January 1996
(Highlights – miracle of getting a house)
December has brought many wonderful blessing to our family. I would like to share something that is very special to me. Last year about this time, Lewis and I felt prompted to invite another child into our family. We had no health insurance and Lewis had no real job to speak of (although he worked very hard at the many part time jobs he’d accumulated). So Sarah was conceived, but as the first few months passed I was frightened at the financial realities we were facing and didn’t want to go in to see a doctor/midwife because I knew I couldn’t pay for this baby. I considered delivering at home because there was just no money, but with my history, Lewis felt that wasn’t wise and insisted that we would find a way.
About this time, I was reassured by the Holy Ghost that all would be well; in fact we would be able to get a home at the beginning of the next year. The impression was so strong that I began going through closets and cleaning up for the move. Since that time Lewis was hired with SkyWest and his book proposal was accepted by McGraw-Hill.
Our sweet little Sarah was born and what a blessing she is in our lives. She is such a pleasant baby, always smiling and happy. However, as the end of the year approached, I was confused as to how we could be getting a house for we couldn’t find anything we could afford and we have no savings.
My uncle lived next door to my parents and he was selling his home and moving to Idaho, but he had a buyer before the home was even on the market. At the end of November we learned that there was trouble with the sale, since the buyer was having a difficult time selling his home. My mom asked my uncle if we could be next in line should the original buyer fall through and he agreed. December 20th was the deadline for the original sale and the buyers couldn’t meet it.
The ball is now in our court. We have felt the Lord’s hand in preparing this for us, even to preparing a way for us to come up with the money necessary for closing costs with investments made a year ago when we knew nothing about this. This will be such a blessing for our family. With Lewis being gone half the time, I really need my parents nearby. Lewis wanted a little house on a big lot with a shop and I wanted to be close to my family and our Heavenly Father has granted us according to our desires. Wow! We are so grateful for our many blessings and know that we are nothing of ourselves.
February 1996
(Highlights – moved into the new house, adjusting to the new house)
We are very grateful to be moved into our new home. We closed on February 5th and that evening had a housewarming party with Linda and Lewis’ families attending.
We have been experiencing a little bit of “culture shock” as it was nearly three years of living in my parents’ basement. Lewis left on Feb 6th for a 4 day trip for work and this time Mom and Dad weren’t upstairs. I was really alone. Each night I checked the locks about 4 times and it took a while to get to sleep, but I will get used to it.
Joey and Melanie used to have a morning routine of waking up and going upstairs to see Grandma and Grandpa who spoil them with little things like letting them watch movies and dumping out the bottle of boring water I’d filled for Melanie and filling it with yummy juice and they miss those things. We don’t have a TV or VCR yet and to the children that is the final straw. Yesterday we went to the library and Joey immediately headed to the children’s video area and picked out a cartoon, when I reminded him that we couldn’t watch it at home he was crestfallen. As we drove home and passed Grandma’s house and pulled into our driveway Joey moaned, “Oh no, not THIS house.”
March 1996
(Highlights – Valentine’s dance, got a TV/VCR, learning from Becky, best haircut ever)
This month we enjoyed one of my favorite dates of the year… the Stake Valentine’s dance. I love dancing with my sweetheart and he is a terrific dancer by the way. Another day, Lewis took me flying in the Pitts and we did lots of whoop-dees. It was so fun it’s hard to believe that he actually gets paid to do that.
Lewis finally broke down to our pleas and gave the go-ahead on buying a TV and VCR. It has been nearly 4 years since we have had our own (we did watch movies on Mom and Dad’s occasionally and the kids watched more than they should have probably). The children are thrilled. We have set rules of only one movie or TV show a day and none on Sunday. Joey says grandma’s rules are nicer, but then grandmas are always nicer.
My sister Becky who lives in Virginia came for a visit. Becky is wonderful. I watched her listen to Joey as though he were the most important person in the world and whatever he was saying was important. She does that for me too, and everyone else. I wish I were more like her.
My sweet Sarah is learning how to sit alone and thinks tasting new things (food, toys, people, whatever) is great fun. I love my children.
