives food for thought! Maybe it willinspire us to write legacy-worthy thoughts in our journals????Love, Gma

I had a philosophy professor who was the quintessential eccentricphilosopher. His disheveled appearance was highlighted by a well-worntweed sport coat and poor-fitting thick glasses, which often rested onthe tip of his nose. Every now and the, as most philosophy professors do,he would go off on one of those esoteric and existential "what's themeaning of life" discussions. Many of those discussions went nowhere, butthere were a few that really hit home. This was one of them:"Respond to the following questions by a show of hands," my professorinstructed. "How many of you can tell me something about your parents?"Everyone's hand went up.

"How many of you can tell me something about your grandparents?" Aboutthree-fourths of the class raised their hands.

"How many of you can tell me something about your great-grandparents?"Two out of sixty students raised their hands.

"Look around the room," he said. "In just two short generations hardlyany of us even know who our own great-grandparents were. Oh sure, maybewe have an old, tattered photograph tucked away in a musty cigar box orknow the classic family story about how one of them walked 5 miles toschool barefoot. But how many of us really know who they were, what theythought, what they were proud of, what they were afraid of, or what theydreamed about? Think about that. Within three generations our ancestorsare all but forgotten. Will this happen to you?

"Here's a better question. Look ahead three generations. You are longgone. Instead of you sitting in this room, now it's yourgreat-grandchildren. What will they have to say about you? Will they knowabout you? Or will you be forgotten, too? "Is your life going to be a warning or an example?

"What legacy will you have? The choice is yours. Class dismissed."Nobody rose from their seat for a good five minutes.

Addendum to Our Trip (Short)

2010-04-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

I found some notes about a couple of more interesting things that happened to us on our trip...you'll be happy to note that this one is not so long!

Crosses
As we drove along a country road in Missouri, passing one of the sparsely spaced homes, Dad said, "Oh, look, they've got a white cross in their back yard. Do you suppose someone was killed at that spot?" When I looked, I realized there were TWO crosses! For a split moment I thought they must have lost 2 family member there.....then I realized there was a wire between the two crosses....it was a clothesline!! I guess it has been a long time since we saw one of those!

Buggies
We happened to be going along a highway in Missouri that was close to a Mennonite settlement, and right at the time that they were going home from church. Their route consisted of mostly the side roads, but they had to use the paved highway for about a mile to get to the other side of the road, so we saw about four buggies full of families, the ladies all dressed in their long black dresses and bonnets. It was a neat sight!

Country Crossroad
We needed a gas station, and our GPS told us there was a Shell in about a mile. We were looking for it at what seemed to be kind of a main crossroad, and found that it had been there, but was now closed. It seemed very appropriate to have it missing when we saw the name of the crossroad..........a sign that declared that we were visiting Dysfunction Junction!

Love, Mom/Gma

Dad's Journal

2010-04-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

Written on 8/9/09:

Well I’m Back and will try to write another episode of my flying career.

I think I will go back to the busy year of 1960. I really don’t remember exactly the chronological order of these experiences but just the year.

The worst earthquake and tsunami, they say in the history of the world, but I would say the known history of the world as I don’t think they have any way of knowing the whole history.

We were still stationed at Dover AFB in Delaware and I was still flying the C-124 though later in the year I changed assignments to the C-133. We loaded up with relief supplies for Puerto Monte, Chile in Houston and had crew rests in Lima, Peru and Santiago, Chile. Another crew would continue on at each stop and we would pick up the next A/C coming through then we would shuttle between Santiago and Puerto Monte with that A/C for the rest of the time we were on that mission or till they would rotate the A/C back to the states, then after several missions we would then return to the States as other crews were worked into the system. We were amazed on our first flight into Puerto Monte to find only a 7000 ft. 150 ft wide concrete strip up and a plateau above the town with no taxiways or even a paved road connected to it. They had just recently poured the runway and for the first flight in there; they had to remove the hay and straw that they had covered it with to prevent the concrete from drying too fast. We were the first flight in that day so we landed and taxied to the end where we turned crosswise to the runway and opened our clam shell doors in the front, let down the ramps (which you could drive truck transports in or out on) and also we had an elevator in the rear of the cargo compartment with which they could also load and unload cargo. As they started unloading us another C-124 came in over the top of ours and went to the other end, turned crosswise and started unloading; he had not been on the ground very long and a third A/C landed over the top him and taxied down next to ours and did the same, then another A/C (All C-124s) Landed over the two of us and went down by the one on the other end….we had 4 C-124s on the ground at the same time. After we were all offloaded the third A/C to land took off over the top of the two at our end, then the one next to us took off going the other way over the on A/C left at that end then the next one off had to go over only one and the last had the whole runway left to themselves. It was a very interesting operation and that went on for many days. After the first day we just shuttled back and forth and rested in Santiago. There were other crews shuttling between Lima and Santiago and other crews from the States to Lima. The A/C would come in loaded to Lima change crews go right on to Santiago pick up a new crew who would take the load to Puerto Monte and bring the A/C back empty where crew would take it to Lima and another crew take it on back to the States, or wherever for another load. I don’t know exactly how long this operation lasted but I believe that we were out over 2 weeks before we came back to the states with a layover in Lima.

That was the operation: Very interesting in itself but I was starting to really confident as an experienced Flight Engineer. We had a few mechanical problems during that time. One was the Auto Pilot went out and the pilots were upset, it turns out that one C-124 had a gear collapse on landing and they had it setting off on the side of the runway; I grabbed the 2nd Engineer, we went over and took the box out of the crippled A/C and exchanged ours and luckily we had an A/P back. The Pilots were ecstatic! In fact, as I recall, I robbed quite a few small things from that broken C-124 over the time we were there. We called that cannibalizing, or midnight requisitioning; even though in this case we did it in broad daylight.

Another interesting thing about that trip was that I was only a staff sergeant. And my 2nd engineer was a master sergeant. He had just recently transferred to MATS (Military Air Transport Service) from SAC (Strategic Air Command) I was a bit intimidated at first as I thought he might be the most experienced but it didn’t take long to find out that while he had been flying for almost 20 years that he had very little actual flying time. In SAC he was on the KC-97 in flight re-fueler; they got a lot of pre-flight experience but then they would sit in the bunker waiting for an alert; they would live in that bunker for several days. They would go out daily to check the A/C over, get it ready to go and then maybe set there on alert for a week or so, when they would rotate to time off for awhile. It turned out that he had only a couple of thousand hours flying time during that 20 years. All of us in Mats who had been flying for any time, at all, had much more experience as we were getting a thousand hours each year flying all over the world with little maintenance support, while on the road, other that the Flight Engineers. When we came back to the States I was working the panel on our descent into Houston when I felt a little nibble on the #3 throttle and since I had experienced that before I informed the AC that we would probably be laying over there as we had blown and exhaust stack on that engine; everybody on board Laughed thinking there was no way I could know that but it proved to be so and we had to wait for the parts before the mechanics could get us back on the road. It was interesting that when we got back to the States the other engineer informed me that he had learned more on that one trip than he had learned in all his previous years on the KC. Several years later I had the same experience here in the Utah Air Guard while we were shooting touch and goes at the SLC airport. As soon as I felt it I told the AC that we had better stay on the ground as we had blown a stack; he didn’t want to quit but finally stopped as I strongly insisted. The other Engineer who was one of our veteran check airman went out on the wing to look at the engine while it was still at idle and was amazed to find that I was correct, so that training flight was over for the night. It was very easy for him to confirm the problem in the dark.

