About My Mothers

I started this post before Mother's Day and almost had it finished when I touched something I shouldn't have and wiped it all out.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to try and write it again but I decided I would. I wanted to share just a couple of thoughts about my mother and my grandmothers.  They have been such a strong influence in my life and I wanted to share some of the things I have learned from them. 

 This is my Grandmother Ottley.  My Dad was the youngest of eight children and so when I was growing up my Grandmother was older.  I remember as a child we would always go visiting on Sundays to my grandparents or we would have them come to have dinner with us.  Grandma was about 4'10" and we felt pretty tall when we got taller than Grandma.  One of my first memories I have of Grandma Ottley is when we were there visiting and I was tired so I laid down on the floor and Grandma brought this beautiful quilt that she had made and put it over me.  It was so warm and nice so when we got ready to leave I folded it up and gave it back to her and she told me that it was a quilt that she had made for me.  I was so thrilled.  I still have my quilt.  It is waiting for some repairs but it is a treasure to me.  Grandma was known for her long beautiful hair that almost reached to her feet.  I don't ever remember seeing it down, she always had it in a beautiful bun.  Grandma had a beautiful rose garden.  It went the length of their property on the side of their home.  I remember going into the garden to find Grandma and she would be there pruning the roses or cutting some blossoms for someone to take home.  I loved to be in the garden with her. 

When my Grandma was 90 years old, they found that she had cancer of the throat.  It was  very difficult and painful for my Grandma.  One evening my sister and I stayed to take care of her and I will never forget that despite the pain and the effects of that terrible diease my Grandmother was a woman who faced this situation with grace and an unfailing trust in her Heavenly Father. 

My Grandmother Mackay was a woman who could make everything look beautiful.  She always looked to me like she was going to a party.  She was dressed to a T and everything matched.  She had the talent to quilt, sew, decorate, later in her life she took up oil painting, she loved to make beautiful things and was always learning new things to do.  She would never store anything just in a cardboard box.  The box would first be covered with material and trim and then she would put things in it.  Her house was beautiful, with nothing out of place.  I loved to go visit and the first thing I would do is go see her ceramic dolls, one of which was my most favorite, she had a tiny diamond necklace and diamond ring and it was one that my great aunt had made.

When we would visit she would let us play with her toys she had in the bottom drawer in her kitchen.  She had a little Santa Claus that rode on a bike, round and round, ringing a bell and we kids loved it.  After my Grandpa passed away, Grandma was very lonely.  She took me and we went looking for some material to make drapes and a bedspread for my room.  She sewed and we worked together and they turned out so nice.  It was wonderful to spend that time with her.  She did the decorations for our wedding and also when Andrea was born she gave us the last quilt she made that was a copy of the one that she made and it hung for many years on display in Nauvoo.  My Grandmother Mackay was a lovely and a very gracious lady. 

This is my Mom.  There isn't room to write all I would like to about this wonderful woman.  I think back over my life and am so grateful for her persisitence and faith in me and her courage.  When I was very young, I had to have shots once a month and I cannot even imagine how hard it was for her to take me to get those shots but she knew that it made all the difference in my health and she made sure that though it was so difficult for me that I was able to have what I needed so that I would be healthly and strong.  My mother was a very patient and kind mother.  I remember combing her hair, I loved to do that and make "new styles" for her to wear.  My Mom always made sure we kids were well fed.  I don't remember a time when we didn't have at least two or three different vegetables at every dinner meal and we had almost every kind of vegetable there was to have.  My Dad would usually get home late so she would feed us and then when my Dad got home would warm up his dinner and sit at the table with him while he ate.  My Mom loved Relief Society.  When she was the RS teacher, we would listen to her lessons.  When they tried new cooking techniques, we got to try them all out.  I think the worst one was the gluten meat.  But for the most part it was great.  She decorated our home with things she did in Relief Society.  She was a wonderful example of serving others.  One of the many blessings that I received from her is when our kids grew up and went away to college in Utah, there was my Mother always ready and willing to have our kids come to her home and have some time away from the worries of school and like when I was at BYU was always willing to have anyone come and they were always welcome.  Mom loved my Dad and loved her family which she served in anyway she could.

These wonderful women have blessed me unmeasureably.  They are wonderful examples to me and have shared their lives and testimonies with me.  Each one showed me through the things that they did, their love and trust in Heavenly Father and their knowledge that we are here for a purpose, that we are to be eternal families where the love we feel on earth will continue through the eternities.  I miss my Mom more than I can say but her influence and the influence of my Grandmothers are a strength to me.  Elder Scott quoted President Joseph F. Smith in the last conference and he said, " … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors … who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. "

I have also been blessed to have enjoyed the blessing of my wonderful mother-in-law and to have known Rich's grandmothers.  I will write about them in another post for they too have been a strength and a blessing in my life.  

Graduations from BYU!!!

 Nathan and Emily graduated from BYU, both in German, Nathan with his masters and Emily with her bachelors.  Congratulations!!!!!   You have worked hard and we are so happy for you.

 Everyone had a good time as they celebrated this great event. 

Time to Go Home

 We had such a wonderful time but it was time to head for home.  So we took off by 9 in the morning and enjoyed the scenery on our trip home. 

 Our last look at the beautiful lake

 They are working on the road and we spent some time stopped at the construction site

 We are almost home and here is Dad's favorite sign.  Can you imagine filling a waffle cone with 2-3 scoops of ice cream, then putting a hot doughnut on top, then topping that off with whipped cream and a cherry?  Increible!

 We made it home safely and with some wonderful memories.  It was so fun to be with the temple missionaries. 

The men in the white hats, 'cause they're all good guys.

Guatemala Trip - Day Seven - Sunday

 We attend church in the branch in Panajachel.  We rode over in tuc tucs and enjoyed our meetings there.  They planned their Relief Society Birthday Celebration and invited us to join them but we were not staying that long.  

The rest of the day Dad and I spent together doing as little as possible.  Believe it or not, a day of rest was very welcome from being constantly on the go the rest of the week.  We read and enjoyed sitting out on our balcony and enjoying the cool weather.  We even had our meals out on the balcony.  It was a very restful and enjoyable day.  We went for a walk along the lake in the late afternoon.

We live in such a beautiful world.

Guatemala Trip - Saturday -Day Six

The three volcanos around Lake Atlitlan were San Pedro, Atlitlan and Toliman.  We got up very early to take pictures.  It was a beautiful cool morning and Dad got some beautiful shots of the area.

 Here we are all ready for our trip across Lake Atlitlan.  It was about a 45 minute ride across the lake and we visited three different villages, San Juan del Lago which is famous for their weaving using all natural dyes and fibers, then to San Pedro and then to Santiago Atlitlan. 

 Here are some views of the area from the boat

 Laundry day down at the lake.

 When we would get to the villages we would all climb in to a "tuc tuc", which is this 3 wheeled vehicle powered by something less than a lawn mower engine, and ride to the top of the village and then we would walk down through the villages seeing the different shops and buildings

 This church was in the village of San Pedro.

San Pedro (Saint Peter) with his keys in front of the church.  It is very interesting that all of the statues of San Pedro we have seen (and we have seen a lot), he always has keys.

This is a painting we got at Santiago Atlitlan. It was very interesting that, counting the village we stayed at, we went to 4 villages, and in all of them people were selling paintings of the lake and the volcanoes . . . and almost all of them were exactly alike!  Same view, same colors, etc.  We bought this one because it was different.  Lake Atlitlan really is a beautiful place though, and worth the visit.