Story #29

Once upon a time there was a state named Utah that celebrated its Centennial (100th birthday) in the same year a city named North Salt Lake celebrated its 50th birthday in the same year a nice man and his nice wife celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in the very same year the five children of that lovely couple celebrated their birthdays with the gift of "Top Ten" lists. The year was 1996 and this was one of those lists:

 

"Top Ten Reasons Emily is Our Number One Sister and Daughter"

10.  She was born first
9. She has been smiling every day since the day she was born
(except maybe those few days she had chicken pox)
8. She always sets a good example
(except she doesn't always tell time very well)
7. She never makes the same mistake twice . . .
(at least she never wrecked the same car twice)
6. She shares everything from blow dryers to boyfriends
5. She has many talents: music, cross stitch, scrapbooks,
and the gift of tongues (or at least accents)
4. She has many brains. She never procrastinates or oversleeps. . . ?
Well, okay, so somehow she gets good grades and scholarships!
3. She has many friends (and now missionaries to write to)
2. She has lots of patience--especially with whiny boyfriends, siblings, and co-workers

1. She is going to have a great last year as a teenager!

Emily had just turned 19 years old when she received this list. She had just finished her first year at Snow College. And she had just survived a summer of juggling two boyfriends. When one of those boys named Bryant left on his mission, the other boy named Keoni began his quest to convince Emily he was her "one and only".

 

That was only the beginning of a most exciting 19th year. The following June Emily graduated from Snow College in the same year her sister Shelly graduated from Woods Cross High School in the same year her sister Betsy graduated from South Davis Jr. High School in the same year her siblings Tom and Hayley met the Jazz Bear at a family reunion at East Canyon in the very same year her father became a Gospel Doctrine Sunday School Teacher and a father of the bride!

The grand finale of Emily's 19th year occurred on a lovely Thursday, August 14, 1997 when she married her "one and only" (also known as Keoni) in the Bountiful Temple. Now 19 happily ever after years later Mrs. White is the mother of three handsome boys and one cute dog . . . as well as the favorite recess lady and best substitute teacher at Ellison Park Elementary!

 

Happy Birthday Emily!
Love, your Mom
(also known as Zach's, Brody's, Luke's and Coco's Grandma)

Story #28

Once upon a time there was a little girl who was "cute as a button" and a bundle of trouble when she was little, but soon became one smart cookie. After waiting for what seemed to her to be forever, she finally started school. She went to Orchard Elementary for the first few years with her big sisters, Emily and Shelly . . .

and for the last few years with her little brother, Tom.

When she was just barely 12 years old she started attending South Davis Jr. High with one of her big sisters who was a ninth-grader. Her oldest sister was in her first year of high school and her youngest sister had finally started kindergarten.

When Betsy was a ninth-grader, her brother Tom was a seventh-grader at South Davis Jr. High with her. Her sister Hayley was all alone at Orchard Elementary in the second grade . . . her other sister, Shelly, was a Junior at Woods Cross High School . . . and her oldest sister Emily was attending her first year at Snow College!

That was the same year Betsy turned 14 years old and received a "Top Ten Things about Betsy" list for her birthday which said:

 
10) She's the middle child of the family . . . not too old . . . not too young . . . just right!?
9) She is smart, bubbly, and cute as a button!
8) she has survived older sister persecution for 14 years without resorting to murder
7) She loves her little brother and sister and has made a goal to never be as mean to those younger than her
6) She loves her Dad especially for not murdering her after a slide destroying incident
5) She loves her mother especially for always asking questions to
4) She loves books and has read many!
3) She loves noise, and has made a lot.
That is . . . she loves music, and practices a lot and
2) She loves talking and practices a lot
1) She was born on August 31--and not one day later!


After Betsy graduated from Woods Cross High School in the year 2000, she went to college at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. She loved school and learning so much that she decided to major in Elementary Education. She finished college in less than four years and got her first job teaching kindergarten before she had even officially graduated!

Now Miss Betsy is a piano teacher . . . a preschool teacher extraordinaire . . . and a happy mother living happily ever after with her own smart little cookies.