We learned that you could get haircuts from the cosmetology students at the local community college for $2. I learned about this from Cathy, a student and friend of my brother. I scheduled an appointment to have Cathy cut my hair, but I didn’t know that they have two departments: cosmetology and barbering and Cathy was working the barber side at the time. She was only allowed to cut men’s hair and thought I had scheduled an appointment for one of the guys in the family. Since she wasn’t allowed to help me, she recommended another student who was working on the cosmetology side. Best haircut I’ve ever had in my life. It’s the only time people ever came up to me and said, “Wow you look great, not like the mother of three young children.” The cute girl who cut my hair graduated right after she did it. Mom like my haircut so much that she went to the Community College to get her hair cut, but the girl was already gone. I can’t remember her name and could never find her again. Darn.
April 1996
(Highlights – Lewis dentist, Melanie needs dentist, Linda 26th birthday, Melanie carrot cookie incident)
Life is a great adventure. This month Lewis won our family contest for “most expensive” with a trip to the dentist and 4 crowns and a root canal. (He got the good eyes, I got the good teeth) We can’t afford to get everything done right away so he’s only partially finished now. Melanie was 1st runner up at the dentist with about $500 of needed work which they can’t even do until she’s three so we’ll be saving up for the poor little girl’s birthday present. Happy birthday to you.
Melanie also won first prize for “accident prone” including burning her arm on a pan, Joey scratching her face, Tambra taking a big bite out of her chest (paybacks are a bummer – Melanie bit Tambra in November), and Lewis accidentally pulling her elbow out of socket while swinging her around (he felt so terrible).
Not all of March’s adventures were bad though. Lewis bought a used lap-top computer from my brother Paul and now has plenty to do on long away-from-home trips. He loves it. He also received a copy of the page proofs for his book from McGraw-Hill and it was so exciting to see the pictures with the text and do a quick editing job. It reminded me how much work has gone into this project and we are thrilled that it will soon be published.
I celebrated my 26th birthday for a whole week! Lewis took me on a lunch date. Sunday we had cake with the family (Lewis made it; his first attempt at such a project, and it was terrific!) And finally the ladies went to lunch. What a wonderful tradition.
Joey is four years old; my brother Robert started kindergarten when he was four. I thought about how I would feel if it were time to send Joey to school already. Would he be ready? He is very smart. He can read one book (it has ten words in it) and several other words. He can also write his name. I’ve been giving him little gummy airplanes for reading and he “flies” them across the country on our map on the kitchen table. He knows where Utah, California, and Virginia are (he can show you where John Smith and Pocahontas were) and he takes “trips” to see his cousins Wendy, Ben and Angela in California (he loves them and misses them so much).
Melanie is not a whit behind him. She easily counts to 10 and beyond, sings the alphabet song, and tries to sound out words like Joey does, but for now she gets the wrong sound for the words, like this b-b-b-tree or whatever. She’s my little “mess maker” and she is very good at it. I made some carrot cookies which take forever to make. They are very good, but without question the best part is the orange frosting. After finally finishing making and frosting the cookies, I was ready for a quick shower. Meanwhile Melanie climbed up on a chair and dug the frosting out of all the cookies and dropped, crumbled or stepped on most of the remnants. I came upstairs clean and excited to eat a cookie, only to find nothing but pitted remnants and crumbs everywhere. She will make sure I never get lazy. I have plenty to do.
Little Sarah sits up well now, (she is 6 months old), but she doesn’t not yet roll over. I have a theory about why that is, for you see, you need to lie down in order to roll over and my little sweetheart thinks she needs to be held every waking moment. But oh how we love her. Her sweet smiles brighten my day and she is so good natured. I love my family and thoroughly enjoy my chosen profession as a full time mother.
May 1996
(Highlights – President Monson and the tomato juice incident, Sarah puts strawberry shortcake in Carma Rogers’ hair, Sarah dumps water on my lap, toilet geyser “Why is it raining in the bathroom?,” Lewis turns 30)
Lewis has been working nearly a year for SkyWest and we hadn’t yet set foot on “his” airplane so we took a mini-vacation to St. George this month and enjoyed the time spent together as a family. As we took our first flight on SkyWest, another passenger may have taken his last. As Lewis waited with his airplane for the passengers to arrive, a gate agent informed the pilots that a VIP intended to board first. Elder Thomas S. Monson of the First Presidency of the Church arrived and received a warm greeting from Lewis and the Captain. The flight attendant, who is not a member of the church, only felt miffed at having to look after another “big wig.” Lewis assured her that this one was the nicest man in the world and told her to treat him especially well. Previously, Lewis usually felt quite annoyed himself at having to work on Sunday, but this time he felt on the Lord’s errand. Elder Monson was headed to Grand Junction, CO, to help reorganize a stake there. Unfortunately, as the plane descended to land, the air waxed turbulent. Although the landing itself was smooth (the Captain flying) many of the passengers appeared to be covered with blood as they exited the plane. The flight attendant could be heard apologizing through the cockpit door. She could also be heard muttering under her breath. “You said treat him nice, so I asked several times if he wanted anything. You said he’s the nicest guy in the world. He ordered the D___ tomato juice! This is YOUR fault!”… Eventually, Elder Monson poked his head in the cockpit and asked which one of the pilots made him spill his tomato juice. Somehow he soaked several passengers three rows ahead while not getting a speck on himself. Real talent there; he is truly a very kind man, but Lewis could see he felt quite upset. We’re still waiting to see if this one comes out in a conference talk someday.
