KELLEY MONTGOMERY AND ZILPHA COCK MONTGOMERY
Kelley Montgomery and Zilpha Cock were the parents of Ephraim Puckett, whose first wife died in childbirth after he blew and blew on a ram's horn, trying to raise help, during a storm on the mountain on which they lived. Ephraim was the father of my great grandfather, Paola Puckett. Kelley was born in North Carolina, on February 16, 1813. His parents were James Montgomery (1782-1843) and Jane White (1786-1850). He was the 4th of 12 children. Kelley's parents were born in colonial America. His grandparents emigrated from Scotland and Ireland, but met in North Carolina where they were married. Kelley married Zilpha Cock (Cox) on December 24, (Christmas Eve) 1835 in Patrick Virginia.
Zilpha was born in Patrick County, Virginia, on August 23, 1813, and died on her 50th wedding anniversary, December 24th, 1885. Kelley lived another 11 years and died on January 9, 1896. They were the parents of 11 children, Emillie, my great great grandmother, being the 6th. Zilpha's parents were Reuben Cock (1760-1840) and Rhoda Phillips (1770-1842). Both her parents were also born in the United States. In fact her grandfather was also born in Colonial America in 1724, and her grandmother as well, in 1726. So they were long time Americans.
Look up the touching story of Ephraim and Emillie Puckett in your Ruth and Rudge book. It is in the back with the ancestor information. It is the story of tragedy, and love. Grandpa Hiatt heard that story from his mother, just before she died. He had never heard it before, but thankfully, she remembered to tell it to him before she took it with her. It's a wonderful story and gives a picture of their lives in the mountains. Aunt Orlean Puckett, who had the Puckett cabin in the October blog, is Ephraim's sister-in-law. She was a midwife who brought over a thousand babies into the world, and never lost a mother or a child. She, herself, however, lost more than 20 of her own babies and never had a posterity. My guess is that she had trouble carrying them to term and without the wonderful modern advances in neonatal care that we enjoy, the early-term babies couldn't survive.
PARLEY PARKER PRATT AND MARY ANN FROST PRATT
(This is long, but worth the read. I learned some things I didn't know)
(This is long, but worth the read. I learned some things I didn't know)
With most of our ancestors, I had trouble finding very much information, but my problem with these ancestors is there is just too much! I couldn't possibly include everything I could find about them. I hope you will take the time to read what I have included, though. They lived very interesting lives.
Parley Parker Pratt was born on April 12, 1807 in Burlington New York to Jared Pratt (1769-1839) and Charity Dickinson (1776-1899). He was the 3rd of 5 children, and his younger brother, Orson, was the 4th. He married Thankful Halsey, 10 years his senior, and had one child, Parley Jr. Thankful never recovered from her confinement and died when Parley Jr. was just a baby. Soon after he was married to Thankful, he left his home and property to search out The Everlasting Gospel, as he called it. He was sure that there had to be a church that taught the Gospel in the same way that Christ did when He was on the earth. He was introduced to the Book of Mormon by Samuel Smith, the brother of Joseph Smith, and he read unceasingly for three days, having no desire to eat or sleep. He testified of its truthfulness all the rest of his life. He and his wife journeyed with the Saints to Kirtland, Ohio, where she died. That same year, May 9, 1837, Grandfather Parley married a widow, Mary Ann Frost Stearns, our grandmother, needing a mother for his son.
Mary Ann was born on January 14, 1809, in Groton Vermont to Aaron Frost (1779-1860) and Susanna Gray (1780-1861). Her family moved to Maine when she was just 3 years old. She married Nathan Sterns and by him had a daughter named Mary Ann. He died within a year of their marriage. Mary Ann was baptized by David W. Patten in 1835 after having been a widow for 2 years. She and her child moved to Kirtland, Ohio and there she met and married Parley Pratt, a widower with a young son. Parley and Mary Ann soon were the parents of four more children: Nathan, Olivia(our grandmother), Susan, and Moroni. They had a loving, happy marriage and she even joined him in his prison confinements, whenever she could. When their first child was just 3 months old, and she was lying in bed, sick with a fever, her husband was arrested by an armed mob and taken to prison in Missouri. As soon as she was able to leave her bed, she and her children joined him, remaining in the dreary dungeon for six weeks. Her daughter, Mary Ann, broke her arm on the trap door, so she had to leave to get medical help. Parley used this circumstance as an opportunity to smuggle out of the prison a manuscript he had been working on, containing history of the Church as well as of their imprisonment. Although the guards, knowing Parley had been writing, threatened to search anyone leaving the prison, she was able to hide it on her person and later deliver it to a friend, preserving a valuable part of church history. Consequently, she was banished from the state with her helpless children while her husband remained in prison. She settled in Quincy, Illinois. On the 4th of July, the next year, Parley escaped from prison and joined Mary Ann in Quincy. They then moved to Nauvoo. She was a loving, devoted wife; she went with him on his mission to England, being the first woman in the Church to go to a foreign land as a missionary, and was a great help in the work there. Their daughter, Olivia was born while they were in England, and Susan was born on the ship bringing them home. It's interesting to me that they named their first son "Nathan" after her first husband and their first daughter Olivia Thankful after his first wife. Nathan and Susan did not survive childhood, however, both dying within a short time.
According to sources, Parley and Mary Ann "demonstrated a deep companionship in their marriage." Parley wrote this tribute about his beloved wife, Mary Ann.
