Graduation Time and Down the Line.....

Sam on Graduation Day with Cody, Rachel, and Tyce

Sam's Graduating Class

Sam's Graduation Picture.  They don't do Caps and gowns anymore

Jenny, graduation picture '1991"

Makette graduation "1993"

Rachel, graduation "1995"

Matthew graduation "1997"

Patty graduation "1971"

Mom graduation "1951"

In this busy month of May, we stopped in to take part in Sam's graduation ceremonies.  She graduated from Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho.  She also graduated from Seminary.  What great accomplishments.  I am so proud of her.  She had a lot of family come to here graduation.  After the Graduation ceremonies Tim took us to Joe's Crab Pot for dinner.  Was it ever delicious.  I enjoyed it very much.  Sam and Josh choose a pot of crab that was called Ragin Cagun.  To their surprise it was very hot....They did pretty good with it though.   Saturday Tim and Jenny gave Sam an open house where friends and family could come and congratulate her..  It was a fun day.   Sunday was her Seminary Graduation.  I hope all my grandkids take Seminary.  I believe it is such an important class in their school years.  Sam's graduation has moved me into a new Era of my life.   I really feel like I am on the fast track of leaving here.  Time goes by so quickly.


Some of the fun graduations we had this month.........They are graduations from pre-school and Kindergarten.  When I asked Madison if she liked her graduation she said yes and then informed me that she was going to College.   She made me laugh.  At least she has a big ambition.    My little grandkids have a wonderful start on their education.

Madison and Courtney,  Mady graduated from Kindergarten

Mady and her teacher.

Daxton.....Such a cutie.  He graduated from pre-school.

Trevor graduated from Kindergarten.

Throwing their hats in the air.

Ryan graduated from pre-school also.  I didn't have a picture of him.

April and those May Birthdays.

I have a lot of Birthdays to celebrate from the end of April until the end of May.  There isn't hardly a break.  I try to take my kids out to dinner for their birthdays or to send them a gift card to go out.  This year we were in Santaquin for Kylers blessing so I bought steaks and we had a big BQQ and cooked them.  A different way to celebrate with a meal.

My birthdays start with....
Kaitlyn White.......April 25th
Rachel Wagner.....May 8th
Makette Morgan....May 16th\
Matthew White.......May 22nd
Joshua Needles.......May 30th
Samantha Needles...May 31st.


Happy Birthday to you all..........

Kaitlyn White

Rachel and Sam goofing off

Makette and Makalie

Katrina took Matthew to a Bees game for his Birthday

Joshua Needles.  His 16th Birthday.

Happy Mothers Day

 

Dear Mother,

This is our first Mother's Day that we will not spend together. How I miss you. Do you remember that special Mothers Day that you spent with me 35 yrs ago when I brought Rachel into this world. I will always be grateful that you were there. Thank you for the hours you sat beside me, holding my hand. Giving me comfort and compassion. It was a hard thing for both of us getting through that experience. I will always be grateful. I love you so much. Happy Mothers Day, I know you are happy and that you are at peace.



"If you were once connected with someone, does it make sense that the connection is broken just because of a physical death? No, the connection stays. You may just have to listen differently. You may just have to talk differently. The truth is: the connection is never broken. It's quite impossible to break the most powerful connection in the universe. As long as you let it exist, the connection stays. Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near; still loved, still missed and very dear

Seven Years......March 15, 2012

                                         If I had my choice
                                         Of daddies in a line
                                         I'd step right up and pick you out
                                         And say that you were mine.

                                          And so I'm glad 
                                          That when I came
                                          To Earth like all the rest
                                          Heavenly Father chose the Dad
                                           He knew I'd love the best.




I sure do miss my Dad.   It doesn't seem like seven years have passed since he was called home.  I know
he must be very busy and doing his part to build the Kingdom of God and I know he must be very happy
doing it.

How I have missed our chats about genealogy.  I am sure if I could get myself working in it again some way he would whisper to me which way to look.   How I long to see his sparkling eyes and the grin he always wore.  I loved his quiet moods too, when he would be in deep thought.  He always thought things through.

I miss his little songs that he would make up out of the blue.  The way he played little jokes and pranks to make you laugh out loud.  I miss his cooking, he had that magic touch of trying things that were new, and
most of the time they turned out great, except that mexican stew.........

