Harrison's Baptism Day

This goes against everything he stands for ...

Handing over his keys.

Earlier

today we got a call from my second cousin, Trent, inviting us to his ordination to be a High Priest. He is the son of my cousin Kay.   He invited us partly, I think, because he had asked my brother Gary to ordain him.  Gary gave a beautiful blessing to him when he did the ordination.

When Trent spoke, he mentioned how when he was a boy, his favorite place to go was Uncle Golden and Aunt Charlet's house (my parents).  He said he felt so blessed to have Gary ordain him, as he was the closest family member who could do it for him since his own father has passed away.

 It was very sweet to hear him share his feelings.  And it once again reminded me that you never know the influence you may have on others just by welcoming them into your life.  

Cans of Comfort

The other night I saw a newscast about a woman whose husband was killed in a shooting at a mall.   As a way of dealing with the grief and loss, she has started a foundation that makes "Cans of Comfort" to give to families that are going through traumatic loss.  I thought that was a beautiful idea it was.  

My friend, Dianne, and I had been talking about how to put together a gift basket for our friend from "lunch bunch" who lost her husband a few weeks ago.   Though we didn't use a can, we put together a "Cup of Comfort" with soup, gift certificates for a spa and candy, and a few other small items.   When we gave it to her today at lunch, she said it looked like a pamper package.  Which was exactly what we wanted it to be.    

I always enjoy doing anything with Dianne, but I especially love being creative with her.

I'm exhausted.

Pulling everything together for photo shoots (carrying furniture, climbing fences, and making trips to and from the car) is not for the faint hearted.  And I guess I must be faint hearted, because three days of it has been exhausting.   

It was a little bit of a comedy

of errors today.   I took 3 large balloons to have them filled with helium.  They are supposed to fill to be 36 inchs.  But the lady was very generous with the helium.  I took one out to my car, and there was no way even just one would fit.   I called Loralee, who has a van, to come and pick them up.  We just laughed when we saw that it was even too big for the van.  We tried to force it, and it popped.  

Well, the last 2 are still sitting at the store.  Hopefully they will fit in the moving van for the photo shoot tomorrow.

I felt a little like Mary Poppins with her umbrella.   I think 3 at one time just may have done it.

It was a little

overwhelming today when we were preparing for a photo shoot.  Loralee asked if I did flower arranging.  I told her not really, but that I would be happy to try.  She told me to go for it, and this was the result.

Pretty fun to have all those flowers to work with!

An early Easter

dinner with Natalie.

Gary wondered tonight, when I was taking this picture, if people think that what he is wearing is the only thing he has.  Well, let me explain.  Once he comes home from anywhere he asks, "Are we going out again tonight?"  If the answer is "no," then he heads straight upstairs and gets "comfy."  So it is not all he wears,  but I guess I need to take more pictures when he's not "comfy."

August 24, 1979

I've spent the day going through files (really trying to toss).

 I ran across this scrap of paper which I've lost, and found, several times in the last 30 years.

I remember very clearly writing this while sitting on the bed at our home on 300 West. It was the middle of the night, and  I wasn't able to sleep.  I was still struggling with my feelings of loss from our baby, Annalee, who was stillborn on Feb 26 of that year.   It was heartfelt then and is heartfelt now when I type it.

Is it really so
this child of mine
Fully formed, so whole,
and yet not.

Did it really happen
those long nine months
of worry, elation, complacency,
and finally . . . numbness.

Who is she, this third little girl of mine.
Who I loved,
and would have loved more,
but who breathed not.

My fingers are sore

from snipping fabric, but I'm pretty proud of myself.  I finished Harrison's Baptism quilt a whole week before we leave.

Now, I just need to start cleaning up the others projects I've started and haven't finished.  

We felt like

Donald Trump tonight when we walked into the Board Room.   Except we didn't have to fire anyone.

But, we (Amies Toujours) did have a wonderful dinner in the Boardroom of Riverside Country Club.  Robin's husband Brent is the President this year, so we felt pretty spoiled.

Happy Birthday

to our son-in-law Justin!  We feel so blessed to have him as part of our family.  He is a wonderful husband to Tiffany and a super-hero Dad to his kids.

