Reflections on my Trip

Here are some things that stand out in my mind.

While at Jelena's who lives on the corner of a busy road in a less priviledged part of the city: The trees were in blossom all around where she lived - I am not sure what kind of tree they are. They look like a cherry tree but the blossoms are much more full and compacted together than cherry trees around here. And the blossoms are very pink. Maybe they are an ornamental cherry tree or Japanese cherry tree? Anyways, the homes were rather ugly around there but Jelena has created a magical place in her little yard - with beautiful lanterns hanging and flowers planted. An ugly blue container van turned onto the street. The blossoms rained down on the van and he left a swirl of blossom petals in the air behind him. That captured it all for me. I was reminded of the beauty and power of nature to overcome ugliness. Especially there on the coast where it is so verdant. Despite 2, 000, 000 people living there, nature abounds and you get the feeling that if everyone left all of a sudden, it wouldn't be long and there would be no sign of the people left.

On Grandma B: It was very good to see her and she seemed quite happy to me. We visited her everyday for a little bit - about an hour each time. On the second visit we also got to meet Jenny which was very nice. Grandma was telling us about how she avoids sitting next to this one woman who at one time ran her fingers through her jello. Grandma told her that 'you don't run your fingers through other people's food' to which the woman replied 'I just did'. So Grandma avoids her. At this point in the story, she says very loudly, that 'life is too short to sit by a pain in the neck like that'. I don't know. It made me laugh inside to hear my 89 year old grandma saying that. Life is too short, indeed! I think she is enjoying all the familial attention that she is getting right now. She sure enjoyed telling everyone that we were 'hers'. I am going to try to write her a letter every month. It is such a little effort and I know that she will enjoy it.

On the Okanagan Valley: As I drove over the Connector and down into the valley, it was clear and sunny. I could see to the far, far side of the valley that encompasses not only the Okanagan but also the Shuswap. I could see the snow caps of the Monashees and the Selkirks gleaming and majestic in the distance. The trees stretched endlessly between. I was overcome by the awesome beauty of nature and this incredible place that I live - the view of time. It is easy to imagine the hard rock pushed up with the rockies and then the volcanic hills, blunted by the ice age - such a miraculous creation, this valley where I live. From the view up there, I can sense the ancient-ness of the land. I imagine people seeing this valley for the first time. I feel so cradled and protected in the mountains. I love where I live. And I wonder how much longer we can go on like this and what it will take for us to find away to live in harmony with nature instead of at war with it or even 'in dominion' of it. We think of ourselves as separate from nature - above it or better than it. We have raped and pillaged the earth and we have not yet realized that all this we have done unto ourselves. When will we? We are destroying the air we need to breathe and polluting the water we need to drink. I remember travelling as a child and stopping at mountain fed streams to drink deeply of the sweet, cold water. We wouldn't dream of doing that now... Such big changes are needed. What are we going to do?

Correction

Upon reviewing Laura's map, she indeed did not say that Cambie met Oak. In my over-tired state, I certainly did mis-hear and mis-read. I get so stressed out driving in Vancouver, anyways. I find the lanes so narrow and the traffic so fast whizzing by on either side of me. I got their eventually, anyways.

Vancouver

Well, we are here. I am using Grandma B's computer right now. So far we are having fun. We travelled here with my good friend Bozenka with the van loaded to the 'rafters' with food she had prepared for her daughter, Jelena's, birthday. After arriving at Jelena's and visiting for a bit, Kaetlyn, Rhi and I went over to Laura's who had made herself the most delicious birthday cake! More like a chocolate omlette! You should post the recipe, Laura! We got to see her newly organized room which really does look good and shows off her furniture!

Then Laura gave me the worst directions I have ever had to get to Grandma B's. Like she said to take Cambie to Oak st. (and don't even think of denying it, Laura, I have it in writing!) When I arrived at Marine Dr on Cambie, I realized that Cambie ran the same direction as Oak. Funny thing about parallel lines... they never meet... But then I was across from Richmond so I knew how to get onto the highway headed for the border (and White Rock).... kind of.... In a round about way, calling on my knowledge of Richmond from when I lived there 18 years ago, I managed. Then her instructions included things like 'and then you get to that gas station'... She didn't mention which way you turn.... I sat there trying to remember in the two other times I have driven it in the last 10 years which one looked more familiar... Of course, I took the wrong one... Eventually we ended up at Grandma B's. We got to visit with Mom until even later and then again in the morning. She left quickly after showing us all 'tricks' we need to know.