I am going to have to finish this story at this point; I have been without this computer all week as they were building up a new lap top for me which is finished now but I don’t have all the stuff transferred to it; Jeff is going to help me with that tomorrow and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to this project, so I’m going to send this before it gets lost or something in the shuffle.

I do want to say that I am ever grateful for the time I spent in the AF. I wasn’t much of a military type person but I certainly got some good training and experience which enabled me to make a descent living for many years.

I do wish I had been a better tourist and seen more of the world than just from the air; I had plenty of opportunities but just didn’t enjoy playing to tourist by myself; I thought maybe I’d be interested later when Mom could be with me but by the time I hung up my BIG wings I was not interested in traveling anymore and Mom doesn’t feel like it either; it won’t be long now till we’ll be able to go anyplace desire without wings!

Till Next Time
G-PaW

G-Pa's Journal

2010-04-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

Previously written on 4/26/09:

Hi:
I am finally getting around with another installment of some of my interesting experiences; they were to me anyway. They may not be for many of you.

1960 was a bang up year for the M.A.T.S. (Military Air Transport Service) Here are some of the operations I was personally involved in; The Cuban Crisis, The Congo uprising against the Belgians, and the worst earthquake in the known history of the world in Puerto Monte Chile. I think I will start with the Congo.

I really got to see a lot of the world that year. We started for the Congo by picking up some troops in Tripoli, Libya who had been bivouacked beside the runway for 2 weeks waiting for transport to Leopoldville, Congo now called Kinshasa, We took them as far as Kano, Nigeria where we went into crew rest and another crew took them on down to the Congo. We let the ramps down on the old C-124 (It wasn’t very old at that time) for them to come on board which was much faster than if they had climbed up through the crew entrance behind the nose wheel. The poor loadmaster took the brunt of the punishment that whole leg of the trip as those troops were extremely Ripe, they had wool uniforms in that hot desert country. We, in the cockpit, quickly closed the door between us and the cargo compartment, we should have done it before they started loading. It is hard to explain but it was a truly traumatic experience and our eyes ran profusely!

Since it was so hot there on the ground I figured I would do them a favor and not turn on any heat, whatsoever, as we climbed out to 10,000 feet where we planned to cruise, as that is as high as you can legally fly without oxygen for everybody. (The C-124) was not pressurized) We were leveled off at altitude and getting comfortable, when I received a call on the interphone from the Loadmaster that they needed some heat back there. When the troops boarded they had been given some box lunches to eat in flight, which they already had done. They had decided it was too cold and had piled all those cardboard boxes in the middle of the floor, while the Loadmaster wasn’t looking, (I expect he was staying as far as he could from the sweat odor) and built a fire to get warm!! Needless to say I obliged. The scary thing about that is that the floor of that A/C was heavy duty plywood.

We got past that problem and by the time we got to Kano the A/C was really a mess! None of those troops except maybe the little Lt. had ever been anyplace civilized so when they used the urinals which just gravity drained out into the slip stream they had used the toilet paper nearby having been told to use it after using the toilet. By the time we got to Kano they had totally plugged all 5 or 6 of the urinals which had run over onto the floor; sometimes a language barrier can be messy! That whole A/C smelled worse than any pig sty that I’d ever seen or smelled by the time we landed.

None of that group spoke a bit of English except for the little Lt. and he could barely understand. He spoke French to the troops. After we landed the Loadmaster made sure that the little Lt. kept all on board till that whole deck had been hosed down and all the urinals etc. emptied and cleaned. We in the cockpit got out of there ASAP after we shut down. The relationship of that little Lt. and the men was amazing. All of the troops were big men, yet the Lt. treated them like dirt; he would be jabbering something to them in French and then suddenly back hand of them and walk off; the strange thing for us was that any one of them could have knocked his block off if they wanted to. I guess some of those people have been mistreated their whole lives and just accept whatever happens to them.

We spent a couple of weeks shuttling between Kano Nigeria and/or Accra Ghana and Leopoldville. All of the A/C kept shuttling back and forth with mostly military supplies and equipment. I really took a special liking to those Ghanaians; they were very smart and well educated as the British did well by them; the British were just starting to give them their independence at that time. I was told that their literacy rate was higher than the U.S at the time. Just as an aside I will jump forward 20 years to the 80s when I went back to Nigeria and Ghana again. During that 20 or so years the Government had been taken over by a dictators; the first being Kwame Nkrumah and the comparison was incredible! They had been ravished by several, or almost continual civil wars and Military Coups for most of that time. The beautiful hotels and the city in general instead of being in excellent condition with happy educated people all around had reverted to almost tribal conditions…Air conditioning didn’t work. Water was unsafe to drink. The comparison was enough to make one want to cry.

We had two interesting experiences during that tour. I’m not sure which order these came in but the first I’ll mention was In Accra. We were taxiing out for Take off, from a crowded parking area. The natives were awed by that big C-124. They had stadium seating around the parking of area which was jam packed with spectators. As we were taxiing out of that crowded area it was my turn to watch for the clearance of the wing tips from the top hatch. The Engineers swapped duties for each flight. The other Engineer was making that T/O and watching the wing clearance while taxiing was my job. The flight engineers swapped duties and made every other Take off and landing, it was my turn in the top hatch as the other Engineer was making this takeoff. The clearance on some light standards around the stadium was very close so we had wing walkers, also watching the clearance. They signaled me that we should stop so I told the AC to hold it, so he hit the brakes but for some reason he hit the right one first which made the left wing which was the one close to the problem; which sent that wing forward faster and the left wing heater climbed that pole, stopped and settled down impaled with the pole sticking up through the forward part of the heater with about a foot sticking through. I must say that colorful crowd was very impressed! I went out on the wing, inspected it and realized that actually no serious damage had been done to the heater and we really didn’t need wing heat in Africa during the summer anyway. We had them round up a hack saw and I had a native cut the pole off below the heater, then since we had no sheet metal people available we used speed tape to patch the holes and were off the ground within about an hour. As far as I know that A/C shuttled back and forth with that speed tape till it rotated back to the States. Several countries were represented during that operation, in fact I was able to get close to a Russian IL-18 A/C which was about the size of our DC-6; I was amazed that they hadn’t developed flush rivets yet when that A/C was built. Their crew wouldn’t let us go into the airplane (I guess it was still top secret) actually I don’t think they wanted us to know just how outdated and crude it was. We took them on a tour of the C-124. Speed tape was a wonderful thing and has even been known to get big jets back home after a bird strike knocking a hole in the leading edge of a wing without peeling loose; it is just heavy aluminum tape that is extremely sticky.

