Sick Days

Gee, it seems that all of our family have been sick lately, so I thought I'd join the party.  But today I felt a little better and got up for awhile.  Sorry no pictures of the experience - you would have to be there.  Oh that's right . . . you've been there.  So no need for graphic representations.  But I do have a little something to spice up this post.  Not able to do much, I am at least doing a little something productive.  I am scanning in a bunch of paper filling my filing cabinet.  This includes the letters I sent home from my first mission to NYC and Brazil.  In one of the envelopes I found the photo below.  This is of Elder Dalley (Orem, UT), myself, and Elder Bushman (George, WA) with a street meeting board in front of their (Elder Dalley spoke Spanish and his companion spoke English) apartment in Jersey City.  They lived in a basement apartment down some stairs just to the right of Elder Bushman where that wrought iron railing is.  They lived just around the corner from us, so we lived in an apartment on the street you can see in the background, where the Marlow's store is.  Our apartment was on the third floor, over a drug store and next to a firehouse.

And here is a little piece of a letter I wrote about that place on 1 July 1974, just after moving from Jersey City to Greenpoint Brooklyn: "Hermano Collazo . . . was standing out front waiting and whistling for us to go down and let him in.  Elder Bushman went to the window to throw down the keys and as soon as he got to the window this car comes zipping around the corner with 2 cop cars behind it and 2 cops running along side shooting at it.  That was one thing about Jersey, never a dull moment."

Among the other things I remembered as I glanced over the letters as I scanned them was all of the interesting people I got to meet while in the Eastern States Mission, including Elder McConkie, President Kimball, President Benson, Elder Ashton, Allan Cherry, Robert Peterson, Spencer Kinnard, and Kresmir Cosic.  And those are just the ones you may recognize.  Others include Bishop Mabunga, Brother Giani, Hno. Arias, Brother Rose, Bishop Jimenez, Luis Zamora, Tuly and Guido Peñaranda, and a host of great missionaries.  It was a rich experience that I am grateful to have had.

Gilbert

Within hours of our arrival (we will not detail our flight delays) we were on the road to the Mesa AZ area to attend the Gilbert Temple open house and to visit family.  The temple is very very beautiful, and seemed huge compared to the ones we are used to attending.  One of the guides there indicated that it is the largest temple the Church has built for about 18 years.  After the temple excursion mom & I went to visit Uncle Arnold and Aunt Donna and then caught up with the Hogges at the Fishers.  There we had all kinds of fun, including the Hoffmans, but there are no photos as we were having too much fun to think of taking photos.  We yakked it up, ate pizza and watched some of the olympics.  What a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

Misión San Xavier - más que docientos años y aún vive

Since the forecast was for rain this last weekend in YC, we decided to cut out and visit sunny AZ.  Actually, this trip has been planned for a long time, the intent being to avoid the really hot weather later in the year.  We have had some great times here already and are looking forward to more this week.  Yesterday we went to a local Catholic Mission established by the Franciscan Order in the 1690's.  It is undergoing restoration and is quite the place.  Here are some photos from our trip.

As you can see, they are doing a great job of restoration.  The left tower is done and they are starting on the right one.

 

These two are overhead shots of a model of the complex.

The model is very well done and the grounds are beautiful.

 There is a little hill to the east of the church with a cross on it.

In front of it they had a spot where the local native american tribe sells food - navajo fry bread with a wide variety of really good stuff on it.  I was sorely tempted as it smelled so good.

 The two lions guarding the path around the little hill.

 My attempt at a cool shot - an attempt to imitate Leigh-Ann.

 The church and grounds from the hill.

 This is a little chapel to the left of the main church, in a cactus garden.

 A baby saguaro with another pretty cactus behind it.

 More cactus garden, with a little grave marker in it.  I like the way they have the variety of cactus plants located around the courtyard.

 What you might expect AZ to look like.

What it really looks like - all green and pretty.

 I thought this turned out quite well for being in front of a window.

 The gang in front of one of the lions.

Escaped.

Cabinets and countertop are in

Here is the beginning of the new look.  We still need to hook up the plumbing, the reduced sized mirrors, modify the lighting, paint, and install the rest of the fixtures around the bathroom. But it is beginning to come together.  The realization is hitting us hard that remodeling involves far more than one sees looking at it in the future.  It takes longer, costs more, and involves more complexity than we considered going into it.  Of course if we stayed home more . . . . . naaaaaaah.  We still need to keep our priorities straight.  I must say, however, that we are very pleased with the outcome so far.  The colors are coming out well - something that we were very concerned about - and the better use of the space for storage is wonderful!  We have decided to go with brushed nickel finish for all of the fixtures and are very pleased with that decision.  Having looked again at these photos I notice that the lighting is not good and distorts the true colors.  Oh well, you should get the idea and we'll work on better photos in the next update.

By the way, yesterday we also put in our potatoes and onions and last night it rained.  The rain is forcast to continue through the weekend.  So the fasting of all the Saints last Sunday was efficacious, and we are grateful to the Fount of all of our blessings.

Lois Charlotte Ottley Flegal

A week ago last Saturday we attended the funeral of Aunt Lois.  She was 96 years old and had lived a full and faithful life.  She would always tell me that she wanted to live to be 100 because she was having so much fun with her family.  She missed her sweetheart so much but just loved being with her family.  It has brought back some great memories as I have thought back on time spent with Aunt Lois.  Many of the speakers at the funeral mentioned that that each of the grandchildren thought they were the favorite one and it was no different for me.  I always remember the warm hug and welcome.  I think she was the only one that still called me Joannie and I didn't mind.  It was a sweet term of love to me.  When  I talked to my cousin Anadel she told me that Aunt Lois always called her Annie.  We went to Aunt Lois and Uncle Dave's often in our growing up years.  We never left without having some kind of treat, usually ice cream or some of her bottled fruit.

She was the last one of Frederic Joseph and Lydia Ethel Ottley's children to pass on.  At the funeral I saw so many of my cousins that I hadn't seen in so long.  It was a time of great rejoicing as we gathered together as a great family.  Here in the picture from left to right:  Lorraine, Elden, Della, Fern, Florence, Lois, Pyrcle, Raymond.  My Dad and Aunt Lois were the youngest in the family.  Dad was three years younger than Aunt Lois and used to say he never knew there was chicken in chicken noodle soup until he was a grown man. And that he and Aunt Lois would get in trouble for laughing at the table.

These are a couple of my favorite pictures.  My Mom and Dad with Aunt Lois and Uncle Dave.  They loved to do things together.  My Dad used to go and pick up all of my aunts and uncles in his van and take them when ever there was a family event, wedding, reunion, or just getting together.

Then as our family grew up, Aunt Lois was there to welcome our new additions.  When we would visit, she would ask about every one of our kids: "how are they doing, what are they doing, tell them that I love them".

  Always welcome, and always something good to share.

We stopped and visited before we left for El Salvador.  I found out at the funeral that every letter I sent to her she would share with the family.

When we got back, Aunt Lois was in the care center after falling, so we had a great visit there.  I thought there was no way she  would worry about giving us something good to eat, but she found a way.  People had brought her treats and she shared with us.

Left to right:  Lois, Della, Raymond, Elden, Pyrcle, (center, sitting) Florence, Fern and Lorraine.  Truly we are blessed because of our family who has gone on before us and have held fast to their testimony and love of the gospel.  They have been an example of love and sharing all they had and have worn out their lives in service to others.  Though these wonderful people have gone forward to their heavenly home, we still feel their love, support and caring concern of us.