Family & Engagements

This is a picture of Ky and I when we were dating. We were probably engaged at this point or I'm sure I wouldn't have been sitting so close! smile

The reason for these pictures began with a wedding yesterday. Ky's sister Terrie, the one with her hair up in this picture, married her high school sweetheart Don Johnson. Ky and I got to be the witness's. It was nice to be there. As you can see Ky has pretty wonderful brothers and sisters too. We all look a little bit older now. I'm grateful to be part of their family. (Actually, in my mind, everyone but Jason looks pretty much the same now as they did then. Jason is about 6' 3 or 4" now, but I do remember him when he was this little.)

Terrie's girlfriend that came to the wedding asked me how long I had known Terrie. I realized that she was my camp counselor during young women years so I've actually known her longer than I have Ky! It was fun to see her and Don looking so happy.

Kathy is the one on the right and I think she is about perfect. She and Vic have a great family and I love them all.

Ben made my whole life easier by bringing in Tammy to the family. She and I can relate in many ways. We just wished they lived closer so visiting was easier.

Jason is the youngest here, but has grown and married another pretty perfect person, Erin. I have loved watching them enjoy their daughter.

Ky of course is the handsome man on the right. It's sometimes hard to believe that we have been married 35 years. I'm so grateful for his wisdom and willingness to hang in there through good and bad times. I love him.

This is at Disneyland where he proposed to me. He's handsome here and even better looking now. I really don't think it's fair that men get better looking as they age and women just get older looking!!!

These are our engagement pictures. I had "streaked" or highlighted my hair. Now it's called weaving I think. For about 6 months Ky thought I had a white spot in my hair. He married me anyway. That brings back a memory of my Grandma Hale. After I had highlighted my hair (which she didn't like) she always asked me "Did you put more of that stuff in your hair?" She had been a beautician and I just think it bothered her to see such a big difference in the color. I wonder in the resurrection what my "perfected" hair will look like. I've always wanted thick beautiful hair. Oh well, I'm grateful for what I have.

This is really not a very flattering picture of me, I was in my ugly stage. (The ugly stage comes and goes ! smile) I chose it because I am in a tree. Between the ages of probably 6 to 17 you could probably find me in a tree. We had a really great tree house that I would climb in to escape and just enjoy the swaying branches, the peace of the back field and playing with my sister and brother. The best times were during storms. I loved the rolling storms that would come in the Valley of the sun. Great rolling clouds of dust followed by rain and thunder and lightening. We would often play outside during the lightening and rain. I don't think any of us thought about the danger of lightening hitting us, it was too fun to have a storm.

This is my youngest sister Heather. I was the baby until I was 8 years old. I'm still not sure how I fit in the whole "place in the family" thought process. All I know is that I really thought Heather was the cutest thing you ever saw. Her pigtails were my favorite. Here she is picking honeysuckle flowers I think. She was always puttering around doing cute things. I was very glad she came along and I still am today!

This is me as the darling, almost bald baby. I obviously was having a hard time holding still. As you can see I had two beautiful older sisters that I've loved and looked up too. They have always been great examples for me and watched out for me all my life. They still do!

These are my four older brothers. I still marvel that I NEVER felt picked on by any of them. I was always "watched over by them". I loved being around them, they made me feel special and safe. They protected me then, and still do!

How is it that I was blessed by such wonderful siblings? I don't have a clue. I have often wondered how the Lord puts families together. I have no answers. My mother told me that when she and daddy were married she "felt" us there. As each of us were born it was like a memory came back to her of us.

I came to a decision tonight that I would quit wondering about all the questions I have no answers for and just concentrate on trying to feel the guidance of the Holy Ghost daily in my life. I will trust in God and try to do what I think he would like me to. That goal will be hard enough without getting all the answers I wonder about. As the scriptures say, "Be still and know that I am God" It's the being still part I don't do real well. I tend to worry a little!