On one of those shuttles to Leopoldville we had and expander tube which is what actuated the brake shoes against the brake drum burst on landing at Leopoldville. We were able to stop with prop reversal but it was not safe to taxi and they had to tow us off the runway over to the terminal. The AC (Aircraft Commander) asked me how long it would take us to get the problem repaired to which I responded that it would depend on how quickly they could get the part to us. We decided to go get a bite to eat in the, very, new terminal before we made any decisions. We had heard some rifle fire outside the perimeter of the airport on our way into the terminal but were not very concerned. The restaurant area was on the 2nd floor. We, engineers, were following the pilots up the stairs when I noticed a few of the banister supports had been hit by bullets which had broken them, then I noticed that the wall had numerous bullet holes and blood splatters covering it; I caught up the AC and told him to go ahead and file his flight plan and that we would have the A/C ready to go by the time he was ready.

I then found the Major who was the acting Maintenance Officer and had him find me some plumbing type plugs for the hydraulic line which fed the brake lines, which he did. I plugged the line but then we needed to re-service the hydraulic reservoir which, if I remember correctly, required 20 to 30 gallons of fluid. I also informed him that we would have to run each inboard engine up to 1800 RPM to bleed the pumps and system. He had the AC towed over to the maintenance area for that operation. When I got there I noticed that he had the tail of the AC pointing directly toward his maintenance office which was attached to the side of the hanger. He had the main tires backed up right to the edge of the concrete ramp and there were several feet of pure sand behind them. I suggested that we should probably tow to another area and explained the 1800 RPM again; he got a bit irritated with me and let me know that he was the maintenance officer and that is where he wanted us; I just shrugged my shoulder and said “Yes Sir!” He had recently purchased a practically new Studebaker Hawk, and had it parked in front of the maintenance office, from one of the exiting Belgians who was anxious to get out of the war zone. I’m sure he had gotten a steal of a deal. We had his maintenance men pour the fluid into the reservoir. The other engineer got in the seat and I put on a headset and went out into the #2 nacelle, established communication with him and he started up the engine and put it up to the required 1800 RPM. I loosened the output line from the Hydraulic pump and bled the air out, tightened it back up and shuttled through the wing tunnel, fuselage and into the # 3 nacelle where we repeated the process. We shut everything down and I came down out of the nacelle over the landing gear. As I hit the ground I was met by an exceedingly disgruntled Major running up saying something which I really couldn’t understand and probably wouldn’t have wanted to. When he got settled down a bit he was irate because due to the door being open to his office the hurricane winds from the props had papers strung all over the place and the room was full of SAND and it was my FAULT! I kinda chuckled and reminded him that I had suggested that we move the airplane before we ran the engines. We walked back to investigate the damage and saw a sickening sight; That beautiful Studebaker Hawk had absolutely no paint on the side that had been toward the airplane. We had done a good job of sand blasting it right down to the bare metal! I suspect that Major had a tendency after that to pay more attention to suggestions from some of the old Sergeants floating around.

In regards to my job I really enjoyed 1960 except that I was gone from home for several long stretches of time.

This is becoming way too long for one setting so I will continue the Cuban Crisis and Chile Earthquake in a later edition.

I LOVE YOU ALL
GpaW

Out Trip, Pt. 4 - Surprise Gift and Memory Lane

2010-04-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

Too Close for Comfort
As we traveled back toward Kansas, we stopped at another little County Library where one of Benjamin King's son's was born, thinking we might possibly find something there, but no luck. On one of those Missouri roads somewhere, we were behind a huge semi truck, and the car ahead of us passed him. As we started to follow that car and pass him, he came steadily over into our lane, thinking the other car was the last one, I'm sure. We were pretty much up even with the cab, so there was no chance to slow down and let him just go ahead of us, so Dad/Gpa headed toward the center ditch. At the very last possible moment, the truck driver saw us and yanked back into his own lane. We could see the trailer rock from the sudden change in direction! I watched in the rear view mirror and saw him quickly pull off to the side of the road. We're not sure whether he was sleepy and decided to take a nap, or maybe he needed a clean pair of shorts!

Wilderness Wireless
We passed a very, very remote rest area in Missouri - in the middle of NOWHERE, and the sign said "We have wireless"!! Guess they thought someone might be in dire need of communication with no people to turn to!

THE GIFT
Finally, we arrived in the great state of Kansas. Augusta, Kansas is where my great grandmother Maggie Jane (Harris?) Adams' sister lived and died. Her married name was Selvage, and I had corresponded some with one of her descendants who gathered all he could for that family. I made a couple of phone calls to Selvage names in the phone book, and one of them told me the person that was interested in genealogy. When I called him, he came to the motel to meet us. We talked for awhile, I showed him what I had on my computer for the family, and we discussed the problem with my great grandmother and her sister's surname. We are not sure what it was, and I wanted to be sure everything in Aunt Sarah's place of residence had been searched. He said it had, and nothing came up about their name. BUT --- he took us to his home and showed us all the stuff he had on the Selvage family. It was four large white three ring binders full of genealogy and pictures and stories! I asked him if I could go somewhere and copy some of it. He thought for a minute and said, "You know, I don't have any children and nobody else in the family is interested in this at all since Charles died (that was the man I had corresponded with several years earlier)......you can just have it!" I was dumbfounded! I will try to get it back to him after I take out of it what I want, but he didn't act like it mattered much. It was as if he had been waiting for someone that was truly interested in it! This man had never heard of me or met us before in his life!

Happy Town
We saw a little town sign as we passed about four houses and a gas station....the name said "Smileyville, Kansas"! Cute, huh?

Cousins and Aunts
We arrived in Wichita and called my Rintoul cousin, Dwayne. He was glad to hear from me, and we visited for awhile there. Their little granddaughter, Bayley, was there, too. It was fun; I hadn't seen him in several years. I also tried to contact Loretta, a Clodfelter cousin that lives there, but her phone number was no good and she wasn't in the book, so I had to give up.

We travelled on to Newton, KS where another cousin lives, Earl Rintoul (Aunt Mart's son). He and his wife both have had pretty serious problems with their health lately, and she been through several operations. He is eating very strictly, because he had another bout of angina and it scared him badly. We had a nice visit and laughed a lot. He's always been one of my favorites, ever since I played so much with him as a baby, before I left Garden City when I was almost 7. He is 5 years younger than I. I thought I would DIE as I watched them through the back window, waving goodbye to me. I cried for an hour, my Mama said! They were all I had for siblings, and I honestly didn't know if I could live without them! He was only 2 at the time, so I'm sure he doesn't even remember ever playing with me! His Daddy is the one that was killed in an auto accident when Earl was 9. Earl and his brother, Fred, were here to visit us, either when my Mom died or when Johnny was killed, I don't remember which, so some of you met them.