Things didn't always stay rosy for them, however. Parley took at least 12 polygamous wives, after Thankful and Mary Ann, and several others which are more or less undocumented. Mary Ann couldn't abide Polygamy, so she divorced Parley after they were in Utah. At first, Parley tried to get her to go west with him, but she refused and stayed in Nauvoo. She soon sold her house to a Catholic priest and went back to Maine for a while before moving to Utah. In fact, the house in Nauvoo is still owned by the Catholic church as a residence for priests. She arrived in Utah in 1852, where she received her divorce, granted by Brigham Young, and settled in Pleasant Grove. Grandma Hiatt always told me that whenever I mentioned that Parley was my grandfather to be sure not to say which of his wives was my grandmother. I always do though.
In 1830, Joseph called Parley on a mission to the Indian tribes in Missouri. During the trip west, he stopped to visit Sidney Rignon, his former minister of the Reformed Baptist Society. He converted Sidney and 130 members of his congregation. On a mission to Canada, Parley converted John Taylor and his whole congregation as well. Parley and Joseph were close friends, experiencing together persecution and imprisonment, including Richmond jail. As a Zion's Camp recruiter, he convinced Wilford Woodruff to join.
Parley was a great missionary, serving in New York, New England, Eastern Canada, Southern US, California, England, Pacific Islands and South America. He introduced the church to his brothers Orson and Anson, Sidney Rigdon, Frederick G. Williams, John Taylor, Isaac Morley, Joseph Fielding and his sisters, among many others.
He was a noted religious writer and poet. Many of his writings are the only accounts from important American and Mormon events, such as the Haun's Mill massacre and the events and conditions of imprisonment with Joseph at Richmond jail. His posthumous Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt is a comprehensive account of the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He also published a book of poetry, the first collection of poems by a Latter Day Saint. Many of the hymns in the LDS Hymnbook were written by Parley Pratt.
Parley was murdered by a jealous, crazed ex husband of his last wife, Eleanor. She had fled to California from her abusive husband, taking her 4 children with her. When Parley was serving a mission in California, with one of his wives, they became friends with Eleanor and learned of her history. Her husband tracked her down and followed her wherever she went, finally kidnapping her children and hiding them from her. She found them, further angering her husband. After two years, she and Parley were married in 1855 and she lived in Utah with his other families. He was called to serve a mission in the southern states (where he converted our grandmother, Mary Polly Taylor Hiatt). Eleanor's husband followed him and caught him alone one night in Arkansas. He shot and stabbed him and left him to bleed to death. As he was dying, he asked that his body be sent back to Utah. Some sources say that he is buried in Salt Lake City, but his grandson says that although they searched for his body, they couldn't find it, so he stayed buried somewhere in Arkansas. His death was on May 13, 1857.
Parley Parker Pratt Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt
Our December birthdays are as special and joyous as the month in which they were born.
Alex turned 5 on the 8th.
DeWitt was 25 on the 10th.
Rachel's birthday was the 17th.
Thomas turned 14 on the 19th.
Hyrum turned 12 on the 30th.
December is actually the month that we get to enjoy the cool, crisp, autumn days that other places have in October. We had some warm days, too, but enough cold ones that our trees turned golden then finally bare and we have snow on the mountain. We even got a little snow flurry at the last of the month.
Of course, Christmas is the focus of the whole month of December. We decorated, went to Christmas concerts and programs, gave gifts, sang Christmas songs and watched Christmas movies. Of course, our thoughts turned even more often to Jesus Christ, not only His birth, but His mission and His glorious sacrifice and resurrection. Even the marriage of Shadrach and Hannah led us to remember that because of Jesus Christ we can be together forever as families. One of the things I enjoyed this month is how often the leaders of the Church posted beautiful Nativity paintings. I made a small collection of these that I would like to share.
One of my favorite pictures from our family this year is of Victoria mesmerized by Jeremy and Erika's Christmas tree.
~OUR DECEMBER~
We started December by filling our house with Christmas cheer.
We had a pizza party to bribe everyone to come over and decorate our house on the Monday after we got home from our Grand Canyon reunion. I was surprised that everyone came! Hooray for pizza!
All of Rachel's family, including sons-in-law, and Thomas' and Mary's families all came and pitched right in. Rebecca's family was still in Gilbert after the reunion.
Mary found the ornament that I made many years ago for each child. It was the first of the homemade ornament tradition. I think all the other ones got broken.
Of course, the highlight of the evening was when we set out the trains. Dad put two trains on the table and one under the tree. All the boys...and even the girls...were fascinated...old and young alike.
Then, my favorite decoration: The Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus that go on the lawn.
The next day was Alex's fake birthday. They were going to be gone to SLC on his birthday, so Mary told him that the 3rd was the 8th. You can get away with that until they are 6. He turned 5 this year and was glad it was his birthday no matter what day it was. They invited us for dinner and cherry cha cha.
One of Thomas' employees was in charge of decorating the Catholic Church for their festival of trees, and she asked him to help again. In the spirit of brotherhood, he prevailed upon Rachel to help him make it beautiful, borrowed my outdoor nativity, and set up a beautiful stage for the festival.
Afterward, they called us and asked us to join them for lunch. Here, Rachel is holding up the new menu. She photographed all the delicious food.
Our friend, John Wayne Lines, passed away and his funeral was on Thursday the 5th. Since that is our temple day, we just went to the viewing on Wednesday night. He and his wife Karen worked with us in the Temple until she became unable to do it any more. She also served as my Stake Young Women secretary for a while. They are the parents of Rachel's good friend Sherry Lines. Such good people.
