Allison & Christian's Wedding

On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 I boarded a plane and flew to Denver to help my sister Georgena as she made preparations for her daughter Allison's marriage to Christian DeShazer.

I took this photo that Thursday night as we left the Denver Temple

 after a beautiful Endowment session for Allison.

The days leading up to the big day on Saturday were filled with lots of baking, mostly done by friends of my sister's. I was bowled over by the help she received! I got the same help from my friends and ward members when my own daughter was married and it is so humbling 

to see Christ-like women in action, loving and serving each other!

We did indulge the groom and make dozens of cake pops for him as his big request for the reception.

Two cute Sister missionaries came over and hung in there with us for hours as their service for the week.

They were also there the next day to iron all of the table cloths at the church!

An army of DeShazers, Farias, and three Looses were there to string wire, 

hang ceiling drapes, and decorate up a storm that Friday.

My sweet husband Coach Dee, and my son Richard drove over on Thursday and were with us that long day. Thanks to everyone who was there to help!

The M.O.B. (Mother of the Bride) only had minor meltdowns

and held it together beautifully!

There were fantastic monsoon rains and a rollicking Rocky Mountain thunderstorm

to keep us entertained too!

 This photo is from Saturday night as the reception got underway. 

I think Gena and Allie's vision came together beautifully!

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Denver, Colorado Temple

It was a glorious day! No rain, but a terrible traffic jam caused by an accident on the 470 freeway to the temple. Though the bride and her parents left the house and hour before the rest of us, we were forewarned and took I-25 straight through downtown Denver. We arrived at the same time as the bridal party! It was all OK. The wedding previous to Allison & Christian, as well as those after had all been caught up in the same traffic. Once we entered the temple there was peace, patience, and a spirit of co-operation.

" Let's all take our turns and get these kids married!"

The ceremony was beautiful and an amazing spirit was there as these two sweethearts (since age 14!) became husband and wife for all Eternity. The groom cried more than the bride too, which was very sweet!

Because this is my blog I include these pictures of my son Richard, myself, Dee, and my dear almost 92 year old Mom who was melting in the heat as we waited for the bride and groom

 to make their grand appearance outside.

Richard has always had a soft spot for his Grandma Helen!

The photographer was also caught up in the same bad traffic so we all snapped a lot of photos while we waited. Here is Allison's "Twinie" Emily, the lovely Maid of Honor!

Mr. & Mrs. Christian DeShazer!

Aww!

These two girls love each other so much!

We all found the shade while we waited for the photographer to arrive. 

Gena too this opportunity to un-bustle the bride's dress. It wasn't as simple as it seemed!

 Wait!! The M.O.B. is A.W.O.L.!!

Allie's sweet little nephew Nathan loved the pretty roses! Isn't this a precious picture?

Three of the four Faria sisters, Emily, Allison, and Nathan's mother Sarah. We missed Christina and wished she and Christopher could be there with us and we all want to meet their little Emma! 

Alas, Maryland is far, far away.

It was pointed out to me that the M.O.B. has some confusing years ahead as there are now three Chris's in her family...Christopher, Christina, and Christian!

My beautiful sister is too young to be a Grandma, isn't she?

  Here's Allison with her biggest brother Michael.

 Oh, this cake has a story! Just let it be said that it arrived damaged, not decorated the way it had been ordered, and the ribbons were SO not red and purple! Thanks to a late night run on Friday, Gena and I found the correct colors, as well as fresh red roses to place on it. Thanks to Christian's sis-in-law Holly who sweated it out with me trying to replace the ribbons without messing up the butter cream frosting! Thanks to Michael's Army training he got a 50% discount for his parents on the cake.
To its credit though, the cake was delicious!

The Groom's cake was a big hit too! Gena told me that these two figures were the very first purchase she and Allie made for the reception!

Just look at a small portion of the hundreds of goodies made by friends for this couple! 

The treat table was a big hit!

The curs-ed cake pops were very popular and yummy as well.

It was a beautiful, fun, aggravating, exhausting week...but what wedding isn't?

I love my little sister and I would do anything for her! 

Here's to many more of these happy days for both of our families!!

Well done M.O.B.!!

