Walks and Puzzles

We try and take Sadie on a short walk every day.  The snow comes and the snow melts.  It is a beautiful neighborhood and the sky changes all the time.  The sun seems very close.

An especially beautiful sky one evening.

Marilyn and Sadie, she usually has her shoes on before me so he looks to her for the walk, more than me.

 Marilyn's house.

First Puzzle completed!!

This puzzle is so hard, will I ever finish????

Christmas Letter 2015 from Colorado

Merry Christmas 2015!  The pictures on my Christmas Card this year come from the Birthday Week I spent in San Diego area in January of this year.   Maria had rented me a timeshare in Carlsbad near the beach and Matt, my grandson, drove with me and stayed with me. 


 We spent the week enjoying family with eating out and visiting.  Everyone was there except for three of the grandchildren.

Significant  group events of the week was the spreading of my son John’s ashes from his favorite surf spot “Bathtub Rock” at Torrey Pines and sharing memories about him, remembering Richard, my husband, at his gravesite, and celebrating my birthday party.  Pictures are from those events.

When we gathered to walk down to Bathtub Rock from Torrey Pines Beach the tide was too high so we went out to a Mexican Brunch after sharing stories about John and his love for surfing, hiking, and other things we loved about him.  Later in the day we walked down to Bathtub Rock just before the sunset.  It was a memorable event.

Frenchie Pulsipher, grandfather of the Pulsipher grandchildren was also being visited that week.  His life was also coming to a close and family gathered to visit him and show their love.  After visiting him and Marilyn one day we drove to El Camino Park and gathered to share memories about Richard.  Most of the grandchildren did not know him at all and they appreciated hearing these stories.

At this time of the year it is a joy to think about all my family and how blessed I am that they are in my life.  All of my children-- Maria and her husband Johnny, Linda and her husband Gary with daughter Sarah, and James, Camber and their children Jacob, Lea, Jimmy and Kelsi live near each other on the coast of North San Diego. 

Maria’s children are scattered on both coasts but I always love keeping in touch with Matt, Melissa, Mike and Mitch and having them come to Lake Almanor to visit me.  Tanner P recently married Marissa and is going to BYUI and Kelly P is also finishing her education at BYUI.  Craig is working in L A. 


 I was so happy to be able to be at Tanner’s Wedding at the Salt Lake Temple and join with family in celebrating.  Amy will be marrying Joe on January 2 and I will be in San Diego for the Temple wedding there.  


Meagan, Matt, Keira and Eden are anxiously expecting a new family member in December and I will be excited to see him also in January. 


 Kristi, Mike, Kate, Brynn, Ryan and Molly are living in Nevada but I get to see them at family events, too.  Love all the family and enjoy their pictures on Instagram.

I am spending the winter in Golden, CO with my sister Marilyn.  She was recently widowed and it is a comfort for both of us to not be alone this winter.  It appears it may be a long, cold one.  Sadie is loving it here chasing bunnies and having two to dote on her.

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving

We have been eating our Thanksgiving dinner everyday, now and still have some left and I have gained 5 lb s.  I need to get back to not eating  sugar again.  We made a lot!!!! 

Strangely I have not had too upset a digestion system but I do make my yogurt and eat it every day, helps so much.  I made pumpkin bread twice for give aways and peanut brittle which was really good, too and a new recipe for cchip cookies and ginger snaps which were both good, a lot is in the freezer but I haven't had so many goodies around for a long, long time.  Marilyn has a bad back so I do most of the cooking but except for raking up some leaves, outside work is minimal.  I bought a puzzle which we finally finished but now I have another and it will really be hard.

It has been very cold here, too, and the snow is still on all the trees and it has snowed a lot and is not melting this time but the roads were pretty clear from here to Marilyn's Ward which is fairly close, so that is good and shopping is near.  Sadie has not had a walk outside for about 4 days but she has the nice back yard and continues to spot a bunny or two  which makes her run a little.  Marilyn's granddaughter was here on the weekend, she lives in Colorado Springs and had a challenge with the roads, luckily she missed the big pile ups there on Saturday nite and Sunday.  Marilyn keeps her home very warm so that is nice and not having to worry about wood and making a fire is good so it has been nice here. I have been wearing my long johns to bed and threw on an extra down quilt the last few nights.

It snowed and was very cold for the Bronco, Patriot game on Sunday and I stopped watching it when the Patriots were 14-0 so surprised the Broncos won, wow, amazing and with out Peyton Manning, too.

