Mallory and Abby win awards

Mallory and Abby both entered a competition for FCCLA (Family Community Career Leaders of America.  Mallory was in the senior division and Abby was in the junior division.  Mallory won 2nd place Gold and Abby won 3rd place Gold. Because Mallory was in the Senior division she qualified to go to San Diego for the next competition.  Both the girls had to make something out of something that was old.  Mallory made a chair out of a suit case and Abby made a night stand our of one of the big wooden spindles that construction people have large wire or cord wound on.  Congratulations to both of these girls for their achievements.  I know that Lynda Ann deserves a metal herself for all the work she did helping the two girls put these projects together.

Abby turns 15!

Neal and I were invited out to Annie's and Jeff's for a birthday dinner in honor of Abby's 15th birthday.  We played a game while waiting for Jeff to get home from work and then had a delicious dinner followed by more games.  We had a very fun evening.  I would add here that I won both games.  Of course everyone said I cheated - I didn't and never do but they all say I do because I win so often.  Happy birthday Abby.  We love you!

The dedication of the Provo City Center Temple

This morning Neal and I had the privilege of going to the Provo City Center Temple dedication.  We attended at our Stake Center.  The meeting was powerful.  Having the opportunity to do the Hosannah Shout is always very moving.  I am so grateful for the gospel, the atonement of the Savior and my testimony of the church.  I pray that some day all my children and posterity will be anxiously engaged in the work of the Lord.  Picture of tickets to get in to the session and the white hanky I bought at Deseret Book just for the occasion.

I would add here that this is the old tabernacle where I went with mother for Stake Conference.  We would always sit up in the balcony.   Annette sang a solo and Lila Mae told me that she had played the bells here.  It burned down almost to the ground and all the people who grew up in Provo were so happy when they found out the church was going to salvage what they could of this great landmark and turn it into a temple.  It is beautiful!  .  

The gardner

Neal decided that he need to rent a rototiller and mix sand in with the clay dirt that is on the North side of our home.  There is always lots of moss because their is lots of shade and lots of water from the sprinkling system that never seems to allow the ground to completely dry up.  It is about time for him to think about planting all his pots.  Not quite yet, but close.  He probably has another month and a half.  Usually the weekend of Mother's Day.

 I might add here that he worked until about 11:30 and then cleaned up and went golfing with Ron Keller until 5:30 at which time he watched the U of U basketball team get beat by Gonzaga and then at 9:30 p.m. went out and finished.  He said every muscle in his body was sore!  I was feeling stiff from washing down all the walls.  Dang, we both are getting old!!

Our duck family returned to tell us it is Spring!

Every year we have a couple drakes and a hen wandering around our complex and in the pool area just to tell us that Spring is in the air.

Taylors Herriman High Drill Team Performance

Neal and I went out to Herriman High on Wednesday night to see Taylor perform with her drill team.  They did an amazing job.  I was glad that we were able to be there to support her.  The sad thing is that it was Abby's birthday and we had been invited out to dinner at Annie's but just couldn't do both. We thought about dividing and conquering but new that wouldn't work either.  As things worked out, Annie decided to have Abby's birthday dinner on Sunday evening so that Emmi and Neal and I could all be there.  Glad they made that decision. We had a bonus when we found out that Boston was involved in a boys drill team.   .

New flooring for Neal's office and our walk in closet!

We have been dealing with moths eating away at our expensive wool clothing, plus the carpet in Neal's office was horrible.  Partly because he had a plant in the corner of the room that he had watered and often the water leaked onto the carpet.  Jay was supposed to come in September to start the project but didn't get here until last week.  How happy we are to have the project finally done.  I am now spending every minute that I have to put things back together.  It is going to be a long project.  I spent the day yesterday whipping down all the walls and shelves.  I scrubbed the walk-in closet and the bathroom from floor to ceiling.  Love our new flooring!  It coswst $2300.00.  We figured about $5.55 per square foot.

Saying "Goodbye' to Derek

Neal and I got up at 4:00 in the morning to pick up Derek at 4:30 a.m. to take him the airport.  we volunteered because we wanted to see him one last time before he heads back to his home in China.  It was fun to have him here for the two short weeks.  He stayed at Lyndsy's while he was here.  He did go to Colorado for four days to visit with Spencer and he spent Sunday evening with Mindy.  He had mentioned a couple times that he wanted to spend some alone time with Mindy.  We loved having Derek here.  Neal and I gave him $200.00 before he left.  $50.00 each for his birthday in 2016 and 2017 and $50.00 each for Christmas 2016 and 2017,  It seemed the best way to take care of holidays.  We hugged and told how much we loved him and sent him on his way   We are always happy when we get to see him.  Love you Derek and miss you greatly.

