My Life Story

Baton...then Ballet..but always Piano

2010-01-29T20:54:00.008-07:00

One of my friends from the end of elementary school was Margaret Hoover. She was very smart and their family had moved to Tremonton from out of state. I don't remember why they lived there, maybe her dad worked at Thiokol. Margaret was taking baton twirling lessons and I decided I would join her. My mom was quite thrilled as she thought I could be one of those baton twirlers that perform with the band when they're in a parade. I vaguely remember going to a couple of competitions and was never really good, just okay. Here I am in my outfit ready to go perform at a nursing home. So that was the end of 6th grade as well.

When I got to 7th grade, the PE teacher taught ballet classes after school. Karen was really excited about it, and though I wasn't crazy about ballet, I took the class. The teacher's name was Miss Barrett, from Logan and her sister would come over to help teach as well. I honestly can't remember who else was in that class, but here is the picture of me at the end of the year recital:

During this whole time, and since I was quite young, I continued on with piano. I don't remember when I really starting liking it--probably after the first three years; then later on in my teens I really loved it and it became a great passion. Of course, I never really got into the "classics" much, but enjoyed buying & playing music that you would hear on the radio. Speaking of radio, the "in" station was AM 1320 KCPX! I'm not sure about FM radio back then, I can't remember it existing. I did perform occasionally with piano and for a short time was the choir accompanist for the jr. high choir when something happened and the lady quit. I was the practice accompanist, then the director's wife (one of the best pianists in town) would accompany us for programs. Back to piano, I had a few different teachers, one lived right by the high school until they moved, then I had the high school band teacher's wife, Mrs. Ward. I'll post a couple of piano photos. One just shows me before a program I played in--notice the corsage :D. That would have been in 7th grade. The other picture was from the same school year, getting ready to play "Hitari" for my piano recital. Look at that hair! It's quite a humbling sight.

Elementary's end

2010-01-29T19:58:00.003-07:00

I realized I failed to mention what else happened in 6th grade. Clark started school! He was in kindergarten and I was expected to walk with him to school. I can't remember if I did this all year long, maybe he got into a group with some of the neighbor kids; but the one great memory that sticks out in my mind was the day he wanted to wear his church necktie to school. Bear in mind, by this time in my life I felt I knew what looked good and what didn't and it was quite mortifying to be seen in something objectionable. Well, I do remember his shirt being kind of a gold color with a pattern to it and the tie was red plaid. I was mortified! He would not take it off and I was to walk with him to school???? I just remember being embarassed and walking a few paces ahead of him all the way. I wish I had a picture. I'll post one that might be from a year later, but you'll "get the picture".

Late Elementary Years

2009-03-27T20:40:00.004-06:00

Get excited!!---I'm finally back!!
So once school let out that first summer of us living in town, we enjoyed having a lot of places within walking distance--the park, the library, 4 blocks to "downtown", and church was 2 blocks away. We'd ride our bikes and play games with the neighborhood kids. There was only one other girl my age in our ward and a swarm of boys. I played a little bit with her, but we were very different so I mostly did things with my sisters. Funny, but the main memory I have of this girl, Laurel VanSweden, is the time I saw her get a whole peeled & cored cucumber to herself to eat! That was an amazing thing to me as we only ate little slices of cucumber in my family and we all shared one cucumber. She only had one brother who was many years older than her, so got everything to herself. Her mother was the town librarian.
We always had swimming lessons at the high school pool and took some other summer school classes. My dad would take us to a recreational swimming pool about once a week after work--we loved to swim and jump in from the side of the pool or diving board! There was Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville and the Brigham City pool. The great thing about "Crystal" was they had a floating log in the pool and we spent more time trying to stay balanced on that. It would roll and take you under. Both of these pools have been renovated since my childhood and are quite different now. I think the log is gone =(.

The other great thing we would do every summer is have a boating day with all the cousins @ Pineview Reservoir. I had so many older guy cousins who were amazing water-skiers and the rest of us would always get our turn to try. I don't remember how old I was when I could finally get up on skiis. Mostly we would play in the sand and float around in the water on those blow-up plastic air mattresses. If we floated too far out, our teen-age boy cousins would have to come out and get us and pull us in. All the parents & my grandparents would have a great time visiting and providing food for everyone on the shore.

My mom's the bathing beauty in this pic:

So in late August 1964, we started in a new school, North Park Elementary. I was in 4th grade, Karen in 5th & Marie in 6th. I'm sure we walked to school. It was about six blocks. There were only two classes per grade. I ended up with the teacher who was ready to retire and not highly respected by the rowdy boys in my class. Oh well, I made it through. Looking back, the parents must've been able to request teachers as all the "better-behaved" kids seemed to be in the other class with the more popular teacher.

