Farewell Friend

 

In the quiet misty morning, when the moon has gone to bed,

When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red,

When the summer's ceased its gleaming, when the corn is past its prime,

When adventure's lost its meaning, I'll be homeward bound in time.

                                             Bind me not to the pasture. Chain me not to the plow.

                                       Set me free to find my calling and I'll return to you somehow.

 This week we said farewell to a helpful neighbor, a wonderful man, a terrific example, a real cowboy :0)  Jack was the sweetest, most generous man I know (except maybe my Dad!)
I lived on the wrong side of the block to be Jack's true neighbor. I didn't really know him well, but I can tell you he was a man of God. He had an amazingly strong work ethic. And most of all, he was smart enough to have chosen an absolutely amazing woman as his eternal mate.  Liza...beautiful, delightful, classy, and funny, Liza is a woman I often thought of after we moved away from Provo. I admire her so much I considered naming our daughter Reagan after her.

I don't think I ever saw Jack without Liza by his side. We would walk by their beautiful home (complete with orchards, garden and corral) every day on our way to school. The freindly horses would be nudging the gate to see if the kids had brought them, a snack or just get a rub on the nose. Just a few weeks ago, jack and Liza were in their beautiful yard, he was trimming and Liza was watering.

I remember when we first moved back here  in 2009 the first church activity was Halloween. We have a Trunk-or-Treat in the parking lot of the church. We rounded up our vehicles and began the walk of candy, and there in the middle of it all, was Jack and Liza with their big 'ol cooker, handing out hot dogs to everyone! That's what they did, they always seemed to be feeding us :0)  Amazing people...

He was loved and respected by his family. They presented a wonderful service complete with a table set with beautiful old and new pictures of his family, his toolbox, saddle and even bowls from which to sample his favorite candies! His family is so talented--his father in law long ago wrote a song called, "I'm Headin' Home Today", his daughter told the story in a kind of a poem fashion of riding the trails with Dad and his grandson wrote a poem about his Cowboy Grandfather.

If you find it's me you're missing, if you're hoping I'll return,
To your thought I'll soon be list'ning; in the road I'll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end,
And the path I'll be retracing when I'm homeward bound again.

Welcome to Provo!!

Last night we had the unique experience of witnessing the FIRST Frontier Airlines flight arriving at the Provo Municipal airport!
I found out about this event on Facebook  and I thought it would be a cool Family Home Evening, PLUS we had Mackenzie's BFF visiting from Georgia and we needed to show her a good time, right?

It was not too well-run...we arrived at our "check-in" and got a cookie, but there was no one to explain the schedule or tell us what to do or look at or whatever. Mostly we just stood around outside  until the plane came.  I'm not sure how many people they actually anticipated being there, but as we were leaving we saw that people were parked all up and down the roads around the airport.
Anyway, the last time I was at the Provo airport I was picking up Doug and all I remember is a cyclone fence and some gravel. Now there is an actual (small) terminal and a security checkpoint! However, we got to go out to the tarmac and didn't even have to go through security, last time for that!

While we were waiting, a private jet arrived and a white Hummer pulled right up to it and somehow I got distracted and didn't keep my eye on it, but I'm pretty sure it was Donny Osmond :0)

We were there for the Ribbon cutting for the new terminal and the announcement that the flight was DELAYED!!! Sorry Frontier, not off to a great start.

So it was darker than we had hoped for, but it was still really cool to see the plane coming in, we were SO close! The Fire and Rescue were on hand to salute the plane with a water spray. The pilot opened the window and waved with half his body hanging out. Then Miss Provo and the Frontier guy opened the door and the first of about 18 passengers got off to a large crowd and bigger cheers!

This will be so convenient to now fly to Denver right from Provo and then get on a plane to almost any where. I hope this new venture is completely successful and that one day Provo will have a big, wonderful airport like Indianapolis....which is by far the best planned airport I have ever been to.

Welcome to Provo Frontier Airlines...

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Today is my Mom's birthday...she would have been 68.

 This is her last visit with us. We had Family Hair Evening with Mark and Kami...what a great time it was!! Mom, Vanessa and I all got our hair done. There was so much foil in our house that night and Mark even brought magazines so it was a salon in the kitchen :0)
 I am so glad we took this picture!

 

 This is a picture of Mom with my cousin Marie. It must have been about 1983 in Logan, Utah. I have mentioned before that I love the look of pure joy on my Mom's face. She loved her nieces and nephews so much! I mean I think she just loved kids and it was her chance to have "babies" around again.

 When Vanessa was born, Mom and Dad drove out to Utah from Reno to be there. So basically they drove all the way, hoping that she would be born while they were in SLC...and she was! My Mom loved being Mam--see above.
Mom was a great cook! And I don't mean fancy, gourmet food. I mean real food, real cheap food. She made the BEST potato salad. She could make Franco-American canned spaghetti taste fabulous (I am not kidding). She made burgers with gravy, potato soup, tacos, and pot roast...oh wow! I'm sure the cuts of meat were never expensive, but it always tasted amazing. I still wish I knew how she got the potatoes brown and kind of crispy and her gravy so delicious.
When it was time to talk, Mom would take me to lunch at Frederico's for ham and cheese salad and we'd have some great girl time. I don't remember ever being embarrassed by her.  I didn't always like her and I certainly did not appreciate her like I should have, but I hope she knew how much I loved her, and how grateful I am now, as a Mom, to have had the life we had together. When I was in the 6th grade we only had one car so in order to get me to my accordion lessons, we had to put the accordion in the wagon with my little brother and walk there.
Mom put up with a lot of crap and there were a lot of sad days and hard days and lonely days, but she had the best laugh when she was happy!
She liked to do unexpected things too. Some of those times were when we had moved to a new school (again) and she took me to register, then instead of staying there for school, she took me out to lunch...at Pizza Hut! We never ate out when I was young! Once I came home from school in the 8th grade and she had bought me a new bed spread. I loved it and I had no idea! Twice when we had moved to Indiana she drove up from Louisville without a word to me.  Once was my birthday. Once she showed up when I was gone, but Calah was home by herself so Mom took her to Cici's for lunch :0)

I still miss her, she was gone too fast, too soon. I will always miss her and wish I had been able to have one more phone call with her, one more of her warm and wonderful hugs.
The last real conversation I had with Mom, she told me how lucky my kids were and what a great job I had done. That meant the world to me...I love you, Mom...Happy Birthday!!