The annual Stake Women's Conference

Every year I look forward to this event and every year I'm happy when it is over.  It is quite a task to prepare a conference that includes a luncheon for 200+ women in our stake.  I always manage to enroll Lynda Ann in my relief society assignments and this event was no different.  Annie helped me with the invitations and then came in Friday morning and helped me put together 7 casserole for the luncheon.  We delivered them to the relief society presidents who were going to cook them and bring them over to the stake center Saturday morning.  After we delivered them we went to lunch together and then did some shopping.  We had a fun day spending time together.  One of my favorite things.

Here are some pictures of the decorations that were in the cultural hall.

 The table decorations I borrowed from the Maxfield reunion in the summer.  These were the decorations that Nanette had.

 These next three were groupings on the stage.

 This was my favorite.  The pioneer woman out in her garden watering.  The garden is brown velvet material crunch into rows with green leaves scatter in each row making it look like sprouts coming up out of the ground!  Very clever.

It was a wonderful conference.  Our speaker was President Jay A. Parry.  He had slides of many women in the church who demonstrated that they had the light of Christ in their lives.  As he closed his presentation he bore testimony of the Savior and then look right at me on the front row and said, "The Savior knows our sorrows and our happiness.  He is always, always there for us."  I wept as I thought of Jeffrey.  I miss my son and love him.  When I went to the temple last week I felt his presence with me.  How grateful I am for the Plan of Salvation and my testimony and love of the gospel.

A very touching letter to Mindy and the kids.

Dinner at Maren's

Maren and Greg invited Derek, Neal and I out to their home for dinner on Tuesday evening.  They had a delicious dinner of marinated chicken and steaks.  Maren also made her famous pasta salad.  It was a delicious dinner and a fun visit.  After dinner we were talking about Derek's diving and how his sinus are always stuffed up.  Maren said she had some stuff that would help clean out his sinuses.  She got him all set up and here are some pictures of Derek cleaning out his nose.  I had the most fun watching Maren, who couldn't look because she was afraid she would throw up.  Her comment was that she could handle blood but not snot!

 This is a picture of Maren not looking.

 Maren and Greg brought back some fun presents from Singapore for Neal and I.  The two little spoons are perfect for dishing up little things like jam, salsa, dressings, etc.  The shirt that Derek is modeling was for Neal but it was too small.

Derek comes to town!

Derek came into town last week.  He has been camped out at James and Lyndsy's home.  We had a family dinner for everyone last Saturday evening and had a fun time.  Derek wanted Roast Beef for dinner along with potatoes and gravy.  I had planned on fixing a turkey dinner but his comment went something like, "You think I came all the way from China for a turkey dinner when I could have a roast beef dinner?  So I quickly changed the menu and we had roast beef, potatoes and gravy.  Here are some fun pictures from the evening.  We had the Gertsons, the Cutlers and Lyndsy and River.  James and Desmond stayed home.

 Lyndsy has blue, pink and purple hair these days.

The genealogy journey continues . . . .

Lynda Ann has been interested for years to get names and genealogy for her biological parents.  In fact, she indicates the spirit has been nagging at her for a long time and again, since Jeffrey's passing, the need has been intensified.  She asked a lady in her ward who is assigned to help people with their family history.  I can't tell all the events because I wasn't there but from what Lynda Ann has shared with me and what I remember, both Lynda Ann and this sister have felt such an urgency to do the research and get the temple work done for them.

These are the pictures this sister was able to find of Lynda Ann's bio mother and father.  OH MY GOSH!  Can you see the resemblance?  It is so apparent.  Annie said it was such an emotional moment to actually look at some pictures of her blood line.  The first and second picture are of her bio mother.

 This next picture is of her bio father. The minute I saw it I thought how much Emmi looks like her bio grandfather.  I was so taken back by the resemblance.

An interesting journey has begun since we lost our Jeffrey

CJ, Jeff's oldest son, became very interested in finding out who his biological grandparents were.  He did some research, with the help of his grandmother Claudia and came up with this information.  We knew from Jeffrey's adoption papers what his biological mother's name was and that was all Claudia had to go on.

