Pie in Veyo with Kelly and Gary

We enjoyed having Kelly, our oldest and her husband Gary in St. George over 2019’s MLK weekend.  The sky was clear and blue so we drove up to Mountain Meadow because – after almost her entire youth spent in St. George – she had never been there. Afterwards, to lighten the mood, we ended up having lunch at the Veyo Pie shop, including sharing a slice of coconut cream, rhubarb/raspberry and volcano pie … all enjoyed with four spoons.  Yummy delicious!!!!  

It was fun to have them here!  She works really hard and deserves a chance to just relax and have fun, although I know, at the heart of their decision to visit St. George for a couple of days, was to check on her father, who had just had shoulder surgery.  So nice to know our kids care about their parents.

They went home early because the weather was threatening to turn nasty on Monday.  It was a good decision, because not only did the weather turn nasty but a power line came down and closed the freeway – going both directions, as well.  Selwin and Brianna came over later in the day for Phase Ten. Brianna reminded me, “you haven’t done any mystery trips lately.”  She’s right, so guess I’d better start planning things to do when we have nice weather ... and company. 

Sappington Top Eleven List for 2018

Looking back over the last twelve months, here are what I believe to be the Sappington Family's Top Ten stories of 2018, but I welcome input relating to stories I may have missed ... or a change in the order of my stories for this list:

1.   In 2018, Mom was selected to serve as Utah Rotary District 5420’s Governor in 2020-21.  I am shocked, to say the least, but honored to serve … if I live that long!  In my first year, I have taken on a few district projects. In my next Rotary year, I will be much more involved – particularly in learning more about how the district operates – and will be inducted officially on July 1, 2020.

2.   For nearly a week in early August (counting travel time), Michael and his family, Kaytee and her family, Kelly and Gary, along with Dad and Mom, gathered for a family vacation in Yellowstone Nat’l. Park.  We rented the cabin of our former missionary friends in Island Park.  We were told it sleeps up to 15 but only has a refrigerator for 5. It was a great opportunity to get better acquainted with Jessica, Kirsten, Joshua, Laura … and have fun with Lilly and Josh. It would be more fun if we had more family members who could join us,

3.   Cruz Joaquin Gonzalez, our 5th "great" grandson, was born to Tylre Dayle Christensen and Jason Gonzalez on October 3, 2018.  According to his mother - and his doting grandmother Kris - he is an easy, happy and beautiful baby boy!

4.   In early May, we spent 16 glorious days in Scotland /Ireland.  It was an absolutely amazing vacation and particularly fun because all family members who have had their DNA tested, found they have at least a small amount of Scottish and/or Irish ancestry.

5.   In June, we attended the Rotary International Convention in Toronto, Canada.  It was a really fun week of sightseeing, meetings and interacting with the more than 30,000 attendees from all over the world.  The most memorable Rotarian I met, was a 40-something member of a Rotary club in California, but born in Georgetown, Guyana and a member of the Church, who told me her goal in life “is to find a way to get the Church to save records which are rapidly deteriorating for the families of Guyana.” Miracles definitely happen in Rotary … and in the Church.  We’ll see on this one but if you want to know more about this amazing encounter see my June 20 post. 

6.   In 2018, we saw two of our beautiful granddaughters engaged.  Danielle Welch will soon marry her longtime beau Kale … and Kendi Hansen will marry Taylor Dunkley on May 18, 2019.  Our precious family continues to grow as we move forward in life.

7.   16-year-old Taisley Welch went hunting with her dad and mom and bagged her first deer bringing down a big ol’ 3-point buck with a 24” spread from an unbelievable distance of 400 yards.

8.   Rick Welch, after 24 years as a member of the St. George Fire Department, including as a volunteer, retired ... well, at least he stopped being a fireman ... on June 15, 2018.  There was a party hosted by the City of St. George. 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.  He now drives a truck for a friend of his and works on trucks as a mechanic.  He loved the guys and gals with whom he worked, but he's a happy guy not having to scoop up body parts off the highway or retrieving charred bodies from burning buildings. 

9.   Michael has found his newest passion in life is Family History (“better than spending time on Facebook,” he says). At last count, he has added more than 3000 family members on Ancestry.com, is posting pictures and histories almost daily. In a recent text, he noted, "You know, the Germans are only 11% of my DNA but they are 98% of my problems with my genealogy."  To aid him in this great work, I went through my records and discovered my aunt Lois Henion Higgins Clark had begun working on what she titled "The Henion Story."  I only have a few pages of her work – including a handwritten history my father wrote for her about their parents – but have since discovered my cousin Coyia has most of it, which she promises to send me.

10.Selwin Lovell completed two years of school at Dixie State University in record time, receiving his Associate of Science degree in a little over a year and a half.  He will graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in Communications, on May 3, 2019 … then on to a Master’s degree.

11.Coral Henion Nyland, my father’s last surviving sibling, passed away on March 8, 2018 ... just 10 days short of her 98th birthday. She and my mother were never close so Larry and I didn’t see much of her when we were growing up, but she was a beautiful woman.  

It has been an interesting year for the Sappington family, but I think next year holds lots more stories so our list is likely to be our Top 12-15!

Christmas 2018 ... A First for Us

Christmas 2018 was, to say the least, a first.  Because we had most of our kids home for Thanksgiving, no one could come back for Christmas, so we were "home alone" for the first time in our 50+ years of marriage.  Before we had kids, we spent Christmas with Phil and Mina in Ririe ... or with my folks in California.  So it was a strange day in 2018 when it was just us ... until 2 pm when our neighbors across the street came over for dinner.  A few minutes after they left for home at about 4 pm, the doorbell rang and we opened the door to find Danielle and Taisley.  These two darling girls spent about 45 minutes with us before Selwin and Brianna showed up.  We chit chatted until about 6 pm when everyone hugged and said goodbye ... leaving us home alone again!  (Thank goodness for Netflix, an encore of "Victoria" Season 2 ... and about 50 Hallmark Christmas movies).

On Christmas Eve, Kelly called to remind me we could still get to their house before Santa arrived if we left right away.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we heard from - and got caught up with - most of our kids and Larry by phone, FaceTime or Skype, but its not the same as seeing their faces ... and having their kids in our home.

Happy Thanksgiving, 2018

Thanksgiving 2018 was celebrated on November 22 - Tylre Christensen Gonzalez' 27th birthday and the 55th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  As always, at our house, it was chaotic, noisy … and fun with about 16 in-and-out for three days and at our dinner table (Kelly, Gary, Kris, Erin, Michael, Jessica, Simeon, Steph, Selwin, Brianna, Kendi, Danielle, Whitney, Taisley, Kirsten, Joshua, and Laura) with conversations by phone with David, Kaytee and Larry.  Michael took over the kitchen creating dish after delectable dish … two turkeys, a ham, candied yams, cranberry jello / pretzel salad, veggie dip, potatoes, gravy and more pies than we could count. Kris and Erin made multiple pies …. Jessica, too, who also made rolls.  

When we weren't cooking or eating, we hiked to Johnson’s Arch, played any number of board and card games, watched "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" for the umpteenth time  and had a slide show featuring nearly everyone in the family.  Michael replaced faucets and doorknobs and we laughed, talked and ate.  It was nearly a perfect weeklong holiday, except we were missing David and his family; Stacy and her family; Kaytee and hers; Larry, whose flight was cancelled in Seattle due to fog ... and all the other family members we love to the moon and back.  All of our travelers report they got home safely but we're missing everyone already!

She Got Her Deer ... and Her Date!

Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane had nothing on our Taisley Welch who got her first deer in late October officially inducting her into the Welch Hunting Hall of Fame.  She brought down a big ol’ 3-point buck with a 24” spread from an unbelievable 400 yards.  

She hopes this might be enough to make it onto Grandma’s 2018 Top Ten list. We’ll see. The competition is stiff this year!

The following week, she bagged another big boy with whom she went to prom!  We sure love this beautiful girl!

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.