JUNE AND THE TEMPLE AND GARDENING

What a fun month June is.  School is out and the kids are ready for fun.  Cameron came over today and we love it.

We still go to the temple every Tuesday and Thursday. We love being in the house of the Lord and doing things for our ancestors.  We haven’t  made a dent in all the names Dad has foundWe do need help because they won’t let him print new ones until a certain number of saved ones are done.  It is very frustrating.

                                    .  

He lives in the basement and loves what he is able to find.  

Parker turned 21 June third, and is such a loving young man.  He is home and already working. He just finished his first year at Utah State and did well there also.  We’ll never forget his birthday because when he was just one year old he knew his birthday was June Fird. He is working this summer so he can return for more schooling.  He loves everything and is always happy.  He loves his amazing family and we are so proud of him. ( I don't have new pictures)

Saturday, June 4th, we went to President Schwendiman's 50th wedding anniversary.  It was in Herriman. The Seamons came with us and we always have a good time with them.  We saw a few couples from our Palmyra Temple Mission but wished there had been more.  We love those people and love being with them.  We have such warm and wonderful memories of our time together.

Sunday, the 4th, was Fast Sunday and Cameron came over for dinner that afternoon.  We love that we get to be with him often. Eternal families are such a blessing in the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  We know that we will be together forever.  It just doesn’t get better than that.  We love everyone in our family so much and are so proud of each one of them.  We need not fear.

Monday we worked in the yard and house.  I love doing the laundry and hanging it out on the line because that is when I feel close to my mother and it is such a pleasant time. 

Tuesday, the 7th, was such a blessing. We sealed the Myhill family.  I think the grands did the baptisms and we did the initiatories, endowment and sealings.  What a Spiritual day.  I did the 4 sisters and their mother and dad did the son and father.  He also found the names of two of the sisters' husbands.  We could hardly wait for the day to come.  The Spirit was so strong and of course tears just flowed.  It just doesn’t get better than times like that.

Wednesday was a wonderful day because I was able to work with dad in the garden and prune some roses.  We are so thankful that we have good health and a big garden.

June 10th, Lily Bayles turned 17.  She did that so fast.  It was just yesterday she was so little. She is also fun to be around and gives Granddad a very hard time.  He has trouble keeping up with her.  She is Student Body Secretary and  loves that her cousin, Camden, is the Studentbody President.  They are quite a team.  She is a hard worker and loves her family.

Saturday, we worked in the garden and that afternoon went to MoBettas where Cameron works.  He was so excited that we came.  Clark and Dianne joined us and then the missionaries came so we fed them too. What a fun time.

Sunday, Cameron came for dinner after church and stayed a while.  It will be a weekly thing.  We love that he wants to come. (Probably for the food.)

Monday, June 13th, we worked in our yard and garden.  We are so blessed to have a beautiful home and yard.  The gospel of our Savior is so wonderful and we are so blessed to love one another.  The Lord is so giving and we do appreciate it.  His love is beyond comprehension.

Tuesday we went to the castle, (It is a replica of a real castle and the buildings, grounds, and gardens are amazing.)  Troy Hulse had his son and bride’s reception there.  Everything was perfect, especially because they were married in the temple

Thursday, the 16th, we met Clark, Riley, Lily and Jonny at the Mt Timpanogos Temple at 6:00 AM. and were able to do 30 baptisms.  We are so grateful they do this for us.  It is such a reverent time and we are so blessed to get so many names done.  We can’t do anything if we don’t get baptisms done. Dad, Riley and Clark do the baptizing and even Grandad and I were able to do names.  30 family ancestors were able to join the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Spirit is so strong at these times.  Nothing can replace these times in the temple of our God.  When we are finished we always go to Kneaders for breakfast.  Jonny gets seconds, thirds and even fourths. 

Saturday is one of our favorite times when we go to Erik and Shanelle’s for the Strawberry Days Parade.  They are so sharing and do this every year and feed their ward and families breakfast on their front lawn. There is no limit to seconds and thirds. Everyone helps in bringing something and it is just special.  Cameron met us there.We love this parade and it goes right by their home.  We sit in lawn chairs under some Easy Ups.  It just doesn’t get better with a great celebration for our United States. My favorite is when the American Flag passes by.  (many tears) We had members in our family participating and others watched.  The pictures below show most everyone.  We are so proud to be Americans.

the bikers

                                               Eating breakfast while waiting for the parade

                                                     Student body Secretary and President

                                                                             watching

                                                                     clean-up

                                   We love decorating with red, white and blue.  We love America.

