THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

"YOU SHOULD be more CONCERNED what YOU THINK
about OTHERS THAN what OTHERS THINK about YOU."
Shared by Pete on his morning commute to Tucson.

Belated Happy Birthday to Connie.

I wanted to send a happy belated birthday post to Connie. Sometimes gathering pictures tell a story inside a story. Connie has made us family. That is how I describe her interaction with us. Tim's work keeps him from being at some of our family events but Connie loads up the children and comes. She is very feminine and most of our activities aren't.

For example: This past 4th of July we all gathered in Pinetop. There were two nights that tents were up. Connie slept in their tent with her two babies. She just joined in the plan and did it. That was a good time and a good memory was made and Connie was fully engaged.

Happy Late Birthday, Connie. Thank you for accepting us and being part of our family.

MCNARY, AZ

I only live seven and a half miles from where I was born. I am always amazed when I hear of someone who was born and died (of old age) in the same house. Kind of a midwestern thing mostly. I don't class myself with those people of stability but I doubt that I will ever live much further away from my birth place than I am now.
McNary has a big place in my memories. It is 10 miles or so from Show Low and we went there quite often because of the shopping and the doctors.This is the General Store. Doesn't that sound nostalgic? Mom took us in there mostly to go upstairs. If I remember right you could buy fabric up there. I know there were clothes and shoes. You walked in the big front door and to either side of you a few steps away were these big wide wooden stairs. Sometimes we went up one side sometimes the other. Mom knew the women who worked up there. At that time most people in the area all knew each other.


This is the hospital where I was born. There are interesting stories of the doctors and nurses and their experiences there. They acted as Vets to the animals because there were no Vets around. They would leave the hospital and go to the homes of the sick. They would also go to delivery babies. I had pneumonia when I was little and this required repeated trips to McNary for shots. Mom said she wouldn't tell me that we were going for another shot but we were going somewhere in the car. All was fine until we turned the last corner out of Show Low heading to Lakeside and then I would just lay down in the back seat and never say another word. My sister, Lynne's, babies were both born in McNary. They had to be close to the last children to be born there.

This is the Saw Mill. A saw mill was a common term in the area. This was by far the biggest mill and it created an economy for the entire area. I never got close to it but it was covering the southern horizon when you drove through McNary. It closed down when the Apache Tribe refused to renew the contract for logs sometime in the mid or late 70's.

There Is A Green Pasture For Each And Everyone Of Us.

Not all of our prayers are answered as directly and positively as we might want. But every answer ~ or lack of answer ~ from the Lord is such that it will lead to greener pastures. This Gospel is filled with promises, and I am grateful for them all. I hope that you recognize and believe in the promises. There is a Green Pasture for each and everyone of us. And do not be deceived into thinking that even though there are different and seemingly unfair paths in life, that in the end we all get the same pasture. Your pasture will compensate for your path, and my pasture will compensate for my path. Whether in this life or the next, and it is always in both, when the Lord opens up the Windows of Heaven, there will be a pouring forth of blessings that directly heal and repay for every individual pain and sacrifice you are experiencing.

He will throw open those windows for every child who simply

has enough faith to obey and believe that he is good.

Believe me when I tell you that God is a God of goodness, mercy and justice. Ultimately, he cannot treat his righteous children differently. Whatever blessings you have gone without will be made up to you in divine and glorious fashion. I give you every assurance, they will be made up to you to the point where you will not be confident that God treated you fairly but embarrassed that he treated you so very generously.

Patricia Holland

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!

Tim only knew one home. We moved into our home in Pinetop three months before we learned that Tim was on the way. That was a surprize but we just took it in stride. We liked the name Tim. We had this quiet wish that he would have red hair and that is why, in part, his middle name is Reed. David's dad had red hair as a young boy so we wanted to have that obvious trait passed on. No red hair but Timothy Reed is still a great name. Tim weighed 7 pound 12 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long. Spencer W. Kimball was the prophet and Gib Frost was the stake president, and Terry Porter was our bishop when Tim was born.

Some of his little words.

souside ~ outside

Kakard ~ backyard

Dink ~ drink

ill ~ Jill

Airy ~ Harry

Carcoon ~ cartoons

When Tim was about 5 we were eating a Sunday dinner and he asked

if he had eaten enough, I said, "eat some more", he said, "I have to go to the bathroom", I said "well, then go", he then said "not while I'm eating".

It was fun to look through his baby book. I did a pretty good job of keeping it up so there were some cute pictures in it and alot of sweet stories about his thinking and speech and actions. Too

much to write. But fun to remember.

