It'a A(nother) Boy

Cruz Joaquin Gonzalez (probably nicknamed CJ), our beautiful 5th great-grandson (of 5) was born healthy and strong on Thursday, October 4, 2018 to Jaeson and Tylre Christensen Gonzalez.  His grandma Kris Sappington Schnabel and his big brother Guillermo Adam Gonzalez (nicknamed Memo) waited at home for the arrival of this 9 lb. 2 oz. little man.  After Tylre labored nearly two days to bring her second son into the world, she reluctantly submitted to a C-section.

She and I had texted back and forth about a year ago with her starting the conversation, "Grandma, I want another baby, but I'm worried I won't love another child as much as I love Memo."  I assured her the ability to love a second, third or fourth child is one of the sweet mysteries of life.

Today, I asked "what's the verdict? Do you love Baby #2?  Remember our discussion about whether you can love a second child as much as the first?"  She responded, "I do remember and I love him more than words can describe!"  

Welcome to the world, CJ!

My DNA ... Not Many Surprises Here

After much urging from some of my kids, I spit in a tube but the results of this simple DNA test are no big surprise since I have been tracing my roots for much of my adult life and know wherewith I descend.  The 59% "England, Wales and Northwestern Europe" comes from my mother's side (she was a Bradford, after all) and my paternal grandpa (Harry Dexter Henion) who was of Dutch ancestry.  The 20% is definitely my paternal grandmother's line (Else Marie Werner Henion), though I'm not sure where the Irish, Scot, Swedish and "other" come from ... probably some of the wives who are, to date, untraced.  Looks like there is still plenty of work to be done ... in the millennium to come!

But, I'm pretty sure I'll get a lot of help from my youngest son Michael who has the genealogy bug
in a very big way, spending - by his estimation - at least an hour a day searching Ancestry.com and has found hundreds of names, photos and source documents.  Thanks, dear son!

The truth is ... my family (except for the Werner line) has been in this country for more than 400 years so I'm always a little bit surprised I don't have any Native American or African in my DNA (although I have a picture which I am sure proves I am a whole lot of Guyanese).

Goodbye, Nolan Adams

Nolan Duane Adams left this world on September 19, 2018 - according to various family members - “lonely, confused, afraid, angry at the dreams he could not realize and both liked … and hated.  He was also handsome, charming, organized and tidy … always the best dressed in the room, including spit-shined shoes.  He was also ornery with a big mouth, and organized and tidy with an immaculately clean garage where he parked his immaculately clean cars.” 

His younger sister, as well as his caregiver noted, “he had beautiful handwriting, English, grammar and spelling; he loved sports, boating, cooking, flying,  his parrot ‘Chocolate,’ decorating for the holidays, Halloween (always starting out trick-or-treat at the home of Nephi and Betty), Pepsi, old movies and his kids … all seven of them.” 

Quincy remarked, “my dad kept everything he had ever touched, including the oversized bar-be-que he used to create his delicious Adam’s Ribs, taking us along to every county fair and community event in Washington and Iron County.”  

In his youth, Nolan served an honorable mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia and in the last few years of his life he was worthy, once again, to take the Sacrament, but he was by then Brother Duke Adams.  In a brief letter to his family – to be read after his death – he told them how much he loved them … how proud he was of them … and what a joy they had been to him in his lifetime.  He called Quincy – a recently released Bishop – “a step-up-to-the-plate”kind of son and noted, because of his stroke, “I guess I’m not in charge!” 

There was no mention, but it was obvious many of the kids struggle in their relationship with their father, including Quincy who noted, "my co-workers had a front row seat to our arguments."  But, "Bishop" Adams quoted D&C 64:10 reminding his siblings, "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive but of you it is required to forgive all men."

Nolan's ashes will be spread at Lake Powell, his “happy place” later in the year.

Side note:  The audience was mostly made up of the extended Adams’ family and many of our Morningside neighbors and friends.  In a quick conversation with Heidi before the opening prayer, she remembers Morningside as “heaven on earth for a kid!”  So true … it was the best neighborhood in the world and a wonderful part of our life.

Family Fun at Yellowstone

We had a really fun weekend with #1 daughter Kelly and her husband Gary; our youngest son Michael, his wife and kids; and, our baby girl Kaytee and her husband Josh (aka Big Sarge), plus Adyn, Skylar, Thoryn and Copper at the rented cabin in Mack's Inn, ID belonging to our mission friends Clive and Arlene Henderson.

Some of us arrived on Saturday, August 4 and all of us were home or headed for home on Wednesday, August 8. In our 4 days together, the 15 of us packed in all kinds of fun, including games, crafts, tons of good food, S’mores around a beautiful campfire, watching movies, and sharing memories.

