Story #7

Once upon a time there was a handsome,
hardworking father and there was a nice, often frazzled mother of two cute, sweet adorable little girls. New baby Shelly and her big sister Emily were only 14 months apart in age, so it often seemed to their nice, frazzled mother that she had simply had twins in slow motion.

There were good days like when the handsome, hardworking father switched jobs to another big bank in Salt Lake City and got a big raise. There were bad days like when the nice mother and her two cute little girls all got sick at the same time and the tired mother mostly cried and made desperate phone calls to her hardworking husband.

There were happy days like when Aunt Kelly moved in with the little family while she went to beauty school and became the nice, often frazzled mother's savior and the two cute little girls' best friend. And there were sad days like when the hardworking father got colitis or like when one of the little girls got a black mark on her job chart.

There were adventurous days like when the nice,
brave mother and her two cute little girls would drive to Idaho for visits to Grandpa and Grandma's house in the summertime. And there were exciting days like when the hardworking father graduated from National Trust School at Northwestern University in Chicago and also got another raise.

There were silly days like when both cute little girls were learning the alphabet and would constantly ask "what letter stars with baby?" Or "what letter starts with cookie?" etc. . . Or when they discovered the comfort of their strong Daddy's "horsie" back. There were hardworking days like when all the yard was being planted in grass and a big garden and a few fruit trees which resulted in more happy days when the two cute little girls got a swing set, too.

 

There were fun days when the two cute little girls
could play with their two little cousins who lived next door--Becca and 'Lizabeth. And there was another exciting day when Aunt Kelly married Uncle Kevin and the two cute little girls got brand new beautiful blue flower girl dresses.
 
One day the handsome, hardworking father
and his nice, tired wife decided to take a break. They decided to go on a second honeymoon to the happiest place on earth. They had a lovely vacation, but when they returned to their two cute little girls and their nice North Salt Lake home, they realized they already lived in the happiest place on earth.

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma

Story #6

Once upon a time there was a brand new family
trying to live happily ever after in a year full of ups and downs. There was a handsome young father who owned a Ford Pinto which had a gear stick next to the driver's seat that had to be shifted to make the car go forward, backward and different speeds. There was his lovely nice wife who had just learned how to drive that car the year before. She was not very good at it and one day got in a car accident. There was also one cute, sweet baby girl named Emily who got a gash on her forehead in that car accident.

The reckless nice wife felt terrible that she had totaled her handsome husband's car. She was certain she had ruined their financial future forever as they had previously put money down on a building lot. But the terrible, horrible mother felt even worse that she had marred her baby girl's previously perfect forehead.

However, a knight in shining armor (also known as the handsome young father) saved the day. He assured his nice, but distressed wife that they could still afford to build a new home on that lot. In fact, he graduated from the University of Utah in June and got a promotion and raise in July which made it much easier to afford a brand new blue Chevy Nova he bought the day after the accident. It was not only a car that his nice wife could drive, but it became one of the handsome husband's favorite cars. Best of all, sweet baby Emily's forehead healed without marring her future cuteness.

Nevertheless, the handsome young father spent a lot more time that
  year reassuring his nice worried wife . . . like when she realized she was expecting another baby when baby Emily was still a baby . . . or like when they moved into their brand new home in North Salt Lake and had no hot water for a couple days. They also had not much of a yard for a couple years, but still lived happily in that home for nearly 20 years!

The nice crazy wife also worried about being in the hospital at Thanksgiving when the rest of the world was enjoying delicious turkey. Instead, two weeks earlier than that, during the first blizzard of the season, the handsome young father and his nice nervous wife made another midnight trip to the hospital. The next afternoon, Saturday, November 11, 1978--conveniently between quarters of a football game--a tiny, healthy little baby girl was born who they named Shelly!

Ahh--now they could finally live happily ever after! Or could they? The handsome young father was called to be a counselor in a Bishopric just a few weeks before baby Shelly's birth. Oh dear . . .

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Shelly's Mom
(also known as your Grandma)

Story #5

Once upon a time, 20 Valentine's Days ago,
there was a handsome, not-quite-so young man who worked as a Vice President in a big bank's Trust Department. He had a nice, sweet wife who worked at home and was also a preschool teacher. They were the parents of a fine family of five.

There was a daughter named Hayley who was in first grade and could play tic-tac-toe, and do paintbrush and "My First Incredible Amazing Dictionary" on the computer all by herself. There was one, and only one, son named Tom who was in the sixth grade and a huge fan of Jazz Basketball, especially John Stockton. There was another daughter named Betsy who was a brand new teenager and always busy cross stitching or reading or talking. There was another daughter who was a 17-year-old Woods Cross High School Junior who worked part time at Bob's Deli. And there was that cute, sweet, adorable baby girl who had just been born in Story #4 who was now all grown up! She was still cute, but a bit sassier and smarter. She had graduated from high school the spring before and was now going to Snow College far away from home.

Her father, her mother, her sisters and her one and only brother missed her so much they created a valentine especially for her. That was in the days before digital cameras, e-mail and Instagram. First they had to take pictures with a camera that had film in it. Then they had to take the film to a store to be developed into photographs. Then they turned the photographs into a long valentine card that spelled a special message. They put the card into an envelope, put an address and stamp on the envelope and mailed it to Ephraim, Utah. The pictures looked like this (except for the letter "L" which is lost) . . . but the actual valentine was possibly cuter.


"WE"

"LOVE"

"YOU"

All the people in these pictures have grown a little older . . . and four more uncles, one more aunt and 13 more cousins have also joined their family . . . so now this message is for all of you, too!

Happy Valentine's Day soon!
Love,

from the letter "W", "Y", and "O"
(also known as your Grandpa and Grandma)

Story #4

 

Once upon a time, back in the beginning of these 40 stories, the handsome happily married young man was working by day at the big bank in Salt Lake City. At night he worked on taxes and went to school at the University of Utah. His cute nice wife worked by day in the same building just two floors above the bank. At night she puttered around their honeymoon cottage. She played with their new washer, dryer and vacuum cleaner, tried to learn how to cook and when she was truly bored, she tried to find a show on their antique TV.

Being busy did not stop the newlywed couple from living happily ever after, however. They happily went to lunch together quite often. They happily went grocery shopping together just down the street from where they lived. They happily worked in their big backyard on Saturdays and pretended to grow a garden. They happily walked to church just around the block on Sundays where they were both primary teachers. And about one year after they were married, they happily fixed up a bedroom for a pending new arrival. They hung up cute wallpaper, bought a new crib, and painted the old pink dresser yellow because they did not know if the new arrival would be a boy or girl. However, that did not stop them from calling the pending new arrival "baby Joey".

One fine fall evening the nice newlywed couple was bottling peaches, just like their mothers had taught them. After a while the nice cute wife got a stomach ache, which should have been no surprise considering how many peaches she had been eating. After a while longer, the nice cute wife hurt so much she just had to sit down. After a while longer still, the nice cute clueless wife finally remembered she was nine months pregnant and maybe . . . just maybe . . . she was in labor! Her handsome, much smarter husband hurriedly finished bottling the peaches and quickly drove her to the hospital in the middle of the night.

About 14 hours later on Thursday afternoon, September 8, 1977 the handsome young man became a Daddy and his cute nice wife became a Mommy when the world's cutest, sweetest, most adorable baby girl ever to grace the earth was born! They named her Emily and, of course, lived happily ever after!

Happy Wednesday!

Love, Emily's Mom

(also known as your Grandma)