The next day  was Fathers’ Day.  I am so grateful for my loving husband and the wonderful father he is to our children. I am so blessed to be his wife.  I think I love him.  We had a yummy dinner at Clark and Dianne's 

                                                                Clark's Family

Ashley, Tyler and kids made an announcement.

                                                 
                                                         A baby sister is on the way.

My own father was a good and loving man and taught me to be loving and kind.  He was not raised with a loving example but he was great.

George’s father was also a good example of what a father should be. He loved unconditionally.  He was so close to the Lord and constantly honored his priesthood.   He taught by example.

                                                       pictures from their mission in Guatemala.

Scott invited us for dinner that afternoon and included Cameron.  They always have a fun dinner with all the trimmings. It is so much fun to sit in their backyard and watch the kids play.  It’s a beautiful home and yard.  Scott is working on a coop for their chickens which includes a potting shed for Bethany.

Tuesday, June 21, we were again at the temple.  It’s our favorite time.  We are so blessed to have so many temples so close.  That evening we took Clark’s family to dinner at a Mediterranean place.  It’s much easier to do that because Dianne can make anything and feed the troops with delicious food.  I cannot hold my own with her skills.  We eat at their home often.   We love being with family.

We are so blessed to live in this country where our doctors are so trained.  Our appointment today was positive in every way.  Thursday, the 22nd, we had follow-up appointments with Dr Bell. He is our new doctor because Dr Noonan left to teach medical students.  Great check up.

Sister Marilyn Carter and I went ministering to Jane Fillmore, who lost her husband recently.  She is such a special lady who always smiles. 

Friday, the 24th, Dad served in the temple while I weeded the garden.  I got up at 6:00 because it is so hot later.  

Erik, Shanelle, Camden and Asher came and mowed our lawns.  They are so diligent in doing this.  They are in and out in an hour and everything looks so much better.  We love that they do this every week all summer.  We love that family.  We are so blessed with all our families do for us.  It makes life so much easier for us.

Sunday, Sadie Price gave her farewell tale before entering the MTC.  She is going to be a powerful missionary.  Can’t remember where she will be serving.  Somewhere in here Dad got a Durham hat.  It's a family name.

We were excited because we are now able to pick peas and eat them without canning.  (We don’t like them any other way)  We also picked squash.  The garden is so beautiful.  Dad has been working on a new mailbox.  He ordered an Amish barn on Amazon.  Thursday while he was helping Scott build a huge chicken coop they made the post for the box. 

                                                         Measuring for the mailbox post.
The chicken coop is amazing.  One end is a coop and the other is a planting shed for Bethany.  She is going to be so happy when she and Ava get back from Arizona and the National Dance Competition.  Scott has had Nixon and Rowan for 9 days and they are so excited about the coop.  We had so much fun with them.  I took a nap and then sat in the shade and watched. 

                                                               Nixon using the power nail gun.

                                                                   walls finished
                                        

They worked until 9:00 when the walls were up and we all went to Chik fil a for dinner.  We got home at 9:30 and fell into bed.

                                                  Cameron came to eat with us.

This has been another wonderful and full month of memories.  We are so blessed to know the Plan of Salvation and what we need to be doing in this life to be together for eternity. We  love this family the Lord has blessed us with  and everyone of them is a special gift that we treasure.

                                                Last but not least are our valiant missionaries.

                                                          Molly and companion with Elders

                                     Kolton's friend skinning a chicken and cooking it for dinner

                                                                  way out there

MAY BLOG

 

                                                            MAY DAY AND FLOWERS

May started out with a wonderful Stake Conference.  We watched the evening session from home  and then went to our ward building to watch the Sunday session on Zoom. Everything was uplifting and just what we needed. The restored gospel of our Savior is so true and filled with joy and truth.  We are so blessed that we know what happens when we leave this mortal life.  We love the scriptures and the program Come Follow UP.  What a blessing.

