A mother’s heart routinely vacillates between joy and sorrow while watching her children travel through life, but this weekend it was all happy times as we enjoyed sharing in the lives of our two sons.
The service was sweet, attended by their bishop, Kole’s Primary teacher and several friends, as well as both sets of Kole’s grandparents. With his characteristic grin, Kole was excited about his baptism, and as a grandmother, I was pleased with his decision, but I was particularly proud of my own son, a tall and handsome, hardworking and dedicated husband, father and priesthood holder worthy to baptize and confirm his second son.
On our way to Denver, I talked with Michael by phone. During our usual (about) weekly chit-chat, he casually announced he had received the Second Miler Award from the Timpanogos District of the Utah National Parks Council of Boy Scouts of America, “for unselfish service, for ideals, leadership, and example, all in the interest of youth and their training for worthy citizenship.” He was nominated by his ward bishopric for this recognition because he has already earned a well-deserved reputation for being an exceptional scoutmaster who believes scouting should not be just weekly activities planned at the last minute, but should focus on making responsible citizens and community leaders out of boys. Our dedicated scouter spends several hours each week planning and organizing activities and communicating in a variety of ways with the boys in his troop - all who are now fully active in scouting and in their ward. It’s too bad every scoutmaster isn’t this devoted, because the world – and the boys in it – would certainly be a whole lot better as a result.
About Taisley: she is bright . . . happy . . . loves to sing . . . and is usually willing to do her chores without an argument! On General Conference weekend, she and I were rolling the coin in my piggy bank while listening to conference on TV. I thought I was the only one paying attention to the speakers until she suddenly looked up wide-eyed and said, "Oh, Grandma . . . I know that story. I heard it in Primary!" Then she preceded to tell me Lehi's dream from the Book of Mormon, almost verbatim. I was also touched by her sweet little voice humming along with the choir when she didn’t know the words to the songs . . . and singing all the verses to those songs she recognized. As a 2nd grader, she loves math and is doing addition and subtraction of 10's and 100's, reads well and comprehends what she is reading! She has lots of friends and seems content and well adjusted at home. I know there will come a day when her mother will move on and take her two daughters with her. That’s as it should be, but I will have a difficult time saying goodbye to Kendi and Taisley when that day comes!
About Lilly: at 2 ½, this child is absolutely amazing with a vocabulary which nearly surpasses mine! She responds appropriately to questions and can carry on an adult conversation with ease. She knows most of her colors and can sing the chorus to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" - imagine a teeny, tiny voice shouting out "glory, glory, hallelujah" on key and with gusto! She sings "I Am A Child of God"with very little help from anyone . . . and can sing at least two verses of "There Is A Green Hill Faraway" while most adults need a songbook. She’s still a lightweight physically, but mentally and socially, this child is an adorable strawberry-blond giant!!!
My father believed "there is nothing on the other side. You live and you die . . . that’s all!" How sad, I remember thinking every time the subject came up, and now that he is gone and I see how quickly my own life is rushing by, it seems even more sad that anyone could truly believe this is all there is! As mortals we all share the reality of the bleak, final and unrelenting experience described by Shakespeare as "the undiscover’d country from whose bourn no traveller returns." But can anyone really believe our loving Heavenly Father would bless our lives with joy, achievements and family relationships only to snuff all of these blessings into oblivion in death? 
I am absolutely certain my father was pleasantly surprised on June 17, 2008 when he stepped through the veil and into the loving arms of his mother and father, his brothers and sisters who preceded him in death. I am even more certain he is eager to remain with them for the rest of eternity.
as well as Eloise’s husband Lloyd; my great, great grandfather Ernst Wilhelm Werner (my grandmother Elsa Henion’s grandfather) and Johanna Theresa Dorn, a multi-great grandmother. We completed the baptisms, confirmations and initiatories for these six family members, then broke for the evening so we could meet Kelly and Gary at Macaroni Grill on 64th South - about halfway between Ogden and Provo - for dinner. It was a lovely day, ending with good food and good conversation with Michael, Tara, Kelly and Gary.
Will my father and his sisters accept these ordinances? I can’t say, but I cannot partake of all the blessings of the gospel - nor will it be heaven without them - unless I make these ordinances available to family members who have gone on before me. I guess we’ll just have to wait until we pass through the veil ourselves to get the answer to that question, but I am ABSOLUTELY certain their mother accepted the gospel with all her heart, might, mind and strength. Since she accepted it, she will be - what all mothers are supposed to be - an influence for good on her son and two daughters. The rest is up to them!
Josh loves it, but Kaytee is still not so sure Ely, Nevada feels like home. With only about 3700 people in this small town, all the one-liners hold true:
Kaytee rolled up her sleeves and spent two weeks cleaning to make the place livable. Josh brought his two horses, and picked up a third along the way, so is building a barn of sorts in the backyard to give his animals a place to get in out of the Nevada cold winter.
All over town, there are signs of Republican unrest. Although it is uncertain the U. S. Senate Majority Leader will be unseated anytime soon, it is obvious the residents of his state - at least in the small towns around Nevada - do not like Harry Reid's politics.
