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Friday, April 7, 2006

The Legend of the Sand Dollar

Author Unknown
There's a lovely little legend
That I would like to tell
Of the birth and death of Jesus
Found in this lovely shell.
If you examine closely
You'll see that you find here
Four nail holes and a fifth one
Made by a Roman's spear.
On one side the Easter Lily
In its center is the star
That appeared unto the shepherds
And led them from afar.
The Christmas Poinsettia
Etched on the other side
Reminds us of His Birthday
Our Happy Christmastide.
Now break the center open
And here you will release
The five while doves awaiting
To spread Good Will and Peace.
This simple little symbol
Christ left for you and me
To help us spread His Gospel
Through all Eternity

Easter Finger Play

Five little Easter eggs, lovely colors wore
Mother ate the blue one, then there were four
Four little Easter eggs, two and two you see
Daddy ate the red one, then there were three
Three little Easter eggs, before I knew
Sister ate the yellow one, then there were two
Two little Easter eggs, oh what fun
Brother ate the purple one, then there was one
One little Easter egg, see me run
I ate the last one, and then there were none.

Joke of the Month

Exhausted after driving all night, a man decided to pull over to get some sleep. He had just settled back to snooze when there was a knock on the window. He opened his eyes to a jogger, who asked, “Excuse me, but do you have the time?” “It’s 8:10.” “Thanks,” he replied, running off. The man had just dozed off again when there was another knock. “What time is it?” asked a hiker. “8:25.” Fed up, the man put a sign in his window that read, “I DON”T KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!” Knock, knock! He was suddenly awakened again. Scowling, the man rolled down the window. “What?” he yelled at the Boy Scout standing there. “It’s 8:45.”

Eva

Thanks for your prayers for Jim.

I am doing pretty well much of the time. I do have to have another surgery on my left eye. My Dr. sent me to a Retina specialist because he wasn't sure what it was. He had already diagnosed Fuchs Corneal Dystrophy in both eyes a month ago which I am treating with drops and ointment; hoping it will help. I haven't scheduled this new one yet; trying to get up the courage.

We have some Juels in our family line through marriage in Denmark. I have gotten some of their work done. Haven't been up to working on my records for a long time.

Have a good week. Happy first day of spring.

Love, Eva

Continuing the Ericksen Family History

I will continue with a history of the Ericksens.

(Lars and his family are still on-board the William Tapscott as the story continues.)

Union and good order prevailed during the whole voyage. Prayer was held every morning and evening, and on Sundays religious services were held on the deck. Owing to cold and a change of diet, considerable sickness prevailed among the emigrants, and ten deaths occurred, most of them among the Scandinavian Saints. Four children were born on board and nine couples married, among whom were Hans Christian Heiselt and Larsine Larsen from the Vendsyssel Conference, Denmark. 

On the 3rd of June, the small pox showed itself among the emigrants, seven case of this disease were reported, none of which, however, proved fatal.

On Friday evening, June 15th, the ship arrived at the quarantine dock in New York harbor. The next day two doctors came on board and vaccinated, with but very few exceptions all of the steerage passengers, a part of the cabin passengers, and the ship’s crew. This was done to prevent a further outbreak of the disease, though all the sick had nearly recovered by this time. On the 20th, after being detained in quarantine five or six days, the passengers were landed at Castle Garden, New York. The smallpox cases had previously been taken ashore and placed in a hospital. 

On the 21sr, the emigrants left New York per steamboat “Isaac Newton” and sailed up the Judson River to Albany, where they arrived on the 22nd. From Albany, the journey was continued via Rochester to Niagara Falls, where the train stopped about seven hours in order to give the emigrants the pleasure of seeing the great waterfall and the grand suspension bridge. The journey was continued through Canada along the north shore of Lake Erie to Windsor, where the river was crossed to Detroit in Michigan. Thence to Chicago, which city was reached June 25th. From Chicago, the emigrants traveled by railroad to Quincy, Ill., whence they crossed the Mississippi River to Hannibal in Missouri, and thence traveled by railroad to St. Joseph, Mo. Here 123 persons were placed in a hospital, but upon close examination, they were found to be well enough to joining the company the following day on the trip up the Missouri river, to Florence, Neb., where the company arrived in the night between June 30th and July 1st.

