May 2013 News

Dad's Personal History Story for the Month

21st Station Hospital-Puson Korea 1953

Just a quick note to remind you that the only thing new in the world is the history you have not yet heard. So as a very small part of my early life history I would like you to know of a very important experience I had while in Pusan, Korea. Pusan is located on the southern tip of the country. There were three occasions that took me to Pusan:The first was as an entry to the country, when I along with several others embarked off the troop ship, and then travelling many miles to the north to join our regiment. After several months in the Kumwa valley war zone a cease fire put the fighting on hold. I was then transferred to Bepu Japan  where our home base of Camp Chickamauga was located. After at least a year in Japan I learned that due to my time in a war zone I had nearly enough points to return to the US. Needing a few more points I transferred to a medical unit located in Korea. I had a medical MOS, and so was assigned to the 21st Station Hospital located in Pusan,Korea.(my 2nd visit to this part of Korea) While at this assignment, I had many good experiences. For many weeks I had time to read many very good church books. One was "God planted a Tree". As I began to plan my future and felt  a need for confirmation as to the rightness of my plan and how I might accomplish it I retired to the shore of the Sea of Japan, which was just a 50 yards from the Hospital. It was here that I knelt in prayer and had my sacred grove experience. I came away knowing exactly what I was to do to receive my early rotation back to the states, an early discharge from the military service, apply for the GI educational grant and establish it at BYU so that  I could go on a mission first. I finished an honorable mission came home to supportive parents, two sisters and an uncle and aunt who knew as I did that a beautiful girl in Riverside was a part of that experience on The Sea of Japan in Pusan Korea.

My 3rd visit to Pusan was a visit while on a Church assignment. I visit that spot of land so far away whenever possible which is mostly in my dreams.

Ralph Myron Jackson-Brittain Cemetery

Papason working in the Rice Paddy

Mamason driving her cow & calf.  Mamasons work very heard.

Mamason and Boyson at a candy stand.
There were candy stands everywhere just like this one.

Po Jum Dingy.  This was my houseboy.  He would do errands and chores for me and I would pay him and he would take the money home to his mammason.  When I saw him I would yell out "Po Jum Dingy!"  And he would reply with Rock A Son--Jack A Son! (parachutist)  He was a good boy. 

Mom's Visit to New Jersey

The month of April is almost gone, and it went fast.  The 7th of April the doctor said I could take the cloth boot off my foot and can to whatever I felt like doing.  He said the foot healed nicely.  Of course I couldn't (and still can't walk perfectly yet.  Seems like my foot had to learn some things again - mainly how to bend right.  But it is coming along quite.  He just restricted me from flip flops until the end of May -which is really hard for me.

The middle of the month Sue and I flew to the east coast, met Gerry there, and stayed with Sue's daughter, Karyn, for a while.  She took us to Philadelphia to see the historical sites _(The liberty bell, etc) and then we went to Reading Terminal Market for lunch.  I got a really good falafal, which brought back memories of Israel.  It's a very big place where you can get anything, from fruits and vegetables, to all kinds of food, and even a big chocolate counter.  Such fun!  On Friday we went to went to Pennsylvania to the Amish country.  So beautiful.  Such lovely farms.Then Monday Karyn took us to Princeton to meet up with Joseph.  He had arranged for a friend of his to take us on a walking tour of the university.  He is very knowlegeable and gave us a great history of how the university started, etc.  Then Joseph and I went to his friend, Christie's, house and spent the night.  She lives in Princeton, but was out of town for a couple of days.  He wouldn't take me to his place in Trenton, said it was too scary for me.  The next morning we rented a car and drove to Pennsylvania. to the area our family is from.  We spent the night in a nice Inn in Sayer, PA, and the next day we went to the cemeteries in the area.  That was so great.  After spending the day in the cemeteries we came back to Princeton, and Joseph went to work and I went back to Karyn's.  Flew back on Saturday morning after a great week.

Liberty Bell

Charlene, Gerry, Sue, Karen

Joseph and pups

Genealogy work in the Wysox Cemetary

Gale Family loves Chocolate!

This month I will share just a bit

The task I was tempted to quit

I assumed I must wait

But with chocolate as bait

On the potty, Sarah did sit!

Pavlovian Experiment in Guunison
Excerpt from Scott and Stacy's family blog.
 Now that Jacob can walk, he tries to stand up when he reaches the top step.  With his balance not being very good yet, the inevitable happened the other day when he fell backwards and tumbled down the stairs.

