Extended family – Page 5 – Letters from Home

choral concert

wait, come back, we didn’t take a picture

I have lived long enough to understand that gatherings are worth documenting, and I regret that we didn’t pose for a group photo at our Thanksgiving dinner. Richard mentioned he would also have liked to see a picture of all the good food. Thanks to Paige, we have photos of the tables and a few Ross family guests in the background, and look, there are some pies there, too.

Dale and Lorraine

Richard and Angela

Paige and Michael

Daniel and McKenna

Mark

Dave and Shari

Sara and Christopher

Henry, Katie, Fletcher

Susanna and Cameron

Behind the scenes

This is just a portion of the cookies we decorated.

It has been a busy few months preparing for a stake Primary training about temple and family history work. On the day of the training, Paige and I decorated 70 temple cookies, and that was a big job. Thank you, Paige!

Most of the effort to prepare for this evening can’t be shown. Truly, it was not about the pretty cookies. There was a lot of personal and collaborative work. It was a spiritual journey. By the end, I realized this wasn’t “my” training at all. My original ideas for the evening slowly changed to something better, thanks to counseling with my presidency and an enthusiastic high councilor. Answers to prayers came. My small hope for some help from a few temple and family history consultants resulted in around 16 people showing up to teach.

It’s my birthday weekend, and as I look back on my last week of being 47, I can say that it was one of the best weeks. I was with my Sanchez family in the temple, along with Richard, Paige, Daniel, and McKenna. I got to see ordinances performed for people from my own labors in family history research. And towards the end of the week, I believe miracles happened at our training.

We gathered at the grave for my grandparents the morning after we completed their temple ordinances.

Modern apostles, including David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, Neil L. Andersen and Dale G. Renlund have promised many powerful blessings to those who participate in Family History and Temple Service.

Dressing up

Happy Halloween! It’s not my favorite holiday, but I have always enjoyed the costumes. Mark dressed up with his friend to go to a Halloween dance with church friends. Cuties.

This wasn’t for Halloween, but I asked Daniel to try on my grandpa’s US Army uniform from WWII this weekend. Wow!

Here is a picture of my grandfather in his uniform.

Did I ever tell you that my grandpa and I got along really well? He had a tough and intimidating exterior, but he also gave me the nickname, Angelina Magdalena and talked to me like a pal. He took me places, Hawaii, Hearst Castle, San Francisco, and good restaurants. I have so many memories, but one favorite was when he picked me up from the Oakland airport and drove me to his house. We listened to his Andrews Sisters cassette and we talked about what his life was like when he was my age. I loved him so much.

Neighborhood Gathering

I hope these familiar faces continue to also feel like a novelty. I won’t forget their kind acts when we have experienced sickness, grief, and storms. May these people who have cheered for our children understand what that has meant to us. May they see that we love them. May we appreciate the blessing that it is to gather. I hope they always feel welcome in our home.

She is incredible

My mom made and donated some really beautiful quilts for an auction in her small town to benefit local church youth programs.

Her beehive quilt sold for the highest price of all the items at the auction!

In the photo above, the happy lady who bought the quilt is wearing a gray shirt and she stands behind my mom, celebrating. This was so fun to watch.

My mom also made a baby quilt with the most gorgeous colors which was also popular at the auction. My mom is quite a person.

This is the quilt before it was quilted and bound. Her friend machine quilted it, with different patterns in each block and on the borders. It was absolutely amazing.

Pogo’s in Provo

My cousin-once-removed lived in Zimbabwe for nearly 40 years, and in 2020, he and his wife decided to move back to Utah. They opened a Pogo’s restaurant on Center Street in Provo last year, and the food is delicious. Think pizza and chicken, but with sauces with complex flavor.

My mom sent an early morning text to meet her and her siblings at Pogo’s for dinner. An impromptu family reunion and a midweek meal at a restaurant felt special.

summation

I am maintaining my goal to work on temple and family history work for a short time each week. One project this month is to go through old mail and cards that I have kept throughout my life. I am letting go of a lot of it. For scale, I would say I have one banker’s box left, and still plan to say goodbye to much more.

I haven’t been reading every letter, just sorting them by sender. Even without reading, I am amazed at what I learn about my grandmothers as I do this. I thought that I had already gathered their writing, but I have found so much more. Perhaps I am coming to know them better after they are gone, when the sum of their words and kindness are laid bare on the sorting table. I always knew they were good to me, but seeing their words from every stage of my life is an incredible gift.

I visualize my Grandma Ruth standing in the grocery store next to the greeting cards, finding just the words and images she wanted to convey. I picture my Grandma Stewart at her writing desk, penning her brief notes, often ending with “Take care–,” which of course meant, “I love you.” I see them, clearly in my mind, and know they are still with me.

summertime snaps

We are in the final week of summer break. This morning I took some time to look over some snapshots and screenshots from the last few months, and chose a few to share. These are some of people and places I want to remember. Two really good friends passed away. We have been really focused on wedding preparations. Mark was gone a lot, and his social connections got stronger. Richard worked from home. I lived my own version of The Secret Garden, increasing my strength. We planted a lot of flowers, and I am especially proud of reclaiming my favorite corner of the yard, the one that feels like a forest. We sat beneath outdoor lights on many nights. Paige and Michael were especially helpful hanging the lights. Tim made it to Guam. We said goodbye to friends who are going on a mission. Lots of lasts and firsts this summer. This means growth.

Thou crownest the year with the goodness.
Psalm 65:11

Sara and Christopher

Sara and Christopher’s reception completes our summer as a wedding reception venue. I don’t have many photos, but it was a lovely evening. I love celebrating events and milestones at our house.

Besides the happy couple, my favorite memory is the cousins from Shari, Richard, and Rebecca’s families laughing and joking together in our kitchen as we packed up lots and lots of marbles and flowers. Little things.