Helen's New Caddy

I was up talking to our dear sister Ruth the other day and this story just came to mind.  It’s probably the reason I am not thin.  Ha-ha, could not be because of the whipping cream in my coffee or my treasured (DNA) or that I love hot sourdough bread with butter.  Not at all!! Anyway, this story feels like it happened a long time ago.

 I was around 34 years old and finally felt like my body was my own.  I had 4 little beautiful children in four years, divorced and look-in good (I just didn't know it).
After my 4^th baby, I was 31 years old and was fairly chunky, in size 19 pants. With my last 2 babies I had to go on bed rest for the last 6 months of the 9.  So every pregnancy I would gain quite a lot of weight. After my last little baby, Ruth bought me a pair of pants that when I held them up I was sure that they would not fit.  I told her that she was way off; they were so big they would fit a barn.  But when I put them on they fit to my despair.    Anyway, one day while I was at the ranch Dad told me that if I could get thin he would buy me a Cadillac, well that was all it took.  It took me about 3 years and I was down to my normal form, size 14 pants and feeling thin (Pearson style).   Ruth was now able to find me clothes that had some style to them.  But on my own, I found a dress that was from the ma and pa store.  It was a funny mixture of red, blue, with bits of yellow. The pattern was very small print so that the color ran all together, so of course it made me look thin.  The dress was straight and went almost to my ankles.  It kind of hung on me, but I thought that it was really nice and I wore it all the time.  I had been out visiting mother at the ranch for the summer and it was time to go back to Las Vegas and get the children into school.  Father said that I was look-in good and he had a caddy for me.  I was delighted.  I was just a bit worried what it would look like, but he did say brand new one (I was so believing).  So Off we went to Cedar City.  I did not have a vehicle at this time and was relying on my mother and father for transportation.  Father had the car at a friend’s house and it was a caddy for sure and brand spanking new to him for sure.  It looked ancient to me but I decided that father was making his promise good.  We went to the DMV and he sold it to me for $1 dollar.  It was so funny, but dad said that this way the insurance would be low(For sure).  He filled it up for me and off to Las Vegas I went.  The kids and I were so happy to have a car and my sweet little children trusted me to get them around safely.  Well, we got just passed St. George in the canyon when I felt a boom and the car started to shake and pull, I knew it was a blowout.  I was shaking as I pulled the car over on the side.  It was toward the end of the canyon where the curves are quite tight. Traffic was zooming by and I knew that I did not dare to get out so I put on my flashers and started to pray.  Thank goodness, God sent someone very nice and in a big rig truck.  The trucker pulled in behind me and helped me change the tire.  When he inspected the tire, he said that the spare was so bad that it would not get me to Las Vegas.  He said he followed me into Mesquite, Nevada where I told him thanks for all his help.  Needless to say, I had no money to my name and was stuck.  I pulled into a gas station and got out.  I took the children to the bathroom because after all that stress and time they all needed to go.  I held Robert and Roselie, while Savannah and Crystal held hands.  It was always an adventure.  Once we got back, I told the children to stay in and I went to find someone to talk to.  I walked back to my car and found the tire was flat.  I proceeded to tell the station manager my predicament. He looked at me with my 4 little children and shook his head.  I told him my home was in Las Vegas Nevada and I just needed to get back home.  I said that I could pay him once I got home, but that I needed help at this moment.  He looked at me in my funny ma and pa dress and knew that I was not lying.  He knew that I was in trouble and whether he ever got his money back or not, he needed to get me out of his shop (I may have looked like a polygamous lady in a Mormon town).   After a bit, he walked over and said that he had a fairly good tire that should get us back home and I didn't need to pay him back.  I thanked him from my heart and said that I would send him a check.  Thank goodness for these kinds of people.  He had the shop put the tire on and off I went.  I got back on the road and was cussing father and myself out because we hadn’t checked things out before I took my children for a ride.  I was just pissed that I trusted him with his new caddy idea.  It was getting dark by the time I pulled into Vegas and I had to find the lights and was just hopeful that all the lights worked.  I got all the way through Vegas and on Blue Diamond road when I heard the siren.  I was hoping that it would go around me so I went off to the side but sure as the night is dark it came up behind me with lights flashing.  The noise woke up the girls in the back and we were all scared.  I told my sweet children that it was going to be OK, but they started crying.  I told them that the cop was coming up to talk to me.   Thank goodness, I had her in a car seat.  The cop came up flashing his light into the car and looked at the children in the back and then up at me.  He said to roll down my window but I was shaking and scared.  He asked where my registration sticker was.  I told him that it must have fallen down in the back.  I asked him if I could go find it and he told me not to move.  He looked around and finally found it.  He said that the back light did not work and that my brake lights were out.  He made me open the trunk and he looked around in the car.  I think that he may have suspected drugs. He didn't realize that all he was going to find on me was green drink.   Ha-ha. Anyway once again I was cussing father out and the fact that I was so skinny that he needed to give me a Cadillac.  So much for a new caddy that sat in the driveway.
It was the kindness and the help of others that I was able to make it home that day.  I sent a check to that kind fellow from the Texaco gas station and thanked him for helping my little family.  It is amazing who you come into contact with in this life and the gratitude you feel from their goodness.  It is the love of God and the protection from my angles that saved the day.  Life is an adventure that never stops moving on. 