I am pleased and grateful to have Tim as my son. I am happy that

he is part of my group of favorite people to journey through this mortal life.

Once I told him that I thought he would be a good dad. He seemed surprized.

(I don't know why) And he is. It is so rewarding to see him take care of his

two children. They love him.

He is a hard worker. He takes his role as provider and protector seriously.

That means so much to his dad and I.

He honors his priesthood and this is a great blessing to his family.

And that means so much to his dad and I.

God bless you, Tim, on your 28th birthday. We love you and

are happy that you are our son.

Their Light

Sundays were once my favorite day. I loved taking our family to church. I loved filling a row with our children. I loved coming home to the smell of roast beef and potatoes. I loved that meal. I loved knowing that the neighborhood children didn't knock on our door. Sometimes we made cookies but we most certainly made popcorn before the day was over.

I have remembered when David and I were first married and how I loved Sunday. I knew that all things were ahead of us. So Sunday was to love. Now those dreams have been fulfilled and are behind us. So Sunday and I are trying to re-evaluate our relationship.

We had a high counsel speaker today. He knows David and I and he greeted me and asked me how I liked an empty nest. Bad question to ask on Sunday. But he said something so sweet. It was sorta like this: Their light (our children) that filled our home has now moved on to bring light to other homes. I wouldn't want it any other way. God bless my children and their families. Let your light shine!

IF THE FISH HAD NOT OPENED ITS MOUTH IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CAUGHT.

Just a fun picture of my dad. (Think he was a little proud?)

GARDEN DRAMA

A couple of weeks ago my garden finally took off. It is so pretty and is producing faster than we can eat stuff. OK ~ it is the zucchini...everything else is steady. But I enjoy going out in the garden and tending to it.

So here is the drama. I was picking green beans and saw Scout hiding in those bushes. I just picked away until she attacked me. That is it...just an attack. Then I got my camera to get a cute shot of her in there and she would just run away when the camera snapped. But she was gracious enough to let me have a cameo shot in another location.

FRUITS OF MY LABORS

FINALLY

A while back my daughter, Heidi, showed a before and after picture of one of her closets. Although I was impressed, I think I can top that!

~

We cleaned out our sheds yesterday. This is "my" shed. And these are the before and after shots.

~

I love it. I went out and looked inside several times yesterday. It was bad and it was hard work. David swears that he has cleaned it out before and it looked this good when he did.

~

I don't remember that.

Sallie

This past July an old friend came to town. Sallie Woolfenden lived in Pinetop with her husband and children in the late 80's and early 90's. She is one of the "warmest" people I have ever known. Everyone is her friend and she has a tender heart and a good eye for people in need.

(Picture: Shelly Powell, Me, Sallie, Liz Rogers)

Her husband, Don, passed away about 2 months ago and she made a trip back to Pinetop from Las Vegas just for a change of view. We made plans to meet up. She is still Sallie even through the loss and hurt of loosing Don.

She has really been through some hard times. But she stayed true to her family. She is the glue and fiber of the whole bunch.

When she lived here she adopted me as a friend. I will always appreciate that. She babysat my children many times. Heidi always remembers the time they were coming down the hill into Pinetop on a winter's day and her minivan spun around and around. Then Sallie turned it straight and brought her home.

She would always invite friends over to learn a new craft from her. She was talented and wanted everyone to know how to do everything.

She told me this sweet story about her first romance. I think she was a 5th grader and (you have to picture her as a round little 5th grader) had on a fluffy dress. Her little love interest came and sat down beside her on a bench and they held hands under the fluffy skirt that was taking up half the bench.

Grandpa and Grandma Merrill's Other House

Around 1984-85 David's parents left St. David and moved to Wagon Wheel. They bought this little place from my dad. They lived here until about March of 1989 when they moved to Taylor. So we had them close by for 4-5 years. David and I drove by there recently and I took this picture. Things don't look too different than I remember. I remember good things about this place. We spent alot of time coming and going.

A couple of things I really remember were Sunday evenings. We always went down sometime after church and spent the evening there. Marian would make popcorn and many times served up ice cream. We watched Battle Star Galactica or Night Rider with them.

When Peter was in the second grade there was more than one Sunday he would lay on the whole couch doubled up in a ball with a belly ache. Looking back I think he was stressing about school. His second grade teacher was a tough gal and I think he had some anxiety.

