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.