The Bunnies

The Bunnies

I can’t remember how, but somehow, we had a domestic bunny rabbit out to the ranch. If my memory is correct, it was a girl and we only had one. Then one of our deer hunting friends showed up with an award winning Male Bunny to give to us for free. He was a really pretty white bunny with pink eyes, just like the pictures on posters display. Lilly and I gladly adopted him into our bunny family.

For Lilly and I this was our first sex education class. We would put the male in with the female and watch him chase her around and around until he finally leaped onto her and did his thing. Sometimes they would make squealing sounds and when they were done, the male would flop over on his side almost like he was dead. We weren't sure if it was good sex or bad sex, but it was pretty entertaining to us farm girls.

Before long the female started making a nest and preparing for the birth of her babies. We watched her close so that we could see when they were born, but usually it happened at night, so we were just surprised in the morning to find babies had come. After doing this several times, we were soon the proud owners of a nice bunch of bunnies. We had to limit our entertainment and slow down the multiplication process. 

About that time, Mother got the idea to butcher a few and have fried rabbit. At first we thought she was surely joking, but quickly realized she wasn't. She had one of the boys or Father show us how to break their necks, skin and gut them and sure enough she cooked them for dinner. I don’t think Lilly or I ate one bite that night.

We next had to do it ourselves. It didn't take us long to become good little rabbit skinners. We even learned that if we were careful we could preserve their lungs and blow them up and play with them for a while before they dried up and stopped working. Whenever I tell people that, they look at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am. We learned to smile and try to have fun in a lot of unpleasant situations. This was definitely one of the times that Lilly and I bonded.

Donna

Family Reunion July 12,2014

Aunt Jelene ,Aunt Helen, Brad, Me, Rowdy, Rex the dog and Jaxx the dog spent the week at the ranch.

We decided it might be fun to go up and get the ranch house cleaned up and ready for the reunion.
Mother has been gone 2 1/2 years. The ranch house, yard and goats miss her care. The field was dry and looked dead, all the plants around the ranch house were dry and sad looking. The goats ran away because there is no one to talk to them and feed them treats. The fly's were ABSOLUTELY atrocious. There were 3 goats that still hang around and they have the run of the yard, therefor there is fresh goat poop everywhere and the fly's were mating and spreading like fly's do. We watered the grass by the house and by the end of the week it was green again.
We walked in the ranch house and there was a TERRIBLE stench of death.  There were a few dead mice lying around but the smell didn't go away when they were disposed of.  We looked out J's old bedroom window and saw a dead baby goat. With flashlights and shovel in hand, Brad and I went to remove it hoping that that would solve the terrible smell.  Not so.  The baby goat was all dried out and had no more smell. Brad and I slept in that room.  We sprayed essential oils all over hoping to make it bare able to sleep. It helped. When the sun went down, the smell was a little less.
Thank goodness Brad was kind enough to come with us.  We put his skills right to work.  He turned the water on to the house, He fixed the kitchen sink so it would drain, he fixed door handles, he fixed the stove so we could cook. We were told before hand that the toilet wasn't working.  Brad bought a new toilet.  That was the first order of business to fix the toilet. It was scary.  It had old crap in it. Who knows how long it had sat in there.  I helped Brad take out the old toilet and replace it with a brand new one. It was Soooo nice to have a new toilet to use.
Jelene and Helen, cleaned out the back porch. There was goat poop that had to be shoveled out then scraped off the floor. If there were bags that mice could get into they did.  There was mice poop everywhere. They threw away a lot of Moms herbs in bags because the mice had been over everything. There were still cupboards and boxes with things that father kept in the back porch.  It all got moved out in the shed.  It looked so nice and clean when they got done.  Rowdy helped haul trash to the dump on the 4 wheeler.  We were all so hot and sweaty everyday. The pig cooker is still in tacked so we filled it with water and built a fire. It felt so go to bath in it and get clean.


to be continued

Strong Will

It didn't pay to be Red in our family.

I'm not talking about the color of your hair.  I'm talking about your personality type.
 

Red Leader/Promoter Power wielders. The ability to move from point A to point B. Getting things done is what motivates and drives these people.   They bring great gifts and vision and leadership and generally are responsible, decisive, proactive and assertive.

Seek productivity

Want their own way

Workaholics

Like to be right

Want respect more than Love

Resist being forced to do something

Confident

Visionaries

Proactive

"Winning isn't everything...It's the only thing!"

There were more than just one Red in our family. The one closet to my age was my sweet sister Ruth. When I came to her with a problem she would figure it out and fix it. She new how to get things done.
 

Those first years at the ranch were hard on us all.

Jelene hurried and got married just so she could get out of there. Then Kay got married and left. The brothers were off working to pay for the ranch. Father was, God only knows where.  It left Mother 47,Janice, Helen 13, Ruth 10, Beth 9, me 7 and Donna 2, to run the ranch. There was a lot to do. Helen and Ruth milked the cows, Beth fed the horses and cows, Janice fed the pigs and did the 
washing, I fed the chickens, geese, and rabbits. Donna was learning to go potty.

After our chores and breakfast, Mother home schooled us. Recess was jumping roap with my best friends, my sisters, my only friends. After school work was done, it was time to hoe in the garden.  If you wanted to eat you had to work. Dinners were simple like baked squash, split pea soup, baked potatoes. Mother made cheese and butter from our cows milk. We always had home made bread. Bread became our happy food. Hot out of the oven with butter and honey. We could eat a whole loaf. We lived simple and we ate simple.