While Lewis was out squirting Pres. Monson with tomato juice, I was finding plenty of ways to embarrass myself right here at home. The Relief Society presidency hosted an appreciation luncheon and I had to take Sarah along. All went fine until Sarah saw the strawberry dessert and she grabbed a fistful and smeared it in the hair of the lady next to me in the blink of an eye. I was mortified, and she wasn’t too happy about it either.
At church the next day (Lewis is still out of town) I am trying to keep three little children happy and quiet by myself during sacrament meeting. As the sacrament is passed, little ‘lightning fingers’ Sarah managed to grab several successive cups of water and dump them neatly on my lap. Then I thanked the chuckling deacon for his help and called him by the wrong name! What a day. I was so embarrassed.
Day three of Lewis’s trip, I tried to fix the ever-running toilet and accidentally undid something I shouldn’t have and instantly had a geyser the size of Old Faithful soaking everything from floor to ceiling including me. As I struggled to turn off the water, Joey and Melanie came in and asked, “Why is it raining in here?” Boy was I ever glad when Lewis finally came home!!!
June 1996
(Highlights – Lewis’s book finished and in stores, painting in the new house, Joey can ride a bike)
We are so pleased to announce that Lewis’ book Piloting for Maximum Performance is now out in the stores! We have been so excited to see it finished. It almost seems real now.
My sister-in-law Lorra has done some cute decorating which inspired me to get to work on our house. I painted, sponged and bordered the kid’s room and it looks so fresh and inviting. It feels so good to be able to make changes if I want to. This is a new experience for me. I don’t even need to ask anyone’s permission!
Joey has learned to ride a bike without training wheels and it is so cute to see him ride around. Melanie also rides her big wheel like a pro and they take trips next door to grandma’s house occasionally.
July 1996
(Highlights – Joey swimming lessons, Joey’s 5th birthday party, Whitaker Cabin with the Bjorks, working on house, one of Lewis’s flight students dies in an airplane crash)
Well, like most months, June had its fair share of ups and downs. Joey took swimming lessons and learned quite a bit. His confidence has grown tremendously in the water. Poor Melanie wasn’t old enough for the classes and was tormented each day for two weeks watching the older kids swim. As soon as we neared the pool, she would start undressing and saying, “I AM old enough mom, I am.” I compensated by reading to her and/or buying her a treat and that helped some. Joey had a birthday party with his friends (which coincidently are all his cousins) and had a great time being the center of attention for a day.
Lewis tore the dirty carpet out of our upstairs bathroom and put down vinyl (why would anyone put carpet in a bathroom?). It was a bigger project than we expected and we were without a toilet for 3 days, but it sure looks a lot better now than it did before! Thanks Lewis!
Lewis stressed and worked very hard to get the Cri-Cri ready for June’s air show, but we didn’t make it and he didn’t even fly the Pitts so it was disappointing. However, it was a good thing because a few days before, one of Lewis’s former flight students died in an airplane crash and we were both quite down about it. I usually don’t worry about Lewis flying because I know he is a great pilot and worrying doesn’t change anything anyway, but after Steve Fremier died, I felt scared and worried about a lot of things. It just hits close to home. We went to the temple the day we found out and although we are not promised that nothing bad will ever happen to us, the promises of protection and peace were what I really needed. What a blessing to be able to attend the temple!
