The Help

I just finished reading the book The Help.  I certainly had mixed feelings about it.  We have been reading it for our book club.  We meet next week, and it will be interesting to see what the others thought about it.  I haven’t seen the movie, but I understand that it is very close to the book.  It took me a while to get into the book.  I thought it was interesting, but a little predictable.  Although in one sense, it is loosly based on the events of the 60’s.   I do have to admit I was appalled at the selfishness and shallowness of most of the “white” women in the book.

Although I was in my teens in the 60’s, I remember a few events.  Unfortunately I don’t remember as much as I wish I did.  I had the disease of the teens, self-absorbment.  I do remember watching the civil disobedience taking place in the south.  I also remember hearing about those civil rights workers trying to help register the African Americans to vote.  I remember the Arkansas nine, those students who wanted to go to the University of Arkansas and Governor Wallace blocking their way into the administration building.  (Unbelievable)  I remember watching on TV the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Watts riots.  It was amazing to see the destruction take place in California. 

Organize

Today I decided that I would organize my yarn and fabric.  Actually by organize, I thought I would just get it all in the same place.  Needless to say, it was an exercise in futility!  I’m still looking and finding yarn and fabric poked in holes and sacks.  Soon I’ll get it all together.  In the meantime I do have grand visions of making things.  I have lots of visions and ideas, just no time.

I’ve got all kinds of yarn, I’m thinking of making crochet caps and trying to sell them.  I also thought about making granny square Afghans.  I also have been trying to find a pattern for a little girl’s dress I used to make.  I have looked and looked and can’t find it.  I’ll keep looking. 

Then I have fabric up the wazoo.  I’ve got lots of pretty Hawaiian print fabric, not sure what I’m going to do with it.  I have made quilts for my little grand kids.  But I’d have to have 30 more grand kids to use up all the fabric.  Then I thought I would make cute little Hawaiian outfits for them.  Again I need time.  I also have a pattern for aprons that is kind of nice.  I have thought of making block quilts, but not sure how.  So I’m checking Pinterest to see what I can find.  Wish me luck!

My Favorite Places

I’ve been thinking of where my favorite places in the world are.  Of course, I haven’t been to very many places in comparison to other people, but I think of several places fondly.  I guess the first one would have to be my childhood home in Springlake.  The next would have to be Hawaii, and then I would have to say the Reservation.  Last of course, is where I live now in St. George.  Each one of these, and many others, hold a place in my heart.  Why? because significant events have happened in each one.

When I was growing up, Springlake was just a dot on the map.  There were maybe 200 people there, and that’s if you took in all the fields.  Now it has grown considerably, but when I was young it was a small, safe place to be.  I think fondly of riding my bike to the little store and buying penny candy.  I think of all the many nights we went down to the church, and played red light, green light on the lawn.  I remember one night walking down to Margie’s and we had just seen the movie The Birds.  Along the wires above our head sat thousands of birds.  We screamed and ran.  I loved skating on the lake in winter time.  I also remember going down in the bulrushes by Margie’s and playing all day long.  I don’t think my mother ever worried about me, because it was so safe.  Springlake will always be home.  It will continue to bring that warm secure feeling of  being accepted.

Of course, my next favorite place is Hawaii.  I had several significant events happen while living in Hawaii.  The most important is meeting Eti.  While we were there, single, we had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends.  When we went back after we were married, we had significant life changing events happen.  We had two of our children born there.  We received our education there and graduated.  Our marriage was tried and tested and we succeed while there.  I remember shipping our car over and it seemed like every Saturday we went sightseeing or to the beach.  We had a lot of fun with Susi and David and eventually Eric.  Unfortunately for Emilee, she was only five weeks old when we left.  We had many faith promoting experiences in Hawaii.  We lived right by the temple and spent a lot of time there.  I learned to love the forthrightness of the Polynesians and their ability to love.

