Tuesday, June 29, 2010

She is My Heroine, Too.

When I was newly married and living in an apartment in Pacific Beach, Jean Tippetts and her children picked me up and took me to Church.  We only had one car and Richard went to an early Priesthood Meeting.  She and her children were always so kind to me and she became my idol.  You will see why when you read this.  She just passed away and this is the beautiful tribute written by one of her children.

Jean Hulme Tippetts Smith
April 27, 1924 - June 25, 2010

Our mother is our heroine. She was totally dedicated to our individual sense of fulfillment and happiness. We did not discover this in hindsight, we knew it all along. Friends who came into our home couldn't help but be envious of our good fortune. They were welcome to stay a night or a month. The food would be great and the activities, fun. Whether it was the rowdy play of her twin boys or the messy "projects" of her creatively-minded girls, she was not one to put a damper on any of the things we enjoyed. Our dreams had her full support "she was both our mother and our fairy god-mother." How many times did she save the day by catering our weddings, making our prom dresses, financing our missions and being a faithful correspondent to each of us, writing weekly after we left home? Her magic letters helped us through our hard times.

Jean Hulme Tippetts Smith was born in Bloomington, Idaho, the only daughter of Ben and Louise Krogue Hulme. She was sandwiched between two older brothers, Harold and David and three younger brothers, Russell, John and Paul. She lived in the following cities, all located on Highway 89: Bloomington, Logan, Panguitch, Paris, Manti, Ephraim, Orem, Salt Lake, and Provo. She lived for 33 years in California.

Jean graduated from Manti High and Snow College. At Snow, she was the first female student body president and valedictorian, earning her tuition by playing piano accompaniment for the college orchestra. While teaching at Manti High, she met her husband Joyce Tippetts, a recently discharged naval officer from Ephraim who was the son of one of her favorite professors at Snow College. They both played in Lenny Myer's dance orchestra, he on bass fiddle and she as pianist. They were married on September 3, 1946.

Joyce's career in campus planning took them from Berkeley to UCLA to BYU and then to UCSD. While in San Diego, she graduated as one of the top three students at San Diego State in 1963, earning her the privilege of shaking President John F. Kennedy's hand, who spoke at her graduation. Jean started teaching elementary school that year, later earning a master's degree as a reading specialist. Jean's first marriage lasted for nearly thirty years. After their divorce, she found enjoyment in her children, church assignments and teaching, but she was thrilled to open a new chapter in her life after being introduced to Don Smith, whose wife Evelyn had died in 1980. They were married in 1981 and had nearly thirty happy years together, embracing each other's families, traveling, and enjoying BYU cultural and athletic events. Jean loved her involvement in Literary League, BYU Women, DUP, and Kiwanis. She always asked us "What would I ever do without Don?" She never had to find out, dying unexpectedly just 10 days after his funeral.

She is survived by her children: Leah Smith (A.J.), Laura Harmon (David), Tom (Lisa) Tippetts, and Tracy (Elizabeth) Tippetts; and step-daughters Karen Griggs and Susan (Byron) Purves. Don and Jean together have 28 grandchildren and 55 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents and three brothers.

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, July 1, 2010 at the Pleasant View Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 650 Stadium Ave., Provo, Utah. Friends are invited to visit with Jean's family at the Berg Mortuary of Provo, 185 E. Center, Wednesday evening from 6 until 8 and at the church Thursday from 11-12:45 p.m. prior to services. Burial will be at the Provo City Cemetery.

Our heartfelt thanks go to Don and Jean's wonderful ward neighbors. In lieu of flowers, any donations could be made to the Humanitarian Fund of the LDS Church.

Iris Blooms!

Last year Mary Anne gave me a lot of Iris to plant and three of them have actually bloomed. I have very little sun in my yard so this is quite an accomplishment.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Lovely Linda has a Birthday!

 I think it was during WW II that this song became famous.

Beautiful Linda Sue.


When I go to sleep
I never count sheep,
I count all the charms about Linda.


And lately it seems
in all of my dreams,
I walk with my arms about Linda.


But what good does it do me for Linda
doesn't know that I exist?

Can't help feeling gloomy,
think of all the lovin' I've missed.


