Saturday, June 3, 2006
Dear Journal,
The last week in May was an eventful one for our family, especially for Derek, who graduated from Westwood High School on Thursday, May 25th. We were glad we could celebrate his achievements with him and our family. We went down to Mesa on Tuesday, getting there just a half hour before Derek would graduate from Seminary that night. We knew we were cutting it close, so we rode down to the valley in our Sunday clothes so we would be ready to attend. We love Seminary graduations because of their spirituality, the clean kids, and good feelings. This one was special because it was our grandson. Derek has been such a great young man who has made good choices, and has been so friendly and nice to us older grandparents. We were proud of Derek for graduating from Seminary, and for being president of his class. Also this was his night to shine because he sang in a small group at the graduation. It was a beautiful song. After taking some pictures for memories, we all were starving, and the yummy cookies didn’t make much of a dent in that hunger. Blaine had taken some Olive Garden certificates from his Discover card benefits, so he took us all to dinner there. It was such an enjoyable experience. We had this nice, little room all to ourselves, and the salad, bread sticks, and soup were so delicious, and so was the dinner, and the visiting was relaxing and fun. There were Janet and Lee’s whole family, us, Shiela and Davin. Mitch had had to work, and no other family members came to the graduation. I love family times together. That Davin steals the show with his cute comments and good manners. We spent the night at Louis and Dawn’s in Jade’s old bedroom. We like that bed, and even though it’s high, we can get on it. We were lucky to get to stay ther this week because Jade is taking that bed next week for their new apartment.
Wednesday was another family day. We went to Mitch and Shiela’s to play with Davin and help Shiela prepare the dinner for the whole family that night. What an enjoyable day! We had fun with Davin, and Mitch fixed us hamburgers for lunch, then Shiela and I grocery shopped and then started in preparing food. We took a break to prepare the game, "Deal or No Deal" for Derek that night at the family party. Shiela’s friend Olivia came to visit and helped us blow up balloons while I made the money chart for the game. We worked together right up till everyone got there at 6:30. Everyone came but Louis’ family; some who were sick, and others tired. Shiela was thoughtful to invite Lee’s brother Mike and his wife Mandy and their kids also. We love these family dinners and especially these ones honoring our grandchildren who are graduating. Shiela cooked delicious food: barbeque beef, chicken strips, her famous twice-baked potatoes, and she broke out the chocolate fountain that Janet and Lee gave them for Christmas. Janet brought strawberries, pineapple, etc. and we had bought marshmallows, a pound cake, and graham cracher sticks, etc. to put in the fountain for dessert. We had a relish tray and used some yummy dip that Janet brought. It was good to get better acquainted as we ate and talked.
The game was rousing good fun, with Derek up front wearing a sombrero and also Shiela, who told us this was a Spanish version on "Deal or No Deal," with pesos being the prize money instead of dollars. Instead of cases with money in them, Shiela had numbered balloons with amounts with money in them. The kids loved grabbing the paper that fell out of the balloons. Shiela knew how to draw out the fun and help Derek have a good time. The commercial breaks were where each of us told a favorite memory or story about Derek. It did take awhile, and we got a kick our of Ryan saying, "Hey, let’s keep this game moving here." And then realizing that might sound like he was bored, said, "Oh, did I say that out loud!" It was a really fun family party. All the ones with little kids had to go home and put them to bed, and Janet, Kelly, Mitch and Shiela, and us stayed up and watched the American Idol season finale together. It was exciting to see Taylor win, which we thought he would after our favorite Chris was voted off. I really like Taylor and hope he will have a great career. Catherine has a beautiful voice and is a beautiful girl; I’m sure she’ll be successful, too. It was a fun show, and fun to watch it with our kids. Blaine, who doesn’t really watch it very much, was patient and let us enjoy it, and he loves being together with his family.
Thursday was Derek’s day, but we wouldn’t be needed till that night for graduation, so we went back to Mitch and Shiela’s to play with Davin and for Shiela and I to get to go shopping. Blaine took Davin to Uncle Richard’s to visit while Shiela and I went to Target. We love to shop, and I especially love to get Davin things. Just like all the little grandkids, I love to get them something they want or need. We found a really cute outfit for Davin:, shorts, a pullover shirt with dolphins on it, and a button up shirt/jacket with dolphins on it, too, to go over it. Of course, I had to get it for him. He loved it, and they were thoughtful and took his picture in it and sent it to me. It was fun to shop together, and we ended up getting some rugs for Janet that she needed. We were tired, and ready for lunch. That sweet Shiela took me to Abuelos for an elegant lunch. It was different, a pretty setting, and delicious food. I had enchiladas, one spinach, to pretend to be healthy, and it was delicious. We had a fun nacho dessert with whipped cream and cherries. Yummy, and such a fun conversation between us. We felt close to each other.