Have only seen one movie since coming and Marilyn only likes happy endings so watch a lot of Hallmark, and I try and keep up with my regular shows by ON DEMAND, she does not use a recorder but has 4 tvs!!!

I miss my home and my movies and seeing everyone at home but time is going fast.  I hate to fly but I am flying to San Diego on the 30th for Amy's Temple Wedding on Jan 2 and then I am flying back here on the 8th, hope that all goes well.  I hope all is well at my house.  All of Maria's boys are in San Diego and helping to rebuild the Rasimas house in La Jolla.  Will be like a duplex kind of when completed.  But it had to be gutted and plumbing all redone and they are adding a deck and new windows and all new inside except for a few walls of paneling and flooring that was still good.   

Happy Thanksgiving Letter

I sent this to my family by email.

Happy Thanksgiving Family!

Hope you have a wonderful week! 

How are things wherever you all are this week?  What are your plans for the holiday?  Marilyn and I will be alone except for Marilyn’s granddaughter who works in Colorado Springs will be coming for the weekend.  Neither one of us want to fly anywhere, her family have all been here recently.  Between the two of us we have family scattered throughout California, Nevada, Texas, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, and North Carolina, but we are alone, ha.

We have had three snowstorms but the sun comes out and it is gone soon, it is cold at night but the sunshine shines in the day.  We stay off the roads until it is all melted.  The sun is so bright and close.  Hope you saw my recent pix on Instagram, the sun was amazing at sunset.

We have made too many goodies for Thanksgiving but she has some friends she wants to take some things too.  I am doing most of the cooking but am enjoying that.  She has a lot more aches and pains than I do but Sadie is still getting a lot more walking between the two of us than she did before.

Marilyn has a lovely large home so it is like living in a nice hotel where I am the head chef.  We have only seen one movie so far but have lots to watch on TV.  We have been out to lunch at least twice a week or more since I arrived.  I like the Montana Grill and Bonefish the best.  She belongs to two groups from her last ward and her new one and one goes to lunch and one has potluck.  Montana Grill is Ted Turner’s place and the beef was to die for!!!

Friday we went to “Tuesday Morning” and I bought a round puzzle which will keep us busy for the holidays, it is hard!!!  And then she has two Hallmark channels so that, too.  I also brought Roku so TV’s are busy!!

Send pix on Instagram and love to skype or get emails or phone calls, miss seeing everyone, love you all!!!

The tree is up!!

Replica of Glendive, there is the Andersons Store in the middle with Hagenstons, Meissners Grocery Store, Rose Theater, the Railroad, and our house on the hill!!!

Linda Shares Her Feelings

Today Linda shared this:

I spent 5 hours in the temple yesterday (working) and when I came home, I felt prompted to write what I was feeling, open a Wordpress account and share it on Facebook. (Really scary) You know how much I hate to write, but I think the spirit directed me and helped me to do it. 

Today I received a private message from an old friend that was directed to my site. She told me she had really been struggling and my words were an answer to her prayers. There you go, a testament that the spirit really does work through us to answer prayers. (And other people have been really nice too) 😊

It's been over a week since I heard about the new LDS church polices regarding same-sex married couples. Over the last few days I have experienced a range of emotions, shock, confusion, anger, bitterness, but most of all sadness. If you don’t love someone that is gay, you might not understand why this hurts so much.

We first learned of our son’s same-sex attraction over 10 years ago, I remember many of the same feelings, shock, confusion, fear, but mostly sadness for what my son’s life might look like. Over the last ten years I have learned a lot about my son and what this is like for him. I have also read and listened to scores of stories from other lds lgtbq individuals. My heart breaks for them. If you haven’t taken the time to learn from some of these amazing, courageous, brave, souls, you should. Over the years I have learned more about Christ like love and compassion than I ever thought possible. I also gained a greater testimony of Jesus Christ, the atonement and received very powerful confirmation that none of us are forgotten of the Lord. We are all his children.

Over the last few years I have learned to navigate this space between two truths. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and have a deep testimony of the restoration and the Book of Mormon. I love the temple and cherish the covenants I have made there with my Heavenly Father. I also see these beloved lgtbq children of our Heavenly Father, not one of them asked for this challenge in their life. Their gender/sexual identity is innate, it is part of who they are, and trying to hide or pretend that it is not is very damaging to their mental and emotional well-being.

