ARIA'S BLESSING & FIRST TRIP TO THE CABIN

August 5th Victor and Peter joined the Graf brothers and brothers-in-law to circle around Charles and little Aria Olivia Graf to give this newest daughter a name and a blessing.   Charles is a good father. 

After the official ordinance at the Church we met at Josh and Cassidy Stanley's home (Charles' sister) for scones and breakfast and catch-up family time.  (Charles' other sister Lauralyn Lamb and his brother Tony and his brother Paul have all migrated to the Pioche/Panaca area).

I am swiping from Becky's blog the following photos:  

My amazing daughter fashioned Aria's blessing dress out of a "onesie" and some nice lace.  I thought it turned out so cute.

     Two weeks later Aria decided she was ready to get out of the Las Vegas heat, so Victor and I took Becky and all the kids up to the cabin for the week.   We were rewarded  with lots of cloud bursts up there but enough sunshine to take an ATV ride or two to the stream.   It was nice to just "hang out."   

This little girl loves verbalizing already with us and has amazing eye contact.  She did pretty well at the cabin though altitude may have been the cause of one day of not-such-good napping.

Ethan is more "boy" all the time!  Don't let that pink pony fool you.  He runs pretty fast in his superman cape and is pretty good at wrestling his big sister.

Sometimes Audrey just wanted some quiet time.  Pretty good little comfort space she built for herself.

"Yes.  I am a mother of three now...and I WILL survive!"  (Even if her back doesn't.)

(No, that is not a jewel in the middle of Audrey's forehead.  It is the wobbler on the bottom of the hummingbird chime that hangs from the lamp above the table).

"Gramma, Can we hang the bird feeder we made for you for Mother's Day??"

"My do it!"



Headed home a day earlier than we planned so we could help Peter and Jill a little bit.  Even with almost a month of wonderful rain showers, we were sad to see that the dry Winter and very dry Spring had taken its toll on Navajo Lake.   I have NEVER seen land visible like you can see at the bottom of the photo.  And just a year ago the water was so high you could barely tell where the dike was let alone see any ground to the left in the photo.

But, on a happier note the construction crews have made great progress creating a new road through the massive land slide which closed Highway 14 for nearly year, diverting traffic up to Mammoth Creek around through Brianhead.  You can now travel it with a few delays, but they are reinforcing some other problem areas as part of the project.    It is an amazing site to see just how much earth slid down.

This photo shows the upper part of the slide after all the debris was removed.  The smattering of flat part is the area where the new road is going thru.   There is that much earth or more to the left side of the road and down into the gully below.

The cabin is still our joy and our respite.  A good financial move would be to sell it and stop maintaining two homes.   But I am not sure my soul is ready for that yet!

THEY'RE OFF! Peter and Jill's Most Excellent Adventure

At 9 a.m. our youngest son Peter, wife Jill and daughter Alyssa set off with most of their earthly belongings  (and one or two of ours) to fulfill their dream of leaving scorching Las Vegas behind!!

Yup! - That's my baby in the cab of the monster truck which U-Haul gave them for the same price as the smaller one they ordered.  We hope it doesn't shave off the overhangs of any of the gas stations where they will stop to fill its 60 gallon tank!!

Aly blowing kisses goodbye to Gpa. and Gma. Austin.  She's going where?   "To Utah!!!"  And she gets to go be in the house with her Gpa. & Gma. Jensen who also loaded their truck and took off on Saturday for their new jobs & their new home in the Lehi-Saratoga Springs area.

     Talk about a whirlwind of decisions and packing activity!   Mike Jensen, Jill's Dad, has been without work and hunting for a few months when an opportunity in his computer field came available in Utah.  When Mike and Becky went up to interview and look for a home, Peter went with them and also had interviews at two different places.  He was offered the chance to start work the next day!  He will be working a night shift at a group home for mentally challenged youth in Orem.   He is also interviewing to use his considerable skills at both survival and youth counseling to work with a group who run one of the survival camps in the Provo area.    That would be right down his alley.... and since it would be an 8 days gone, 6 days home sort of job it will be nice for Jill and Alyssa to be there with her parents for company.  