In Oct. '64, my grandpa Leatham died and I experienced a family funeral. This was over in Wellsville and the viewing was held in the home then the funeral at the church which was almost across the street. I'm sure about the whole town was there as he was related to just about everybody and had been a "schoolmaster" and the postmaster. The only memory I have is of that viewing in the living room of their house. We started making Sunday afternoon trips over to see my grandma quite regularly after that.

At gravesite: Mom, Marie,me & Karen

With winter upon us, we found our basement bedroom wouldn't stay warm enough at night, so my parents bought us an electric heater. That was such a novelty item and I remember lying on the floor by it many times to feel that nice, hot air. We enjoyed sledding in the winter and sometimes would get to go on inner tube rides behind my uncle's tractor in his fields. The inner tubes were tractor-tire-sized and it was very fun.
In January, my 13-yr. old cousin from Rupert, Idaho died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. Someone accidentally hit her head with their elbow during dancing lessons and that's all it took. It was a shocking and tragic loss. This was the third family funeral on my mom's side of the family in about 7 months. I was still pretty young to be really affected by it, but I remember how sad my aunt and other cousin (her sister) were.
My 5th-grade year was much better with a more challenging teacher, Mrs. Korth. She was older and could get mad, but never did with me. There were many fun kids in my class and I met some girls I could walk to school with. One small highlight of this year was going to Salt Lake City to see a new movie, "The Sound of Music". SLC was 70 miles away and we rarely went there, but my parents had seen the movie the night before and my mom loved it so much that she took the three of us girls to it the very next day. I still love that movie.
In the winter of this school year, my mom had some hormonal imbalances (I guess) and possibly stress & mental problems and acted very strangely like everyone was out to get her. The scariest thing I remember was when she cut the cords to our home telephone. It happened at a very bad time as I guess it was that night that my grandpa Stenquist died (my dad was down there with him) so our phone was out of order. I just remember I mostly stayed away from her and went on with my daily routine, but this whole period of time was very hard on my dad and a lot of responsibility was given to Marie to watch after us whenever he wasn't at home. Somehow, things seemed to clear up and my mom became pleasant again. She continued to be the school librarian at Box Elder High School, which was her job all of my growing up years.
It was a sad time to lose my Grandpa Stenquist--he was such an admirable man with the strongest work ethic and represented everything that was good.
The summer after 5th grade we all took swimming lessons again and had art/craft classes and got involved in 4-H. I was in a cooking class with that and probably made chocolate chip cookies which I entered into the county fair. I was still in piano while the other girls did summer band. My mom spent time @ BYU taking courses toward her Masters degree (each summer she took classes, mostly @ USU). Summer was also a time for canning fruit and by this time I'm sure I was put to work pitting cherries or peeling something else and always picking the fruit. We bottled peaches, both kinds of cherries, raspberries, dewberries, apricots, tomatoes, & I can't remember what else. Each summer we always took a vacation trip as well--I've probably mentioned this before. Any money I would earn I probably spent riding my bike downtown and buying an ice cream cone or candy bar or something like that.
6th grade was another fun year & I became acquainted with my great friend, Camille Fronk. She was in another ward, but only lived a few blocks away and I would walk to school with her sometimes. I remember she had the nicest, funniest mom who would always say, "Have a blast at school today." Over the years I spent a lot of time at her house.
It's late so I'll close it up here.

Bp. years p.s.

2008-07-31T13:34:00.002-06:00

Two things that I remember we did while my dad was bishop: we held family home evening quite regularly, or at least once in awhile; and we got started as kids into doing genealogy work. We each had a Book of Remembrance and went to a class once a week in the evening at the church and got pretty excited about all of that. Everything was written & done by hand and we cut out pictures of relatives and glued them on the designated pages. How things have changed!

The Bishop Years--Final Installment

2008-07-30T14:41:00.006-06:00

Halloween!

The last couple of years of my dad's time being Bishop, I was 7 & 8 years old.

I remember a great family vacation we took the summer of '62 to the Seattle Worlds Fair. They used to hold World Fairs every few years in selected cities. They would be huge events with futuristic displays and shops set up from all over the world. There would also be rides to go on and so many things to see and do. I remember my mom was worried about us getting separated or lost, so she made us matching red-white-blue shirts to wear. I remember a picture of us in those shirts. The Fairs would also include building permanent structures and in Seattle, it was the Space Needle (shown at left). This was such an exciting place in 1962. You would go up an elevator on the outside of the vertical post and at the top was a restaurant with a circular, rotating floor. Outside, all the way around, was an Observation Deck and you could see everything. I think across the water in this picture is where the city of Bremerton is located where my cousins lived. We would drive our car onto a ferry boat and it would take an hour to cross (it seems). We of course did this on this trip and I'm sure stayed with them. Clark remained at home with probably Mrs. Hansen so it was just the 3 of us girls with our mom & dad.

