Does anyone read this anymore?

Well, we have this nice family blog, does anyone ever check this out anymore? Its been a pretty long time since I've seen a post... comment or post if you're out there.

Its been awhile

I know that we have more memories than we have been sharing, but I think we are all busy people so we don't come here very often and it slips our mind. I'm trying to think of something good to share here.

I remember staying with Grandma and Grandpa Soper in St. George. The house was always incredible clean. We had so many choices for breakfast. There was a running joke about breakfast cereal. If you were out of cereal, but still had milk you had a refill. The same if you were out of milk , but you still had cereal. Grandma always had those ice cream pops for us, the ones that you push the stick up so you can get more ice cream. And she was have us drink alovera juice. She was a firm believer of alovera, but we really prefered the orange juice. We loved our grandma so we drank it down anyway (I made sure to hold my breath).

We had wooden tulips every where from Grandpa's workshop. He was quite the expert in making wooden flowers. I wonder where all of the tulips ended up.

When I was on my mission, about 5 years after Grandpa past away a few months after Grandma past on I was having a difficult time. I was feeling discouraged with the work. The work wasn't going anywhere and I wasn't getting along with my companion. I was feeling really low. I had a dream that I entered into a room. There were a lot of people in that room that I didn't know, but they all seemed to recognize me. On one side of the room were Grandma and Grandpa. I felt their love for me and I could feel how proud they were of me. In my dream I felt to my knees and began to cry. I felt warmth and love from all those in the room even though I only recognized two of them. I had the feeling that Grandma and Grandpa knew these other people and that they must also be related to me. I don't remember if anything was said, but what was felt couldn't be denied. When I woke up I still had the warm feeling deep within my heart. I knew that the feelings were too intense to be just a normal dream. I believe that Grandpa and Grandma came to visit me that day to let me know that I wasn't alone and that I was loved deeply.

I know they still watch over us today.

You know I'd like to say something here. I'm very proud of Nate for his effort to help keep the memories of this family. I love you for this Nate. (Chuck) I have a grundle of memories about all of you and of my parents and brothers etc. I will spend my new found time sharing on here what I know so that it will not be lost ever.

Thanks again Nate for this effort to inspire your family especially me. I love you muchly family - all of you!!!

I remember being very loved as a child. I was nurtured by just about everyone. I didn't even learn to walk until I was almost 17 months old because everyone would carry me everywhere. Especially my sweet Bro, Rob. There's a picture somewhere of him carrying me. It's a very significant picture for me. He does that even now when I'm down. He picks me up now with his laughter and his love. I'll always be grateful to Heavenly Father for my Bro, Rob. I just love him so much.

After our brother, Kerry died, we didn't do very well until we found a place of humor and then we both were able to start healing. Kerry had a heart condition from the time that we were very young. I said to Rob, "I always thought that Kerry would die of health conditions." Rob's famous response, "Well, Ellie, I'd like to see you survive getting hit by a truck." In that moment I felt not only Rob and I laughing, but also Kerry right there with us. We laughed for a full five minutes to the point of tears. It got easier after that. Thank God for my brother Rob.

I had a situation this week that was actually very shocking and painful. Of course, I turned, again, to my bro, Rob. He picked me up with laughter and concern and got me back on my perspective again. Thank you again dear Heavenly Father for my dear sweet brother.

I wish I remembered more

I think I've shared almost all of the memories I still have of grandma and grandpa. I really wish I could remember more. It makes me glad to think that I'll see them again because they are slowly slipping out of my head right now. I'm not old and senile like some of you so there really isn't any excuse for memory loss, I just don't remember. I hope that we can remember together, that was my hope for this blog, as well as staying in touch.

Staying close

As life goes along it is so easy to grow apart from different members of our family. People move away for work or for school. People grow up and get jobs and families and thus they get busy. We spread ourselves every which way just to make ends meet and to make our lives better. But distance is only really as far away as we make it.

I go out to lunch with my mom and Tony (her boyfriend) every week. I am glad that I am taking the time to go out to lunch with them every week. I always look forward to talking to those two because they always make me feel so good. I know that years from now when mom and Tony are gone that I will be so grateful that I took the time to be with both of them every week.

So here is a challenge for all of you. Find a way to stay close to somebody in the family. Maybe you can call them more often, or email them more often. You could include them in your plans. There are so many things we can do to stay close and some of them are as simple as taking five minutes to call and ask, “how are you doing?” I think that if you take this challenge seriously you will find out just how awesome this family of ours really is.

I want some comments to see who is willing to take this challenge with me. Oh and spread the word to all the other family members who may not be reading this blog.

More mouse stories

I am pasting this from an email from Autn Lynnae:

Both Shane and I have separate MOUSE stories, too. Shane's just happened this past winter, with a whole mouse family infesting their current house in Hurricane. I'm sure he could tell you the story in better detail. They kept finding mice in the toilet, in the washer and dryer, and everywhere else. Becky gave Shane an ultimatum: "Get rid of all the mice - OR ELSE !!!" I think they finally got rid of them all.

My mouse story happened in Draper when I was pregnant with Shane. We had mice in that house all the time, so traps were set on a regular basis. One day, a tiny mouse was caught only by the foot, so although he was weakened, he was nowhere near dead, and he was dragging MY trap back to his little mouse home. His front door was a rather large hole between the wall and the baseboard, so taking that trap all the way to his living room was a definite possibility. I didn't want to hurt him, but on the other hand I did not want him stealing my trap and then having an object lesson for teaching all his brothers and sisters and cousins what to avoid. So I, too, got out a shoe (Kerry's shoe, of course). And I hit the little mouse with it. But I didn't hit hard enough. It only stunned him. Then he came to, and started dragging the trap again. So I hit him again. Still not hard enough. The dragging continued. Then a third blow from the shoe. (He was a tough little mouse!) By the time he recovered and again started dragging that trap, I was in tears and almost hysterical. I hit him over and over and over, crying the whole time, "Please die. I'm so sorry! Please die! I'm so sorry!" He finally stopped moving. I left the shoe on top of him so I couldn't see him, and left it all for Kerry to take care of when he got home. And I did NOT go back into that room the rest of the day!

That was the same house where bats lived in our attic...
Strange memories from 1971...

Other Memories

I guess I was not involved in the yard work to use the pool part, but I do remember how Kerry really like to keep things neat and clean. I sometimes wish I was that way, but I live in a different mental world.
I have memories of Kerry's pool and how much fun it was to go over and party on hot summer days. The food was always really good, even if we brought part of it. I remember his cool deck off the back of that house in Holiday.
It is hard not to miss my brother, but I know he is happy and was needed for other teaching assignments. I just hope I get to finish what I need to do here, before I go on to other teaching assignments.
On the other hand I have another brother and we don't talk very often. We need to get talk more often.

Kerry's Pool's Rules

I remember when Uncle Kerry lived in Holiday. He had a pool and this meant that we hung out at his house a lot. He always expected us to earn the pool by doing yard work. At the beginning of each "pool season" Kerry would read off the rules. Does anybody remember what the rules were?

I remember that we had a lot of good times in that pool. We always seemed to eat very well too. It seems like that was so long ago.