On the 6th, Rebecca and Allison and her babies came to visit. It was a beautiful, warm day, so they were able to play outside on Grandpa's playground. They loved it, especially the roller coaster. In fact, when Rebecca and Scott sent them money for Christmas, they used it to buy an identical one for their house in Washington. They also liked seeing the trains whiz past each other on the table.
That night was our ward Christmas party. We had a very nice meal and a spiritual program. It is always good to see friends at a ward gathering. The lady in the pictures with Jenn and me is Mary Alice Claridge. See more in Thomas' section.
The 8th was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional which we watched from home in our recliners. But Mary and Tyson and their four oldest kids went to watch it in the Conference Center. This picture is one they took from their 3rd row seats! See more in Mary's section.
Isabel and Logan came over on the 9th to watch Logan's dad participate in the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. It was a 10-day event and Isabel and Logan were there for 3 or 4 days. This is a picture that Isabel took of Matt Sherwood at home in Pima, practicing the team roping for the rodeo finals.
Tuesday the 10th of December was full of concerts and programs. Since we have kids in Safford and Thatcher, and since they don't consult with each other when they schedule their programs, we were double booked all day. Hyrum's band concert and Brianna's voice recital were at the same time. We tried to go to both of them, hoping that Hyrum's group would be first and we could still make it to Brianna's but the orchestra was first and then two other bands before Hyrum's 6th grade band played. We missed him altogether, but left his stuffed animal for Henry to give him. He plays the trumpet.
Brianna's voice recital was amazing! She sang so beautifully. If I weren't actually watching her, but just heard her, I would think she was a grown up woman with a mature, trained voice. She had such stage presence too. We were so proud of her. Carson also had a concert that night but we weren't able to go.
We were able to go to a couple of Thomas' basketball games this month, one of which was on the 11th. He's a very good player and I think their team is almost undefeated. I say almost because they lost to a team which they later beat.
Thursday the 12th was Alex's preschool program. It was a temple day, but early enough in the morning that I could make it. They acted out The Polar Express for their parents and grandparents. He, of course, was the cutest one. That night was Lindsay's program but we were in the Temple.
On the 13th, I got my early Christmas present, an electric recliner. I love it because it doesn't make noise when I put it up or put it down. So now I can sit in my chair if I can't sleep and not feel that I am waking up Dad each time I have to get up to go to the bathroom. I have been going into the family room so that I don't disturb him with my noisy chair. But this one is quiet.
On the 14th, we had a funeral for my dear friend, Doris Montierth. She and her husband, Gerald, are some of the first people to welcome us into the 5th ward when we moved from Safford and continued to be our friends throughout the years, often bringing us apricot pies and jams, which our kids loved as much as we did. As compassionate service leader, I was in charge of her funeral luncheon, and I was still nervous even though I had done one for her husband just two months before. But it went much smoother and I was happy to do it for her and her family.
On Sunday, the 14th, we spoke in the combined singles wards, including all of Safford, Thatcher and Pima Young Single Adults who were still in town for the Christmas break. It turned out to be a huge crowd. Rylie and Polly came, which made us very happy.
Thomas and Jenn invited us to dinner that day and we were so impressed with the progress he had made in his beautiful corner fireplace.
That night, Rebecca had to go to the ER. She had been sick with a cold, cough, fever and thought she was getting better, but took a turn for the worse on Sunday, so Scott insisted that she go to the hospital. They diagnosed her with pneumonia! Thankfully, she is better now, but it was scary for a while.
On Tuesday, the 17th, Rachel's birthday, I went to Jared's program in the morning and then we went to Kirtlyn's program that night. They were both so cute and the shows were entertaining. We love it that our grandkids enjoy music and participate in the music programs at school. |
 I don't know what happened. Somehow I did something to mess up the font and the format of the blog and I can't figure out how to fix it. I'll try to work around it. We went to Gilbert on the 18th, to be ready for our trip to Utah for Shadrach and Hannah's wedding in Provo. We went to Jeremy's that night and enjoyed visiting with him and Tayte and Ellie. While we were there, Victoria and "her parents" came to visit. (Jeremy's words). She is growing so fast!  The next day, we met Joel and Stephanie and Levi and Crew at the Giving Machine in Gilbert. It was fun to pick out gifts to give. Dad got a couple of sheep and I did immunizations. The girl who is helping us is a missionary in Harrison's district. Afterwards, we had lunch at one of Joe's Gilbert restaurants.    We went to Utah on Friday to attend the wedding of Shadrach and Hannah. Joel went with us and helped us the whole way. Having him along made our trip easier as well as more enjoyable. We flew on Allegiant right into Provo. We got to Provo on Friday and met Daniel, Parker, Shadrach and Devynne for lunch at a cute little Japanese restaurant. Porter and Connie and the rest of the family were still on the road from Colorado. 
Then that night we went with Nathan and Shauna and Joel to Olive Garden for dinner.
~SHADRACH AND HANNAH JOY'S WEDDING~
December 21, 2019
Provo City Center Temple
Dad officiated
The next day, December 21st, Dad sealed Shadrach Worth Biggs and Hannah Joy Robertson in the beautiful Provo City Center Temple. The sealing room was full of Biggses, Nevins, and Robertsons. It was good to see how much love and support this special couple had from their respective families. They looked so happy and very much in love. It was a cold day (to us desert dwellers anyway) but I was surprised to see how many people were walking around outside the temple with no coats on! There were weddings every hour; I think they told Dad there were 32 weddings that day! So brides and grooms and families were all around the temple. We had to wait our turn to take pictures.
  
