Chapter 37
Millennium Around the World
Well,
well, well! Here it is the Twenty First Century and no great
disaster! What happened? 2000 came in with great celebrations all
over the world in spite of the beforehand panic. With computer high
technology all the countries around the world were able to show their
great firework displays. What wonderful sights as each counrty made
their entry into the New Year and sent up their firework displays. It
was great to be able to see it all on television. I was not so dumb
after all, the big companies should have asked me and they could have
saved millions of dollars, effort and time. People just need to have
faith.
(Editor's note: The total cost worldwide of the work done in preparation for Y2K is estimated at over $300 billion and that the U.S. spent an estimated $134 billion preparing for Y2K, and another $13 billion fixing problems in 2000 and 2001. The vast majority of problems had been fixed correctly, and the money was well spent. The situation was essentially one of preemptive alarm. The lack of problems at the date change reflects the completeness of the project, and that many computer applications would not have continued to function into the 21st century without correction or remediation.)
The
New Year also brought in its own ice show to Boise. A truly beautiful
winter wonderland. How I enjoyed it. It took me back to my childhood
days when Jack Frost painted the most beautiful, delicate etchings on
our windows in the old farmhouse. Artist could not duplicate his
work. I loved seeing them every morning and marveled at more of
God’s handiwork. 
Backyard winter wonderland
Thelma and Jay flew into Boise on January 6th. On Friday the 7th Thelma and I went shopping. Surprised? Jay bought us dinner that evening at the Mongolian BBQ, always an interesting and fun place to go. Saturday morning we drove to Burley and went to Turners. That night we were finally able to have our Frost Christmas Dinner and Party on the 8th of January. We met at the Way Side Inn for dinner and as always congregated out to Turners for the rest of the evening. Aunt Nina was our special guest. (At the time, She Aunt Pearl and Aunt Faye are the only aunts we had left.)
We always stayed
the night in our reserved room downstairs. On Sunday morning, Lorna
and I went to church, Turners, Jacksons and all of us went in to
Gerald and Verlee’s ward for their missionary farewell meeting.
It was very spiritual, as those two know how to deliver a
sermon, and so does Teresa. After Gerald finished his talk I was
really choked up. Irma and Shirley sang a beautiful song, all their
families were there. They will be wonderful missionaries. We, and
Thelma and Jay went back out to Turners, and we left for Boise Monday
morning.
Gerald and Verlee
We got word that our dear Theresa Sims had passed away January 21st in Santa Cruz, California at the age of 98. There was no way that we could make the trip for her funeral service that was held in the Aptos Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tuesday January 25th. It was mentioned that we were unable to attend, but that we would be at her burial a few days later in Salt Lake City, Utah. We drove from Boise the morning of the burial and went right to the cemetery, arriving a little before the hearse. It was a very cold day. We stayed the night with Eunice and went to see Earl in the nursing home; he knew me but not Jack. We left for home the next day.
Most of our family came during the first two or three months, with Glen and Ada our first, and then Thelma and Jay. Late in the summer, Eunice and Bill stopped overnight on a trip to Washington to see Roseanne and stopped again on the way back.
Earl Read passed away February 7th after many health problems and was in and out of hospitals. That happened to be Eunice’s birthday. What a birthday gift for Eunice, her burden had finally been lifted. We picked up Gordon in Pocatello, so that he could go to the funeral. We went to the viewing at the Memorial Way Mortuary the evening of the 9th. During the viewing, someone broke into unlocked cars and many had their handbags stolen. The police found them in the dumpsters. His service was held on February 10th at the Butler 10th Ward. His children and grandchildren held a very nice service for him.
Earl’s beautiful singing voice was silenced forever; I wouldn’t be surprised if he was able to join the Heavenly Choir. We stayed the night with Eunice and helped her out the best we could. Gordon stayed at Ramona and Wayne’s home; we took him back to Pocatello where he left his pickup. What a surprise it was to see it still setting there in the parking lot where he left it, with the keys still in it. That was two trips to Salt Lake for funerals in a very short time; one in January and one in February.