Father would come home. The quiet and peace turned into stress and fear.

We were instantly his worker bees. I tried hiding several times. I could get diarrhea the moment I saw his car coming up the road. That got me out of a lot of things.
 It never failed that something happen while he was away.  After dinner he would line us all up and ask who did it. If no one fessed up, he would start spanking us with what ever was handy.  His belt, or his boot or a board or a twig.  Then he would tell us to be quiet. If we didn't stop to his satisfaction he would hold our breath with his hand.  Helen Beth and I must have been pretty good at sucking in our sobs, but Ruth was not, or she mouth off at him.  He would grab her, put her body between his legs with one hand on the back of her head and the other hand over her mouth and face and hold her breath until we though he would kill her right before our eyes.  He would let go long enough to give her a short breath of air and then do it again.  She would finally give up the fight. This happened many times.  Ruth was very strong willed. She was a fighter. Father didn't like children that stood up to him.  We were to be seen and not heard. He had to make sure that we new he had control. Ruth pushed his buttons.  He had to break her so she new who was in charge. Who was boss. Who had the power.

We were always so glad when he would leave.
Lilly

Gatherings at the Ranch.-updated

There were a few years in a row that we would have parties at the ranch. One year it was around Halloween because I remember dressing up like a pumpkin, and being so excited to see what my friends came as. This is also the year that my sisters gave me a home perm, so it was like a pumpkin on top of a pumpkin. What was I thinking? I also remember my sisters setting up an elaborate scheme to scare people as they drove through a narrow canyon dressed as characters from Sleepy Hollow. I think it was Beth that rigged her costume so that she actually looked like a headless horseman. If you knew any of the people that were coming,  you knew that some would be early, but most would be unpredictable as to their arrival time, so they sat down there in the narrows on their horses for probably hours in order to give our company a quick thrill by being chased by a headless horseman. Amazing what we had time for without TV.

There were probably 3-4 families that would be invited for various reasons. Father enjoyed having the men out so that someone would listen to him talk about his idea of religion for hours on end. Goodness knows we weren't very good listeners. Helen was feisty and unafraid to have a difference in opinion. Maybe that was a second reason to have these parties - find a man spirited enough to marry Helen. I wish I could have shared in some of her confidence.  

We anticipated these parties so much because it wasn't very often that we had company. Company meant
an escape from our boring lives of chores and home school. It meant good food, which to us was pretty much anything outside of squash, bread and potatoes.  At meal time there would be a whole table full of delicious salads, casseroles, white bread sandwiches, cookies and cakes. This to most people would have been ordinary, but to us ranch kids that only ate what was grown in our garden, it looked like a feast.

At night we would build a big bonfire and socialize and roast marshmallows to our hearts content. Until Mother said, "Now that's enough, you are going to get sick on all that sugar." And of course she was right because later we didn't feel all that great.

These gatherings also meant re-kindling friendships with people besides our sisters, which was exciting for all of us. Helen got to play hard to get for Merlin. He found out later that she wasn't playing. Haha. Ruth got to look beautiful for Dean and a few other beaus. Beth seemed uninterested in any of these Boys although, I'm sure that there were several that were on the prowl. For Lilly it meant lots of flirting with boys that she had no intention of marrying. I remember being mad at her because both of the Ward boys liked her and I thought one of them should have liked me. After all I had that wild curly red hair, poky 10 year old boobs and a big honk'n cold sore on my lip. What's not to like. After all I was probably worried about there being a shortage of men. We only saw a limited amount of them and not very often. 

I do think that I thought I would end up marrying into one of these families because at the time they were the only people from the outside world that came to see us and didn't think we were freaks. It wasn't until we moved to Las Vegas that I realized just how many people were in the world and that they weren't all crazy and that I wasn't really a freak after all.

I can't imagine having a different childhood. There was something to be said for the simplicity of living at the ranch. I really try to teach my kids how to enjoy the quiet afternoons by reading a book or just taking a walk out in the woods and enjoying the peace of nature. In the end I can only lead by example, but I constantly point out to them the wonders of nature and the beauty that God gives us to enjoy, because that is what my Mother did for me.