We walked across the street to the Marriott Hotel, where we were staying, to a fabulous luncheon that Daniel had ordered. I had teriyaki chicken, but Dad had salmon. Joel left for home right after the luncheon, so Nathan took over the job of being our helper. He had rented a car so he took us wherever we needed to go, restaurants, movie, and picking us up the next day to take us to the airport.
That night, we all went to see Star Wars. It was good if you're really into computer generated laser fights and space battles. I liked the story, but I got bored during the CGI battles and put my phone on dark and read during those. We went with Nathan and Shauna to a taco bar and got street tacos. They were very good, almost as good as El Charro's.
The next morning, as we were leaving to go to the airport, the whole Daniel and Connie family waited for us in the lobby of the hotel before they also started for home, so we could exchange hugs and safe travel wishes.
As we flew over the Wasatch Mountains, I thought it looked as if we could be in Alaska or someplace. I was totally ready to get back to our desert home. Even when it gets cold and rainy, it is warmer than Provo.
A DESERT CHRISTMAS NIGHT
When I am far away from home
At the Christmas time of year,
I don't dream of snow or mistletoe
But of blue skies bright and clear.
I think of palm trees against the sky,
Of cactus and flowers and sun;
Of orange trees and a balmy breeze
And our own kind of Christmas fun.
Oh it may not be a white Christmas
But our hearts are still merry and bright;
For there's just as much cheer where the skies are clear
On a desert Christmas night.
We got to Gilbert on Sunday afternoon, so Joel and Stephanie invited us to Sunday dinner. Levi and Crew were there, and Stetson, Lindsay and Junie came. Junie is still a little wary of me, but she actually smiled at me before we left. She'll eventually warm up, I know. It's actually good that she's careful of strangers.
 