This may sound strange but the most fun of the day was still ahead as I spent the next few hours cleaning and organizing Davin’s toy closet, with his help. Shiela and I had bought some plastic containers, big and small, and boy, did we have fun! I loved having Davin help me and tell me what his toys were and which container they should go in as we sorted them. He is the smartest, cutest little guy ever. I got hot and sweaty, but I loved doing that, and that toy closet looked so good when we were finished.
What a perfect night for graduation! Unlike the night of Jade and Ashley’s a few years ago where the wind blew so hard that it blew dust everywhere and almost blew the diplomas off the table before the graduates could receive them. The night was warm, with a slight wind, and Janet and Lee got us great seats on the front row of the middle bleachers. They saved seats for their friends, the DeWitts, Lisa and her family. Their daughter married Kent and Karen Stratton’s son Damon, and we visited with him a little also. The Brinkerhoffs, Troy and Darlene, were down in front of us, and we visited with them afterwards, talking about books and things. The graduation was actually pretty good, with short speeches, the Honor Choir singing–with Derek in the group, and the diplomas being handed out in record time. Derek was so "Derek" as he received his diploma and looked up for his family to see him at this proud moment. And we were!
Janet and Lee threw the biggest party ever for Derek and about 40 of his friends afterwards. They held it at the entertainment room at their town homes. They provided tons of food and dancing, a fun party for Derek. They always do the best things for their children; they give them their time. We figured they didn’t need us old folks around, so we went back to Louis and Dawn’s to have time to visit with them a little before they headed for New York with Alexa the next day
Friday morning, and we were ready to be home, but we stopped by Janet’s to say goodbye to Ashley who was going back to Utah. Janet had leftover hot dogs from the party, and I asked her to fry us one. We ate hot dogs and visited with them all, including Ryan who was there working. Grandpa had to play "Grandpa" and slip them all a little money for EFY, even Diana. I thought she was going to cry when Blaine said to her, "Are you still my granddaughter, too?" and handed her some money. It was tender. Blaine has such a good heart, especially for kids who don’t have as much as others do.
Well, it’s been fun to reminisce back over that fun week. It’s Saturday night, and it’s been a good day. I got to shop a little for Carolyn who’s having an infection in her leg again. It was fun to talk to Mama and find out she passed her driver’s test this week. Sherita took her, and she did very well. She is so happy about not losing her license to drive. I’d better get to bed. It’s fast Sunday tomorrow, and we’re fasting for rain for our area, and for Sandy Nichols Ashton who has been diagnosed with leukemia this week. We feel bad about that, but she will go to Tucson for treatments next week. We wish her the best. We talked to Janet on the phone a little. They are in Utah picking up Miranda in St. George after her week at EFY in Provo. Life is definitely good. We feel very blessed.

Saturday, June 3, 2006
Dear Journal,
I love working on the computer! I love writing in my journal, writing letters to family, creating beautiful quotes to share with family and friends, working on family history–in short, anything that’s on the computer. I’ve had a fun couple of days cleaning out my Word and Word Perfect files. I’ve copied lots of letters, journals, quotes, documents, etc. to disk and deleted many of them. It makes me feel sort of clean to have things saved to dish and off the computer. It’s organized, too, which I love. I need a little CD file to put all these new disks in to be able to access them when I need to. I’ve been working on Young Women notebooks also getting them ready to hand out to the girls tomorrow in church. I want them to have a notebook where they keep all the helps and quotes and goals and records concerning their Personal Progress. So, Janet got me some notebooks at Costco, and I’ve prepared a pretty cover sheet for them and the sheets for inside. I’m excited to give them to the young women tomorrow.
I’ve also caught up somewhat on my journal for the past month, and now I’m going to finish up. I’ll put this record on my blog for the rest of the family or friends who want to know what’s going on in our lives and my feelings and things I care about.
Friendships are so important to us, and one friend we really value and treasure, along with many others, is Carolyn Cunningham, so it was a good day on Wednesday when we got to spend the day with her. We went to Wal-Mart to shop, then to see The DaVinci Code at the Village 8 theaters in Lakeside. We were excited to see this new movie since we had read Dan Brown’s book. Blaine hadn’t read the book, but enjoyed the movie as much as we did. It was an exciting, fast-paced movie and full of interesting religious ideas. We all agreed that we can enjoy the movie without accepting the ideas put forth in the book. Tom Hands and the new actress playing the lead did a great job. It was a very pleasant time together. Afterwards we enjoyed discussing the thoughts we had from the movie over dinner at Licano’s in Show Low. The food is pretty good there.