Mother's Day

From my Mom to my daughter...both are gone and it's a day to remember them. My Mom and Reagan did not meet in this life, but I like to think they are together every day now! Right before my Mom passed away, she told me that there was a little girl in red overalls that kept coming to sit on her lap...I knew it had to be Reagan.

~Reagan Noel~

I hold you in my heart because I can't hold you in my arms.

I whisper in mind because I can't whisper in your ear.

I whistle softly with my lips because I can't whistle softly to your curious eyes.

I sing to myself because I can't sing to your sweet cherubic face.

I love you in a way I will never love another because I didn't get to know you.

I think constantly of you with my head because it hurts too much to think of you with my heart.

You will be a constant reminder of God's love and His miracles for all of us.

You are my grand daughter but you are a child of God,

I love you.

Mam

January 14 2005

Questions????

Questions Kian has asked since I picked him up from school:
Fleas live on dogs, do fleas live on people?

Do fleas bite? Mosquitoes bite. They bite with their nose, it's sharp like a nail. They suck a little bit of blood. Does blood go through your heart? Should you go in the bath tub when a tornado comes? Can a tornado pick up a child? What color is a tornado? Can a tornado be a different color? A little twister can just go through your house and mess things up. It smells like Zombie perfume...are you wearing Zombie perfume?

Does your heart have a smile. Like a real smile? What happens to your heart when you cry? What about when you throw up? Does your heart beat faster? When you run, your heart beats faster. That's called racing. Your heart races.  What's a heart attack? Do they have to cut your body open? A headache is when your brain really hurts.  When you fall down on the sidewalk, blood will come out right? If you are running and fall down you can crack your head right open and blood will come out?

What are those yellow flowers in the lawn? What are the white ones?

This all happened between the hour of 1:40 and 2:40...yikes! I'm exhausted...Yet somehow he is the one laying down on the couch. YAWN, he says, "Boy. I'm tired, I'm going to lay down on the couch for a little while".

Prom!

Mackenzie is at Provo High's Prom...

She was asked by one of her drama guys, Zac Orton. She loves Zac,he is fun and funny. He actually sent me a message on Facebook to ask if he could come over to decorate her room as his way of asking her. It was so cute!

It has been so fun to get ready for this. We had two dresses, which was good because she had her heart set on one that was PERFECT, but it sold out. We ordered a different one and before it came the other one came back in stock! We decided to get both and then choose. We actually ended up choosing the second choice :0)

Vanessa did her make-up and it looked gorgeous! Then Zac, Dyllen, AJ arrived and Zac's Mom and sister came to take pictures.

It's our baby girl and I can't believe she is old enough for this!! How and when did this happen? Isn't she beautiful? I hope she's having a great time!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

72 years ago today, my Dad was born in Wichita, Kansas. My Dad had a pretty rough childhood, moving to California at some point while he was still fairly young.  He was the only child of a second marriage, having 4 older sisters and one older brother. He lived in San Fransisco as a child and had to get a job to help support his mom when his Dad died while is San Quentin. My Dad was 12.

He was a hard worker who loved his family. He was in the Air Force as a policeman. He became a salesman. He loved sports. He was once offered a "loan" by an acquaintance who was in the mafia in Detroit. He once had a phone call from Magic Johnson's mom. She wanted to build a swimming pool. He thought it was a fake so he didn't take her seriously. No pool.
He was involved in Indian Guides (Anybody remember that?) and hockey with my brothers. He was involved with my drill team.

When I was 21 I fell in love with Kevin Bacon and I had  seen "Footloose" 3 times in one weekend...it was true love! Shortly after that I came home from work and taped to my bedroom door was the PEOPLE magazine with Kevin Bacon on the cover...my Dad had bought it for me :0) I still have that PEOPLE magazine.

My Dad had several reversals in fortune. He was in a car accident that left him permanently disabled--the other driver was at fault and had no insurance. He started his own business with a partner who then ran off with all the money leaving my Dad severely in debt. He was trying to go back to school and support 3 kids. It was very difficult, but only now do I appreciate how difficult.
When I got married, I wanted my best friend to be there as my Maid of Honor as I had been hers. She was a young mother of 2 children and not living in the same state. She would have to fly, but that would be a hardship on her tiny families' finances. Without much fanfare, my Dad sold our camper and bought her ticket so she could be there.

 My Dad's legacy lives on...he was a terrific and generous man who loved to laugh and be outside with his family eating a good meal.
I love my Dad. He left us too soon. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel and the promise of Eternal Families. I am glad that now my Mom is with him and they are with their grand-daughter, Reagan.
I still miss you...I wish you and Kian knew each other. I know you would have been buddies and  you would be proud to see how your example has blessed my life.
Thank you Daddy, for living a good life and fighting the good fight!

P.S. Tonight we're having Brownies for your birthday :0)