How do these precious children grow up safely in a church that teaches them that they are broken and their families and God will reject them if they affirm these natural attractions? I ponder this question every day. The answer to that question just became even more distant. Knowing of the pain that exists and feeling helpless is heart wrenching. How do we reach our closeted youth so that they will know they will be loved regardless? How do we tell our same-sex married families that we love them and we want them to stay with us, even if they have to do so as visitors, we have so much to be gained from them. Since the policy change, I fear we will lose even more of these families and that makes me sad, very sad. Why would a same-sex married couple bring their children to a church that tells them they will have to move out of their parents home to be baptized? I have no words for this message, why would anyone do that? These individuals need to know that they will be loved no matter what their path looks like and they are welcome and wanted with all their unique and beautiful qualities in our families and church. This needs to be a message delivered to all our lgtbq friends, especially our closeted youth that suffer alone. Our message just got incredibly difficult if not impossible to deliver.

Sadly, many leave the church because they don’t feel welcome when they can’t conform to the roles that are expected from their heterosexual peers. I am in awe of the few brave souls that continue in their faith in the gospel and desire to remain in their wards, even when they have to do so as non-member visitors after church discipline. Their testimonies strengthen mine in a deep and powerful way. We need them in our wards.

My heart hurts for all of these brave souls that already have broken hearts. Whatever the good intentions of the “policy”, it hurts to see my friends hurt. Seeing how it has played out over the last few days reminds me of the story of the Good Samaritan. The policy came out, and our lgtbq friends and allies were stung, hurt, confused. The story teaches us about the priests and Levites that saw the suffering and passed on their way. I have seen many good church members and leaders do this very thing. I saw comments on Facebook about separating the wheat and the tares. I saw comments of accusing people of not having a testimony of prophets, so they should leave. But, mostly it is the silence, people not wanting to understand how this policy hurts families right now. When we see someone suffering, as Disciples of Christ, we should reach out and let them know that we care about them and we love them and no “policy” is going to change that. Sadly, that is not what I saw this last week. And it makes my heart very heavy and sad.

From Utah to Colorado

Yesterday Bobby S drove me from Jeanne's house is Provo to Golden, Co.  It was a very pleasant easy drive and you use the southern route.  It was a beautiful drive and we went through Vail but did not stop there.

Safely arrived. I am at my sister Marilyn's house..  Easy trip over, sunshine and bare land all the way until a few mountains and ski areas just before we got to Golden.  I will be living in the lap of luxury for awhile.  Huge room with wi fi, tv, place for computer stuff and empty closets, large room.  Feel like I am in a hotel!!

Tanner and Marissa Marry

Yesterday Tanner and Marissa were married at the Salt Lake Temple.  It was a joyous occasion.  

Arky is Laid to Rest

Graveside services were held for Charles "Arky" Smith on Saturday, October 26, 2015.  About 35 people were there, 18 of them being relatives.

Pictured here left to right are Bobby Smith and his two sons CaseyGreer and Ben Smith, Holly Twenhofel ( Daughter Laurie's daughter), Zach, Daughter Sherry's son, Marilyn, Debbie (daughter) and Tom Brusehaver with Maddie, daughter of Debbie's daughter Megan (next to Tom) and her husband Shirantha Fernando behind Randy Smith, the youngest boy in front is Randy's, Debbie and Tom's sons are on either side of Randy, Antwone and Daejon, Adam Smith (son of Randy) and lastly Matt Chirrick and his wife (son of Debbie).

Arky Passes Away.

Arky Smith, husband of my sister Marilyn, passed away at noon today.  It was peaceful.  Here he is with Debbie's daughter Megan and her daughter Maddie, who were visiting from Minnesota.

Most of Marilyn's family are gathering at her home this week, coming from Montana, Utah, Texas and Minnesota.  They will have a graveside service on Saturday.

Fortunately most of the family had visited Arky this summer.  He has had lymphoma for almost five years and had become quite anemic, having to have many blood transfusions this summer.

This past week Debbie was visiting and he requested a catfish dinner.  She bought it and he told her how to cook and they said he really ate a lot, really enjoyed it.

I remember when Marilyn and Arky visited us in San Diego and for our dinner out he wanted catfish so we found a place and took him there.  It was a western place with Line Dancing and lots of fun. They also served hush puppies with the catfish, quite good as I recall.  Arky loved his catfish.

I will be going out to Colorado after Tanner's wedding and spend time with Marilyn.

Marilyn and Arky married Nov 24, 1954.  It would have been 61 years this year!