 I remembered seeing a picture of Justin with the kids from last father's day.  When I saw the picture last year, it made me smile because it was such a good representation of who he is.  Tiffany sent it to me today, and now you can see why.  

  

We love you, Justin!

We were reading in

Elder Bednar's book again, and a phrase kind of struck me.  He was talking about the great Council in Heaven and how there really weren't two plans presented.  Rather that God presented the plan and asked whom he should send.  

I've thought that why, if we knew that it was Heavenly Father's Plan, would anyone go with someone who wasn't supporting it.  Who was rebelling against it.   We know that Lucifer took 1/3 of heaven with him.

But the phrase that stuck out to me was, "It was the first something for nothing scam every planned."  "Lucifer sought for the glory of the Father without a willingness to abide by the law of the harvest and pay the price."

Sometimes "get something for nothing" schemes can be pretty attractive.  You don't have to put forth the time and effort (maybe the abtronics could be termed a "get buff with out working out" scam).  You don't have to go through sacrifice.  But you get the benefits.

I think we've all fallen for those scams in one form or another.   But I guess we were wise enough to not fall for that first one, or we wouldn't be here reading about it.  I'm actually kind of proudly surprised I didn't fall for that scam.  I must have been wiser then than I am now. But I have a feeling that Satan is still trying to sell me a "bill of goods" and that I buy into it at times.

Interesting thoughts late at night.

Let's see . . .

posting every day is getting a little tiring.  But I guess I can give a run down of my day.

Woke up at 7 am.   Worked for a couple of hours.  Went to a Zumba class.  Came home and worked for another couple of hours.  Talked on the phone with Misty and then Tiffany and caught up on what was going on with them and the kids.  Cleaned the kitchen.  Cleaned out the tool drawers in the kitchen.  Finally showered at 5 pm.  Had leftovers for dinner.  Drove to airport to pick up Gary and Lynn.  Enjoyed visiting with them and was glad Gary came along for the ride.  Came home.  Worked for another hour.  Realized I needed to blog.  Blogged.  Went to bed (will very shortly).

Go Green

Bridal Fair Fun

I spent yesterday picking up miscellaneous items for a bridal fair at Thanksgiving Point.  Today I spent a few hours helping at the booth.  Loralee's husband and family put together an amazing structure (doors put together with hinges with shelves and molding) to look like the inside of a room.  There were countless people who said it was the most beautiful booth there.  Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't great for pictures with my phone, but below are a couple.

Next weekend there are more photo shoots that I'll help set up for.   It is fun to do events every once in a while.   But I really do feel so blessed that I can work from home.   I spend 4 hours (give or take a few depending on the day) answering emails, processing orders, or adding products to the website.  I love the flexibility of it, and they are such nice people to work with.

There are a lot of exciting things happening as the company is growing.  Some of their products will be featured on the Today Show next week.  And, her Gingerbread Collection will be in Better Homes and Gardens this coming December. The blog and website are undergoing really fun updates and should be revamped by the end of next week.    

 

The last

Remaining snow in the valley. I never would have believed it two weeks ago. 

Seeing Government

in action.  Monday Gary went up on the bus, with school district educators, to a rally at the State Capital.  I was driving Gary and Lynn up to the airport, so I joined him there and he came home with me.

There is quite a feeling when you watch the government in action.   You realize that everyone has a right to be represented and have a say.  Gary waved at our neighbor who is a Senator, and he had us come down and come on the floor and gave us a tour.  It reminded me of when we went to Washington DC, probably 25 years ago, and one of our friends from our old neighborhood was an aid to a US Senator.  He gave us a personal tour of the United States Capital.

Here is Gary giving a speech at the podium of the State Capital.  Of course the Rally was over, and he was doing it in his own mind, but it makes a great picture.

Better news

Luci is home, feeling much better, and was eating her second waffle.  She eats so little, that it means she is feeling a lot better!   Tiff said they could chalk the whole experience up as a "long, painful, and expensive viral infection."    But, we are very relieved that she didn't need surgery and they didn't find something really serious.  It broke my heart to see her sad face.