Like Hawaii we had many life changing experiences on the reservation.  I also learned to love and appreciate the Native American Culture.  I learned to love the students I taught.  We had many enjoyable experiences there.  It was there that Eti became a Bishop, certainly a trying time in his life.  It was there where I learned what true service was like. It was there that we had Ta’ei.  It was there where we met and made good friends that will never be forgotten, namely Barbara.  Barbara taught me more about handling students in a classroom than any education class I took.  I will forever be grateful to her and miss her so.  I hope that she has found peace and comfort.  It was on the reservation that I learned to truly love the desert.  I love the wide open spaces and the colored rocks.  I love the cedar trees and the sage brush.  I learned to love the heat and the cold.  I loved to see what I could do in my yard with a little work and some water.  I will always have fond memories of living there.  I believe that our time on the reservation truly shaped the lives of not only Eti and I, but of Susi, David and Eric.  Emilee and Ta’ei were so young when we left that they missed out on some of those wonderful experiences.

St. George is a wonderful place to live.  When we moved here, it felt like a spiritual experience.  Where we moved to, became a spiritual experience.  We were driving past the house and this woman ran out with a flyer.  We stopped and saw the house.  There was such a feeling, it was like coming home.  We brought the kids over to see it and they loved it.  We reminded them that it was small, but they didn’t care.  I reminded them that there would be no fighting.  It has been a good home.  We moved to be closer to mom.  She was getting older, and we knew she would need our help.  In some small way, I hope we were.  At least I hope she was not as lonely.  We will die here in St. George.  I don’t see us going anywhere else.  We love the desert around us.  We love the fact that we are close to Zions, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Pine Valley and all the other spectacular sights that are in driving distance.  I could go on about the trips and the friends we have made and the places we work, but that will be for another day.

This is now the place for us. 

My favorite Places

I’ve been thinking of where my favorite places in the world are.  Of course, I haven’t been to very many places in comparison to other people, but I think of several places fondly.  I guess the first one would have to be my childhood home in Springlake.  The next would have to be Hawaii, and then I would have to say the Reservation.  Last of course, is where I live now in St. George.  Each one of these, and many others, hold a place in my heart.  Why? because significant events have happened in each one.

When I was growing up, Springlake was just a dot on the map.  There were maybe 200 people there, and that’s if you took in all the fields.  Now it has grown considerably, but when I was young it was a small, safe place to be.  I think fondly of riding my bike to the little store and buying penny candy.  I think of all the many nights we went down to the church, and played red light, green light on the lawn.  I remember one night walking down to Margie’s and we had just seen the movie The Birds.  Along the wires above our head sat thousands of birds.  We screamed and ran.  I loved skating on the lake in winter time.  I also remember going down in the bulrushes by Margie’s and playing all day long.  I don’t think my mother ever worried about me, because it was so safe.  Springlake will always be home.  It will continue to bring that warm secure feeling of  being accepted.

Of course, my next favorite place is Hawaii.  I had several significant events happen while living in Hawaii.  The most important is meeting Eti.  While we were there, single, we had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends.  When we went back after we were married, we had significant life changing events happen.  We had two of our children born there.  We received our education there and graduated.  Our marriage was tried and tested and we succeed while there.  I remember shipping our car over and it seemed like every Saturday we went sightseeing or to the beach.  We had a lot of fun with Susi and David and eventually Eric.  Unfortunately for Emilee, she was only five weeks old when we left.  We had many faith promoting experiences in Hawaii.  We lived right by the temple and spent a lot of time there.  I learned to love the forthrightness of the Polynesians and their ability to love.

Like Hawaii we had many life changing experiences on the reservation.  I also learned to love and appreciate the Native American Culture.  I learned to love the students I taught.  We had many enjoyable experiences there.  It was there that Eti became a Bishop, certainly a trying time in his life.  It was there where I learned what true service was like. It was there that we had Ta’ei.  It was there where we met and made good friends that will never be forgotten, namely Barbara.  Barbara taught me more about handling students in a classroom than any education class I took.  I will forever be grateful to her and miss her so.  I hope that she has found peace and comfort.  It was on the reservation that I learned to truly love the desert.  I love the wide open spaces and the colored rocks.  I love the cedar trees and the sage brush.  I learned to love the heat and the cold.  I loved to see what I could do in my yard with a little work and some water.  I will always have fond memories of living there.  I believe that our time on the reservation truly shaped the lives of not only Eti and I, but of Susi, David and Eric.  Emilee and Ta’ei were so young when we left that they missed out on some of those wonderful experiences.

