JUNE~PEARL

JUNE~PEARL & ALEXANDRITE

June is a month that has a choice for a birthstone...either pearl or alexandrite...both beautiful and worthy of the special people who are born this month.  June has always been one of my favorite months of the year.  It is the month I became Susan Biggs; it is the month I became a mother; and it is the month I became a grandmother. It was the month of my father's and my father-in-law's birthdays.  I have always looked forward to June because I had my kids home from school and we could do things together; because we celebrate our anniversary; and because some of my very favorite people celebrate their birthdays in June.

Aila LOV turned 1 on the 1st...her golden birthday.

Hayden turned 15 on the 4th.

Porter's birthday was the 5th.

Stephanie's birthday was the 6th.

Nathan's birthday was the 17th.

Stetson's birthday was also the 17th.

Joshua's birthday was the 18th.

~OUR JUNE~

This year, in spite of the fact that I love June, it has brought some disappointments and heartaches.  One of these is that our mountain is burning up.  Literally, the whole mountain!  Near the first, when Mary took this picture of her kids with the mountain in the background, you can see the tiny flame, right over Carson's head.  Then, day by day, it grew.  

This is the mountain from Rachel's house, with the smoke blocking the sun.

The top picture is from the internet.  That is Daley Estates beneath the mountain.  Then at about the same time, only at night in the bottom picture.

We took the left one from Walmart a few days later.  The right one is of Rylie's friend, who is a firefighter and the bottom one from Riggs lake(?)

It grew until is wrapped itself all around the mountain and even threatened the telescope and the cabins.  

Rachel sent me the left one from the Pima Cemetery.  The right one is at that time, at night.  Then the bottom one was also from Pima.

Every day, I would read how it has grown.  It totally covered the mountain and even has spread over the top to the other side.  We got some rain on Sunday, and I'm sure it helped, but it is still burning. Dad talked to President Allred, who lives in Willcox, and he said that from that side it is now on fire just as it was the last couple of weeks on our side.

But, you know, life goes on.  Here is Jared, playing t-ball with the fire and the fire fighters' tents in the background.

The Alder kids having water fun with the fire coloring their sky.

When Joel saw this picture, with the temple standing in front of the fire clear across the mountain and from top to bottom, he said it is a metaphor.  The temple is a refuge, a safe place from the fiery darts of Satan.  He is right.  It is our haven from the world.

Early in June, for an FHE, before the fire was any more than a puff of smoke on the horizon, Thomas' family came over to swim.

We have made good use of the pool this month.  Cousins keeping cool.  The temperatures have been consistently in the 105-110 range, even hitting 115 for a couple of days, so the pool has been especially nice to have.

One FHE, Mary's family came over to work in the yard and swim.  The boys helped Grandpa plant some corn.

Another day, we had Luke come over and do some weeding and mowing.

Rebecca invited us to dinner on the 4th, but my phone was totally fried and I didn't get any pictures.  We had a good meal, though, and a good visit with her family, including Lillian, of course.

Then on the 10th, they had a cousin swimming party at their pool so that Lillian could spend some time with the kids she hadn't seen for so long.  They had chips and otter pops and fun.  And, my phone was fixed. 😀

On the 11th of June, Lillian gave her homecoming talk to the 3rd Ward.  She did such a good job.  Fortunately, Scott was the member of the Bishopric in charge this month, so he gave her plenty of time.  She told about her mission and the experiences which strengthened her testimony and some of the valuable lessons she learned.  Afterward, Rebecca and Scott hosted a delicious brunch. See her boyfriend standing beside her in the top right picture.  He's 6'5".  The man in the foreground is Vince Barney, their cousin.  If Kelin is 6'5", I wonder how tall Vince is!?

Lillian brought me this bamboo fan and the fresh water pearl bracelet from the Philippines! I love them!