Ed and I arrived late on Saturday morning following the Ririe High School class reunion in Idaho Falls the night before. Kelly and Gary arrived in the late afternoon with their car packed “like we’re moving to another country.”  Kaytee and Josh traveled 150+ miles from Anaconda in his big pick-up truck because they needed room for everything Kaytee felt they needed to bring, arriving mid-afternoon on Sunday. Michael and his Mrs. who celebrated their 1^stanniversary this weekend, got to the cabin early Sunday evening.

In addition to the beautiful Yellowstone National Park, all or part of us visited the Johnny Sack cabin (on the National Registry of Historic Sites) at Big Springs.  We also enjoyed the spectacular Mesa Falls; and walked a very narrow trail overlooking the Snake River (almost) to the end of the Buffalo River Power Plant Nature Hike.  After our nearly 4-mile walk – with 3-year-old Thoryn and the Postma family pup Copper bouncing all through the forest - we cooled down in the south fork of the Henry River.  M&J waded across to the opposite side while Kelly and Gary floated a fair distance on inner tubes … all agreeing it was painfully cold even on an 80 degree day!

Here’s what we learned about our family:

1.    Mrs. Mike has an absolutely stunning singing voice.

2.    Kaytee’s husband Josh is all kinds of fun and knows all the words – and sang them - to most of the songs in “Fiddler on the Roof” … the movie about a man raising three difficult daughters.

3.    M&J have come a very long way in blending their sweet family.

4.    I should have done a better job at communicating ahead of time what everyone’s food assignments were because everyone brought everything.  As a result, we had more food than we knew what to do with (or room for) … except for ice cream!

5.    A log on the forest floor can serve as a bathroom, if necessary!

6.    Cousins have LOTS of fun together even when they've only just met.

7.    There’s no such thing as too many pictures of trees, rivers and family members.

8.    A cabin reputed to “sleep 20” doesn’t necessarily have kitchen table / refrigerator space for 20.

9.    A beautiful roaring campfire every night makes every vacation day memorable.

10.  There’s always room for marshmallows cooked over a beautiful roaring campfire.

11.  People are stupid when it comes to chasing grizzly bears through the woods to get the perfect photograph.

12.  Quiet hours and a fun craft projects for the kids (thank you, Aunt Kelly) are very, very, very welcome at the end of a busy day.

13.  600 miles is not too far for us to travel to be with our kids and grandkids!

14.  “Let’s do it again next year” from most of our family members means our time together was a success.

There was no drama, tears (except when it came to time to say goodbye) and it appears everyone had a fun time.  The only thing which could have made our weekend together more fun was having Kris, Stacy, David and their families with us, too.  Maybe next year.

58 Years and Counting

In preparation for their 60th Ririe High School reunion in 2020, 14 members of the Class of 1960 gathered in Idaho Falls on Friday, August 3, 2018 to celebrate their lives and survival, as well as their ability to remember each other's names.  A delightful - and memorable - slide show was created by Janet Wilcox (of Blanding) and included a picture of Ed as part of the Senior Ball Royalty Court.  Who knew?

Guess we'd better mark our calendar for "the big one" and hope we'll still be above ground and able to make the trip.

WANTED: A Traveling Companion for My Husband

WANTED:  A TRAVELING COMPANION FOR MY HUSBAND

Must enjoy being in a car for a minimum of 500 miles a day, stopping countless times for 5-30 minutes seeking the perfect shot (depending on the right camera angle or lighting) of every tree, mountain, stream or animal sighting before stopping to eat and/or sleep. Apply immediately to be considered as our next trip is currently being planned.  

We traveled thru Utah, Idaho and Montana for more than a week (July 6-15) to care for Kaytee and Josh’s three little girls (Adyn, age 10; Skylar, age 7 ½ and Thoryn, age 3) while their Momma went to Girls Camp with the young women in her ward.  We reserved a 1-bedroom timeshare condo in Columbia Falls, MT not realizing it was a 4-hour drive from Anaconda and within 40 miles of the Canadian border, but Ed was thrilled to have a chance to go back to Glacier National Park, without forest fires burning all around us.  

It was a noisy, busy, more-or-less uneventful – but exhausting - week.  The two older girls shared the bed-in-the-couch and Thoryn slept on a big thick blanket on the floor after wearing themselves out in the swimming pool. We watched several movies … everyone ate well … and celebrated my birthday on Sunday, July 15 with surprise cake and ice cream on Friday night (which we polished off at breakfast on Saturday) before taking the girls back to their parents, then heading home to get ready for the next trip.