Luckily he was not injured other than biting his tongue, but Christine and I decided that we had to come up with a way to prevent him from falling again.

So we devised a pavlovian experiment.  We put down a piece of green tape a ways from the top of the stairs and placed a smartie behind it.  Now when Jacob climbs up the stairs he is attracted to the smartie and crawls past the tape to pick it up before he stands up.  We've been doing this for a week or so now.  The next step is to take away the smartie and see if he'll still climb past the tape before he stands up!  Hopefully it works before we start to rot away his teeth with smarties.

Read more The Jackson Five 

Check out Finn's Moutain Man First birthday here

Chatfield Chatter

Dear Family,

We’re on the home stretch…we’re getting a bit fatigued…just a few more laps to go…we think we have just enough energy to sprint to the finish line!  School is about wrapped up, at least in the minds of our children.  FINISH STRONG we keep saying. 

Bianca will graduate from High School on May 23^rd at UVU.  We’re grateful that she’s worked hard for most of her school years and will graduate with honors.  She continues to work at Ruby River so that she can earn money to help with future plans.  She was promoted from hostess to salad maker…I guess the promotion comes with a raise, more hours and just a bit more pressure.  Isn’t it great to grow up!

Speaking of sprinting, Kate did well at Hershey Track again this year.  With those long legs and a competitive, willing heart she enjoys running and seems to be pretty good at it.  She won 1^st place in the 100 meter, 2^nd place in the 200 meter.  She made it to the semi-finals and then lost by a millisecond (Kate’s description) for the finals.  It’s fun to watch her run.

 Jake is in full swing with his multiple baseball teams.  His super league coach asked all of his players to sign up for the city league teams to ensure lots of practice.  Needless to say we are starting our season of BASEBALL games…and nothing but baseball games.  It’s a good thing we enjoy watching Jake play. 

At the encouragement and insistence of Jake, Kate signed up for a city league softball team.  She’s been to a couple of practices and is still trying to figure out if she likes the sport.  The first day of practice she caught a ball with her face and that seemed to put a damper on the excitement of learning something new.  Since then she seems to be doing better.  Her coach is very patient and offers lots of positive comments.  She hit a “solid ball” last night and even caught a fly ball starring into the sun.  “It just landed in my glove!”  We’re glad that there are nice people here in Springville that are willing to give a bit of time to spend with our youth.

We had a great spring break at Goblin Valley.  Jake and Kate had quite a crew of friends to hang and hike with there.  If you ever get the chance to go and play there you must take it.  It was spectacular.  Jake and friends played Capture the Flag amongst the goblins and it was hilarious to watch.  You’ll notice from the pictures that Jake’s team chose the highest peak to plant their “flag” (Cranberry Juice bottle) and what surprised and impressed me was that it only took them about 10 min. to climb to the peak.  Suffice it to say their team won…no one could penetrate the fort.  Strategic planning on their part.

We also visited Arches while we were there.  Amazing.  We took this picture of Jake walking along the edge of “Park Avenue”.  Appropriately named for its avenue of majestic red cliffs. Makes you feel kind of small in this big beautifully crafted world. 

(Jake is the tiny green speck in the picture)

  

I’ve had a couple of weeks filled with PTA and Personal Progress.  Both are winding down for a few months.  We had a full week of Appreciating our Teachers, movie star style and the lucky young women of Spring Creek 17^th ward were taken on a flight around the world, complete with airline tickets and passports.  We visited Peru, France, Haiti, Taiwan and New Zealand.  We were able to experience different cultures, eat amazing food and participate in some fun activities.  Even signed off a couple of Personal Progress goals while doing it.

Kels gave a beautiful talk last Sunday at our ward conference.  The theme for the conference came from the Book of Mormon, Alma 1:30.  And thus, in their ^aprosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were ^bnaked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon ^criches; therefore they were^dliberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no^erespect to persons as to those who stood in need.  Kels used that scripture and mentally (verbally for the congregation) walked around the ward (all 3 streets of it) and shared examples of people and families giving, sharing and loving each other.  We have good and thoughtful people all around us in our little neighborhood and one of the blessings of serving as the bishop...you witness first hand how generous people can be, over and over again. 

We feel this same love and generosity from our family.  We’re so glad we know you and get to hear from you often.   Love,  Kellie, Kels, Bianca, Jake and Kate

Congrats Brent, Attorney at Law

Hi everyone- Happy May! Around the Holtry house we are saying HAPPY GRADUATION MONTH! Brent will be graduating from Law School on May 18^th – the following weekend we are going to have a big graduation bash on the 25^th. (Memorial Day weekend) – We would love any and all visitors so feel free to jump in the car for a quick 8-10 hour trip and join us!

