Update

27 December 2009 We spent Christmas with Flint’s family in Highland. I’ve never seen kids get so many toys. I remember when I was little that RaeOla and I would get one toy each and a few clothes along with a orange in our stocking. Flint stated it about right when he said that Santa's sleigh tipped over at their house and spilled all the toys. We had a very enjoyable time and thank God for the fine children, grandchildren and great-grand children we have been given. Sam came home with us for a few days

I don't know how many of you may remember David Swapp but I will always remember him. After getting home from Flints we were watching the ten o’clock news and they had a picture of David Swapp, from the Newark Ward, on the news. He was being tried for smothering his own 3 month old baby. Seeing his pictured brought back so many memories to me. After I was released from the Stake presidency my first calling was to sit with David in Primary and try to control him so that he didn’t interrupt the primary. The next year I taught the Blazer B Scouts and David was then an 11 year old Scout. He was a constant headache. He couldn’t or wouldn’t learn the simplest scouting skills and was always getting lost or in some kind of trouble. I just wonder if there was something more that I could have done to help him. I know that his parents must be devastated by he actions

David Grant Swapp Jr. murder 5/30/2007 Ogden, UT *Father, David Grant Swapp confesses to suffocating his son*

460 East 23rd St. Ogden, Utah Father accused of suffocating 3-month-old Father Admits To Suffocating 3-month-old Baby Man arrested in death of 3-month-old boy Father confesses to suffocating 3-month

Thank all of you for being such good children

Dad

Christmas!

A picture taken by Mariana with her new camera of Isaac playing with his new remote control helicopter.  Thanks everyone for all the presents-- we will enjoy them all.  Mariana really loves the butterfly picture Grandpa made.

Giant Jenga

Mariana and her Friend Abby made a really tall tower with scraps from the wheelchair ramp.  We also finished ramp construction today - Hooray!

Creed at the DR MTC

From all we hear Creed is doing well at the MTC in the Dominican Republic. His Spnish is coming along and they get opportunities to practice teaching. They have taken some excursions to a university where they can talk to people and place Book of Mormons.

The MTC is on the temple grounds and also serves as a hotel for people visiting the temple.

He complains about the heat, but we are not very sympathetic.

Eagle Project making progress

We've spent a couple more saturdays working on Isaac's eagle project.  It is almost finished now -- we just need to finish up the railings.

Stephens homested

Family,

Nancy Lincoln posted a picture on her blog of a picture Hyrum Grant Stephens painted during the early 1960's of the cabin and homestead of the Stephens family on the banks of the Snake River i Star Valley. I will also include the comments posted in her blog.

On 5 November 1908, Grant and Myrtle Stephens were married and settled into their first home near the town of Alpine, Wyoming, the following spring. It was a homestead on the banks of the Snake River. The homestead included land on each side of the river. The nearest post office was about 14 miles and the nearest store about 20 miles either way, at Freedom, Wyoming, or at Irwin, Idaho.



Grant says, "Before summer was through we had moved into our new house which we thought pretty nice. We lined it with lumber and covered with shingles. I got the logs out and took them to the mill and had them sawed for $9 a thousand for the lumber and $5 for the shingles. We put in about 20 acres of oats. On our place there was many springs and several acres of high quaking aspens and of course along the springs were willows and the ground along the bottom was a heavy dark soil covered with big thick brush and was very fertile."

By 1910 enough people had moved nearby that the Alpine area got a post office. Grant got the contract for carrying the mail for the first 5 years. He got $20.22 per month for making the 16 mile trip twice a week. In summer he rode a horse and buggy and sleigh or skis in winter. Grants says, "I had a lot of tough times while carrying the mail. Nearly every winter I would have to carry it on skis for several months. I remember one time I started out on the 2nd of January with a team and bob-sleigh. The snow was over 4 feet deep and snowing and blowing until I could hardly see the team so they could hardly follow the road at all." He eventually had to leave behind his sleigh and start off with just the horses. "I tied one horse to the other one's tail and started them for home. I was holding to the last horse's tail. It took me all that day to get home."