School: I don't have a great recollection of 2nd grade, other than I didn't like my teacher as well as in 1st grade. That year was all right, I just don't have any outstanding memories. I do remember that we had some time to wait for the bus after school. There was only one bus that would go out to our area and they would pick up the high school students first, then the jr. high, then come to our school. I remember I was afraid of some of the older kids because they seemed to have "rougher" personalities or perhaps language. It seemed they sat in the back of the bus and we'd sit in the front. Back to the waiting part...close to the school was a little "dime store" with "penny candy" in jars on the check-out counter. We'd run over there and buy some candy for the ride home sometimes. I remember my favorite being chocolate licorice and pixy sticks with the flavored powder. The licorice was fatter & wider than what they make today and we'd bite off the top end and pour the pixy stick powder inside then eat it that way. I still like chocolate licorice today, but rarely buy it because I don't think anyone else will eat it and I don't need a whole package. We also used to play hop-scotch and "pickle" on the steps of the school.

There was a tv program about some police officers that rode around in "Car 54" and on the show they were always saying "Car 54, where are you?" in a sing-song way. Our bus was either that same number, or for some reason I'm thinking #57--so when we'd get tired of waiting for it, we'd sing, "Bus 54 (or 57), where are you?" I liked school and was always told I did well/learned fast so didn't have any problems and got along well with others & the teachers. Karen & Marie were one & two grades ahead of me, so I was pretty comfortable. The school was McKinley and it had two levels. Grades 1-3 were on the bottom floor and grades 4-6 were on the top floor. I only stayed at that school through 3rd grade, so I never went up the stairs, but I was a little envious of those who did get to.

My 3rd grade teacher was Mrs. Hawks and she was fabulous. I think I was a "teacher's pet" in that class, I remember her letting me do special things and heaping attention on me. I also remember having a student teacher for the first time during this year and also that they had a hard time keeping me busy as I'd get through my work fast. When we moved and went to a different elementary school, her husband was my principal and already knew who I was. That was a convenient transition.

We had a piano in our house and had learned some things on it, but it was during this era that we all started taking lessons. There was an "old" lady who lived by the church named Genieve Walker who was probably the ward organist her whole married life and we would go to her house for lessons. This was a good thing for me and I continued taking lessons until I was into high school. I've used this ability to play more times than I could ever count and was able to eventually teach my own children and others how to play as well. I remember my mom could play one song, "Begin the Beguine". It's the only thing I ever heard her play. She had it memorizd and played it beautifully. She had been in band in high school (trombone), and thought that was the greatest thing. She tried to get all of us to go in that direction and a couple did play the flute and Karen, the clarinet. I'm not sure about Clark. She let me stick with the piano, but did hope all or some of us would be the "majorette" of the band and wear the sparkly outfit and twirl the baton. Some of us did have baton lessons--I'll post about that later, I think it was 6th or 7th grade.

The summer of 1963, my parents put money down on a house in Brigham City, but then changed their minds. My mom REALLY wanted to move, but not my dad. They eventually bought a lot in town and my uncles began construction on our new house.

So the beginning of my 3rd grade year, my mom had the last baby of the family, Diane. Crazy, but I don't have a huge recollection about all that--I think because my mom tried to keep it a secret for a long time. In my dad's journal, April 1963 entry it says, "LaVoyle is still in schol despite the fact that she is expecting another child in late August. She doesn't look like it. I think it is still a secret to everyone except us and the Doctor." I'm sure I remember more bottles & diapers and who knows where she & Clark slept--must have been in the room with the nursery rhyme flooring. I do remember have 3 twin beds in the other bedroom for us 3 girls. Diane was born on September 5th and my 8th birthday was September 16th. I do remember getting baptized and my Dad being the Bishop to conduct the meeting (we did baptisms as a whole stake at a time). I was the last one to get baptized and I wore a pretty white dress. That's mostly what I remember & that it was a happy day.

The nursery rhyme floor

We moved over to our new house on Karen's birthday, March 20th. It was all exciting and we had many relatives help unload boxes and help us get settled. Karen & I were given the basement bedroom, while Marie was upstairs with Clark & also Diane in the crib. We continued to go to church at the 3rd ward because my dad was still the bishop. He ended up getting released the last Sunday in April, making it exactly four years that he served in that position. He grew up in that ward and did such a great job as a bishop, that it was a bittersweet moment to move. He was involved in so many members' lives and they would always love him.

Thus ends the "Bishop Years". If I can find pictures from anyone, I will add them in later.