Jackson had a fun field trip overnighter to Westminster Woods. Now all three of my kids have had this fun experience. It’s a great trip with lots of learning and lots of fun too. Brent was able to join jackson this time. Hannah’s week-long overnighter to Marin Headlands is in a few weeks and Brent will be going on that one too. The teachers love Brent on these overnighters. It’s hard for them to get good, reliable Dad’s. It’s also a great experience for us to spend this time with our kids and their friends and see everyone in a different environment.

Josh just finished up Swim Championships. He did really well and ended with 5^th place in both his relay and 50 free race. Not bad for a water polo player who has never been on swim team before! He’s winding down his sophomore year and has his first interview for a lifeguarding job next week. Wish him luck!

Hannah spent last Friday in the San Francisco Bay at a Field Trip with the Marine Science Institute. They went out on the boat for the day and had their classroom at sea. They caught lots of interesting sea life that they got to examine. 4 Bat Rays, A Sting Ray and a rather large Tiger Shark! They also got a special spa treatment of mud from the bottom of the bay that they gave themselves facials with. (YUK!) What a neat experience for her.

Brent has been busy studying for his finals. He was out til between 3-5 every morning last week studying. I found out later he and a friend did all their studying at a Denny’s in Sacramento. As you can imagine lots of interesting things happen at Denny’s between 1-5 in the morning. I asked why he didn’t study here at the house and told him we would have left him alone but I guess the “show” would have been better at Denny’s.

Hope you all had a great month!

The Holtry’s

Cierra--A True Maori Stick Game Expert

Cierra passed off one of her Personal Progress goals by teaching the Maori stick game at a Young Women activity.  She and a friend spent 3 or 4 days (including recess time at school) preparing to teach.  They did an awesome job, complete with the tongue greeting.  It was such a hit that many of our girls are requesting more lessons at girls camp.

Happy Birthday John

A brief story about the birth of my son, John.

John was due to be born the first of June, 1959.  But he surprised us by being born on May 1, 1959 in American Fork, Utah.  His dad was going to BYU at the time, and we lived in American Fork and he commuted to school in Provo with some friends.  On May 1 I was having contractions quite regularly, and being the first child, I didn’t know if this was the time or not, especially since I had another month to go.  But as the contractions became worse we decided to go to the hospital and see if it was the time, and when there was told that yes, it was time, but since it was the first baby, it could take a long time.  So Mick decided that since he had a final that day, he would go take his test and be back in plenty of time.  Well, surprise!  While he was taking his test, John decided to come and he did.  So when Mick got back, he had a little ditto mark.  There was no doubt whose baby he was because he looked just like his dad.  We decided to name him John William but called him Bill because he came at the first of the month with all the other bills.  (by the way, the dad did great on his test - should have been more worried).  As I was still working for DeVere Wootten, attorney, sometimes dad would be the babysitter while he was studying.  Sometimes I would come home from work and find the boy’s face covered with licorice.  The dad said that he loved it and it kept him quiet.  Go figure!  John grew up in the baseball fields watching his dad play, so wonder baseball became his favorite sport, and I think it still is.  John has turned out to be a good husband, father, and physician and above all, a good member of the church and disciple of Christ.

We love you, John!

Kate Kicked It at the Hershey Track Meet Today!

Kate competed with all of the 5th grades in the area and won 1st place in the 100 meter, 2nd place in the 200 meter.  She went on to semi finals but another 5th grade girl beat her by a mili second (or something like that) for the finals!  Good Job Kate!

April 2013 News

Mom and Dad strong on Geneology
Just a brief comment before I write mine epistle. I have two treatises that I have acquired recently that may be of interest to you: One entitled "Called and Chosen and Faithful'' The second, entitled The Spirit World and The Resurrection of the Dead by Robert J.  Matthews BYU Education week, 21 August 2007.