 

Happy Birthday Miss Betsy!
Love, your Mom
(and Eddy's, Lindsay's and Parker's Grandma)

Story #27

Once upon a time there was an impatient older man
and his quiet, kind wife who were the grandparents of eight little boys. There was a boy named Zachary and his little brother named Brody and their littler brother named Luke. There was another boy named Jack and his little brother named Ryan. There was another boy named Coltin . . . and another boy named Eddy . . . and one last little boy named Wade.

The impatient older man, also known as Grandpa, loved his grandsons so much he would take them on wagon rides, or walks to get the mail, or let them pick pumpkins out of his garden. More often he would get agitated when they came to visit because of the toys they scattered all over, the noise they made and, horror of horrors--their sticky fingers!

On the other hand, the quiet, kind little grandma liked creating and giving all kinds of projects and treats to her grandsons. In the year 2010 she gave ingredients to make a recipe each month to her nine-year-old grandson Zach. She gave alpha-books to her four-year-old grandsons Brody and Jack . . . and actually started "Grandma's Alpha-Blog" that year too, which was full of all kinds of alphabet adventures. Her three-year-old grandson Coltin was a member of the "counting club". After Eddy turned three years old at the end of the year, he got a "number notebook", too. Her two-year-old grandson Ryan was in the "color-of-the-month club" and one-year-olds Luke and Wade were receiving new board books each month.

One day as the creative little grandma was counting her one little, two little, three little grandsons . . . four little, five little, six littler grandson . . . seven little and eight little grandsons, she wondered if "nine little" would be a boy, too. Lo and behold, one sunny summer day on the 16th day of August a little baby girl was born!

Lucky big brother Eddy had a sister who was named Lindsay Lu. Lucky Betsy (also known as LuLu's mommy) was so excited, she made Lindsay a blessing dress out of her old wedding dress! Lukcy Brandt (also known as LuLu's daddy) was a little scared to have a daughter. Lucky Grandpa was so excited he gave Betsy a $1,000 bonus for the very first granddaughter. (Actually, he gave all of his children $1,000 for their birthdays that year.) And lucky Grandma was so excited she organized a "pink party" to celebrate LuLu's birth, gave her an outfit each month the first year of her life . . . and along with everyone else . . . lived happily ever after!

 

Happy Birthday Miss Lindsay Lu!
Love, Grandma

P.S.    Look under "Labels" and click "Lindsay Lu" to see more pictures of this six-year-old little lady who loves coloring, princesses, popcorn and piñatas and is especially excited to start first grade tomorrow with her brand new "My Little Pony" backpack and matching lunchbox!

Story #26

Once upon a time there was a handsome hardworking man and his cute, nice wife who celebrated their 200th (month) wedding anniversary! It was 1993--the same year the Salt Lake Temple was celebrating its Centennial and just a couple years before the Bountiful Temple was completed and dedicated.

But not everything was cause for celebration during those years. One day it snowed all day long which was very fun for those who got to miss school. It may have been fun for the fine father to miss work, too, except that he had to take turns with his young son shoveling snow every single hour! The hardworking father also felt like an under-appreciated employee of the bank, but he was truly loved by his nice wife when he completely painted the whole upstairs of their home sweet home.

 

One teenage daughter, Emily was excited to get her first real job before she even turned 16 years old--at Atlantis Burgers . . . but she still had to argue with her kind and loving parents that she was "not dating" Jeremy  also before she even turned 16 years old. Later she got a better job at Lynn's Flavor Magic and started attracting the attention of many more boys. Wait a minute--is that better?

While all that was going on, another teenage daughter, Shelly was getting rich from babysitting. Her highlight of 1993 was wearing a bright purple cast for six weeks as the fractured growth plate in her left hand healed after a little flag football accident in gym class. Later she also got a better job at Leatherby's Ice Cream Parlor and she got her driver's license!

What followed was not a time for celebration for the hardworking getting-older-by-the-minute father and his worried wife. For the first few years of teenage drivers in the family, one fender bender after another kept happening including one terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day when both sisters were in a car accident that totaled the family's red van. Fortunately, both girls and their friends in the car were not hurt as much. One sister got a gash on her face requiring stitches, but it healed and also helped pay for college . . . and the other sister had no visible injuries but a mortal fear of mini vans for a very long time.