August and September 1996
(Highlights – high school friend Brent Richey killed in airplane crash, saw Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, bought a new (to us) car and immediately hit a deer, “Can we eat the deer?,” and “I’m wearing Pooh panties”)
Wow, so much has happened during July and August it’s hard to remember it all. I was saddened to learn that a former high school friend, Brent Richey, was killed on TWA flight 800. He was flying to Italy for his honeymoon. The last time we spoke was a phone call shortly after Joey was born and I could hear the judgment in his voice that he was becoming a lawyer and I was “just a mother.” It’s difficult to describe the whirlwind of thoughts that filled my mind after reading a glowing article in the newspaper of all the things he had accomplished. I wondered, among other things, what people would say at my funeral. I know that my choice to stay home to care for my children is the right decision even though it doesn’t sound glamorous.
We were delighted to seize the opportunities of seeing Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables when they each came to Salt Lake this year. I had looked forward to this for many years. I’d listened to the music of Phantom so many times that when we saw the real thing and it wasn’t EXACTLY like the tapes, I thought they were doing it wrong. We went out to a fancy dinner before the show at the Red Lion and they had some rather unusual items on the menu. Things like chocolate covered venison. The soft shell crab salad looked good, but when they set a battered, deep fried crab complete with shell on a bed of lettuce in front of me, I wasn’t sure how to eat it. The waiter said, “I bet you’ve never had anything like this before,” which was absolutely true. However, it was also true that I never wanted to have it again. Our “super date” that I had dreamed about for so long was rather disappointing. However, we got a second chance with Les Mis, and since I didn’t already have all those preconceived expectations, I was able to relax and enjoy the show. It was fabulous, moving, and amazing.
During the hot summer months, our little children would cry when we tried to put them in our little blue Charger which doesn’t have air conditioning, and we finally saved up enough to get another used car, a beautiful white Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra with 4 doors and real live air conditioning!
Unfortunately on the drive home after a few blissful days at Lake Powell with the family, we were mugged by Bambi, or so it seemed. On the long drive home late at night, a deer just jumped into our car without any warning. After impact we careened across all lanes of traffic and crashed through a sign and ended up high centered near a frontage road. Seconds later, a semi-truck and trailer came from the opposite direction. We easily could have been killed, but were miraculously protected. After we came to a stop and assessed that everyone was okay and explained to the children what had happened, Melanie (age 3) asked, “Do we get to eat the deer?” Way to look for a possible silver lining, Melanie (The answer to her question is ‘no’ however). Earlier that evening (before the accident) when we stopped at a restaurant for a bite to eat, Melanie stood up on her chair, lifted her dress and announced to everyone, “Look, I have on Pooh panties.” Winnie the Pooh to be exact. She had been wearing a swimming suit for the past few days and the return to normal clothing was apparently exciting enough to broadcast. How wonderful to have children who keep us humble and keep us laughing. We appreciated the bits of humor; it was a very long night. We had to be towed. It was very late and there were no hotel rooms available. Lewis’ father was our knight in shining armor who drove through the night to rescue us and bring us safely home. We got the car repaired (mechanics for some parts, Lewis for others) and we’ll be okay, but we’re still trying to catch up from the unexpected expenses. Oh well, these things do happen.
October 1996
(Highlights – Landing gear collapses on Jay’s plane; Joey starts kindergarten; Lewis and Linda fly a Pitts across the country to Portland, Maine; Melanie turns 3; Sarah turns 1; we get a dog, Watson)
September is always a special month for our family. We celebrate both Melanie and Sarah’s birthdays and our anniversary. Unfortunately our anniversary date had to be postponed because that day in the morning Lewis was flying with a friend and as they landed on a dirt landing strip, the landing gear collapsed and the plane was stuck in the mud. For the next several days Lewis worked to help Jay repair the plane and bring it back to the airport. That was an experience we all could have done without.
Joey started kindergarten. Some days he likes it and other days it’s a complete battle to get him to go. I don’t know why. I have been volunteering in his classroom one day each week and I think that is a good thing. I love my children. Melanie and I play or read together while Joey is at school and she is getting quite good at a computer game called “Reader Rabbit.” It delights me to see how quickly she learns. Lewis says our little Sarah “came to life” since she turned one (being weaned helped too). Now mom doesn’t have a complete monopoly of her attention and dad thinks that is great.