Yesterday a good friend of mine, Ron Cook went to the Church Family History Research Library in SLC. Was my first visit there, but Ron has been there many times  and certainly seems to know his way around. We are looking for more information on great Grand Father William Jackson, the missing link for many of us so far in our search.We went to the small office and room called "Special Collections" and found a catalogue film # 1149514 (new). This film revealed that William Jackson was born 19th August 1832 and Ann Wooley was born14th February1830. Great Grand Father Jackson was born in Patter Pembrook So. Wales. Great Grandmother was born in Burton on Trent, England. They were Sealed in the Endowment House in S.L.C. 9th of August 1861 by Brigham Young, and W.W. Phelps and S.L. Spragues were the witnesses. The reason  I am sending this is to give you the more sure word, since the information came directly from them and there are many discrepancies in the other information we have received. The reference is film # 1, 149,514, Book C pp,542.   I also found in the records that Ralph Moss Jackson my Father, was ordained a Seventy by J. Golden Kimball, on the 8th of Jan1929. Church  Membership West Bountiful Ward, SLC Family Hy . #0,027,425.. Thanks for looking and if any one finds information that would help with the finding of more information on William Jackson and Ann Wooley Jackson regarding their voyage from England and trip across the plains, marriage etc. please be the good Samaritan that I have been looking for. You can let me know through the spirit  or in person. Sure hope you will find this request honorable and that it does not drive more of you away.

Dad sporting a pair of sunglasses Cierra brought back from her trip to California.  Looking good!

Kate loves life!
Hi this is Kate, I have just finished basketball season. (0 wins) I’m now on to volleyball. Which I do not know how I will play with a jammed finger. This year I have gotten a main part in my school play! This one is “The Emperor`s New Clothes.”  I`m a court herald (I yell at the towns people because they are wondering where the emperor is.)  Also this year we got a new car called the Kia Soul it’s the coolest car ever!! Sometimes we call it the swag wagon or the hamster invasion. Jake and dad are having a bad year of fishing mostly because all of the places have been closed.   Let`s hope it will be better later in the spring and summer than right now. Next Saturday I will have a piano festival. There is this new movie at the movie theaters that is called the “Croods” we all should see it some time! Love you.

Michelle and family tripping to Salt Lake for fun This month, we were able to enjoy TWO trips out to Salt Lake.  The first was planned.  I had workshop and Sarah had an eye appointment.  The doc says her eyes look great and to come back in June.  Sadly, it will be our last visit with him.  He's moving to Boston to teach at a university.  The receptionist didn't know which one.  We were told that the new ophthalmologist that will take his place has also specialized in pediatrics, so even though we're sad to see him go, the new doc will good, too.  While there, I also had the opportunity to visit a Reggio Emilia school.  It's the only one in Utah.  While it was a good experience, they only had preschoolers there.  I'd like to visit another school that has students with elementary aged children.  And, last but not least, Sarah and I were privileged to attend Nate's performance of Joseph.  It was awesome!  Nate, you and the cast did a fabulous jo and I'm so glad we could see it!  Sarah loved it!  She was especially fascinated by all the glitter on Pharaoh's face. His makeup was top notch.  I strategically left David with my grandma Goff.

The second visit was quick, and came as a surprise!  Stephen was asked to come to Salt Lake to interview for a job. When we realized that Sarah did not have school that day, we decided to all go and make a day of it.  The interview went well and we will discover if the job is his in the next week! 

We celebrated Easter today.  I'm still working on my Betty skills, so we didn't have all of the traditional stuff for Easter dinner.  But I'm getting pretty good at following those Pinterest crock pot recipes.  I made Sweet and Sour Chicken and white rice with asparagus.  For desert, we got out our chocolate fountain and served it with strawberries, fresh pineapple, marshmallows and crackers.  It was delicious!

We hope everyone had a great Easter!  Also, I'm including a couple of pictures of the kids.  Sarah loves to draw on her Magnadoodle and is getting pretty good! David loves his cars and they keep him busy.

--Editor's note...good luck on the possible job Stephen!

Connie and the gang need a nice long nap!

We are tired...Joseph is finished now. We will rest this week which is Spring break. Then we will

move on to the next thing. Cierra has been triumphant in her first two soccer games. She has
been goalie and has made wonderful saves. She has not been scored on yet. It makes me
nervous...and more tired. Nate has a lead in the Springville Playhouse production of The
Importance of Being Earnest. I am producing.  I will get some rest before I get tired again. Good
thing we really like all the things we are doing!  Mikaila was promoted at work and has been
playing at the sand dunes. She is now tired. I promise to be more sparky next month...Love to
all.  Connie

Mik and friends at the Southern Utah sand dunes 

during Spring break. 