We saw Grandma B later. We arrived just as she was finishing lunch. She looked pretty good to me and it was good to hear that her mind was all there. Rhiannon drew her a very detailed picture of a giraffe and we visited for about an hour.

Then we were off to Jelena's again for her birthday celebrations. Kaetlyn and I spent the afternoon helping to prepare the food. Delicious, gourmet food. Little tarts and quiches and salmon and Croatian dumplings and poached pears and salad. We had a great time. Not such a great sleep, though as all 3 of us tried to squish into the double bed sized Murphy bed... But here we are ready for another day. It is cloudy today but I think we will try to make it to the ocean. Right now Kaetlyn is straightening her hair, Rhiannon is playing with her VTech and I am just finishing my blog...

Ballet Jorgen

Tonight was the last concert of our NOCCA series. It was Ballet Jorgen dancing Cinderella. Rhiannon and I switched our usual afternoon tickets for an evening show. We were right in the front row. A friend got tickets given to her and so she invited Kaetlyn so we all got to go. I loved it. The music was good (not an orchestra but the next best thing) and the dancing was good. It was funny. The step sisters were hilarious! He adapted more ancient versions of the Cinderella story than the disney version so it was interesting - like the fairy came out of a seed for a tree. They had these interesting metal trees that they danced with that looked really cool, too. I thought of so many things to talk to my little dance class about as I watched.

And I remembered while I watched just how much I love ballet - the grace and the beauty and the tremendous control. It occured to me how hard it must be to dance while holding a 100 lbs over your head. And I love these more modern ballets that are more expressive. Of course it was not the panoramic epic of Swan Lake but it was very enjoyable just the same.

Finished

Well, I am done cleaning the 'old house'. It is empty now. Just the bench seat for the van is in the garage. Dean can put that back in the van next week. Kaetlyn and Drew were not quite that thrilled to be spending yet ANOTHER week end moving. Oh well, it is done now. I went back one last time to get the last things and to say good bye. It is sad to think that is the last house that Erin lived at home in. I will go tomorrow and take some of my plants out of the garden - my herbs and some strawberries, I think.

This old house has storm windows and the lady who lived here before siliconed them all in. Sheesh! I finally wrestled one of the ones in my bedroom off. I've been working on it off and on for days! A contractor is coming to take all the storms off on Monday morning but it is over 20 again today and it just gets too stuffy upstairs when you can't open a window! There is a wonderful cool breeze blowing through the house right now. Such a weight lifted to have that house finished. Now I can be fully here. Just here. Unpack, organize, garden, tidy, live, enjoy.

I am supposed to be reading Memoirs of a Geisha for my on-line book club but I can't find it anywhere. I even checked my library account to see if I accidentally returned it but no. I have it. I guess it is time to go and look for it...

Coaching T-Ball and size 12 cleats...

Well, my insane spring schedule is beginning. Last night was the first night of Rhiannon's t-ball. I took the coaches training and am now a certified level 1 Community Coach. I have an NCCP number. Funny, eh? Now they don't call it T-Ball but that is what it is. Now it is called Lean-to-Play and they have developed it to better suit the abilities of small children. I highly recommend it to any of you who might consider registering your kid in sports. Also considerably cheaper than soccer. Only $40 here for the whole season. So I am one of the coaches of Rhiannon's team. The other coach is named Andrew. What are the chances of that? She plays the same nights as Kaetlyn so I can't be there on Mondays. I am disappointed because really, I would rather watch them both all the time. I don't like watching sports on tv, but I sure love watching my kids! And they were SOOOO cute the other night!

And today was Andrew's soccer practise. We had to rush out and get his cleats before the practise so we were late. Size 12 cleats... His feet are far bigger than his dad's. Do any of my brothers have size 12 feet? They're huge. Like he only had a choice between two kinds of cleats - a Nike pair and an Umbro pair. He got the Umbro pair (I think because they had a snazzy read stripe...). This is the first year I have bought him new cleats. But it gets harder and harder to find gigantic cleats at the sports consignment store... Besides, maybe he has finished growing (feet wise) and these will last for a couple of years... If they don't stink so bad that I have to throw them out... Like last year's cleats... He is the giant on his team and his coach is detirmined to make him 'aggressive'. He actually said that to him. Makes me laugh. Seems to me that John and Layne were never really aggressive soccer players, either. But every coach tries the same thing because he is so big and then they give up and let him play defence which is what he likes to play and what he is actually good at. He likes making those long kicks up the field. He's not much of a runner and he's not fast. Drew and I laughed about the aggressive bit in the car on the way home. You'd think the coach would realize that he has been playing since he was 5 - both indoor and outdoor. I think if he was going to be an aggressive player, he would be by now! Who knows, maybe he will come into it this year.