Next was Hutchinson, KS, where one of my two living Aunts lives. We couldn't get anyone to answer a phone that evening, so we got a motel and waited until morning. We just got to see Aunt Millie, which was good because that was my main concern. She is 89. She lives in a very nice assisted living home, and is still getting moved from her house. I think she's having some trouble with that change. It was good to see her, and to let her know that I think of her a lot.

We went on to Garden City that night and got there in time to see Aunt Vivian for awhile. She was thrilled to have us come see her in her assisted living place there. She is not one whit challenged with memory or her normal characteristics! We ate supper with her, and it tickled me to see how she had to be sure we "had enough" and that it "tasted alright" and kept asking if we "wanted anything else", etc. JUST LIKE SHE ALWAYS did when we would go to visit her in her own home! She will be 92 on the 4th of May, and her only problems are a few aches and pains! She called her girls, and Merlene and Kay were able to come see us while we were there. We stayed in Garden that night, and then went back to visit with her some more and had lunch with her. That is the best little place I've ever seen for feeling like a real home!

Aunt Vivian was a beauty operator and gave me my first permanent on those horrible old heavy rod electric machines! I was so little (because I had straight stubborn hair from day one) and that machine was SO BIG! Her original perm machine (the one she used on me) is now in the Garden City museum!

Down Memory Lane
Before we left town, we went on a little memory tour. We drove past my Grandma and Grandpa Rintoul's home, where I spent a lot of time during my first 7 years. It is still the same little house, but it is run down and there are no flowers!! Oh, my goodness, Grandma must turn over in her grave if she ever looks down on that little yard! She was SUCH a flower lover, and every morning, she would go outside to her back yard, in her apron (which she always wore almost the whole day because she cooked so much) fold her hands behind her, and stroll up and down each row of flowers. I watched her do that so many times, I can still see it very plainly! To see the little run down yard now almost makes me cry. That is the house where I went during my 17th summer to help take care of my Grandma while Grandpa was still working.

Another memory there is always, always seeing my Grandpa walking down the street, either going or coming from work, whistling a tune, pulling his big red wagon with his wallpaper and/or paint buckets, brushes and rollers, to do someone's house. He had a constant business and was very good at it, but he NEVER liked to drive. He did have a Model A sitting in the driveway, and he let me use it that summer to run errands and go to the youth group of the Christian Church.

Historical Honeymoon Site
We went by the house where my Mom and Dad slept on their honeymoon, and found out it has become an official historical sight! I'll try and attach that picture with this so you can see it as you think about the story I'm going to relate to you. (Interesting that we did this on what would have been Gma C's 95th birthday, March 25!)

When Grandma and Grandpa were married in 1932, it was considered almost an automatic thing that your "gang" chivareed you. A chivaree was some sort of trick like kidnapping the bride for an hour, or blindfolding both of them and taking them out in the country for a traipse in the wilderness. Never a very fun thing for the bride and groom, and I think they finally gave it up as a bad idea (I'm so glad!) However, Gma and Gpa C. knew they would be chivareed, because Aunt Mart's boyfriend at the time, who became my Uncle Charles, was such a teaser and he was usually the leader of the gang. Soooo, the house where my Gma and Gpa Rintoul lived was two stories, with the upper story bedroom perked on top of the first story (see picture). There were windows in the bedroom upstairs where you could actually get out and lay down on the roof of the bottom story. They climbed out there, knowing the gang was coming after them, and laid down on the roof after carefully shutting the windows from the outside. (They didn't have window locks in those days, and evidently no screens) They heard the group drive up, go into the house, look around in the upstairs, and finally, they gave up and went somewhere else to look, driving away. Gma and Gpa had won! They climbed back into the bedroom and went to bed..........only to find that Grandpa Rintoul had tied cowbells to the springs underneath the mattress! I thought that was hilarious, but I'm not sure they agreed at the moment! Remember, Gma C. was only 17! Think how embarrassed she must have been!

In the pictures, you'll see the house and then the placard that explains the historical status. I've been there within the last 10 years, and I know it didn't have that placard then. So that was really fun. As you look at the house, you'll see the little roof around the house at 2nd floor level, but you can't see it very well on the right side because of the tree.....but that's the side where Gma and Gpa C hid.

The Richard Paul Whicker Family
We drove on to Ft. Carson to visit Richie and Jessica and little Sierra Samantha, and to take her very belated little kitten picture. Got there too late to visit that night, but the next day we arrived there just in time for Richie to go back to work after an early lunch, as he was hoping to get off early that evening. However, instead, they kept him LONGER than usual, so we played with Sierra and watched TV with Jessica until he came in, then we took them out to dinner. Jessica made her announcement to us about being pregnant again! Sierra loved her kitten......in fact, I realized that when they are babies they don't even pay any attention to them, of course, but at Sierra's age, they are much appreciated by the recipient themselves!!

Richie had cleaned the house for us, and he was very pleased with himself! He said he should have taken before and after pictures so we could appreciate his efforts! Jessica is having a tough time, I think, with the beginning of this pregnancy.

After dinner, the three of them went to our motel with us, and Dad/Gpa showed them our 50th wedding anniversary video. Richie was tickled to see what he looked like 9 years ago! He also showed them most of the video Ry made for her Dad's b.d. He was very interested in all the planes Gpa had flown.

Homeward Bound
We headed for Utah the next morning, going through Canyon City on Hwy. 50. When we filled up with gas, there was a young man there with long locks, filling his truck. He had on beautiful silver earrings....made up of filigreed butterflies.....at least 1 1/2 inches wide!

We didn't stop to visit in Grand Junction because we were just so tired and wanted to get home. We will go there next week, if all goes well, and spend two or three days visiting with Aunt Max and Ben, and Aunt Lois and Uncle Gale.

We did stay in a motel there, and it was quite unique. A family from Bulgaria had purchased it, and their accent was so fun. They had put sweet little touches in the room, like a bouquet of flowers on the table with a nice doily underneath, and beautiful embroidered shower curtains. Everything was so clean! A much homier feeling than you usually find in motels, especially the moderately priced ones! We complimented them on the room and they seemed delighted!

We went to church in Fruitvale long enough to take the Sacrament and then headed home. A wonderful trip..........and also wonderful to reach our beloved Kaysville and our home and family!

Love,
Mom/Gma

Our Trip, Pt. 3 - Grandpa Fixit & Benjamin King

2010-04-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

First I have to tell you about your Dad/Gpa's automatic compulsion..........forever, as most of you know, when he sees something that needs fixing, he either puts it on his daily list right away, or, in MOST cases, just starts fixing it right that moment. Well, we were in a motel, which cost us about $75 a night. I had my back toward him as he was standing in the dressing area, and I heard a noise. I turned to see what it was, and he was inspecting one of the ceiling tiles that was loose, pushing it up to see what was broken, I suppose. I queried, "Honey, what are you doing?" His reaction was funny....he looked a little sheepish, then said, "I guess I'll let them fix this!" It's just such a very ingrained (and good, I might add) habit for him to keep things up whenever possible! Such a cutie!