Tiffany sent a

text at about 11:30, but I didn't have my phone by me and didn't see it until about 5 pm.  It made my heart drop when I saw the picture and read it:

"In the pediatric of the hospital while they check for appendicitis   She's hooked up to an IV and we're waiting for an ultrasound.  She's being very brave, less tears than me.  I'm hoping its not appendicitis but I'm glad they are checking it because she's been in a lot of pain for over 15 hours."

It makes me cry just looking at that little face.    Tiffany assumed I hadn't seen the text since I hadn't responded, and she didn't want to worry me by calling until they knew a little more.  She was right about one thing.  I've been worried sick since I read it.

Tiffany sent an update at 9:30 saying that they are staying the night just to make sure nothing gets worse. She is feeling much better. That they've ruled out appendicitis and think it is a bad viral infection of glands in her stomach that are in the same area as the appendix.   So there will be no surgery (unless something changes).

I've still got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I'm glad she is doing better and that they are keeping an eye on her.  I wish I were there and could give her a hug.   TIffany posted a couple of instagram pictures of her tonight With Luci smiling.  Luci said the three best things about the hospital are Popsicles, watching tv, and moving the bed up and down.

 I noticed the last text Tiffany sent before this one was on Sunday.  Tiffany had written, "Luci asked just me, "Mom is it fast or slow Sunday tomorrow?"    Oh, I love that girl.

"It's official . . .

they emailed today the offer of full tuition and books.  He's very excited but said the professional thing to do is to let it marinate a while and then accept.  Yahoo!!!"

That is the full message from Misty today.  She is talking about the 

BYU baseball scholarship 

offer to Jackson. 

(look at that form!)

Do you think we are just a little excited???   I told Misty to tell him that once I broadcast it on my blog (with it's word wide viewers), that it is no longer "marinating" but that it is a done deal.

Two coaches went out to St. Louis last week to watch him pitch in a practice facility. They met with him and Misty and Dan and verbally gave him the offer then.  But I didn't want to tempt fate by revealing it before its time (it needed to marinate a bit).

Next year he is a Senior, and if he goes on a mission first, it will be more like 3 1/2 years before he's here playing.  But, I told him I'm already planning menus for him.  And Gary said he could stay here, but that curfew is at 10 pm (yeah, sure).

We are very proud of all the hard work and dedication that has brought him to this point.  And credit also goes to his whole family for their sacrifice in supporting him in all his games, practices, and travels.

As Misty said, "YAHOO!"   

The Abtronic

This post is brought to you by Natalie.
Today I reminded my dad of one of the many infomercial products he has purchased...The Abtronic. The Abtronic is an exercise belt, that simulates your muscles contracting during crunches. It sends an electric pulse through your abs, and in just 30 days you get a six pack! I remembered an episode of a TV show that featured a similar product, that when used caused peoples stomachs to catch fire. After telling my dad this story he remembered that he still had his Abtronic and put it on. 30 days from now he expects to be a changed man. :) I guess we will have to see.

I thought today

as we gathered at the funeral of our friend and former Bishop, Roger Reynolds, how blessed we are to have these lasting relationships.  When we moved into our home almost 27 years ago, many of our neighbors were already here and have watched our children grow.   Many have moved away and new ones have come, but  what has remained is a very loyal group of friends.  It seems somewhat sad that where we meet the most now is at funerals.  

Roger's brother spoke, and said that if Roger were here, he would be telling us to go back in the cultural hall and party. I was thinking along those same lines as we were greeting and hugging old friends as we waited for the funeral to begin.  I could picture Roger there, as I've seen him do many times,  reaching his hand of friendship out to all of us.  

I always wonder at funerals if the person who has died is there watching it.  I like to think they are.  And I believe they are.  But, I guess I'll just have to wait to find out.   I'll let you know . . .

Baptism Quilt

After texting many pictures to Misty and Harrison tonight, I was finally able to make some decisions on fabric for his Baptism quilt.  

He had told me he wanted it to be orange, yellow, and black.  Well, while there many selections like that 2 years ago when Ashton picked out his fabrics, they are not to be found this year.  After sending pictures, and with Harrison's approval, we went with lots of red, a little blue, and some beige.

Now comes the easier part, which is the actual sewing.   I have a hard time making decisions for other people.  