St. George is a wonderful place to live.  When we moved here, it felt like a spiritual experience.  Where we moved to, became a spiritual experience.  We were driving past the house and this woman ran out with a flyer.  We stopped and saw the house.  There was such a feeling, it was like coming home.  We brought the kids over to see it and they loved it.  We reminded them that it was small, but they didn’t care.  I reminded them that there would be no fighting.  It has been a good home.  We moved to be closer to mom.  She was getting older, and we knew she would need our help.  In some small way, I hope we were.  At least I hope she was not as lonely.  We will die here in St. George.  I don’t see us going anywhere else.  We love the desert around us.  We love the fact that we are close to Zions, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Pine Valley and all the other spectacular sights that are in driving distance.  I could go on about the trips and the friends we have made and the places we work, but that will be for another day.

This is now the place for us. 

My childhood home

Hawaii

Cnyon de Chelly

Old Mormon Fort - Tuba City

Saint George, UT

Pinterest

Yeah!  Christmas!

Pinterest.   Awwwwww.  I started Pinning this weekend, and I can’t decide if I like it or not.  I think that it’s fun to see the new ideas.  In fact, I’ve found a couple of ideas that I’m going to try for gifts.  But as I look at it and spend the time gazing through all the pictures, I’m not sure anyone cares what I think is interesting or not.  I guess it’s kind of fun to see what others like, but I’m not sure I should be spending the time I am looking at it.  I’ve read on Facebook of some people spending five and six hours on pinterest.  Really?  Who has that kind of time? I guess I do.  I certainly have not spent five or six hours at one time, but I have spent some time on it.  I keep thinking of new boards I can create and ideas that I could pin.  I have even put a link here on my blog to my pinterest.  Well, look or don’t.  Enjoy.

If you get the chance to look at my boards and have any suggestions, please give them to me.  It seems like my outdoors board and my board of places I’d like to go are very similar.  Also I think my educational ideas and my books worth reading board are also similar.  Maybe not.  There is a fine line.

I sit here thinking, who comes up with these ideas?   How ingenious to create Facebook, Myspace, Linkdin, Pinterest, and all the others.  Do I have an idea that maybe I could use to make money?  Sometimes I wonder. 

Cute idea!

Mitzi and Butch

As I was talking to Beverly tonight, she reminded me about the childhood pets I had.  My Dad loved Boston Terriers, and we had two while I was growing up.  Mitzi was the first dog we had.  She was probably my best friend.  I would sit in the middle of the living room, and she would run and jump up on every piece of furniture in the room.  The harder I’d laugh, the faster she would run.  She would just keep going and going.  I’m not really sure I appreciated her personality and her willingness to please me.  One day we found her, and someone had kicked her and wrapped her lungs up around her heart.  It was devastating.  Mitzi is buried in the back of the house by the great big tree.   Never fear, she is not alone, if I count correctly, there are three more Boston Terriers with her.

Next we had Butch.  I remember tearing Kleenex and tossing it in the air, and Butch jumping up to get it.  Of course, I laughed.  I would do this in the car with all the windows down, and he would race around the back seat, so funny.  Butch went everywhere with us.  I remember one time we went to Canada, and along the way we camped by the Salmon River in Idaho.  Butch got in stinging nettle.  That poor dog suffered.  We bathed him in soda water, we tried lotions. We tried everything we could think of to give him the comfort and relief he needed.   

I remember once Mom making me a Little Lulu doll out of Kleenex, and Butch thinking he was playing with me got his teeth into it and tore it up.  He would shake his head ripping it around.  I'm sure he thought it was entertainment.  I cried and cried, and I was so angry with the him.  However, I eventually got over it. 

For those of you who knew my dad, remember he took care of his cars.  They were always immaculately cleaned.  He would go out after a rain storm and wipe his cars down.  He washed and waxed them all the time. He taught me to wash the tires so the white walls were always white. 

Anyway, I remember that on Sunday nights we would go over to the Polar Queen and get a quart of soft ice cream.  We were never, I mean never allowed to eat in Daddy’s car.  However, he would always get a bowl of ice cream for the dog, and the dog could eat in the car.  When I look back on it now, it seems a little unfair but Daddy always said the dog cleaned up his mess.  Daddy loved those dogs.  If Mom was cooking, he would tell her to fry up some hamburger for the dog, or put an egg on for the dog. 

One day Keith went out in the car to drive to the store, and Butch started chasing him.  Keith wasn’t aware of him, and ran over him.  I remember Keith was probably 17, and he cried and cried.  We buried Butch in the back under the tree by Mitzi. 