Meanwhile another sister Betsy got 11 stitches on her 11th birthday after an unsuccessful trick dive into the East Canyon swimming pool! She also recovered and became a straight-A student who played the violin in sixth grade and then switched to the flute in Jr. High. However, she also felt her goodness was unappreciated and became extremely vocal about how unfair her life was as a middle child.

Her younger brother, Tom had no worries
and was perfectly happy collecting basketball cards, building with legos, reading comic books, watching games--even shoveling snow (especially off the basketball court). Unfortunately, he wasn't quite as happy about getting stitches in the emergency room after a collision with the piano one Christmas Eve.

And the little sister of the family, Hayley got tired of begging her Mom for piano lessons and taught herself how to play five Christmas songs. Plus after only 3 1/2 years of preschool with the same ole boring teacher (Mom again), she finally got to start kindergarten!

But . . . whether it was good days . . . bad days . . . snowy days . . . or ordinary days . . .  this fine little family just kept living happily ever after!

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma

Story #25

Once upon a time after a little girl named Hayley
and all her sisters and brother had recovered from chicken pox, it was time for another adventure. Not a grand adventure . . . a little "good deed adventure". The whole little family loaded up in their grand van (which was now a red one) and headed to Idaho where they met more aunts, uncles and cousins and repainted Great-Grandma Hawkes' yellow house in just one day!

Yet before long, bad days were back again. By the end of the year there were two teenagers in the family--two teenage girls who liked to sass, have hair brush wars and do tiny tortures to each other. There was one other daughter who bravely endured plastic surgery to have a lump removed from the side of her face and one son who had to get nine stitches in his chin after falling off his bicycle. And there was a little daughter who did not stop stealing the neighbor kids' bikes until she got her very own Fisher Price tricycles on her third birthday.

 

Nevertheless, the wonderful, patient parents of these trouble makers loved them enough to go on a spring break adventure the following year to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. Shortly after that the handsome, hard-working father of the family turned 40 years old. His smarty pants kids celebrated by forking their front lawn with forty 40's and making a banner that said "over the hill".


One of the smarty pants was a daughter who turned 15 years old and started high school in September . . . another one was a daughter who got braces and later turned 14 years old . . . another one was a daughter who turned 10 years old and started fifth grade . . . another one was a son who turned 8 years old and started third grade . . . and the youngest one was a daughter who turned 4 years old and was her lovely mother's star preschool student. Their family grew by one more that school year, too when--not a cute, cuddly baby joined the family--but another teenage girl named Christina who was an Indian Placement Student.


There were many more good and bad days
in the year to come, but this fine family learned that living happily ever after happens one day at a time!

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma

Story #24

Once upon a time there was a nice young man who grew up in a family of all brothers except for one sister. Ironically, when he became a father he raised a family of all daughters except for one son. But what fun he had with that one son! Right away they started a unique birthday tradition. Because the son was born on one of Utah's flag-flying holidays--every year on July 24 Tommy and His Dad had their picture taken together with a flag.

Another thing they liked to do together was play basketball.
At first it was just with a small plastic indoor hoop and ball. But later the father felt it was necessary to have a real court with a real hoop and a real basketball. So with the help of a lot of neighbors and a lot of trips with the wheelbarrow full of cement, a concrete court was poured in the backyard.

More excitement followed a few years later when the father and son were able to go to the Jazz basketball game where John Stockton set the NBA Assists record. The basketball-loving boy kept notebooks full of newspaper clippings and statistics and managed to make many school reports be about the Jazz. However, one of Tom's and his Dad's favorite basketball memories happened one Christmas afternoon when they were bored, went to an after-Christmas sale and bought a fisher Price basketball hoop. After all, by then they practically had a half court for playing in Tom's basement bedroom!