Time Travel Tuesday~The Example of My Father

Way back in the mid-1970's my parents had a plan, a dream really, and a way to obtain it. My father wanted more than anything to own his own dairy, to be his own boss. My mother had worked at the Mesa Motorola plant since Dean had received his mission call. She worked to earn money for his mission and continued on through Richard's mission. She had accumulated quite a fair amount in the company's Profit Sharing savings plan during these years. If she worked for a certain number of years she could contribute more and be compensated more by the company. Mom and Dad decided to pour all of their work efforts into saving and earning the money to buy that dairy. I did not understand at the time why all of the following events occurred, but they were all calculated to achieve the goal. Our new home on North Hunt Drive was sold for a profit which purchased 5 acres in Chandler and a hay swathing machine. Dad and Richard ran a business cutting hay for farmers while Dad still worked full time for his brother's dairy. After a year, when a certain amount of money had been put away and the land had appreciated, the 5 acres were sold for $20,000. (I hate to think of what they are worth today!) My parents purchased a smaller, older home back in our old Mesa neighborhood on North Harris Drive and we moved in. Mom continued to work for Motorola and put money into Profit Sharing and Dad started looking for for a farm to buy. Land in Arizona proved to be very expensive when combined with the cost of dairy facilities and a good herd of cows, so he began to look northward...in Idaho.

It is a whole different story to tell you of my feelings about leaving my sunny Mesa home a few days after Christmas 1975 and moving to the mucky, muddy, frozen north. I will leave that for another time. The family had sacrificed, saved, moved, and moved again and finally squeezed into a 100 year old lava rock farmhouse to give Dad his dream of providing his own livelihood. It meant everything to him. All of Mom's Profit Sharing savings had gone into this venture. They did not even buy a new car or furniture or anything fun with it. They were children of the Great Depression and knew how to handle money wisely. We all worked together to make a go of the farm. Gena and I did our part to help with the babies in the calf barn and get the cows fed. I soon went off to Ricks College while Gena stayed home and learned to drive the tractor and farm equipment. Dad and Mom worked together through good times and bad, serving in the Wendell Ward and making lifelong friends there. They were happy and hopeful for what their future held. Dad bought Mom a nice house in town so we didn't have to fight the Great War of the Mice in that old house on the dairy. They were happy.

One day my father was approached by the son of a friend in Twin Falls. The son was a business man from the east and was looking for investment opportunities. This man proposed to my father that he invest money in the Ellsworth Dairy and build up the herd even more. His firm would take care of the books and take that burden off of my father. A deal was struck, the dairy expanded, things were looking up for a secure future. Then one day awhile later my mother opened a letter from their mortgage company informing them that since they were 90 days behind on their house payments, they were being foreclosed on. My parents were dumbfounded, speechless. Their credit was perfectly immaculate. It always had been! Dad called the  investor to find out what was going on.  He was told that times were getting tight and his business needed some tax breaks so a decision had been made to quit investing in the farm. No expenses had been paid for months and they were letting the dairy go "belly-up" so they could have a big tax write-off at the end of the year. It was nothing personal, mind you, just a good business decision. Nothing personal at all! He still hoped they could be great friends.

My parents had been directors of the genealogy "name extraction" program of the Church (now called Indexing) in that region for a long time. It was one of their many church callings. Not long before they had to move away, my Dad spoke with Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. Elder Packer was over the name extraction programs of the Church and wanted to know why my parents had asked to be released fro their callings. They were doing such an amazing job and he hated to see them go. Dad explained to him what had happened; how this man who was actually in a Stake Presidency in Virginia had cheated them out of all they owned or had ever worked and saved for, and they had to go to New Mexico and move in with his son. Elder Packer was upset. He wanted to know the man's name so he could investigate the matter. My father refused to "out" the guy. He simply told the apostle that he was working very hard on forgiveness and would get no satisfaction out of seeing the man punished. "He will have his judgement day," was what my father said.

Dad and Mom lived with Dean and Renda for quite awhile. They were both able to get jobs from Renda's brother who owned a Spudnut Shop in Farmington. They worked form 3:00 a.m. to just before noon five days a week making Spudnuts all night long and serving the drive-up breakfast crowd. The popular Winchell's Donuts commercial catch phrase became there own motto during those days as they would wake up early and proclaim, "time to make the donuts!" They were in their mid 60's and were tired. Their bodies ached and yet they never complained. They left Idaho with nothing but their personal belongings. They had nothing of the years of saving and dreaming they had so carefully planned out. It did no good to look backward. It did not give them their life savings back. They eventually were able to buy an extra long, single-wide mobile home and a nice piece of sandy land in West Hammond. They continued to work their fingers to the bone for years until that home and their little white truck were paid in full. Then they retired. Dad used his gifts as a farmer and made that little piece of dirt bloom like a rose. It produced fruit and vegetables and became the play place for his grandchildren on summer vacations. It was better than Disneyland to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. They ran in the shade of the huge trees he had planted. They played hide-and-seek in the corn patch and the orchard. They ate the luscious blackberries and peaches until they were stuffed. It was a piece of heaven. My parents never sought for retribution. They took the situation handed to them and after the initial shock and hurt wore off they pressed forward with faith and courage to a bright and happy future. I am forever grateful to them for this fine example.