We pass on the street,
my heart skips a beat,
I say to myself, "Hello, Linda."


If only she'd smile,
I'd stop for a while
and then I would get to know Linda.

But miracles still happen
and when my lucky star begins to shine,
with one lucky break,
I'll make Linda mine.

I knew exactly what I was going to name our first daughter.  When I lived in Glendive, there was a college girl who lived a block away and her name was Linda and she was so pretty with long pretty hair.  I was just in grade school but I always loved the name Linda because of her.  It was so much softer than my name Janet.

Linda was one of those remarkable children who always wanted to do the right thing.  She enjoyed sleeping, she enjoyed eating, and except for always wanting her Binky with her when she was a baby, she enjoyed being anywhere we went.  She didn't have to be at home to sleep.  Johnny never liked to sleep anywhere.
 So this was most refreshing.  

She was always ready to do whatever Johnny wanted her to do.  In fact, I remember so well when I asked her what she wanted and she said, "What does Johnny want?"  Linda was always sweet and eager to please.  John was often obstinate and wanting his own way but Linda was thoughtful and accommodating.  At fifteen months she was the wonder of the hospital ward as she trotted herself to the potty.  (They found she had a double kidney on one side.)

From the time Linda was a tot she was a little homemaker as well as a peacemaker.  She helped with the cleaning, dishes, baby tending, willingly and well. She always liked to make her own things and began to sew and cook at a very early age. 

It seemed whatever Linda tried, cooking, sewing, crocheting, knitting, quilting, whatever, she could do it and do it well without a lot of supervision and she had the desire to do these things, always busy.  We always knew Linda would be a great Mom and housekeeper.  What we didn't know is what a wit Linda had.

So many time she would quickly say the funniest thing.  And then in college the letters she would write home, I would just laugh at laugh at the things she would say.

Linda would be the one who would tell everyone when something on tv was inappropriate to watch.  Linda always gravitated to the good.  She was never drawn to the baser side of life.  She also likes to see the good in others and always tries to say something kind, she reminds me of my mother in that way.

What a blessing Linda has been in my and Richard's life, from day one, and also to her husband and family.  Always so dependable, so kind, so sweet.  "I count all the charms about Linda".  And as Craig said, she is really Christlike.  She is also very capable in the office, in the home, in the church, in the community.  Happy Birthday, Linda, you are loved1

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Good News?

Wesnesday I had my blood tested to see how I am doing on all my medication.  Cholesterol was lowered to 188--lowest I have ever had it!  Everything else looked good except blood sugar was up!  Too much carbs???  Will see how it checks out next month.  My blood pressure has been lower also so guess the meds are working.  The newest medication is Aggrenox to prevent a major stroke.  I will only know if it works if I don't have one.

Friday I woke up feeling so great, so I fertilized, watered, and then came in and cleaned the house thoroughly.  I thought, wow, I must be getting used to the meds, I feel good.  Then I noticed my pills were still sitting on the cabinet where I had left them when I forgot to take them the night before.  No wonder I felt so great!

My meds definitely make me feel achy, lethargic and gloomy.  Which does what I am not sure but I don't like it.

Jeanne told me she is on 80 mg of lipitor.  That is so extremely high I cannot believe she tolerates it so well.  Amazing!  And Marilyn says she is on 80 mg zocor.  I must not tolerate meds well at all because I really react to them although, Marilyn says she has the achy legs also.

Oh, well, time to read my good book "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" and forget about the pits of old age.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

What's New?


Oh, Oh, here comes Bandido!

I better have a quick drink...

And then get out of here fast!

I can't believe it, for the first time since the rhododendron was planted it actually has blooms on it!  Wonder how long before the deer discover them.

Fathers Day Talk at Clear Creek Branch 2010

The father of five children had won a toy at a raffle.

He called his children together to ask which one should have the present.

"Who is the most obedient?" he asked.

"Who never talks back to mother?"

"Who does everything she says?"

Five small voices answered in unison.
 "Okay, dad, you get the toy."

President Gordon B Hinckley gave his appreciation for all of the obedient and righteous LDS Fathers at Conference in 1999 and a part of it was printed for Fathers Day.  Let me share part of it with you.