Tom also had a mother, but she wasn't nearly as fun.
How fun are good meals and clean clothes compared to playing basketball? The mother did come in handy when it was time to celebrate holidays, though--especially birthdays. She knew how to buy and wrap presents. She knew how to make favorite meals for the birthday person. And she knew how to make birthday banners and signs. One year she decided to write a "Top Ten" list for each person in the family on their birthday. Once upon a time, when Tom turned 12 years old, this was his list:

Happy Birthday to:
10. Orchard 8th Ward's newest deacon
9. Dad's favorite basketball playing partner
8. Mom's best kitchen cleaning helper
7. Grandma Hawkes' favorite grandson to share a birthday with
6. Grandpa Chambers' favorite grandson to give "take apart" gadgets
5. Emily's favorite brother to take to Buzz games and Bryant's barbershop
4. Shelly's most stylin' brother (who never hogs the bathroom)
3. Betsy's favorite brother to tease and argue with
2. Hayley's favorite brother to walk to school with . . . and bug!
1. The number one boy in our family!

Not long after this list was written the number one boy grew up and got  job at  Dicks' Market just like his Dad did back in the day. Now he is the same age his Dad was when he was born! . . . and just like him, he has a nice wife and a lovely little family and the same plan to live happily ever after!

 

Happy Birthday Uncle Tom!
Love, your Mom
(also known as Grandma)

Story #23

Once upon a time it was the best of times and it was the
 worst of times. A handsome, hardworking father had reached his five-year work anniversary at First Security Bank and was now entitled to three weeks of paid vacation each year. That was good news! But one day when he was driving to a business appointment on the freeway in his suit, he got a flat tire. Bad news . . . except a highway patrolman pulled up behind him and changed the tire for him. Not such bad news anymore!

His sweet, but very shy wife was called to be a Relief Society President. Bad news because she mostly worried and cried for the next six months. She was released (good news) just after her Dad (Great-Grandpa Hawkes) died (sad news).


Their first daughter, Emily became their first official
teenage daughter (scary news) and saved enough money to buy her very own black mountain bike (good news except when she used the same bike to go too far away). Their next daughter, Shelly performed 11 memorized piano pieces at her very own piano recital (good news) and was asked by a sixth- grade classmate to go steady (not good news). Their 8-year-old daughter, Betsy had read 100 books by summer and had started taking piano lessons which she was just as passionate about (good news) . . . and she had gone a whole year without stitches, too (very good news).

Their "teenage mutant ninja turtle" loving son, Tommy
 learned how to read and write in first grade (good news) and got to spend one night sleeping out in his favorite ugly green truck before the neighbor who owned it sold it (sad news for Tom). And the 2-year-old baby girl of the family, Hayley was kind of spoiled and very loved (good news) until she infected the whole family with
chicken pox (not such good news).

 
However, during the best of times and the worst of times this family still managed to live happily ever after.

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma

Story #22

Once upon a time there was a happy little family that went on a grand adventure in a brand new green Grand Van. The fine father mapped out the whole adventure that would take his happy little family clear back East to visit his brother's family in Pennsylvania. The nice mother packed road trip treats and surprises to last the long journey to also visit her brother's family in Illinois. One Sunday evening in spring the fine father, the nice mother, and all but one of their excited children headed off on their grand adventure. They had decided one baby sister (also known as Hayley) was too little for a big trip so she stayed behind with Aunt Kelly's family.

The fine father drove almost all night all across the state of Wyoming. The nice mother took turns driving, too. They went all across the state of Nebraska . . . all across the rolling corn fields of Iowa . . . and felt like they had rubber legs by the time they could finally get out of the car and spend a night at Uncle Dennis' home in Urbana, Illinois.

But the driving wasn't done yet! Early the next morning they hit the road again and drove through Indiana and Ohio to finally reach Uncle Wayne's home in York, Pennsylvania. Then the real fun began. Both fine families visited the Hershey Candy Factory, toured Gettysburg, and spent a day in Philadelphia along with some of their former neighbors--the Tomlinsons. One day they also drove through Amish country, which was not the funnest day for one family member who did not like being "weighed" for her meal. But all the rest of the time the three sisters (also known as Emily, Shelly and Betsy) and the one brother (also known as Tom) had lots of fun visiting their cousins (also known as Rebecca, Elizabeth, Joseph, Brittany and Keren).

After time in Pennsylvania, the happy little family drove up to New York and visited the Joseph Smith home, the Sacred Grove, Palmyra, the Hill Cumorah and Niagara Falls. These were the days the sick little family learned to never again bring licorice for a road trip treat. But everyone was feeling better once they reached Urbana, Illinois again and spent a couple days visiting Uncle Dennis' family.

