APRIL~MORE-MOM'S PATERNAL 3RD GREAT GRANDPARENTS, AND MATERNAL 3RD GREAT GRANDPARENTS

EPHRAIM MIDKIFF AND LUCY ANN FORKNER

There is not as much written about our Hiatt 3rd great grandparents, but from what we know, they were hard-working and honorable.  Ephraim Lawrence Midkiff was born in Pittsylvania, Virginia in 1818 (1815) to David Midkiff Sr. (1783-1840) and Elizabeth Nichols (1787-1876), the 5th of 11 children.  He descended from a family who moved from Virginia to Surry County, North Carolina, the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  They were drawn to the area by the fertile land that had been scouted and advertised.  They farmed the rich land and held to the traditions of Old England, even clinging to the remnants of old Elizabethan English.  Mt. Airy was settled in the 1750's as a stagecoach stop on the road between Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Galax, Virginia.

Ephraim married Lucy Ann Forkner (also spelled Fortner and Faulkner) on November 2, 1847.  She was born on January 27, 1821 in Surry County, North Carolina, to James Forkner (1784-1858) and Mildred Ann Harris (1797-1880).  Lucy was 26 years old and already a widow with one son.  She had been married at 21 to William  A. Peery.  Lucy and Ephraim had 9 children, of which Susan Midkiff Hiatt, Grandpa Hiatt's "Grandma Susan" was the 3rd.  Lucy grew up in Surry County, because her father, James, chose to stay behind to care for his aged mother, after his siblings all moved to Richmond Virginia.  He also carried on the businesses that his father had begun, a sawmill, a brickyard and a freight line. Through the Midkiffs, we have common ancestors with Dale Midkiff of Hallmark movie fame 😊, and through the Forkners (Faulkners) with William Faulkner, the American author. 

Beautiful April is the birth month for some of our most beautiful family members.

Lucy turned 1 on the 6th.

Dallin's birthday was the 8th.

Erika's birthday was the 11th.

Scott's birthday was the 12th.

Kirtlyn turned 15 on the 13th.

Our newest little great granddaughter, Victoria Ann, was born to Daynen and Jori on the 15th.

Tayte turned 19 on the 19th.  His golden birthday!

Sara's birthday was the 21st.

Daniel and Connie's anniversary was the 25th.

~Our April~

Beautiful sunrise...yes, sunrise.   Usually not as dramatic as a sunset, but this time it was.  This is from Rachel's morning walk.

I love seeing the desert bloom in the springtime.  These California poppies are lining the streets of Globe and lining the highway to Mesa.

And spring has come to our house, too.  Dad's pink poppy-like flowers are blooming, as well as our screaming mimi (Tombstone rose).  We have flowers in the front pots and flowers in the back pots.

I love it when our Easter lily blooms.  This year it bloomed too early for Easter, but we enjoyed it anyway.  Also, Dad is holding the first rose of Spring.

We were invited to a FHE at Mary's house and I taught Jared how to play "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater," with which he drove his mom crazy for the next several days.

One of the best things about April is General Conference.  Dad and I haven't been to conference since he was released as Stake President, so it was a real treat to go again this year.  We took Rachel and her family with us and had a great time.  We stayed at Lydia the day before we left and had lunch at Joe's Farm Grill.

The next day, we flew to SLC.  Here are the Alders at the airport and then at the train station in Salt Lake.  We took the train almost to our hotel.  That was Dad's favorite part!

That evening, while the Alders were exploring the city, Dad and I had dinner at a restaurant in the hotel.

The next morning, their family went to the first session of Conference in the Conference Center and we watched it...in comfort...on the tv in our hotel room.  Afterwards, we met them at the Joseph  Smith Memorial Building (the old Hotel Utah) and went up to the Garden Room for lunch.

After lunch, they toured the historical sites and we walked back to the hotel.  It was a nice jaunt to Dad and a long hike for me, but I really enjoyed all the beautiful flowers along the way.

This is a picture of the Lion House and the Beehive House, with the Eagle Gate in the background.

That Evening, the boys all went to the Conference Center for Priesthood Meeting.

And the girls hung out in the hotel with me.

This is a view of the capitol building from our hotel window.

Our flight was late afternoon, so we were able to get a late checkout time from one of our rooms.  The Alders gathered in our room with their bags before they left to spend some time cruising around the city on scooters.  Dad offered a special blessing before they left.  The whole trip was a rich, memorable experience.

We spent a couple of days in Gilbert after Conference and had lunch with Joel, Stephanie and Levi.