"There are hundreds of thousands, now reaching toward the millions, of boys and men of the priesthood who love the Lord and who walk in obedience to his commandments.  These husbands and fathers govern their homes in kindness and with a spirit of love and appreciation.  They answer every call to serve in whatever capacity as such calls come from the Church.  They are good citizens of the governments under which they live wherever they may be across the world.  They are good neighbors in their communities.  As employees, they are loyal.  They work with diligence and with honesty and integrity.  They are men who live chaste and honorable lives, men who love the Lord and are loved by him."

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the goodness of your lives.  I thank you for your examples before your families and before the world.  You bring honor to this Church.  You bring happiness and peace and security into the lives of your wives and children.  You indulge your generous instincts in giving to the poor, in befriending the lonely, in standing up for the very best in our society.  You are the sweet fruits of this beautiful gospel of the Son of God."

The Book of Mormon contains numerous stories of righteous fathers who set positive examples for their children. Today I would like to share three stories about three fathers from my family who set positive examples for their children.

First Story...

My ancestors joined the Church in England and Sweden in the mid and late 1800s so my Mom and Dad both ended up in Ogden, Utah and working at the same department store after high school graduation. When they were 20 they were married and by the height of the depression in 1934 they had five children and my father had lost his job as Asst Manager at J C Penney's and was working for $20 a week at a butcher shop and they had rented a home for $20 a month.

Then a great opportunity come to him. He could manage a department store if he would travel to eastern Montana to do it. They were elated but it would mean leaving all their family and the comfort of the Church in Utah. As my Mom said, it seemed like the end of nowhere when they stepped off the train. But they had faith it was the right thing to do and followed their faith.

There were no Mormons there and they were advised to not let anyone know that they were Mormons. But they never hid the fact and began to make friends and take part in the community. He and my Mom saw that we all attended the Congregational Church And Bible School and my Dad sang in the choir. When the missionaries came a few years later we would have cottage meetings in our home which eventually led to a Branch and finally a full-time Ward some years after I was married and living in California.

Though a quiet man, my Dad was always a leader, a teacher and yet such a gentle man, so full of love for everyone. As a child I remember him taking us on picnics, fishing, to Silvergate, to Yellowstone, to visit relatives in Utah, and lug us back and forth from college when we were older. He was never a selfish man though he loved hunting, fishing, golfing and could have just gone off with the guys. Most everything he did was involved with some or all of the family.

He was a very hard worker and was looked up to in the community as an honest, wise, and fair person. He always lived exactly who he was as far as I know.

My friends all loved him, too. He would take us girls to as many out-of-town football and basketball games as time and money would allow. He was always in the audience strongly cheering "our" high school heroes. He was generous with his time and what little he had.

He taught us to work --One of the first things he taught me as I began to seek jobs in junior high was to "always be worth more than what you were paid".

They say one of the best things a father can do for his children is to love their Mom and that he did. He loved my Mom and it showed--we had our big meal at noon, everyone coming home from school and Dad coming home from work and one of my fondest memories is his dancing Mom around the kitchen and then giving her a big noisy kiss before he went back to work each day.

In high school we found some of his love letters to Mom and we read them out loud and he just grinned. He was quite the romantic.

He occasionally raised his voice, but not often, and he never raised a hand in discipline though he raised six children, six children who pretty much stayed in line all the time. All have been to the Temple, all have stayed active in the Church and raised their children in the traditions of their father.

He was a good listener but didn't try to preach at you, just let you know he was there for you.

Dad had about three children in college at a time for a long time. We were always expected to have part-time jobs but that didn’t pay for a lot.

Being the leader in our little Branch of the Church for so many years could not have been easy. He had to prepare so many talks and guide so many people while he ran a store, was a leader in the Elks, on the school board, head of the Chamber of Commerce. He was a leader who served well but never for his own glory, always modestly, doing whatever was needed.

A kinder, gentler more caring father could not be had. A better example for his family and community I am sure does not exist.

He was a good, good man. And I remember he most always had a smile on his face. Happy Father's Day, Dad, you were the best!

