Autumn Days

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. I love Autumn time along with spring it is my very most favorite time of the year. I love the cool nights and crisp mornings. Nothing is more invigorating then waking up and going for an early morning walk. I love the way the flowers respond to the cooler weather, their colors seem to become more vibrant just like the leaves. Although this year we have had a much warmer start of the fall season. The weather man says we are on the average 17 degrees hotter then normal for this time of the year. A week or so ago I told Les I'd really like to take a drive up in the canyon and take some pictures of the fall colors. Years ago I wouldn't think twice about going by myself but I guess I'm not as daring in the older stage of life. I told him I didn't feel good about going by myself so he took half a day off and we started up the American Fork side of the loop. The colors weren't quite as bright as they have been in recent years. Maybe because we have had a drier summer then usual, or, maybe because we got a little cold spell a little earlier. The leaves may have hit their peek a few days before our drive.

This picture was taken up by the Mutual Dell and the colors there were at their brightest. We also drove to Cascade Springs which is always such a beautiful place. I caught a glimpse of this little couple on the trail. I got my camera out and managed to snap this photo just before they rounded the bend and out of my sight.


It reminds me of a verse from a James Taylor song, "Wake up Suzie, put your shoes on walk with me into this life." I thought, what a cute little couple, still walking hand and hand just like when they first meet. And I'm sure they have a greater love now then they did back then. Not as straight and tall, walking a little slower then they use to but still hand and hand. It did my heart good:-)
How can you not know that there is a higher being when you see the wonderful beauties of nature. It is almost as if God took his paint brush and painted this beautiful fall painting for all to enjoy. It makes me think of the scripture, "Be still and know that I am God."

Trip to the Midwest.

Have you watched a new series sponsored by Ancestry.com called "Who Do You Think You Are?" It's so interesting, it comes on Friday nights. They take movie stars like Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Lisa Kudrow, Mathew Broderick and many others and they help them trace their roots. My sister Nancy once asked me, "why are you so into genealogy? The Lord knows how were all related." And she is totally right but I find it interesting to go back and see if I can find stories about our ancestors. It gives me a feel for who they were, their strenghts and weaknesses, their joys and their sorrows. I find I have a lot in common with many of them. Also once your gone the only way that others know that you were even here are through the stories we pass on to our children and their children. We keep them alive in our hearts and in our lives as we remember. As I watched this series I see how it effects the people who are searching for their ancestors. Many of them have no idea where their ancestors lived, or how they made a living, or what they looked like. Susan Sarandon had been searching for her grandmother for years only to find out she lived just a few miles away from her for most of her life but didn't find that out until after her grandmother had passed away. Many of them have stories of the great sacrifices their ancestors made to come to America which gives them great strength. On the 26th of August Les and I flew into Minneapolis St. Paul where we meet Les Sr. and his girlfriend Dona. We were going on a trip back to the roots of Les Sr.'s father and Les's grandfather, Jay Dayton Smith. Years ago when Les was a student at BYU his grandfather took him as his traveling companion back to the area because he wanted to instill in Les a knowledge of where his grandfather had grown up and of the family he came from, as well as a love and reverence for these people. What a beautiful little place to grow up in! The first thing I noticed is there were no Mountains! Coming from Utah I love the Mountains and can't even imagine a place with no Mountains but it is a beautiful, laid back area. There were acres, and acres of corn fields, and soybean fields, beautiful well kept yards, and road sides. We hardly ever saw a farmer or someone outside their home until we got into the little towns.
Les and his Dad standing in front of the soybean field. Les's Dad holding up a soybean plant. They look like fuzzy pea pods. That was a first for me, I had never seen a soybean plant before. We stayed in a little town of Decorah. Most of the little towns around there didn't even have a motel, or even a restaurant. Les's grandfather grew up with his parents in a little town of Monona Iowa. They did have a restaurants but it was only open on certain days. The first people we saw as we started our journey were the Amish. As you see them drive by in their horse drawn carriage it is hard to think of the life they live going back in time with no electricity, growing all their food, sewing all their clothes, actually going back to a more primitive time then the ancestors we have come to inquire about. We stopped at a street corner where they were selling their wares and bought some homemade bread and jam. It was very tastie but we couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Their life is so much harder then ours, but probably a whole lot more simpler. I'll take my automobiles, air conditioning, and heating over their way of life any day. Welcome to Monona! Were getting closer to the home of Les's ancestors. You could feel an excitement in the car just like the excitement I could feel from the people on "Who do you think you are."