The Nevada State Prison, where Josh works, is probably the largest employer with about 400 on the payroll and there are some nice new motels and stores, but for the most part Ely is pretty much like it was when my Uncle Reston, Aunt Ione and cousins, Steve, Doug and Kenny Godwin lived there back when I was in high school. I used to enjoy visiting them in the summertime. Some of my fondest memories of being at their home was how much they enjoyed shocking this little girl from the beach of southern California by showing me their "red light district" and the casinos in town. Back then, it seemed a whole lot bigger than it is now.
We miss our baby girl . . . and her baby girl, like crazy! Luckily, Ely is an easy 3 1/2 hour drive from St. George so Kaytee and Adyn can come home anytime they want to . . . and we will always leave the porch light on.
Linda Baker, Jeannine Holt and Linda Sappington were recently recognized as "Women of Excellence" by the local chapter of Business and Professional Women. Linda Baker was honored as the Professional Woman of the Year in her position as Vice President of Workers Compensation Fund. She currently serves on the board of director for the Southern Utah Home Builders Association, the Washington County Economic Development Council and has been involved for many years with the Chamber of Commerce. Jeannine Holt was recognized in the area of Philanthropy for her lifetime of service to the Republican Party. Linda Sappington was named Public Service Woman of the Year for her efforts as the director of the Volunteer Center of Washington County; as the "mother" of the Jubilee of Trees, and for her ongoing support of numerous community organizations. Congratulations to these three Women of Excellence.
Whitney and I were recently IM’ing about walking to school. She was surprised when I told her my dad took me to seminary every morning where I rode to school with some of my friends, but I walked the 5-miles home with my brother Larry and with friends who "dropped off" when we got to their corner. When the weather was bad or we had lots of books, or if we just wanted a change of scenery, we would occasionally take a different route up to Olympic Blvd. (once considered "THE" place to shop in Los Angeles) for a ride home on the "J" car. It turned around a block from our house on Palm Place and Larry believes it was the very last link of the old trolley system in L.A. What a fun memory which came by way of an e-mail invitation to attend the 100th anniversary of Huntington Park High School. Go Spartans!!!
Amid the chaos at the office caused by the crash of the network server which left the Volunteer Center without computer access for more than two weeks . . . and just before our annual CANstruction project, I abandoned my post to travel to Seattle, then north to Alaska aboard the Golden Princess cruise ship (August 8-15, 2009) with our next door neighbors and traveling companions, Ralph and Pam Bingham. Before we sailed away, we enjoyed a couple of days with Larry, Tucker, Nicki and Molly (who uncharacteristically came out from her hiding place and even allowed me to scratch her ears a couple of times).
Alaska is twice the size of Texas but with a total population of only about 600,000 - most who live in about two dozen small cities. Juneau, the state capital with a population of 30,000, is the only US city with no roads in or out and as such can only be accessed by air or sea. Skagway (spelled variously as Skaguay, Schkague, Shkeagway, Skagua, Schkawai or Cquque) is a picturesque little community of about 800 fulltime residents. The entire city is 5 x 20 blocks of charming little shops, but we had the most fun on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad built in less than two years in response to the needs of 1000 men on their way to the goldfields.
The entire vacation was a delight, though it was too cold much of the time (I will never complain about winter in St. George) and I brought all the wrong clothes. Dad took about 1000 pictures and there was an obscene amount of food available 24 hours a day. The best part of a cruise is that it is a forced vacation with no access to e-mail or cell phones so there is plenty of time to rest, relax and enjoy the view..JPG)
At my most recent appointment, Michelle Graham, my nail lady since 1985, was sharing the details of her recent family reunion in Salt Lake City. She reported over the nail table of conversations with cousins from her Such-and-such family line, her So-and-so family line and with her relatives on the Godwin side! I nearly fainted. "Godwins? How are you related to the Godwins," I asked her wide-eyed. "Oh," she said casually, "my grandmother was a Godwin from North Carolina!" Well, as most of you know . . . my grandmother (Nana) was also a Godwin from North Carolina. Michelle does not know much about her family and as such, we were unable to make any connection to our common ancestor, but she has a brother who has done a lot of genealogy. I can hardly wait to meet him and pick his brain. Nevertheless . . . after 25 years, it was fun to discover my nail lady is also my cousin!!!
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Kelly never calls for help unless she really, really needs it, so last week when her frantic call for our assistance came, we decided to drop everything and head north! As chairman, with her husband Gary of the national gathering of the Patriot Guard Riders in Ogden, she was in the last few days of preparation before the arrival of 500-800 bikers from all over the country – many on their way to Sturgis, South Dakota for the famous “biker rally to end all biker rallies.”
It was a wonderful weekend although by the time we got there she had everything under control. On our way to Ogden, we spent Friday evening with Michael and Tara in Pleasant Grove, then drove up Saturday morning to see the fruits of Kelly and Gary’s labor over this past year, including a vendor fair involving more than 50 booths selling everything imaginable; a concert featuring “Confederate Railroad” and a bike parade with hundreds of bikers and which was much larger, but still reminded me of my father’s funeral last year. Though putting this event together nearly killed her, I am so incredibly proud of my talented oldest daughter’s amazing organizational skills. She is a daughter any parent would be proud of!!!