And supper with Esther.

With a few days at home, we were able to attend the viewings of two friends, Nancy Willliams, to whom I was a visiting teacher many years ago, and Karen Lines, who was my secretary in the Stake Young Women's for several months.  Nancy had breast cancer and Karen died from Alzheimer's.  Seeing them and their families really brings our own mortality to our awareness.

Sometime that week, Polly, Isabel and Marlie went to a concert by someone named Quinn.  Since there are 3 families represented, I put this picture on our section.  It looks like they enjoyed the performer.

Kirtlyn turned 15 on the 13th, and invited us for chicken alfredo.

Right after dinner, we went to Gilbert to go to Reygan's endowment in the Gilbert Temple.  We went early because Dad had a car appointment on Monday.  While we were there, our newest great granddaughter, Victoria Ann, was born and we were able to go by the hospital to see her.  What a sweet, beautiful baby.  She was a couple of weeks early and only a little more than 5lbs, but perfect in every way.  Daynen actually glowed with pride.

We took a picture through the nursery window.  Doesn't sweet little Jori look like a little girl playing with a baby doll?

It was fun to have kids drop in to see us at home.  Some of them went swimming in Cooley's heated pool, and then sat around and visited for a while.

On Tuesday, the 16th, Reygan went through the Gilbert Temple for the first time.  We felt so blessed to be able to be with her.  Besides her parents, Joel, Esther, Harrison, Rebecca and Thomas were also there, as were Lisa and Deon.  Daynen and Jori were otherwise occupied, of course, but were there in spirit, I'm sure.  Reygan came by Lydia the day before to get her temple apron and we had a good visit about the covenants she would be making.  I was glad that she also took the opportunity to visit with her parents about the temple and that she seemed so well prepared.

After the temple, Rebecca snd Thomas went with us for a quick supper at Chick fil-A.

Before we left to return to Safford, we stopped by the office to have Tayte fill up our gas tank.

On our way home, we stopped by the old tunnel just out of Superior.  It was the one that Dad used to go through with his family, when he was a kid.  We parked the car and all started hiking down to see it, but I had on flip-flops and got rocks in my shoe with every step, so I didn't go all the way down.  Dad and Rebecca did, even though Dad got a rock or two himself.

After we got home, the big international news was the fire at Notre Dame in Paris.  I was so sad about that.  I don't think one has to be Catholic or French to mourn the destruction of such a beautiful landmark, and to be thankful that it wasn't completely destroyed.  I saw these pictures on Instagram.  Allison and Taylor visited Notre Dame on their European trip and she posted the picture of them.  I know others have been there as well, but they didn't post pictures.  It's funny, but the first thing I thought of when I heard the news of the fire was the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I didn't even know that my next door neighbor, Tad Jacobson, was a celebrity until Thomas told me one Sunday evening.  When I saw this publicity photo on line, I just had to copy it.  He's in the band Cole Train and apparently, they are experiencing some success via iTunes.

We had a little dove family make a home on top of one of our back porch pillars this month.  It was so fun to watch the mother and father doves building their nest (Dad says doves aren't very good nest builders.)  I especially appreciated how the daddy kept flying back to bring sticks, and even food, for the mommy.  She sat on that nest for what seemed like a long long time before she had a baby, and then even longer to protect her baby.  I guess there were 2 eggs.  Only one of them hatched.  Dad was afraid that the neighborhood cat would climb up and eat the baby...as he has done before...so we bought a spiky net to wrap around the pillar to discourage it.  

It worked.  The cat wasn't able to get to the nest, so one baby survived.  Luke took this picture of the baby and the unhatched egg.

By virtue of the fact that Rebecca and Scott had a bunch of bunnies running around in their back yard, and of course, because they have the perfect picnic place, we decided to have our annual Easter Saturday picnic in their yard.  It was fun and it was perfect...even the weather.

After a yummy breakfast of eggs, hash browns, bacon, biscuits and cornbread and juice, the kids went on an egg hunt.  Everyone brought candy-filled plastic eggs to hide, and we brought a "money egg" for each grandchild, including the big kids.  The grand prize was $20, which Polly found, also a $10 egg which DeWitt found.  There were two $5 eggs, and several $2 eggs and $1 eggs.  Fun for everyone!

The next day, we cooked a couple of hams and the kids brought side dishes and we had a yummy Easter dinner after everyone's church. 

Cutting flowers for the Easter dinner.