In Springfield, we visited with Edwin for a couple of hours, and he showed us a scrapbook he had made of his life. He has only one daughter and one granddaughter, so I sure hope one of them takes an interest in that treasure.

Edwin's daughter has cancer, and they were doing a biopsy the next day after we got there, so he was quite tense. We went to a really nice little Inn that had a kitchenette, living room, and couch! We enjoyed our time there, and the next day we didn't hear from Edwin until quite late so we decided to stay there another night before taking off. (Edwin doesn't have a cell phone or computer, so when he is waiting for a call, it has to be his home phone. He is quite a worrier and doesn't want his personal life "exposed" by a cell phone or computer, so he's way behind the times!)

The morning of the 31st, we went to West Plains, Missouri, where a genealogy research client of mine lived. It was 120 miles one way, but I hadn't heard from him for years, and I had a lot of important papers that he had sent me during my research that were originals (bad idea) and when I returned them to him by mail, they came back! I figured he was dead, but thought at least I could find a relative to give them to, as I wanted to be sure they got into the right hands to preserve for his family. I was right, he had passed away about 6 years ago, but in the phone book there was a Hilburn Photography Studio listed, so we went there and found that his wife still lived there -- I don't know why she didn't get the packet of papers I sent. Anyway, we found her phone number, called her and she told us where to send the materials; she seemed totally uninterested, though, and I certainly hope that someone in their posterity will take good care of these records.

One sad note was that Dad called one of his cousins, Betty Jean King James (Gma Whicker's oldest brother's daughter) and she evidently has Alzheimers, because she had no idea who he was and he couldn't even help her recognize the name KING.

He called several King cousins who were having family illnesses. Galen King, Uncle Floyd's youngest son, and his wife Kathy were well, and seemed very excited about seeing us, so they came over to Carthage and we took them to dinner, had a great visit. He talks so much like Uncle Floyd it is amazing! They came back to the motel with us and watched our 50th Wedding Ann. video and I showed Kathy some of our genealogy files. They are a sweet couple. They very much believe in God and are active in their church.

****
For some reason which I cannot remember now, I googled John King's name (Uncle John's son) and came up with a genealogy query that he had submitted on some site that I can't remember now!! (Note all the "can't remembers") I found that he was looking for Grandma Beulah King's great grandfather, Benjamin A. King. He mentioned Putnam County, Missouri as the death place for Benjamin. All I had was the year of death, 1892, the approximate date of birth and the state of birth...and I did know he died somewhere in Missouri. Actually, I hadn't ever done any research on this man at all....so I have a very strong witness that finding him at this particular time was important! We were planning to leave Missouri the very next morning and go to Kansas to do the research on MY great grandmother that I had so looked forward to, but something was pulling me another direction! I quickly looked up Putnam County on the map, found that it was THREE HUNDRED miles away from the part of Missouri that we were in, and asked Dad if he wanted to go so far. He was willing to do what ever I wanted to do, and I think he, too, was a little excited about finding something on his GGGrandfather.

So, the next morning we headed North to go way up near the Iowa border! Before the jaunt was over, we realized that the WHICKER family lived 16 miles north of the KING family in the 1890's when Grandpa Benjamin Archie Whicker was born! The reason that is interesting is that they did not meet and merge families until they all moved to Southern Missouri, where Grandma Beulah King was born 5 years after Grandpa Benjamin Archie!

Benjamin A. King was b. about 1805 in Tennessee, county unknown. Since he died in Putham County, MO, I was hoping to find some biographical material on him, and since he lived in the County Seat (Unionville) I was sure there would be some records. As we wandered farther North and away from Kansas City, houses got more and more sparse and farmland was everywhere! I thought, Boy, I am sure thankful that he lived in the County seat, because it doesn't look like there are many towns of any size for many, many miles here! We eventually turned East off the main highway, and went miles and miles without seeing any sign of a house, vehicle or any indication of a human being! Except, of course, all the wheat and corn fields standing there, lonely, on the quiet roads.

After about 5 hrs. of driving, a lot of it at about 50 mph, the metropolis of Unionville was right ahead of us. The outskirts of town were pretty old fashioned looking.....but we soon discovered that the "outskirts" were actually the "middle" of town! There were two medium size grocery stores, no restaurants, 1 service station, and an interesting little warehouse looking store whose marquee touted "Tools, Ceramics, Dolls and Misc."
(Picture attached.) We stayed in the only motel in town. It was clean and comfortable, with a bed that we considered better than the modern ones in motels today because it had beautiful wooden headboard and footboard with upright planks and crowns on the corners (think 1920 style) and was very comfy. There was no cell phone reception, no wireless at the motel....however, they did have wireless at the library, thank goodness!

The next morning was Saturday and the library was only open 3 hours that day, so we were there right at 9 a.m. and stayed until noon. I didn't find anything biographical about Benjamin King, but I did find several of his children's marriages and their children's births and marriages. This is one of those little places where the church hasn't ventured to film, so I was SO glad that the Spirit guided us there.

I had gone through all of the cemetery listings, which the librarian said were all complete....and then as we went to leave, she said, "What name are you looking for?" I told her, and she said, "Oh! You know, there is a cemetery named the King cemetery....and it isn't listed here in our materials. But, it only has one grave." The grave WAS for a King, so she then guided us to another person that might be able to tell us more about that grave. We called him, and sure enough!!! It WAS our Benjamin King! The grave was on what had been his property in the late 1800s. We didn't get to see it because it had snowed that very day and everything was so muddy from the spring rains and snows. I guess you had to climb a couple of little hills to get there, too. But it was a great great grandson of Benjamin's that I talked to, and he said the grave is well preserved, with a stone wall around it, and everyone who has owned the property since 1892 has kept it in good shape. I hope to soon get a picture of it from a gal that is doing a cemetery project there.

A couple of days later as I was again surfing on the Internet, I found a lady who had an ancestor named George Clinton King, b. 1809 in Tennessee. On the slight possibility that he might be related to Benjamin, I emailed her and asked her if he happened to have a brother named Benjamin. She wrote right back and said he DID have a brother named Benjamin, who was married to a Priscilla Cates! THAT'S OUR BENJAMIN!! She didn't know the parents, either, but she did have an idea about the county they lived in Tennessee. So now I have a sibling to help identify the correct parents!

On Sunday, we left in plenty of time to get to Trenton, Missouri, where the LDS church started at 9 a.m. or 1 p.m., as reported on the Church website. We got there 20 minutes ahead of time and met a man going into the building. He said there was only 20 minutes of church left, but we were welcome to come in! The church site was wrong on this one!

Our GPS misbehaved during the miles in the wilderness up in that part of Missouri. It told us twice what road to take as we travelled toward Trenton, and both those roads ended up ending because of a major washout!

Monday we drove to Lamar, Missouri, where Grandma and Grandpa Whicker met and married, and went to the tiny historical department there. We did find some dates that were missing in our data, but most of it we already knew. Grandma did a good job of covering those items!