Our homeschooling group went hiking in Kal Park today - we hiked down to Cosen's bay. It was beautiful and warm. I wore capris and a t-shirt and I was just right - even sweating. Our group consists of mostly girls Rhiannon's age and that was just about all who came along today except for two girls' 7 year old brothers. 5 of the 6 girls (all 5 years old) got naked at the beach and played in the sand and water. You might not know this but at this time of the year, the water is not actually that cold. I mean, it is cold but it is bearable. The water level is still low because the snow packs in the mountains haven't really started melting yet. In a month, the water will be far colder - the leg numbing kind of cold. Today was nice - I even went wading. I really love this area I live in. Spring is so beautiful. The hills were covered with clumps of yellow flowers that I have never seen anywhere else. They are called 'Okanagan Sunflowers' but they are not a sunflower (which are really a kind of zinnia and native to Mexico) Their real name is arrow leaf balsamroot (see below). Anyways, they are really gorgeous this year. The petals were huge and the yellow so bright. It must have been the right kind of spring for them. And you could see the wild lupin starting to grow and pearly everlasting and sage. Such a time of renewal around here. The lake was so still and clear, you could see the clouds reflected perfectly.

Wonderful Easter

Well, I had a wonderful Easter and it isn't over yet! Friday evening I went out with a couple of my women friends from the homeschooling group. One of my friend's brother is in a band - an instrumental surf band and he was playing here in Vernon. So we went out for dinner and then to hear him. He is a cute young guitarist who was schooled through the Waldorf school in Kelowna. It was a very nice evening of connecting with friends which I really needed! During the day, I worked at the 'old house' so the evening was my reward!

Saturday I just relaxed. I felt really tired and lethargic and I have been going so hard, lately that I just chilled. I read most of the book I am reading for a book club I participate in on-line with other homeschooling moms. 5 Quarters of an Orange by the same author as Chocolat. I am really enjoying it and I am looking forward to discussing it!

Sunday, after lying in bed in the morning sunshine and finishing my book, I got up and made chocolate chip pancakes. Yum. No Easter Egg hunt for us yet as Dean was in Canmore. Then we met one of my friends from Calgary (the one I visited in Feb for her birthday and went to the hockey game with) and her twin sister and a friend of theirs from Calgary at the 'old house'. And we cleaned and cleaned with great ferocity. Loaded up the van twice and brought the stuff to the 'new house'. The bulk of the cleaning is done there. Just a little bit left to do and probably two more loads with the van. We were only there for 2 1/2 hours but boy we got ALOT done. I am SO grateful for their help. It meant so much to me to have their support. Thank you again, Sheila, Barb and Nancy! Kaetlyn, Drew and Rhiannon gladly helped, too, with all the enthusiam going around. (well, Drew DID sneak away to play with his friends at one point...) Rhiannon had great fun helping me clean toilets. She wouldn't put her hand in, of course, but she used the scrubber. Funny thing, I like cleaning bathrooms. Perhaps it is how you can take it from scummy to shiny so easily. I always liked cleaning bathrooms - except I hated pinesol when I was younger and claimed it gave me a stomach ache. And I never use any of those new fangled cleaning products - still the same things I used as a child - pinsol, vinager water and comet... Enough bathroom talk!

Then we went for lunch all together (except Andrew who was playing with a friend) at Wendy's and met up with another of Sheila's friends. After lunch we went to Value Village - always a popular store. Kaetlyn found some track pants which she was in need of and Rhiannon found some flourescent green spandex shorts which she LOVES! Everyone tried to talk me out of buying them but hey! You're only 5 once and so what if you wear flourescent green spandex shorts (probably been there since 1992) and it makes you happy for 99 cents! Soon enough it will take $100 to make her happy with her clothing purchase...Next we hit Super Store where I made them push me in a cart because my legs were tired... I didn't last too long, though as the metal was digging into the backs of my knees... Sheila and Barb (who live in Alberta) shopped for good deals on produce and we decided to have a BBQ for dinner and bought stuff to make veggie kabobs and some mozza smokies.