Here are the 5 of us on the couch in our new house:

The Bishop years, Part III

2008-06-15T06:50:00.007-06:00

As Clark grew older, closer to a year old and beyond, he grew more difficult to care for during Sacrament Meeting. He would see my dad up on the stand and want to get to him. I remember one particular night when he broke away from my mom's grasp and crawled underneath all the benches. The people on each bench would look down as he got there. You could tell where he was, but somehow no one seemed to stop him and eventually he made it through that maze of legs & feet and up the steps to the stand. It was fun for my dad to hold him up there, but I think my mom felt humiliated. I remember one Sunday night that Clark was sick so I was to stay home with him. At this point, I think he was at least two. It wasn't very cold, but it also was getting dark earlier than it would in the summer, so it must have been late spring or early fall. I think I'd gone outside to get something as the rest of the family was leaving and when I got to the door, it was locked and I was outside and Clark was inside. There was a glass pane to the side of the wooden door and he could see me, but despite all my instructions, could not unlock the door. I remember the lock was very stiff and it had to be turned. This was the first time I can remember saying a prayer for help. We never did get the door unlocked, but somehow the meeting that night did not go its usual hour-and-a-half length and the family came home early so we could get the door opened. I'm amazed he stayed right there by the door the whole time. It seemed like this same scenario happened one other time, but it wasn't a Sunday night. I can't remember the details of the other time.
It was during these years of still living in "the old house" that we started going to Lagoon each summer. This was such a thrilling trip that we all looked forward to. Besides the rides, I used to love going into "The Fun House" which was a big building filled with different things to do, including long wavy slides that you would ride a gunny sack down on. There was also a circular floor that would spin faster and faster and a bunch of kids would get on then try not to slide off as it was rotating. The trick, of course, was to sit in the middle. I loved that one. There was also a "Spook House" that you would ride through in little carts and see scary things. I don't think there were any real people, just moving characters that would surprise you & scare you. Hard to describe, but that was always fun. We always went on the old white roller coaster and I can't remember ever loving that experience. I never went on them as I got older, but did like the Tilt-a-Whirl and to go swimming. I can't remember what else. This was always a day-long affair with a picnic and must have been a lot to get organized, but we enjoyed it.
The vacation trips we took during this time were fairly close by, like Idaho or even just to Salt Lake when Clark & Diane were babies, but the most important part for us girls was the swimming pool. We could've spent all of our time there. I remember getting out of the pool time after time and jumping in so my dad could catch me. The picture at the top shows me at the Town House Hotel in SLC, Aug. 1961 so I was about six. That was my favorite thing to do. I remember my mom would wear a swimming cap and could dive off the diving board (something I never have been able to do). I think I've always been the belly-flop queen. A lot of times our vacations would be to go visit relatives and stay with them which was fun because there were always cousins to play with. We generally stayed in motels and did not camp. We did go to Yellowstone twice with my uncle's trailer to stay in. One of my dad's bishopric counselors was a big-time fisherman and we'd go with him and some other families. He would patiently "teach us how to fish" or in other words, he'd cast the line for us--it would quickly snag a fish on it, then he'd help us reel it in. He always new the best places to go and we would have to hike a ways to get to them, but the fish were plentiful. I think my favorite part of these trips was sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows and hearing his teenage daughters sing (in harmony) campfire songs. They had beautiful voices and I wished I could sing like them. I remember especially "You are my Sunshine". That was when I hoped to learn how to sing harmony--which I did in a sixth grade music class. I've been singing alto ever since!
I do remember during this time that I started going over to the milking barn every late afternoon while my dad milked the cows. He only had a few, but with his and Grandpa's cows combined, I think there were 40 of them. They had four milking stalls and electric milkers, so that would be 10 sets to get them all milked. There were always cats around (barn cats who would keep the mice population down) and they would get a little bowl of fresh milk. My dad would try to squirt milk into my mouth straight from the cow. I would get a drink out of a cup and really loved that warm, fresh, creamy milk. The milk would be poured into these big, heavy steel containers and then set out by the road. Someone who transported them to a dairy would pick them up and my dad & grandpa would get paid for the milk. It's a lot to have milk cows that you have to tend to every morning & night. I'm not sure how my dad did that, worked full-time and was a bishop all at the same time, but it happened that way. He was always busy.
I don't remember baby-sitters coming over very much in the evening, but my parents did go to evening events. I'm sure it was always one of my older girl cousins--there were three of them who probably took turns.
The summer of 1961, when I was nearly six, I finally started kindergarten! This was such an exciting time. For us, kindergarten was a six-week program in the summer just prior to starting 1st grade. I don't remember if we were on a bus, probably not, or had to be driven, but the school was in town, a few miles away. Maybe my mom car-pooled with the others out in our ward. I just have a few memories of these days. I don't know if it was every day, or just three times a week.
I guess I'll wrap this up here and have a fourth installment on the Bishop Years. The older I get in these posts, the more I remember, so they're getting a little longer each time. I don't have any pictures in my possession to post with this, but will add them if I can find them from others.