Here is a look at the review Joseph received from a  premier group in Utah that support theater.  

http://frontrowreviewersutah.com/?p=1109

Enjoy Seven Years of Plenty with Merit Academy’s Joseph

Utah has no shortage of talented youth, and that definitely shows in Merit Academy’s finely-tuned production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Judging by the performance I saw tonight, I expect to see many of these cast and crew members continue to shine in both community and professional theater.

I was impressed by the singing and acting talent of the entire cast, but a few particularly stood out. Ethan Edwards (Ruben) seems to really have fun with his role, and that sense of fun is infectious. Josh Brown (Benjamin) develops his character even when out of the spotlight, through little silent backstories that he 

plays out with the character’s brothers. Nathan Agle shows great versatility in his very distinct portrayals of Potipher and then, after a quick costume change, the Baker. Masha Taggart (Potipher’s Wife) is hilarious as Joseph’s unwanted seductress. Kristian Huff radiates charisma as the Pharaoh, who is an Elvis-like heartthrob to his followers. The Narrators (Marcella Shipley and Allison Boone), apart from having beautiful singing voices, become characters themselves as they interact playfully with the characters onstage. 

And then of course there’s Nate Warenski, who plays Joseph as the well-intentioned but obliviously self-centered git he is at the beginning of the play, growing to the more mature, compassionate man he is at the end. Warenski’s emotional range comes through especially when (spoiler alert!) Joseph is finally reunited with his brothers and father.

It’s not only in acting and singing that the students of Merit Academy shine. The program includes an extensive list of students who contributed as choreographers, costumers, hair stylists and makeup artists, stage crew, prop designers, and set constructors. All of these elements were professionally done, but what stood out to me most were the costumes. I enjoyed the little touches, like Potipher’s argyle socks and the poodle skirts with cats instead of poodles, worn by Pharaoh’s servants. I was also impressed by the titular dreamcoat, which was large enough to be a parachute and could easily have contained every color named in the song about it. Also deserving of a special mention is Pharaoh’s gold and blue makeup, which has exactly the right mix of “ancient Egypt” and “rock star.”

In tonight’s performance there were a few technical glitches here and there—mics that didn’t come on when they were supposed to—but not more than you’d see in a well-done community theater performance, and nothing so bad as to detract from my enjoyment. Similarly, a few actors missed a note now and then, 

but overall the performances were quite impressive. I was not surprised to see my nine-year-old daughter enjoy the show, as she is a theater enthusiast herself, but I took it as a good sign that my six-year-old son was just as captivated from start to finish. Be sure to catch this play while you can—it would be 

well worth the price of admission even if you had to sell your brother into slavery to buy a ticket.

 

Holtrys celebrate 20 years!

Hi everyone-

We hope you are all doing great. It was really fun to hear from some of you last month. I hope everyone has time to participate. It’s great to keep in touch! Here’s what happened in our family this month: 

Josh was in our Stake Production of “Savior of the World” – He played a disciple of Christ named Andrew. It was a very spiritual experience for him and you could tell during his performances that he was touched by the spirit many times. In complete contrast to that – he was nominated to go a High School Drama Competition at a local college and perform a monologue that he had performed in class from “The Walking Dead” TV show called “I see Red”. He did such a great job that he and a few of his classmates are going to the regional competition. Over Spring Break he spent his week off from school in class taking Lifeguard Classes. He is now an official Lifeguard and hopes to get a job this summer. He had his first swim meet a few weeks ago and did a great job. He has such long arms that his strokes look effortless in the pool. He’s also on a spring Water Polo league and having a lot of fun doing that. What he is really looking forward to though is next month when he turns 16 and can get his driver’s license and DATE!

Hannah is doing a great job in school. She just finished her 5^th grade State Report and float. She got assigned the state of Nevada……needless to say not a lot of great things about that state. Her “famous person” report was on Tennis Player Andre Agassi - who back in the day people used to compare Brent to. ;) . She also recently held the school record for the flex arm hand. She held it for 81 seconds. She held the record for 1 day until an 8^th grade girl beat her by one second! She still holds the elementary school record though. She is a little monkey. I often catch her 30 feet up in some tree while we are watching Jackson’s baseball game or swinging on the bars at school.

Jackson decide to try baseball out this spring. We have been a soccer family and so baseball is a totally different experience. Those parents are crazy! He had a little meltdown the first game because he wasn’t sure what to do with the ball when he got it, but once Brent went out on the field and helped him he’s been a pro ever since. He’s actually one of the better hitters on the team (in my opinion of course) He’s getting ready to go on his school overnighter to Westminster Woods in a few weeks. It’s on the coast and the kids get to stay for 3 days. They do lots of nature hikes, tide pooling and just have a GREAT time.