I hope he's there when my time has come, to help me pass the vial , to see his friendly and loving face.  To put my fears away, I hope that I can do that.  I know with his help and Mom's it will be much easier to join them.


                                         

New Events in My Family........

Last Saturday Matt and Katrina took the girls to the public City Library for Cowgirl Days.  They really enjoyed it.  Thought I would share their day with all of you.  These are the kind of things that make wonderful memories with your kids.  I am glad that they take the time to do this.

Madison and Courtney 

Here they are with their horses and hats that they made.

 Another event this month was Drill Team tryouts for Emery High School.  Makalie Anne Morgan tried out and made the team for next year.  I am so proud of her.  She was on the team last year and had a wonderful time being a part of the Drill Team.  I hope that she has a good time this coming year.  I have a bunch of talented kids in my family.  I am proud of  all of their accomplishments.

Makalie Anne Morgan....Drill Team 2012-2013

Joshua Needles, I love him.  He has so much talent, in writing his own music and plays, in Chior , in plays at his school and in the community.   I just had the wonderful experience of going to the play "Bells are Ringing" in which Joshua took part in.  It was funny and entertaining and he did such a good job.  I  can't wait to see his next one..........

Josh and Rachel at "Bells are Ringing".  Everyone needs to see Josh in a play.

Guess Who is a Teenager?

That's right, Beverlie Marlena White turned 13 years old today.  How grown up she is getting (but she sure is silly sometimes).  Loves to talk, we have to tell her to be quiet .  I don't have a baby picture of her, but I do have one of her about 2 years after she came into our lives.  That would have made her 7  years old.  I love Beverlie very much, I love my relationship with her.  I love how she thinks about me and always asks me how I am.   Happy , Happy, Birthday Beverlie dear.  Welcome to your teenage years.

Beverlie, with Amie and Kaitlyn.  She was 7 years old.

Beverlie,  Now she is 13 and the fun begins.  Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

n

Happy Birthday, Scotty

Today Scotty is 12 years old.  What an important birthday.  Now he will be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and become a Deacon.  He will be passing the Sacrament and gathering Fast offerings.  You are getting so grown up.  Don't stop wanting to come out and hang with me and share a movie or two.  I love it when we do that.  Sometimes when kids turn 12 they don't like to hang out with grandma.

I love you very much and I am so proud of you.  I love watching you grow and mature.  Thank you for being my grandson.

Scott as a baby...........

Scott now.........Happy 12th birthday,   Scott.

It's a Snow Storm........

There are two winters that I remember in my life that were really humdinger's.  When I was 14rs old we went through a very dry summer and fall.  We were in drought conditions.  We got into November with no sign of snow.  Our Stake President at the time called upon us to have a fast  and to ask the Lord to bless us with snow.   The snow started up that very day.  It fell thick and quickly.  There were no little snowflakes, they were big and covered the ground.   Boy, did it ever snow, and snow , and snow.  December, January, and March passed us by with no let up in the snowstorms.  The snow was very deep.  One of the little neighbor boys told his mother that when "those" Mormons prayed for snow they really got it.  The big snow storms let up a little in April and May, but it didn't get warm enough to melt it away.  June came and the big storms started again.  On June 26th, on my 15th birthday, We got the biggest storm for being in the summer season.  Needles to say, a birthday party just didn't happen.   The snow started melting in July, and was gone by  August.  I will never forget that winter season.  I will always remember it as the year of my lost birthday.


The 2nd bad winter that I went through was in 1972.  It was the year that I got married.  We were living in Salt Lake City.  I worked for the church offices.  I rode the bus to and from the offices.  The snow that year started in September.   It fell steadily until the end of December.  In January it got really bad .  The snow got up to 5 feet deep in the Valley.  The snow was so deep and came down so quickly that the snow plows couldn't keep up with it.  Our Volkswagon was completely hidden under the snow.  People couldn't shovel the snow fast enough to dig their cars out to go to work or anywhere.  Every thing in the Valley shut down.  Every one had to stay home and get through the snowstorm.  It snowed 6 days, and it took a full 2 weeks until the roads were cleared enough so that the traffic could flow again.  It was a good thing that I had 2 weeks worth of groceries in our house or we would have gone hungry.  This taught me how necessary it is to have food storage.  I always tried to buy extra things to put away every grocery day.