And here we are!!! As the Garmin (our GPS system) would say, "Arriving at destination on right, the home of Horace Hamilton and Martha Schneider Smith. Les's Great Grandfather and Grandmother. A home where three children laughed and played. Les's grandfather and his brother played catch with their ball and gloves right on this very porch, a home where they grew to adulthood. Can't you just picture them running in and out of that front door. I can almost hear Martha call out to them. "Children don't slam that door." Jay Dayton, (Les's grandfather), Leslie Hamilton, (who Les's father and Les were named after), and Gretchen. Horace was a very prominent business man, owning his own business the H.H.Smith hardware store. Horace was also the director of the Monona State Bank for 25 years, becoming it's president. At the age of 45 Martha became ill with what many think was the flew and passed away leaving Horace and the children alone. Dayton would have been in his early 20's and Leslie and Gretchen would have been teenagers how hard that must have been for them to loose their sweetheart and mother. Horace later married Elizabeth Davis a young nurse that came to attend to Martha in her illness.

Horace, Martha,and the children, Dayton, Leslie and Gretchen.

The home is pretty much as it was when Horace and his second wife Elizabeth lived there. We were told that after Horace passed away and shortly before Elizabeth went into a rest home she had a auction and many of the house hold items were sold, but many of the larger items stayed in the home. She was left a share of the home along with each of the children. Leslie passed away in World War I and was the first war casualty from the little town of Monona. Elizabeth donated her share of the home to the town and JD, Les's grandfather and Gretchen sold their portion to the town and the home was made into a museum. A little building was added onto the home housing many books and histories of the people of the town. A great place to find information about your ancestors if they lived there. We made copies of pictures and histories we had never seen before.

The original Hardware store of Horace Hamilton Smith is now a Floral Shop but has been left exactly like it was back then. When you walk inside the building you walk on the original hardwood floors. I thought I had taken pictures but I must not have but there were little metal beads on the floor that were used to measure in feet chain, or rope or what ever they had to measure. There were paint spots on the floor. The original elevator was still there and the owner of the store told us it still worked. I don't know if you can read the date on this small picture but it was founded in 1898.

Here we are in Prairie du Chien Wisconsin. Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were all so beautiful and it's true the cheese is the best and the people really do talk like in the Movie, "New in Town" with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. don't ya know. I loved listening to them talk and wish I could talk the way they did. I wondered if they thought we had an accent;-? Hmmmm... We went to pikes peak where Les was told his great grandfather proposed to Elizabeth his second wife. It's a beautiful place that over looks the Mississippi River. We watched the barges moving up the Mississippi river through the lock and dam system which we found extremely interesting. We visited many of the grave yards and took pictures of Les's ancestors graves. Many times feeling like they were right there with us leading the way. One cemetery was completely concealed on all sides by corn fields and it was a miracle we even found it but thanks to Dona's keen eyes she saw the entrance of the grave yard just before we passed it. Although you can't really tell what Les and his Dad are pointing at because the head stone is in the shadows and the picture is so small but it is their grandmother Martha's mother and fathers headstone standing there as sentinels to welcome us in. All and all we gathered a lot of great information and had a wonderful experience at the same time. Now we need to do something with everything we have collected.

The picture below is of Dona, Les Sr's girlfriend. Looking at his familes headstones.

Jake's double bad luck!

You probably already read about Jake's broken arm. They put it in a temperary cast to begin with for about a week then checked it to make sure it was healing correctly, then put it in a hard cast. Ashlyn was worried upon returning home because they did not put the cast past his elbow. Dave and Ash have a good neighbor and friend who is a Doctor...Dr. Doyle and he was also concerned that they didn't put it past his elbow to stabilize the arm. Jake has had a lot of pain and so Ashlyn called the Doctor about it. He had Jake come down and get an x-ray. Sure enough...the arm was not healing right and one of the bones was not in place. Ashlyn and Jake went to the hospital, the doctor tried numerous times to set it and it would just pop right back out...needless to say Jake had to have surgery. To make matters worse, Dave had to go out of town on a business trip the next morning and we were leaving on a trip that we had planned for months with Les's Dad to go to Iowa so Ashlyn was left a lone to take care of everything. Thank goodness for Dave's Mom and Dad. The girls stayed with us that night and we got them off to school in the morning before we left. Jake had to have three pins put in his arm and had to spend a night and most of the next day in the hospital because he kept getting sick every time they tried to get him up. Poor little guy. It amazes me the things our kids have to go through. We live in such a great time that there are doctors and surgeons who can take care of us and help us live a normal life.