Of course we have been busy in the temples doing work for our ancestors.  Granddad puts how we are related on my Endowment cards and the Initiatories have which temple did them so I know which granddaughter did them.  What a fun way to get closer to these wonderful ancestors.  We go every Tuesday and Thursday to whichever temple we can.  We do 2 sessions of whatever dad can find.

On the 5th we started planting in the garden and getting everything ready because the next afternoon Clark and family including the greats came to finish the work.. That same day was very hard for me and I just stayed in bed until Granddad got home from the temple.    I slept until the army of workers came. It was so fun to see how much help William was.  A year makes a big difference.  It was just a fun time.  The garden looks great.

                                              

                                                                      I even helped.

                                                                     Simon and the dog

                                                                            Beatrice

                                                                                                                                           Ashley, Dog, Bea

                                                  
                                       
                                                                      Simon and Mimi

                          We were so tired by the end of the day but it was such a fun and happy day

                 Clark spent part of his day tending to his hive of bees in our back yard.  We love it.  

                                          We missed this picture with the pruning last month. 

That evening went to Johhny's Jr. High choir concert.  It was amazing.  I think we counted over 300 students participating and it was all so good.

                    

Saturday, the 7th, we went to Rowan’s soccer game. What fun.  She scored the first goal, along with a cartwheel.  Scott’s family gave a beautiful plant for Mother’s Day and Erik’s family also gave us a beautiful plant.   We hung them in the nectarine tree. We love them.  I’m so glad they do that.

          Kristin and Tiffany went in with Dad and gave me beautiful flowers.  Can't find the pictures.

The next day, the 8th, was Mother’s Day.  I am so grateful for the perfect  mother I had who taught me so many important values.  I never heard her raise her voice but boy did we obey when she let us know we did something we shouldn’t have. She made all my clothes until I was in high school.  Before that she taught me to make them. She was also my early morning seminary teacher and fed me breakfast in bed at 4:00 AM so I could sleep a little longer and then we both took routes to pick up students. We only had 6 or 8 students. She gave them tokens to ride the city bus back to their schools.  I never heard her say a word about someone unless it was good.

                                    This was when my mother ran for office in Nampa, Idaho 1951          

 George’s mother was so easy to love.  I was so nervous the entire trip to Blanding because his friends told me she carried a set of guns on her hips and would meet us at the road coming into Banding.  She was and is an angel in every way.  I’m certain angels have a sense of humor.  She was filled with love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and served in many capacities, even a mission to the Navahos.  After Grandad died she even served a mission by herself at the age of 72. She was always helping someone.

                          This picture is when she was on a mission in Guatemala  with Granddad.

We had a yummy dinner at Clark and Dianne's home.  It's always fun.

                                       

                                                          with Grammy and Granddad                                                

                                               
  Monday we both had doctor appointments with Dr. Chung Hwang.  Our hearts are good and strong.  He is retiring in November which is good but not for us.

Thursday, May 12th, our sweet Dianne, Clark’s wife finally got a date for surgery.  She has needed this for some time.  She can multi-task and is amazing.

Saturday the 14th was a great day because we could watch the twins play volleyball on Zoom and go to Rowan’s and Nixon’s soccer games.  That is a great blessing for grandparents.  They were so good.  

The next day Scott invited us for a Sunday picnic dinner.  It was so yummy and the best part was that we got to see their baby chicks.  They are so cute.  Scott has to build a coop for them.  It will be a beauty.  It was fun to be outside and watch the kids play together.

Monday, the16th, Tiffany came to move Cameron into his new apartment.  It is Aspen Village,   It’s very close to the stadium and the BYU baseball field. He is so excited.  His roommates are so nice and  has a private room.

We are not sure of the date or time but we do know that Rowan Nowell graduated from her pre school with an excellent program with much singing and fun.  

May the 19th we went to Rene Cunningham’s retirement party.  She was the principal at Canyon Crest Elementary.  That was the last school I taught in.  I taught with Rene and loved every day.  She is a wonderful and full of energy lady.  She was also Dad’s Assistant Principal at Timpview.  It was so nice to be with friends again.  We love her entire family.  They are great people.  They got us to go fishing in Alaska for the first time and we can't even explain how much we loved that and even went again. 