GOLDEN S. ANDERSON, 1914-1993

I'm always stealing writings from my siblings.  But don't they say that "copying is the best form of flattery?"   Actually, I know that the saying is "imitation is the best form of flattery."   But why imitate when I can just copy?    

Which is what I've done with this biographical sketch that my brother, Richard, wrote for one of our Hall reunions.   Dad would be 99 years old today.   

As Richard wrote at the end of this sketch, Dad did consider himself a fortunate man.  And I, and my siblings, have always considered ourselves fortunate to have him as our father (and still do).                                            

Biographical Sketch

Golden was born in Provo, Utah, in 1914, the last of nine children. At the time, his father was a fruit farmer with orchards on the Provo Bench (now Orem).  As ill-fate would have it, the bottom fell out of the peach market around the time of Golden’s birth and his family lost everything.  As a result, a year later, following a two-hundred mile, nine-day wagon trip, trailing two horses and a cow, infant Golden and family found themselves homesteading a 160 acre piece of undeveloped land in southwest Wyoming, living through a cold winter in a tent while the father and older brothers literally built log walls and a roof around it.  The log house where Golden spent his boyhood still stands in the small community, composed of a dozen or so other homesteading Mormon families, later to be called McKinnon, Wyoming.  Much later in life, Golden, Charlet, and some of their children, would periodically make a journey to McKinnon to visit acquaintances who still remained, see the old log house in the hills, and pay a visit to the grave of Golden’s mother in the small cemetery there.

Living on that ranch in McKinnon until he was sixteen, Golden was obviously no stranger to hard work in his youth.  Nor to isolation.  All but one of his siblings were considerably older than Golden (and would, furthermore, hightail it out of Mckinnon as soon as possible).  And the nearest neighbors were a mile away.  So opportunities for childhood play and to be with children of his age were provided mainly by the schooling available there (five boys and one girl in his class) and Sunday church services, both held in private homes until a small schoolhouse, eventually built, served both purposes. 

When in 1930 his mother contracted pneumonia and died, only two members of the large family remained at home, Golden, age 15, and his father.  Each, in personal writings, speaks of the other’s great difficulty with the loss of wife and mother.  Golden speaks of his father’s great love for his wife and his heartbreak.  His father speaks of Golden’s heartbreak and loneliness.

His children hate to imagine what pain the loss of his mother meant to Golden and how difficult that following year must have been before he left Mckinnon at age sixteen to live with his oldest brother, Thomas Levar,  and family, first in Ogden, Utah, then in Salt Lake City, where he completed the 11^th grade at West High School and worked part time for Western Union, delivering telegrams around the city on a bike.

Golden then returned to McKinnon for two years to help his father on the ranch, a rough couple of years, for sure.  In 1933, Golden joined the Civilian Conservation Corps., a grand pet project of recently-elected FDR to help deal with the large and growing tide of depression-time unemployment among young American men.  In his stint with the CCC, Golden lived in a camp of army tents on the shore of Jackson Lake, helping clear timber for a new road, and, on the side, got his feet wet in amateur boxing.

Later that year, Golden once again went to live with his oldest brother and family, who by then had moved from Salt Lake City to Springville.  He had two main objectives for his stay in Springville: one, to finish high school, and two, to continue making a living for himself.  He would meet both objectives by working when he could find it, and attending high school when he couldn’t.  One vacation from school was a job with the pipe mill in Springville, and another was part of a winter in Boulder City, Nevada, where Hoover Dam was under construction. 

When he was not on a full-time job, he would attend Springville High School.  And here, of course, begins the story of the rest of his life.  Enter...the Hall family, E. Owen, Pearl, and the five famous (infamous?) HALL SISTERS.  In particular, in his case, the middle one.  No wonder he was intoxicated by her.  What a different world she represented from his.  What different backgrounds.  He was dashing, to be sure, older and devilishly handsome.  But who was this young woman in his class, this Charlet Hall? Spirted, smart as a whip, mischievous, fun-loving and from a background of normal, healthy family life, giggly, privileged, apparently well-to-do in depression-time America, big house on the hill with a front-porch swing.  No wonder he fell flat-face for her, with a devotion that lasted the rest of his life.

