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
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Our Trip, Pt. 3 - Grandpa Fixit & Benjamin King
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
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
Monday, April 5, 2010
Easter Weekend
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
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
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
Friday, April 2, 2010
Our Trip, Pt. 2 THE SCARE
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!
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
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
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
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Trip:
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
Friday, March 19, 2010
Change in Great Grandparent Hunt!
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
(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
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Trip
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
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
Sunday, March 7, 2010
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