That week we had the privilege of hosting Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the Seventy in our temple.  He is from Mesa and knows our families.  He lived over by Grandpa and Grandma and even is familiar with Clem and Odessa 😄  In fact, he was Daniel and Connie's stake president.  He went over to visit them after Parker was born.  He was a delight to get to know.  He was humble and friendly and really seemed to like all of us.  We each had an individual interview with him, which was a spiritual experience in itself.

On Fathers' Day, also Joshua's birthday, we went to Mesa to spend what was left of our monthly break with the Mesa/Gilbert kids.  First we went to church here, and heard Kirtlyn speak in our ward.  She did a great job and sounded very mature and confident.  Then we drove to Esther's for dinner.  She had invited us to share their Fathers' Day dinner of meatball sandwiches and a delicious Portuguese-type cabbage soup.  It was so good.  I forgot how much I like that soup.The temperature was 117 degrees!  So you would think soup would not be a good thing, but it was so delicious that it didn't matter.  And you know Dad, soup is always appropriate, no matter what the temperature is.  

When we left, Harrison gave us some homemade carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese-brown sugar frosting.  So delicious!  We ate them for breakfast the next day.

That night, we had a  Fathers' Day party at Joel and Stephanie's.  Look at the pie assortment.  Then she even brought out two more hot, berry pies to add to it.  Yumm😋 Jeremy's and Esther's families came over too and we had a really good time together.

We got this picture of the boys before Jeremy had to leave.

But we didn't think of taking one of the girls until later, after Jeremy and Erika left. 

But as you can see, Erika was there too.

The next day was 118 degrees, but when we got in our car, this is what I saw.  I remember being in Mesa last year on the hottest day of the year, too.  I don't know why we always choose the hottest days to go.

The next day was our 53rd anniversary.  53!!!  I can't even believe I'm older than 53 myself.  I remember as a teenager, my friends and I were speculating on what the world would be like in the year 2000, all the futuristic things like hover cars and video phones, etc., but we decided it really didn't matter because we would be 50 years old, too old to even enjoy it.  Dad and I went to a movie, but the only one starting when we got there was King Arthur. It started out ok but then it got into so much blood and guts CGEs that we got bored with it. 

We went to lunch at Black Angus with Joel and Stephanie and Jeremy to celebrate our anniversary.

That evening, we met at Cracker Barrel for our anniversary dinner.  Jeremy and Erika's family were not able to go, but we had fun, even though we missed them.

We sat outside in the heat and enjoyed their porch rockers.

The next morning, Reygan asked us to stop by her house on our way home.  She gave us a beautiful copy of her latest work.  I have bought a frame and a matt for it.

The next Sunday, the 25th, we attended 9th Ward to hear Isabel speak in church.  She gave a very good talk.  She talked about agency and how we should use our agency to make good choices even if they are hard for us.  I was very impressed.  Then after our church, Thomas and Jenn invited us over to dinner at their house for lasagna, salad and rolls.  So good!  Dr. Huish, their neighbor, was also there as his family was in Mesa without him.

That afternoon, Mary and Tyson, and Rachel and Tony and Thomas and Jenn came over to visit and we watched old family videos.  See Parker learning to ride a bike? And Grandma Hiatt?

The highlight of the evening, though, was that we had a sudden rainstorm.  We have all been praying for rain, in church and in the temple and in our homes, so when we saw it happen we rejoiced that it was an answer to prayer.  I know it helped cool the fire some.  It didn't completely put it out, however.  Anyway, we all ran outside and the kids jumped and played in the rain.  Alex didn't know what to think at first, because he was too young to remember rain from last summer and we haven't actually had any for a long time.  So he really enjoyed it after he saw that the other kids weren't worried about it.

Then Rylie had her friend (boy) come over to tell us what it is like to be a firefighter for the horrible fire on our mountain. He seemed like a really nice kid.  I liked him.  His name is Brandon Cooke.

