An Easter Family Reunion

Kaytee, Josh and their three beautiful little girls came to St. George for a visit with friends and family, arriving on April 2 and heading home to Anaconda, MT again on April 7.  A short stay for sure, but, oh, so pleasant to see their beautiful faces in person instead of on Skype.  They stayed with Mark and Kim in Hurricane – and we had our mission reunion in Provo on April 3, so our time together was limited, but we managed to squeeze in some time to visit the dinosaur tracks (Adyn’s request), the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve (Grandma’s idea) and an afternoon playing in the water at the very popular St. George Town Square and in the Grandma Closet.  We also enjoyed a family get together with Stacy, Rick and their girls on Wednesday night. 

On Saturday, after our mission reunion in Provo, we celebrated Easter and Lilly’s birthday at Michael’s house in Pleasant Grove where we were joined by David, Jan’L and their three boys – in town for General Conference – and Kelly and Gary who drove down from their Ogden home to be with us.  The cousins enjoyed their time together, swinging on the big tire swing in the back yard and finding eggs left in the grass by the Easter bunny.  It was a pleasant day in which my kids enjoyed being together … catching up, looking back and renewing their sibling rivalry and friendship.  With the exception of Kris (with whom we talked on our way to Provo) it was a lovely weekend in every aspect in the company of 5 of our six kids.  It was “heaven on earth” to be with those we love so dearly – even for only a few hours!!!

WIM Reunion 2015

Our mission reunion, held on Friday, April 3 in Provo, was absolutely wonderful, although it got off to a rough start.

Traffic on the I-15 Southbound was tied up for some reason which postponed our set-up almost until our start time of 5:30 p.m. When Ed and I arrived at 4 p.m., the designated time for our "crew" to show up, no one was there yet.  We waited a few minutes, walked around the locked building looking for someone "official" with a key, but found no one.  Finally, I walked across the street to the only house on the block with a car in the driveway - rang the doorbell and asked the little blond respondent if I could talk to her Daddy who I asked how I could reach the bishop. He said there are two bishops ... which one did I want?  I told him I just needed to get into the building before our RM's showed up.  He smiled ... reached in his pocket and said, "I'm not the bishop but I do have the key!"

The WIM reunion had probably 100 RM’s – including about 15 senior couples - who showed up … and stayed well into the evening.  There was plenty of good food and lots of “joyful noise” in the form of laughter and conversation. When Pdt. Gamiette arrived he said he didn’t have anything prepared so just offered to answer questions.  “How is your family?  Why didn’t the brethren keep the name of the WIM?  How is the S&I program doing in the WIM?” and an assortment of other queries.  He noted Pdt. Meir is the last WIM president … and admitted the administration of the West Indies Mission – with 12 governments, 7 currencies and 5 languages - was “a nightmare” (which those of us who worked in the office already knew). 

He also told us, his job assignment in the Caribbean Area Office changed a few days ago when he stepped down from overseeing S&I to assume responsibilities as the Self-Reliance Coordinator for the Caribbean Area – a job he had prayed about for many months – and for which we are delighted.  In short and among other duties, he will be working with the 44 students (37 in Georgetown and 7 in Berbice) enrolled in the Pathways / BYU Idaho programs in Guyana and many others in the others islands and countries of the Caribbean. 

As we listened to the chatter and the excitement of seeing one another again, I couldn’t help but wonder if this is how heaven will be.  It was delightfully noisy and fun!

By now, the world knows the West Indies Mission is no more!  The mission has been divided, with changes going into effect on July 1, 2015.  Here is the latest information on missionary work in the Caribbean, including which countries / islands belong in which mission from among those (highlighted in blue) which used to make up the West Indies Mission:

Barbados Bridgetown Mission  (formerly WIM)

·                Barbados

·                Grenada

·                St. Lucia

·                St. Vincent

·                St. Martin / Sint Maarten

·                French Guiana

·                Guadeloupe

·                Martinique

Trinidad Port of Spain Mission

·                Trinidad / Tobago

·                Guyana

·                Suriname

·                Aruba

·                Bonaire

·                Curacao 

Michael and Lilly Visit

We enjoyed our MLK weekend with Michael and Lilly who haven't been to St. George since my birthday in July.  The weather is usually better in St. George this time of year than it is on the Wasatch Front so Michael thought he had "died and gone to heaven" and vowed to return soon with a mountain bike or a back pack.  Lilly and Grandma enjoyed shopping, lunch at McDonalds, a couple of hours at the Children's Museum and ended our Saturday at the movies where we saw "Big Hero Six" with Taisley.  In the evening, Stacy and her family joined us for dinner and chit chat.  Michael and Lilly left for home on Sunday afternoon but promised to come back soon.