Charles Meredith Smith 

Charles “Arky” Smith, age 88, died peacefully on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at his home of 40 years in Golden, Colorado. Born May 8, 1927 he was the only child of Ina and Charlie Smith of Magnolia, Arkansas. In school, he excelled in sports and worked summers in the oilfields near Magnolia. He attended University of Tulsa on a football scholarship and excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. He played football in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day in 1945. TU was where he earned the nickname “Arky”, which he went by throughout his life. He graduated with a degree in Physical Education. He left school for one year to serve in the Army as a Security Agent in Washington D.C. Arky graduated from University of Tulsa in 1948, went to work in the oil fields for a year, and then went back to school for two more years to play baseball.

Arky met and married Marilyn Anderson in 1954 in Glendive, Montana where he was working for Baroid Drilling Co. Their three daughters were born in Montana before they moved to Monahans, Texas where their two sons were born. In 1967, the family moved to Midland, Texas, where Arky enjoyed coaching little league, golfing, hunting, and caring for his yard. 1975 took him to Beirut, Lebanon for a job transfer, but due to the civil unrest there, he chose not to move the family and came home after six months. 

Arky was an avid golfer for over 60 years, winning countless tournament trophies, leading groups at his local clubs, and had two hole-in-ones. He didn’t quit golfing until he couldn’t see the ball in the air anymore, but even then was still only 2 over par. Later in retirement, he worked as a ranger at Foothills Golf Course in Denver. In retirement he also enjoyed keeping his yard in tip top shape and collecting apples from the tree in his backyard for baking apple pies. He loved being outside and spending time with family. His home was always open to family get-togethers and frequent visits from his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He was kind and generous, and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. 

He was preceded in death by daughters, Laurie Twenhofel of Lakewood, CO and Sherry Smith of Austin, TX. 

Survivors include his wife Marilyn Smith, his children: Deborah(Tom) Brusehaver of Eden Prarie, MN, Robert Smith of Orem, UT, Randall Smith of Townsend, MT. He is also survived by 17 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. 

The Masseys Are Here!!

The Masseys arrived on Tuesday the 25th!!  I so enjoyed having them here.  

The monitor I had in Keira's room did not work so Keira had to watch "Annie" on the big screen in the living room.  Sometimes you just have to nap.

 Eden is a quiet one who climbs up, looks down and investigates everything.  Unfortunately my yard is very dry and so walking out into the backyard is always an invitation for dirt to stick plus there was sap from the cedar tree so feet and sox and shoes were also covered with stickiness as well as dirt. Nevertheless they seemed to enjoy the yard, hammock, dirt and all.

While Mom and Dad took Keira to the lake I got better acquainted with Eden.  She even gave me big smiles as I let her play with Keira's tinker toy creation.

Eden was happy to pull Sadie in the wagon, but Sadie wouldn't stay there too long.  Sadie was very gentle and patient with both Keira and Eden.   And Keira had him walk over and over and over a little plank in the backyard we called a bridge.  He did her bidding.

Although I didn't do anything too much, I was still tired by the end of the week.  I decided to follow Dr. Tonya's suggestion and ditch the blood pressure pills, I think they make me more tired than playing with great grandchildren.  Both Keira and Eden are delightful. And I love have Meagan and Matt come to visit with their family!

 Keira was getting tired of posing and anxious to get on their way to visit her cousin Molly!

Overall Friends.

Linda and Maria at My House!!!

Linda and Maria came up in Maria's car last Sunday!  Maria was here part of the time and spent other time with Matt, Mitch and their girl friends in Tahoe.  It was wonderful having them here and they also helped me a lot.

Before Maria went down to Tahoe, she and Linda had bagged all the rest of the yard which I was never able to finish!  Then they cleaned out the garage and we accumulated a car full of Thrift items. Linda and I took them to the Thrift.  Maria also found a lot of things of her to throw away!

While Linda was here we (mostly her) put up the new blinds in the two bedrooms.  At last we can open and shut the blinds again.

Then we found some paint from when the house was originally built I guess and Linda painted the hallway, part of the entry way and a couple walls in each bedroom, that finished the paint.  She also painted the trim on the garage door.  And then she stained the front deck and steps!!!  Wow, really appreciated all her work.

Finally we made trips to the dump and disposed of all the bags of waste and lots of trash from the garage cleanup.  What a lot of things we accomplished while they were here.

Maria and Linda are both such beautiful, smart, loving ladies who are so giving and kind to me. Such

wonderful daughters, I am fortunate indeed!

For my part, I did try to feed them well while they were here.  Except I have very little sweets around and Linda had to munch on the marshmallows to satisfy her sweet tooth.

Me with no make up or hair combed!!!  Thus the sunglasses.