Donna

Sisters Week

Dear Sisters,
     One of my assignments for the writing class I am taking is to write 2 times on our blog before my next lesson. I was going over the notes I wrote while at the ranch last week for Sisters Week and thought I would write about a few things that we did, especially for Our Sweet Donna, who could not be there with us.
     The first weekend we spent time with Uncle Bart,  Cathrine and Ben and their families. Valeria, Ben's wife, taught the little girls how to make ribbon head bands. She had boxes of yarn and ribbon spend out around her on the ground under the shade of the awning of her trailer. She and Catherine and the girls sat there for hours making beautiful headbands, with ribbon streamer, some even had flowers. The girls were so excited.
     The Children had so much fun feeding, holding and loving the baby goats. There were new ones born everyday. We stood just off the back porch and watched Mother Nature bring two sets of twins into the world.  Of course there were two or three babies who couldn't get attached to their mommy's, so Ruth started teaching the children how to feed them with a bottle. Uncle Lee warned her that if she started feeding them, she would have to take them home with her.
     Saturday night, we had hamburgers and hotdogs and some yummy salads.  When it got dark we built a fire out by Brad and Lilly's camper and they brought out their radio and turned the wild music up loud. (Mother would not have approved!)  Lilly did a strip-tease for us. (Mother would not have approved!) Even Janice was shaking her stuff.  In the morning, she said that the dancing made her feel better.
     Monday morning, we set up the quilt, passed everyone a notebook and started telling stories. We did some timed writing, giving everyone a beginning sentence and then timing them for fifteen minutes.   The first one was, " The first time I saw Penny......"and then they would each write about Penny and father and mother and the time she drove the car off the road, because she was so mad at father.  We got quite a few stories written this way. And we quilted some more and only gossiped a little. We finished the quilt on Wednesday and wished it had lasted a little longer, it was so fun.
     On Wednesday, I decided I was tired of the boxes of food stacked in front of mothers china chest, so we brought in a wheel barrel and started chucking everything out of the pantry. The only thing we saved were some big plastic containers of Spices. We moved everything that was related to baking over to the baking cupboard by the door. We cleaned and painted the pantry and the next morning moved all of the food we brought into the new clean pantry. Wow!! That looked good. The girls kept commenting on their total Surprise! that Jelene had so much energy and was in a cleaning frenzy.... I said. "Well, since I have a maid at home, I guess I've been storing up cleaning minutes and didn't even realize it."
     We only had one real good fight with Janice the whole week. Helen informed her that we were going to go through the upstairs sheet and blanket shelves and she told Helen that the second shelf was hers and not to touch it. And Helen kindly said, "Yes, we will go through the second shelf too."  Janice got mad and would not back down.  We could hear her upstairs later, moving everything from the second shelf into her room.
    Thursday I made it up to the middle bedroom to clean off the shelves that held some of Mother's school papers. I wanted to go through them, to see if there was anything we might need for our book. I found twelve large manila envelopes stuffed with decorations for each month of the year. Each envelope had a month written across the top , January, Snowflakes, February, Valentines and so on down the year. They each held pictures and cut outs from coloring books and magazines,  to be copied or traced, then colored and glittered and cut out to hang in the window and on the door, to bring each season around in it's proper turn.
     The second shelf was devoted to Cheerios boxes that were cut up and saved, just in case Mother needed to send pictures between two pieces of cardboard to protect them. This shelf also held every eight by ten manilla envelope anyone had ever sent her, to be reused again, with a new label taped over the old one. (I have a bunch of those in my cupboard, as we speak!)
     On the bottom shelf I found two rolls of butcher paper rolled up with two big elastics holding it tight. Unrolling them, I found the words to all the songs we sang at Christmas and Thanksgiving, when we all gathered at the ranch in years past. Mother had them all printed out in her neat handwriting, so the grandchildren could read and sing along with us as we sang our favorite holiday songs.  As I looked at the words, I could here the clear sounds of us singing, "Ding, Dong, Ding, Fa, La La La La La... all of us gathered around mother at the piano.
    I rolled the songs back up and fastened the elastics to the ends, and placed the rolls back on the top shelf. Beautiful memories. Beautiful Mother.
    My sweet sister Kay, loves to talk before she goes to sleep. So, as we lay in Mother's bed each night, we talked about the things that happened that day. Then when she was ready to go to sleep, she would say, "Goodnight, sis." And I would say, "Night, Love." One night as I was falling a sleep I realized that I have shared a bed with her more than anyone else beside my husband.  She was always a nice bed partner.  We were sharing a bed the night Mother woke us to watch Lilly make her grand entrance into the world. And now every time we go to the ranch we get to share Mother's bed. Because we are the oldest. We're old now. We deserve the best bed. We're old. And I am the bossiest. And I'm old.
     Mother's bed is soft. You just kind of sink into it and let out a big sigh and relax and sleep. As I lay there I wondered how many nights she wept in this bed for her children, the way I have in mine. As we grew older and told her of the sad times we had as children, things she didn't even know were going on in our little lives, did she weep for us, and wish she could have protected us from all the bad in the world? I'm sure she did.  Did we make her sad by some of the things we said? I'm sure we did. Watching her great big family grow brought her joy and pain. It's called Life.  And She Marched On! Mother was a wonderful woman. She taught us to march on too. 
      Loves and Kisses, Jelene
    

    

News Flash

"Amazing Things Happening in Lexington KY"
Troy hasn't had any restless leg syndrome in the two weeks that I have been religiously rubbing oregano essential oils on his feet each night. If I forget and say goodnight, he will get this sad look on his face and say, "Aren't you going to rub my feet first?"  Then, even though I wash my hands afterwards, I can still smell Oregano in the morning when I wake.

Thank you Lilly for sending me what I need to help Troy. You are so sweet to me.

Love you all,
Donna

Mother in Vegas

I remember when we moved to Las Vegas and Mother got a job at Wenchell's Donuts. I don't really remember how much she worked. I think she worked while we were at school because she was home most of the time with us.
Then I remember when she changed to Arby's. I didn't really like that so much, because I thought it was beneath her and I wished she could do something better.

Then at Cannon Jr High, she volunteered to accompany everyone on their Solo and Emsemble music because everyone had heard her practice with me and knew immediately that she was good. From that point on, she did things for the band director and it wasn't long before they asked her if she would accept a full time positoin with the school. I think she really enjoyed those years at the middle school. I know that I felt fortunate to have her accompany me whenever I needed her to. I took her for granted a lot.

Anyway, she worked there until she decided to retire. I'm not even sure how old she was when she stopped working. It had to have been close to 70.