Many years later, when Grant was in his 70s, he took an interest in painting. They came to visit our family for a few weeks. My mother, after watching him paint on art paper, cardboard, or whatever he could find, purchased some canvas boards for him to paint on. One day, my father asked him what the old homestead had looked like. Grant's response was this painting which now hangs in my parents' house.



It will be the only visual memory we have of the setting for their early married life as the site of the homestead is now covered by the waters of the Palisades Reservoir.

1 comments:

Jack N Stephens said...

Nancy,

I appreciate the picture of the Stephens home stead.

Jack

December 5, 2009 9:36 AM

Update from Flint, Anette and Creed

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for us. At Thanksgiving we were fortunate to have Mom and Dad with us, as well as Sam. The downside was that Anette had gall bladder surgery the day before so she did not get full enjoyment out of the holiday. She is doing much better and was back in school yesterday.

Thanksgiving was also Creed's first day in the Dominican Republic. We got an email from him today and it sounds like he is enjoying his time. The MTC there is on the temple property. I'll forward his email to anyone who wants to read it.

Friday Mom and Dad left and I started getting an ear infection. Sunday morning I went to the emergency room because it kept getting worse. My left ear was much bigger than the right one and the pain extended into my neck and back. It is getting a lot better now, but they told me it will take a couple of weeks to get back to normal.

Brandon has been accepted to his two top choices for dental school. We hope they will pick UNLV. Either way, we are very happy for him and Jenine.

Eagle Project

We spent several hours today working on Isaac's eagle project.  It is finally starting to take shape.  The top picture shows a couple of the wheelchair ramp modules partially constructed.  The bottom picture shows one of the small modules completely built.  Hopefully Isaac will be able to complete the project in the next few weeks and I'll be able to put my car back in the garage.

October events

Since there wasn't any Girls Camp this year due to "Trek," and since the 12 and 13 year olds couldn't go on Trek, Lynette went to "Beehive Camp."
Halloween: Elaine and two of her best friends.
Rachel's birthday.
Halloween. Lynette, Rachel, and Lynette's friend, Karlotte.

James' robotics competition was this month. They missed going to state by one point!

My baby is gone!

Anette and I dropped Creed at the MTC today. For the past couple of weeks we've been trying to cram in lots of things he will miss. This is so hard. The picture is after he was set apart last night. The stake president said he is one of the best prepared missionaries he has ever seen.

When we pulled up to the curb at the MTC, one of Creed's friends who entered a week ago was there to greet him. That brought a big smile to Creed's face and the two of them walked off and never looked back. "No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Our other children are all doing well. Grey was a little sick today so we hope he does not have the flu. Laila is growing fast and looking more like Jenine every day. She likes to be carried constantly and doesn't like to be put down to sleep--just like Jenine was when she was a baby.

October update

October 2009 It has been cold since the first of the month. Yesterday, October 10th we went to Flint's and attended the Tinpanogos temple for Creed to receive his endowment. In the evening we went to Jenine and Brandon’s home to participate in Laila’s blessing. Then early this morning we had to travel back to Logan so that I could give three Patriarchal blessings.

The pictures are of Branden and Laila and our five Great-grand children with the adults needed to hold them down long enough to get some kind of picture.

25 October 2009 Today we went to Flint's to be present at Creed's Farewell Sacrament meeting. Creed gave a good talk and I am sure he will be a good missionary. He leaves November 4th for the Missionary Training Center. He will stay there for three weeks before going to the Dominican Republic.