Of course I went through lots of bad winters, and driving over the mountain was always a time consuming and sometimes a frightening thing to do.  There were several times that the car would slide off the road.  The snow was falling so thick you couldn't see a foot in front of you.  We always had enough snow fall that tubbing down the hill by the golf course would always be one of the highlights of our winter season.

My kids liked the winter time.  They would often go up to Price Elementary and go down the hills there, on sleds, tubes, and even on their stomachs and bottoms.  They seemed to enjoy it.  They would make snow forts, have snow ball fights, make snowmen.  When they got mutual age they would sometimes go up Huntington Canyon with the Church and tube.  One of our favorite things to do in the winter time was to go to Temple Square and see the lights.  And who needs snow to enjoy a winter activity.  My girls came up with something neat.  Sliding down the front steps of our home on a toboggan.  How imaginative.  They seemed to have a good time.

The Temple is always so beautiful in any season.

Another view of the Temple

It must not have been to cold.   Danny didn't have a coat on.

                                                                                 

Rachel going down our Summertime slide.  What fun.

Birthday's are here.......

Happy Birthday Courtney Rae........You are such a princess.  Courtney is Matthews 2nd daughter.  Her birthday is the 17th of Feb.  She turned 4 years old this year.  I can't believe that it has been that many years.  It was just yesterday that I held her as a baby.

6 months old
Courtney Rae White

 

 

 

 

 

Now she is 4 years old.  Happy Birthday, Princess.

 

 

Courtney came to Idaho to visit last weekend, so we got to have a little birthday party with her.  It was so much fun.  She got a new bike for her birthday and she was so excited about it.  Thank you Courtney for coming to Idaho.  I love your hugs and kisses. 

Dutch Oven Cooking.........

Going camping with my Dad was always an adventure.  We always did and learned new things.  He would point out the things of nature as we hiked, whether they be plant life or animals and tell us how blessed we were to have these things around us.  He always pointed out deer and elk along the way and when we were by rivers he always pointed out the beaver dams and the best fishing spots.   Dad always liked to try new things out when he cooked.  He made the best dutch oven dinners in the whole world.  I loved them all but my favorites were the potatoes, onions, and carrots.  I can still taste how good they were to this day.  The barbecued spare ribs were to die for. I Had a funny experience with those at one of our Bentley reunions.  I had gotten my food and went to sit down.  The chair I sat in was plastic and we were sitting on a hill.  While I was eating the chair gave way (melted from the hot sunshine) and I tumbled backwards clear to the bottom of the hill.  I lost my spare ribs.  I was so mad.  I was glad that Dad made a lot or I would have missed out on them completely.   The chicken in the dutch oven was also great.  It was so moist and tender.  Sometimes he would make up dishes he had created.   They turned out pretty good.  He never had a recipie for his special dinners.  I am so glad that my Dad was so adventurous.

Though these last two things weren't camping trips they were still fun.  Every fall we would go pine nut picking.  They were easy to gather.  We would take them home and roast them.  They were so good.  I often think of buying them in the stores but they are so expensive I hardly do.   When we lived in Parowan  He would take us into the desert at times and would show us how to hunt for arrowheads.  I remember in the second grade I made him a pen holder with some arrowheads in the molded base.  I wonder what he did with that?  He had it for years but I never saw it again when they moved into their new house.  Easter picnics were fun too.  Most of the time we went to the San Rafael  Swell where we climbed in the rocks, buried each other in the sand, and had dutch oven dinners.  What great times we had.

I know all of you who have had a dutch oven dinner made by grandpa has a favorite one.

Please tell us which one you liked the best and what kind of a event we were at.  Camping, out for Easter, just a trip up consumers or in the back yard of grandpa's house.  He made every type of event an adventure to remember.

Dad checking to see if our dinner was ready.

Dad and Carol preparing our dinner........Yum can't wait.

Couldn't resist this picture.......Mom giving us a cheer.  We made it through another fun day out.

Rock and Rolling

Rock and Rolling.   When we lived on 1st South in Price, my kids loved to ride their trikes, roller skates, and anything on wheels up and down the sidewalk, and down the driveway between the house and the Bishops storehouse.  They really liked crashing into the gate at the end of the driveway.  It is a good thing they never suffered any broken bones, stitches, or other minor accidents.  One day , on Jennys Birthday, the photographer from the Sun Advocate caught the kids going down the sidewalk and took a picture.  It was a cool brisk day for June.  The girls were bundled up in their winter coats and Matthew was barefoot and no coat.  What a sight to see.  I kept the picture that was in the paper so that it would be a reminder to all of us of what kids do to be entertained.