Student Athletes

I’m sitting here listening to the DHHS vs PV basketball game and thinking about the players that I have in class.  I don’t know when I have worked with a finer group of young men.  There is so much to say about the youth of today, good and bad, but these are definitely some of the best.  These are young men who I would say are overall GREAT.  They are respectful, courteous, kind and smart.  They are hard workers, whether it is on the court or in the classroom. 

Each year that I have taught, I have been privileged to work with fine young people.  I have loved my job and the opportunity I have had to get to know such fine students.    Each year I learn something from my classes and this year is no different.  These young men have proven to me once again, that our future is bright.  They will be leaders in their communities.  They will be leaders in their professions, and they will be leaders in their homes and churches.  I’m sure that I have gained more from them than what I have given them.  I only hope that something I have said or done this year will be of benefit to them.  They have a bright future ahead of them.  I know with the work ethic they have, and the integrity they posses, they will be just fine.

Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day . . . A day for sweethearts.

Valentine’s day at the high school is always so exciting.  It is fun to watch as students carry around the gifts from their “sweethearts.”  I’m always amazed at how much money is spent on this day.  As I look at these students and think about how much they think they’re in love.  I want to tell them that what they’re feeling is fun but infatuation, not true love.

True love comes from spending a life together.  It’s hard work and play.  It’s struggling with jobs and then careers, it’s worrying and fretting over children.  It’s coming together on how you want to raise them and discipline them.  It’s learning to put the needs and desires of your mate ahead of your own.  Love is this and so much more.  It’s wondering what would I ever do without him?  It’s wanting what is best for him and being angry beyond measure when someone hurts him.  It’s laughing at his jokes and thinking he is the sexiest man alive.    It’s putting up with him constantly being busy and gone, but realizing that he loves you anyway.  Love is wanting to spend eternity with him. 

Happy Valentine’s Day, Eti.  I love you!

I have shared some valentine’s quotes.

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.    Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.  Anais Nin

From quiet homes and first beginning, Out to the undiscovered ends, There's nothing worth the wear of winning, But laughter and the love of friends.   Hilaire Belloc

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.  Charles M. Schulz

Life is the flower for which love is the honey.     Victor Hugo

Women

Mom in California, probably 1946.

Mom and I in Yellowstone, probably 1957.

Mom in front of the house, probably 1955.


I was thinking yesterday about the women who have had the biggest influence in my life, and of course, there are too many to talk about.  I would like to discuss a few.  As you would imagine my mother is at the top of the list.  As I was growing up,  the characteristic I most observed in my mother was her ability to work.  Even as I grew older and had my own children, my mother could work circles around me.  At least that’s what I thought, when I look back on it now, she did work circles around me, but I’m sure she was much more tired than she let me know.  

Which brings me to another characteristic, she never complained.  I watched my mother go through some of the most tragic experiences a woman could go through, the loss of two sons and then her husband, all quickly and unexpected.  She never complained but exhibited unwavering faith, which again, is another characteristic she exemplified.  I observed her as her heart was broken, but she handled it with dignity.

I never knew my mother not to attend church.  Even when my father was inactive, mom always went.  She served in numerous callings and always worked hard.  My mother took great pride in her children and her extended family.  She came from a family of nine girls and there was extreme closeness there.  Don’t get me wrong, they had their differences but in the end, love came through.  My mother taught me how to love and how to laugh.  She had a great sense of humor that was compounded by her knowledge.  She was smart, witty, and fun.  She adored my father and their love for each other is legendary in my little hometown of Springlake. 

Susi Lafaele

Tiva, Eti, Susi and Leafa, while Eti was on his mission.

Since I’m discussing mothers, I must comment on Eti’s mother, Susi.  I only  met her once, but I know what kind of woman she was because of the way her son is.  She was a strong willed and determined woman.  She, like my mother, had great faith.  Once she accepted the gospel, she never wavered.  She taught her son to be faithful and obedient. 

I will forever to be grateful to her for teaching him to clean and to iron and most especially how to take care of new born babies.  He is a whiz, and I’m sure it is a skill she taught him.  I know also that she was a hard worker.  This is a characteristic I have always admired in Eti and I believe that both his mother and father taught him this skill.  She too, had a sense of humor.  Eti tells me stories of her comedic acts and her notoriety in his village for her wit.  Again, a characteristic she transferred to Eti.  I hope that one day when I meet her, she will accept me and be pleased with the way I have treated her son. 