Second story…

When my husband passed away I asked my son James to speak at his funeral. He was looking through Richard’s things trying to get some ideas on what to talk about. Now Richard did not have a lot of stuff like I do, he was not a collector. But there was the old Book Box that was filled with all of the floral cards from his father’s funeral. Richard always said he knew the exact minute his Dad died. He was at the Chapel practicing for the Sunday Primary program. You remember those days when Primary was on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon.

He suddenly became very still and quiet and even though there was lots of noise going on around him he just sat there and quietly thought about his Dad. It wasn’t long before one of the teachers came and told him he was to go home. He didn’t live far from the Chapel. When he arrived he was told his father had died. Richard was 11 years old.

As James was looking through the box at all the cards he saw there was some index cards also. He got them all out and arranged them in the numbered order and lo and behold it was a talk that Richard, his father, had given in Church on Easter some years ago, about 9 years before he passed away as far as we could figure.

In this talk Richard was expressing his feelings on finding this box with all the names of relatives and friends that he knew who were honoring his father. He had very tender feelings as he thought about actually having a reunion with his father and all these other relatives and friends at the time of the resurrection.

Now Richard’s father must have been very loved. I counted 47 floral cards—all with several names on them or a group name. You would have thought he was a very important person. Actually he was a very important person, the custodian of the Las Vegas High School, evidently a very beloved custodian. Richard had great esteem for his father and I had catalogued along with other letters a poem he had written to his mother when he was attending BYU.

I won’t read the whole thing—you are probably familiar with it---his mother was probably very worried about him away from home. He wanted her to know he would not do anything she or his father would be ashamed of.

“I follow a famous father,
His honor is mine to wear,
He gave me a name that was free from shame
And a name he was proud to bear.
He lived in the morning sunlight,
He marched in the ranks of right
He was always true to the best he knew
And the shield he wore was bright.


I follow a famous father
And him I must keep in mind.
Though his form is gone
I must carry on the name that he left behind.
It was mine on the day he gave it,
It shone as a monarch’s crown.
And as fair to see as it came to me
It must be when I put it down.”

Just as Richard had great esteem for his Father and the things he had been taught by him and about him now James was reading about the testimony that his father had of the Gospel.

It was like Richard was sharing his belief in Jesus Christ and the atonement, and his understanding of the gift of the resurrection and eternal life with his son James. He talked about the free agency that Heavenly Father has given us and the choices we all must make and the need to continually seek our Father’s guidance and keep going in the right direction until that final day of resurrection when we will all be together again.

My son James had just the material he needed for the talk about his Father and it touched all of us at the funeral as he shared this experience and others with us.

Boyd K Packer said, "It should have great meaning that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that could be given him, God himself, he who is the highest of all, chose to be addressed simply as Father.

Third story happened just last year.

When I moved here in 1999 I bought this little house with this huge lot and though it was fine to leave it mostly as dirt there was this area below the deck that always turned to mud that Bandido and I tracked in the house, so I drew a plan for a kidney shaped patio out of brick or flagstone or something. My neighbor told me I could put it in sand. I pondered how I could do this alone and then John, Marjorie’s son began to bring up river rock to her house and I liked that idea.

The Thiessens said they would show me how. They drove me to the river and showed me what kind to gather and helped me gather rock in their red truck. Wow, those rocks are heavy and it was going to take a lot more than I thought. Marjorie helped me gather river rock. My Grandchildren helped me gather river rock. I was accumulating quite a few but I had no sand base to put them in so I began to use them for a path instead of the patio. In the meantime my grandson dug out and flattened the mud hole in anticipation of the patio. The Thiessens lent me their stone making forms as a possible way to get to a patio sooner. I bought some cement but that seemed like too much work for me, too, so I gave the stone forms back and just kept gathering rocks.

By last August 9 ½ years after I moved here I had a fairly flat kidney shaped dirt base and a 150 river rock path that led from the front to the back and about 5 river rocks for my patio. My daughters family was coming for a boating trip which they had begun to do every other year since I had moved here. She asked me if I had any projects that needed doing while they were there. I said, "Well, there is the river rock patio".

Gary, Linda’s husband counseled with me about the patio after they arrived. We concluded we needed sand and we also needed a truck to carry the sand. His son-in- law Mike had a truck with him for the weekend but he had to leave Sunday evening to go back to Reno for work the next week.