Elder George Q. Cannon, who this year acted as church emigration agent, made splendid arrangements for the journey across the Plains. It was deemed wisdom to send the emigrants as far as possible by steam and avoid the toilsome and harassing part of the team journey from Iowa City to Flore4nce, a distance of nearly 300 miles, which in former years had required from 15 to 20 days’ travel. It had been learned by experience that the distance between Iowa city and Florence, at the season of the year when the emigrants had to travel it was, in point of toil and hardship, by far the worst part of the journey, owing to its being a low, we country, which in the opening of the year was subject to heavy and continued rains. These storms, owing to the nature of the soil (being clay most of the distance), rendered the roads almost impassable. Arriving at Florence, the emigrants found shelter in a number of empty houses while they made the necessary preparations for crossing the Plains.

A handcart company consisting of 126 souls, traveling with 22 handcarts and 6 wagons left Florence on their westward journey July 6th, under the leadership of Capt. Oscar O. Stoddard. The company was divided into three parts under Elders D. Fischer, Anders Christensen and Carl J. E. Fjeld, respectively. 

(To be continued.)

The Fabulous Five

Can you revise a newsletter comment made in March? I am actually going to be celebrating 5 months sober as of the 20th of March. In May I will be celebrating 7 months. Please change that for me. Give credit where credit is due is what I always say.

Bree’s company, Quality Wholesale Homes (Forever Homes), opened a new office in St, George. They now have two offices in the area. She transferred into the new office as a manager. The company gave her a nice raise as part of her base salary, In addition, she has had enough sales that she, David and Barbara will get a trip to Hawaii in June. She is really excited about winning the trip. David and Barbara are also excited that she won,

David has been on-call at work for the past couple of weeks and has been quite busy. He and Bree received free tickets to a Jazz basketball game in Salt Lake City and went to one of the games with another couple. That was five hours of travel, one-way, to see the Jazz play. But it was fun.

Barbara says she has the best job in the world—being fulltime Grandma to two wonderful kids.

Erin is so excited about her birthday in April. She is going camping with her family and Gramps and Grammy. They are going to stay at Sand Hollow, a new state park, with showers, running water, electrical hook-ups and a place for boating. She is doing really well in school. Her Kindergarten teacher said that Erin is reading at the second grade level. She is a good student and is fun to have around.

Donovin is a smart kid and is always learning. He is curious about everything, which sometimes means he gets into trouble. He is also a very sweet and caring little boy. He likes sharing and likes to make sure that the people he cares about have a fair share of treats and other things. Both he and David will celebrate birthdays in May.

The Magnificent Seven

Three cheers! We have the condo rented. Of course, AnnMarie is still not done with her obligations there. She has to draw up a year contract and she has to do it before rent can be collected. Nevertheless, the work is done and people are living there. 

Brandon and AnnMarie went to their Republican mass meeting. Brandon was nominated and won the vice-chairman of the precinct slot. He automatically gets to be a county delegate. An older woman pointed to him as he was standing in the doorway holding Rachel and said, “I nominate that nice young man standing in the doorway.”

Brandon’s sister is getting married this month. Remember how young she was when Brandon and I got married? Where does time go?

Matthew turned 5 years old. We had a family birthday party for him. He chose to go to Brick Oven. That meant that we got to go there three times last month. We went once with Brandon’s family, once for Matthew’s birthday, and once with our family after priesthood meeting. The women and kids from our area (Kim, Amy J., Julie, AnnMarie, Mom and Melanie from Boston, Siovhan and the kids of those families all went bowling first. Kimberly is the one to watch out for, she got the highest score.) It was so nice to have a home big enough that we could all go there after pizza and visit for a while. The kids could run around in the basement (unfinished) and play with toys and each other. That was nice too. It was a good thing Brandon was bishop and was blessed so that we could afford to live in our new house.

It was nice to have Melanie here for conference. We certainly enjoyed her. We have enjoyed having Siovhan here in Provo. She came over and taught us a missionary lesson for family home evening. She needed to do that for a class she is taking.

The girls, Alyssa and Megan, participated in a couple of dance competitions. As usual, their teams did really well. They both continue to enjoy school and the many activities there. It keeps us busy trying to keep up. I (AnnMarie) have reached the “live in the van” stage of life. Rachel is not certain she likes the life and complains from time to time. They also got pretty crochet bed dolls for their beds in their new
room.

Kyle is waiting for his birthday. When it arrives he gets to move on into the 11-year old scout activities. He is looking forward to that. He still likes to play with his Star Wars figures. It is also nice to have out-door running place for his energy.

Happy Easter!

The Butcher, the Baker and the Mammograph Taker



I am still alive. That is about as much news as I have for this month. As soon as the electrician comes over for a final inspection, I can get working on the insulation for our basement. Then we can get the drywall up, painted and the older boys can move into their own rooms. That will be a great day.

I fixed up Dad’s old lawnmower and now it works. It really does run well. I used it to cut my grass the other day.

Amy passed her audit at work. She is happy about that. It was her state audit. She had been really stressed about it and is glad to be done with it. The state checks her charts, checks her tanks and all aspects of her work. Her brother, Spencer, is getting married on April 18 in the temple. She is also excited about that.

Jason loves to read! He likes all kinds of books. He is reading the Hardy Boys series and the Goosebumps books that his Grandmother Jacobs got for him. He just got his Weblows badge and was really happy about that.

David is reading a book about reptiles. He is quite enjoying it. He is progressing well in school. He is also having fun in scouts. He loves going to scout meetings. He also has a cap with a snake on it and a coat he likes to wear with it. When he is dressed up in his outfit he is
“Snake Battle Boy.”

Maddie is still eager to learn and is doing really well in school. She inherited one Pitts/Smith trait, however. She loves to talk. She can be quite talkative in school. She loves to read and also likes playing her Game Boy. She likes making cards with Amy and is a happy girl.

A.J. is A.J. He is going through that independent stage where he is a big boy and can do everything for himself. He really likes his Dad and likes to spend time with him. On Tuesdays, A.J. and I go to Wal-Mart together. Sometimes we pick out a new DVD. Our pick for this month was “Chicken Little.” He had to take the DVD to Grammy’s so that Matthew could watch it with him. He has a great love for macaroni and cheese. He is a happy boy and we enjoy him. It will be sad when he learns how to say everything correctly because we enjoy
his mispronunciations.

Oh! Hi! Oh!



We have been in Ohio for a year now. The coming and going of the day were quite uneventful. I got up, took Michael to school, mailed off 25 envelopes about scout camp and went to work. When I got home we went to Michael's musical at the High School. Nothing more, nothing less. I guess that is how it goes.

Updates:
Hailey is four months old now. She is a bundle of joy. She pretty well laughs all night long. She has a very contagious laugh that just makes me giggle when I hear her. She is about to the point where she will roll from her back to her belly, but not quite there yet. It still surprises her when she does it. She had her check up and she is 13 lbs 2 oz and 24 1/2 inches long. She is in the 50% percentile.

Emily is nearing completion of dance and gymnastics for the summer. Her recital is May 19th. She got her report card and has all A's. She reads really well and loves to sit Hailey in her lap and read her stories. She is starting Coach Pitch baseball and is the only girl on her team. We went to her first practice and she could hit and throw better than most of the boys. I think they like her. She can hold a perfect pike on the floor and astonishes her gymnastics instructor all the time. Might be time to look into finding another teacher.

Tyler got straight A's on his report card as well. He just got done with the Ohio testing that says whether he gets to go on to third grade, or not. We're not worried. Tyler had his pinewood derby at cubs on Wednesday. He took 2nd of sixteen cars. It was a photo finish and when they did some unofficial racing, after the race, he won two out of three. The best part, when the official race ended, he picked up his car and the other boy picked up his car at the same time, then they walked back to the head of the track with Tyler's arm around the shoulders of the winner and you could hear Tyler saying, "Good job. You raced good." I had to remind myself he is only eight. Tyler is also playing baseball. He wanted something to pass the time until soccer starts.

Michael is doing exceptionally well at school. I guess no one expects anything different from him. He has taken some classes that have really pushed him out of his comfort zone. He is in choir and
decided he was going to try out for the school musical Oklahoma. He didn't realize that once he made it, we would not let him quit. So, this past weekend, we went to the musical to see our Michael on stage. He claims he was terrible. We think he did just fine. Perhaps, we are biased. The other class he took that pushed his skills was Life Skills (home economics). He cooked, cleaned and sewed. His favorite story was when he was supposed to double the recipe for muffins, and he accidentally put in two tablespoons of salt instead of the two teaspoons. To put him at ease, when he told me the story, I told him that if anyone ever tells him that you make mashed potatoes in a blender just laugh at them. :) Michael and I will be going to scout camp in the Cumberland Gap this year at a place called Camp Mountaineer. That will be the last week of June.

Amy is busy. She shuttles kids back and forth and she is the ward's enrichment leader. She doesn't get lost anymore and knows her way around quite well. We have to drive a little to get to some things. Church is 15 miles one way, but work is only 10 miles away. The inexpensive grocery store is 15 miles from town, but Wendy's is only two miles. Amy and I celebrated our 16th anniversary. Last year, I bought her a new house and moved out of our home for our anniversary. This year, I took her and the kids to Chicago for a crab leg dinner at Bob Chinz and to get Amy out of the house. Hailey made the sixhour drive like a trooper and that made Amy happy, because we have a 24-hour drive ahead of us this July and then again in August. Amy will be out with the kids for most of the month of July, we will arrive on July 4th in Nephi and will leave that first week in August.

I will get to drive out and stay for two weeks. My boss is allowing me to work out of the Sandy office for one week, so the first week, we will be in Nephi and then the second week we will be in Lake Shore. We are planning to go camping at the Ponderosa on the 6th, 7th and 8th. I also want to make it back to the Ute Stampede for one of the nights. We won't make it in time for the pageant. Work is going well. I am always busy and feel like I could work solid for weeks and still not catch up, so that is a good thing. I like being the scoutmaster even though I have some challenges with a few parents. Living in the "mission field" and getting people to help is like pulling teeth. I think the distances make people think differently. For example, I set up a home teaching route for myself. If I go from A to B to C to D and then home, I make a 70-mile loop that takes about 4 1/2 hours to complete. Otherwise, the distances separately would be over 130 miles. I like the challenges of living here. I think if we were to move back tomorrow, I would definitely miss some people I have met in the past year. Which reminds me of the story of the sage. http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/traveltales.ht ml#travelerandfarmer

We went to Stake Conference recently and listened to our temple president give one of the talks. He told us that before the temple was built, there was one stake in Columbus. Since the temple was built, there are now four stakes in Columbus. He said in his talk that saints are flocking to Ohio for reasons they don't know. Life is just working out for them to get here. He stated that one of the promises given to the Prophet Joseph Smith that has yet to be realized was that the Ohio shall flourish and that the saints shall gain their inheritance in the Ohio
(D&C 39). He further said that for this reason many saints are being drawn to the Ohio to gain that inheritance. Who knows? He could be right.

I have taken too much space. I love you all.
T

You Are My Sunshine

Words and Music by Jimmy Davis and Charles Mitchell (1940)

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
When I awoke dear, I was mistaken,
So I hung my head down and cried

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are grey.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

This is the song Aunt Renee used to sing to me. Maybe because when she sang it I would stop complaining.

Garth Childs

Are you still alive, Garth?

Yes Ma'am I am. I have been in St George for about a week and they have been running us wild with jobs around here and today is the first that I have had time to even look at my Email. We are all still kicking and yelling. I don’t know if you remember Tempie Childs or not but any she passed away Sunday night not much other news.
Love Garth

Ericksen Family Site

We have a new Ericksen Family site. You should all have received an invitation. This is a letter from one cousin to another. They are two of the cousins who inspired creation of the site.

Hello Kate:

Thank you for your message. I am curious whose granddaughter you are in Alberta? I had the wonderful experience of going to Lethbridge a few years ago when I had to be in Banff on business. I drove down and met first cousins who I barely knew existed! It was a wonderful day and family reunion. I probably met your grandmother there. I am also copying this message to Ms. Trautwein who is also related to us, because I could not respond when she contacted me.

When I was in Canada, Bea's daughters kindly gave me a book from the Procter family and the copy I have has information about Lars and Stine in it. I also went to Denmark in 1991 and went to Kolle Kolle and Fjarreveijle where they lived originally. It was fun to see it.

As you may know Lars came here with his first wife, Birthe Marie Pedersen. In Denmark the families lived not far apart, and I would think that they all may have been converted at about the same time. Lars and Birthe Marie also lived in Copenhagen where they did missionary work (as far as I understand it.) Then they came across to Utah. Apparently Stina or Stina came across alone, but in the same company of pioneers as Lars and Birthe Marie. (She actually came with the couple as a servant girl where she helped the family with the trip in exchange for passage.) Stine's mother also came to Utah and died in Mt. Pleasant, but I don't know if she came in the same pioneer company. 

Anyway when they were in Salt Lake City on June 22, 1861 Stina and Lars were married at the Endowment House. Of course, this was a polygamous marriage, and eventually when the U.S. Marshall's were sent to Utah to attack polygamy, it is my understanding that Lars was one of the men prosecuted or indicted or something. I have never looked at the whole incident thoroughly. I think this was a happy marriage, and I believe that after Louis, Lars' and Birthe Marie's last child was born, that Lars took good care of them, but I know no more children were born to that part of the family. Stina went on to have 8 children, the oldest was Ferdinand. She died at a fairly early age because of an internal injury when she was hooked by a cow. Tough way to go, but there was no care at that time for injuries like that. I have all their dates in my files if you need them.

I am attaching a copy of a picture from my copy of the book that was supposedly taken on the wedding day of Stina and Lars. It shows Camilla and her sister with Birthe and the new couple. Camilla or "Milla" as she seems to have been known in the family was a much beloved figure in the whole Ericksen family.

So enough of what I know. Do you live in Canada? I live in Washington, DC. I am always glad to hear from cousins, which is why I post. I apologize for not replying to Ms Trautwein when she kindly replied. I have been in a job transition and not doing family history much right now.

Best regards,
Caren Ericksen Wilcox



Runnin’ Utes

Sorina: She finally had her Super Duper Dora Party with plates, napkins, cups and a few friends. She had a lot of fun. She did get the cupcakes that she kept telling everyone she wanted also. Her Daddy was gone for her birthday, so she has played up the birthday angel pretty good this month. We now call her “The Girl of the Three Week Birthday.” She thinks it’s normal to open presents every week. It’s hard to believe that she is 3 and growing up so fast. She’s her own person with her own ideas, and she definitely has her own path to follow. She is no longer afraid of Ella, she still calls her “Pals” and carries her around a lot of the day, setting her on high surfaces that she can’t get off (however, she is learning to jump—Ella). She also still has her Dad wrapped around her finger. We just hope that the other kids don’t figure out how easy Dad is if you just yell “Hi Daddy” and run to him with open arms for a hug when he gets home.

Toren: Just when we thought the snow was gone, we got more! He was so excited. He was also exited for soccer season to begin—which it did this week. Next week is his and Dane’s last week in school. They’re off from April 10th to May 3rd. That’s a wee bit too much time according to their Mom. We recently bought him a t-shirt that says: It seemed like a good idea at the time. We were watching The Thief Lord (based on the book of the same name by Cornelia Funke, who also wrote Inkheart and Inskpell—which we really enjoyed) on DVD and one of the characters, an investigator, uses a set of lock picks to pick a lock and Toren pipes up and tells us that he wants to be a lock picker when he grows up. Is it a wonder we bought him that t-shirt?

Dane: Dane has an excellent scoutmaster. His scoutmaster is a former Bishop and Ward Mission Leader. Dane attended his first Court of Honor and got his first merit badge. He’d earned another, but his counselor did not sign in all the right places. For some inexplicable reason, Dane really loves going to scouts—you would think he had scouting running in his veins or something. He is excited to be able to go to camp this summer, but his Dad has to go in order for Dane to go, and Shawn’s vacation is currently up in the air because of a possible job change. Dane was also excited for snow, more snowboard ramps and snowmen in the yard. And lots of snow flying here and there, and sometimes even where it did not belong. Dane is also fortunate to have a schoolteacher that really likes having Dane in class. She said he had so many good traits and was so good to work with, which he truly is (unless he is
fighting with a sibling). Fortunately, he does not have a twin to go to school with.

Brigitta: Brigitta and Mom had a good time attending Sunday afternoon General Conference at the Conference Center and walking around the outside of the Conference Center in the wonderfully warm Spring weather. Brigitta enjoys Young Women’s. She also had a great term in school. She’s started the last term and I think she already has Spring Fever. She didn’t tell us about her after school dance, again, so her Dad couldn’t go and show off his “moves.” Brigitta’s biggest fear is that her Dad will dance in front of her friends. He already sings in front of them, changing the words, of course. She liked a song that went: “There’s a boy who works at Starbucks, and he is such an inspiration”, which her dad ruined by changing it to “There’s a boy who works on cars-and-trucks, and he smells like perspiration”.

Ella: Cute, but a little short-tempered with the boys. They are a bit rough. And still potty training. Just when I thought I’d won my last battle with Sorina……

Kimberly: I got my braces off on the 16th, just in time for my birthday. However, no one noticed immediately, other than Sorina and my friend Julie. In fact no one noticed when we got together for Men’s Broadcast in Provo. Everyone just thinks the change they noticed was my hair. My hair has been noticed a lot lately.? I haven’t bowled in a long time and that was a lot of fun. I think Sorina and Toren are going to want to go again really soon. I am also very active in cub scouting now. In November I will have Toren in cub scouts for a couple of years—not that he doesn’t already do some of the activities with us, and already has a Cub Scout shirt. [Shawn’s Note: Kimberly did also get her haircut, so don’t think you totally missed everything. If you noticed her hair was different you were 100% right.]

Shawn: We had a great time in Provo getting to visit with everyone. We enjoyed visiting with Melanie and Siovhan (we see her about as often as we see Melanie). AnnMarie’s and Brandon’s house is beautiful. Brick Oven with everyone was great. Shawn was gone for a week to a national user group conference in Nashville, where he also presented. He got to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame one evening of the conference, and has been listening to country music more since he got home. He remembered Dad used to like it, in fact he remembers that he, Melanie, and Todd got records for Christmas one year – Petulia Clark, Charlie Pride, and someone else he cannot remember. In the museum at the first exhibit he saw it said Jimmy Rogers, and replied, “Oh, he’s the yodeling cowboy." to which one lady in country/western clothes looked astonished. She went and read more and listened to a sample song and came back and said, “I had never heard of him, but you were right." I guess Dad rubbed off on him more than he realized.

The Old Folks At Home

One year of newsletters! It is our family newsletter anniversary in May  (since we started in May). Is that something worth celebrating? One year of Mom nagging, cajoling and pleading. Oh, well, you are all used to that anyway, right?

It has been a good month. The daffodils are blooming and the tulips are nearly ready, so summer must be just around the corner. Here in Utah we can’t decide if it is spring or winter. One day it is one thing and the next day it is the other.

Robert Frost said it best.
“Two Tramps in Mud Time”
The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

We have been enjoying the fireplace. However, on the Sunday of Conference, Dad got the T.V. room so warm we could hardly stand it. Just ask Melanie. She was sitting closest to the fire. When we went upstairs to eat, it became apparent that we were enjoying a warm day. We ended up throwing the windowsopen just to catch a breath of cool spring air. Just an aside, Melanie still owes Julie a dance. Julie and AnnMarie made pies just so Melanie would keep her promise to dance for pie, and then she didn’t do it.

We had a great time bowling. Those moms and kids who could be there (it was too far for Todd and David and families) went to BYU and bowled while the men went to Priesthood. Then we all went to Brick Oven for pizza (men included). Thanks to Eric getting there a little ahead of us, we got a ROOM to ourselves. There are no reservations during conference weekend.

We also enjoyed a weekend visit from Erin and Donovin a couple of weeks ago. We all had fun and hope they did. Mary misses them and, the day after they left, asked where they had gone. We also had the Howard kids with us (and AJ) overnight during their spring break.

We are looking forward to a camping trip to St. George to spend Erin’s birthday with her. She wrote us a letter inviting us to, please, take her camping for her birthday.

I have one bit of great news. You all remember that dark brown age-spot I had at the corner of my left eye? It is gone. I went to a dermatologist to have a skin cancer burned (they actually freeze them) off and he also burned that off. I am happy to be rid of it. Now, if he
could just burn off wrinkles.

Dad is still Dad. He works so hard all of the time that I can’t even dream of keeping up with him. He and Jim tilled our garden the day before it snowed again. So we are ready to plant. All of the electric work in the on-going bathroom project is done. The shower fan works and now we need to put up the rest of the drywall and paint and my dream will be complete. Nevertheless, I am enjoying it just the way it is.

As you read through the items from family members, please note how many great students and how many talented grandchildren we (Grammy and Gramps) have! Is that due to good genes (I know you are going to say from the other side of the families.), good parenting or just lots of love and care? Whatever it is, we are thankful that we have so many wonderfully talented and highly intelligent people in our family.

In June, we should have two more and that will add even more to our happiness. Thanks for sharing these wonderful people with us! We are grateful. I want you all to know that, now that I am a grandma, I could be a better mother. I just had no idea what I was doing, most of the time and had to fly by the seat of my pants, so to speak. I no longer cringe when you bring up my mothering shortcomings; however, because I have learned the women I work with at the temple (who are angels in my estimation) all have regrets as well. So I am now acknowledging that I am human and, as such, have made and will continue to make mistakes. So forgive me my past and I will try to
continue to grow up. I may even make it someday. I do want my kids to know, however, that I don’t remember everything you say I did or didn’t do. I do remember that I loved you and that I still love you. It was a great privilege being part of your lives and watching you grow and become the wonderful people you all are. I still LIKE all of you as well as love you. Thanks, also, for marrying such wonderful people.

All of you know that Grandpa Pitts was good at playing the harmonica. He also had a beautiful baritone voice and he and Mother Elaine sang together for funerals, dances and other occasions in the Carbon and Emery County areas. Did you know that Aunt Renee was also quite musical? She played the trumpet in the school band. The talent I most admired, however, was her whistling. I always loved to wake up at her house and hear her whistling. She could sound like a great variety of birds plus she was good at whistling tunes.

Grandma Smith always woke me up by singing: “Lazy Myrna, won’t you get up, won’t you get up, won’t you get up? Lazy Myrna won’t you get up so early in the morning?” Dad says his mother used to sing that to him with the exception of exchanging Tim for Myrna. Grandma Smith was also musically inclined, though she did not have much of a singing voice. She played the accompaniment while her sister, Jessie, sang all over at all sorts of events. She also made needed cash by playing for the silent movies. She would watch the movie before the theatre attendees so that she would know when the music should be happy or sad, loud or soft, romantic or dangerous. In those days, each piano player came up with his or her own mix for the movie so that it varied from town to town.

Great-Grandpa Pritchett, Vivian’s father, played the violin and would fiddle for dances in Sanpete County, Utah County and later in Emery and Carbon Counties. Of course, when he played for dances, it was called “fiddling” and Grandma Smith said her favorite of all the tunes he knew by heart was “Turkey in the Straw.”

Grandpa Ray and all of his brothers sang together in a popular group. Later some of those brothers sang with the Tabernacle Choir. Grandpa Tom Pitts also had a wonderful singing voice. So there you have the music abilities of the family that I know about.

I think Dad, LHT, has a good voice and many of you also have good voices. You know that Auntie Helen is a good pianist. So I suppose you get your talent from ancestors on both sides of the family.

HAPPY EASTER! HAPPY SPRING!

Buzzn’ Joneses

Dear Family,

I delegated the responsibility of writing the newsletter this month to Jim, but he decided to go to California. So, you get to hear the news from me again. We'll try delegating it again next month. If not, I'm sure that June is his turn because I plan on being a little preoccupied. We sure do love him!

The month of March was a great month for the Jones family in Nephi. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day and Mary's second birthday. Jim enjoyed Mary's birthday celebration a lot more than he did the St. Patrick's Day celebration. He thought that I was going to permanently turn his insides green with too much food dye. (Okay, I guess I did go a little overboard, but the green roast beef, au jus, and French fries seemed like fun.)

For Mary's second birthday, we bought her an aquarium and seven gold fish. We got home with five of them still alive. By the time her birthday came a week later, they were all dead. Apparently, gold fish aren't very good survivors. So her back-up present was a tricycle. We had a fun party including cousins Erin and Donovin who got to spend the day with us. Mary loves to have her cousins around. We have also discovered that we have a budding bowler in the family. She gets that from her father, not from me. We have been bowling twice in the last month. Mary has skunked me both times. I would like to blame it on being pregnant, but I am afraid she will still trounce me after the baby is born. We have gone bowling at the Wilkinson Center for both events. Now anytime we start going north on I-15, she starts saying, "Go bowling, Mommy and Daddy." She might start a new fashion trend in bowling apparel. It is fun to see this little two-year-old bowling in a dress and pants. Who knows, maybe bowlers will begin wearing tennis skirts. As you can tell, Mary is still in her dress faddish (fetish). She loves to wear dresses, but it is still too cold to wear them without pants underneath. We are anxiously awaiting warmer weather so she will no longer have to wear two outfits at once. Mary also likes to have her fingernails painted. She loves to dance and learned some new moves when her two cousins came to spend the day. She is also loving Nursery and can't wait to go play toys. We are sure thankful for her in our family.

Jim is busy trying to bring bees back to Utah. His first trip to California got delayed a week due to our truck breaking down. Fortunately he noticed it leaking oil before he pulled away from the house. The second trip was full of rain and delays. He got stuck twice in one night right in the almond groves. Then, when he got them back to Utah, it was so mucky here that the diesel got stuck and later that night Jim got stuck on his way into a different yard. It rained the next two days. He was going to go get the bees last week, but Bakersfield got walloped with rain. They had an inch of rain in just one night. So, here we are the ninth of April with half of the bees in Bakersfield and the other half in Utah. Jim says he has decided not to worry about it, he will just keep praying for the Lord to take care of the bees. With more rain predicted here in Utah this week, I think there will be plenty of prayers being offered. We really can't complain, the Lord has been looking out for us every step of the way. We really are blessed. We just think that we live fairly humorous lives. Beekeepers lead a charmed life--it must be that extra spoonful of sugar.

(Julie left out the excitement of what happened while Melanie was here. She and Dad got to go to Ephraim and rescue Jim in the middle of the night. He hit a deer and it damaged his radiator.)

We hope that all is going well with everyone else. 

We love you all!
The Nephi Joneses

Boston Baked Boltons (Plus One True Blue at BYU)

It was an interesting end to the month for Howard, when he came through LA airport and was told that his Resident Alien card wasn't any good anymore: it had become faded and some of the information wasn't legible. He was told the next time he tried to get back into America with it, he could be deported and fined. He re-applied for a new card, but while waiting he can't leave the country. That isn't stopping his travel, just his travel abroad. He has trips planned stateside during his waiting period. We are wondering if the new Compromise Law that was just passed might delay his card becoming reissued. The family isn't too sad to see him stay closer to home. His trips will only be week long ones, as opposed to weeks long.

