He Could be President of the United States of America!!!!!!!!

....because he was born in Utah on September 12 1963. And because we had emigrated to Utah in October of 1962 I refer to him as "our first born in the wilderness" :o) Alan several times wished he had been born in Britain and this qualifying to be President, was his consolation prize.
He was born in Bountiful, Utah on a Thursday. And according to the rhyme Thursday's child has far to go. And he has travelled far. He and Tara went to Northern Ireland last year
He is the only one who has moved out of State, Nevada, Arizona and California. And much as I prefer my kids to stay close to home he has nevertheless given us lots of opportunities to explore other places. He went to the Philippines on his mission (I wanted him to go to Britain, but then VicVic would not be part of our family) and has travelled back there three more times. In High School he was the only one of the children who participated in so many school programs. He represented Viewmont in running, golf, swim team, band and was very talented in Radio and TV. He created a video that was used in the "U" journalism program, and when he went to an interview there the teacher showed him this video and said this was the standard they were looking for. Alan told him he made the demo. :o) He also graduated from the University of Utah. He worked at Channel 4 before his mission and at Channel 5 after his mission. He works in the TV industry and is a TV News anchor in Chico, CA. He is very adventuresome and when he moves into a new area he is quick to become acquainted with the roads. He has climbed the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, and loves the ocean.
He has had adversity in his life but is the better man for it. He is loving and kind and loves to be with his siblings. He loves the Lord, he loves his parents, oh, and he loves Dick's bread

His family is important to him. He is Marivic's number one fan. They love each other and their children.
He is a good man and we love him. Happy Birthday son, and many more

WAR!!!!!!!

70 Years ago today,(it was a Sunday) Britain declared War on Germany. On September 1st Germany invaded Poland and because Britain had a pact with Poland to defend/aid in the event of Germany's attack Britain issued an ultimatum, that if Germany did not withdraw then Britain would go to war. On Sunday September 3rd at 11:00am the time specified, the Prime Minister announced that they had no response from Germany and so a state of war now existed between the two countries. But to this 2 year old politics didn't matter. I didn't know much about the War at that point, but I learned and my life was affected and reality hit many times in the ensuing 6 years. I could write a lot about my childhood and war but......
I am not sure of the exact dates probably 1940, but my brother and I attended a nursery school in Belfast that was evacuated to Donaghmore in County Tyrone,this involved Joe and I being separated from our parents. We were housed in Augharainey House.

This picture was taken in 1983, and shows my sister Jean and my Aunt Margaret outside Augharainey House.

This picture shows Joe and I at play in January 1941. The date on the picture was written by my Mother.







Again the date, March 1941 was written by my Mother.







I think this was the same picnic in March 1941. Us children used to love "dressing up" in Mother's fox fur cape.







My two oldest brothers were evacuated to Ballymoney in County Antrim. My sister stayed in Belfast and worked, as did my Daddy. In 1942 my Mother did rent a house in Dungannon and we were reunited as a family. In December 1941,(two days before Pearl Harbor) my brother Bryan was born there. Belfast was bombed in April and May of 1941.


My Aunt's home in Ballyclare Street did receive a "direct hit" and they were homeless. We didn't stay long in Dungannon as I have memories of being in Belfast when the air-raid sirens went and us leaving the house in the middle of the night to go to the air-raid shelter. My Sister eventually went to work and live in London (scary). There were no further raids on Belfast after 1941.
My Daddy was the Branch President in Belfast and had the branch records, and the branch piano in our home. One night as he was home alone the sirens went and he heard the bombers and went to the back door and saw the bombs falling and called on the Lord for protection. It may have been another night when he got home from work and was laying on the couch when the bombs started falling, he got up headed to the cupboard(closet)under the stairs when a bomb dropped across the street. Our window blew all over the couch where he had been laying, shrapnel came through the front door and through the stairs where he was headed but he was caught between the two. The piano bore shrapnel scars for as long as I remember and the hole in the stairs was there when we moved. He told me many years later as an old man here in Utah about that night and his ensuing flight from danger, it was a funny story (aren't they all when danger is over).
Perhaps it was 1944 my Mother was washing my hair one night as the radio was giving out the latest news and talking about the casualties and I remember saying to my Mother,"that isn't our soldiers?" but she informed me it was and I cried.
I remember VE Night in May 1945. I was not 8 until the August and Joe would be 10 in the coming Sept. but we went into Belfast to celebrate with the thousands of others. We probably went with my sister but got separated in the crowd and we walked home at 2am. Just the two of us.
Belfast had several severe blitzs and although the war was over and the rubble was cleared it was years before the bombed areas were completely rebuilt. Even when we left Belfast in 1962 there were still vacant lots where buildings had been bombed.