These are just some of my favorite photos picked at random. Below Ky and I and his brother Ben and wife Tammi are all at the Sacred Grove. We have been some really beautiful places.

This spectacular picture is at Brian Head ski resort. As usual Ky was having to be patient with my athletic ability.

This is at the London Bridge at Lake Havasu. Yes it was cold and yes Trooper loved it. He didn't quite know what to do with the pidgeons.
This is a really cool musical instrument I'm trying to find instructions on how to make. If any one finds the instructions please pass them on to me. This was at an orff instrument training I went to.

This is one of our favorite places. La Jolla beach in San Diego. Our family is going there in June. Yeah!

This is Sea World. Jeni and Rand actually took this picture but I thought it was cool. Maybe we'll go there again someday.

This was a fun day. We took the grandchildren to see these crazy people do an obstacle course with these contraptions. They had to hit some different height tape with their feet and then land 'gently' several times, take back off and end in one certain spot. Looked fun but I think I'll pass.

This is Ky and his mom and Ben and Tammie at Niagra Falls. The power of water is amazing and beautiful as long as it's not threatening anything you own.

This is my brother Lewis and his wife Jean. She passed away just a few months ago and I miss her.

This is the subway. I finally hiked it. I may have already posted that but it is such a great accomplishment for me that I have to add it again. Jeff Frost took us and he was extremely patient. I really thought I would die coming out at the end but I'd do it again in a heart beat ...for some reason Jeff hasn't offered to take us again. Hmmmmm

This is good old Trooper. He really doesn't get the whole being a big dog thing. He thinks he's just as little as Macey. what's for dinner?

This is the subway again. Why do we look so OLD in all of our pictures lately. I really don't need an answer to that!

We are such official looking hikers!

Hope everyone is doing well. We're having a few challenges lately but just think how strong our characters are growing. One interesting side note is I got a ride to the hospital in the ambulance the day before Thanksgiving. My heart has a wierd electrical glitch that makes it pump really fast sometimes. Usually it goes away after a few seconds or minutes. For some reason it wouldn't slow down and be normal as fast as usual. Of course I was at the school but at least it was after the children left. Anyway the paramedics gave me some great medicene that my heart really liked. Later I was told to stand on my head the next time and it will probably stop. I'll try that, it's probably a lot cheaper. I guess it depends on how many things I take out trying to stand on my head! Life is good.

The dogs in our lives!

Ky and I were talking about the many, MANY dogs that we have had in our lives. I guess I inherited my mothers love for dogs, she raised them. As a child I remember the many litters of puppies we had that she sold. I believe she used the money for helping my brothers go on missions and buying my father power tools. (She wanted projects done! )Sometimes a puppy was having trouble breathing right after birth. My mother would pick it up and rub it with a paper towel and blow into its nose and mouth. I was always so happy when the puppy started breathing, and extremely sad when it didn't. Often she would hand us one to rub and dry while she helped deliver the next one coming. I loved the days when puppies were born. The elementary school we went to was right across the street from our house. Many of my friends have commented to me that they remember the "field trips" to our house to see the puppies.

I remember one time when my mother had two boston terriers out in the yard and they started to fight. My mother wasn't going to let them hurt each other, they were pets yes, but they were money down the road too. So in went my mother to break them up, beating on each one looking madder than either of them did. One of them bit into her upper arm and DIDN"T LET GO. I was horrified. My mother got even madder, whacked the dog off and we got her bandaged up. I remember clearly her telling me never to break up a dog fight that way (as if I needed to be told!) She said to always use a hose. From then on she did too!

My dog as a girl growing up was Candy, a white toy poodle. She slept on my bed and loved me unconditionally. That's the best thing about dogs, they love you no matter what. We also had a standard apricot poodle that could open doors with her paws.