Woo, hoo .... Road Trip!

Penny enjoys the view out of the van window.

The decision was made between Larry and Linda to move our mother and her beloved cat Penny from the memory care facility Brookdale at Corona, California to the memory care unit at Cliff View / Brookdale in St. George for three reasons: so she can be closer to family, so we can monitor her care and because it simply makes sense. Larry had only just returned to Seattle after Christmas when he boarded a plane again 10 days later to fly back to Las Vegas where he was picked up by Ed, Stacy and me on our way to SoCal to make this transition happen. 

The actual move went much smoother than I had anticipated.  We had an army of help … Stacy most of all!!!  Not sure how we could have pulled it off without her along to soothe, reminisce and lend her professional skills to the project (besides she’s a barrel of fun).  Janine Bills, Mother’s long time visiting teacher and the Bishop’s wife, kept Mother occupied until we disassembled the apartment, packed her up and drove out of Southern California.  Bless you, Janine for your friendship and support.   Thanks, too, to the two young missionaries – Elder Camper and Elder Allen – who spent an hour helping us move furniture and belongings, then pronounced a priesthood blessing upon her head asking the Lord to bless her with peace and comfort in the transition.

As we settled her into bed in the van, one of the Brookdale staff people, who had been helping us with the move, said to me as she left us to our task … “I feel for you!”

For at least half of our trip north on the I-15 freeway, we were barraged with, “I HATE YOU ALL … I’M TAKING YOU OUT OF MY WILL … TAKE ME BACK!!!  I DON’T WANT TO GO TO ST. GEORGE.  TURN AROUND, TURN AROUND, TURN AROUND.  I HATE YOU ALL!!!  DON’T CALL ME MOTHER ANYMORE.  I DON’T HAVE ANY CHILDREN … DON'T EVER TALK TO ME AGAIN ... LINDA TRIED TO STEAL MY HUSBAND, NOW SHE'S STOLEN MY SON ... WHATEVER LINDA WANTS, LINDA GETS ... YOU’LL NEVER GET A DIME OF MY MONEY” … and all this was WITH a sleeping pill and her anti-anxiety medication (which we later discovered was out dated and useless).  

Twenty-four hours after she arrived at Cliff View, I stopped by to see how things were going.  I asked her nurse if she was getting along OK.  She rolled her eyes and asked me, "Is she always like this?"

Watch for news of the release of the 3-volume book set about this exciting adventure, available soon at a bookstore near you.  The major motion picture based on this true psychological thriller will star Angelina Jolie as “the responsible daughter,” Ryan Reynolds as “the son … and golden child,” and Joan Crawford as “Mommie Dearest.”  Rated “R” for gratuitous language and violence.

Merry Christmas to Us All

The 2014 holiday season is now a happy memory among our many “Christmases past.”  With Ed recuperating from knee surgery (twice) I enjoyed shopping, cleaning, cooking, decorating and together we both celebrated the season at a Rotary and a Ward Christmas party and welcomed our neighbors and friends as one of five homes open for refreshments and tours in the Christmas Around the Ward annual event.  Larry came from Seattle, arriving on Christmas Eve to be joined by Stacy and her family for dinner and our traditional Holiday Family Home Evening.  Kelly and Gary arrived on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas).  During our time together, we saw two movies (“Big Eyes” and “Unbroken”), saw Doris and Kelly’s wedding dress on display with 55 other wedding dresses at the St. George Art Museum, wrote Larry’s obituary (it was more fun than it sounds), drove to Zion to photograph the beautiful grandeur of this national park, ate repurposed leftovers (several times) and enjoyed lots of chit chat and laughter.  A very nice after-Christmas surprise was the arrival in town of Jan'L and her boys. 13-year-old Kole spent extra time with us when Taisley, he and I went to see "Mockingjay" then on Grandpa's birthday he came over to help us load up the pick-up truck with an oversized load on its way to the DI followed by lunch at the Pizza Factory.  On New Year's Eve, we enjoyed dinner with friends at our house and woke on New Years Day to find a rare skiff of snow.  