The Memorial Day Weekend was a fun time mostly because of the surprise visit from Ryan, who brought Megan and Madison with him. Megan is his girl friend who was baptized on Mother’s Day weekend. They got here on Sunday night just as we were having home teachers, Ted Turley and Herb Decker. We made our own sub sandwiches and played some card games and a domino game called "Chicken Foot." Madison did very well, and liked that game. We also played some "Catch Phrase," which Maddie did well at, and had fun with. Carolyn came down and played with us for a little while. Ryan got so sleepy that he laid down for a little rest, and slept all night! So, we took Madison and Megan for a night time ride to see the temple at night and the pretty lamp lights down main street. It was fun to share that with our sweet granddaughter Madison and Megan, who is a sweet girl, too. Madison, Megan, and I started watching National Treasure with Nicholas Cage, one of my favorite movies, but those two got sleepy, too, and we went to bed.
Monday morning we just lazed around, some went for a walk and ride. At noon, Ryan wanted Megan to have a Trapper’s hamburger and pie, so we had lunch at Ryan’s treat. It was as good as ever, and Megan was properly impressed. One little side note: Blaine showed that he really cares for me over his own feelings. Ryan didn’t want me to drink a soda with lunch, but Blaine knows how I like one with certain foods, so he ordered one when the waitress came back. It’s a small thing, but it really touched me.
After lunch, we were a little sleepy, so we settled in the "theater room" to watch "The Other Side of Heaven," which we all love, and wanted to share that with Megan. Madison wanted to golf , so since Megan is taking golf lessons, she wanted to go, too. Ryan took them. While they went golfing, I cooked. I made "Funeral Potatoes" or "Monja’s Potatoes," as I call them. I made them the easy way with Ore-Ida frozen hash browns, and they were delicious if I do say so myself. I also made a small zucchini casserole, and a marble cake with chocolate frosting. Madison wanted pizza, and Ryan wanted Megan to taste Bits and Pizzas pizza, so I ordered an extra large. With all that food, we got pretty full, and enjoyed eating on the porch because the wind had died down.
Ryan is only looking out for me when he tells me what to eat or not eat, and I respect that, but sometimes I want my own choices. But Ryan really has a generous heart and takes care of us in lots of ways. He brought us up the golf cart to use for the summer till it gets cool enough in the valley for him to use it at his home. We really love taking it swimming every day. The kids around here think we’ll "cool" older folks as we ride around in our golf cart. We appreciate Ryan letting us use it for so long. We really use the red truck that Ryan gave to Blaine to use also.
We talked Ryan into playing one more game before they headed back to the valley. We taught them the game of Golf, and Madison excelled at this game, too. She loves games and playing with Grandma and Grandpa, and we sure love being with her, and also Ryan and Megan. It was a very fun weekend.

Saturday, May 6, 2006
Dear Journal,
I am about a month behind! Here it is June 3rd, and I’m going back to write about some memorable April events. I’m telling myself "It’s okay," because at least I’m doing it.
Going way back to Jade’s reception which was held in Louis and Dawn’s back yard, in a word, it was magnificent. The decorations were gorgeous, the food scrumptious, the crowd overwhelming, the weather perfect, and family feelings warm and fuzzy. The day of the reception, we all went over and helped do the finishing touches. Dawn and her sister Joanne, visiting from England, had done all the big stuff after the huge tent was set up on Thursday. We put red cloths on the 12 round tables. Then added gold satin striped with netting cloths over the to of the red. Janet, Shiela, Blaine, and others helped cut the 26 dozen red roses down to a size that they could be put in rings of styrofoam for the center of the tables. Greenery was put around the base and a tall, 3 inch wide gold candle was put in the center, with a pretty glass chimney over that. They were lit that night along with thousands of little, twinkly strings of lights around the top of the tent and on the decorative trees. It was like a fairyland.
Other details that day that we helped with were: Lee was the man of the hour, helping with lights, cords, and got the rock fountain flowing with water, and other stuff. Mitch, Kelly, Jen, and all the kids either helped us or helped with the little kids. Ashley helped by doing hair, Alexa’s and maybe Jade’s too; the ‘beauty shop" was upstairs. We set up the gift table; Janet cleaned the bathrooms and upstairs; I tied some of the cute favors, which were circles of net with candy-shelled almonds inside tied with dark red and brown ribbons. Those were Jade’s colors. The cake was chocolate brown with red roses. They served chocolate cake with a creamy pudding filling, as well as little plastic, tall dessert cups of chocolate pudding. The spread of food was elaborate: chocolate covered huge strawberries, little chicken salad croissants, small ham and cheese flaky biscuits, spinach dip with crackers and bread, vegetables and dip, and other yummy stuff.