P.S. I have a booklet called "Bombs on Belfast" which is a pictorial record of the Blitz.
I also have a BBC video called, "Finest Hour the Battle of Britain" which is a dramatic account of WW11.
If you would like to borrow these let me know.

39 years later

On Saturday 15th August 1970 we moved into our home. The one we are still in. It was the first house in a new sub-division that was the first of MANY sub-divisions that now almost completely crowd West Bountiful all these years later.!!!!

(We could see North to Ogden, and we watched the fireworks at Lagoon)
There was Alan and I and five children. We added another child within a year.
(We could see all surrounding areas East and to 10th North)
Our home had 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom and an unfinished basement. We have remodelled the kitchen, added a deck, finished a bedroom, family room, bathroom, and laundry room in the basement. Painted and papered several times, recarpeted probably 4 times, added 2 trees in the backyard, planted a chesnut found on the Capitol grounds that has grown into a huge tree, and changed landscaping many times. Lived in 2 Stakes and 2 Wards. On the day we moved in the Stake President Clarence Samuelson and 6 of the Seven Presidents of Seventy (Alan was the 7th) in our Stake moved the piano into it's place in the living room where it has remained. It is the only thing original to the house on that date. We replaced windows and cement and widened the driveway. We have had happy times and sad times, we have welcomed additions to the family through marriages and births, we have watched kids move away in-State and out-of-State, and move back and still we are here. As I researched pictures for this post, THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF LIVING AND LOVING in our home.



This other Eden, demi-paradise,......
.....This happy breed of men, this little world,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, ......
King Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 1. [text]

(I hope no one objects if I quote the Bard out of context)

There are two sayings displayed in our home.

One Irish

(A 100,000 welcomes)

the other scripture.

AND WE DO

Let me introduce you ........

....... to Hannah Elizabeth.


My newest Great Granddaughter. :o)
She was born 27th July and weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces and you HAVE to agree she is beautiful.I have not seen her yet, she lives out of State but we have plans in the works to meet her.
When her Mom, Melissa was born, Melissa's Mom did the almost impossible in making her Mom and Mother-in-law happy at the same time by having the first granddaughter on boths sides of the family after several grandsons. Now Melissa is continuing the trend by making her Mom and Mother-in-law Grandmas for the first time.

Utah's Best Kept Secret....

.....at least as far as I am concerned it is.

Yesterday we drove to Pine Valley, Utah. For those who do NOT know it is 40 miles from St. George. Drive north on highway 18 and turn right. Here we are in the midst of sagebrush and red sand and rocks and suddenly the road widens and there is a beautiful verdant valley with a settlement up against the mountains. No stores, no gas stations, one LDS Church.

The church has been replicated and is displayed in the Pioneer Park at "This is the Place".
A State Park and a reservoir with people fishing.

The Church was built by a Scotsman who knew how to build ships but not a building, so he was told to build an upside down boat. We took a tour of the building and saw into the roof and the workmanship involved. If you look at the ceiling line you can see the curvature as in a boat. We will plan to attend Church here next time we are in St. George.