I have hesitated to put spiritual experiences in my journal but I must include what happened. Last Sunday I gave my 900th Patriarchal Blessing. I gave two blessings to a young married couple, ( that I felt must be having some spiritual trials and that was the reason they chose to receive their blessings at this time). Following them I had a young lady by the name of Breanna Robb, a beautiful young lady whom I had never met before. What made this blessing so special was that as I was giving the blessing she received the lineage of Manasseh. This was a complete surprise to me. I haven't given a lineage of Manasseh since May of 2007. Usually those of Manasseh are descendant from American Indians or some other person with darker hair and features. Breanna is light skinned, blue eyes and didn’t fit my pre-conceived notion of a person of the lineage of Manasseh. It came with such power and certainty that I had to pause for a few seconds and regain my composure before I could proceed. This type of experience really confirms my testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel and the sure knowledge that I am guided by the spirit of revelation as I give Patriarchal blessings.

31 October 2009 Heather Broadbent was in town this last week to give a performance at Snow College and a Violin Recital at Utah State University. There were all kinds of frustration concerning her programs. The person making all the arrangements failed to do her job and really caused Heather a financial burden. We, however, got to listen to an hour of beautiful Violin music given by a very talented Heather

Dad and Mom

Bandit Squirrel and Fall Leaves

This squirrel really appreciates our indian corn decorations.

Fall leaves in our church parking lot.  The colors are beautiful right now, but it won't last for long.

More pictures

Laila at her blessing.
Followed by me being tested for sleep apnea.

Grey at the water park.
The picture with me and all the wires is from my sleep test. I don't snore anymore because I get to use a CPAP machine to breath at night. The test showed I stopped breathing 101 times per hour. The machine is wonderful and I wish I'd gotten it years ago.

Just two more weeks!

We are trying to cram in lots of activities in Creed's final time at home. On the weekend after conference we did Creed's endowments in the afternoon and Laila's blessing in the evening. We also squeezed in a trip with all the grandchildren to Chucky Cheese.

This past weekend Creed, Anette and I spent a couple of days at Lake Powell. The weather was spectacular and the drive was beautiful--except for the blown trailer tire. Unfortunately the fishing was slow, but we still caught a few.

Sunday is Creed's farewell talk in sacrament, so we will have a house full of company again. Pretty soon it is going to seem very empty.

We went to the temple again tonight and ran into Anette's sister who is down from Montana for the birth of her newest granddaughter. That was a nice surprise.

Sick again

Well, remember how I told you we all had swine flu last month. Hmmm. Seems we had something different. NOW, it's swine flu! At least, James tested positive for it yesterday. So far, the rest of us are healthy and trying to avoid James!

September update

September 2009

7 September - We went to visit Ruth's Uncle Wilton in Star Valley. Jackie and Sheri were also their so we had a good visit with he cousins and Wilton and Norma. Wilton has prostate cancer and doesn't expect to live much longer. On the eleventh we went to a free musical at the tabernacle cormemorating 911 It was a very good presentation and the tabernacle was packed to overflowing. The twelfth we went to a historic home show that featured several restored home of some of the wealthier residences of early people in Logan and two older log homes.

We went to a presentation on the Constition on the 16^th, Three of the Persion kids took part in it. It was really well done and we enjoyed it very much the 22^nd we had a freeze warning for Cache Valley. Fortunatly it didn't happen but I'm sure it wonn't be long now before it does.

29 September, yesterday our temperature was in the mid eighties during the day. Today our predicted high was about fourty- eight. They are predicting a hard frost tonight with the possibility of snow in Cache Valley. This morning we have snow on the foothills above our house.

30 September, it did freeze this morning and killed the squash and cucumber plants but I covered th tomatoes so they survived for a little while longer.

Jed and Calley came up on Tuesday with Harvey and Grey. We went up to Tony Grove Lake for a picnic and so Calley and Jed could see the colors in the Canyon. It was a little chilly at Tony Grove but very pretty. Harvey is a very active child and just wanted to run.

Balloons over our house!

This past weekend was Plano's annual Balloon Festival. It is held in a park near our house, but usually, the wind seems to blow the balloons away from us.

Sunday morning, as we got ready to go to church, balloons were flying over our house. And not only were they flying over it, they were landing all around it! One even landed in front of our house! Rachel was so excited! She had been wanting to see the balloons all weekend, and so far hadn't seen any.