April 28th found us in attendance at the dedication of a Submarine Memorial in Deterrent Park at the Submarine Base in Banger, Washington. It was a lovely service but it rained and the wind blew, and we were out in that for three hours. That cold got to me and I became ill starting with a sore throat. I spent the next three hours sitting in the office of a very good looking and nice Navy Commander while Jack toured a Trident Nuclear Missile Submarine, the USS Henry Jackson SSBN 730. I was very embarrassed sitting there while all those good looking navy officers ran in and out wondering what the heck I was doing there. The submarine memorial was to have the deck covered in bricks; each containing a name of a living or former submariner or any other name you choose in memory of. We had bought a brick in Myron’s name and one in Jack’s name to be placed in the monument.
My condition only got worse and I spent the rest of the time in bed at our motel. The next day we went to the Key Port Naval Torpedoes Station and there we visited the Naval Museum. Then we took a ferry boat to Seattle and went on up to see Jack’s Sister Pat. I managed not to spread my germs to Pat and her sons. On our way home we stopped to see my niece Roseanne and her darling family. We wanted to see other family members, but not wanting to make them sick, we came on home. By the time we got home and to the doctor, I had a great case of bronchitis. I had to postpone my scheduled cataract surgery twice before I could get rid of it, plus I had been plagued by a sinus infection.
I
had the surgery on my left eye on June 13th. My right eye
was not as bad. But after a new lens was implanted in my left eye it
looked like I was seeing out one clean window pane and one dirty one.
Boy did that bug me. I was able to get the right eye done August 1st.
It was so good to be able to see clear again. My friend Norma
had one of hers done the same time, but hers didn’t go as well as
mine. I think it was because I had the best doctor, I know he was the
cutest. Jack thought I looked cool in those big dark glasses. 
Cool old ladies
Jack was still putting in eight hours a week at the Family History Center, and enjoyed it very much. He was still taking care of Clyde, having to run over there night and day, along with a few trips to emergency room. He was a pretty busy guy with all of the neighbors that called on him to fix things, or for a little advise. I was still doing the ward bulletin.
Cindee
went into the hospital March 27th for what was to be a
minor surgery that turned out to be major. She was in surgery for
four hours as they had to do a complete hysterectomy. She was
hospitalized for ten days. I went to Rupert to take care of her the
first week after her surgery. The nurses had put really pretty stick
on tattoos on her chest and her foot. By June she was back at
work. She came to Boise to have surgery on her hand on July 7th.
She stayed here a week so I could take care of her while she
recuperated.
Cindee's Tattoo
One
Sunday evening we attended a meeting for the whole stake. Well, we
left there in a different ward. We got booted right out of our ward!
They had changed the boundaries and the names of our wards from
numbers to names. We were now in Victory View Ward instead of the
28th Ward. I was not too happy about the change, you get
to loving your ward family and overnight you find you have a whole
new family to get to know. We were known as the Others! Only a few
of us in this neighborhood were moved into the new ward. I had a
whole new ward to get to know and love. We even lost our bishopric,
and I lost my bulletin calling. We were given the calling as the
building schedulers. I had a new visiting teaching companion and new
sisters to visit. I just had to adapt. It wasn’t really that hard
because I didn’t know a tenth of the members in the 28th Ward
anymore because so many new families were moving in. I survived,
after six months or so I had new friends, and we have a new Lunch
Bunch. We were still among the oldest of the old. The Mormons are the
only ones that can divide and multiply.
Old King Cole Kyle
Kyle’s West Minico Jr High School put on a play entitled “The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf”. Kyle was Old King Cole, a member of the Jury. Oh course we had to make the trip to Rupert to see it. Those kids preformed so well and it was hilarious, I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my seat. Kyle was a mighty handsome King Cole.
Kellie Jo's graduation
I
had a very nice Mother’s Day that year, Cindee came to spend the
day with me. Soon after that came the graduations. Kellie Jo
Gochnour graduated with the Class of 2000 from Minidoka County High
School on May 23, with high honors from the National Honor Society.