Thomas and Hyrum made cookies and brought some over to us for our FHE treat.  It was nice to have some to take to the Temple for a snack.  They were very good.   Thomas made chocolate chip and Hyrum made Missouri cookies.

The Richins family came over on the last day of the month to do some service for the old folks..."the Idades" as Dad says.  It means the aged.  Anyway, I have been wanting my palm tree to look more like a tree and less like a bush.  Tyson trimmed it up and it looks great!

~NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY~

~NATHAN AND SHAUNA~

We received their wedding announcement.  Their wedding is July 15 in the Winter Quarters Temple.  She is going to be a gorgeous bride.

They seem to have a lot of fun together.

Here she is with one of Seth's nieces.

On Nathan's birthday, they went to see the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joshua celebrated his birthday in SLC.  Ahlin posted these pictures of him.  They are no longer together, though.  One of my heartaches...for him...for her.

Beautiful Jovie

With her beautiful parents.

Some Utah Josh the Preservationist buildings.

He took this picture just off the side of the road near  SLC.

~JOEL AND STEPHANIE~
The first week in June, Joel and  Stephanie's family stayed at the cabin.  They had girls' camp, so they took the boys and all stayed at the cabin.  It looks like they had some visitors.

Stephanie's birthday cake.

Docker with his garage band.  They are pretty good, too, and have even had some paying gigs. Docker has a really good voice and I've been trying to talk him into singing with his band.  So far, he says "no."

For the DDay celebration parade in Hawaii, Joel and Jeremy and their boys went on a working vacation.

You know, it's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it.

Stetson celebrated his 25th birthday in Mesa and in San Diego.  He got accepted to the ASU law school, which is a very highly rated and respected school, so he and Lindsay will be moving back to Arizona!

Hanging out with Stetson's huge dog.

Fun at some cool arcade.

On Fathers' Day

~DANIEL AND CONNIE~

Aila and Porter had their birthdays the first week in June, so I asked Connie to send pictures of their Amazing Connie Cakes.  These are what she sent...made entirely by Alta!  She's following in Connie's footsteps for sure.  These are so darling.  I knew she was an artist, and it really shows in these cakes.

Analynn and friends going to camp.

Theo loves the water park in St. Louis.

And Aila loves the water park in Glenwood.

Raymond and Alonzo are in Cub Scouts and are really enjoying it.  They got to sit in a search and rescue helicopter.

Parker and Albert mowing their huge, huge, huge lawn.

Their little farm has cool things like baby chicks and bunnies.  Of course, Mary has bunnies too, but she doesn't pet them or feed them.  She tries to scare them away.

The Strawberry Days Festival in Glenwood.  And Shannyn enjoying the warm days in their own private little river.

Shannyn has a job at Sonic.

Devynne and Brock went to WA to visit his family and enjoyed crabbing and hiking.

How many of us have seen this exact same situation with our own babies and our own laundry??

~REBECCA AND SCOTT~

More fun in Mexico

Parley and Harvey with their Aunt Lillian.

Harvey was here for a couple of days when Lillian got home.  He and Papi bonded in the exercise room...with a Finnish hat.

So.  Here is a romantic story.  Lillian met Kelin Bleazzard (pronounced Blazzard) while she was on her mission in the Philippines.  He was the AP for the last part of their mission.  They barely knew each other, though.  Then they left the mission on the same day, so they were staying in the Mission home with all the "batch" of missionaries going home at the same time.  As they were all going around, shaking hands with each other, he said to her, "Can I text you?" (or something like that.)  I tell it a different way every time 😉 Sometimes he says "Can I see you again?" Anyway, whatever he said, she said "yes." So they started texting, then Facetiming.  They totally hit it off and fell head over heels into cyber love.  Then he came to Safford to hear her speak and meet her family.  When Rebecca asked how she should introduce him to people at church, as Lillian's friend? or what.  He said, "as her boyfriend."  So there it is.  They are smitten.  They make a very cute couple.  He is tall and thin and has a gorgeous smile.  Look at that smile.  Look at her smile. They are both so happy.