Grandfather..........William McKinley Bates.

Grandpa was born the 25th of September 1900 in Riddle, Douglas, Oregon the son of James Reagan and Victoria Parrish Bates.  He grew up in Riddle.  When he reached his late teens he got restless and roamed around.  He ended up in Carbon Co. Utah and ended up working in the coal mines.  He met Ida Lucille Richardson at this time.  He swept her off her feet and they were married  16 Nov 1927 in Price, Carbon, Utah.

When Grandpa was a small child he got polio.  His mother tried really hard to help him get healthy.  His Dad didn't care for his son much and asked Victoria why she was trying so hard to help him.  He was going to die anyway.  How sad grandpa must have felt to hear those words come from his father.  He did get over it but he always had weak ankles because of the polio that he had.

Grandpa was very involved in the Coal Mines.  He never missed a day of work and he became very involved with the union.  When he lived in Latuda he was the President of the Union..

       

I don't remember to much about Grandpa.  I was only 7 years old when he died.  Mom told me that he was a very quiet man and didn't say to much.  Dad didn't talk about him much when I was growing up.  The things I remember about him is that I felt safe around him.  He loved little dogs and he and grandma always had one or two of them.  I guess that carried over for grandma because when she retired she always had a little muffy.  That is what she named her little dogs that she had.  she had to give her last little dog away when she went into the nursing home.

 Grandpa had quite a green thumb.  He grew the best raspberries in the whole world and it was a great pleasure for us kids to raid the patch whenever we visited Spring Glen...He loved to work out in the yard and he always kept a nice, clean, and neat yard.  He and Grandma lived in the basement of the house that Dad had started to build before he went to college. Dad told me that Grandpa was a boxer and that he could take down 3 men at a time and 'whoop" them every time.

I remember one time we visited Grandpa when he was in the old Carbon Hospital.  I can't remember why he was there but I remember standing outside his room window and visiting with him.  We weren't allowed to go into the hospital.  I wish I could remember more about him.  When I go to the other side he is one I would like to visit with first

Aunt Alma Rae told me that Grandpa liked to entertain her.  He liked to dance for her.  He had a little tap routine that he did for her.  It always delighted her.  When Grandma Richardson got all her kids together for a group picture, grandpa refused to go and have his picture taken.  That has always been a disappointment  to Aunt Alma. It would have really been nice if he would have had it taken. 

                                                                                                                    

Grandpa liked to take Dad and Jack fishing and hunting.  He enjoyed that very much.  He also thought that some day he would hit it big time when he struck gold.  He liked to pan in the streams for gold.  I can just see him doing that.  He reminded me of one of those type of miners.  He never did find the gold but he enjoyed his time panning in the streams.

Grandpa and Grandma were foster parents.  I remember them taking the Warren children from Kenilworth into their home.  I especially remember Mary Jo.  She was a little older than I was and she always called Grandma, Mom Bates.  Mary Jo lived with them for a couple of years.  When Mrs. Warren told them that she was well enough to take care of her little girl and asked for her back it broke grandpas heart, he loved her so much.  After Mary Jo quit living with them he suddenly seemed to age and get older.   Grandma and Grandpa were very charitable, and even though they didn't have much money they helped all they could.

Grandpa had a few problems in his life that really affected his wife and children's family life.  He had a problem with alcohol.  He spent many hours in the bars and grandma always had to go and pull him out of them.  When the kids got a little older she sent them to get him.  Dad told me he had quite a temper when he was drunk.  I am so thankful that none of his children had a problem like this.  I wonder if it was their mothers (grandma's) influence?  I'm sure part of it is, but I think that Grandma Richardson played a big part in helping them also.

I feel that grandpa must have been a very sad man that he had this problem.  He died a tragic death. On the 17th of May 1960 he took his own life by carbon monoxide poisoning . Dad never told us about how he died.  It wasn't until I was 13 that I learned about it from Mildred Simms.  I asked Dad about it and he told me that he had.  This disturbed me very much and to this day I still have a problem with it as sometimes I have felt the same way he did.  But I guess I just have the desire to live and stay her to help my children and grandchildren.  I have found out for myself that I love life and there isn't a trial that I can't overcome.  In my heart I feel a great love for this man and I know that he is alright with the Lord.  We just don't know what is going on in people's lives to make them feel that life is useless.