When Ky and I got married we decided to get a dog. (I'm not really sure how thrilled Ky was that his wife was a dog person but he's adjusted well through the years.) We answered an add for "free" puppies. Just the right price! We fell in love with a little black and white puppy that was so cute. As she grew up she wasn't so cute but we love her anyway. We named her Meisje. That means girl in dutch.

After a couple of years, Ky came home from work one night with a beautiful little puppy. He had found her wandering around a busy street. She needed some vet help and food and love. She will always be the best dog to Ky. We named her Cinnaman.

We weren't able to have children for over 6 years so these sweet dogs became our kids. The went everywhere with us and we loved them.

Meisje got sick and we had to put her to sleep. When I had Jeni I couldn't stand the dirty floor with a baby crawling on it so we found a good family with older children for Cinnaman. That was hard but better for all at that time.

Then later came, Buffy a very hyper cocker spaniel, then a labrador whose name I can't even remember that ate the siding on our house and then Patches. She was a beagle that tried to break free from the "prison" of our back yard every chance she got. We were finding out that good dogs didn't always come along. (Maybe we didn't take the time to train them either!) Anyway we found good homes for them and they didn't last long.

Then came Shami. She was a golden retriever. One of my favorite memories of her was seeing Matt laying his head on her while he watched TV. She loved him. One day she and Matt found a freshly dug gopher hole. Matt was checking it out and the stupid gopher bit him. After I had taken him in and given him the first aid he needed I went back out with a shovel to kill the ignorant rodent. When I got back out, there was a much bigger hole and Shami eating a very dead gopher. She got him before I did!!

Then we got Macyee. She's a bicon frise. We tried to get dogs that would'nt shed because of our grandbabies. She's loved me through a lot of times I needed unconditional love too. Then about 3 years ago we got Trooper. We kind of stumbled onto him in New York. He traveled home with us on the plane in a carry on bag under our feet. Thus the name Trooper, he really was. He has to be the most loving dog we have ever owned. He's a golden doodle. A cross between a standard poodle and a golden retriever. The only problem with him is he thinks he's a lap dog and he's really not.

Dogs are messy things. You have to be slightly unbalanced to have house dogs. Just ask my son-in-law! Sometimes I wonder why I like them at all especially when I come home and there is mud all over my bedspread and rug. But then when I get a little down, Trooper or Maycee will crawl in my lap and their love makes things better.

I'm glad the Lord made dogs. Assuming I get to heaven I hope I can have enough property to get to have my dogs I had here plus some of the other breeds I would like to try. Maybe there mud and dirt won't be such a problem!

Hurrah! Picture Day!

It has been two years and one new grandchild since we had family pictures. Everyone was so excited to have new ones taken. A big Hurrah was heard (maybe not really) but they all came like the good sports they are!!!

This is my eldest daughters family, Jeni & Rand Lemmon and their children. Cutest bunch you've ever seen. Each personality shines through and I love them all.

This is my son Matt. This picture is priceless to me because I know it almost physically hurt him to come and have his picture taken. He's so handsome and it made me very happy that he came ( I believe) just because he loves me!!

As you can tell, about here they are done smiling and almost falling asleep. What good sports. (Better than the grown ups by a tad!)

Here we are and we are definitely done.

Nothing too spectacular to report this week. I get to go to more website training at work this next week. Maybe it will spruce up this site a litte. At least this time the pictures look right in the preview. We'll see what they do when I publish it! Cross your fingers!

Family

Dason & Rheagn

Laura Jo and I and magic wands. A sister tradition!

Kay & Mark Bradshaw, Scott, Tim, Me, Jeni and 3 of the cutest grand children you will ever see!