We got home on Monday just in time to clean things up a little bit before our big Christmas Eve party on Tuesday. Since this is really our off year for Christmas, some of the kids had things planned with their other families for Christmas Eve, so we had our pork chops and eggs party for lunch instead of dinner. It worked out just fine. In fact, maybe they liked having it early so that they had more family time in the evening. We had some special guests: Sherry Evans, Nikki Joe Glover, my ministering sister, and Steve Valerio, our friend and Rebecca and Rachel's trainer.
   
After lunch, we gathered in the living room for the highlight of the day, the children's nativity play.
 
While Dad read the Christmas Story from the books of Luke and Matthew, the grandchildren portrayed the characters of Joseph, Mary, shepherds, sheep and wise men.
Camille was Mary and Jared was Joseph. Henry, Alex and Ethan were our darling sheep, and Thomas was a donkey and Carson and Brynlie were the Shepherds. Maya and Kirtlyn were angelic angels and Hyrum, Lindsay and Brianna were very wise men.
A precious picture
Then Santa Claus came! He had a very cute, pregnant helper too. Each grandchild got to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas, and receive a little gift bag. Everyone gets to sit on Santa's lap until they have a child of their own to take their place. So it looks like this is Isabel's last chance :-}
DeWitt and Polly Evans
The Alder kids, Rylie, Brandon, Isabel, Luke, Brynlie and Camille
The Biggs kids, Kirtlyn, Thomas, Hyrum, Maya and Henry
 
On Christmas morning, a beautiful post-rainy day, we went around to see what Santa brought each of the kids. Rachel's family was having breakfast in Pima with the Alders, so we didn't go there, but they came to our house afterwards for Christmas turkey dinner.
  
