Chapter 31
Yesteryear Once More
Yes,
it is interesting and joyful to step back into years by gone, and
what a time in my life’s journey those yesteryears were. We were
still the fairy tale Princess and Knight that we have always been,
not as beautiful and handsome, but otherwise the same. Little by
little our new home was becoming our castle.
Another one of McCall's ice sculptures
As I recall, 1994 started out with a lot of fun events, almost a carbon copy of the previous year. I made another trip to McCall to the ice sculptures, only this time instead of going with Clyde; it was with Connie, Kellie and Kyle. What fun we had! Every year the sculptures are bigger, better, and more of them. We each had our favorite. We had lunch in between running from one sculpture to another. We were all very tired and cold kids as we drove back to Boise.
Also as last year, on February 15th we went back down to St. George, Utah to visit Lorna and Kenneth, as that was their winter home each year; Kings Row RV Park. Only this year not only Thelma and I went, Jack and Jay also went. We stayed in rooms at the club house as Thelma and I did last year. We each did our own thing the rest of the afternoon. Thelma, Jay, and Jack just sat around visiting. Kenneth went golfing but Lorna and I went shopping. Guess who had the most fun! As evening approached 13 of us, mostly Turners, went to JJ Humayns, a Chinese Restaurant for a wonderful dinner. I can almost still taste it. It was Jay’s birthday so they brought out a plate full of cookies with a candle and sang Happy Birthday to him. After we couldn’t eat any more we went to Lorna and Kenneth’s trailer and played dominoes until 12:30.
On Wednesday
morning we had a famous “Lorna Breakfast” before loading into
Lovell Turner’s king cab pickup and Kenneth drove us all around. We
went on two loops, both north and south. We stopped to have lunch and
went on another loop to a ghost town where the movie “Butch Cassidy
and the Sun Dance Kid” was filmed, it was also was Butch Cassidy’s
old stomping grounds. The last part of our tour was to a tiny old
cemetery that had very interesting headstones. In one little plot was
a whole family that had been killed by the Indians. We and Jacksons
left about 5:30 and arrived in Monroe about 8:30 p.m..
Butch Cassidy's old stomping grounds
Back in Monroe on Thursday, Thelma and I went shopping in Richfield and about 3:00 we all headed out for Salt Lake, Thelma and Jay riding with us while Reneé and her boys drove Jackson’s car. Gayle had homemade soup and hot rolls waiting for us. We went to Eunice’s for the rest of the evening.
Being very weary after all the good times we had, we had a good night's rest at Eunice’s but got up early, drove downtown to the Joseph Smith building to see “Legacy” which we enjoyed very much. We hooked back up with Jacksons and Thelma, Reneé and I went to Sandy to see Raydon, then spent the rest of the day in craft stores. We gals really knew how to have fun back in yesteryear. We went back to Gayle’s and ordered pizza and went to “Hale Theater” (this theater is in the round) and saw “The Other Side of Love”, a really fun performance. We stayed at Gayle’s that night and came back to Boise and reality the next day after doing so much in just four days.
I received some very sad news in February after all the good times that we had had. My dear friend, Shirley Hart passed away in Rexburg after suffering from vulvian cancer for a very long time. She wrote to tell me about it, but passed away before she got my reply. Gordon called to tell me that he saw her obituary in the Rexburg newspaper but unfortunately it came out the day after her funeral. I wish that I could have attended her funeral to tell her good-by. I hope she understood. I missed her so much, just knowing that she was gone. I was so happy that her son Butch had baptized her into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints so that she was able the last few years of her life to enjoy the blessings of the gospel. She was way too young to leave us.
Lorna and
Kenneth got their mission call to New Jersey, so we went to Burley
for their missionary farewell on February 28th. They had a
very nice service and we got to see a lot of our family. We went to
see mother at the nursing home, she probably did not remember us
being there. It was so sad to see her that way. 
Lorna and Kenneth
As March rolled around we decided to entertain the Owens Family after all the times that they had invited us to their family doings. On the 14th we had Glen and Ada, Don and Nadene, Gladys and Carla, plus Alan and Ruth Warner all over for a good dinner of corned beef and cabbage, as it was Saint Patrick’s Day. After dinner we had a nice evening of chatting.
Connie and her two, Kellie and Kyle, spent some time with us and also Gerald and Kelly spent a night with us. Jack took them to the airport at 5:00 a.m. for a flight to someplace that I don’t remember.
Around the first of April we went to Connie's so Jack could work on her bathroom. Just before leaving, Gordon and Bonnie and the kids came down from Rexburg for the weekend and stopped by so we got to visit with them for a little while as well.