The receiving line was set up over the end of the pool with its own tent which was decorated with the same red velvet as the big tent in the yard. There were red roses floating in the pool in front of the line. As is usual, there was a video playing of Jade and Ty as the guests came in and signed the guest book. There was an enormous crowd of over 500, we think. They ran out of food at the very end because they planned for 300. We were so pleased that so many of Blaine’s family were able to come: Judy and Roger, Joanne and Tom, Randy Stock, Tom and Lovenia, Gary and Lori, Suzanne, Cindy and Dave, and others I’ve probably forgotten. We know a lot of their friends, but were pleasantly surprised that a lot of our own friends came: Verd and Karyle Rogers, my roommate Sherrill Funk and Herm, and her daughter Lori and Todd, Rudger and Ruth Hiatt, with whom I spent a lot of the evening visiting. It was fun to see David and Pam Kitchen, Louis’ friend from Snowflake days who now lives in the valley and others we hadn’t seen in awhile. Rick and Cari West brought their few weeks old baby and came. It was a wonderful party, and every member of our family was there except Jason who is in Hungary on a mission. We took lots of family pictures. Jade looked gorgeous and Ty so handsome, and we have a whole disk of pictures to enjoy from that night as well as the ones from San Diego at the temple.
Family helps family. And that night, I don’t think Lee ever sat down during the reception. He helped keep the trash cans emptied, helped the caterers with anything they needed, and generally was the back-up guy. We all stayed till the last hurrah after the reception and cleaned up what could be. The next day, Blaine did his part to help this tired family by treating all 30 0f us to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. We got to sit all together, and visited and had a grand time. This was after everyone went to church, in their own wards, of course.
The next day was Derek’s final concert with Honor Choir which has been a big part of his high school years. This was held at the Westwood High’s auditorium to a full audience. They had bought new, black, nice, collared shirts with a white Westwood Warrior emblem for the students to wear. Derek had a prominent part in this concert, which was on the lighter side, since their March concert had been more classical. Derek is the leader of the special, small group called the Cantori Club. They performed a number called "Seasons of Love." Then a highlight of the night was a video presentation of memories of the Honor Choir and their performances through the year. Derek gathered pictures from the members and took them to a video person Janet knew, and the result was a great trip down memory lane with musical accompaniment that was presented that night to an enthusiastic audience. The kids loved it. Janet had copies of the DVD to sell; it’s very attractive with pictures of the choir on the front of the CD. We are so proud of Derek, his example, his talents, and his leadership.
One added benefit of this concert was seeing Ashley go stand by Derek at the conclusion when they sing their special Choir’s song. All former members of Honor Choir are invited to come and join the choir in this special concluding number. They stand in a circle around the room singing. It’s a touching time, especially for those participating. It gave me a thrill to see Ashley stand by Derek and sing. It was so great to have Ashley home for this special concert and weekend. She and Jade are just 6 weeks apart in age, and so it was neat to have her get to come home from Utah to participate in her reception.
This was another special family weekend that we will remember always.
There were a couple of memories that I forgot to include in my last entry. When we went to the temple in San Diego for Jade’s wedding, we ran into special friends as we waited to enter the sealing room. Harold and Polly Logan are temple workers at the San Diego Temple and happened to be working that day. We sat and visited with Harold while we waited for Polly, who is a coordinator and had a meeting. What a thrill to give Polly a hug around the neck when she came. What an unexpected, nice surprise.
When our daughter-in-law, Jennifer went to Provo to Women’s Conference at BYU, with her mother and sister, we were happy for her. She had invited me to go along, but with all the traveling we’d been doing, I decided to watch it on TV. But another unexpected surprise was when Jen called me from BYU telling me of running into someone who said to her, "Are you Verona Jarvis’ daughter-in-law?" It was Joan Ralphs who had lived in Snowflake years ago, about 40 to be exact, when we first moved here. We were close friends, and have kept in touch over the years. In fact we met up with her another year about 5 years ago, at Women’s Conference. She told Jen to tell me hello, and to come next year. That was fun to have Jen meet our good friend.

Derek's Seminary graduation, May 23, 2006.
Megan Emshoff on her baptismal day, May 13, 2006.
The Funkhouser Family: Ashley, Lee, Janet, Derek, Miranda, April 28, 2006.
Derek's cake, served at the family party to honor him, May 24, 2006.
Davin in his new outfit with dophins on it, a gift from Grandma Jarvis.