Trains are fun for everyone, even big kids...maybe especially big kids :-)
Then we had a delicious turkey dinner.
We served in the Temple the next day, even though Dad was sick with a cold and cough, but the rest of the week-the month-the year-the decade-was calm and peaceful and we were able to get much needed rest.
On Saturday night, the 28th, we had a little snow flurry to brighten up our Christmas season. It melted right away but it was fun. Ethan ran out and jumped around and said over and over "It's Christmas!"
There was even enough snow at Mary's house for Jared to make a snowball.
Snow at Rachel's house
The week between Christmas and New Year was tough with several people getting sick. Dad got a bad cold and cough, and Rachel even got pneumonia. I know people are uprising lately about too much antibiotic being given, but not so long ago, if someone got pneumonia, it could be a death sentence. I'm thankful that Rachel and Rebecca had access to antibiotics and were able to get well. Ethan also was sick and the last days even saw me down with a cold. Esther and Mary had it earlier. I hope 2020 sees everyone feeling better.
Thomas and Jenn's family came over for a Sunday visit and entertained us with dancing in the kitchen :-)
Hyrum's 12th birthday was the 30th and they invited us over for homemade pizza. I had a cold, so Dad went without me and brought home some pizza for me. Delicious! Homemade pizza was Hyrum's meal choice. He is finally 12 years old after serving as a Deacon for a whole year...since January!
~NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY~
*NATHAN AND SHAUNA*
Joshua got to go home for Christmas and he couldn't have been happier! He photographed some more Omaha buildings, including a historic gas station.
  
Nathan traveled quite a bit this month and actually drove into Maine so he could say he had been there. He has been to 49 states so far, still looking forward to seeing Alaska.
In Provo at Shadrach's wedding. Daniel mentioned several times how much he appreciated Joel's and their efforts to come.
Jovie enjoyed Christmas. Of course, she is the star of her family and everything revolves around her :-)
With her parents and some Jeppesen cousins, I think.
 
The beautiful Palmer and Bethany Jeppesen family
They spent their Christmas break in Omaha,visiting Palmer's and Bethany's parents. Josh came home for Christmas too, so Nathan and Shauna had all their kids home. What a great Christmas that was for them.
  
*JOEL AND STEPHANIE*
Crew had an outstanding, unusual, first-rate Eagle project. He served the veterans of Pearl Harbor in their Pearl Harbor memorial parade and program.
   
Joel, Levi and Crew at the program; and then all of them, with Jeremy and Bert at church in the historic Honolulu chapel; and the parade in downtown Honolulu.
 
The patriotic programs
At the Giving Machine with Joel, Stephanie, Levi and Crew
Joel flew to Provo with us and helped us every step of the way. Daniel really appreciated his and Nathan and Shauna's efforts to attend Shadrach and Hannah Joy's wedding.
  
I love the tree in their entrance. Stephanie said Levi decorated it this year because she wasn't feeling well.
Christmas morning at Stetson and Lindsay's house. No surprise, it is all about Junie.
A post from Junie's dad...look for another one in the "Smiles" section.
They hosted Christmas dinner for Jeremy's and Esther's families.
Crew, receiving his Eagle Scout Award. He is one of the last LDS boys to make the effort to get it, I'm sure. We are so proud of him. He worked very hard for it.
*DANIEL AND CONNIE*
Of course the big news in the Daniel and Connie family is the wedding of Shadrach and Hannah Joy. It was held in the Provo City Center Temple because it was central to all those who were coming from Colorado, Arizona, California, Missouri, Nebraska and other places. What a beautiful temple. It is all brand new inside, but looks and feels ancient. I loved it. I wish we could have toured it.
Waiting outside for the bride and groom...we were freezing! Connie had been so sick the day before, in fact, days before, but she pioneer womaned through and came and acted as if nothing was wrong. I think the Lord blessed her to be able to participate in her son's special day because she was sick again after they got home to Colorado.
    
Here comes the bride...and the happy groom!
 
I thought it was funny that as soon as they came out, after greeting family, they separated, she to her friends and he to his friends.
Walking around the temple to find a picture venue. Notice her short sleeves. She was so cold!
They took pictures of the wedding party first, then of Hannah's family.
Daniel, Connie, Shadrach and Hannah and Nevin grandparents
Then Biggs grandparents
The Daniel and Connie Biggs family. They were all there except for Albert, of course, and Brock and Theo and Rose. What a beautiful group of people.
 