Gathering and checking out the dove's nest

Filling our plates

Hanging out afterwards. Ethan wanted Grandpa's Gummy Lifesavers on his fingers.  Some of the crazier kids had a go at leg wrestling.  

On the 23rd, we went to Gilbert to join Kim (Raelene's daughter) and Vic Pear in a special sealing.  Raelene (Dad's sister) was sealed to her parents, Nora and Ellis (also Dad's parents.)  Joel and Jeremy and Esther were able to be with us and Joel and Jeremy acted as witnesses.  Kim asked me if I would be proxy for Nora, and of course, I was honored to do that.  Dad was proxy for his father, Ellis, and Kim was proxy for her mother, Raelene.  Dad's good friend, Bob Welker (Rick Welker's older brother) was the sealer.  It was so special and we all felt that the spirits of those involved were with us and were thankful for our service in their behalf.

Dad bought an addition to "Grandpa's playground"...a rollercoaster slide.  It's really just for the little kids, even though some of the big kids tried it out.  Here are Alex and Henry giving it a go.  On Saturday, the 28th, we invited all the local kids and grandkids to come over and have "Grandpa beans" and play on the slide or swim in the pool.  It was a fun afternoon.

Drying off in the sun.

On the 29th, we went to the Gila Valley Youth Choir concert in which Brianna, Carson and Lindsay participated.  They all had special parts and were very good...and very cute.

The next day, the 30th, we went to Brianna's middle school choir concert.  She had several solos and danced as well as sang.  It was fun to watch her.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY

~NATHAN AND SHAUNA~

Jovie got into the summer swing of things early.

Hannah and Seth with his family

Some of Josh's preservationist buildings in Omaha.

A page from The Children's Friend when Shauna was just 7 years old.  I also saw 3 boys from St. David and a Crockett girl from Safford.

These are boys in Nathan's YM, playing around after they had finished doing a service project for an investigator.

These are ROTC kids who are going to Normandy for Joel's event this June.  Nathan's company sponsored them.

Jovie at Easter

She didn't like that scary Easter dude one bit!  He's way worse than Santa Claus.

But she did like finding Easter eggs.

Happy Easter from the Jeppesens

They were invited to Easter dinner with Jeremy and Erika's family. 

Jovie loved her new little cousin, Victoria.

~JOEL AND STEPHANIE~

They spent several days at their cabin in Pine and caught a gathering of deer (elk?) at the church in Pine.

Junie loved Easter.  And why shouldn't she?  She got a huge Easter basket from her parents and the Easter bunny (which she didn't have to actually meet) and another one from her doting grandparents.

Hunting eggs...

...totally worth the effort to find them!

Happy Easter from the Joel and Stephanie Biggs family

~DANIEL AND CONNIE~

Rosena and Theo enjoy the many outdoor attractions in St. Louis.

St. Louis is beautiful in the spring...made even more so by Devynne and her beautiful family.

Daniel and his kids built a barn.

Aila helped her Grandma make tacos by putting on the cheese..."one for the taco, one for me..."

Emma went on a YW temple trip to the Vernal Utah temple

~REBECCA AND SCOTT~

Lucy had her first birthday on the 6th of April.  She already knows how to pose!

Happy Easter from the Atkinson family

Allison says that whenever Harvey sees a nice patch of grass, he plops down on it and says

 "Take my picture"

Allison and Taylor have moved into a lovely new home.

Rebecca, DeWitt, Polly and Isabel went to see Wicked at Grady Gammage.

Sara visited her grandmother ( I think) in New Jersey.  I'm sure Parley was his usual charming self and a big hit.

Dallin is getting ready to present his thesis.  He will graduated next month and they will move to West Virginia where he got a job.

Dewitt and friends at a Diamondbacks game

DeWitt spends almost all his time studying for the MCAT...except, I guess, when he goes to games with pretty girls.

Lillian and Kelin enjoy getting out of the cold and "enjoying some heat."

Polly and Isabel and a friend went hiking at the wave caves while the weather is still so perfect for hiking.

On Scott's birthday they came to our house for Scott to help Dad fix the pool filter.  The girls played on the the playground while the men worked.

Rebecca and Scott took a short trip to Sedona to enjoy the beautiful weather there.  The top picture is the view from their room, and the bottom picture is from a hike they took.

Rebecca, Lisa and I were at the Gilbert Temple on Reygan's temple day.

Looking at the old road and tunnel coming out of Superior.

Bunnies, bunnies, bunnies!  Polly was able to sell some of them from the back of their truck.