Our Mother surely taught us all to have a good work ethic in life. She always led by example and very rarely asked us to do something that she hadn't done a million times her self.

I didn't ever really try to get a way with anything in high school. I knew deep down that she would find out and I wouldn't have her trust and I'd be screwed for sure. But, on graduation night I couldn't resist so I lied and begged and she VERY hesitantly let me go do what I had planned. But, of course she managed to call the hotel room just when I was getting sort of drunk, and a boy answered the phone at the party that was supposed to be just me and my best girl friends. She had inpecable timing.
So, she said that I should stay and just come home in the morning as soon as I woke up. I had a terrible time the rest of the night and got up earlier then anyone else and went straight home. She never said a word to me about it. That was my punishment I guess. She definitely had her way of making me feel like I had just broken her heart.

So, Sisters, I know that you are all experiencing these fun things with your daughters as they grow. I'm enjoying mine so far, but it gets more spicey as they mature. I see a horror story in my future...lol.
Love you
Donna

Best Friends

In 1976 Biccentenial Year, the Pearson Sisters were all growing, and believe me it was in more ways then one. Oh well, we were all beautiful. Helen, our big sister that we looked up to, had her nose into her school books like a good girls, but don't look too close, there was usually a romance novel tucked in that history book. She paved the way for all of us at Lincoln High School, and that was a tough job.
I would have to say that some of our teachers, being upstanding good Mormons in their community were prejudice towards folks that were rumored to be pligs.
Since Mother home schooled us, our education was monitored by Lincoln Co. School District and we took tests twice a year to make sure we were on target.
So winter came on and we had all taken such growth spurts that we found ourselves out of boots and into the boys old snowmobile boots trudging along in the snow doing chores everyday.

Helen, Beth and I milked a cow every morning and night. You know what that does to a girl? Well, it makes them hungry, and you know what happens when you get hungry...well, you eat.
We had 3 milk cows and 150 range cattle to feed each day. The snow got too deep at the house, so we herded them down to the 160 acres that we owned 3 miles down the canyon. That was all well and dandy, but then they still had to be fed every day. We hurried everyday to get out school work done and then tramped down the road 3 miles in boots that were 4 sizes too big. We thought nothing of it, but everyday when we got back, we were starving and guess what we did...Eat...  Peanut butter and honey sandwiches, with a large cup of whole milk. And that's all fine and dandy until you turn that age that your body revolts and starts packing on the pounds.

We didn't know what was going on, we just kept packing those boots 6 miles a day, every day. One day as we were on our way home, with about a mile left I looked across the road to Beth and I realized that she was my best friend. Now anyone who has a little sister knows that they can be such a test. But Beth wasn't just my best friend, she was my only friend. I ran over to her and gave her a hug and said, "Do you know you are my best friend?" She replied in her best comedic voice, "Who's kidding who, I'm your only friend. "

Anyway, that winter was a turning point in our lives in more ways then one. We went from 125 lb girls to 145 lb girls.

Mother taught us so many songs, she had such vision for us. It's amazing how much we want out of our children and basically we can only influence them for so many years and then they grow up and do their own thing and there is nothing you can do about it.

That is the sad and happy part of the story. We all have control of our own lives and can lead them where ever we please...

Love you Ruth.

Mother's Gift to Janice

You know it hit me the other day, while talking about Mother and Janice and Jeremy, that we don't always know how the decisions that we make will affect everyone like they do. We live one day at a time and make choices each day that affect everything down the road.

Do you realize that Mother gave Janice an amazing opportunity of growth to have Jeremy? We all wanted a family and were pretty determined when it came time go out and find love. Janice was protected, but boy when she saw an opportunity for love from a man, she took it. And from then on each day, because of love and devotion, Mother helped Janice be a Mother.

Janice had been Mother's helper for 40 years. I remember Mother saying, "I don't know how we would have done it with out Janice. " So she gave back to Janice when the opportunity came. At some point, Mother decided she wanted to give Jeremy the opportunity to be raised like her other children had been. It was her upbringing, her heritage, that made her have these values and depth of love in her.

She knew that Jeremy would need special attention and her values put her making the next step that she felt would be good for them.

I was explaining how Janice was part of our lives to my friend and then found myself going into how Mother lived with them and all the years of devotion to them. Then realized that Mother was unknowingly giving back to Janice after all that she had done for all of us.

We all have this loving heritage and need to praise God for it. When you look out into the world and see peoples empty lives, fretting about their lawsuits and fussing about their perscriptions, you just have to realize what God blessed us all with coming from hard working, deeply loving, independent, courageous people. We have good blood running thru our viens. Lets keep working on these values.