     So, basically, amazing Jill has been packing for two weeks:   First her parent's home while they were up interviewing and house hunting, and then after the lightening decision that the Peter Austins would go too, she came back to our place and began on their own belongings.   Victor, Becky and I were at the cabin when this decision was announced, so we weren't any help, but some wonderful friends came through with moral support and energy and among us all (after we got back into town),  it got all wrapped up pretty much Saturday night.   

     Since Peter had already decided he did not want to continue his Master's Program at UNLV and since neither of them wanted to stay in Las Vegas we are hoping that this will be the beginning step for their future lives.   They are in "Austin Territory" since Peter's great great grandfather helped settle Lehi.   They are closer to Jill's brother in Denver and they are certainly in a beautiful part of the world where the mountains and valleys can offer them good opportunities.   Jensen's report that the ward is exctied for them to be there and have already welcomed them warmly (with the Bishop's eyes aglow when he saw Jill's mom's boxes of cub scouting and primary materials!!)   

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!     (And all our love and Heavenly Father's blessings)     

Who will carry my groceries upstairs?

And water our plants when we're gone?

And give me shoulder rubs?

And provide a subtle background noise of an outburst of laughter and little sounds of life from downstairs?

I guess this makes us empty-nesters really and truly this time!

REUNION THREE - OVER!!! -- Breathing again!

     A big year for reunions:  1st lots of cousins and family - mostly on Victor's side in Oregon & Washington (in March-April).  Next my Borah High School class reunion in Boise in June.  Next my roommates reunion in Brigham (Aug)....followed by  the biggy!  The John Olaf Forsgren Descendants bi-annual family reunion in Brigham City.    

     Since January a part of my subconscious has been wrapped around the needs of pulling off another family reunion.  There is lots of updating, detail planning and investigation that goes on to prepare for one of those.  So the relief that is has come is immense. 

      August 11th found us in Brigham City once again with what turned out to be a successful event with a wonderful feeling of family and ancestry and honor.   Thank you SOOO much to all who contributed in even the smallest of ways:  Morris & Dellalee Forsgren with the homemade root beer and the Ogden Cookies; Lester and Dorothy Knight for rousting out all the Lees and helping update lists & conducting and helping set up, my sister Elaine and nephew Alex who arrived on the scene at just the right time to help spread out the Forsgren scrolls and get them taped and tacked into place & who took pictures for me, and most of all, Jill and Mark Forsgren and their extended family Apryl and Micah who set-up & figured out the computer problems, and were just generally a calm in all the detailed storm.
     In addition we had surprises that made my heart sing. 
     1 - The oldest living Peter Adolph Forsgren descendant (soon to be 100 years old) was feeling well enough to attend!  Thanks to her daughter Andrea who brought her from Ogden.   Erma Walsh is such a delight and still sharp and smiley and loving.   She and I have had such wonderful visits over the last year and a half learning about a whole side of the family I knew almost nothing about.  She is very dear to me and has a wonderful collection of photos and memorabilia from her side of the family.

Is that a face of serenity or what???

Erma is Peter A Forsgren's first great, grandchild, born of his first child, Sarah Christina Forsgren Klem's daughter, Lorinda Funk.  (Lorinda's husband Andrew George Funk was responsible for some of the architectural wonders of Brigham City)

     2- Artifacts and displays. 

              Joyce Peterson Lowe brought needlework and artifacts of her grandmother & great grandmother along with some amazing scrapbooks she has created of Forsgren family people, events & places.  Sadly, I did not get a good photo of the display -too many thoughts and people vying for my attention, I guess.   I always come away regretting that some people and some business didn't get enough of my attention!

              Joyce has a gift for this preservation hobby which has benefitted us all...and has been a help in her own health struggles.  