Mini-Cuz'n Camp 2018

Tylre, Jaeson, Memo and ”Taco” came for a visit on the weekend of July 6.  We weren’t expecting them so were pleasantly surprised when they rang our doorbell. Not long after they arrived, Zac and his longtime girlfriend Danielle (from Connecticut or Pennsylvania) showed up on our front porch … and minutes later, Whitney arrived in time for Grandpa’s waffles. This Friday morning turned out to be a impromptu mini-Cuz’N Camp, including gales of laughter and memories shared. Notice how tall Zac is getting (when he's on his tip toes).  I sure love these kids but don’t see them often enough! 

Travels to Toronto

The RY2017-18 Rotary International Convention was held in Toronto, Canada and since we had never been there we decided we should go.  So we paid the $700 registration fee, boarded a plane and headed for Toronto.  

Toronto is the capital city of the province of Ontario and the largest city in Canada by population, with 2,731,571 residents … and in the Greater Toronto Area, the population in 2016 was 5,928,040!  It’s pretty obvious this is a huge city judging by the traffic!

Before the convention – with more than 30,000 Rotarians in attendance from all over the world – we decided to travel to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, from which we could see downtown Buffalo, NY.  The falls were beautiful, but the crowds were comparable to a busy day at Disneyland – and the traffic, to and from Niagara, was bumper-to-bumper in four lanes … on both sides of the freeway. 

The convention was amazing! Speakers included – but in way limited to – Former First Lady Laura Bush and The Royal Princess Anne, sister to HRH Queen Elizabeth.

But, the highlight of our week in Toronto came in a very unexpected way:

In between sessions, we were sitting in the House of Friendship having a drink while waiting for the next session to begin, when a woman walked by with a Guyana flag on her purse!  At first I thought I was seeing things so I jumped up and followed her around the corner booth.  I was delighted to see she had stopped to look at some Rotary-branded merchandise, so I approached her with a question, “are you from Guyana?”  “Born there,” she replied, “but came to the US as a child. Now living in Lafayette, CA.  Why do you ask?”

I then proceeded to tell her our story – how we had lived in Guyana for 18 months.

“Are you LDS,” she asked and I almost fell over because she is not only LDS but has been in Rotary for about 2 years … with her underlying goal to find ways to help her native country through Rotary.

“But my real reason,” she said, “is to find a way to get the Church to save records which are rapidly deteriorating for the families of Guyana.”  

I wanted to weep with joy because this is what we – Simeon, Selwin and I – have been working on, too. When couple missionaries are assigned to the work and it officially begins, I will post the “rest of the story” which is sooooo amazing!

Next year the RI Convention will be held in Hamburg, Germany … and as Rotary District Governor (RY2020-21), Ed and I will have our travel expenses paid-in-full.  Can’t wait to travel to the land of my paternal grandmother’s ancestry!

Rick Retires from SGFD

“After 24 years of service to the City of St. George, Firefighter Rick Welch has retired. Firefighter Welch has been a valuable asset to the St. George Fire Department throughout his entire career. His positive attitude and willingness to work hard will be greatly missed! Thank you, Firefighter Welch, for everything you've done for St. George and its citizens. Enjoy your retirement!” so said the City of St. George in a Facebook post following his retirement party on Friday, June 15, 2018.

Rick, one of our three favorite sons-in-law, began his career with the City of St. George on August 22, 1994 as a wastewater equipment operator with the Water Services Department.  In December 1997, he joined the SGFD as a reserve firefighter and two years later, on September 5, 1999, he was hired as a full-time firefighter.

His retirement party included members of his squad, city officials, as well as assorted members of the Welch and Sappington family … all who sang the praises of this exceptional man, including his father David Welch who said, "Yes, he's one helluva good son.  I'm going to keep him."  There was lots of laughter - and tears - and tons of hugs!  

After cake and kudos, the SGFD surprised him with a ride home – after his last shift – on the City's antique Studebaker firetruck, including his family, officers in full-dress uniforms, flashing lights and sirens.

Happy to call Rick Welch a member of our family ... and this is certain to make our 2018 Sappington Family Top Ten list!

Denver Sappington's in Winter Park

As has been our tradition for the past several years, we traveled to Denver to visit with David, Jan'L and the kids at the end of their school year ... but this time, we arranged for a condominium through our time share points.  We met at Winter Park, a beautiful resort community about 65 miles from downtown Denver and high in mountains with an average snowfall of 29 feet. Together we enjoyed a long weekend exploring, hiking, eating and playing. It was nothing spectacular or out-of-the-ordinary as vacations go, but it was sure fun to be with our oldest son and his family without work interruptions and demands on our time.