Another thing is the time Grandma had a package of cookies and Tim kept asking for "one more". Only it wasn't "one more" he getting....he was squirreling two or three extra behind the rocking chair and only got found out when the pile got so high it fell out of the chair.

The year everyone had chicken pox is another memory. David and Grandpa had taken Peter deer hunting and I had the three others at home. Tim's teacher called from school and said to come and pick him up because he had chicken pox. I was shocked. But she was right. By evening Jill broke out. So I had those two sick little people and Heidi. We decided to make the most out of Halloween, at least we could dress up and go to Grandma's(s) houses. I just remember going to their house and Marian being so sweet to them.

David's dad would, more times than not, be sitting with a guitar in his lap trying to learn how to play it. I don't remember him ever getting very good.

They once had a small bear up a tree and the Game and Fish came and tranquilized it.

They were good people. I am a decent person because of them. And they offered the best to
our children. They were good Grandparents. Pete died in August 1994 and Marian passed away 10 years ago. I can still hear their voices. They always cheerfully laughed when my kids came through the door. That meant so much to me.

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma

We loved to go to St. David and visit David's folks. It was like the best get away place ever. Nothing exciting ever happened but we were always so welcomed and it was always warmer in the winter than home.

David's mom was good to take pictures. These are, obviously, three different years. Look at all the hair Jill has. (and David)

I don't replace things unless they need it.....I guess that includes glasses.

The picture with the three of our children was taken at Christmas 1981.

We spent a good part of the day in Show Low

with my parents and then drove on down to

St. David in David's truck. It was the only car

we had at the time. So all five of us took off. That was

a sweet memory. We just stuffed the floor to seat

height and the three of them fell asleep. David and I

listend to this stupid Christmas story on the radio ~

something about this couple actually driving under

the family Christmas tree in a Christmas scene. Boring.

When we got to David's folks, we gathered up our kids

and opened the front door. Peter and Marian weren't

home but we walked on in and on the wall Marian had

made the neatest thing. It a framed piece of velvet with

little Christmas lights making the shape of a Christmas

tree and jewelry for ornaments. The children just sat

down and stared at it.

OFFICIAL SIBLING PHOTOGRAPH

This is the closest my family came to having a family photo. I am fairly certain that this was taken in 1973. Coleen was getting ready to go to Germany and was home for a visit before she, her husband (at the time) and Reilly left.

Randy is in the back row left, then Jeff (or John Denver), Milo (Lynne's husband) then me ~ front left, Lynne then Coleen. The children are Eddie (3), Kimber (5) and Reilly (4). This was taken at my Dad's (with Dad's camera) house in Pinetop.

JUNIOR HIGH ~

I loved school starting. I have always loved fall. Everything happens in the fall. It was a disappointing realization that America's founding history was not a September through November

event. It just seemed right for it all to happen in those cozy months.

These pictures are 40+ years old. They are from Junior High. Actually ~ we didn't call it "Junior High". The 7th and 8th graders just had a building to ourselves. Two 8th grade classes and two 7th grade classes. These two years are my most favorite years of growing up. We were old enough to pretend we were grown up but still very innocent. This was my 7th grade cheer squad. The 7th grade class voted for four girls to be cheerleaders. When I made the squad my mom was put in charge of finding a pattern for our uniforms. She took us down to Sprouse Reitz and opened up the pattern book and THERE THEY WERE ~ cheerleader uniforms. I was so surprized to see that you could actually buy a pattern for uniforms. We used corduroy fabric ~ blue with a white collar. We only cheered for basketball.

I thought I was so cool in the 8th grade. (No cheer

picture available) My mom took my sister, Lynne, and me down to a local motel because the photographer had come to town. No Wal-Mart, etc. then so it was a big deal. My mom made this dress. It was a wheat colored dress and I loved it. I loved my hair, too. I didn't think about it at the time ~ but my teeth were really crooked. When my parents divorced and my dad moved to Pinetop he made friends with a real estate broker named Bob and Bob told my dad that I would be a "pretty girl" if my teeth weren't so crooked. So dad marched me up to another new friend who was an orthodontist and I got braces. The bracelet I was wearing was the cool thing to have.

This is a picture of the lst Ward Beehives. I still have the "Bandelo" that I am wearing. It was made from felt. All of the emblems on it were also felt. We would "earn" awards ~similar to the Personal Progress that Young Women do now. We each chose a flower that represented our personalities, etc. I chose a Waterlilly. I remember my leader trying to steer me in another direction because I wasn't a Waterlilly. But I just liked that it was the same on both sides.

These girls were so much fun. The second year girls were my idols.