Easter Sunday.  Dinner with Sherry and Sharon Buckley.

Happy Easter from the Evans family

Rebecca and Scott are redoing their front yard.  Their big shade trees were making it hard for grass to grow, so they tore out the grass and are relandscaping with decorative rocks and plants.  Scott is very artistic, so it should be very pretty, not like desert landscape at all.  

They are just putting down foundation for the rocks, so far, but already we can see how pretty it's going to be.

It already looks stunning at night with their lights

~JEREMY AND ERIKA~

Their big news is not very big at all!  Just a little over 5 pounds, in fact.  

Victoria Ann.  Born on April 15th.  Perfect in every way.

And her Grandmother got to deliver her!!!  What a special entrance into the world and into her family.

Her Grandpa may not have been able to deliver her, 

but there's no one more proud and happy than he is.

Before Jori went into labor, Daynen was in Washington DC on a Fame assignment.

Jeremy and Erika have been fixing up their house and their yard.  It's been fun to watch the progress.

Their floor before...

...after.  How nice it looks!  And what a lot of work...but worth it.

Tayte has been manning the "Zumfuel" business and has filled us up a few times.  I saw this accolade on line for the good work he is doing.

Jeremy, Reygan and Ellie went to see Wicked.

A very important day for Reygan and her parents.

Another picture of them through the nursery window.

A perfect Easter gift

Easter dinner at Jeremy and Erika's with Bethany and Palmer.

~RACHEL AND TONY~

At the airport on the way to General Conference.  Tony and Luke pulled our bags as well as carrying their own things.

They had tickets for the first session of conference in the Conference Center.  They had breakfast in their room before they left and still had plenty of time for pictures in front of the temple.

And even took time for Isabel to have a picture with a harasser!

At the Joseph Smith Memorial Building waiting to go up to the Garden Room for lunch.

In the Garden Room after the first session.  See the Salt Lake Temple through the window in the background.

After lunch, they toured around Temple Square and even saw Wendy Hiatt and her family.

They watched the 2nd session from the Assembly Hall.

The men had tickets to the Priesthood meeting in the Conference Center.  Dad said they sat in the nosebleed section.

Between the Sunday sessions, they wandered around Salt Lake and rode the scooters available throughout the city.  Anna's son, Bryson, and his girlfriend joined them for some of the fun.

At the airport in SLC and on the plane.  What a memorable trip.  At least I hope it is one they always remember with fondness.  We will.

Isabel and Polly and a friend hiked around the desert at Wave Caves 

and Isabel fell and skinned her knee.

Isabel's handsome boyfriend, Logan Sherwood, who is a welder and is currently working in St. Johns at the power plant.

Mary and Rachel both ended up giving their girls tickets to Wicked for Christmas, so they went together.  It actually was on the same night that Jeremy and Reygan and Ellie went.   They even stopped at the old Superior tunnel.  It is getting to be a vacation destination.

A wedding reception that Rachel decorated.

Looking for Easter eggs.

Easter morning baskets.  It looks like everyone found theirs this year...no melted bunnies in the oven.

Waiting for Easter dinner to start.  They look like just normal kids, don't they?  But they are really models in high demand.

Rachel is sprucing things up in her house too.  When she was painting her bathroom, she wasn't quite tall enough, so she put on her tallest shoes and voila! she could reach.

The girls' bathroom, before and after.

~ESTHER AND SHAD~

Brody is playing Little League this year and they have a wild place to play...all those people in the stands are painted on!  Brody is the batter in the top picture.  The bottom photo is a sunset picture Esther took at one of Brody's games.  She commented that it looked like a rainbow.

Esther and Marlie at Wicked.  They saw Melissa and her girls there.

Marlie keeps changing her mind about a prom dress.  Last month I posted a pink one she liked, then this navy one.  She finally decided on a creamy, sparkly gown.  She looked lovely, as you can see.

Harrison, with his fancy lanyard, full of pins from different events and from different people.

We had supper with the Browns when we were in Gilbert for Reygan's temple day.  Soren has been having some quality time with his mom lately, as he is being home schooled for a while.

While we were there, Dad fixed the lights on her front steps.

Harrison at work at his dad's office.

Esther and Shad invited some friends to the cabin for a few days in April at Easter time.

Harrison received an early birthday present, a weighted blanket.  Everyone wanted to try it out.

~THOMAS AND JENN~

Thomas has been participating in track at the Jr. High.  He came in first in hurdles in one of his meets.