Grandpa is buried  in the Provo City Cemetery in the Utah Valley.  It is a place I like to visit because so many of them are buried there.   Grandpa's Father, James Raegan, was from Sebastian Co.,  Arkansas and his mother, Victoria Parrish. was from Joplin, Missouri.

Dad when he was in the Army
James William Bates

John Gordon Bates
He was a Navy man
He made it his career.

Alma Rae Bates Procarione

Grandpa Bill, Grandma Ida, and me.
Patty Lynne Bates

This is Grandpa's parents
James Raegan Bates and Victoria Parrish

At a Richardson Ruin
Mom and Dad, Rudy and Alma Rae, Jack and Doris

Grandmother.......Ida Lucille Bates

MY  JET-SET GRANDMA………………

From Bryce Canyon’s majestic rims,

   To Sun Valley’s shining slopes,

That wasn’t quite far enough,

     So off to Fire Island you did go.

Your life has been full of adventure

    Your accomplishments speak for their self.

How I’ve loved and admired your creativity

     Your paintings, your knitting, your crafts.

What a marvelous cook, you are, Grandma,

     Your brownie cakes gave me a natural high.

When I picked at your slow roasted Turkey,

     A slap on the hand was your reply.

Your music, your laughter, your good sense of humor,

     Brightened many grandchildren’s hearts.

Especially this one who will miss you,

     And looks forward to being with you again.

Things in your life were not always perfect,

      Some things you struggled with hard

But cheerfulness was your virtue,

     And love was always there in your heart.

Dear grandma, thank you for letting me,

      Help you leave your mortality behind,

So many things you taught me,

     About love, letting go and pressing on.

I Love you, Grandmother Bates.

My Memories of My Grandmother..........

Grandmothers are special people.  Some are quiet, kind and gentle.  Some are active and on the go.  Most always have a cookie waiting in the cookie jar, or the aroma of fresh baked bread fills her home.  She is always thinking of and is concerned about her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and on and on.

My grandmother has lived a full rich life.  She lived on her own until she was 92 years old.  She had to have a little help around her house, but not much.  Seven months before her 93rd birthday, Dad and Alma Rae had to put her into a nursing home.  This made us all a little sad.

Grandma was born in Midvale, Utah, the second child of James Dennis and Edna Rae Cummings Richardson on the 25th day of January 1905.  She helped take care of her younger brothers and sisters quite a bit.  She lived through the great flu epidemic of the 1920's but her two youngest sisters, Jessie and Catherine didn't.  It was a sad time for them to go through.  Grandpa Richardson got so ill with the flu that Fred, grandma's brother, had to take over and provide for the family.

Grandma had a hard time in school.  Especially in math.  She had to repeat the second grade and in those days that was a really terrible thing.  Grandma didn't graduate from High School until she was 22 years old so that gives a lot of hope for her great grandchildren who are falling short of the mark at this time in history.  It is possible to graduate at any age.  They need to learn from her example.

Grandpa Richardson brought his family to Spring Glen, Utah where he built them a home, and he worked on the railroad as a conductor.  Here is where Grandma met William McKinley Bates, and married him.  I guess he just swept her off her feet.  They had four children, James William, John Gordon, Dennis (who died shortly after birth) and Alma Rae.

Grandma and Grandpa lived in many of the small mining camps during their married life.  Heiner, Latuda, Standardville, just to name a few.  Grandpa worked in the coal mines and when I look at pictures of him he reminds me very much of a gentleman boxer.  Dad has told me that Grandpa could take on three men at a time and "whoop" them.

Grandma had to deal and cope with many sorrows in her lifetime.  Poverty, living through the depression, losing a child, illness, Grandpa's tragic death, but through it all she kept a wonderful cheerfulness and optimism.

Grandma had many talents that she shared with her family.  She was a very good artist and painted many beautiful oil paintings.  All her children and grandchildren have a least one of her paintings hanging in their homes.  Grandma knitted, crocheted, did beautiful ceramics, and made many beautiful things for her posterity.

Grandma loved music, she loved to play "Oh, My Father" on the piano.  She played the harmonica and boy could she whistle.