In short, it was a pleasant several days with family and friends and we miss everyone who has come and gone as well as those who were unable to be with us at all!  In the words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us ... everyone"... and especially in the New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  Lots of company ... lots of noise ... lots of food ... lots of fun!  Kris and Erin arrived on Saturday, November 22 (Tylre's birthday) and stayed until Saturday, November 29.  Kelly and Gary arrived on Wednesday night, November 26 (Gary's birthday) and left for home on Sunday, November 30.  During the long weekend, we also enjoyed time with Stacy and Rick, Danielle, Kendi, Taisley, Allysa, Josh, Daxton, Benny, Gary's son Brian and his family including wife Miriah and kids Alexis and Boston.  The days were filled with Hallmark movies, a little shopping, Christmas lights, music and fire pit at Tuacahn (where Taisley found the very lights she had strung among the bushes with members of my Rotary club), walking among the Christmas trees at the 33rd Annual Jubilee of Trees (wow, does that make me feel old), cleaning out the twins' bedroom in anticipation of a garage sale next week, helping Taisley and EJ create their 2015 calendars, runny noses ... and lots of amiable chit-chat.  We missed those who were unable to be with us - David and Jan'L and their kids, Michael and Lilly and Kaytee, Josh and their little "monkey butts", but all-in-all, it was one of the better Thanksgivings we have had at our house!

Hallowe'en at the Sappingtons

Spending Halloween with the grandkids is such a treat!  Because we live so far away from most of our kids, we don't get this experience too often, but this year because of the birth of Thoryn Postma, Kaytee and Josh's Baby Girl #3, we were in Anaconda on All Hallows Eve and got to go door-to-door with Adyn and Skylar.

Before leaving for Montana, we took Taisley with us when we volunteered for "Thriller" at Tuacahn. She was nervous because some of her friends told her it was "really, really scary" but what she quickly found out is that it was really, really fun ... and only "Halloween scary."

Lilly's mom transformed her into a beautiful Elsa (from "Frozen"). Being Elsa was probably the most popular little girls costume this year, but NOBODY had a more beautiful costume than Lilly, custom made especially for her tiny body by her talented mother and a costumer for the Utah Opera Company.  Michael tagged along in the search for candy as Olaf (also from "Frozen").  In Denver, Kaler considered himself too old for trick-or-treating so decided to stay home and pass out candy to those ghosts and goblins who rang their doorbell, but Kole was a Poindexter (not sure what that is, but he looked so cute) and Kyle was a catcher for his favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox.  Adyn was Belle (from "Beauty and the Beast"), Skylar was an adorable Snow White and Taisley was a purple minion (from "Despicable Me, Too").

But of all the ghosts and goblins in the family, the one who scared us most was Daxton, who spent the three days before Halloween in the hospital with viral meningitis.  It was frightening to know this little guy ran a very high temperature and spent his time in total isolation to prevent the spread of what they hoped was NOT bacterial meningitis.

Not everyone enjoys Halloween, but personally, I think it's great fun. We were amazed at how many people in Anaconda decorated their yards for the trick-or-treaters, but no one does trunk-or-treating like our ward in Bloomington.  So now that this fun night is behind us, we are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas ... in the meantime, don't forget to brush and floss!!! 

Thoryn is Here and Other Thoughts from a Grandmother

Thoryn Postma, Kaytee and Josh’s 3^rd baby girl, was born at 6:13 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 weighing in at 7 lbs. 1 oz and bringing the total of grandchildren we have welcomed into our family to 15!!!  She is beautiful and we are thrilled to call her ours and can hardly wait to hold her.  

We are so happy to be grandparents.  It is, as many have said, “the reason we didn’t kill our kids when they were teenagers.”  This week we are pleased to welcome Thoryn, but are also proud of the accomplishments of the rest of them.  Last night, Taisley masterfully played violin in her 24-minute school orchestra concert at Tonaquint Intermediate School.  Last week on his 16^th birthday, Kaler played his trumpet as part of his school’s jazz quartet.  Taisley and Erin are both doing exceptionally well academically – and in sports and other activities – as are Kaler, Kole, Kyle, Lilly, Adyn and Skylar.  The older ones are busy rearing their own babies, going to school and working to make their mark in the world.