Needless to say, she and Craig were late getting to Stake Conference! (Elaine, Lynette, and I were already there since we were singing in the choir, so we missed all the balloon excitement!)

Here's a photo of Lynette and her new piano!

Lynette's Birthday present

Lynette puts so much time and effort into her piano practicing that we decided she really needed a real piano. So, we found an inexpensive used Baldwin Acrosonic from the 50's that looks like it sat in someone's front room and was rarely played. We had it delivered while she was out of the house, so it was a surprise for her. I'll have to try to upload a photo later. Right now the computer isn't letting me do that.

She has been playing a lot since we got it. Even Craig and I have pulled out some old music and played a bit. It certainly sounds better than the keyboard!

Can you believe she is 12? She goes to Young Women this week!

Another Hatch Patch post

Well, yesterday (Saturday the 19th) I went with some of my mom's family up to the property in the canyon for a few hours, and had a good time. Here's some pictures! The two little boys I'm holding are neighbors of my mom's family. The one giving me bunny ears is my cousin.

In other news, I'm really busy this semester, which is why I only stayed with them for a few hours. My computer science classes, math class, and civilization class between them take most of my time, and then I work three hours a day, so I don't have much time for anything except later in the evenings.

Oh, and I do have two other people in my room this semester. Andrew, that I mentioned earlier, and then Michael, who's the one in the bunk above me.

Another dead animal

Thanks, LaDawn, for the preceding post. I had all my kids and grandkids show up for my birthday dinner so it was very nice.

Thursday Creed, Jake and I met in Wyoming for three days of antelope hunting. Unfortunately, I got a little trigger happy and it ended after one day with a pretty nice antelope. We all agreed it was fun--perhaps even more fun than if we had to camp and stay the rest of the time. Creed said he likes my hunt better than Jake's because they do not involve first hiking to the top of an 11,000 foot mountain.

It was kind of nice because when I applied for this hunt we thought Creed would be gone by now. So this is probably the last hunt we'll have together for three years.

During the hunt we saw a golden eagle bathing itself in a puddle of water next to the road. His wings were so wet it took him a few minutes to be able to fly.

Happy Birthday yesterday, Flint!

Last night as I was getting into bed, I realized it was Flint's birthday and I hadn't sent you a card! Then I thought, Hey, he usually sends me one, and I didn't get one, so I don't have to feel so bad.
Then, today, it came in the mail. So, I am, once again, a loser of a sister! :-)

All right, I may have some excuse. After taking Rachel to the doctor on Friday and having her test negative for swine flu, Lynette got sick that night, Elaine got sick the next day, and James on Sunday. Last night, James and Lynette both started in with the breathing problems, so I took them in to the dr today, meanwhile, having woken up not feeling well myself. He said there have been a lot of false negatives on the flu tests and that we all have the flu.

Fortunately, Rachel is pretty much better, and Elaine is feeling better even though she is still running a slight fever. Lynette's fever is down, too. James and I are taking tamiflu, and Craig isn't sick—yet.

Lynette just wants to be well for her birthday. I told her not to count on it. :-)

Anyway, I hope you had a good birthday, Flint. Maybe I'll remember Newel's in time to send him a card!

Another September birthday

Jenine and Brandon had a baby girl today. That is five grandchildren for me, in case anyone is having trouble keeping track. She is named Laila and she weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces. She has dark hair and looks like Brandon. I guess he did not get the memo about all my grandchildren having to look like me.

Jenine spent the whole day trying to have the baby--quite appropriate for Labor Day. She was finally born about 4:30.

We have a busy week. I get to spend tomorrow night in the hospital doing a sleep study. Wednesday Lindsay and her children are coming for a few days. Thursday evening we are supposed to be driving to St. George for a wedding Friday morning for Anette's niece.

Who knows how much we will actually get done. I better quit writing now because I still have to lock up my chickens and move some water.