We also visited the cemetery there. At first it looked overgrown and neglected but it is anything but. It is designed to lie among the sagebrush and is well visited and tended, with newer graves among the pioneer ones. Although I say it is Utah's best kept secret at least two of my children have visited there and many out of staters have also found out about it and there are quite a few (a lot) of new homes of the ostentatious caliber. Most of the people are summer residents although there are about 50-60 families that live there year round. You would have to make a VERY complete and comprehensive shopping list.
A beautiful place and to crown it all IT RAINED :o)

Miss Tippy Toes

Lesley was born on July 10th 1958 at the Royal Maternity Hospital, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After much desire and heartbreak. I thought I would NEVER have a baby and look at us now. :o)
She started walking on the day after Mother's Day in 1959 and always walked on her tip toes, hence the name. People would say,"she is walking on her tip toes!" "She walks on her tip toes she is going to be a ballerina!" She was always a good baby and slept through the night from she was 2 months old. She went with us to the London Temple dedication and was sealed to us there in September 1958.
We were learning a new hymn in Sunday school #44 but we put our own words to it.
Beautiful Lesley built above
Beautiful Lesley that we love.
Beautiful teeth so pearly white
Beautiful eyes so big and bright
She who was born on the 10th of July
She is the apple of our eye.
Lesley, Lesley, Beautiful Lesley
Lovely Lesley, Lesley Marsden that we love.

Grandma Ditty, to the day she died (1981) always called her Lesley Ann.

When she was 3 1/2 years old and we still lived in Belfast, she took off one day with her doll pram and crossed a local field to visit my friend. There were always a LOT of seagulls in that field and they must have flown near her and I credit this situation to her dislike of birds to this day. She used to do shopping for me in Belfast. About a block from our home was a "strip mall". I would write a note with money and put it in one hand and tell her which shop to go to, and in the other hand was another note and money for another shop and she would come home with the "messages".(Our terminology in Belfast for errands)I am amazed that we allowed her to do that but that was what children did.
She missed her Daddy when he came to Salt Lake in 1962 and the first words she said to him when they met 4 months later was, "Do you want to keep me?"
She was thrilled after three brothers to get a baby sister. When her Daddy went to her third grade class to tell her, the class applauded. She was in Mrs Baty's class at West Bountiful.
She was really pleased when her niece Alyssa was born on her (Lesley's) 32nd birthday.
She has a beautiful singing voice that she has shared for years. And continues to seek opportunities to develop that talent.
She has always been an obedient and loving person. A faithful wife, a devoted Mother, a loving daughter, a caring sister, a friendly aunt, and an attentive friend. She works hard and is devoted to serving the Lord. She has not missed an opportunity to serve in the temple at least once a month for the past 12 years. She is determined to serve where and when called and to help build the kingdom. She has had much adversity in her life but comes through with her beautiful smile intact. She is a builder. A builder in our family, reference her blog and her "Family Fridays"

She is what her Dad and I call AN ELECT LADY.



Happy Birthday Sweetheart, and many more.
(she won't see this blog till later today, she's at Girl's Camp)

UTAH....revisited

OR......
.... What do you do in the Summer time when all the world is green.?

I love the summertime when we get to participate in our Nation's birthday and go to the parade in Kaysville with Lilian and her family, and have a family BBQ at David's and then watch fireworks and sing patriotic songs.
Later in July we celebrate the pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley. I can NEVER get past the 24th without having compassion for the women pioneers in their long skirts trailing the ground and having to cook over hot fires etc. No A/C for them. Not even any shade. Doesn't your heart go out to them? I do not forget the men, I just think of those long skirts.
We love to go to Cherry Hill and celebrate two family birthdays.



I love to go to Dairy Queen late at night and eat ice cream.
I sometimes go to watch Michael and Jeffrey play softball. There is a certain amount of laziness in the air.
As we have travelled around in other States and we see people playing ball etc. we always think, "this is America" One time as we returned from a trip to England we got on the plane at Gatwick and the cabin was resounding with the Tabernacle Choir's recording of "Oh beautiful for Spacious Skies" our hearts were touched and we were ready to return "HOME"
Becca can sum it up for all of us I'm sure.



So, what do you like to do in the summertime?