This is getting too long, so I'll do a Part 4, and try not to be so long getting it written!

Love you all!
Mom/Gma

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T16:23:00.001-07:00

The weekend was very special in all of our lives! We thought about all of you, and missed the ones we couldn't see or talk to!

Glenn and Pam and some of their family were in Logan for the weekend, and so Glenn, James and Perris came down to go to General PH meeting with Dad. Chuck went, too, and then they came home and had rootbeer floats and played a couple of games on the Wii. Would love to keep that tradition going, and when possible, we'd like to have all the Growing Group of Grandsons join in each Conference!

Chuck and Dad and I all watched morning Conference together and enjoyed it very much. I continue to be impressed with the spiritual giants that we have leading us. In the afternoon, we got to spend some time with Rea Jo, David and Abby and Anna when they came over, and we were all watching Conference again when Jack, Natalie and little Jackson (not so little, though!) came by. It was so wonderful to have them here! They are cute, bright parents, and their babe is just absolutely adorable! We couldn't believe how much he had grown! We took pictures of Dad and I and Jackson, as I am trying to get a picture of every great grandchild with us sometime during 2010. My reasons for that are simply that I would give just about ANYTHING if I had a picture of me with my Great Grandma that was still alive when I was little. I don't know whether they will ever care about it as much as I do, but if they DO care, they will have a picture!!

Awhile after Conference, all of Benj and Connie's family came over except for Richie, who is in Louisiana doing a month of training for going to Afghanistan, and Jessica and Sierra. Those two are here, but Jessica wasn't feeling too well. What a fun time that was! Connie, Misti, Mary and Cody, Ronnie, Talon, Owen, Kayani, Benji, Stacy, Ethan, Aubree, Ryan, Sarah, and Jaycee............AND of course, little Sarah, Jr. was definitely THERE (note from Sarah....Thanks a LOT grandma!!! Everyone was giving me crap yesterday for being gigantically pregnant, but I never thought grandma would make sure even those who weren't there knew! :), although she is still keeping her face hidden for the time being! Those three little girl cousins are the cutest thing to watch together! The three boys were outside most of the time, and they have a ball together, too.

We were taking pictures of babies and us, and thought we were through..........not so!! Suddenly, Cody said, "OK, Ronnie, get up there with the baby!" I didn't quite realize what was going on until she jumped up on the couch (where we had the boys standing to take their pictures) and pulled her shirt up to show us the area where our THIRTY-FIFTH great grandchild presently resides! If I get her permission today, I'll put a couple of pictures on FACEBOOK! Congratulations, you soon-to-be family of SIX!

Sarah took on the ardous task of helping me get my pictures from last Halloween transferred to Facebook, and also getting all my pictures from our trip transferred on to my computer. I seem to be not picking that talent up very fast, hopefully it's because I just don't do it often enough rather than because I'm not smart enough! She seemed to laugh at me a lot with reference to computer stuff.....I didn't ever quite know WHY, but I'll bet most of you can easily see that scenario! I DO know how to do genealogy on the computer better than most of you 8-) !!

We also learned that Cody and Ronnie and fam are moving to MONTANA! He has a better job there, with better chances of advancement as I understood them. They've been away before, but this still seems sad in my heart. I am especially feeling sorry for Ethan right now. Such a cute family! I guess now, Gpa and I will have to take a trip to Wisconsin and Montana one of these days!

Mary got a massage from Chuck on his new massage table that he got last Christmas from Rebecca, and when Kayani saw them, she immediately told me about it, in a very worried tone! I tried to reassure her, as all of us did, but she just couldn't believe that he wasn't hurting Mary! Finally, she did get under the table and see Mary's face through the "face hole" in the table, and decided it wasn't quite so bad, but she was still concerned! So cute!

Thanks to all of you for giving us such a wonderful family, and may God Bless you in your desires to grow in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in His ways.

A Lesson I Learned from Christ on the Cross

2010-04-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter, everyone. It truly is the celebration of an amazing event in history, and even more importantly, an opportunity for a strong witness of the Spirit. I know that Christ was on that Cross, and that He not only was resurrected to impart the reality that I, too, shall be resurrected, but that He suffered, died and paid for my pain and my sins, albeit in some way that I cannot begin to comprehend.

He said something that has been a powerful lesson to me, and I would like to share it. (Some of you have heard me say this before....sorry!)

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

To me, that is a pattern for me to consider and follow throughout my life. It is simple enough to realize that those who crucified Him did not know that they were crucifying the Savior of the world, but there is more meaning in my heart. I believe that every time anyone, including me, commit a sin, that at that moment (at least) they do not realize what they are doing. By that I mean, they do not realize the implications and the consequences and the import of their acts. If we truly knew of eternity and the love of God and His plan, we would all choose not to sin. It is our lack of "knowing", it seems to me, that causes us to fail.

For me and my life, this means that I need to get to KNOW Him better, KNOW who He is, and what His plan is.

For others who may choose to judge me unrighteously or strive to offend me, inflict pain or anger against me or those I love, etc., it means that I will forgive them, because truly they know not what they do.

The gifts that we have been offered as a result of His sacrifice are many. I know that I am not even aware of all of them as yet. I am so grateful.

Love, Mom

Our Trip, Pt. 2 THE SCARE

2010-04-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has taken me so long. This is our fourth day home, and both of us have been kind of "out of it" energy wise! I'm feeling like today will be a better day, though! Sometimes it takes a lot for my brain to focus on a project!

I think I left you with our visit to Tara and Andy's household.....but I forgot to say something I wanted to say. I was fascinated to watch Andy with his kids. He isn't home a lot with his work and church callings, but it seemed to me that he used every opportunity to communicate, respect and just "be there" for his kids, in his own quiet way. He and Tyler had several conversations that I witnessed but didn't actually hear what it was about, and the tone of voice Andy used was much like he would use on another adult, I think, but using words that were on a child's level to understand. One time when I did understand the context of the conversation, Tyler was rather whiny about not being able to play a game that he had hoped to share with his Grandpa Whicker (Glenn). Andy had to be firm, and yet he did it in such a respectful way! Andy's calmness was contagious, and Tyler or the girls were always positively affected by his methods, which is just very rare, I think! I wish I had known 50 years ago how to do that, and I even wish I knew how NOW! Tara and Andy are just fantastic parents, even though Tara has quite unavoidable stressful times because of all her duties as wife, mother, RS president, friend, counselor, etc.!!

So now we were on our way to Colleyville, TX, near Dallas, where Marinne, David, Townes and Lillie Mae live. We were so excited to see them. It has been so long since we've been able to spend more than an hour or so with any of them, and even that has been rare.