Update on Verlin

Verlin spent 3 weeks in the hospital and a month at chancellor Gardens and came home on August 19th. He still struggles to walk but has been getting a bit stronger. When he could walk the length of the hall at Chancellor Gardens with his walker they let him come home. He has had a Physical Therapist coming 3 times a week, an Occupational Therapist that has been coming 3 times a week and a Speech Therapist that came about 4 times. They are all finished with him now except the Physical Therapist that will come once next week and once the following week.

He can't remember how to take his blood sugar or use the TV remote any more and several other routine things that he did before. It is especially upsetting to him (an me) that he can't remember how to use the TV remote. He tries and the TV goes out of whack and I'm not really sure which buttons he has pushed so don't readily know how to fix it again. I keep telling him to just push the up or down buttons but he forgets and pushes the first button that is handy--but I never know which one that is. However, some of the things have started coming back so maybe he will recover some of what he lost.

Dad Stephens

Life goes on!

This is a photo of Lynette during her "Jumpstart for Arts" program that the City of Plano puts on every year.


Well, we have survived one week of school and seminary and are into the next! Elaine is adjusting to public school, but it is hard for her to wake up for seminary and keep going all day. She doesn't get home until 5:00, and then two times a week, she has ballet soon after. Last week, she didn't go to one ballet class because she was too tired and had too much homework. I hope she gets used to it soon—ballet class is too expensive to miss all the time!

If I had to guess, I'd say her favorite classes are ASL and art, and her least favorite is Algebra! She is also taking a drill team class that will fulfill her PE requirements, but she doesn't want to audition for Drill Team. She did go to the first football game of the season and had a great time.

Lynette and Rachel sort of started school last week. I was sick with the flu all week, so I didn't do a lot of active teaching, but I did have Lynette's all planned out, so she was able to do most of it on her own. Rachel and I started yesterday. She is anxious to learn this year, however, she still has a very short attention span. We were reading some history stories yesterday, and she kept asking me if there wasn't an activity to do instead of read! :-)

James' schedule is rather long this semester. He goes straight from seminary to the train station in order to get to his 8:00 class, and he doesn't get home until about 5:00. He seems to be enjoying his classes, for the most part. He really likes his calculus teacher.

It seems strange to me to only have two kids home all day. And my built-in babysitter is gone now, so I am back to taking them with me if I have to go somewhere! Technically, I could leave Lynette home, but she doesn't like to be left.

BYU

Well, classes start for me again tomorrow. I'll be taking two Computer Science classes, a Math class (linear algebra, if that means anything to you), a New Testament class (second half of the NT), a Civilization class (not the game, unfortunately), and a Ballroom Dance class. I may actually have only one roommate this semester--I had another, an exchange student from Korea, for a couple of days, but then he swapped out into an empty one-person bedroom here in Wyview, so now it's just myself and a guy named Andrew Lutes. So I may have this bedroom all to myself. I'm certainly not complaining about that.

Sams visit

Sam visited with us between semesters.
August 2009 We went to Flint’s on the 3rd for a baby shower for Jenine. Jenine received a lot of nice presents. We stayed overnight and went to the BYU Art Museum on Tuesday before returning home. We stopped a Verlin’s and found that he was in an Assisted Living Center. He developed pneumonia and was in the hospital for two weeks before being moved to the Assisted Living Center; they do not know how long he will spend there yet. It was Verlin’s 86th birthday.

We went to flint on the 13th to pick up Sam. We picked up Sam from Flint’s on the 14th to bring him to Logan for the break between semesters at BYU. Before leaving for Logan Flint took us for a ride in his boat on Utah Lake. The water was a bit choppy by we enjoyed the ride as you can see from the pictures we took. In the afternoon we got back to Logan in time to take Sam to the last of the Summer Music program at the tabernacle. The program was made up of the best presentations given throughout the summer program and features a real variety of music. I think Sam even enjoyed it. On Saturday we took Sam to see the presentation of the meeting of the rails at Promontory Point Utah and then by ATK Thiokol to see the rocket Engines and where I used to work. It’s been 45 years since Ruth and I had been to either location. Needless to say things have changed since our last visit.