Their courtship went on a couple of years, on again, off again, Golden back to McKinnon for a while, working here and there, finishing high school classes; Charlet to Salt Lake for a while, attending LDS Business College.  Golden found a job on the railroad in Green River, Wyoming, but it didn't last, and missing Charlet, he returned to Springville.  Intent on marriage, the big event took place in early 1937. Charlet’s father, Dad Hall, Superintendent of Transportation at Ironton, provided a recommendation for Golden that landed him a job at the steel plant in Pittsburg, California, to which he at first hitch-hiked, Charlet following later by more customary means.  Later that year, however, Golden was called back up for his previous railroad job, and wanting to be closer to home, he accepted the offer and they moved back to Green River, Wyoming, where they lived for the next six years, and where Gary and Richard were born.

Preferring, however, to raise a family in Utah valley (and so Charlet could be closer to her parents and sisters), when the defense department built a steel plant there to assist the war effort, they gladly relocated to Provo, where Golden worked in the railroad transportation department of the new plant as linesman, switchmen, and conductor, until, a year later, the war ended and the plant closed.  Golden was unemployed once again, and for a year scratched out a living on part-time jobs and borrowed money.  Hard financial times ended for the rest of Golden and Charlet’s life, however, when US Steel Co. bought the new but abandoned steel plant, now named Geneva, and, because of his considerable experience with the railroad, hired Golden as a foreman, a yardmaster, for the transportation operation of the plant, a position Golden retired from some thirty years later.                                                                                                                                              

A few of Golden’s chief hobbies, interests, and personality traits

Golden had a strong creative tendency and an eye for beauty.  An early expression of these tendencies, remembered only by his older children, was a hobby he pursued for a short while of painting small china dolls.  These were figurines of women, eight to twelve inches tall or so, usually in elegant gowns and accessories.  He would buy them at craft shops in raw, white china, paint and then shellac them into beautiful finished products.  We remember the tiniest of brushes and the many tubes and bottles of colored paint for skin, lips, eyes, lashes, gowns, hats, sashes, gloves, shoes.  Whatever happened to those beautiful creations, I would like to know?

   China dolls laid aside, his creative drive never was. 

M r.  Prothero, as he was known to us, Uncle Walt's father who lived upstairs in the Prothero’s home on 4^th West in Provo, had a rather full woodworkers shop set up in their garage, all the different saws, drills, sanders, and lathes a serious woodworker would want.  Golden was welcomed by the Protheros into the shop, where, besides getting to know Mr. Prothero rather well, he learned all the intricate skills needed to become a skilled craftsman of wood furniture.  Later, following Mr. Prothero’s death, his family generously granted Golden possession of a good number of the machines and tools he had learned to use in their shop, which he then set up in a basement room of our house on Cedar Ave. as the foundation of his own shop.  Fully for half his life, Golden found gratifying and creative use of spare time in his shop, designing, then building and finely finishing beautiful furniture for our home, and later, when the kids left home, for theirs.  All of his children now have in our own homes cherished pieces of woodwork: dressers, china closets, hutches, desks.                       

Late in his life, he discovered oil painting.  He spent endless creative hours in retirement painting, then repainting lovely landscapes.  It was as if Golden would be unsettled, restless, unless he was engaged in some kind of artistic creation or another. 

 Related to his artistic temperament, I’m sure, is the fact that Golden was a genuine Romantic.  A romantic sees things through rose-colored lenses, sees beauty in people and things where others might not, is an idealist, seeing and wishing things as they should be, not as they often are.  Romantics favor mercy over justice.  Golden was once promoted to General Yardmaster over transportation at Geneva, a position involving a raise in pay as well as greater authority, but he stepped back down to shift yardmaster when he realized it also involved firing workers whose performance was sub-par, something that went strongly against his democratic, romantic disposition.  Charlet, much more a realist, who, in respect to romanticism,  in fact, very much Golden’s counterpoint and balancing force, was particularly and often at odds with him for his Madonna perception of the fairer sex, his unflagging idealization of women.  Her face would often turn crimson when she spoke of his gullibility toward them.

The relative solitude Golden grew accustomed to as a boy in Wyoming remained a primary part of his life and personality.  Although he genuinely liked and trusted people, he never much cared for socializing.  He was very much a homebody, preferring small gatherings of family to large social affairs.  His hobbies, his creative endeavors, too, were not social, but solitary ones.  Perhaps all those still, quiet nights above the prairie of his boyhood home infused him with a lifelong enjoyment and love of it.