Love Ruth

"Oh Divine Redeemer"

Dear Sisters,
      Did everyone notice....Ruth Blogged! I'm about to fall off my chair. How Exciting!!  You go girl.. I am so happy to hear from you. I still don't know how you found the time, with everything else you are doing.  But, now we will expect you to write at least once a week! Please keep writing.
    Every Sunday morning at 9:30 sharp, Linton turns on the tv to 'The Spoken Word' and listens to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing their Sunday morning program.  We call it, 'Grandpa's Church'.  I ask Janae, who lives in Salt Lake, if she ever watched it and she said, "Yes, we watch it every Sunday morning, before we go to church and Boston points to the tv and says, "Grandpa's Church."
     Last Sunday the choir sang, "Oh, Divine Redeemer" and I could hear Father and Mothers voices singing, their sweet harmony blending together. Especially at the end, when Mother took the lead and Father sang the harmony part. How I loved it when they sang that song together.  Then, I remembered way back when was about 6, we went to Grandma's house to see mother on the tv.  The Singing Mother's from her stake got to go to Salt Lake and sing in the Tabernacle during Conference. She was wearing her beautiful, beaded, turquoise dress she bought for this special occasion. The camera's scanned the singing ladies and sure enough, there was my very own mother, singing so beautifully with all those other mothers. I can still see the image of her singing there, in my mind today. I remember feeling so special, because, My Mother was one of the singers on the tv that day. I'm so glad she took that opportunity to do something for herself. We were so proud of her.
     Isn't it funny, how we don't think our mother's are neat, until they do something for themselves. We are not cool when we are sacrificing our lives for our children every day, bending over backwards to make their lives easy and pleasant. They don't respect us then. It is only when we do something for ourselves that they respect us and say, "Wow, look at my mom! She loves herself. So I will love and admire her, too."
     My sweet Janae, is going to a counselor, to help her with her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Her counselor told her that mothers do the same things over and over everyday.  So she asked her, " How can you make the things you do everyday a little different so you can bring more Joy into your life."  She is going to have a shower everyday. How can she bring joy to  her shower? Maybe turn on her favorite cd. Use a beautiful, smelling soap.  She has to do the dishes everyday. How can she bring Joy into doing the dishes? Sing while you do the dishes. Listen to Mozart.  If your children see you happy, they will be happier. If your children see you being joyful, they will be joyful. Everything you do becomes an example to them of how to live their lives. You can't tell them anything, you must show them, by your example.  Such a great idea. Young mother's feel so trapped sometimes. They need to take care of themselves, too.
     I love you all and hope you will take some time to spoil yourselves with something new that you love.  Love yourselves, I know I sure do love you.           Kisses, Jelene

Our Talented Days of the 1970's

Do you all remember the Gene Gelznick Talent Show? I remember wanting to be cool and somedays really thinking that I was. We went shopping with Father and Mother in Salt Lake and bought "brand new" shoes (You know the kind that have never been worn before). They were black, cute, high heels. Do any of you remember? We bought 4 white shirts, which were something special because white shirts didn't fare well in our rough lives, and we had already made 4 black skirts and 4 red plaid vests. O Boy, did they look cute.
I remember thinking Father was so nice to buy  us all new shoes. I was sixteen and I think that was my third or fourth new pair that Father had bought me in my life.

So, we sang "Sweet Gypsy Rose" or "Bumble Bee" and won 2nd or 3rd place. We won a camera and that was my introduction to photography. I took so many great pictures with that camera.

I thought we were pretty good back then. I wish we would have been able to comprehend how good we were and put more into finding our niche and learned how to personify every song we sang like the group "Ambiance".We would have gone off the charts somewhere I'm sure. Maybe....

Love Ruth

My Rooster Problem

So just last week I looked at my chickens and thought, "Those hens are getting really big, they should start laying eggs soon." Then a few days later, I was out there with Reagan and she said, "Mom, Layla just jumped on Maggie." I turned around and I took one look at her and I knew she was a he. Then within seconds Helen (my favorite chicken) jumped on Blair. Needless to say that those big hens are now known to be Roosters and I am shocked. So Layla is now Linny and Helen is now Henry.
These are sad days. Now we have to decide which we are going to let Dad eat.
Reagan is finally coming to terms with it though. I told her we will get some more chicks for her to raise and she is warming up to the idea. I've never met such a chicken lover.