I was blessed to go and visit family again this last weekend. My nephew Dason Phelps married my new niece Rheagn. She's from North Dakota and seems like a perfect match for Dason. I didn't get to visit much but she's beautiful, a 6th grade teacher, polevaulter and Dason had a great deal of love in his eyes for her throughout the evening so as far as I'm concerned she's perfect! My favorite quote of the evening however was from my brother Russell. He has two beautiful grandchildren that we kid back and forth about which ones are cuter, his or mine. This night Sunni was dressed in a absolutely gorgeous ivory dress with her hair done in ringlets and about as darling as a child can get. He quietly leaned over and said, "want to have a contest tonight?" I gave in very gracefully. He definitely won that night, but only by a smidgeon! :)

While I was there I was able to attend the family graveside service for my Uncle John White. His wife Elizabeth, my fathers sister, died a month ago. I have two very favorite memories of the service. One was when Mark Bradshaw, Tim Johnson, Scott Gunnell and Freddy Ashby sang an absolutely beautiful accapella quartet. It was as magical musically as I expected and my heart filled with gratitude that Mark, Tim and Scott were part of my growing up years. I have been surrounded by good people all my life. Good friends are such a blessing.

The second memory I will treasure was the playing of taps. It was beautiful. Then when the guard presented the flag to John White, Uncle John's son, the man said, "on behalf of the President of the United States in gratitude for his valiant service...." I was again so grateful for all the good people that protect and bless our country. I have so many blessings.

I also got to visit with my sisters for a while and it was fun. Life is good.

These pictures are not doing what I want and I'm out of time so you get the semi-finished version. Oh well.

This is where the Dale and Barbara Hathcock family started. The covenants made there give me great hope. I enjoyed the conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this weekend. One of my favorite thoughts was from President Monson. He instructed us to find joy in the journey now, rather than dwell on the past. We need to make pleasant memories today for the future. I have several other notes , but I'll save you all from having to read them and just remark that I am very grateful for modern day prophets and apostles.

I'm reading a book called Mormon Scientist, the life and faith of Henry Eyring. I'ts about President Eyrings father. When it talks about his scientific discoveries I get lost and my eyes glaze up a little, but when it talks about the man I really enjoy it. Here's a quote he gave in it that zinged into my soul. "To accept the idea that the human personality ends with death is to accept life as a futile, meaningless gesture. God would be less compassionate than many good men if life ended at the grave. Broken, uncompleted lives are the best possible reason for a hereafter in which the scales of justice are balanced by a just god."

Women's Broadcast

One of my cousins asked me what thoughts "zinged into my heart during the Womens Conference". I had taken a small notebook to write down what I felt the Lord might want me to hear. You are all lucky enough to get these gems that were meant specifically for me.

Okay, here goes:

Our homes should be sacred sanctuaries from the world. I just blew that one with Matt tonight as I yelled at him. .........Overs.

We as women need to be powerful spiritual leaders especially at this time in the world. Another one to keep trying on.

With out personal revelation we cannot succeed and with it we cannot fail. Great words, someday I hope to be in tune enough to not fail.

We have to be quiet enough to hear the Holy Ghost and it takes serious mental effort. Then on occasion inspiration will come. I'm pretty good on the occasionally part. Real occasionally!

As women we need to act in accordance to the sympathies that exist in our bosoms. I do have those in between the being mad times!

We need to focus on what we have accomplished.

The way to overcome discouragement ( and this was very interesting to me ) was to create and be compassionate. I create all the time. I try to create an atmosphere of peace in the office at school, I try to uplift all that come in. I try to keep an organized area around me. I enjoy creating crafts of all kinds. At home, creating is a little more difficult for me. I actually do have my priorities right in my heart but I can't seem to make it work yet.

The definition of Creating something is to create something that did not exist before and make it a thing of beauty.

We need to ignore the voice of critics both from without and within.

Start small, Identify a space and beautify it. Cultivate where you are so that the angels will delight to come and visit your place.

The more we serve the more substance there is to our souls.

As unbelievable as we feel this saying is, it's true, "work will cure your grief."