Dad and I are waiting on the steps for the big group picture. I don't have a copy of it but you can see some of those who were in it.
At the fabulous luncheon in the Marriott Hotel
 
The head table
Merry Christmas from Aila and Raymond!
Daniel and Connie sent this super train set to Theo and Rosena for Christmas
At their Fresno reception
*REBECCA AND SCOTT*
While Allison was still here after Thanksgiving, she and her kids came with Rebecca to visit us and play on Grandpa's playground.
They also enjoyed Grandpa's trains.
DeWitt is making a lot of progress on his apartments...because he had a great little helper for a while :-]
He also had a birthday. Here he is with Rachel Rose, his girlfriend, and Polly has his festive birthday cake.
Before they all went home, while they were still staying at Lydia, they visited the Giving Machine in Gilbert. We saw a rundown of all the Giving Machines around the world, and Gilbert was 3rd, to Salt Lake and Orem.
 
While they were in the Valley, they saw a picture in a bowling alley of someone in the 50's who looked just like Scott.
At the Christmas Eve party
Christmas morning, finding gifts with their flashlights
They showed us what Santa brought while we were there Christmas morning, and their Christmas treat table.
Christmas pj's
Parley just had to be sure it still is a sister; And playing with toys and his other Grandmother's house.
Harvey and Lucy jingling those bells. I love Lucy's Christmas face.
Lillian and Kelin warming up the Utah snow.
*JEREMY AND ERIKA*
I asked Jeremy for pictures of him and Joel in Hawaii. He thought I just wanted to see that they were there, I guess, so he sent me this first one. I was glad to see that they were there. The second one is more of what I wanted though.
At the Polynesian Cultural Center
More fantastic home improvements
 
We went to see them when we were there before we flew out to Utah. It was so much fun to see Jeremy with his granddaughter.
  
Christmas shopping...maybe even taking Victoria along?
At Erika's office Christmas party
Does anyone recognize that Santa? I remember him from Grandma Hiatt's house. I'm glad he found such a good home.
Iconic :-)
With friends
Christmas morning at Jeremy and Erika's house
Daynen's darling family in their Christmas pj's.
 
At Joel and Stephanie's for Christmas dinner
Two very young, beautiful grandmothers with their sweet granddaughters. How fun for those babies to be cousins together.
New Year's Eve with friends
*RACHEL AND TONY*
Rachel made corsages and boutonnières for Marlie's winter formal, and she decorated the dinner table.
I guess this is a recognition of her hard work and creativity.
Isabel receiving a gift for her baby from Sara; and Rachel and Sara
Rylie and Brandon playing in the snow with Brandon's family.
Rachel's birthday festivities...her kids made dinner and they had games and a cake.
 
Setting up a nursery for Baby Steele
Boxing champions
Isabel and Logan with his sisters at the NFR rodeo in Las Vegas where his dad was competing.
Alder kids at the Christmas Eve party
  All the kids slept in Brynlie's room...together. Rachel says they always have. This year they had an extra family member, but Logan went along with everything and fit right in, sleeping with the whole family.
Rylie and Brandon are building a house in Pima.
The Alders had a quiet new year celebration because Rachel was so sick with pneumonia, just watching a movie and the ball drop, but she said she added stickers to make it look more festive:-D
*ESTHER AND SHAD*
Marlie posted this sweet tribute on Instagram as a "Light the World" response.
Esther helped get the twins ready for church when they stayed there to help with the winter formal.
Marlie and Zack's winter formal pictures, including the beautiful corsages Rachel made
I think one of the dads came to Esther's house and cooked ribs for their dinner.
Brody has been attending a charter school. This is his teacher. He really likes her.
A selfie when we visited them this month.
I love this post from Marlie. I'm a big fan of Arizona winters too.
Christmas Sunday
Chrismas Eve homemade pizzas
Christmas pj's
 
Chrismas morning gifts. They bought the Traeger smoker with their Christmas money...partially, I'm sure.
At Christmas dinner at Joel and Stephanie's
*THOMAS AND JENN*
Setting up the stage, with Rachel, for the Catholic Church's Festival of Trees.
Helping us decorate
Thomas' games. He had his 14th birthday on the 19th of December and has already been serving as a Teacher for a whole year.
 