Lewis and I had a unique opportunity to fly to Maine in the Pitts to deliver it to its new home in Portland, where the owner is planning to move. It took 2 ½ days to fly it there and we got to see most of the country up close from above. It was so beautiful and there is so much variety to the face of the earth. We watched the terrain change from towering mountains to flat plains and rolling hills filled with brightly colored fall foliage. Then we spent one day in Maine. We had a lobster dinner and took a 3 hour tour/cruise around the islands. Then we flew home on the airlinerl. It was a great trip, but we will miss Scott and his plane. Lewis’s Pitts flying business has just come to an abrupt halt. Mom, Suzanne, and Lewis’s parents were kind enough (and brave enough) to tend our sweet children while we were gone. They were nervous about Sarah being so young, but they (the children and the babysitters) did pretty well and weren’t too mad at us when we returned.
When we came home from our trip, we got a puppy (something we have been promising the children since we moved into our new home). He is a retriever/black lab mix and we named him Watson. We love him, but we need to put up a fence pretty soon because he quickly outsmarts our makeshift ideas of keeping him in the backyard. He’s a smart little guy.
November 1996
(Highlights –Cousin Jon Stephens’ funeral, discover that Joey is legally blind in one eye, Sarah’s first steps, Halloween)
During a six week period in our ward we had 3 funerals and at least as many births. Needless to say, we have been busy in Relief Society. Additionally, my cousin Jon Stephens died of complications relating to his brain tumor on Oct 10th and Lewis and I attended his funeral and it was like no other I have been to. He is 28 and has two little girls ages 3 and 1. Jon Sr. (his father) gave an inspiring talk about being “carried” by Heavenly Father when it was too much to bear. For much of the service I was out in the foyer keeping Sarah quiet and saw Jon’s little girl being cared for by her aunts. I just cried – he was in the same stage of life as I am and so it hit quite hard for me.
I took Joey with me when I got my new contacts and had them check Joey’s eyes as well and was shocked to learn he has amblyopia (lazy eye) and is legally blind in his left eye. We bought him glasses and he wears a patch over his good eye for about 4 hours a day to help him get used to using that eye so he doesn’t completely lose the use of it. In retrospect, there were signs of course; he couldn’t catch a ball very well because he had no depth perception using only one eye. He does much better now and is delighted to play catch now and again. He is doing fine and hopefully within 6 months his vision will improve so that he can see 20/40 with his left eye with glasses on whereas now he is only correctable to 20/60.
Suzanne and I played ward volleyball together and it was so fun to play with my sister! We are 8 years apart in age and this is the first opportunity we have had to play together in church sports.
For Halloween Joey was Superman and Melanie was either a dragon or a kitty depending on the party. While they were out collecting treats, little Sarah delighted me by doing some new tricks – taking her first steps. Mostly she still wants to hang on to my pant legs and follow me around and walk that way, but now we know she can do it on her own… if only she would.
December 1996
(Highlights – Sarah walks at 14½ months, Thanksgiving, Christmas tree falling over, first piano recital, repair broken oven)
Our little Sarah has finally decided at 14½ months that walking is a good idea and I love it! She is so cute and oh so much happier now that she is that much more independent.
It was wonderful having my brother Marlow and his wife Lorra here for Thanksgiving. As an extended family, we went on a few “field trips” to Thanksgiving Point and “The Tree house Museum” and afterward to Burger King. We had so much fun together and made some great new memories.
Lewis and I borrowed Mom’s extra artificial Christmas tree and after it was all decorated, it decided to bend and fall over (several times) until I gave up and laid it on the floor until Lewis came home and saved me a day or two later. He patiently un-decorated everything, fixed the tree, and put the lights back on.
We are grateful that Lewis had Thanksgiving off work this year and will also have Christmas off this year! Last year he was out of town for every holiday so we are particularly delighted to have him around.
Yesterday I had the privilege to joining with Mom’s piano recital with my 3 little students and they did great! I was so proud of them.
I need to thank the engineers in my family for coming to my rescue and repairing my oven. It completely gave up the ghost the day after Thanksgiving (I guess those 10 pies did it in). We have been doing without for a little while, when out of the blue to my surprise and delight my brother Paul says, “Do you mind if I take a look at it?” Well anyone who has ever had Paul “take a look” at anything knows that he can work miracles and once again he did, this time with a little help from Robert and Dad. It was so fun to listen to Paul and Robert discuss technically what the problem might be and figure out how the oven works. They make quite a team. Years ago I wouldn’t have guessed that. I am overcome with gratitude for my incredible family, they they would willingly take the time to share their talents to help me out. Thanks. I love you all.
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