Later in April, Gordy came over to Boise with his Teachers Quorum for some reason. We went and got him and he stayed with us for a few days. Among other things, I took him to an art museum but the staff followed us around watching us like a hawk, as if we were going to steal something. I never did go back to there.
The following Thursday I took him home and spent two or three days in Rexburg. On Friday Gordon declared a family holiday and they all stayed home from work and school. That morning he fixed waffles for breakfast and later we went down to Idaho Falls. We walked around the green belt, went to the library, and the visitors center at the temple and watched some films. In the evening, Bonnie and I went with Livi to a Merry Miss activity. I left to go back to Boise the next day.
Melody and Emil finally got a new house; the fire trap they were living in could not stand another winter. Melody screamed at the company that Emil worked for until they finally bought them an almost new mobile home. I was so happy for her, if any one needed a new house it was her.
Boise holds a
great “River Festival” each year in June. This year Connie,
Kellie and Kyle came and Jack took us downtown and dropped us off to
do our thing. This was the first year they did a land
festival as it had grown too large for the river. And I really wanted
to go. It had everything from the giant balloons just like New
York’s holiday parades. Hot air balloons, and the parade of lights
with so many mammoth floats covered completely in lights filled the
streets at night. So beautiful. I was so happy to finally get to go
watch it.
One of the floats at the festival
The last week of
June 1994, we left for Minneapolis, Minneso- ta; not before calling my
dear Thelma to wish her a Happy Birthday. Jack had a feeling that we
should go see his Aunt Rhoda whom was now 97 years old. George and
Becky now were living in Farmington near St. Paul and had a home so
we were able to stay with them. (No Motel this time). Rhoda was
still sharp minded and was happy to see both of us. George, Becky,
Jason and Chad took us to many great places.
The Gilmours: Becky, Jack, Jason, Chad, George,
and me
We
took a very long day trip over to Lake Superior the 3rd of
July where we went to the “Split Rock Lighthouse” near Two
Harbors. I really love lighthouses and that was the most awesome one
I had seen. The lake was ice cold. We went from there to Gooseberry
River where we hiked for miles at last reaching Shell Falls. More
hiking took us to the first of the Gooseberry Falls. They were quite
spectacular with water tumbling all over the place. George walked
back to get the car, none of us could have made it back there on
foot. We drove from there over to Duluth on the west end of Lake
Superior. The big attraction that draws all the town folks out was to
watch the huge freighters come in off the lake. A huge draw bridge
goes up stopping traffic on a main street for over an hour. As soon
as the ore freighter passes under, everyone leaves. It was very
interesting. We spent the 4th of July at Becky’s parent’s farm
in Waterville. The food was great and her dad took us on a tractor
ride over much of his 1,500 acre farm. I couldn’t believe the size
of his machinery. It was nothing like the farm machinery that I grew
up with on our farm during my yesteryears. The kids showed us such a
wonderful time and Becky was a wonderful cook.
Split Rock Lighthouse
After a week’s stay we headed back towards Idaho through the Bad Lands of South Dakota and through Mount Rushmore. It was raining so hard we were unable to see what we hoped to. In Mitchell, South Dakota we saw the Corn Palace again on this trip. Driving through Wyoming we could see Devil's Tower for miles before we reached it. Boise was such a welcome site as we came home and our own bed was so appreciated.
Looking back as I write this we were gone almost all year, no wonder we had very few visitors. Gordon and Bonnie and the kids arrived around 6:15 on the evening of July 9th, which was a Saturday. On Sunday they went to church with us. In the evening we had popcorn out on the patio. Monday included a visit to Boise’s newly remodeled airport, and to an outlet mall. On Tuesday while Gordon and Bonnie went to the temple, we took the Livi and Loren to the cheese factory in Nampa while Gordy stayed at home. Later that day I took them all to the Discovery Center where there were all kinds of hands on displays to show how scientific principles work. The highlight of their stay was the day trip to Idaho City on Wednesday. Gordy, Olivia and Loren loved having their pictures taken with their favorite wooden creatures. They left to go home on Thursday.
The
next day we left for a trip to Salt Lake on July 15th. The
family all went to the Jordan River Temple for the start of Thelma &
Jay’s Golden Anniversary celebration. We all ate dinner in the
temple cafeteria after the session. We stayed at Gayle’s that
night. Their children honored them with an open house on Saturday
evening the 16th at the Heritage House Fourth Ward, in
West Jordon, near Judy’s. There was another open house Sunday
evening at their home in Monroe. Both events were very nice and well
attended. The children and grandchildren put on a marvelous program.
They went all out in every detail and everything was decorated so
lovely. Thelma and Jay looked radiant and couldn’t have been
happier.