Name:  Judith Lee Pritchard Henderson - Listed as Judith Lee Werner on Social Security
Born November 11, 1940
Mother's maiden name:  Sabia
Died:  December 29, 1996

The Social Security Application source says the following:
Oct. 1956 name listed as Judith Lee Pritchard
Apr. 1961 name listed as Judith Lee Henderson
March 1970 name listed as Judith Lee Werner
Apr. 29, 1997 name listed as Judith L. Werner

Claudia indicated that she could not find a divorce record for Judith L. Henderson and Joe H. Henderson.   Nor could she find a marriage record for any Werner with a Judith Lee.

Claudia did fine an Ancestry Tree that has Judith Lee Pritchard with the correct birth, death and marriage to Joe H. Henderson and she sent an email to the owner of this tree to see if they have further information.

This is where we are at this point.  I feel strongly that I should do Jeffrey's biological mother's temple work but need a little bit more information before that can be done.  It will be interesting to open up this family tree and see all the names of people who need their temple work done.

Emmi's 20th birthday!

Neal and I were invited out to Stansbury to celebrate Emmi's 20th birthday.  Derek had arrived from China that week so Annie extended the invitation to Derek to come out and surprise the kids.  Neal and I stopped by Lyndsy and James to pick up Derek and then on to down town to pick up Jeff.  Annie text us on the way and asked if we would stop and get some ice cream, which we did along with some other items that Derek spotted that he can't get in China like Dr. Pepper.  We had a fun evening, a delicious dinner and the traditional cake and ice cream for dessert.  Happy 20th Emmi!!  We love you and are so proud of what you are accomplishing in your life.  She is a junior at BYU and has just landed her first official summer job out at Dugway.  I'm not sure what she will be doing but it has something to do with plants and the environment.  Just what she is studying in school.

 The fun multi colored cake!

A sweet thank you note from Jordyn Lyn

Every year Neal and I send out Valentine cards to the grandchildren and in each card we put a $2.00 bill.  Not a big deal, that is for sure, but a tradition that the grandchildren look forward to.  Of the 20 grandchildren this is the only thank you note that we received.  Thanks Jordyn Lyn for taking the time to say "thanks".

Annie and the 50's

Lynda Ann is the new camp director for her ward.  She found out that her ward has been assigned the 50's for their theme.  Trust Annie to get busy and make poodle skirts for her and Mallory to wear to young women's meeting to advertise the camp and to get everyone excited.  Here are the pictures she sent me.  Very impressive Annie!

An award for Jeff

Mindy text me and said that she was going through old mail.  She said that Jeff had told her that he had received the award and then Mindy found out after the fact that there had been a huge banquet for those who had received it in 2015.  Jeff said he didn't tell her about the banquet because he didn't want to go.  Apparently it was a huge deal and not many people receive the award.

The letter from Intermountain LDS Hospital

A story from Mindy

Mindy writes this on face book and posts the following picture.
"Tonight my kids and I met with Draper City Police Department.  Sergeant Coe and the two officers who reported to my 911 call the night I found Jeff unresponsive.  I have mentioned many times how the officers performed CPR for nearly 40 minutes before they were able to find a pulse on Jeff.  Anyone who has done CPR training knows how absolutely exhausting that must have been.  While the officers were working on Jeff and doing everything they could to save him, Sergeant Coe was doing everything he could to keep us calm and to lessen the trauma.  He was everything I wish police officers were.  He was compassionate, kind and professional.  He spoke to my children calmly and reassured them.  He limited their exposure to Jeff i that tragic state.  The hard work his officers put in gave us a couple more days with Jeff.  His kindness and kindness and compassion lessened the trauma my children and I could have experienced.  For that, I will be forever grateful to them.  We got them gift cards to Astro Burger - one of Jeff's favorite places to eat, to 7-11 because the night Jeff was taken to ER, Sergeant Coe followed us and brought us hot chocolate.  I told them the next time a family needs something like we did, to let us pay it forward.  This is something Jeff would have done.  Thank you Sergeant Coe and officers."  This picture followed.  Sergeant Coe is standing next to Ryan.

Lynda Ann's tribute to her big brother, Jeffrey Ross Hintze

This was the talk given at Jeff's funeral by his sister Lynda Ann.

"Mindy, thank you for the opportunity to publicly honor my brother.  And thank you for being you, and for making Jeff a great man.  I know with all my heart and mind that we will be with him again, and until then he is happy and at peace.  CJ, Justin, Maddie, Ryan and Grayson, hold tight to your happy memories.  I hold very tightly to mine, sometimes I wondered if it was too much.  I have wondered if it was unhealthy or strange, one time I asked your dad what he thought, and he assured me that it is a good thing.