The kids decided to try out the pool, long before it was warm enough.  They just toughed it out until they got semi-used to it.

Kirtlyn turned 15 on the 13th, and invited us over for chicken alfredo...yum!

Her mother's birthday post.

Jenn participated in the triathalon, including biking, running and swimming.  The hardest part, she said was swimming in the cold water of the Pima pool.  She trained for it by swimming in our cold water a few times, but it was still miserable.

Her family was so proud of her.

Jenn's Easter post.  Happy Easter from the Biggs family!

After Easter dinner, several of the kids tried their skill at leg wrestling.  Jenn and Thomas did it and for a minute it looked like Thomas would prevail.  Then Jenn maneuvered to get on top and was declared the winner.

Jenn attended a Relief Society "Bob Ross night."   We were in Gilbert for Raelene's sealing, so I didn't go, but I surely would have been there otherwise.  It seems that Bob Ross is enjoying a posthumous resurgence of popularity lately.

Jenn's painting.  They all did the same one.  Very dramatic!

Thomas is part of the home renovation movement among our children.  He built a corner fireplace in his family room.  It is looking very good.  He has the rock face all done and just the mantle left to do.

On the last weekend of the month, Thomas and Jenn gave Kirtlyn her Christmas present.  She had received tickets to see Alec Benjamin, a singer that she likes.  He was performing in SLC, so they took a friend and went to Utah.

Lunch in  the Lion House

Jenn was able to see her brother and his boys.

Waiting in line to go to the concert

They also got to go to the Temple to do baptisms.  They are probably the last ones of our family to go to the SLC Temple before it is closed.

~MARY AND TYSON~

Jared learned how to play "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater," much to his mother's dismay.

Alex and Ethan wanted to play "Puppy" all day one day. They even at from doggy dishes on the floor.

Another day they played "dead."  Each tried to show what they thought "dead looks like."  Ethan with his tongue sticking out and his eyes closed, and Alex with his eyes wide open and fixed...he couldn't help the smile, though.

Tyson had an Edward Jones meeting in St. Louis this month.

Enjoying the Wicked experience.

On their way home, they stopped at the old Queen Creek Tunnel outside of Superior.

Dying Easter Eggs

Swimming at Rebecca's at the Easter picnic and also in Grandma's freezing pool earlier in the month.

Happy Easter from the Richins family.

Carson's report on Bob Ross for school.

Alex loves to do puzzles on Grandma's iPad.

Carson is plugging grass and trying to get a real lawn in their desert.

Off to the Fathers and Sons' outing.  Ethan got to go for the first time because he is potty trained.

They came early for the rollercoaster slide trial in order to build the slide and to help the old folks.

Alex was glad to take the maiden voyage.

All worn out from too much sliding.  Time for a popsicle break.

At the Gila Valley Youth Choir concert. 

I brought stuffed animals for the kids who performed, but Carson did not want me to give his to him at the theater, so Alex held on to it for him, making sure to get it in the group photo.  He gave it to Carson at the car.

After the concert.

At Brianna's middle school choir concert.

~MISSIONARIES~

From Docker in Boston...

                                  "the Chinese stuff is how you know you're in a Chinese home."

Civil War Reenactment

From Albert in California, at a member's house 

And at a baptism

~SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE~

I love Allison's witty comments...especially the Lucky Charms.  Deja vu.

One Sunday, Rachel had on a full, swingy dress, so her girls wanted her to spin around and see it whirl.  You never grow out of loving to whirl your swingy dress around.

Mary actually saw this javelina near the tracks by Home Depot!

So true!

Our beautiful plant was frozen and completely died back this winter.  But when we looked, we saw two brave little sprouts, making me think...never give up hope.  

Even when everything looks hopeless.

I had to laugh out loud at this one.

Wasn't this just everyone's favorite quote from conference?

This not only makes me smile, but brings tears to my eyes too.  

~LAST WORDS~

April has been a month of spiritual mountaintops.  From General Conference, in which we listened to the words of the prophets to and for us, and Easter, which is always a warm reminder of our love for the Savior and of His love for us, to our temple experiences with Reygan and Kim, and the birth of sweet Victoria Ann.  And with all that, being with you and hearing from you and sharing your lives and activities has filled us with joy.  Thank you for all you are and all you do and for your dedication to staying close to your Heavenly Father as you live your daily lives.  We love you so much and are so thankful for each one of you.  May the Lord bless you in May with His Spirit, guiding and guarding you in all you do.