Jay and Thelma
We stayed with
the Jacksons for a couple of more days. On Monday we went to Cove
Fort just off I-15 and I-70, which is a church historical place. We
had been there before but each time we go new things have been added
and we learn more of the history each time. On Tuesday morning we
went to the Fremont Indian Park and Museum, after tiring ourselves
out we went back to Monroe and had lunch. Jay and Jack just did stuff
while Thelma and I went to Richfield to shop. Through my stories do
you get the idea that Thelma and I love to shop? We don’t always
buy, but it is fun looking. On this shopping trip I did buy a dress
and a blouse, on sale of course! On Wednesday morning it was time
for us to leave the good time we had the last five days and see what
our Garden of Weeden had waiting for us back home. Weeds and more
weeds!
Cove Fort
As the summer
rolled on, it was Frost Family Reunion time again. That year it was
held at Elba Park in Malta on August 13th. The Harpers
were in charge so we knew we were in for a good time and it was. It
was an overnighter so us non campers stayed in an old motel in Malta.
Goodfellow's pioneer handcart
It was planned around way back to yesteryear. The History of
Christena Brown and Martimer Warner, our great grandparents was
performed by Kathryn and Dick, even in yesteryear dress. They also
had their handcart there. Another great part was that Patty had put
together a lot of yesteryear duds for us all to pick out and dress up
in for photos that Jack took of each family. Besides the good food
and family togetherness, it just could not have been any better. The
Cassia County Fair and Rodeo was also going on that we always enjoy
going to. Also my 68th birthday greeted me. 
Ma and Pa Gilmour out on
the old homestead
After getting
her degree the year before, Deelyn got her first job as a school
teacher. After graduating from high school, Melynda was now a
freshman at Ricks in Rexburg.
Jack's
Aunt Rhoda
In September we went to Seattle to see Pat and other members of Jack’s family. While there we went to the Boeing Field Flight Museum. Jack really enjoyed all the retired aircraft. And I liked the retired Blue Angles plane. We went to Victoria, Canada and spent time in one of our very favorite places. On the way home we stopped at the Interpretative Center above Baker, Oregon. The displays were so life like I caught myself talking to some of the people. I thought them rude because they wouldn’t answer me.
Jack’s Aunt Rhoda died on September 22nd, two days before be 98th birthday in Minnesota. Of course it was impossible for us to be there, but we did bid her our final farewell before leaving Minnesota, knowing she would be leaving this earth soon.
We had our
16th wedding anniversary on the November 25th
and Jack had his 68th Birthday December the 19th.
Christmas bears and Santas
Went to Burley on the 3rd of December for our Frost Christmas Party, that Kathryn and Dick hosted. I don’t remember but it had to be just as much fun as all of our parties. We stayed at their place that night. We went to see Mother at the nursing home before the party and again as we left town for Boise.
I got busy getting our Christmas home ready; putting up the trees and my entire Santa and bear collection. We went to our ward party and dinner and an Owens party. Then just settled back and had a good old yesteryear Christmas and enjoyed dinner and our gift exchange.
We had a
wonderful December snow fall. At last after all these years I was
able to make my great snowman. He lasted maybe a week before he
slowly bid us his farewell and slipped away to never, never land
never to return.
Our backyard snowman
On Monday December 26th, 1994 the day after Christmas shortly after 8:00 a.m. our dear sweet Mother passed away to join our Father, Myron, and her loved ones who went before her. What a great Christmas Party they must have had. We knew it was her time and she was released from all earthly pain.
Even
though we shed tears we knew she was now happy. We met at themortuary Thursday night and again at 10 a.m. on Friday morning.
Her funeral service was held at 11 a.m. at the Burley LDS Stake
Center on Friday December 30th,
a bitterly cold day. Lorna and
Kenneth were able to leave their mission and flew into Salt Lake
and rode to Burley with Jacksons.
Cindee, Kellie, Kyle, me, and Connie at Mother's
funeral. You can tell how cold it was.
We each paid tribute to her by prayers, talks and song. I talked about how she loved to share her genealogy with any one that asked. It was the first time I had given a talk without fear. Lorna honored her with a lovely poem that she wrote. There were an abundance of beautiful flowers, plants and friends to honor her. I think she wasthere in spirit and was well pleased to see the love that filled the chapel.
After
a bitter cold journey to the cemetery it was a relief to come
back to the church where the Relief Society sisters had prepared a
hot meal to warm us. It was gratifying to see so many people that
loved our Mother. She left behind 8 children, 48 grandchildren, 135
great grandchildren and 7 great, great grandchildren, 2 sisters and 5
sister-in-laws. I am sure that all that could possibly be there
were. Thus ends the earth life of a great loving lady, as thus ends a
very great and lovely year.
Mother's casket