I Am Thankful For.....

We were given a challenge in Relief Society to keep a "gratitude" journal...we were even given a little journal to keep it in. Well, life has been crazy so my little journal is still in my Primary bag but with Thanksgiving this week I need to write about all that I am thankful for.

First of all, my family. They are the most important things in my life. My husband, Wayne, is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He has been loving, kind, considerate, and treats me like a queen. He is the best father to his kids. Since he has milked cows ever since I have known him, he is also the hardest worker I know. I am grateful that he moved his family to Clifton. It has been the best place to raise responsible, good kids that were so busy helping around the farm they never had time to get into trouble. He spent tons of one-on-one time with each of them. Many were the times that they would come up to the house after doing their outside chores and say "I'd have been in 45 minutes ago, but I was talking to dad."

Of course, there are my five kids...Daran, Daralyn, Kelly, Jaime, and Jeff. We loved having our kids around and even enjoyed their teenage years. Life isn't the same without them living at home. We've decided that empty-nest isn't the best time of life. I am so proud of the wonderful parents that they are making to their own children. We are so blessed!

I am grateful for the choices my kids made in their eternal companions. They are all so different, but I love them tons. LoriAnn is a doll, and willing to help me out whenever needed. She helps to keep Daran organized, and that isn't easy! She loves to entertain so the family parties are at her house....I LOVE HER FOR THAT! Even though Shane asked me what I was on when I chose the color of paint for my kitchen, he is a wonderful husband for Daralyn and a doting father for their children. Bob, Kelly's husband, is just plain sweet and always willing to help Wayne if needed. Brandon is the most "prepared" person in our family. I always know he will take care of my Jaime. Even though he says he will put me in a "home" someday, he is frugal enough that he will have the money to pay for it! Last, but not least, is our Nicole. Keeping Jeff sane back in Vet School is a full-time job for her and we appreciate it so much. I love how modest she always has been and how the church is so important in her life. She is a wonderful mother and I am so thankful that she has this opportunity.

Then there are our 17 "Smart" grandchildren...Whitnee, Brookelle, Savannah, Rylee, Scotty, Hadlee, Matthew, Jordan, Jessica, Kori, Amber, Morgan, Brenden, Miles, Ammon, Michael, and baby Kamryn. They are the delight of my life!!!

I am very grateful for my church and my testimony of it. I love my country and I love where I live in it. I am grateful for a warm house, plenty of food (too much!!!) and money to pay my bills.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!

Halloween Memories, the Mostly Bad

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday but I have learned to sort of enjoy it since my children have left the nest. "Why?" you ask. Well, we moved up to Clifton from Salt Lake City 29 years ago. The mother's in the big city would make an annual trek to Grand Central (like a Walmart) and purchase a $1.98 boxed costume for their kids. Really easy and the kids were happy! All the kids in the costume parade at the school were either witches, Casper the Friendly Ghost, pirates, skeletons, princesses.....you get the picture.

Well, we move up to Clifton and mother's are dressing their kids up as crayons, pumpkins, frogs, bees. Costumes that required TIME and SEWING! I couldn't put my kids in a boxed costume so I had to join the throng. I made costumes and my kids would have to wear them for two or three years until they grew out of them and then poor Jeff, our youngest, HAD to be a clown or whatever I'd sewn for the others whether he liked it or not! I wasn't going to sew anymore!! He soon got so he took a shirt out of his dads closet and went as a "nerd".

Life is much better now. My costume consists of a black t-shirt with the word "BOO" on it and Wayne stays at the barn and is dressed as a poor farmer in the rags that he regularly wears to milk in.

As I recall, we did attend a Halloween party in Salt Lake with friends where I donned a white sheet, painted my face red, filled my mouth with mashed potatoes, and went as a "ZIT!" Sorry if you are eating while reading this...

(The photo is of our pumpkin this year.....a cheeseburger pumpkin! Very easy!!!)

Our Grandkids Should Be Impressed !

Well, Wayne and I did something Friday night that I never thought I'd be a part of with him.......we attended HIGH MUSICAL 3 on the OPENING DAY!!! We were definitely the oldest people in the theater and it was quite an experience being around all of these screaming, yelling, kids. It reminded me of the time that I camped out on State Street in Salt Lake City with some girlfriends to attend the opening day of the Beatles movie, "HELP!" We screamed and yelled through the entire movie that day.

We happened to be in Logan that day doing some temple work and visiting my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Lex and while driving by the theater's in Providence Wayne says "Let's go see what is playing." High School Musical 3 started at 6:30 p.m. and we arrived at 6:28. There were just a handful of seats left so we ended up on the third row. The movie was great. It is so nice to know that good clean shows can be so popular.