Dad Life (Father's Day Opening 2010)

This video is dedicated to my son's, son in-law and all the modern day dad's out there.

OUCH!!!!!

Does that look awful or what!!!! Ashlyn sent me this picture via a phone text to let us know that they were at the hospital with Jake. He had broken his arm!!!! He and his little friend were playing football and the ball went over the fence. His little friend and Dave are feeling guilty because Jake had asked Dave first to go and get the ball for him. They had company so Dave told him, "not right now bud, later." And his little friend did jump over the fence which is about 4 feet down to get the ball but was having trouble climbing back up. So, Jake took his friends hand to try to help pull him up but his friend weighted a little more then Jake. Long story short Jake went over and his friend fell on top of him. They got back up and Jake didn't even know what had happened until he looked down at his arm and saw that there was a definite bend in it. Lily was in the neighbors back yard and saw it all happen. She was so upset that she cried most of the time until Dave and Ash got back from the hospital. She cried so much she made herself sick. Hard to believe that a brother and sister can fight and tell each other they hate each other but the real truth comes out when one of them gets hurt:-) Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa Robb had dropped by just before all of this happened so they could stay with Keagan and Lily and help comfort Lily and Jakes friend. When I sent the picture to uncle Jeramy he said. "No more monkey's jumping over the fence:-)

I'm not ready for Summer to End!!!

Colors of Summer

The last few days I am starting to feel a little fall in the air. We really haven't had the hot summer this year that we have had in the past. I love the colors of the flowers and the sunshine on my face in the mornings as I jumped in the pool for water aerobics. All that is coming to an end. :-[ The other morning when Keagan and I jumped in the pool it was not refreshing, it was dang cold!!! And to top it off there was a cool breeze. We really had to get working out to warm up the ole bod. I love the fall with the Autumn leaves, and the cool crisp mornings, the cooler evenings, being able to open up the windows, and get some fresh air into the house before it's all closed up for the winter months. But I know that just around the corner from fall is WINTER!!!!

I know I should look at my glass as half full and just enjoy it while it's here so that's what I will do. I hope you all are enjoying your last hooray for the summer and have something fun planned for labor day. And for all you mom's out there, yes, school is finally starting again!! You'll get your little ones back on a schedule and they will not be coming to you with that all to familiar, "There's nothing to do!!!!" So sit back and enjoy these last few days together. Happy Summer to you all:-]

A New Addition To Our Family

I haven't said much about our "great" grandchildren because I don't see them as much as I would like to and also, being a great grand mother makes me feel sooooo old. Josh and Mindi just had their first, little Rylee which is Joshua's 3rd child. He also has an AshLynn who is probably about 5 or 6 years old and Landon who is around 4 years old. Josh, Mindi and baby Rylee. Many of my family haven't seen Josh in years. He's grown up a lot. Below is Josh, Mindi, Landon and Ashlynn, Josh names Ashlynn after his Aunt Ashlyn. Baby Rylee, isn't she beautiful. Mindi loves being a mommy. Teresa and Brad have two beautiful babies. Armani who is 4 and Adee who is a year old. What a beautiful little family. Teresa loves being a mom as well. Raising her children and being a good wife is the #1 most important thing in her life, but she loves Zumba and look how great she looks!!! She also has a little business, Sassy Girls Bowtique. She makes head bands like Adee has on in the above picture and Rylee has on in hers. Doug also has a step daughter Amanda who has a little boy Zander and is expecting another one soon. Life goes on and it just keeps growing. Aren't they beautiful. If life were just that easy:-)

A Quick Get Away Retreat.