Recently, I wrote a “Grandparents’ Day” editorial for our local paper.  Here is a portion of what I wrote and what I feel about being a grandmother:

Genealogists say less than 50 percent of people in the world know the names of all four grandparents which is sad since psychologists, sociologists and other professionals know a healthy relationship with grandparents plays a huge role in the positive development of children.  Anthropologist Margaret Mead once even stated the connections between generations are “essential for the mental health and stability” of, not just families and their children, but “of a nation.”

The benefits to children in a happy relationship with one or more loving grandparent are numerous.  Children have a better sense of who they are and where they’ve come from; feel special – even a little bit spoiled, which – if you ask any child - is a good thing.  In many cases, children also get undivided time and attention; develop higher self-esteem, better emotional and social skills; improve or maintain good grades with extra adult influence; have someone to talk to; and, studies show, the knowledge, skills and attitudes children develop through this association tend to stay with them through life.

Involved grandparents play many significant roles in a child’s life.  In addition to the person a young girl described as being “the only one in the whole world who can boss my parent’s around,” a grandparent is – or should be – a role model, nurturer, mentor, ancestor, buddy, hero, confidante, spiritual guide, cheerleader, teacher, wizard, and - for those who are technology challenged - even a student!

Kaytee says Thoryn is her last baby so she could also be our last grandchild ... unless, of course, Michael meets and marries some darling girl who wants a baby.  In the meantime, being a grandmother is an absolute joy!!!

Charlene Visits

We had a delightful visit with Charlene in October while she was traveling through on her annual visit to family in Utah and Idaho.  She arrived on Thursday, a few minutes before we needed to be at Tuacahn for a performance of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”  She loved it!  On Friday, she and I went to see Angelina Jolie’s “Maleficent.”  She loved it!  On Saturday, we took a road trip to Cedar Mountain to see the autumn leaves, then ended up at the Utah Shakespearean Festival where we had tickets to see “Boeing, Boeing.”  She – well, we – loved it!  Hilarious!!!  Sunday we watched conference together and enjoyed a day relaxing and visiting.  We had hoped to spend time with Stacy and her family, but everyone at her house was feeling poorly.  On Monday, we went to the Empty Nesters Soup and Salad Social with lots of good food and music by the Pine Mountain Western Band.  We all loved it!!!  On Tuesday morning, she left for Salt Lake … and the next day Jim Holiday stopped overnight on his way to visit family in northern Utah and Wyoming.  It was a really fun week ... we love being the Hotel Sappington!

Saying Goodbye to the VCofWC

I heard some disturbing news yesterday when I called the Volunteer Center of Washington County and was told, “it is now just a 3-ring white binder” on the desk of the receptionist at the Five County Association of Governments.  She told me “whenever someone calls in wanting to volunteer, I just take their name and forward the information to one of the agencies in town.”  Thankfully, it appears, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs are still around as evidenced by an ad through the DWS looking for program coordinators.

It breaks my heart, because WE – including as many as 19 full and part time employees along with some fantastic AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA members – built an amazing organization.  When I first came on board my budget was $30,000 … when I left for the mission field in 2010, our budget was nearly $600,000.  We went from a teensy, tiny RSVP program to 6 programs (RSVP, FGP, SCP, Youth Volunteer Corps, a Medicare counseling program called Health Insurance Information Program and our Court-ordered Community Service Program).  I had more than 50 AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA members over the years – many I still hear from occasionally on FB or Linked In.  We had over 2000 volunteers of all ages - whose names and faces we knew - and, who considered themselves “RSVP or YVC volunteers serving at the hospital, library or a school.”  We provided volunteers for almost every community event in Southern Utah – except the St. George Art Festival –and were well respected in all three communities - St. George, Cedar City and Kanab - where we had offices. 

I fought for Carol to be my replacement because I saw a woman with the kind of drive our organization needed, even though she didn’t appear, at least on paper, to have the right skill set for the job.  No question the community needs her new program, but why did she need to take down the Volunteer Center in the process?

Ed gave me some good advice when he told me to “let it go” and I will, but I needed to vent and to assure myself what we built over a period of 16 years was what I thought it was … a dynamic organization which met many, many community needs.  We had an amazing staff and hardworking volunteers – many who told me how much they loved working with me and how our organization made them feel vital and important in meeting the needs of the Southern Utah community.  I'll let it go but it probably isn’t going to be today!