Thomas and Jenn's new fireplace, all ready for Santa
And he framed the windows and door in that room as well.
Ward party. Thomas is with the YM, at the left...
...and Kirtlyn and Jenn are with the YW in the center.
Maya and Henry with the Primary. Maya has on a blue scarf and Henry a red sweater in the center.
At Hyrum's orchestra concert
And Kirtlyn's choir concert.
Christmas Eve party
Christmas morning when we visited them
  
Hyrum's birthday. He got a purple mattress? That looks blue to me :-}
Thomas's family celebrated by going outside and banging pots and pans at midnight, and putting together three incredibly hard puzzles.
 
*MARY AND TYSON*
Alex had a Lego party for his birthday. Mary made these Legos with boxes, plastic cups and tissue paper. The kids punched their fists into a cup and got a surprise to take home.
At his Lego party...It's fun turning 5.
We came over on his other "fake birthday" and brought him a Tonka Truck to replace the one that got run over.
And stayed for his birthday dinner.
Their family took a trip to Utah to go to the First Presidency Devotional. They also attended the "Light of the World" program and a Tabernacle Choir "Music and the Spoken Word. Jared was invited by the pilot to come up front and see the cockpit. He felt so important
  When they were on Temple Square, they met some Sister missionaries. The one in the middle, next to Mary is from Hawaii and is of Chinese descent. She served for 3 months in Docker's mission in Boston and knew him. In fact, she said she was very impressed with how well he spoke Chinese! 
Brianna at her voice recital
Alex's preschool program
Lindsay's and Carson's orchestra concerts
Lindsay with her stuffed animal
Jared's program
I asked Alex to give Jared his stuffed animal, but Ethan wanted to as well. So they had to take turns.
Carson is in a Lego League robotics club at school. He designed their t-shirts. They competed in a regional robotics competition and won the right to compete at the state level.
This is sweet. Read the message that goes with it and Reygan's response.
At the Christmas Eve party
  
Christmas morning, Brianna and Jared playing a song they made up. Really good.
Alex spread out both his and Ethan's Christmas trains. They didn't want to sit at the table to eat anyway.
*MISSIONARIES*
Docker in Boston-Interesting things to see on a p day.
Albert celebrating Christmas in California
The Gilbert and Arizona Service missionaries. The bottom one is with all of them when Elder Gary E. Stevenson came to speak. Harrison was the organist for that meeting and got to meet him personally. Harrison said that Elder Stevenson was so personable and approachable and spoke from his heart. Harrison is 4th from the right, next to the top row.
Harrison was asked to play the piano and bear his testimony about his mission in another ward on the last Sunday.
*SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE*
I think this picture is perfect to include in Hayden's wedding video someday :-}
Elf on the shelf...or the grass
That cheesy smile is pure delight when he saw all the Amazon boxes on his front porch!
Mary was serving soup for lunch and Alex asked her if it was good. She tasted it and said it was very good. "The best thing ever?" he asked. "Yes, the best thing ever," she said. He tasted it and disgustedly said, "It's not snowcones!"
Another funny story: Rebecca was making toffee and Sara Konopnicki was there. Rebecca asked Sara if she wanted some toffee and Sara said, "No! The prophet said No." When Rebecca finally figured out that Sara was talking about coffee, she said, "Sara it's not coffee, it's toffee, with a T." Then righteously, Sara said, "The prophet said no tea!"
 
Read Sara's comment on this Instagram post
  
This is from a video that Stetson posted. I actually laughed out loud then felt guilty because the thud must have hurt Junie's sweet little head. You can tell by looking what is going to happen.
Read this and give thanks that your children are safe, warm and loved.
 
And finally...GOOD NEWS!
*LAST WORDS*
This year has been amazing! We have traveled, sat at home by the fire, gone swimming, added new family members, been sick, recovered, served in the temple as workers and patrons, been snowed in, eaten together, played together, prayed together, found new jobs, worked at old ones, built things, studied, worked out, been lazy, been thankful for our blessings, and above all, we have all been incredibly blessed as a family. Every day, multiple times a day, Dad and I thank the Lord for loving us and blessing us and being with us in every aspect of our lives...yours and ours. His greatest gift to us is His beloved Son, our Savior. The Savior's greatest gift to us is His blessed atonement that brings us hope...hope in the resurrection, hope in eternal life with Him, our Heavenly parents and our earthly families. May you feel their love for you every day in this new year, this new decade. And we hope you feel our love for you too.
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