Going to see a popular movie on opening day will probably never happen to us again. We usually wait until the movie comes to the cheaper Preston theater, but for just a brief couple of hours we felt young and foolish again! You see, sexagenarians (people in their 60's.....get your mind out of the gutter!) can have fun occasionally.

I'm also quite sure I was the only one in the theater that actually graduated from "East High School" in Salt Lake City where the movie was filmed. The school has been totally re-constructed since the old building we went to school in which was an earthquake hazard!

The Best Day of My Life

Today is October 22, 2008. I want to wish a Happy Anniversary to Jeff and Nicole. They were married on October 22, 2004, which just happened to be the best day of my life - the day I had always prayed for. And not just because Jeff found a sweetheart and talked her into taking him on for eternity (but that was important!) But, this is the reason why.....

Ever since I became a wife and mother I had always hoped and prayed for the day that all of my family would be in the temple at the same time for the wedding of our youngest one. That would mean that they were all worthy to be in the Lord's house and living lives that I prayed for them to be doing.

Well, that happened four years ago. All of our children and their spouses - Daran and LoriAnn, Daralyn and Shane, Kelly and Bob, Jaime and Brandon and, of course, the new groom and bride, Jeff and Nicole, were there in that beautiful sealing room. As an added bonus, my brother Colin and his wife Mary, and Wayne's brother Keith and his wife Claudia, and his sisters Nola and her husband Gary and Elaine and her husband Cor were all there also. EVERYONE in my life who were the most important to me and my sweetie Wayne were in that very room. I was so overcome with joy and thankfulness that I will never forget that feeling. I felt like I could leave the temple and if I passed away right then my deepest wish would have come true that day and I had accomplished everything important to me. About 10 months later Keith was killed in a car accident, a month after that Claudia died from her injuries in that accident, and two months later Gary died suddenly. Elaine passed away Spring of 2007. That beautiful fall day was the last day Wayne and I were in the temple together with our own siblings.

I am so proud of my family and I love them so much. We are an eternal family and we will be together forever. I want to thank them for making October 22, 2004 the very best day of my life!!!

(In the photo of our immediate family everyone was there except Rylee, age 6, who was home with MONO!!! You are too young to kiss boys, Rylee!)

My Dad, Keith Kelly

Today is October 10th and it is the 41st anniversary of my dad's death. I was barely 18 years old when he passed away and that was the first "big trial" I ever had in my life to deal with. I was the last one in the family to see or talk with him as he dropped me off at the U of U that morning for my classes and then he proceeded to go downtown to get a haircut on Main Street. He collapsed suddenly down on the street and died of a blood clot to his lung.

That was such a shock to our family...so very unexpected. He was only 48 years old. My mom was very brave at the time but it was a real blow to our family. Dad had been transferred to San Francisco, and we were preparing to make the move. I was going to transfer to San Jose State to continue my education.

I miss my dad so much. He and I were so very close. Dad wasn't a tall man - 5'8" - and he had small feet, gray hair (which he'd had for years) and he was my hero! I vividly recall going to many Salt Lake Bees baseball games with him, and the countless hours he spent playing tether ball with me on the playground of Uintah Elementary, which was next to our home. He took me and my brother Colin on a river trip down the Colorado River for a week and I learned to appreciate the beauties of southern Utah because of him.

My dad was a huge teaser and I was the main recipient of this. I can still hear my mother saying "Keith, leave her alone!" I have a grandson, Brenden Keith, who seems to be a clone of his great-grandpa in this regard, and very properly named, I might add.

Dad loved his family and turned down a large pay increase and transfer to Omaha, Nebraska because, after visiting the city, decided he didn't want to raise his kids there. He was a religious man and was well beloved by the young men in the ward as he served as our ward's basketball coach and softball assistant coach for many years. A "Keith L. Kelly Memorial Award" was given out for years in Bonneville Stake to honor an outstanding young player.

Dad treated my mom like a queen - they held hands and he opened doors for her as long as I can remember. They were quite young at heart and were invited to the ward "Young Married" events, even when they had a son on a mission! Dad had a beautiful tenor voice and sang with the Salt Lake Barbershop Chorus for years.

My dad would have been excited when we moved to Clifton to our dairy farm as dad grew up in Lynddyl, Utah on a farm. He would have loved it up here!

Dad's time on earth was way too short and I have always felt cheated that I didn't have him longer, but I know I will see him again. I just hope I have made him proud! I LOVE YOU, DAD!!!!! You were the best dad in the world!

My Country

Election Day 2008 is only 1 month away. I worry about my country - I know that it is on a fast decline financially and, more importantly, spiritually. I worry about my precious grandchildren and what this world will be like for them in another 10 or 20 years. So many things have changed in just the last 10 years. We pray daily that our "babies" will be protected, choose good friends, and be strong enough to withstand what will be thrown their way. I know that these little ones coming into our lives are very valiant, and were saved for these last days. I just want their lives to be as fulfilling and stable as mine has been.

September 11, 2001 was a day that changed our lives forever. I was snoozing on the couch that morning while watching Mary Tyler Moore on our newly installed Dish Satellite. Jaime called....."Mom, are you watching tv?" Jaime's panicked voice on the telephone woke me up from a nap on the couch. It was 7:45 a.m. I quickly turned the channel from 'Mary Tyler Moore' to Channel 5 and was horrified at what was flashing before my eyes. The World Trade Centers in New York City were on fire, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. was on fire, and a hijacked airliner crashed in Pennsylvania. What was happening?

"What was that?" I cried to Jaime as the first tower collapsed. My first thoughts were to get Jeff home from USU and Jaime, Brandon, and baby Hadlee home from Ogden (they live fairly close to Hill Air Force Base) - put everyone down the basement, and lock them in. Wayne was milking and had no idea what was taking place. With tears in my eyes I went to find him, and thank him for moving me to this little hoe-dunk town of Clifton where I felt about as safe as was possible at that moment. Jeff had just turned in his papers to serve an LDS mission. I didn't want him to go ANYWHERE! I was so frightened about what was happening to this country that I love. I will never forget that day as long as I live!!!

I write a weekly Clifton Rural Route column for our local newspaper, The Preston Citizen, and the column I wrote that week was actually published on the front page of the paper. Here is part of what I wrote: "I have never been so proud to be an American as I have been this week. Flags are flying everywhere, and I'd fly one if I could find one in a store to buy! Patriotic songs which usually being tears to my eyes have brought rivers this week."

We pray for the leaders, and future leaders, of our nation. I just don't have much faith that either of those running can pull us out of our mess. I guess all we can do is pray for the Lord's help at this critical time in our nation's history. I pray that our children and grandchildren will stay close to the church because that is what will be necessary to pull them through!

(The photo is of the flag that was given to us from the Preston Elk's Club after reading my article in the paper where I said I couldn't find a flag to purchase!)

Happy 31st Anniversary!

Tuesday September 30th was mine and Wayne's 31st anniversary. We were married in Salt Lake City in 1977 after only being engaged for 6 weeks. Wayne believed that if you were ready to be engaged you didn't need a long engagement so we were married "after peaches and before apples" as he had a huge fruit tree orchard that he took care of and fall was the busy time for harvesting the fruit.

We knew each other for 3 years and had dated for 2 years before we were married. We met in the Y.S.I. (Young Special Interests) program of the LDS church for singles where we were both region officers. We dated so long that my family kept asking if we were ever going to get married - "What is taking him so long?" I actually began to wonder the same question. He was REALLY slow.....in fact, we dated for a year before he ever even kissed me. I was beginning to think that I either had bad breath or that he was gay. HE DEFINITELY WASN'T. He had to make sure before he popped the question because he was going to be an instant father to Daran and Daralyn and needed to get to know them and gain their love, which didn't take long on their part!


My original engagement ring Wayne made from baling wire. He shined up the ends and in the relative darkness of my living room it looked "antique". I loved the ring and although it was replaced a few days later with the real thing, the baling wire ring remains securely locked in our safe.

We went to Grand Canyon North Rim on our honeymoon which was an adventure we'll never forget. Since I had worked there for a summer, I figured being that late in the year we'd have the whole place to ourselves.....wrong! There was a convention of Japanese people swarming the place and since we hadn't prepaid for our room (there weren't really credit cards then) and we arrived late in the afternoon they had rented our romantic rim cabin to someone else so we had "no room at the inn". After viewing the beautiful sunset we drove 45 miles through the Kaibab forest dodging deer to Jacob's Lake and took their last cabin. It had 3 bedrooms and NO hot water! Also, the heat wouldn't come on automatically so it was COLD! After an interesting night freezing to death, I put my contact lenses in with cold water and we went back to the park to sightsee. We then had learned our lesson and attempted to make a reservation at a Holiday Inn in Page, Arizona. Noone answered the phone so we decided to drive there anyway. Well, the Holiday Inn we had called was just a pile of steel barely under construction. We managed to get a room at the Lamplighter Inn and after an embarrassing run-in with the maid, we had many memories of that place, too.

31 years later we have 5 kids, all married, and 17 grandkids and are now empty nesters. Lots of water under the bridge, some trials with losses of parents and health concerns, but we are happy and still in love. I feel very blessed that Wayne came into my life and we are trying to grow old gracefully together.