Les and I decided it was time to have a little break and do a close get away. Some times it's hard with Les's work and church responsibilities to get away for a long period of time like we'd like. So, Les made reservations for The Merchant of Venice at the Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City. We left Friday morning. We were feeling happy and relaxed as we drove along. I hadn't eaten breakfast and so Les stopped at a McDonald's in Payson so I could pick up something quick to eat as we drove but we decided to go in. I put my purse on the back of my chair as we ate. We finished our meal and headed down the highway. We traveled quite aways probably almost to Nephi when I started looking for my purse. My heart sank as I looked in the front seat and then in the back and realized my purse was still on the back of my chair back at the Payson McDonald's. Or hopefully that's where it was. Les was furious with me as I was with myself. I was sick, it had my cell phone, car keys, money not to mention credit cards. I was so afraid someone would have looked on the back of the chair and said, "Oh look what we have here, and look what's inside!!!" Les turned the car around as he cussed and ranted and raved. I took his cell phone and tried to call information for the Payson McDonald's to see if they would look and see if the purse was there but it just kept ringing and ringing. Les saying, "Judy, you make me so angry why do you carry that stupid thing around with you all the time? Why, don't you just leave it locked in the car?" Finally just before we got to Payson I got information and they put me through to McDonald's. I asked the manager if anyone had found and turned in a black leather purse. He asked my name and asked me to describe the purse, then he said that it was there. I felt a little better but knew I needed to check and make sure everything was there. Les dropped me off at the very BUSY McDonald's and I ran in. They gave me the purse and as I checked the contents, EVERYTHING was there!!! I felt so blessed. I had prayed all the way there that it would be there and everything would be inside. We left and I felt such a great gratitude in my heart for honest people. We traveled on to Cedar City. The play was spectacular. It has been a number of years since Les and I attended one of the plays but we both felt that The merchant of Venice was one of the best that we had seen there. I was not really aware of what the play was about and so we went to a 15 minute preview by the founder of the center Mr Adams himself. The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's controversial tragicomedy's. Back in Shakespeare's day the Jew's were hated as they were in Germany at the time of the Holocaust. It is a play whose theme is centered around justice and mercy between a Jew and a Christian, the complexity of human kind, and the nature of forgiveness and love. If you get a chance to break away it is a great play and we highly recommend it.

I had never been to the Grand Canyon so the next day we traveled to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. What a spectacular sight.

It is so beautiful but a little scary as you walk along the paths thats so close to the edge with nothing left to catch you if you slipped or fell but bottom below. On the way home there, and back, we came across the most beautiful field of blue flowers. It reminded me of the photos Jeramy and Rebecca took of their kids in the blue bells in Texas. It's hard to appreciate the beauty from my photos but it was such a beautiful field of flowers. We forget that we have such beautiful places to visit so close to home.

Yard of the weak or week:-)

Years ago, probably two or three years after we moved into our home we were surprised to receive the yard of the week award by a committee in our town. We found it amusing because we really didn't feel deserving of it. We had a few flowers and we mowed and watered our lawn every week but that was about it. This is the write up they put in the paper and the pictures we took years ago. It's kind of fun to look at and compare them from then to now.

Yard of the Week
Colors of summer noted in Winners

With the summer season winding down, there will not be too many more weeks left in the Yard of the Week Contest in Pleasant Grove. The Yards for the week, plus one left over from last week, belong to Randy and Larraine Maag, 977 E. 1000 North; Tom and Suzette Carter, 890 S. 500 East; Les and Judy Smith, 698 So. Mohawk; Stan and Robyn Sapp, 775 N. 300 East; Neil and Gwen Percival, 310 W. 1100 North; and Robert and Judy Schow, 2535 Canyon Road.

The winners receive a certificate and have a sign proclaiming them as a Yard of the Week placed in their front yard. At the end of the contest, in mid-September the Beautification Commission will announce the three top yards for the entire summer. If you have any suggestions for the judges for Yard of the Week please contact Councilman Dale Warburton.

Needless to say we were not one of the winners.

Look how young Les looked!! And look at his hair and mustache, and get a load of those glasses!!:-) His hair was brown and he had a lot more of it, and look at the little shrub behind him next to the pillar on the porch, look how tiny. Look at the Aspens behind Les, they look like Twigs. There not much taller than he was.
Speaking of HAIR...I really did have some at one time, and it grew back then!!!! Oh the good ole days:-]

Saturday when I got home from the temple Les said, "come here I want to show you something." We walked outside into the front yard and look what I found in the flowers... It's not the yard of the week any more, it's the Beautification Award now. Lets compare then to now. Les probably still weights about the same as he did back then. His hair is grey with a little brown, glasses are smaller and no mustache. And that tiny little Shrub in the photo above look at it now.