The Bishop Years--Part II

2008-05-26T19:52:00.006-06:00

Back in the "good old days" the church schedule was to have Priesthood meeting early in the morning. I don't know if it was at 8 or 9, but then the men would return home for their families and we'd all go to Sunday School at 10:30. We would have Jr. Sunday School in the Primary room (which was on the 2nd floor) and have an opening exercise with song, prayer, two 2 1/2 minute talks and also the Sacrament. Then we'd go to our Sunday School class. This would go to about noon. Funny, but I can vaguely remember being in the adult Sunday School class before I was old enough for Jr. Sunday School. I remember there was one adult class for those with no young children and another class for the "Young Marrieds" who had small children and we would all be in there with them. I have no idea if there was a nursery back then. I guess not, since it was just for Sunday School. We would all go home and always have a big Sunday meal, then play or take a nap. We would all go to Sacrament Meeting at 7:30 p.m. and it would last until 9. Doesn't that sound hard now? I did this my whole growing up years as the block meeting schedule was introduced either in my later college years or when I was on my mission. Primary was held on a Wednesday afternoon after school and we would meet for opening exercises & singing time in the Chapel. They had us all sit up in the choir seats. Then we'd go to class. We were combined with the boys until we reached age 10, then we were in girl classes. We had bandelos and earned "badges" to put on them. The first year we had to do a cross-stitch project, the 2nd year we learned to knit and the third year we learned to crochet. Mutual was also held on a Wednesday night, meeting in the chapel for opening exercises, then going to class. We never had combined activities; actually we never had activity night, it was always a lesson. The exciting thing was Road Show which you had to be 14 to be in. Then camp was held in the summer, but only at Petersen Park which was 3 miles away. I didn't like it and only went one year, possibly two. But, I'm getting ahead of myself, I'll talk more about this when I get to my teen years.

So, during these years when my dad was the bishop, we'd sit in the congregation with my mom. I also remember sitting with Mrs. Hansen's teenage daughters which was so much fun! The year after he became bishop, Clark was born into our family. Imagine the surprise after having these little 5-lb premature girls, to have a 10, almost 11-pound baby boy! I know my parents were really proud to have this new baby, and finally a boy! I was 5 1/2 at the time and can remember him as a new baby. Since he was born in May, my mom was home with him for the first few months. There were a lot of Sunday afternoons when we (the three girls) would play with our cousins across the street from the church while my dad did his church work. There was a girl cousin Karen's age and she always liked to have "performing shows" and sing and dance. This was probably in the last couple of years when I was 7 & 8.

I remember during this time playing games outside in the evening. We lived out on a farm and there were mosquitoes, but I don't remember that bothering me too much. We played "Run, Sheepy, Run" and "Kick the Can" and "No Bears are out Tonight". I remember my dad playing them with us and it was really fun. We also had a swing set and a play house and bikes to ride. One Christmas, the ward gave my dad a present at the Christmas party. They brought in a big box and when they opened it up, it was a puppy! It was white with a black spot on it and we named it Spot. I have no idea what kind of dog it was. I don't know where we kept it, absolutely not in the house, probably out in the garage. I don't remember interacting with it very much and that it would chase cars and bark at them. It eventually got hit & killed by one of those cars. As I never bonded with it, I was not very affected by that.

There was a girl my age that lived down the street--when I say "down the street", I mean about a 1/2 mile away. I would walk to her house sometimes and play with her. I remember we had a ditch of water (for irrigating) on the side of our house and we were always warned about staying away from it. I don't think any of us ever fell in and had to be rescued. My mom would remember, but she's not around to ask, so I don't know. On the other side of the ditch were the railroad tracks. Again, we had to be careful there, but I don't remember that being a problem either. We always stayed in our yard or walked the opposite way down to my grandma's house. The train would sound its horn when it was approaching the street we lived on, there were no warning lights or crossing bars that would come down. It wasn't a busy street. Only about 5 houses and a lot of fields in about a mile stretch. I think I've already mentioned we were all Stenquist families.

In that house we had nursery rhyme flooring in our bedroom. That was really fun and we used to jump from picture to picture. I can remember being in that room all by myself in a crib and knowing my two sisters were in the next bedroom with twin beds and crying because I didn't want to be alone. I must have been pretty young then. Before we left that house, I was in with my other sisters as there was one and then two new babies.