About two hours into the trip, Dad handed me his cell phone and asked me to check for messages. The first message I heard was Jeff's voice. I was stunned as I heard him say "Dad, I hope Mom isn't right by you. Don't even look at her!" A sick feeling hit the pit of my heart. I told Dad we had to pull over to return the call, because I didn't want him to be driving when we heard the news, whatever it was. It sounded very bad, to me. When we called him, there was no answer, so we left a message. We tried several more times for the next hour or so, and of course, having him unavailable made me worry even more. (I'm sure Dad was worried, too, but he didn't let me know it) We got to Marinne's house a couple of hours later and still hadn't heard from Jeff. I was afraid we would hear from him while we were in Marinne's house with the little ones, and I didn't want to go to pieces in front of them, so we drove on past her house and went and checked into a motel. (Marinne had seen us drive by and I'm sure was disappointed when we went on!) Finally, we got Jeff on the phone. I asked him what had happened, and he said....."Nothing, why?" I explained what I heard on his message and he was astounded, I think! What he had really said was, "Dad I hope Mom's (n) right by you. I need to look at her." (He was trying to use Dad's terminology, he said.) The reason I put an (n) between those two words is because when I relistened to his message, there definitely was a sound that sounded like "is'n" instead of "is" and that's why I guess it came naturally for me to think something bad had to have happened. The voice fluctuations for "Don't even look at her" and "I need to look at her" are the same. Well, whatever the reason, I had gone through several hours of agony, trying to just stay calm (like my new motto says). Jeff felt SO bad! He said how sorry he was, and I said "Don't be sorry, you have just made me SO HAPPY!" It was such a relief to find out the benign truth!!

Later, Rea Jo observed that my subconscious mind may have been remembering what happened the last time I was in Texas, in 1996, and set me into an automatic fear mode, but I sure didn't realize it consciously, if that's true!

When we got to Marinne's house, we explained to her what had happened, so I'm sure that she understood.

We had such a great visit there! That little Townes is so smart....and I think his parents are smart enough to guide that intelligence in the most productive directions. He loves words, and if he hears a new one, he has to know what it means and how to say it correctly, then he USES that word; he owns it! He is so full of questions and things to show you and explain to you! He asked me why I had that "stick" (my cane) and I explained that I sometimes feel like I might fall and it helps me not to. He said, "Oh, you mean like a third leg?" The best explanation I'd ever heard!

He and I played Blockus (a small travel version) that I had brought to him, and he loved it! He was a little pouty when he lost, but then he would pause, laboriously correct his attitude, and then say something like "It's fun to play a game. It doesn't matter if you lose." It was like a lesson he had learned and memorized, but had to be repeated often!! Reminded me of Gabriel's comment when he and I were playing Tetris..."It's OK! I just wanna have fun, OK?" referring to my efforts to persuade him to move the pieces so they would fit where they fell!

Little Lillie is a darling. A bit clingy to Mama at this point, but she did actually come to me, while I was sitting on the couch, touched me, and looked at me without recoiling! By the time we left, she smiled a lot at us. The Mommy and Daddy in that home are also respectful of their children as they correct them. David takes Townes to work with him on Saturdays, and talks to him about adult things all the time! You can tell that Townes truly enjoys his time with his Daddy and thrives in the conversations they have.

We were there for Marinne's birthday, and David had wrapped several presents up for her. She was thrilled to find that he had purchased several real canvases along with paints and all the accessories except for an easel, which she said she didn't think would work well for her, anyway. David is so quiet, and quite sober looking most of the time, but his heart is always smiling, I can tell because of the way he interacts with his family. It was just a joy to be with them! We took Marinne and the kids out for lunch on Friday, and did a take home dinner for her birthday celebration that night, even though it was a day early. We were there for her gift opening, and then left about 2:30 in the afternoon.

We had a pleasant drive to Hennessey, Oklahoma, where Dad's cousin, Barbara (Aunt Irene's daughter) lives. Our GPS did just fine, and the chief navigator finally learned how to understand it well, so things went very smoothly. Barbara and her husband, Walter, live in the wooded outskirts of the little town, lots of land and trees all around them. Their daughter lives next door to them, and the daughter's daughter lives in a little trailer in the back area of the lot. Annie, the great granddaughter, was at Barbara's house a lot, so we got to know her a little. She's a great person, and so is Walter. They were so glad to have us come. They just lost their daughter to cancer in January, and this other daughter was having a very hard time with it. I was trying to comfort her a little, and mentioned something I learned when our John was killed, which I guess she hadn't known before, and she just hung on my every word. When I finished, she said "thank you!" so lovingly, and put her arm around me. She said I had helped her so much, which was quite surprising to me, but I'm so glad I could help a little.

We went to church on Sunday with Barbara and Walter, came home and their kids and grand kids had brought Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner, so we all ate and visited. Since we hadn't ever really known her daughter, son-in-law and kids and grand kids, it was a great experience to get acquainted with them.

Monday morning, we got up and packed and left to go to Perry, Oklahoma, where my cousin Judy Farabough lives (Aunt Verna's daughter). I have not seen her it at least 30 years! We found her after driving on roads that don't exist on the GPS, and had a nice visit. She looks so different than she did when she was young that I can hardly relate her to my young cousin. She is a widow now, living alone, has lots of her family around her and is active in her church. She'll be 79 this year. If you remember my Dad's hair being black, and also Aunt Verna's, hers is just the same. NOT grey like mine! Judy enters competitions every year for her day lillies, and has several trophies for them.

A short drive took us to Oklahoma City, where Forrest Andrews, Dad's cousin (Aunt Sylvia's son) lives. He is a widower, has had his colon removed and has had both knees replaced, but still is very active! He took us for a driving tour around the city, then we took him out to dinner, then we left shortly afterward. He has a collection of classic cars, especially Corvairs. He had a Comet the same year as Dad's, so they have a lot in common.

We stayed the night in Miami, Oklahoma, then continued on to see Edwin King (Uncle Johnny's son) in Springfield, Missouri. We'll continue on from here in the next episode!

Our Trip, Week One and Two, Feb. 26 - March 4, 2010

2010-04-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a good thing to add to your blog...hope it's okay! :) ~Sarah Jean

Dearest Families:

I just haven't been able to get an email written, we've been having so much fun! I'll give you a quick rundown on our travels.

We stayed in St. George for a week, waiting for Glenn and Katie to get out of school on Friday the 5th of March so we could take off that afternoon toward Houston. It was a crowded but delightful time with that little family, and probably an experience that we won't get to have again. I'm quite sure that Katie got the worst of it, as she was the only one that could ride even half way comfortably in the middle backseat! She got pretty bored, I know, but she was a good sport. We tried the "Tell a Story" game, like Misti, Sarah, Jenni and Alaina and I played on our way to California when little Johnny was born....do you remember, girls? I remembered that we laughed our heads off when we did this game then, so we decided to try it. So, we are telling this story about a little boy with big ears who could hear extremely well (this is a short version) and eventually heard three other boys at school talking about slashing their teacher's tires. He wanted to stop them, but couldn't figure out how. Then our innovative Dad/son/Uncle/grandpa Glenn added to the story by saying that he decided to install a video camera so that he could watch the parking lot any time the teacher was there. The next person to add to the story was Katie, and she said...."BUT, even tho he thought about doing that, he found out that he couldn't afford it --- BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH ALLOWANCE BECAUSE HE DIDN'T GET GOOD ENOUGH GRADES!! We all had a good laugh over that one! A true case of experience speaking! In another part of the story, this little boy became so discouraged over the bullying he was getting, that he went home in the middle of the day. But immediately after that it was Pam's turn, and she quickly added that his mother said he had to go RIGHT back to school because he HAD to get his MATH done! (Can we guess that this might be a familiar phraseology in her life with some of her children?) It was really fun, but Grandpa, who doesn't have too good of an imagination but who loves rhyming things, kept just rhyming with the last person's last statement instead of really telling any part of the story!!! So funny. He eventually was so stumped that he just said, "And the little boy lived happily ever after!"...........and that didn't even rhyme!