Brent and I just celebrated our 20^th anniversary on Tuesday, April 2^nd. It was quite a milestone! We celebrated by Brent going to school and I had a parent meeting at the kids school.  Fun! Hannah and I did decorate Brent’s car though so he could drive around the next day feeling loved. Coincidentally a guy on a bike ran right into his car that day and broke his mirror off. Maybe he was blinded by all the hearts….or maybe he was drunk. I’m pretty sure it was one of those things.

We hope you all have a GREAT month!! Have you subscribed to the Jackson girls  “Chocolates for Breakfast” blog yet? If not, hurry over to http://www.chocolatesforbreakfast.blogspot.com/ and enter your e-mail in the follow by e-mail box. We would love to have all the families support to get our numbers up! ;) – Tell your friends too!

Love you all,

The Holtry’s

Spring Break = Nice Break for Chatfields 

It’s Spring Break!...and it really does feel like a nice break. 

Just a few highlights from March

Jake’s 14^th birthday

Jake turned 14 on March 25^th.  We celebrated on Sunday, March 24^th because the next day was full of baseball and volleyball games.  We had friends and family over for dinner and party fun.  Jake requested Tri-tip, parmesan cheese toast, cheesecake, chocolate covered strawberries and whatever else would make for a balanced meal.  I didn’t see anything green on Jake’s plate except for the strawberry stems!  He was given a lot of nice gifts—a two year subscription to The Drake (a fly fishing magazine), Sportsmans Warehouse gift certificates, CASH, a baseball T (for practice hitting), a very expensive baseball glove (says the mom who thinks the seasonal sports equipment is getting very expensive!), a Duck Dynasty shirt (don’t ask!), The Hobbit DVD…am I missing anything else!  He was quite happy with the haul.

Art City Elementary Book Fair

We had another great book fair!  Kate loves everything about the book fairs and was even asked to help this year.  It’s great to be a 5^th grader!

Kate’s 5^th Grade Wax Museum

Every 5^th grader at Art City Elementary is given the opportunity to become a “famous person” in U.S. history.  Kate signed up to be Queen Liliuokalani, the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Islands.  We learned alot about the queen and can now finally prounounce her name correctly!  All of the students are encouraged to research their person, create a costume and a speech.  When someone presses the “play button” their wax figure comes to life and they begin to tell in first person who they are and why they are important. Kate was a brilliant Queen Lilioukalani!  She even learned a little of Aloha ‘Oe (written by the queen) on the ukulele.

 Kate’s Volleyball Team

Volleyball was only 4 weeks long this year.  As coach I appreciated the short season.  Kate started out a bit shaky and not sure if she liked the sport but by the end of the season she was hitting the ball over the net and thinking she might sign up again next year.  I’ve decided that the best part about being involved in youth sports is the friendships they make and the feeling of being a part of something good. 

  

Nate (nephew)  was Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Another great activity to be involved in at least for Nate is the theater!  Nate and

Connie played a huge role in this Merit Academy production.  Nate was an awesome Joseph and Connie was Asst. Director of the show.  Connie reported that there were important theater people in the audience and Nate now needs a casting agent!  We loved it twice!

A Good Friend’s Funeral

Last week I attended a funeral for a beautiful 18 year old girl.  This young woman was an All-State track star from Rocklin, CA.  We knew her family when we all lived in Antelope.  She died unexpectedly and tragically from a blot clot to the lungs.  Her sister Amy gave her eulolgy and she started off by saying that Heidi (Greenwood) knew she was a daughter of a Heavenly Father that loved her, and she loved Him.  Amy went on to share a few stories of how Heidi stood as a witness of God at all times and in all places and in all things.  There were over 1500 young friends there to honor Heidi.  Many of them non-members.  My heart was touched as I witnessed this immense group of reverant youth.  I listened and learned and felt comforted by the thought that Heavenly Father does indeed have an eternal plan for each of us and as we diligently strive to be follow that plan we will be blessed. 

As I drove home from the funeral I passed by the Timpanogas Temple where Dad was working that morning, sealing families together forever.  That also brought me great peace.   

A family friend painted this beautiful portrait of Heidi and the Savior  

It’s Easter!

We went to church, then served dinner at the Food and Care Coalition to many well deserving people.  It was a good day!

We love you all.

Kellie, Kels and the kids