Gary borrowed the truck without saying anything to anyone and drove into Chester. He scoped it out—now this was late afternoon—He found a place to buy sand and went there but it was closed but while he was parked there a man comes up and asks him what he wants. He explains about the mother-in-law and the river rock patio and only a week to get it done and the need for sand and the truck only for the weekend. The man was the owner and he filled the truck with sand.

Gary calls the family and tells them to meet him at my house and with the few shovels and rakes I had they emptied the truck, put the black plastic down and then the sand and Gary flattens it all out and makes a kidney shaped patio out of sand. And then each day after they had been boating and skiing Gary takes the children to the river and they gather river rock and put it into his fancy Van that he keeps so clean and they bring them to my house and leaves them at the edge of the patio. Sometimes they made more than one trip and every day while they were boating I would put them in place and the next day they would bring another load.  It was going to take a lot of rocks!!!

Now here was a Father who had always expected his children to work – on Saturdays the cars were washed, the lawn mowed, the house cleaned. If they were going somewhere on Saturday, the work was expected to be done on Friday afternoon. I have seen also, if the work is not completed before they went to bed, they must finish it first.

This was a family who had a lot of trips and fun together but who also worked together Their father expected they would do this and there was no fuss, no complaints.  It was done and by the end of the week there was only one little area that wasn’t complete and another grandson finished that. I once tried to count the rocks, there is probably around 500—that is a lot or rocks to gather in a week.

I even heard them say it was one of the best vacations they ever had.

As a great father King Benjamin told us from the Book of Mormon ‘When you are in the service of your fellow man, you are only in the service of your Lord.”

You know we are living in a day when many fathers are working to build material legacies of homes, boats, and bank accounts for their children. We, however, have been taught from the Book of Mormon fathers, the importance of leaving eternal legacies for our children. What more could we hope for than to leave our children the spiritual tools of  self-control, of love and service to their fellow man and the faith to become witnesses and disciples of Jesus Christ? Think of Lehi teaching his sons Nephi and Jacob, Jacob teaching his son Enos, King Benjamin teaching his three sons, Mosiah teaching his four sons, Alma teaching his sons, Helaman teaching his sons Lehi and Nephi and Mormon teaching his son Moroni and my husband’s father teaching him and Richard teaching his son James and Gary teaching his children.  All are fathers leaving eternal legacies to their sons and daughters through their words and through the lives they live.

I will finish with President Hinckley’s final words to all the fathers on Fathers Day 1999. “God bless you. I pray for you, that there may be peace and love in your homes, that you may be prospered in your honest endeavors, and that when the times comes you may stand before the Lord and receive his welcome ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Saturday, June 12, 2010

It's for the Birds!

Matt did a great job of renovating the Home Sign.  (The Great Escape actually refers to Bandido and I getting out of the city and coming to the mountains.)
The Lady Bug
The Apple Inn

Haunted House
(Bruce barks at it)
The Bee House
 The Montanan

Country Cottage
Matt's House
(made it in Shop years ago)
The School House
The Boat House
The Farm House
The birds will have new places to choose from next spring--wonder if any of them will move in???

Matt has been busy working on my yard.  Really looks great!

River Rock Patio made it through the winter!

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Another Weekend in Lake Almanor--Sun is Shining!

I bought the thermometer for the wood stove and it is supposed to get up over 230 degrees to be out of creosote territory.  It never got over 200 degrees!!  Now what is that about--I pulled the draft all the way out.  Not enough wood at one time?  Too warm outside?  I don't know.

Saturday I awoke early and fertilized the front yard (did the back and side last week) and then actually washed my car after being here for three weeks with bugs all over it.  The fact I felt like doing it is monumental I think.  The sun is out!

Saturday, I also recorded some movies and watched "Mutiny on the Bounty".  This was the color version with Marlon Brando.  I do not remember watching it before though I must have seen the old black and white.  It was over three hours long but excellent.  It is hard to understand the inhumanity of some people. Where does that come from??  I think the Tahitians had a happy, simple way of life.  I doubt it is still like that there.

Matt spent the day in the sun and his friend Leo and children came up.  At night he went to Susanville.

I have my reading project for the summer, "Jesus the Christ"--over 700 pages but Talmage puts it all together so well, I am enjoying it.  It was years ago that I read it.