                                                                         

      3 of their 4 sons and Dave, who sold us our mountain land and years later sold it for us.
                                

The 20th was a very cold day.  I took my quilt to The quilter and she showed me an easier way to bind it.  It is now finished.

Saturday, May 21, Scott brought their 8 baby chicks for us to tend while they go to Disneyland.  So cute and noisy.  They are in a big tubby with a screen on top.  We put the chicks out on the patio table because they gave a great aroma in our home. 

Sunday, May 22ed, we had Cameron over for dinner.  We love that he is so close. Later, Scott called to let us know that Luna, another dog they have, beat up Leah at Beth’s sister's house.  They were tending both dogs while we had the chicks.  We met Skyler at Home Depot and took Leah to our house. She was really in bad shape and bloody. She is very old and so frightened. I didn't put the bloody pictures in.  I didn't want the kids to see them.

The 23rd Scott turned 43.  How can our baby be so old?  Time flies.  He loves doing things with his family. He is always working on a project  and always works hard.  He is now working on a Taj mahal for the chicks.  We are constantly having him do things for us.  He loves being a dad and  the wonderful wife he has.

The next day, Camden John Bayles, turned 17.  He is an incredible young man.  He is student body president at Pleasant Grove High School next year and already very involved.  His secretary is Lily Bayles.  They are quite a team.  He is a good student and played Lacrosse on the varsity team.  He is a hard worker and loves his family.  He honors his priesthood and  serves well.

We were getting ready to get in the car headed for the City Center Temple when I called Leah to come in the house.  No Leah.  I panicked.  Shocker!  I searched the yard and found she had pushed the gate far enough to crawl through.  I looked everywhere in front because she is a runner..  I called and called.  I was just ready to get in the car and search when Dad called and said, “She’s on the front porch.”  We were a mess.  We  put her in the house and made it to the temple on time. Many prayers and blessings were answered. 

Wednesday, the 25th, we just did projects outside.  Dad refinished the benches, I spread 3 wheelbarrows of bark around the roses and we both changed the chicken’s cage.  Leah was very interested.  Crazy but a wonderful day.     

Another good day in the Payson Temple with the

                                                           Benches covered.
Another good day in the Payson Temple with the Seamons and of course afterwards I Hop.

                                                     As we age, we get a little fuzzy.

Friday and we still have the animals.  Our house smells like a barn.  Dad planted a few more plants that the frost got this week.  We are so blessed to know that our Savior is in charge of this life.  It is getting a little crazy now and we must follow the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in order to have any peace in our lives.  We know the plan and if we just do our best all will be fine.  We have faith and courage for the future.

We love watching Music and the Spoken Word Sundays before church.  It is followed by Come Follow Up which helps us in our Bible study.  When we get home from church we watch The Chosen, a movie that gives some ideas about Christ and His life.  (interesting, not doctrine)

Monday was Memorial Day and this year we stayed home and then  had a great dinner with Scott and family.  Cameron was there also.  Why do I always forget to take pictures?  Dad and I made Dutch oven potatoes, 3 dozen Shirley’s rolls and tri tip.  Bethany had a yummy Jello salad and a huge tray of fruit and vegetables and bottles of Dad’s Root Beer.  We had such a fun time and were so full.  We love being with family and Cameron was the hit of the day.  He and  Nixon had a great time.

We are so grateful for the many people who have served and still serve to protect this free country. Many have given their lives to help in keeping this country free.  We are so proud of these unselfish men and women.  Dad’s brother, Uncle Mark, served in Japan and Oklahoma.  My brother, Delbert, served  in the Southern States, and my brother Milton, served in the Southern States and then in Viet Nam.  My Uncle Jack was a prisoner in Stalag 17.  My mother saved his letters and a few things and we loved reading the letters where the Nazis blacked out parts of his letters.  He was never the same when he got home.  He is just one of so many good men and women who suffered in that war.

Again, we end this blog with love for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our families whom we love so very much.  We are so blessed to know the Plan of Salvation and that we can all be together for eternity.  What a peaceful knowledge of love and what will happen when we leave this earth.