Butterfly

This morning I got up at the usual time, not usual for Saturday, but the rest of the week.  I brushed my teeth, and then I thought, why am I up?  Eti got up to go to a coaches clinic, which by the way is unusual because he usually works at the temple.  The bed was made, I looked outside and thought, what am I going to do?  Then I looked at the bed.  Now some of you know, because I've told you there's a nice soft lump down the middle of the bed.  Eti and I frequently meet there, but other than that it stays there.  So this morning I crawled back into bed.  It felt so warm and snugly.  I felt like a caterpiller all wrapped up in a cocoon.  The thought came to me, maybe I'll emerge as a beautiful butterfly!  Miracles can happen.

Friends

Friend:

a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

a person who gives assistance

a person who is on good terms with another

a person who is not hostile:

Over the years, Eti and I have been blessed with many good friends.  I can’t begin to say how full our lives have been because of those friends.  It is so nice to have someone who accepts us with all our faults.  It is also nice to have friends, who look at our inner selves and not just our outer appearance.  We are grateful for those friends who have been willing to give assistance.  We have had friends who have helped us through those times financially ,and more importantly, have listened to us pour our hearts out. 

We have had such a good time the past few years with Greg and Doris Croshaw.  We have gone on several trips, and had a lot of laughs.  I decided to post some pictures of our trips and the fun we have had.   

Trip to Bryce Canyon - February

Trip to Pine Top Arizona - October

We lost Greg in the forest.  We were quite frightened for a while.

Canyon De Chelly

Hubbel Trading Post - Ganado, Arizona

Kauai June 2010

Park City Trip

Cameron - Tuba City Trip

Looking for petrified pumpkins!

Capitol Reef

Moki Cave

Ruth Ann

My friend Ruth Ann and her family.  Her father is one of the original Code Talkers.

Ruth Ann

I’ve been thinking a lot about the friends I have.  When I think of childhood friends, it seems like my best friends were always my cousins.  As I grew and entered Jr. High, I developed friendships that lasted through high school and many of them have continued on. I think so fondly of the many parties and sleepovers.  I remember sneaking out to be with my friends, why I snuck out, I’ll never know.  My folks didn’t care if I went.  I remember the school dances and all the fun times ice skating on the lake in winter and swimming in the summer.  I have so many wonderful memories.

I can’t but help think about my friend Ruth Ann.  Ruth Ann was a Navajo Indian who came to live in Payson on the placement program.   We became best friends, while we were in eighth grade.   Our friendship continued to ninth grade, and then she moved and lived with a different family in Provo.  I always knew where she was.  She won some national essay award, she was Miss Indian BYU, she was runner up to the Homecoming Queen.  She was in Lamanite Generation.  She had such a fun, bubbly personality.  We eventually lost touch,

After graduating from BYU-H, Eti and I had the opportunity to move to the reservation to teach school.  We moved to a place called Tsaile.  It was up in the mountains on the north rim of Canyon de Chelly.  There was a trading post and a public school there.  We were very isolated.  Anyway, I met this woman who for some reason, we just hit it off.  We visited off and on for several months then one day she came in the office and said, “I told Ed I knew you.”  I looked at her puzzled, and then she told me she woke up in the middle of the night and hit Ed and said that’s Susan Peery!  Then I instantly recognized her as Ruth Ann Brown.  She was now McCombs and it never dawned on me that she was the same person.  Then we laughed and she said, “Isn’t it funny, you married a brown man and I married a white man.” 

We stayed in touch and laughed about the many memories we had as children.  Sadly, one year her oldest son, Joseph, who was on a mission was killed.  I’ll never forget going to his funeral.  The minute I walked in she came over to me and took me to him to see her “stripling warrior.”  My heart was broken for her.  After that she was never quite the same.  A couple of years ago, she died.  I’ll never forget taking the time off work and driving all the way to Chinle to her funeral.  I was so touched by the tributes that were paid to this wonderful woman.   I’m grateful to my daughter Susi, who went with me.  I’ll never think of Ruth Ann without smiling and being so grateful to have had her as a friend.