I think it was about 7:30 on the last day of February when we got to the Hart Home. Andy was at a church meeting (he is the Stake Auditor, I believe). It was so good to see those little ones! We have only seen Kaylee at a few months old until this trip. She and Tyler and Audrey are SUCH little love bugs! Tara was exhausted from her day but still excited to see us and had a lovely dinner prepared for us. After dinner, it was just about bedtime, and every night, Tyler reads to the family from the Children's Reader version of the scriptures. He is such a good reader, and it was so easy to understand that I think I might change over to those readers!

On Tuesday, Kaylee seemed very interested in my playing the piano, so we put a stool by me so she could "play" with me. She played quite daintily with one finger on each hand, so I just watched which note she was playing, and I made chords to match it on my part of the piano. She loved that! Soon, I drew my hands back to my tummy (unintentionally, rather quickly) so I could just listen to her play by herself. She grinned after playing a few notes alone, and abruptly withdrew HER hands back to HER tummy very quickly and smiled up at me! I quickly understood that this was a GAME! So I did it again after playing a few notes, and she did it again, and etc., etc., etc. Pretty soon she broke into a full giggle, and it was SO darling! We had such a fun time!

Oh, I have to tell you about Katie's heart which was stolen by the puppy at the Hart home! Bella is their new dog, and although Tara is quite doubtful about enduring a dog in her house, she has bowed to the emotional needs of the kids............and ANDY! Well, Katie was head over heels in love! I got a couple of cute pictures that I'll try to post soon.

Wednesday, we all (except Andy) went miniature golfing in a psychedelic indoor course, made up with all kinds of huge statues of wild animals. The darkness and the bumpy floor made it scary going for me. I didn't play but I did get some good pictures. The kids had a great time, though!

Thanks to all of you who were there for making our stay so memorable. One thing I've often thought about that kind of bothers me.....when a family of our descendants live in our town or nearby, we NEVER get to go and visit for a day or two like we do with you who live so far away!Being with you guys for several hours a day lets us have a good view of what a fantastic family you are! We get to see fantastic "moments" with those close to us, but they are always all too short! (Don't worry, all of you who are close, we won't invade your homes for days at a time like we did Tara's!) There are, of course, many advantages to having you Northern Utahans close to us, too!

Thursday morning, Glenn and Pam and Katie were taken by Tara to the airport, and we packed up and took off in the car on our month long adventure! Next chapter to follow soon.

Love, Mom/Gma

Trip:

2010-03-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hi All:

We are in the Library here in Unionville, MO.

Mom has found a bunch of info. On the King family so we may have to stay over till Monday before heading for Kansas and her kin.

We had about 3-4 inches of snow on the car this morning and they are expecting more later tonight

We are having a good time but have no cell phone in this area and only have the internet her in the library.

Love Ya all!!

Pappy Daddy

Change in Great Grandparent Hunt!

2010-03-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

I am writing a longer email ab out our trip to all of you, but can't finish it this morning, so just wanted you to know that we have added (not really "changed") another great grandparent hunt to our list! Last night I happened to run into a KING website that gave me Benjamin King's wife's parents names, which I didn't know for sure, AND it gave Benjamin King's death date and PLACE, which I didn't have!
(Benjamin King is Dad/Gpa's great grandfather on his Mother's side).

Since his deathplace was in MISSOURI, which is where we are, we are going to drive an extra 300 miles today to see if we can find out anything more about his parentage. I warned Dad/Gpa that it may all be for nothing, as that is the pattern of genealogical research..........hunt for years and find nothing, then WHAM! a new piece of info comes around and you are all set for another few years of motivation! But he wants to do it! I am excited!

We are going to Putnam County in the north of Missouri today, and probably will be there tomorrow, then start back down into the Wichita area on Sat. eve or Sun. afternoon after church to hunt for my great grandmother Maggie Jane. Please pray for our success! Hunting for TWO GREATS should bring at least ONE great result, don't you think?

We had a wonderful, long visit with Dad's cousin, Galen, who is Uncle Floyd's son (Uncle Floyd is Grandma Whicker's brother) and his wife last night, it was just so fulfilling. Wonderful people! We exchanged email addresses, so we'll keep in touch now.

Love you all so much!

Mom/Gma

Trip

2010-03-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

Howdy All:

We have been having a great time!

We, as you know, spent a week in St. George with Glenn, Pam and Katie, we spent some time in Humble TX at Andy, Tara, Tyler, Audrie, Kaylee’s home; then on to Colleyville TX for a nice visit with Marinne, David, Townes and Lillie Mae, both wonderful families!

On leaving Colleyville we drove north to Henessey OK where we visited and stayed 2 nights at Barbara (Delambert) Herod’s and her husband Walter’s home; We attended church with them on Sunday; they have a really nice home and were great hosts; I sure hope they can come visit in our home sometime.

The next day we went to Tulsa where we got in contact with my cousin Forrest Andrews my Aunt Sylvia (Whicker), and Guy Andrews oldest son. He was a great host, also, and showed us the sights in Tulsa. We went out to eat at a buffet. We then drove on to Springfield MO where we stayed 2 nights in the Arbor Suites at the Mall. We got to see and visit with Edwin King, Uncle John’s oldest son for awhile. He was pretty tied to his home phone, awaiting word about his only daughter’s biopsy tests on her thyroid; he doesn’t have a cell phone, e-mail or anything modern except for his house and car; he’s quite a guy. He and Sheila have finally set the date for their marriage as the 30th of May, but don’t anybody hold their breath!

We moved down to Carthage today and finally got in contact with a couple of King cousins; however many of them are sick, but we did talk on the phone with Ronnie, Uncle Floyd’s son and also other son, in this area, Galen and his wife are going out to eat with us, here in Carthage this evening.

I talked to Linda Hall, Uncle Floyd’s oldest daughter on the phone last night and may be able to contact her son who is living in this area, also.

I expect we will be heading for Kansas tomorrow to find some of Mom’s relatives: I don’t think we are going to last much longer as our bed seems to be calling us home; we will be like the couple in that IKEA commercial, I’m sure.

We are looking forward to seeing you all soon. (a week or so)

Loves Ya Mucho

G-PaW

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2010-02-16T22:04:00.000-08:00

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