Her whole family was there to help her celebrate, we all went to
Pollo’s and pigged out. As she closed the doors of high school, the
doors of college and the world opened up to her.
Connie was
proud to announce her graduation from the Collage of Southern Idaho
on May 12th in Twin Falls Idaho as an electronic office
assistant. Of course we were all there to help her celebrate. Two
years of hard work had paid off for her. She Did It. She was able to
go to work right away in the Magistrate Court at the Cassia County
Court House. Then there was Raydon Dudley Cardenas, she
graduated from Stevens-Henegar Collage in Salt Lake. We were not
there for her, I am sad to say. I think she studied medicine, as that
is what she is interested in. 
Connie's graduation
My little sister Irma and her handsome husband, Don Lindsay celebrated their
50th
wedding anniversary on June 9, 2000. And they were still in love.
Their children did a wonderful job on the whole affair, and so many
family, friends and neighbors, and us
Don and Irma Lindsay
were in attendance. 
One of many old outhouses
During the summer we took a wild day trip up to an old gold mining town way up in the mountains, I say wild because the roads were almost impassable. We had wanted to go there every since we had moved here. Kyle was with us and we found Silver City so exciting and learned so much about the way things used to be. I loved the old buildings and the cemetery, even got a kick out of so many old outhouses that remained. One store was still operating so we were able to get lunch. There are a handful of people that live there in the summer; wintertime is impossible. We were so glad we went and Kyle really enjoyed the trip.
Kathryn
and Richard got their mission call to the Nauvoo Mission, What a
great place to go on a mission. Wow! We went to Burley for their
farewell meeting July 9th. Their children did the program
and it was exceptionally nice. The church stopped doing that. I don’t
understand why, but soon after that only the missionary was asked to
speak. In the afternoon everyone went to the Goodfellow Ranch for a
farewell party. There was plenty of food and plenty of people there
to eat it. Some of the people that were on the wagon train with them
a year or so ago were there and entertained us with some great fiddle
music.
Kathryn and Dick
(Editor's note: The reason why missionary farewells were changed is because the meeting had become all about the missionary. Some were more like a celebrity roast than a worship service. Too many times the meetings were so completely dominated by the family that the presiding officer (the bishop) lost control of the meeting. In an effort to return sacrament meetings to the intended purpose of focusing on the Savior, the First Presidency directed that a missionary be invited to speak prior to leaving, but not the family. The same directive applied to when a missionary returned.)
As August rolled around it was Frost Family Reunion time and it was our turn. What a worry. This was the 35th annual Frost Family Reunion, so we had to make it good. It was held at the Unity Ward shelter on August 12th. We had decided that a talent show would be fun. And after a vote we deiced on potluck, which kept it simple. The talent in our family was amazing. The Turner family put on a skit that was so funny, there were songs, dances, displays of various art and crafts, and just about everything. We had the raffle, and in the evening most of us showed up at the Turners. We stayed in our reserved room as usual. We were pleased with the way it turned out. Big deal, I had my 74th Birthday on the 19th.
One family reunion was not enough. Jack’s nephew Lars Gilmour decided to have a Gilmour reunion at his place in Seattle August 28th. There were maybe 30 or so people there but it was nice; the kids enjoyed his pool. He put out enough food to feed a Frost reunion. We stayed with Pat for a few days and Pat and I went to our favorite nurseries and shops in Woodenville. We spent time down at the waterfront where we explored a dove aviary. (An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly. Aviaries often contain plants and shrubbery to simulate a natural environment.) I spotted a row of at least ten very unique birdhouses, now why would I be interested in them? We had a wonderful meal on the waterfront. I probably had salmon (my very favorite), before heading back to Pat’s home. That was the end of our vacation, family reunions and all, the next day we were headed back to Idaho. That made two trips to Seattle that year.
The
Buttars family paid us a rare visit, as it is a great distance
between Boise and Rexburg, on October 3rd to the 7th.