I felt like I wanted to share my memories of Jeff as a kid, when I knew him best.

Jeff is the quintessential big brother.  He found joy in tormenting me, but would beat up anyone who threatened me.

He made sure I knew how to throw a punch, and a football.

He practiced wrestling moves on me, and let me join him in harassing the neighbor boys.

He pushed me to be competitive.  We raced across our front lawn hundreds of times.  I was sure I could beat him because I wanted to so badly.  I finally did beat him one time... he was recovering from knee surgery.

I wanted more than anything to do things as well as he could.  It never occurred to me until now that this is where I get my fierce competitive drive.

I wanted to run faster, throw farther, and water ski better than my big brother, but never could.

I love that he taught me all about football and from the day he put on #53 that was my favorite number.  That's the number I had to wear every time I played any sport.  I still use 53 every day in passwords.  That's my cool big brothers football number.

I can't talk about our childhood without sharing the Kool Aid stand story . . . (Lynda Ann related the story here so I have added what I remember she said.  Annie saved her money for months so that she could send for a Kool-Aid stand.  The kit came and on a beautiful summer day, Annie and her mom put the Kool-Aid stand together and set it up in front of the house with Kool-Aid ready to sell.  Just as she got settled, around the corner came Jeffrey and Wade Phippen on their bikes and cycled right into her Kool-Aid stand and pretty much destroyed it in one pass.
Annie continued . . . .
A few years ago he did buy e a new Kool-Aid stand . . . and we could finally put the Kool-Aid stand incident of 1979 to rest.

One of his favorite pastimes was to lock me out of the house, and keep me out even if it meant using the hose.  He threw my doll stroller down the stairs, made fun of me during those awkward, sensitive Jr.high years and he loved to try and get me in trouble, and poked at me relentlessly on car rides.

I wouldn't have wanted to grow up any other way.

He is part of who I am.  And, as I would often let him know, I'm pretty great...and he would let me know how awesome he is.  Always a competition.

Before I was married and had kids, I always hoped I would have a boy first.  Every girl needs a big brother, it makes you tough and strong.

There are a few favorite memories I want to share . . .

Christmas mornings lining up in the hallway for the big moment to run into the living room, just the two of us, laughing that, is two kids really a "line"?

Riding our bikes to Cottonwood mall to see Rocky, all summer long.  (Annie mentioned here that they saw that movie five times that summer.)

Playing basketball horse on the driveway.

Building fires in the gutter in front of the house.

Fighting over who got to lie in the back window of our big red Buick.

Playing kick the can.

Navigating our parent's room only by climbing across furniture, just like they did on an episode of Lavern and Shirley.

Motorcycle rides up Millcreek canyon.

And one of our most civilized moments as children who thrived on bugging each other, was naming a stray dog Jeff brought home, AJ, for Ann and Jeff.

Sharing season tickets to BYU football games.  I don't know why he defected and became such a hard core Utah fan, but for the record, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Jeff Hintze was a BYU fan.  I have pictures to prove it.

Jeff let me drive a car for the very first time.  He did't explain to me to GENTLY push on the brake, so after I almost put him through the windshield when he said stop, and a few harsh words, my turn was over.  After I had some practice, he did teach me the subtleties of stealing our parent's car.  A big brother must.

Lake Powell, was a very special place for us.  He loved to go underwater and then have me stand on his shoulders to push him down even further.  He was fearless in the water.  He was a beautiful skier.  He even loved to just drag behind the boat by holding on to the ski rope and turn around, then a bubble would form over his head.

And best of all, sitting on the boat or up on the smooth rock and listening to music, just loving life.

And one more, listening to Nik Kershaw.  An artist my husband swears no one has ever heard of, but Jeff and I.

These are small and some silly things, but they are the things that make up an amazing childhood, to build a great life on.

Even as adults we have raced across the pool.  All it took was a glance at each other and it was on.  I don't know how or why it started, but to this day, in classic big brother style he would tell me I stink, and I always returned the compliment.  We both knew it mean, I love you.

We grow up and get busy with our own children, jobs and life, and this week it has become very apparent to me that Jeff had this whole adult life that I was not a part of.  It has been amazing to meet his friends and read so many stories and comments from these people that are such an important part of his world.  He is surely a unique individual' he has touch the lives of so many wonderful people.  It says a lot about the man he is.

And I am proud to be Jeff Hintze's little sister.