Donna

Getting Old

Dear Sisters,
     I got an invitation to Joseph Knudson's (an old class mates)  60th Birthday Party, clear back in December. The party was going to be held at his mansion in Centennial Park, Arizona on January 7, 2013. I was really looking forward to seeing some of my old classmates.  I had my hair cut, lost 10 pounds, picked out some cute jeans and jacket and scarf to wear.  I wanted LeAnna to go with me, but at the last minute, her baby got sick so she couldn't go. Helen was going to come up and go with me, but she decided it was too late in the evening and she hadn't been feeling well. So I decided I could be a big girl and go all by myself.
     I found a place to park close by and started walking up to the house with a bunch of other folks. I began to notice that they were all wearing beautiful evening gowns. Oh, well, I had brought a birthday gift for Leann, Joseph's first wife and my long time friend. I thought 'Maybe I will just go in and say Hi, and then bow out.' I went in the majestic pillared entry and ask the greeter if he knew where Leann was. He said he had seen her downstairs. I headed that way.  There she was sitting in a semi-circle with about 4  other women, watching a video of Joseph's life. I went over and said Hi and she was so glad to see me.  We watched the video together and Wow! What a life Joseph has lead.  He owns several hotels around the country,  owns a huge farm west of Delta, that Leann ran for him for several years. Owns a company that makes seals for machinery. I don't know if he still has his Mortgage company. But I think that is where he made his millions. There were 3 plaques on the table, one congratulating him on 46 million dollars in sales, another one for 64 million dollars in sales and yet another one for 224 million dollars in sales.  He owns and flies a small 6 passenger jet all over the country to keep up with all his different businesses.
     Leann took me by the hand and introduced me to everyone. I recognized some people. Jed Hammon and his wife Carol Steed.  I remember in high school how they were so in love. Of course they were breaking all the rules by showing their affection to each other, but no one seemed to care or reprimand them. Everyone knew they were going to get married. And they did. And I heard a few years later after they got married that they had terrible, knock down, drag out fights when he got another wife. I saw Claude Colly, a teacher at the Academy.  Beverly Steed, Marlene and Priscilla Jessop, Melanie Bistline.  Leann's son sang a song, from Les Miserable'  with another really good singer.  She was so proud. They sing a lot at the school there and in her home. It was so fun to hear that they have a lot of music in her house. There were toasts to the birthday boy  and roasts about the birthday boy and then all the men and boys in this huge room full of people,  broke out in song, singing "Give Me Some Men Who are Stout Hearted Men and I soon give you 10,000 more".  It was Awesome. It was like they were one big happy family. They all knew each other and loved each other.
     I was very torn between my hatred for polygamy and the love that I knew these people have for one another.
     I was ready to go, but I wanted to say congratulations to Joseph, so Leann and I went in search of him. When Leann told him who I was he was dumbfounded. He dragged me into the lighted hallway. "What, Jelene, Come into the light, so I can see you better." It was like he was shocked that I was 60 years old. He could be 60, but I shouldn't be 60. Then I ran into 2 other guys I had graduated with and they kept looking at me like I was 100 years old.  I felt like a freak. Of course, they didn't look too bad.  They were still handsome. It was ok for them to be 60. It just wasn't ok for me to be. In their society, women my age are no longer of any use to them, they have moved on to another younger, prettier model.  Of course they were polite and asked how my family was and all but I felt like they wanted me to be 18 still.
      I said my good-byes to Leann and thanked her for taking such good care of me all night, and drove home feeling sad and rejected and old. Some how I have got to be ok with getting old because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it but enjoy it and be gracious about it. I just wish other people could be gracious about it too.  I would have appreciated a "Man, you are looking great. You are still as pretty as ever." That would have been nice and polite.  I will remember that the next time I see someone I haven't seen in a while.  Thanks for listening. Love you all, Jelene

dinner table talk

So after dinner we are sitting around watching Bailey do the dishes (our favorite pass time)
and Bailey says "Remember the time you got a bloody nose in Gwen's car and I stuck a tampon up your nose because it was the only thing that I could find?" The things that come up at the dinner table.
Just had to share...

Hope
Our sweet sister Beth got a couple weeks off for the holidays. She flew from Alaska to Arizona to see her family then came to Las Vegas, to hang out with her sisters. Janice came from Panaca, Jelene from St. George. Helen came over to my home and we hung out. We tied a couple quilts, waxed alot of eye brow hair, laughed, cut hair, drank wine, sang songs, watched a movie, had facials, wondered what the hell happened to the mirros that we look in, laughed some more, and ate way to much yummy food,  It was sooooooooo great to see her.  She looks like a different person that left for Alaska 6 months ago. I am So proud of her. She shared all the stories she has been writing, all the books she has been reading. She has really grown. She gives me Hope that I can change and grow.  Thank you Beth.  I love you all. Love Lilly

Hurray! Christmas Is Over!

Dear Sisters,
My kids were all here for Christmas and I love my kids. I really do. But they were only here 24 hours, and I wanted to start yelling.."Somebody better start eating tomatoes!"
Last summer, Lacie brought out the cutest picture to sell at the auction. It had a picture of Father and Mother on it and a story about each of them, in the frame by the picture. Mothers story went something like this... We were all at the ranch for a family reunion and lunch was in progress. All the grandkids had piled their plates high with chips and sandwiches and had a coke in their other hand. Mother had bought some nice tomatoes to add to the lunch fare and when everyone had filled their plates she walked by the tomatoes  and no one had taken any. She came storming into the house and yelled, "Somebody better start eating tomatoes!" So now when ever anyone at Keith's and Lacie's ever gets frustrated, they yell, "Somebody better start eating tomatoes."
We had a great Christmas. My book was a real hit. We all sat around the living and each of the kids read the story of their birthday. Then we listened to the CD with all their darling little voices singing. So precious. We all shed some good tears.
We had a ham and all the fixin's, for Christmas dinner.  My turkey, lurkey never got done till the dinner was over, but made great leftovers. Jared and Mary and Lillie and all their kids went up to Brian Head the day after Christmas to go snow boarding. They stayed in a nice new condo and really had a good time.
I am trying to think of a way to make my New Years Resolutions stick this year, but I am very discouraged. I am really set in my ways and don't think there is any way to change me. So I am just going to love this procrastinating, tired, pack rat 60 year old that is me. I want to stop wanting and start enjoying everything about me.  To be Still and Know that God is God and everything is right with the world. That will be my New Years Resolution. Love you all so much, Jelene

Reagan's book

This is an exerpt of Reagan's book that she is working on. I got teary reading it and just had to share. It is much longer then this, but I just picked a small section. Can't give away the whole book...

I live on a farm and used to only listen to country music. I thought K-Love was weird and the songs were all worship and boring.  My youth minister was like my best friend and she gave us dance classes that involved a K-Love song. We listened to K-Love to give it a try. I went on K-Love.com and there was a 30 day challenge they wanted everyone to try where you listen to K-Love for 30 days and see how it changes your life. I kept bugging my mom every morning on the way to school to listen to K-Love and so did my sister. We heard a couple songs we liked and today, I don’t listen to anything else. It might seem dumb to you, but I encourage you to give it a chance because it really does change your life when you are surrounded by words of God that are more catchy than what teenagers listen to these days.

I used to think that Jesus never performed miracles anymore. He’s not on Earth, how can he show a miracle? Well, I have 4 dogs. 2 of them are big puppies that like to run away with their mom. We were calling for them one day and 2 out of three of them came back. We searched all night. In the morning, my dad called the Humane Society and they had a boxer but no collar. My parents went to get what was hopefully our dog. They called us to tell us that our dog Bruiser got hit on the highway last night at 4:00 p.m. and they were about to give up hope and put him down when my dad called them. We took him to our vet and they performed the surgery. His leg was broken but today, he just limps around with a few scars. That night, I thought he was dead. I asked God for a miracle, looks like he heard.  My friend from the cross country team’s dad got in a car wreck and wasn’t hurt at all. Not only that, but later, I found out he hit a semi-truck. I got to see a picture of his car and everyone including the police is surprised he’s not dead. God is performing miracles all the time. I mean, who thought they would allow us to open a prayer group at our school?

What I don’t get is why atheists celebrate Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be the celebration of Jesus being born on earth to save us from our sins. Christ-mas is a mass, or gathering, of Christ, our savior. Today, people just do it for the presents and say, “it’s not about the presents; the true meaning of Christmas is giving,” but that’s not the true meaning either. We use it as an excuse to buy ourselves things and spend more money.  When I have kids, I want to throw Jesus a birthday party every year as a tradition. I’m not going to introduce my kids to Santa Claus either. I was listening to K-Love the other day and this mom came on air and said last Christmas her daughter was 2 years old and she brought her downstairs and said “hey, it’s Christmas, Santa came, let’s go see your presents.” Her little girl said back “but mommy, it’s Jesus’ birthday.” That was touching and inspiring for a lot of people I hope. This year for Christmas, I’m not focusing on the presents. I always say it’s not about the presents but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about them.

Do you ever think about God in different ways? Like, I love church, but I don’t like Greek gods and worship and praise. But then, I think about K-Love and I love the words praise and worship. I guess I just like to keep things simple. Love God with all your heart and do things to please him. But that’s also what sounds weird to me; “do everything to please your God.” I just think about it as making my best friend happy. I also don’t like saying “your God (suggesting there is many gods you can choose from).” Because to me, there is only one God. I think of God as a name, not an object or general category.

When I pray, I talk to God like he is my friend but I’m never sure if he wants me to be serious, or if he has a sense of humor. I like the last one. I don’t think God would be mad at me for laughing in a prayer. I mean, I’m praying to him the whole time I’m writing, and I’m not always talking directly to him.

Have you ever heard the saying “when you open the bible, the Devil gets a headache and when you pray, the devil faints.” I can just picture the Devil fainting every two seconds. He would never even have time to get up.

Have you ever heard the song on K-Love “You Can Change Who You Are”? It says “You can never fall too hard, so fast, so far that you can’t get back when you’re lost. Where you are is never too late, so bad, so much that you can’t change who you are.” I was at lunch in the cafeteria one day with my friends and two of them go to the same church and were talking about a guy there. They were arguing that he had changed, no, people can’t change, no, people can change, back and forth. The whole time, all I could think about was that song and I knew who was right because people can change. If you find God, everything about you would change.

Hi, I finally finished my ALL ABOUT ME story.  You know it really is ALL ABOUT ME.  I could have gone on and on and on.
Donna, I feel your pain with flirting teenagers. Let me know when you find a stowaway teenager (not yours) in your teenagers closet. Yes fun fun years ahead. Can't wait to hear all the good stories. Hugs and Kisses    Lilly

Christmas Present

Dear Sisters,
    My Christmas present to my kids just got really expensive. I told you I did a book with all their birth day stories in it and baby pictures. Yesterday I spent another hour and a half with the lady who is transferring the tape of my kids singing songs onto the cd. I knew it was going to be expensive but when we got done and she started going over the hours they had spent working on my project the dollars signs started going by really fast, close to $500, fast. I almost started to hyperventilate. But I just had to tell myself that it was going to be okay. I know that everything will work out and I will be able to pay for it. I have a big sewing project this week that will help me pay for it.
     I am getting pretty good at loving everything that comes my way. God has been so good to me. I love my little home, where I am warm and comforted. I love my wonderful kids, who all have their struggles and most the time I never hear about them. I love the peace that I can feel, if I just choose to at any moment.
     Last weekend, Helen and Abby came up and we tied 3 quilts, went to the movie, 'Life of Pi', and went shoe shopping. On Sunday we drove out to see Pat and Jim Pederson. Then we all drove in my car to Kanab, where Vince lives with his son, Dustin and his wife and darling little girl. Vince has lymph cancer and weighs about 90 lbs. He was lying on the couch and every time he changed position, you could tell he was in pain. Pat read to us from her Sot Song book and we were reminded about how much God loves us. At 2:00 p.m., Dustin was driving Vince to Cedar to catch a flight to Salt Lake City and the Huntsman Cancer Institute there. I sure hope the trip was not to hard on him and that they can help him. Pat was understandably heart broken, having to watch her son go through this. God be with them and love them.
     Donna, I loved your last blog. You better hold on tight, girl, because you are in for a wild ride with that cute girl of yours! I love it.
   Everyone have a wonderful Christmas Season. What a wonderful time we live in.   Hugs and kisses. Jelene