Then it was time to begin the long trip home. Once again the nice little family decided to leave in the evening. The fine father soon tired of driving, so he decided to take a little nap while the nice mother drove a little while. Unfortunately, a little while turned into all night when fog became so thick the nice mother had to just keep driving. Fortunately, the smart little sister Betsy kept the nice mother awake by not only chattering to her all night long, but also by reading all the road signs! After one more whole day of driving and one overnight stay in a Wyoming hotel, the tired little family finally made it back to their home sweet home where they lived happily ever after.

Happy Wednesday!
Love, the all-night driver
(also known as your Grandma)

Story #21

Once upon a time on January something of 1989 there was a handsome, hardworking father hardly working one day at the bank. He was just playing around with numbers when he discovered something amazing by adding up a few important numbers. His youngest baby girl (also known as Hayley) had just been born a few months before so she was 0 years old. His one and only son (also known as Tommy) was a 4-year-old preschooler. His cute, busy little first-grade daughter (also known as Betsy) was 6 years old. His smart little fourth-grade daughter (also known as Shelly) was 10 years old. And his sixth grade daughter who was no longer a "little girl" (also known as Emily) was 11 years old. His lovely wife was a lucky 33 years old and her handsome, usually hardworking husband was 36 years old. This fine family was 100 years old!

That was a cause for celebration.

So the handsome, hardworking father made a banner, hung some streamers and surprised his family with the great news. They not only celebrated that day . . . but all through the year with all kinds of new things. The handsome,  hardworking father with the help of some friends installed a sprinkler system in their yard. His handy, dandy Dad (also known as Great Grandpa Chambers) built a big fancy redwood deck in their backyard. His lovely preschool teacher wife used some of her earnings to buy a big jungle gym swing set for the backyard. And best of all, they started a new tradition of "dates". Once a month each child got to go on a date with either their handsome, hardworking father or their kind, sweet mother.

The 100-year-old birthday celebration only came

 once upon a time, long, long ago . . . but the fine little family is still living happily ever after even after the handsome father went truly nuts one day at work about a year later and figured out the fine little family was one million hours old!

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma

Story #20

Once upon a time not too long ago
the handsome, hardworking man of these 40 stories realized he had become a not-always-happy old man. He now worked very hard in a dusty, hot warehouse instead of a fancy, air-conditioned office. His cute, nice wife still worked at the nice new library in Farmington, but she, too realized she had become a little old lady. When the almost-grumpy old man wasn't working hard, he liked counting: how many more days until retirement? . . . how much money to save? . . . for how many more vacations to take? The little old lady like counting, too. She mostly counted her blessings and how many more days until the next holiday to celebrate.

Their many blessings included a lovely daughter, Emily, who was still living in Layton with Keoni, Coco and their three growing boys. Lovely daughter Shelly was still living in Washington with J.P., Lola and their three ball-loving boys. Lovely daughter Betsy was still living in Syracuse with Brandt, Sadie and their two rambunctious boys and one sassy little girl. And lovely daughter Hayley was living in Centerville with Brady and their two clever little boys.

Fine son Tom was still living in Farmington with his weekend son when someone new joined them. Tom had become reacquainted with a girl he once knew from his working days at Dicks' Market . . . a girl Tom's son also liked . . . a girl by the name of Jenny. On the lovely Thursday morning of June 19, 2014 Tom married Jenny in the Salt Lake Temple. They were just adjusting to being a happy little family when even more happiness happened.
 

Their very first little daughter (Coltin's  very first little sister) . . . and the old man's and the little old lady's second granddaughter . . . was born on the third day of July in 2015 making happily ever after even more possible for all!

Happy Days!
Love, Tom's Mom
(also known as Jenny's mother-in-law)
(also known as Lilly Jayne's Grandma)

Story #19

Once upon time, believe it or not, the handsome hardworking husband and father in these 40 stories was once a child like you! Once upon another time long, long ago there was another handsome young man named Harold and a petite, nice girl named Eva who had a baby boy on the summer day of June 20.