He really seemed to get along well with her family too.

The Courier's announcement of her homecoming.

Brynlie and Camille and Brianna all drew pictures of her while she was speaking.

At the brunch after church.

While he was here, they tried to show him all the tourist attractions in and around Safford...Thriftee, Cluff ponds, the bowling alley. I'm sure he was impressed.

They even went to the Tucson Temple open house.

Poor Harvey.

Dallin and Sara have moved into a house.  No more 3-story walk up!

Parley loves it!  "Speak no evil, see no evil"

Lillian didn't waste any time getting back into the swing of tennis.  There was a Valley-wide tennis tournament this month and she and Polly were the doubles champions! Of course.

When Rebecca and her girls went shopping in Mesa, Harvey got to stay with Esther.  He loved Soren and felt comfortable and safe with him.  I was jealous because he is still scared of me.

Marlie and Polly "helping" with the shopping.

~JEREMY AND ERIKA~

What a wonderful vacation the Jeremy and Erika family had.  After the DDay parade was over, Jeremy's family flew out and met him and Daynen in Hawaii.  They got a cottage on their own private beach and from there, enjoyed all the island has to offer.  They really had a great time together in paradise!

USSArizona memorial

Hawaii Temple

Polynesian Cultural Center

Horseback riding.  They went where Jurassic Park was filmed.  Or was it King Kong? See the props?

Hayden even got to celebrate his 15th birthday in Hawaii.

At the Fathers' Day party

Hayden came to the party looking so grown up and handsome! 

He claims he had to do it to be in the community theater's production of Catch Me If You Can, which takes place in the 50's. Whatever his reason was, I love it.

Reygan is spending her vacation doing fun things with her family and friends.

Daynen and his new high tech camera.

Ellie and friends

~RACHEL AND TONY~

Rachel and Luke had a movie marathon

Another time they had the cousins over to watch movies.

They went to the Tucson Temple Open House and had to wait in the stake center 2 hours for a bus to take them to the Temple.

They have found burned leaves from the Mt. Graham fire in their yard.

Making their own cool pool to beat the heat.

And then coming to swim in ours.

While the girls were swimming, Luke was working for Dad, weeding and mowing.

They went to Mesa for a family vacation and spent some time with Esther and cousins.

And found Camille's store 😀

One night while Rachel and the twins were in Gilbert at Esther's, Reygan stopped by just as Rachel was getting ready to go to bed.  She was going to pick up Hayden from play practice, so Rachel, Harrison and Marlie went with her. Fun times!

With Rylie's friend, Brandon, on the rainy Sunday night.

Rachel went with these kids to see this "despicable" movie.  I could have put it in Esther's section or 

~ESTHER AND SHAD~

Marlie got her learner's permit! 😜

Brody at Basketball camp at Mesa High School, our Alma Mater.

Cars II

Brody has discovered a love of drawing.  He's very good for his age.  He's very good for any age.

Fathers' Day card from the kids...very creative and clever.  They decided their dad would just want the candy anyway.  He wouldn't care what it said on the poster.

Esther and Shad and Marlie were all involved in camp this year. Marlie was a 4th Year.

Fun Bishopric

And pretty leaders

At the Tucson Temple open house

Marlie went to EFY in Flagstaff.

You can tell she had fun...and her brothers were glad to see her when she got home.

At the Fathers' Day party

Rockin' it out at Cracker Barrel.

Alders and Browns enjoying the heat...and the cool

Harvey felt right at home there and really bonded with Soren.

Esther and Polly and Marlie, shopping for flowers.  I think the girls are promising to help.

"Garbage can switch"  Both their cans were full, so they had to find a neighbor's can that had enough room for their extra trash.

On the 30th, Harrison had an ear drum transplant!  Unimaginable to me!!  He has to go 10 days without coughing, lifting anything heavy, bending over, or...sneezing!  I can see everything, even coughing, but sneezing ? How is that possible???