Today my husband received some heart-breakig news. The job he has long dreamed of was given to another. When I got the call from Dee this morning I hung up and fell to my knees, sobbing harder than I think I have cried since I said goodbye to my sister for the last time before her death. When I couldn't cry any longer I simply asked "why?" Why did he feel so good about everything? Why did we leave the Church Office Building 7 weeks ago feeling so powerfully calm? Why can my sweetheart not have his dream? As the sobbing began again I felt the most incredible warmth wrap around me from behind. It pierced me through to my very soul! I was calm immediately. I received the distinct impression that all will be well. I heard these word come into my mind:

"Before great blessings come great trials".

I have also thought of this hymn today.

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Helen & George Ellsworth

My parents, My examples of faith!

 The news was not what we hoped to hear. I hurt for my husband. I chastise myself for hoping for a greater income so we could better provide for our family. It will be alright. Not today, but later, after my swollen eyes have gone down!

Farmer's Market

I became a business woman on Friday. We set up my booth at the Thanksgiving Point Farmer's Market out on Water Tower Plaza that hot afternoon. Thankfully, it wasn't long until we were mostly in shade from the buildings. I wasn't too nervous about being there, only worried about whether anyone would buy anything. I didn't want all of the hard work my children had put into helping me to be for nothing. Who would want a silly little crocheted critter anyway? I know my aprons are good but I worried...

The "Produce Pals" were a big hit! They pulled the kids right into the booth and got their Moms looking around. The first sale I made was a credit card. Nick set me up with this great app for the I pad. It has a free card swiper so I could do the transactions on the wireless network. It all went so well except that I accidentally voided the sale after the cute lady left! It was a $28 apron too! I just sighed and chalked it up to my nerves and inexperience! It's OK because I sold a lot of aprons after that, and took a custom order for a party banner for Halloween. The sales far exceeded my expectations and I was so relieved! I am actually looking forward to next Friday. In the meantime I will be sewing my little heart out. If you need to find me I'll be upstairs at my machine.

Gaining Ground

I am four weeks post-hysterectomy now. Wow. In some ways it feels like forever ago then I turn around and think, "where did the last month go?" I am feeling better every few days, gaining more energy, and I am able to do a bit more each week than I did during the last week. I still struggle a bit with weariness every afternoon, and my tummy is still sore. I hope this passes soon! The sun has been shining for us for a few days and I am ready to get out there and plant some flowers! Speaking of which...


 ...look what grew in our flower beds!

We get daffodils every spring, and that is exactly my point...SPRING!  We have had so much snow and rain since my surgery that it was easy to lay around under a quilt and sleep. Now I am ready for warmer days and a healthier body!

This past week was spring break for my men. It was so nice to have Dee around every day to help me and take care of me. He spoils me and I love him! He and Richard had a lot of well deserved down time. They also got the yard mowed twice and did a lot of weeding and clean-up that I would normally do. (spoiled!)
Richard has had a gift card for the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City for awhile so I insisted one day that he and his Dad get out of the house and go have some fun. These are the picture mail I got on my phone from them about an hour later...

In case you are wondering, there are no little green men on Mars, just big Loose ones! They enjoyed the exhibits and saw a movie in the planetarium dome about black holes. It was shown in 3-D, 360 degrees in the round. Dee got a bit nauseous. I guess he wouldn't make a good astronaut. But then, if you went through a black hole you feel a bit queasy too!

Finally, with melting snow comes mud in the yard. Leave it to "my youngest" to find the mud and try to bring it inside! He did NOT enjoy his foot bath nor the whole body bath he got an hour later when he went right back out and rolled in the mud!! He never learns!

Happy Spring everyone!!

Stay out of the mud!

Miss Loose Goes to Washingto..er...Salt Lake City!

Rachel and I spent the morning in Salt Lake City so she could be presenteted with a commendation from the legislature for the art she entered in the Springville Student Art Show.
"These are the best and brightest of our high school artists in the state of Utah..."said the Senator introducing the group of students to the Utah State Senate today. They were presented in the gallery of the House of Representatives as well. It was all very nice and very much past Rachel's comfort zone! She doesn't feel "talented enough" and doesn't want any fuss made. But her Dad and I are so proud of her and how she has continued to use her talents and pursue her dreams. Here are some photos from the day. Some of them are a bit blurry. I had to zoom and not use a flash!

The House of Representatives first.

The students stood in the Gallery and were applauded.

On the floor of the Senate Chambers...

...Rachel was the first one in!

The Hall of Governors where the award was presented.