We did a lot of fun things but I think the kids enjoyed the zoo the
most. We wandered around the beautiful rose garden at Julia Davis
Park. The main purpose of their visit was for Olivia to tour
Boise State University and Alberston College in Caldwell. 
Loren and Olivia at the zoo
Gordon had just gone through an episode where the left side of his body went numb, almost as if he had had a stroke. It tuned out that all he needed was to have his thyroid regulated. He had some setbacks and it took quite a while for him to get stabilized. At forty five he was too young to be hobbling around with a cane.
With
autumn upon us, I had plenty to do at home. Between our own leaves
and most of the neighbors trees that shed their leaves in our yard
too. And it was up to me to rake and sack them up. Besides, all the
dead flowers and plants that have to be cleaned up too. How I hated
to see all my lovely flowers freeze and leave me. But that is the way
it is. Jack’s new found cousin and wife Kenneth and Arlene
Carbett from Olympia Washington paid us a visit. Family and friends
dropped in throughout the year.
Fall clean up
Here's
a dummy story for you. I had been to a luncheon with the ward lunch
bunch and Jack had a doctors appointment and had to work at the
Family History Center. I knew he would not be back until about 9:00
p.m. When my ride brought me home Jack was gone by that time. I went
around to the back door because the storm door was locked. Well, my
key would not work in either of the back doors. I tried again and
again and again. I got the hidden key and it wouldn’t work. The
temperature was 38 degrees and I was getting cold. I began to pray,
and pray and pray each time trying the key, I decided if something
didn’t happen soon, I would break a window, it had already been two
hours. Finally the Lord yelled down to me. “Hey,
Dummy, try the top lock!” I tried it and low and
behold I got in, chilled to the bone. We never locked the dead bolt
in the day time; I guess he forgot and locked it. I just was not
used to unlocking the dead bolt and dummy
me, it just didn’t enter my mind. I thought for a while I had lost
it! 
Doug and Marion
The family of Marian and Doug Harper announced the 50th wedding anniversary of their parents, with an open house on Saturday November 4that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Malta. Their children and grandchildren put on a feast and program for our entrainment and they were good. We went and had a very good time. Fifty years ago I made and decorated their wedding cake. I think we stayed at their home that night.
On November 6th we voted for George W. Bush for President of the United States, on the Republican Party. He was running against John Kerry of the Democrat Party. Boy were we happy that Bush won. President George Bush went on to win a second term, that we were happy also about.
Cindee and Steve came for our Thanksgiving feast. We had our 22nd wedding anniversary on November 25th and Jack had his 74th birthday on December 19th.
After
a years delay, we were able to do the Frost Christmas Dinner and
Party. I dressed up the house in all the holiday trimmings that I
had. We planned a great dinner of steak on the grill and mushroom
gravy. I can’t remember what else, but I did bake mother’s carrot
cake with lemon sauce. Everyone was here but the Jacksons and Eunice,
who were flying in from Salt Lake. Well, Boise was socked in with fog
and their plane could not land. After circling in the fog a couple of
times it flew on to Seattle. Jack was there at the airport to meet
them, but came back home alone. After about an hour the fog lifted
and they were able to get in Boise, just in time for dinner. We had
such a good time as always when we are together. We had a great gift
exchange. It was so cool to have everyone here and not to rush off as
soon as we were though eating. Thelma and Jay stayed here as did some
of the others, sleeping on air mattresses. Others stayed in motels
nearby. We fixed breakfast for the whole gang the next morning. To
cap the whole thing off, we all went to the temple that day and did
sealings. As I looked around at each one of my family I felt so close
and loved. I know that Mother and Daddy were very pleased with us.
Don was not feeling well but hung in there with us. Thelma and Jay
stayed here two more days. The rest of the Christmas holidays were
spent in our usual way, home alone. With that great Christmas dinner
we had with family, who needed more. With plenty of church activity
and friends we had a wonderful Christmas.
Frost Christmas dinner. Shown here: Thelma and
Jay, Kenneth and Lorna, and Eunice.