~THOMAS AND JENN~

A dove has made her nest on top of their porch pillars.

They went, one afternoon to see if there is anything in the storage building that is interesting to them.

Maya lost another tooth!

An award in Scouting for Thomas

Fathers' Day tribute from Jenn.

Kirtlyn took a "college for kids" singing class.  At the end recital, she sang a solo.  She really has a pretty voice.  We were in the temple, but they sent us a video.  So good!

Thomas and Hyrum took a drawing class with Andra Jenson (on the bottom), Henry took a craft class and Maya took hula hooping!

Some of the drawings Hyrum and Thomas did in their class.

Maya demonstrating her hula hoop skills.  She's pretty skillful too.

Enjoying a refreshing FHE

An afternoon swim with the cousins

Boarding the bus for the Tucson Temple

While the Huishes (their neighbors) were gone, the Biggs kids took care of their animals, including chickens.  Kirtlyn says that Maya is the chicken whisperer.

~MARY AND TYSON~

After taking care of our yard.

Brianna got to go to camp for the first time. Saying goodbye to everyone.  I think she had a wonderful time.

Helping Grandpa plant flowers and corn.

In just a week, they could see the corn coming up.

We had a 10-sprinkle shower one day and they got excited to taste rain.

Carson also took the drawing class and drew this protrait.

Lindsay took painting.

Mary challenged them to draw 100 versions of the same thing.

Brianna's

Carson's

Beautiful irises in their yard

In June, they go to their Edward Jones resort retreat.  The hotel bathtub was big enough for all of them at once!

They saw Sean Miller UofA basketball coach, who was one of the speakers.

Then they came home to our little pool.  At least it has cousins.

Tiny Ethan takes up a whole king-sized bed.

At the Tucson Temple open house, with a client of Tyson's who wanted to see it.

Our own personal, family hotshot!

~MISSIONARY~
Shadrach, among the Hmong in Fresno.  He lost a bet to a Sister, so he had to eat a whole lemon!  In the bottom picture he is acting out a part from the Scriptures.  He's used to big dogs.

He converted this lady when he was in her district but then got transferred and made a zone leader.  He got  permission to go back and see her baptized.  His mission president was there also.

~SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE~
I love to see siblings helping each other. Isabel and Camille

Raymond helping Alonzo tie his scout tie.

Ok.  Sara posted this...which is funny because none of her family are in it.  But this is truly a smiling kind of picture.  You can't help but smile back at them.

Pillow heads

You'd think they would have learned from Luke's experience last month!

"Grandma, I didn't really think my future would get here as fast as it did!"

Chillin' babies

I never thought I would live to see this!  He agreed to go with Stephanie on her birthday for a pedicure.  You can tell by his face how much he's loving it.  I wonder what the little Korean lady thought of his webbed toes.

~LAST WORDS~

As Dad and I watch each one of you in your lives, we rejoice with you in your happy times and suffer with you in your sorrows.  We are proud of you when you meet the challenges that come in your lives with prayerful determination, and hurt for you when the challenges seem overwhelming.  In other words, the joys and sorrows of our lives are totally centered on yours.  I guess that's what it means to be a parent...and grandparent.  I'm sure our Heavenly parents feel the same all-consuming love for us and want, more than anything, for us to turn to them in all our needs.  Heavenly Father has shown us the pathway to happiness through His commandments and through counsel from the prophets, both living and dead.  Following that pathway won't guarantee freedom from sorrow or pain, of course, but it will give us the tools and the strength to meet the challenges of our lives and to find happiness.  Come unto Christ and stay close to Him.  Teach your children to turn to the Lord and to love Him with all their hearts.  That's really the only way to have true joy in this life...even when troubles gather around us.

*Get a temple recommend when you're 12 and never let it go" (Isabel)...and use it.  Go to the temple in July.  You'll be glad you did.