Melanie is gearing up for the Stake's Family History Center Conference, which is Saturday. Her young women are making lunches for 130 people, as a fundraiser for camp. Melanie needs to buy meat, bread, cheese, chips, etc. and organize 25 young women to make the lunches and sell them. This usually earns about $700 for the young women to be used to defray the cost of camp. It takes about a week's worth of organizing, and a day's worth of work for assembling and selling. It will make the weekend go by quickly!

Siovhan hasn't made up her mind whether she is coming home this summer. She has the opportunity to come home and work at Tyco again, for $10/hour, with rent and board being free, or stay in Utah, find a job and pay for room and board. She won't be home until the end of June, as she needs to stay for a communications class.

Braden is finished with the Musical "Beauty and the Beast." They did the Broadway version of the Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." Howard and Benjamin really liked the performance. They were impressed with how professional it was. The costumes were amazing! Braden is sad that he once again has no life. He was gone up to four days a week with practice and now he has to share his free time with his family. He has been lifting weights and working out at the YMCA. He would prefer to swim, but the lap times aren't family friendly.

Ben recently purchased an electric guitar. He starts lessons this month. We just have to encourage him that practice is the only way to go. He likes the fact that it is spring and he can go for walks in the woods. He goes in heavily armed: a long wooden pole and a pocketknife. We have foxes and coyotes in our neighborhood. It hasn't deterred him, just made him stick closer to home. He loves being outdoors.

Mikaela is finishing up gymnastics for the spring. She isn't sure she wants to do them during the summer, and I don't blame her. She loves the class when she gets there, it is just a bit tiring to have to drive for a half an hour to get to class. No short cuts to the building. She just finished up her specialized math class and had a blast using math in everyday situations. Her math teacher is a lot of fun and had a lot of fun games and activities to teach the children with. I like the fact that our district takes those who test high in certain areas and encourages them with specialized classes (even if it is extra curricular).

It was so much fun to be in Utah during the good weather time. I loved being with my siblings and my daughter. (I thought that Mom and Dad went without saying. Who isn't glad to see their parents?) I appreciate all that you do to try to keep Siovhan family-oriented. She isn't easy to get a hold of. (I know, I was with her for a few days, and one day she left me for someone much younger, stronger and of the opposite gender.)

God bless you all for you endeavors in our behalf!
Happy Easter.

I found this interesting fact on Martha Stewart's page: In late-nineteenth-century Germany, eggs were used as birth certificates. The newborn's name and birth date were etched into the shell of a dyed egg, and courts honored these "IDs" as proof of age and identity.

I wonder if our extended heritage did this.
Mel

Rocky Mountain “Hi”!

Cancun was awesome! Jared and I got to stay in an all-inclusive resort just south of Cancun (Grandma Waite came to stay with the kids) where they brought you drinks by the pool. Needless to say, my doctor wasn't very happy (also not surprised) that I gained an extra five pounds while in Mexico (all attributed to the non-alcoholic Pina Coladas), but it will all work out in the end (I hope). I did learn that I'm not fond of many Mexican desserts (they're just not sweet enough for me; pretty pathetic, eh?), but apparently that didn't matter since the slushies and virgin coladas all made up for the extra calories.

I was nervous about all of the Falcon Dental office staff and spouses being together for four days in a row, but it worked out splendidly and was actually very fun!

One of the most exciting things we did while there was driving to some Mayan ruins (Chichen Itza), about an hour and a half outside Cancun (if you take the Super Highway; four hours if you take the back roads through true Mexico in the dark--long story). It was amazing to see how exact they were in constructing every building. Because of all the precise measurements, they were able to amplify sound (the Mexicans call it the first "recorded" sound), and make different symbols using light and shadow. Our tour guide, though not a Mormon, mentioned the Book of Mormon several times, especially when talking about the tower construction and how the Mayans made sound travel (he mentioned King Benjamin), and all the references to the Feathered Serpent (Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl) or Christ visiting the Americas (he said the Mayans named him the feathered serpent because they didn't know how to describe facial hair and the long hair, with which, Christ is portrayed; and "serpent" because that was their most respected symbol). I could go on and on, but I wouldn't do it justice.

The girls had fun with Granny; though she was tired after the five days of chasing two girls who get up at 5:45 in the morning.

Jared and I decided everyone needs a good vacation away from the kids at least once in their lives. Four days was perfect, enough time for us to miss them, and to not get sick of each other either. Now life is back to the normal, and try as I might I can't seem to get anyone to bring me a drink around here. Oh well.

Laundry is all caught up, floors are vacuumed and the office is still a mess. Sound pretty average to anyone else? We really enjoyed conference and were sad to miss Mel, but we understand all you Utah folk had fun and that Siovhan didn't keep Melanie out past her bedtime again. :)

Happy Easter to you all!
The Waites

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