This little boy joined a family of two big brothers. When he was as young as Lilly he liked to sleep with his legs straight in the air leaning against the rails of his crib. Before he was even as old as Parker, he was doing jigsaw puzzles and had a new brother. The little boy got another new brother and claims he stood on a stool to wash the dishes when he was the same age as Nash. When he was a little guy like Owen, he liked his Mom to comb his hair into a wave in the front and he got the nickname "Davy Wavy".

By the time this little boy was seven years old like Ryan, he was on a Little League baseball team (and he got another brother!) He had as much desire as the Dewitt boys to be a great ball player, but alas, no natural talent or good coaches. So instead, he learned to enjoy baseball in other ways like playing Stratomatic ball games, collecting baseball cards and doing the "play by play"/coaching of his younger brother Wayne when they played games.

When he went to kindergarten like Lindsay,

he only had to walk two blocks straight down the street to Stoker Elementary. When he was eight years old like Eddy his family went on a vacation to the Grand Canyon! When he was about the age of Coltin, he got to climb Mt. Timpanogas and slide down the glacier. When he was in the fourth grade like Brody and Jack, he had Mrs. Barnett and memorized lots of poems--some of which he still remembers. And when he was 11 years old, he took piano and clarinet lessons . . . got his first paying job as a water boy at Burningham Plant Land . . . and got his first sister!

This young man was almost as old as Zach when his youngest brother was born. His teenage years were filled with lots of camping, canoeing and fishing adventures with his Dad and brothers until he became too busy working at Dicks' Market, buying cars, and drag racing on State Street on Friday nights.

Before you know it, he was all grown up and became a Grandpa to all 11 children mentioned in this story, plus one other grandson born one day before his birthday in 2009--also known as Luke . . . and one more grandson born exactly one week after Luke (June 26)--also known as Wade.

Happy Birthday Boys!

Love, Grandma

 P.S. . . Look to the right under labels and click "Luke" to see more pictures of a boy who just finished first grade and is happy to have a whole summer of "days off" to read, color, play outside with his brothers, do jobs around the house and get paid in treats, and swim (no thank you to swimming lessons, though).

Then under the labels section, click "Wade" to see more pictures of another boy who just finished first grade and also loves to read, color, ride his bike, play with his little brother and his new puppy (sometimes), hike with his family, swim, and tell you names and capitals of all the states in the U.S.A. 

Story #18

Once upon a time about six years ago, there was a large group of people who took a big family vacation to Cannon Beach in Oregon. There was a handsome, hardworking father and his lovely, nice wife who made all the arrangements. There was their lovely daughter, Emily, who came with her handsome husband and their three cute little boys. There was another lovely daughter, Shelly, who came with her handsome husband and their two cute little boys. There was another lovely daughter, Betsy, who came with her baby belly, her husky husband and their cute little boy. There was a fine son, Tom, who came with his not-too-happy little boy, and there was one more lovely daughter, Hayley, who came with her husband, her husband's brother and her cute little boy.

This big family enjoyed walking on the beach, digging in the sand, playing in the cold ocean and eating seafood, but it was not everyone's first trip to Cannon Beach. Quite a few of these same people had been to Cannon Beach just 11 years earlier.
But even that trip was not the first . . .  

Once upon a time, over 20 years ago, there was a much smaller family who made their first family trip to Cannon Beach in their brand new red Plymouth Voyager minivan. The handsome, hardworking father did most of the driving. His lovely, nice wife did not most of the packing. And their three little girls, Emily, Shelly and Betsy had most of the fun--even Betsy when she was rolled by an ocean wave!

Then a couple years after that, they made another trip
to Cannon Beach in the same minivan, with the same people plus one extra little boy--Tommy! This trip included even more driving and vacationing up to Seattle! Still later (1995) the growing family took another trip to Cannon Beach--this time with a new green minivan, an additional family member--Hayley, and a 10-day itinerary which included driving up into Canada!


(P.S. . . this family vacation photo is the same summer, but not Cannon Beach!)

Maybe . . . just maybe . . . all these people and their additional cute little boys and girls will go to Cannon Beach again . . . and dig in the sand, walk on the beach, play in the ocean, and eat seafood happily someday after!

Until then . . . Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma