Miss This Guy Yet?

Shawn: A little known fact is that the picture I use on instant messenger is a picture taken from behind Ronald Reagan while he is waving bye towards the mall from a White House balcony. I have always liked the picture because I hope that it will remind me to both make time for good experiences and to face difficult situations with resolve, so that when it comes time for me to wave bye to the world... well, I'm starting to moralize, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

MISS THIS GUY YET? 

"Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they already have it."-Ronald Reagan

'Here's my strategy on the Cold War: 
We win, they lose.'- Ronald Reagan

'The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'-Ronald Regan

'The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.'-Ronald Reagan

'Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the  U.S. was too strong.' -Ronald Reagan

'I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress..' -Ronald Reagan

'The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.'- Ronald Reagan

'Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.'- Ronald Reagan

'The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.' - Ronald Reagan

'It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.'- Ronald Reagan

'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it' -Ronald Reagan

'Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.'- Ronald Reagan

'No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.'- Ronald Reagan

'If we ever forget that we're one nation under GOD, then we will be a nation gone under.'-Ronald Reagan 

Connie Trauntvein Lumsden

My daughter, Lori thinks I look like Grandma Trauntvein. As I remember she was not a very affectionate person and my dad was not very close with his family so we didn't spend a lot of time with them. Sad!

Thanks, Myrna for putting Lee's name on the prayer rolls. I try to call the Oakland Temple every 2 wks to put his name one the rolls. I spoke with Faye earlier this evening and she doesn't think he's doing very well, I plan on going up to Reno within the next couple weeks.

Words

Al wrote: Myrna;
The first time I heard the Quote below was from Mrs. Lewis 8th grade math. She used it often, as I remember it was when I had to stay after school to do my math assignment over or when I would be collecting for the Deseret News and the Salt Lake Tribune. She took both papers, we became good friends. She gave me a Birthday Present one time.
How you and Leonard doing. New temple in Payson will that be your new temple?

"Be careful of the words you speak, and keep them soft and sweet.  For you never know from day to day which words you'll have to eat!"

Al Pitts


Myrna wrote: We are fine. We are better than we deserve to be, at least I am. Leonard deserves good health and happiness. I have the Pitts stubborn streak. Speaking of which, I have announced to my family that I am going to fast and pray each fast Sunday between now and when the new Payson temple opens (estimated to be in four years) that there will be SO MUCH population growth between Springville and Payson that they will have to recalculate and will not have room for us.

How are all of you? I noticed the grandson's baptism photos. That was great. My grandson, Bradon, has been called on a mission to Nicaragua. The day after he received his call, they announced that they were splitting the mission so we aren't certain which of the two he will serve in.

Health Update from Toni

Hi friends and family,

    I know it's been a long time since I've sent an update and I've been getting lots of inquiries, so here goes. To cut to the chase.... I'm fine.  Just like always but with a couple of extra pains.  The only ones I can probably attribute to the cancer is the tips of my shoulder bones ache sometimes, and the side and back of my right rib cage feels like somebody kicked me there.  It hurts a little when I reach with my right arm around the front to my left side.  Like when reaching for my seatbelt..... or turning on my electric blanket... that sort of thing.

    It's been over 6 months since my diagnosis, so it's time to repeat all my original scans and tests to see who is winning this fight against stage IV breast cancer.  So far, so good.  The nuclear bone scan & the full body CT scans I had recently show things to be about the same, as far as the spots on my bones go.  I still have it all over my bones, most vertebrae, most ribs, including a possible rib fracture or 2 .... need to ask about that. I have a copy of my test results but have not seen the doc yet to go over it.  I see him once a month at the time of my monthly infusion of Zometa (the bone strengthening agent), which, BTW, is hard enough on my kidneys that they have been giving me TWO bags of saline first, plus a reduced dose of Zometa. Same goes if I have iodine in test.

    I had some heart tests too... mostly just because I've never had my heart checked.  Everything came back normal on those tests.  Also had a CT scan of my head, also normal they say (????)

    My main "tumor marker" is my CEA blood count which started at 183 and it's now down to 13 (yes, THIRTEEN) YAY!!!! and that's a good sign that my treatments are working well.  If the number starts going up, it's time for new treatment.

    I found a website called CancerCompass.com which is sort of like facebook for cancer related issues and people.  I asked if there was anyone else out there like me, with Stage IV lobular breast cancer and NO symptoms.  So far I've heard from 3 other women who are like me, with basically no sickness & no symptoms. One was diagnosed 3 years ago, others more recently.

    OK, I'm gonna go fix dinner now.  It's been so pretty here all day... I keep being distracted by the beauty of the outdoors here in the Spring... won't be long, daylight savings starts in another week.  I'm so thankful to be able to BE HERE for another Spring!  I know it's just the luck of the draw that I got the 'good' stage 4 cancer...... others I know were not so lucky & are already gone.  None of us knows how long we'll be here, so enjoy what time you have... life is too short!

    So remember my new favorite saying.... Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain!

Hugs to all,  Toni  (if you're on facebook, check out my new photo albums.... just learned that!)

Faye

Connie Trauntvein Lumsden sent you a message about Faye

Faye told me to tell you "HI". Her husband has been diagnosed with liver cancer and is having chemo treaments every week. She is not the strongest person tho she's trying to take care of things. we don't know what the chemo is doing yet as he has only been having treatments for about 6 wks. Hope all is well with you and your family.

Eva: Myrna,I am sorry, I never did try to get in touch with Connie or Faye. I assume they are sisters. I don't know how I get so involved in so many other things that I sometimes forget totally about others. I tried to send a reply to this message but don't have a password to get into her facebook. Hope all is well with you and yours.  Love, Eva

Faye

Connie Trauntvein Lumsden sent you a message.

Subject: Faye

"Faye told me to tell you "HI". Her husband has been diagnosed with liver cancer and is having chemo treaments every week. She is not the strongest person tho she's trying to take care of things. We don't know what the chemo is doing yet as he has only been having treatments for about 6 wks. Hope all is well with you and your family."

From Marcus Smith

So I've looked at the ancestry of Howard Thomas Pitts, and have eliminated that lineage as a possibility. But I can't figure out where the ancestry of Elaine Smith is from. Do we tie in on your Smith side at all? I'm a pretty good sleuth and was able to see some amazing photos of your family online, on the Petty side. Is Elaine from the Absalom Wamsley Smith clan of Draper, or perhaps she connects to some of my Sanpete county relatives ... Whitings, Washburns, etc.


We are related, after all! But it's way back for many, many generations. In your pedigree there is a Searle family. We connect, it appears, at a John Searle who married a woman whose maiden name was Channon. But the ancestral file contains some spurious dates. Otherwise I'd feel more confident about mapping out the connection. In more recent times, my great-grandfather John Kienke was involved in an event during the Utah War of 1857 that involved, apparently, eight Mormon men: John Smiley Lott (your ancestor), John Murdock, Porter Rockwell, Sylvanus Collett, John Kienke (my ancestor), Samuel Pitchforth, Homer Brown, and (I think, if I remember, Absalom Woolf. This event came to be known as the "Aiken Massacre," or "Aiken Murders." I've been working on this story for a long, long time, as part of my family history. I knew Shawn and Todd best in the BYU ward. Eric was there for a while too. There was a night when a bunch of us from BYU dropped in on your home, on the way either coming or going to the Grand Canyon for a hike. Could have been Zions or Bryce. We did a lot of hiking back then.


I'm working on a biography of John Kienke. That's a project now going on 15 years!!!! And with four children at home ages 7, 5, 3, and 1, you can imagine that it's almost impossible these days to devote any long stretches of time to research. That would be abandoning my poor wife! Anyway, what I think you should do to follow the story ... at least to get a toe-hold on th events, is to read Harold Schindler's chapter on it in his biography of Orrin Porter Rockwell. Since he wrote that chapter, there have been some new developments that correct or amplify some of his interpretations. But the basic gist of the story is there and is, I think, basically correct. I think it lacks some important war context, however. I think that on the myancestry chart there is a giant leap in some missing generations on the Pitts line, jumping from a birth around 1800 back to the 1600s. The problem on the Searle line is that the dates in familysearch show generations too close together, with John Searle who married the Channon having a soon born to him when he is only about 10 years old. So something is going on there that is a problem too. I don't have them at my fingertips, but those were the things that lept out at me at a glance. Wow .... working in the Manti Temple must be wonderful. Are some of the sessions there still live?

Siovhan

Hi Myrna,

    I came across an old Xmas letter from you that says (your grand daughter?) Siovhan was working as a TV news producer in Eugene.  We watch Eugene news as that's where the TV stations are, an hour away.  Is she still there?  What station? And HOW to do pronounce that name???  Just curious.....

Hugs, Toni

Hi, Toni,

Add a little to this, please, Melanie and respond to both of us.

"Sha (short a) von" is the way the way the name is said. Yes, she is still there and is still working.

 Melanie, which station is it? 

Thanks, Melanie. I can never remember the call numbers for the station. I am now writing them down so I will have them. 

As you know, my cousin, Toni lives in that area. Love, M

Yes, I did remember she lived there.  Mel

Siovhan works as the noon, five and six o' clock news producer for KEZI. She puts the news on their web page as well. She gets to tell the anchors and the reporters what news to read, she tells the reporters what stories to cover and then works with the tape editor to make sure that the content fits in the time slots. She loves doing this kind of work, but gets tired of all the bad news and the sensationalism that follows bad news. She has been in Eugene for almost two years and says it is starting to feel like home for her. She loves to go to the coast. She has been to the Sea Lion caves and that area several times, although she now works on Saturdays, it makes it a bit harder to do sight seeing. Melanie

Hi Melanie and Myrna,

    I was going to explain what relation I am, but I'm not sure I know., LOL I guess Myrna and I are 2nd cousins (?).  Anyway, I just thought I'd share a 'small world' note with you. My brother Don P. Fexer, who lives in Eugene, is married to Kimberly (Days) Fexer & her Mom, Marilyn Days was the receptionist at KEZI for MANY years!  I guess she died before Siovhan started there (she was only our age Myrna) but I bet she works with a bunch of people who knew & loved Marilyn.  She was a VERY likeable and popular, but outrageous,  platinum blond who knew everyone & had a million friends, although maybe was not the type of gal you'd be drawn to..... I don't think she ever quit smoking, she was loud & somewhat 'rough around the edges' if you get my drift, but was a lot of fun.  Her daughter Kim (my sister-in-law) is nothing like that... quite reserved and lovely.

    One of MY friends, Betsy Yraguen, lives here in Roseburg but works for KEZI selling advertising here in town.  Our local affiliate (also in Eugene) is KVAL & so we watch that more often.

Anyway, too bad she didn't overlap with my folks in Eugene (they died in 2003) cause I'm sure Mom would have been thrilled to meet her!

    I can relate to her just now feeling like Eugene is home.  I only lived there 3 years and was JUST starting to make some good friends when I met Craig & decided I better move to Roseburg and keep him for myself before some OTHER gal snapped him up!  I'm sure it was the right decision, but I miss the "city"..... (hey, Eugene is still very small compared to L.A. where I lived most of my life, but Roseburg is even SMALLER).

    My step-son (Craig's son Niles who just turned 21) has a girlfriend from Eugene who is Mormon, Jennifer (oops, can't think of her last name right now), & they are both at college in Phoenix AZ now. Her parents also have a chocolate shop I think... maybe she'd know them... probably not, I suppose.  I don't remember how many Wards are in Eugene...... more than one though.

    OK, enough rambling.  If Siovhan is interested in river rafting on the North Umpqua (in our back yard) or going to Wildlife Safari (the place with the animals in my FB photo album) it's about 10 miles south of here (Eugene is 65 mi. north of here). Or visiting the Hair Wreath while it's still here (I'm going to just keep it until my sister comes to visit next time) you are welcome to give her my email address and/or phone number 541-672-4313 and I am going to forward her info to my brother.  He & Kim have a GORGEOUS home in the south hills of Eugene and they are good Christians, but not Mormon.  Their only child, daughter Hayley is in fashion design school in Portland.  I have 2 guest rooms too.... for any of you.

    OK, this time, I'll shut up, thanks for the info.  Catch ya later, hugs, Toni (Fexer, Cole) Jackson.

  

Re: Pitts from Charles Pitts

Re: Pitts‏

--- On Mon, 2/22/10, L H TRAUNTVEIN <mandlht@msn.com> wrote:

From: L H TRAUNTVEIN <mandlht@msn.com>

Subject: Pitts

To: leealice14@yahoo.com

Date: Monday, February 22, 2010, 12:55 AM

I am interested in learning more about Mary Pitts. My father was Howard Pitts, son of Thomas Vivian and Ruth Edwards Pitts.

Charles Pitts 3/03/10
To: L H TRAUNTVEIN

I would suggest you look at pedigree resource file #125 at the family history center nearest you, mary is the unwed mother of Thomas Pitts her father is johnathan pitts.

Lee pitts in Duchense UT

Pitts

Myrna wrote: I am interested in learning more about Mary Pitts. My father was Howard Pitts, son of Thomas Vivian and Ruth Edwards Pitts. 


From:Lee Pitts (leealice14@yahoo.com)
I would suggest you look at pedigree resource file #125 at the family history center nearest you, mary is the unwed mother of Thomas Pitts her father is johnathan pitts.
Lee pitts in Duchense UT

Myrna wrote: The "Thomas" name seems to have been passed along in our family. My grandfather was Thomas Vivian Pitts and my father was Howard Thomas Pitts.

I will look at the pedigree resource file.

Myrna Pitts Trauntvein in Nephi, Utah