When I was 5 years old, I had my first birthday party! My sisters were there and 3 cousins and the other children my age from the ward. I think there were about 3 boys and another girl or two. I had a new red dress. Also, about this same time, my sisters & I got to ride on the Bear River State Bank float in the Tremonton parade. That would have been around the end of August. This was about the "highest" you could get and I felt very important.

I remember we had to hang all the wet laundry out on the clothesline in the summer and one time making it fall down--it had to have been already broken, but since it fell down because of me, my mom got really mad and I started running and she chased me up the street, but never did catch me. I was scared and I think I came home and hid in the closet.

I know we took a family vacation every summer and will refer to my dad's journal to find out where we went, but will have to enter all that in another blog as my time is up for tonight.

The "Bishop" Years--Part I

2008-05-25T18:40:00.005-06:00

In the fall of 1959, Marie started school and Karen & I were taken down to Mrs. Hansen's house to spend each day instead of her coming to ours. I don't have a lot of memory about that, but do remember when I was down there by myself, which would have been the next year. I do remember play with "the bricks" which came in a big canister and they were red and kind of like Legos, but much lighter-weight. We used to build a lot of things with them. I remember her basement where she did the laundry and that she didn't have an automatic washing machine, rather a "wringer-washer", so much of it was done by hand. I remember the days when they would kill the chickens they had been raising and Mrs. Hansen would have on rubber gloves and would pluck out all the feathers and wash them with dish detergent and water. I'm sure she must have rinsed them very well. I also remember going visiting teaching with her, which she did very faithfully. I'm sure I must have gotten restless on those visits, but I don't ever remember getting into trouble for my behavior and mostly just went with the flow.

The month of my 4th birthday, I got to go with my Dad to a Lion's Club meeting held at the Tremonton airport and had my first airplane ride. I guess I enjoyed it. The following month at General Conference a new Apostle was sustained--Elder Howard W. Hunter (Oct. 1959); this is from my Dad's journal. So we all would eventually know him as the President of our church.

In the fall of 1959, I started taking dancing lessons. I remember enjoying them and getting compliments on my performing and ability to learn fast. I think I liked to be on stage. Of course, I did this with my two sisters and after a few years it was over. I'm not sure why. Years later I wished I could have kept taking dance as many of my friends did and I had liked them, but I guess it didn't work out.

December of 1959, my cousins were down from Bremerton, WA and on Christmas Eve we had a visitor: Santa Claus himself! He told us we had to go to bed early so he could deliver our gifts and I'm sure we all did!

My mom bought a tape recorder and started taping us saying nursery rhymes and singing songs. I remember it was an enormous machine--nothing like what we had 20 yrs. later. It doesn't seem like we have tape recorders any more--they are very hard to find.

In March of 1960, my sisters and I all had the measles. I guess I did okay with that disease, but I do remember having to stay in bed for a few days. Back then there was no MMR vaccine.

So in April of 1960, when I was 4 1/2, my dad was put in as Bishop of our ward. My sisters would have been ages 6 & 7. I don't know how my mom felt about it, but within a year she was already asking my dad to move. I thought it was all exciting and I loved going into my dad's office at church to say hi to him.

The Early Years

2008-05-06T16:22:00.009-06:00

As I have already mentioned, I was born in September 1955 (at 2:20 am and weighed 5-15, 18 in. long--I just found that information). We lived in a 3-bedroom house in rural Tremonton, next to many fields and my grandparents closeby. At that time all of the families who lived on that street were Stenquists.

So, I guess my mom settled in to another baby girl and taking care of two other little girls who were one and two years old. I think she must have grown a little restless and had pretty good "cabin fever", for by January 1956 she was taking an extension class for additional college credit and hoping to get a school position for the following school year. I don't think being a "stay-at-home mom" was ever in the cards for her. I don't remember much before I was four years old, so I can't give my point of view for that time.

Not much is said in my dad's journal that is out of the ordinary for the next year--I just grew and developed and I think my parents learned to enjoy having three little girls. My dad felt sorry for my mom when our hair would grow a little longer to think of having to roll it all up in curlers.

By September of 1956, around my first birthday, my mom did return to work as the Librarian of Box Elder High School in Brigham City, about 15+ miles away. She stressed about who she would get for child care, but a great lady in the ward who had four daughters all in school was happy to take on the job. Virginia Hansen stayed with us for the next 13 years, until all were in full-day school. She was very delightful and made a lot of jokes, a very hard worker and helped with house work and baked bread, cake, cookies & pies. We were truly happy with her and probably gained part of our personalities from her as well. Her starting pay was $5 a day and she came to our house to take care of us. My dad thought my mom would only work for a year or two and get it out of her system, but she worked the rest of her days, from Sept. 1956-Oct. 1981.

My dad wrote "They are such cute little youngsters, and very bright, but can be a lot of work."

By the time I turned one, my favorite food was watermelon. Again, to quote my dad: "...it is really a sight to see our baby, Donna, eat them. She loves them and gets wet from top to bottom. She would eat rind and all if we didn't remove them from her hands by force." (I still love watermelon). "She is such a fat, roly-poly, little girl and is at a very cute age. Because of her weight, it will probably be quite awhile before she walks." Well, indeed it was another six months before I could walk. He doesn't write about it until March 1957 when I would be turning 18 months.

If I can just interject a little item of interest--in Sept. 1956 when I was almost one, our stake had Stake Conference. "Elder Marion G. Romney was our visitor. " My mom made the Sunday dinner and "the visitors and all the Stake Presidency and wives were at our house." It doesn't say if the three of us little girls were there, but maybe.....

Back in those days, the visiting General Authority slept at the home of one of the stake presidency and had all his meals with various leadership families. I don't remember the events, but several times, an apostle would be in our home eating a well-prepared meal by my mom.

As I mentioned earlier, I was walking by March 1957. "Her hair has come in blond and curly, but her eyes are definitely brown." So any of you family members with any curl at all in your hair--it came from me, but I don't know where I got it from. None of my relatives seemed to have curl.

I'm sure we spent a lot of time with cousins and relatives, though it is only mentioned at the holidays. We did live very close to my paternal grandparents and two of my dad's sisters & families lived in our same ward. They were always our good friends. Our other cousins lived in South Ogden and Bremerton, Washington. We always loved getting together with them and always felt welcome, played fun games and were fed great food. My dad's family was very hospitable. I'm sure we often visited my maternal grandparents, though they were a little further away in Wellsville.

In these early years, my parents were very busy, both working and my dad serving as Stake Clerk. They also were members of the "Knife and Fork Club" which must have been a dinner club and my dad was also involved with the Lions Club. My mom did a lot of canning in the summer and our house was always clean. My dad worked on his personal accounting books almost every night. He also helped with his dad's farm and milked cows every morning and night.

I found a story to relate from my mother's words in a letter she had written me when I was at BYU. "It is always pleasant to reflect back and recall amusing experiences like the time I was cleaning the tub and you were standing nearby babbling at age 2 1/2 and then I heard you recite the pledge of allegiance verbatim--not missing a word. "Indivisible" was pronounced "inabisable" and allegiance was pronounced "a-ee-giance" and I wondered how you ever learned it....when the washer repairman was there fixing the washer and you (age 3) were lying on your back kicking your feet into the air, playing with your shoes and reciting one nursery rhyme after another and the repairman (who couldn't see you) thought you were reading from a book. I told him you were only 3 and he said, 'Well, I guess she isn't reading them'." Those are the only written memories I have from my mom.

The first family vacation I was included in was to California--Sacramento & San Francisco areas. We visited the zoo and Golden Gate Park and my mom's brother, wife & family in Sacramento. This was in July 1958 when I was almost 3 yrs. old.

I will close this post for now and hope to find a picture or two to add in. My favorite one is me eating watermelon and drenched in the light red juice when I was not quite one. I can't find it. I will scan it in someday if I ever find it.

My Heritage

2008-04-20T18:00:00.005-06:00

So I've already written about my birth, now I will explain a little about my parents and the legacy that came from them.

My dad was born on a farm in Bear River City, later moved to Tremonton, the oldest of six (though an older sister had died as a baby). His parents were Swedish immigrants whose families had come to Utah with much sacrifice to join with the main body of the Church. He grew up learning to work really hard and do all the things required on a farm. His father was a master at what he did and was highly respected for running a very fine farm and coming up with innovative new ideas. They also had all kinds of animals (cows, horses, chickens, pigs) and were quite self-sufficient. My dad was very intelligent and skipped a grade during grade school, so graduated from high school early. He did attend college, but didn't quite graduate. His family was all very devoted to their church callings and my grandpa was the first bishop of the Tremonton 3rd Ward. My grandma was one of the kindest and most guile-less people you could ever meet, always with a twinkle in her eye. She always had cookies for us, no matter when we visited and loved to make us lemonade. My grandparents had Swedish accents which were delightful to me to hear. My parents married a little later in life due to service in World War II, a mission, and other circumstances. By the time my mom met my dad, he was already serving as Stake Clerk and very much involved in all the church goings-on of the whole stake. He loved working with the Stake Presidency and had many great experiences due to his calling. He had dated a lot of girls and had even been engaged, but when he met my mom, it was pretty much an instant attraction. Besides all the farm work he did, he also had a job in town in a bank. He had a house built by the time he & my mom married. It was walking distance from my grandparents' house.

My mom was born next to the youngest in a family of 8 children in Wellsville, Utah. Her father's family (Leatham) helped found the town of Wellsville, English/Scottish immigrants who had joined the church in their native countries. Her mother's family (Jensen) came from Denmark and crossed the plains with handcarts to the town of Hyrum. They, too, were among the "founding families" of that town. Both of my mother's grandfathers (Leatham & Jensen) were called upon to practrice polygamy, so there are many descendants. They were very successful in their chosen trades and were able to provide very well for their families. The family my mother grew up in were very hard workers and also very educated. That was very important and my mother earned her degree in English & Spanish Education. Her father was the Postmaster and also taught many years in the secondary schools. It was important to be refined and to have everything very clean and orderly. My mom initially taught in the Idaho Falls area until she met my dad and moved back to Utah. Her mother served many years in the Relief Society, but her family was not as involved in leadership positions in the church. I'll never forget the purple-brick church house that was a couple of blocks from their home in Wellsville (it is now gone) and the Ward Choir singing "Come, Come Ye Saints" at my grandma's funeral. I'm sure that was a significant song for her mother as she was a handcart pioneer and lost several family members on their trek to Utah. My Leatham grandparents had beautiful furniture and many sets of fine literature in their house. I still remember their "parlor" room. They were quite serious and I don't remember them laughing or smiling.

So, you can see that my parents came from different backgrounds, but seemed to enjoy the same kinds of activities. My dad was very tall, about 6'3" with thick dark blonde hair and blue eyes and my mom was short, about 5'3" with fine dark brown hair and brown eyes.

My birth

2008-04-12T14:42:00.003-06:00

Yes, I'm really starting!!!

I've been reading my dad's journal so I can know a few more details about the time of my life that I can't remember.

So, I was the third baby girl born to my parents in less than three years. From what I read, the first pregnancy was hard and my mom had to spend alot of time in bed. Marie was a good baby and they so enjoyed this first child. Karen arrived 15 months later and was really small (6 weeks early) and not a very good eater, was very fussy and would wake up during the night and cry alot. My mom wouldn't stir, but my dad was up and walking the floors with her. She eventually grew out of that stage and was quick at getting around and having the two girls was fun, but busy. They were hoping to have a bit of a break after that, but I was soon to make my entrance into the world. After one hard pregnancy and another hard baby, they may have been a bit apprehensive about having "three under three." As much as I can deduce from the journal, the pregnancy was alright, although the late summer was very hot and uncomfortable, but then I, too, was born early--4 weeks early, 18 months after Karen. The date was September 16, 1955. To quote my dad's journal: "We were very surprised this month to get another baby daughter. she wasn't expected until the middle of next month, but she decided not to wait and arrived very early on the 16th. LaVoyle had worked quite hard on the day before and had a couple of extra youngsters here in the afternoon to tend. Around one o'clock in the night she woke me up and asked me to call the Doctor. It was his night off, but he listened in as I talked to the Nurse and told me to bring her in. He remembered our last one coming over a month early. About a half an hour after our arrival at the hospital the baby was born. I had to hold the ether tube (they used to give the moms some anesthesia) as the nurse was too busy in getting things ready. The baby was only a little over five pounds and was placed in the incubator for the first day. She has been doing very well and seems to be much more developed than Karen was at birth. After some deliberation, we decided to name her "Donna." LaVoyle is feeling fine and is doing her regular work and is happy that she doesn't have to look forward to the birth the next month. Marie and Karen are very thrilled to have a baby sister."

The picture at the top is me at 2 weeks old. I think there's a doll in the picture to show that I wasn't much bigger than a doll. Believe me, that didn't last long! I believe that I was a great eater and grew quickly. Again, in the beginning, it was my Dad who got up with me at night, because my mom wouldn't wake up. He doesn't talk about walking the floors, so I must've gone back to sleep after being fed/changed.

I was blessed the first Sunday in November 1955 by my Dad, and given the name of "Donna". He states: "She is growing quite fast and is a cute little baby. She is growing faster and behaving better than Karen did as a tiny babe. Se seems to be a trifle more mature and take her food better which would account for her growth and disposition".

So, I'm not sure how my mom did it with 3 little girls born in 33 months in those days of NO disposable diapers and having to boil the glass bottles and heat up the bottles in a pan of water on the stove (no microwaves), not to mention the laundry. She may have had a washing machine at that point, but I'm not sure she had a dryer.

If I can find more pictures somewhere, I'll put them in, but I guess this is all for now. Happy Reading!

My Life Story

2008-04-09T08:28:00.003-06:00

So Tawni set up this blog for me and I'm going to start writing my history on it. I will initially do it by 5-yr. increments. So look forward to installment one....coming soon.....