Memories of my Grandpa Whitaker

I love thinking about my grandpa. 

I have so many sweet memories. 

He often made me laugh with his silly jokes or by scarring me or startling me. 

He always gave tight warm hugs. 

He always had a kind smile and words of love as we greeted or departed. 

He told many stories from his past which I cherish. 

I loved playing games and watching him tease grandma. 

I loved hearing him pray. It was sincere and a true conversation with our father in heaven. 

I loved seeing how much he loved my grandma. He showed her by sweet gifts like roses and jewelry. But it also showed as he gently held her shoulders or put an arm around her or gave her a sweet kiss. 

I miss him dearly. My heart aches for my grandma! How hard it must be to have the person you have lived with for 67 years gone. Only temporarily of coarse, but still gone. It was an emotional day for me. A speaker at the funeral services said something like, "being sad doesn't lessen your testimony of the plan of salvation. It's painful because you love them and miss them." I know we will see him again. 

How exciting and glorious that day will be. I'm so grateful for the love my grandpa had for me. 

Sometimes I wonder how our Father in Heaven can love us all so completely. 

But my grandpa loved all us grandchildren in a similar way. 

I think it was my aunt Trisha who said our love never stops growing. 

As much love we pour out of our pitcher the pitcher continues to be full. 

I hope I can love like my grandpa loved. 

I hope I can work hard like he did. 

I hope I can serve like he served.

I hope I can continue to transform into the daughter of God I am meant to be like he transformed into the Son of God he was meant to be. 

I hope I can continue his legacy. 

How I love my grandpa and am grateful for the choices he made and life he lived! 

Pictures from a family party 2012

Grandpa probably joking around

Immediate love afterwards

Tickling toes was a common occurrence

My dad's funny family. My dad constantly provokes his sisters.

Pictures from the funeral.

History Lesson

I found some great pictures of my family on family search. 

I love these old photos.

I love feeling a connection to these people.

These are my mom's parents. Dick and Bonnie. 

This couple is my grandpa Dick's parents. Francis and Henrietta Hope.

This is another photo of Henrietta. 

She served a mission in the Northern States. 

This is her farewell announcement below.

My mom said she was very intelligent and served as a 

secretary to the mission president. 

This is my 4th great grandma Lucy Pratt. 

My mothers fathers fathers grandmother.

She is a daughter of Parley P. Pratt.

One of the early apostles of the church. 

My grandpa Dick with his family. My Grandpa is top left.

Platt Family Reunion

I spent a few days with my mom last week. Majority of our time was spent on Family History projects, which I loved! My mom has a plethora of pictures and I got to scan some of them onto her computer. I loved learning about my mom's family. I even found the talk my Grandma gave before she and my Grandpa left for their 18 month mission to Brazil. It was so sweet to hear her testimony, to see her handwriting, and read the words she personally wrote. I feel more eagerness to learn about her because we are using her name, Yvonne, as Olive's middle name. I want to teach Olive all about her Great-grandma Yvonne!

We had our Platt Family Reunion this last week. It was a nice gathering on a very hot day in Layton at a Park. My mom told stories and her brother Keith shared some jokes from (his) Grandpa Platt. He got everyone laughing. We then ate food, visited, and watched kids run around with squirt bottles. The squirt bottles were a brilliant idea! It was over 100*, luckily with a slight breeze. It is always nice to be gathered with family. One cousin I haven't seen for years, I didn't even recognize at first. Garrett is in the Military and just got home from Afghanistan a few months ago. It was good to catch up with him and also meet his wife for the first time.

Andy was the photographer. So here are some of the pictures from our event.

Colin was roasting, but still the cutest baby ever!
 She was so happy despite the very warm day.

We don't have any family gatherings without homemade root beer.

We had photos and old yearbooks laying out for everyone to
glance through. It's nice for those who are new to the family.

Carlee was stuck to her "brandma" cause her momma was busy
with a brand new baby.

Charlie was so busy with the squirt bottles and water that he never
ate any lunch. Before leaving he finally sat down for some pretzels.

This is Garrett being chased by the squirt bottle gang.

My cousin Aaron and his wife Lauren and their
son Dexter. We tried getting pictures of all the families
but we weren't very successful. I'm glad we got one
of them though. They are such a cute little family :)

This is my cousin Richard's daughter Boston. She was a cutie
playing with my mom.

Now this was a funny story! Andy snuck a good shot,
probably without permission. But this is my Uncle Keith
who accidently sat on a Chocolate Cupcake.

My mom tried getting a picture with all the kids. It's impossible
to get them to look at the same time.