One final word about Golden’s personality.  He was a gentleman in the true meaning of the word.  He was a gentle man.  His movements were gentle, graceful.  His mannerisms were gentle.  His voice and speech were gentle.  His thoughts were gentle.  There was simply nothing abrasive about this man. 

Golden always considered himself a fortunate man.

Last night was our

Relief Society Birthday party.  You know the one I made all the stars for?  Well the stars looked pretty insignificant in the big cultural hall, but what was amazing were the cakes that were made.   The cakes tasted as good as they looked.

 

It's been

a long day.   I drove a friend to the airport, came home and decorated for Relief Society, and then had our Relief Society dinner and party.  But that was all good.  The part that made it long was the feeling of sadness for those who are going through hard times.

I learned last night on facebook of an accident involving the father of one of our former neighbors.  We knew the father from high school and his daughter lived right behind us.  He and his wife were out walking and a car lost control, and hit another car, which then hit them from behind.  He apparently died instantly and she is very injured.  My heart goes out to the family.

Then this morning we learned that our friend, neighbor and former Bishop, Roger Reynolds, passed away last night also.  He and his wife have been such good friends to us.  We knew he was not doing well, but we were not expecting this.  I was so glad that Gary and I had seen him just last Tuesday.  I had called and left a message for them saying that we would like to come by to visit sometime.  Roger called back about a half hour later and said to come that night.   He had told some other friends to come by that night, and they had left shortly before we came.  He was obviously uncomfortable and not feeling well, but I feel like he wanted to reach out to his friends.  And I'm so glad we were able to have that last visit with him.  His youngest daughter had just gotten married on February 23, and he was able to be there for all of that.  I'm so happy that he was able to be there for that special day.  

That, on top of just learning from Tom's blog the day before,  that Jean's brother, Charles, had died of a sudden heart attack last Thursday.  He was a marathon runner and only 57 years old.   I had only been with Charles a handful of times, but the last time was at Jean's funeral.  He sat with us at the funeral luncheon and was always so gracious and nice.   So sad for his family.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that you never really know what tomorrow brings. We know that death is part of life, but somehow it always catches us by surprise.

So the lesson learned, once again,  is to love, and feel, and appreciate each moment and cherish each relationship.

 

It is heartwarming

to watch families as they come to the church house to clean.   The last few years it has been the responsibility of the members to clean their meetinghouses.  Every time it has been our assignment, there have been families with little children there helping.  Tonight I saw a little 2 to 3 year old with a towel wiping things down.  The time before that there was a family with 5 children and the mom was carrying her baby in a sling while they cleaned.   I can't think of a better way to teach kids about respect and service. I'm sure they are not always happy to be there (as I'm not either), but it creates a great feeling of community and responsibility.

Gary and I were assigned the windows, inside and out.  We did them at the same time and would make a point of knocking on the window if we saw a spot that the other had missed.

It made me wonder a little about how retirement might be.     Hmm. . .

We have

some family time we are really looking forward to.  We go to Missouri for Harrison's Baptism the first week of April.  Then we are having our annual Bunny Hollow Girl's (and Gary) retreat the first week of May.   Tom and Lynn are coming in around the first of June, and we go to Annie's Baptism the middle of June.  In July we will have the Bishops and the Idiarts in town, with both of them being here together for a few days.

Busy and fun.
 

    

Today I've

hung upside down, done a flip, and soared in the air like a bird.    But hardest thing I did was lift my leg high enough to straddle the swing/hammock and not get entangled in it.

(not pictures of me, obviously, but I really "did" those poses).  I felt pretty proud of myself.  Though I truly wondered at the beginning, when I couldn't even lift my leg high enough, what in the world I had gotten myself into.

We took both

of our cars to the car wash this evening.  With the winter we've had, there haven't been very many good days for washing a car.  While we were waiting for them to get cleaned, we walked across the street to Denny's to eat.

While there, we realized something very important.  We have a very symbiotic relationship with Denny's (Gary's terminology)  We were all three born the same year.