              Leanna Steinekert brought a wooden box - probably handmade by Peter Forsgren that contained many personal papers belonging to him:  a notebook he carried on his mission, his call as Patriarch, personal letters in both Swedish and Danish, etc.   I wished I could have sat alone in a corner and fished them out one by one to savor the moment...   Sigh!   Another goal for another time when I get up to Leanna's house and have a closer look.   Meanwhile - an assignment to her to get them translated, scanned and put into archival-safe file folders.

     3-At last!  Some descendants of Christina Erika Forsgren came.  So glad about that since we have hardly had any in the past.  I think they think of themselves as Davises (since Erika married William Davis and of course her children carry that surname)...but that doesn't make them any less Forsgren!

   The Forsgren descendancy scrolls were rolled out again this year.  Unfortunately they have not been updated since 2010.   I could potentially have added another 15 feet or more.    Just couldn't find enough time to do that and work on the blogs and update the computer files of data, photos and cemetery records too.  If I had all the information for all the descendants I am afraid we couldn't even be in the same room with them they would be long!

     The good news is that a new Presidency DID emerge from the business part of our meeting and I have resigned my duties as Secretary after about 25 years.   I will happily continue as archivist/researcher, but I need to let go of any other function in order to get all the data into an electronic format so it can be put out there for the new generation of genealogists.   Still lots of cemeteries to tramp and lots of websites to investigate and data to gather!   In my opinion I've kept the fun part.   Someone else can create better, larger and [more fun for families] reunions in the future.

      Returned to the cabin about midnight - bone weary buy thoughts alive and popping - thankfully - to keep me awake!    So grateful that it went as well as it did and that people were enjoying what they were seeing and hearing.   That is all that is important.

                        See you all in 2014 !!

MORE REUNIONS (This one with roommates)

     The still-fearsome, foursome reunited once again for a couple of days of girl talk.  Held at Brenda's home in Brigham City - her husband Tom banned to the basement for the duration!!  ;-)
     We ate well,  exchanged gifts, laughed a lot, cried together, & let our spirits soar in the complete comfort of secure friendship.   Ardith Gledhill Lindgren Rymer was first a missionary with me in Guatemala.  Cherie Lundwall was first my sister, Julene's, dear friend...and by extension mine.  Brenda Meikle Thorpe was my smiley, stable little pixy roommate....   All of us at one time or another lived together at what we called the "United Nations" house (because of the many people of different ethnic groups that seemed to come visit) at 440 E. 700 N. in Provo while we attended BYU.   This is our third get-together in as many years.  Strong, capable, lovely, faithful women.

     "Best friends know that they can grow separately without growing apart"

This is us at Promontory Point where the Golden Spike joined the two railroads, an event which changed the United States!   When that was done the "pioneer" era was ended.  No need for suffering, handcarts, wagon trains, etc.  Our immigrant ancestors could come by rail after May 1869. 

[For those of you who have never visited the site, it is well worth it, by the way]

A replica of the golden spike.  The original is in the Stanford Museum in California.

Engraved on the spike:  "May God continue the unity of our Country as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world."

These are just the coolest locomotives! 

Replica of the wood-burning engine that came from California - Central Pacific's "Jupiter"

That's Cherie Lundwall, by the way, thrilled to be taking pictures to send to her brother Neal in California who collects trains and has his own rideable track in his back yard.

Union Pacific's " #119" came from Council Bluffs, Iowa

     During our couple of days together we did a mini historical tour of Brigham.  We visited the Indian School where Ardith had taught for a few months. The land and what bldgs that are left have been purchased by Utah State University for a satellite campus.   We also saw the old mills and historic pioneeer bldgs. that are still standing (tithing office, Rel.Soc. grainery, etc.).....and, of course, the new Brigham City Temple which will begin its Open House this coming weekend!

Great couple of days together preceding my Forsgren Family reunion.