That's one of the reasons I'm grateful for a job I like right now. Working at home doesn't always feel successful but I can make the school I work at a better place. I hope I can make children that may never feel approval from anyone else, feel it from me. I can create a feeling of approval and love in primary too. That's another place I feel like I can make a difference.
I love my Grandchildren and try to be the best Grandma for them I can be and try to create a happy Grandma home.
I love my children. I'm not always sure how to help them, but they are grown and very able, capable people. I'm proud of the good people they are. I feel like they kind of created themselves and did a good job! Any help I gave was given with much love ..if not skill.

The Savior didn't seek for any high position. He didn't really care what others thought. He simply listened and tried to help.

The number of prayers we say will not be as important as the number of other peoples prayers we answer.

Those who bring sunshine to others cannot help but have sunshine surround themselves.

That's it, that's all that’s written in the book. I've read it to Ky once, written it to my cousin once and have now included it on my blog. That way maybe I'll remember it for a while!

Life's good. They say if we didn't have this life we'd never learn what we need to. Life forces us to learn, I've found it's easier when we accept the learning times without whining. I have to smile when I say that because it's definitely something I work on all the time!

Aunt Elizabeth

Last week my Aunt Elizabeth Phelps White died. She was 91 years old. During my junior and senior years I was privileged to be in her Honor Choir at Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona. My junior year I accompanied the choir and my senior year I sang alto. My choir memories are probably my happiest high school memories. High school is a strange time. It all seems so important at the time, but as you age you realize how much better it could have been if you had just thought about others more than yourself!

Some of the many wonderful things my aunt taught me were; confidence, how to sing on pitch, the ability to get up in front of people, how to follow and how to lead, to listen to those around me, that music was fun and perfection was something worth striving for. I have so many good memories. I will be forever grateful for the privilege of being one of her choir kids.

Believe it or not we picked these choir outfits ourselves. At the time we thought they were really cool. Our formal outfits were much better. (At least I think so, I can't find a picture of us in them to make sure! ) smile

Testimony

I believe in God the Eternal Father, the father of our spirits. That he is a real being with flesh and bone.

I believe in Jesus Christ who is our literal spirit brother. I know that he came to earth, atoned for us, was crucified and resurrected. Someway this makes it possible for us to return home after our death. I love him so much for that great sacrifice and love for me. He is a resurrected being of flesh and bone. He created the world for us under Heavenly Fathers direction and is the God of this world.

I believe in the Holy Ghost who is a personage of spirit. This allows him to enter our hearts and teach us what the Father and Jesus would have us know and do.

I believe God the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose. They love us, and want us to grow, learn, repent and believe on them.

I believe that through proper authority, families can be sealed together for all eternity. I cling to the covenants I made in the Temple with Ky. These give me hope that my children can be ours forever. Even though they may stray in the darkness for a while, the Lord will seek them out and bring them home.

I believe in agency. I believe that is the great principal we fought for in Heaven against Lucifer, before we ever came to this earth. It’s sometimes scary to me. It’s so easy to get lost in this world and satan has not quit fighting to destroy the souls of men.

I believe that the Lord continues to give us revelation in these latter days. I believe that his church did fall into apostasy and was lost. That man corrupted many of his teachings.

I believe that Heavenly Father and Jesus did appear to Joseph Smith and restore their gospel to the earth in its purity. As AMAZING at that seems, it did happen. I know this through feelings I’ve received, and answers to prayers.

I believe that God uses current day prophets and apostles to teach us. That his revelations have not ended, and that he loves us as much today as he did Adam in his day. Why would he quit giving revelation to one generation and not another?

I believe that nothing is more important than Family. Both our Father in Heaven's and our own earthly families. Here's a picture of mine. I love them all so much. Little Alexa is missing so we need to update this picture really soon.

Introduction

This is our first try at blogging. I guess you are never too old to learn. It's good we have children that encourage us to keep learning!

We are Ky and Barb. Hopefully only those I know and love will have access to this site. I'm not quite as trusting as some. BUT, if I can have a memory book at the end of the year completed, it will be worth it.