Grandma and Grandpa had amazing green thumbs.  I could hardly ever wait to go to Spring Glen to visit so that I could run up Haycock Lane where they were living, and raid their raspberry patch.  They always grew the most delicious raspberries in the world.  They also had gooseberries, fruit trees, and rubarb.

After Grandpa died in 1960, Grandma didn't stay home.  You might say she spread her wings and soured.  Over the next 15 years she worked in Bryce Canyon National Park, Sunvalley, Idaho, and Fire Island, New York.  She was mainly a cook in the resorts, and I might say she was an excellent cook.  She did do other odd jobs.  She got to babysit for Senator Robert Kennedy  and for singer Andy Williams.  She wasn't very impressed with either of them but especially not with Andy Williams because he was such a cruel , obnoxious, person.  During her travels she got to see many wonderful things.  Beautiful things of nature, "Niagra Falls", the Statue of Liberty,all the Memorials in Washington D.C.  What a wonderful life she led.

Grandma went to the Temple for her endowments and to be sealed to Grandpa and to have three of her children sealed to her, on the 24th of September 1977 in the Manti Temple.  Dad, Dennis, and Alma Rae were sealed to them.  Uncle Jack went later to be sealed to them.  Grandma was also sealed to her parents on this day.  How happy I am that they are all sealed as an eternal family.  I was able to go to the Temple with her and it made me feel great joy to be there with her.

Grandma retired from her travels, but she never missed a camping trip with one of her kids.  Not until her 91st year of life did she ever miss a Richardson Family Reunion.  What fun she created at our reunions.  There was never a dull moment between her and Uncle Gordon.  Her children had to make her stop driving a car because she kept wiping out mailboxes when she went down the road.

Grandma bore her afflictions well while she was confined to bed in the nursing home the last 7 months of her life.  She hardly ever complained about her plight and seemed more concerned about how I was feeling about things.  Being with her the last hours of her life was a very touching, wonderful experience.  I watched her and visited with her as she prepared to leave mortality.  She was very adamant about having her garments on and holding on to the Iron Rod.  The boys and I were very aware of her visiting with those on the other side of the veil.  About 2:30 in the morning she told me to take the boys home and go get some rest.  Of course we didn't, we just went down to the day room to wait to see if she would go to sleep and get some rest too.  She had been awake since she had her stroke on Tuesday morning.  About 45 minutes later Danny went down to check on her and she was still wide awake.  He came back and got me and we went back to her room.  She just had to get the last word in on me, even though she was in so much pain.  I said to her "Grandma, you didn't go to sleep", she looked at me and said, "and you didn't go home."

Shortly after that she called out to me and asked me if I could see the people there who were all dressed in white and so beautiful.  I told her I couldn't see them, but that I knew they were there.  She closed her eyes for just a few moments, then she called out "Bill, why does it hurt so bad?" I knew Grandpa was there and I knew he was well aware of what she was going through.  A few minutes later she called out to me again and said "Patty, I don't want to die."  I knew right then and there that I couldn't give her the peace that she needed to leave her mortality behind.  I called Dad and he and Mom came right down.  Dad sent me home because I was so upset.  He told me he would call me when things changed.

After I left, Grandma again became agitated and insisted on having shoes and socks on her feet.  I guess if she was going somewhere she had to be properly dressed.  As soon as she had something on her feet she calmed down.  Dad gave her a son's blessing and Grandma slept for about an hour and a half.  When she woke up she asked Mom and Dad who all the people were in her room, so there must have been a multitude of people there to help her go home.  Mom and Dad told her that it was family coming to greet her.  She called out for Fred, her brother, to help her, asked Dad when Alma Rae would be there then settled down again.  As soon as Alma Rae got there and took her hand she slipped into a coma never to come out to us again. At 10 minutes to 9:00 a.m. the 28th day of January 1998, Grandma slipped quietly away.

Yes, my Grandma is a wonderful person, full of life and energy.  She is a shining example of how one should live their life.  Not settling for anything but the best of what life has to offer.  Of accomplishing your most awesome dreams.

Grandma Bates with, Makette, Rachel, Matthew, Audrey,Kelsey
Carol and Steven

Taken in 1987 at Mom and Dads Welcome Home party from their
mission.  Jack and Doris,Mom and Dad, Rudy and Alma Rae
and Grandma.

Matthew with Grandma at her Birthday Celebration.

                                         

Grandma Bates with Danny, Samantha, Joshua, Brandon and Makalie.