This morning my blood pressure is extremely high.  I took the machine in and tested it with Dr. Natali's and they were less than 10 pts apart.  The assistant said that was good.  Dr. Natali is switching the medication.  He says it has to come down lower.  Very puzzling.  He said that Dr. Hemp mentioned how bad my right artery was.  Dr. Hemp keeps telling everyone that.

I said to him that I feel like a healthy woman.  And he says I am except for the vascular disease.  I read all the copies of reports they gave me on the last day I was in the San Diego office.  It is very interesting to read how they write everything down you tell them.  I was amazed how well they remembered everything I said.  It was also interesting how they stressed that they had told me all the negatives of the surgery and I was "anxious" to proceed.  Really, anxious, huh???  More like, well, what else can I do?, I think.

Poor Bandido, he appears to be so miserable.  I think I better take him in and see what Dr. Bob has to say.  Maybe he can give him something for his discomfort.  Bandido and I are falling apart together.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Another Test Ordered!!

Now they really have me worried!  I have to have a CT angiogram on my artery on Monday in Chico.  I am not sure why Drs never get the messages intended for them but once they get them they really act. 

I talked with Dr. Rubenson's Assistant today, Dr. Hemp, and Dr. Natali and they want to get the bottom of this left hand problem I am having.  I have to go up to 325 aspirin per day and if it happens again, go on plavix.  Once Dr. Hemp gets the test he will decide what I need to do.  I hope I don't have to go to San Diego again.

Dr Natali also did a biopsy on my spot on the arm that never heals.  He never got the message Dr. Hemp was trying to reach him to know where to get the test.  This is the second time this has happened.  I can see Dr. Natali is very frustrated with the new office staff since he and Dr. Ware merged.  He does not get his messages obviously.  I called Dr. Hemp on my cell and acted like the receptionist and got the two Drs together finally!

Marjorie has severe problems with her back and has to have another test also.  We are hoping she can do it on Monday, also and Matt can drive us old ladies down and back and no stress on us.  We both need a keeper!!! 

In the meantime, the rain keeps coming down but I notice that the plants are growing by leaps and bounds with all the rain and sunshine periodically so that is good.  At least the rain held off till Matt could deliver his fourth load. 

Also I need to record what the cute chimney sweep guy told me yesterday so I can read it and remember.  I need to find a gauge for the stove that will tell me how hot it is--I already forgot today when I was in Chester.  I need to burn my fire hot, hot, everyday if possible to keep the creosote burning and not sticking to the sides.  I must be sure it has burned very hot before turning it down for the evening.  Since I have a small house, my fire gets the house very hot.  I should crack a window and it will be more comfortable.  Also I can start my fire with paper--do not have to use wood starter each time.  And this is a very good stove and I do not need to be afraid of it burning so furiously hot.  Matt cut the cedar tree from the other neighbors today.  We are going to try and put a birdhouse on part of it and build a bench from part of it and use the rest for firewood.  Cedar wood is very attractive and smells good, too.

That is the end of my adventures in the mountains today.  The lake is looking so full and beautiful...a nice place to be.  Just hoping for more sun.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

The Montana Years--not to be printed...

After chatting with Blog2print yesterday I realized I cannot print 'The Montana Years' the way I have it.  This is good to know. 1--Their template cannot recognize the difference between picture captions and your regular dialogue, so all captions need to be printed on the picture or on a separate page.  2--Even though you choose to not have Dates or Posted by on your blog, their template picks it up anyway and prints it.

So, Blog2print will not print my history the way I have it.  So I just printed it off and put it in my photo album, but at least it is finished now, my 23 years up until I leave Montana and move to San Diego in 1956.

Someday, if I choose, I can print my whole life in LDS Journals.  For now I just have a super photo album with part of my life and more detail than anyone else really cares to know.  Se la vie...

In the meantime, Matt has fixed my watering problems, laid down new soakers, and cleared more yard debris.  He borrowed his Dad's truck and is transporting the needles and branch waste to Lassen landfill today.  What a worker.  Now I don't have to rely on any men from the Church helping me.  That is good.  Appreciate you, Matt.

John Hardy Memorial Hike 2015

My Life So Far