Charlie's favorite spot by the water.

  I choose summer anytime over winter, even with the 100* weather.

 I'm glad our family gets together and look forward to the reunions to come!

Memorial Day

I read that Memorial Day is officially to remember those who died in the military service. I am grateful for those dedicated men and women who served our country! I don't know anyone personally who died serving our country. I always thought that this holiday was to remember our deceased ancestors. So, much of my thoughts were turned toward them.

As i think about having a little girl, i think about the things i want to teach her. One of the things i want  to teach her is who she is and where she comes from. 

My mom gave me a picture frame of my matriarchal line last year. It starts with me, then has a picture of my mother Jill, then a picture of her mother Yvonne (Bonnie), and then her mother Ruth, and then her mother Diantha. I love learning about these faithful women and i love knowing i come from them. 

The visits we took to various graves, was in a way, for baby Olive. 

We first visited my great grandma Ruth. She is buried next to her two husbands. Her first husband died of a heart attack at age 33. She was pregnant with their 3rd child. I can't imagine what a challenge that would have been. She remained a faithful and hard working woman. She went to work to support her 3 children. Years later, i am not sure how much later, she met Daniel, my great grandfather. He had also lost his first spouse, i am not sure how. But Daniel and Ruth were married and had my grandma, Yvonne Rae, although she was called Bonnie throughout her life. They lived in a small miners town called Dividend. My grandma said they grew up like hillbillies :) Ruth and Daniel are buried in the Bountiful Cemetery. 

Later in the day we went and visited my grandparents. I knew them. I love them. I remember staying at their house, eating Popsicle's, playing games, jumping on their tramp, and watching Shirley Temple movies. My grandpa died from heart failure when i was 11 years old. My grandma passed away 3 years ago. They were such good people! My grandpa served a mission in Brazil as a young man and then after retirement he and my grandma were called to serve in the San Paulo Brazil Temple. My grandma learned Portuguese! It was fun to hear her blurt it out every now and then. My grandma Bonnie was a school teacher before she had children and after the kids were all in school themselves. She taught for 20 years! She must have been a great teacher and loved what she did. I admire her. 

It felt very special to visit them with Charlie and Olive in the oven. Charlie wanted to do Ring around the Rosie on the grave. I imagined my grandma doing it there with him. 

I am so grateful to know that i will see my grandparents again. We are all connected and are connected for eternity. Their faith and righteousness throughout their life encourages me to do my best and continue their legacy. I want Olive to know these things and feel it as well. 

Dora Bell

This is my Grandma Grace's Grandmother. Her name is Dora Bell Lister McNeil. My grandma recently gave me a written history of her and her husbands life.

Family History is exciting! But my favorite part about it is reading the stories behind the names and dates. Dora Bell was a neat gal. She was born in Indiana in 1863 and grew up there until she was a young woman. Her family was taught and converted by missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They then moved to the Salt Lake Valley and started a new life.

I love the description given of Dora Bell, "dark eyes and a sweet smile were matched by a bubbly personality and a sweet loving spirit". The history talks about how she was sought after by many young men. But it was Robert McNeil, who became her dance partner, that won her heart. They were married in the Logan Temple. They then followed the encouragement of the prophet, President Snow, to spread out into other states. This cute young couple moved to Idaho. They lived in a tent for a summer and started their farm from nothing. Dora Bell was pregnant during this new period and endured through the challenges.

Its incredible to me how tough she was. She and Robert often talked about a dream home but it never came. They worked and labored so long with no worldly luxuries. They had the gospel and each other and they had joy.

I feel so much gratitude for her and all those early Saints. They were laying a foundation for future generations. And now we live in a world where we have every luxury at our fingertips. It made me realize how little we really need. True happiness doesn't come from materials, it comes from the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST and our FAMILIES. I cannot express my deep gratitude for them. How I love this woman, Dora Bell!

Looking Back

For Christmas, my mom got each of the kids in the family, photo's of our ancestors. It's something I have been asking for, for a while. I don't know exactly what it is...but i love pictures of past relatives. I don't know them personally but i feel we have a connection. So, I bought frames for all my new photos and have them sitting on our dresser in our bedroom. Every time I look at them I think and feel many things. 

They lived in a completely different world than we do. I am not sure who has had it harder. I look up to them and think they did, but I wonder if they think they are glad they were around when they were. Life was so simple. 

This is James and Annie Manson from my mom's side of the family. I wish I knew more about them, but I don't. I'm working on it. I have this big idea of gathering photo's and stories. I want to teach my children their names and what their life was like. It will be like they are any other family member...which they are.