And those Aspen trees that were just little twigs, wow have they changed!!! And as for me, I have more wrinkles, less hair, a FEWmore lbs. Les just seems to get better and more distinguished with age. We enjoy working in our yard there's something about working with your hands in the dirt. Maybe it takes us back to our childhood days playing in the sand pile and making mud pies. But our yard seems to be our little piece of heaven on earth because we can take care of it and beautify it. Les always says he doesn't have any hobbies, yard work is his only hobby.

Daddy Dear

Years ago when I was just a little girl, probably 7 or 8, maybe older. My Dad and I were asked to sing a duet together for Fathers Day. The song we sang was entitled Little Child (Daddy Dear). I have tried and tried to find the sheet music or lyrics to the song for year but no such luck. I know that Lawrence Welk and Janet Lennon sang it together on his show about the same time but I haven't even been able to find it there either. Then day before yesterday I got on the Internet and WALLAH, there were the lyrics exactly as we sang the song together all those years ago. And today I found Danny Kay and his daughter singing the song on Utube but their words are a little different in places then the song I sang. Since fathers day is just a little over a week away I thought it fitting to post it and hope you enjoy listening to the song. It's beautiful and the words are so tender. Listening to Danny Kay's beautiful tenor voice bought back sweet memories of my fathers beautiful tenor voice as we sang the song together. Here are the lyrics and below is Danny and his daughter singing the song. Happy Father's day Dad!!!

Little Child

Daddy dear, tell me please, is the world really round?
Tell me where is the bluebird of happiness found?
Tell me why is the sky up above so blue?
And when you were a child did your daddy tell you
What becomes of the sun when it falls into the sea
And who lights it again bright as bright can be?
Tell me why can't I fly without wings through the skies?
Tell me why, Daddy dear, are there tears in your eyes?

Little one, little one, yes, the world's really round
And the bluebird you search for will surely be found
And the sky up above is so blue and clear so that
You'll see the bluebird if it should come near.
And the sun doesn't fall when it slips out of sight
All it does is make way for the moon's pretty light
And if children could fly there'd be no need for birds
And I cry, little one, 'cause I'm touched by your words.

Don't be sad, Daddy dear, if it's true the world's round
I will search 'round the world till the bluebird is found.
Little one, there's no need to wander too far
For what you really seek is right here where you are.
Show me where, Daddy dear, and here's what I will do
I will take the dear bluebird and give it to you.
Dear, the bluebird's the love in your heart pure and true
And I found it the day heaven blessed me with you."

Daddy Dear

An Afternoon of Fun in the Sun

Keagan, Lily and I had a fun afternoon in the Sun. No, we weren't at a water park, or amusement center. We were at Deseret Book for the book signing of David Archuleta's new book Chords of Strength. We waited in line for over two hours to get a glimpse of David and have him sign our books. I bought one for Keagan and Lily and one for Brynlee. It wasn't all that bad for me because I am a voyeur of sorts and enjoy observing other people, but it was pretty boring for Keag's a Lil. Thank goodness we had a nice cool breeze and we were right outside Farrs Ice Cream so at least Lily and Keagan got an Ice cream to pass the time a little better. David's agent and people around him had him signing books so fast, they had it down to a science. He signed, looked up as he handed you the book and said, "Hi, thanks for coming and buying my book." We couldn't even get a picture with him. But he is a very nice young man. Keagan, Lily and I watched every Wednesday when he was on American Idol and voted for him. For those of you who don't know who David Archuleta is or are not fans of American idol. David went to the last two on American Idol and was the 1st runner up. Way to go David, it couldn't have happened to a nicer young man! You are a great example for the youth of today.

Love Of God

Alisha our young women Relief Society President gave a beautiful lesson Sunday from Elder Uchtdorf's conference talk and she showed this video. Thought I would share it with you. She was able to put music with hers but I'm not that savy.

The Love Of God

Honors go to....

The other night Pop's and I went to the Orem Junior High to see the Twins receive some honors to finish off their school year. Then after that Ben was off to a barbecue and Chris was off to a dance.Ben excepting his award and Chris walking up behind him. Good job guy!!!!