Memorial Day week end

Saturday was a great day.  Katelyn celebrated her birthday and graduation at a party with family and friends at the park on Shady Lane in North Ogden.  A good time was had by all and we enjoyed hanging out with Blanch and Hansen Family and lots of friends and even their parents.  Katelyn was very cute and the little kids enjoyed playing in the park while others visited.  Rain had been predicted but held off until we were cleaned up and ready to go.  A great send off for a lovely, grown up, young lady.  You probably remember Katelyn as I do. . .pretty stubborn and not easily swayed. . . that stubborness has become determination.  She still knows her own mind and is honest and responsible.  She will do well with whatever she chooses.  It's so much fun to be close and enjoy her company and friendship. 

Sunday night we gathered at the Dredge gravesite in Kaysville.  It was fun , as always, to be together and to remember Mom and Dad together.  I did most of the remembering this year and said something about Mother.  She was tall, and brunette, and very pretty.  She was always put together. . . a lot like Aunt Dantzel.  :)  She always said she needed to put her face on before she left the house, and that was lipstick and moisturizer.  Dad tried to wash off her eyebrows, but there was no paint involved. . .her eyebrows looked like they had been penciled on and were very dark.  She played the piano at a very early age and was accompanying her ward at age 11?  By the time she was 14 she was accompanying a lot.  She accompanied Will Dredge, a man in her ward, as he sang at lots of funerals.  They became fast friends, he encouraged his son, Charles, to take her out, expressing the opinion "Beth is the kind of girl, who'll get prettier with age."  Dad thought she was just a kid, and a gangly colt one at that and he wasn't interested.  Later, she caught his eye at a ward function and she was no longer that tall teenager.  He was impressed, asked her out, and the rest is history.  Mother was the kind of girl you wanted to have on your committee.  She was very organized and accomplished a lot.  If she was upset about something, she'd get up and go to work.  Sometimes organizing closets in the middle of the night.  She was also the kind of girl who never knew a stranger. . .she had a quick smile and loved people.  They in turn trusted her and appreciated that quick friendliness.  My high school friend, turned to Mother when he needed to learn homemaking skills and advice.  She was that kind of lady, generous with her talent and herself.

Speaking of generous, that was my Dad's middle name.  He remembered depression years and times when there wasn't very much.  As a young man in high school, his father would call because he'd run out of gas and Dad would rescue him.  By the time Dad was in high school he was doing a lot of trucking of produce, mostly from Idaho and back, starting with potatoes, and tomatoes as I remember.  He was busy with work and doing pretty well and not interested in school.  One of the High School teachers told him if he'd attend his class, he'd teach him some things he'd use all his life.  Dad took him up on it and stayed in school and really became a whiz at math and adding numbers in his head was fast and automatic.  Dad said about business, "You've got to know your costs."  And he always did.  He became very successful and took a lot of people with him.  We've all been on the receiving end of his generosity.  Funds, for missions, or college, for kids and helping with this and that for his children was a way of life with Dad.  If he asked to see your wallet, you gave it to him.  :)  He traded bills (A $20.00 for a $10.00 dollar bill and things like that.)  He also slipped a little money into your palm and loved doing it.  My bed room set was purchased with money from a matured life insurance policy he'd given me and if he asked if we had time to break a little bread, he always picked up the bill.  Dad was generous with himself too.  The caddies at the golf course loved him and he took the time to get to know them and enjoyed them all.  It was fun to be with him at a restaurant as he'd visit with the waitress and be his own kind of generous and kind. 

On memorial Day we have sandwiches and fruit and chips and always Shwann's ice cream (he loved ice cream) in his honor.  Also we try to carry on his legacy and this meal is a gift to our children and their families as he would have provided if he were here.

Becky's family have been here overnight, and Richard and Diane have been here most of the week end.  Having so many around is always a treat and getting us really excited to be together in Oceanside.
Tomorrow I leave for London and Sarah's family and you can get ready for the beach and we'll be together.  :)  Yeah!

Today we've visited graves closer to home and remember Grandma and Grandpa Hansen, Aunt Sandra and Christopher Brashier.  I'm grateful we have occasion to stop and remember these wonderful people who've made such a contribution to our lives.  We'll talk about them later, since this has gone on too long already.
Hope you are all safe and happy.  Have a good week. :)
xoxo
Mother

A day at the farm.

Dear Family,

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to stay connected to you all.  I'm thinking a blog is the answer.  You mean so much to your Dad and I.  We feel so blessed to have each of you part of our lives and feel a need to connect.  Thankfully we get to go to the beach together in just a few weeks and that will help.  Being together for any reason at any time always helps.  :)

I think the last week has been fairly uneventful.  Lots of rain and opportunity to do things inside.  We did spend an hour during the week cutting asparagus.  Your Dad is lots better at it than I am, but we keep trying together.  :)  The four wheeler is working at the farm and that helps.

Dad needed to work cattle the other night and he called in the troops and they were so helpful.  :)  The mission was accomplished and without too many incidents.  (Grandpa did have a run in with a cow, you can ask him about it.  Thankfully, I didn't see that one.  I would have reacted.)  I understand the grandkids were helping with the chute.  Brayden put the boards in behind the animals which kept them from moving backward, Alex was the head guy, Brooklyn squeezed the middle, and Wil and Gabbi were a team putting down the tail gate. They all did fine work and Grandpa was so grateful for the help.  Dantzel kept the communication going between the house and cookies and the workers and Dad and Bill and John kept the work progressing.  We appreciate all of the help so much.

This week I've been trying to learn to do family history research on line and have enjoyed making pie at the temple and lunch with my friends, JoAnn and Diane.  They rode the train up to Ogden and we went to the Union Grill.  Their fresh mozarella sandwich is my absolute favorite.  I even dream about that sandwich. 

Last Sunday, everyone at all close by was here while we celebrated Mother's Day together.  Bill and Dad cooked the dinner in dutch ovens (it was yummy and the house didn't overheat) and the Blanch boys made rolls.  :)  It was fun to be together and watch the kids enjoying themselves and the adults doing the same.  It was good to hear from Richard about his new job and experience living with Becky and Mike and fam, and to catch up on the construction progress at Becky's basement and Bill's house.  :) 

Dantzel and Mark went to Virginia last week to watch Danielle's Brennan receive his Master's Degree.  They had a great time and I lived through having my sister gone for a week.  :)  I'm trying to get ready to go to Sarah's next week and I'm slow but I'll be ready.  :) It's going to be so much fun to be with them for a while.

Today, my lesson was about flooding the world with the Book of Mormon.