Back at the homestead, I prepared the veggies while Sheila and co. returned to the 'old house' for the bbq and to fill up the propane tank on the way back. Rhiannon and I started making the skewers. She wanted meat on hers so she cut up a smokie and put it on. umm...yuck. So just as we are starting to BBQ, Dean arrived from Canmore. Perfect timing. I LOVE bbq'ed mushrooms. I think it is the best way to eat mushrooms. It was a delicious dinner and it was nice out but a bit cold. And fun to have our bbq here, now. I love to barbecue!

After dinner, Drew, Rhiannon and I went back with Sheila and co. to the hotel to swim in the pool. It turns out the pool was FREEZING! and the hot tub was only lukewarm. So mostly we played in the 'warm tub'. And soon I left Drew and Rhiannon there playing and went to visit with my friends. We left there shortly after 9pm. Rhiannon dropped into bed. All in all, a pretty good day. We will have our Easter dinner today along with our Easter hunt. We don't go for the traditional turkey or ham but are going to have crepes - Strawberry crepes. (do you remember those crepe feasts I used to make for 'the family' and pretend to be the french maid?) I know they are supposed to be dessert but when the first flats of strawberries go on sale (like now) we have a dinner of just strawberry crepes. I'll get started on the crepe part this morning. That part takes alot of time... We'll have the 'hunt' part of Easter just before dinner. It also has the advantage of allowing me to get easter treats at discounted prices ;-). Dean will be washing windows today and I have the drop-in at the Inner World School and then I am counselling a little boy but THEN, I will be home and preparing our Easter strawberry feast!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Pangs

Well, I didn't actually go for a walk or do anything especially wonderful. In the end, I decided that getting caught up on my homeschooling reporting would be the thing that would reduce my stress level the most. So that is what I did. Then rode my bike to the dance class. And the dance class was fine - more than fine - it was fun. So much for getting prepared. The CD's that I brought wouldn't work on the CD player there so I ended up having to 'wing it' anyways. Sheesh!

But what I wanted to write about were motherly pangs (although fathers can have these pangs as well). When Andrew was 2 - 4, we lived not too far from where we just moved to. In fact, you can see our old house from the end our our driveway (across the fields). As I was admiring the view of hills from our yard and looking into Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park, I suddenly remembered when we first moved to the other house. The first week end we were there, we went for a hike in the park. It was my first time hiking in that park. Andrew was 2 1/2, Kaetlyn was just 5 and Erin was 9. It was a warm spring day at the beginning of May. We went to the Cosens' Bay entrance and hiked down to the lake. It turns out that it is 2.5 km's each way. On the way back, which is mostly up hill, I had to carry Drew almost the whole way. He was a big boy, too! I remembered him being so small (even if it was big for 2, it is a lot smaller than he is now!) and his little arms reaching up to me, whining and crying and begging to be carried. My arms were ready to fall off by the time we reached the parking lot. And my heart just ached with the memory and the knowledge that that part is over. So quickly he is not a little boy any more. Now I have to reach up to him! And I just wished (like Emily in Our Town) that I could return to that time for just a moment and be with him as a little boy again.

Alone

All alone. I am all alone and it is 9:22am. Dean has gone to work. Drew has gone to his mentorship for the day and Rhiannon has gone to a friend's house for the day - I'll see her again at dance class at 3:30. The morning was hectic with all those lunches to make and breakfasts. But now the house is quiet. Sooooo quiet. Wow! What a luxury! What to do with a whole day to myself. Well, not entirely a whole day as I am teaching a dance class at 3:30 and right now I am completely unprepared. It is the first class and I am going to be having 9 students (although 2 are missing today). So parents will be hanging out and watching so I had better look good! Yikes. I am going to have to do some pondering! At first my dance class was for 3 year olds and then for 4 year olds and now Rhiannon is 5. The same baby games won't work! Wouldn't it be fun to have Nat in my class as well! It is still creative movement and the emphasis is on having fun, listening to the music and dancing how we feel like. Still, my hear is in palpitations right now. I hate being unprepared. I'll have to GET prepared quickly.

But first, I think I'll go for a nice walk. I'll think about it on the way. Imagine! Having time for a nice long walk at this time of the morning!

Pride and Prejudice

I hate to disappoint but I couldn't read it. I just couldn't. Perhaps if I had to for a class, I could but on my own, for recreation, I just couldn't. I can't stand that language. It is so wishy washy and indirect. And it is all so frivolous and written from a time when women had so few rights and so little power that they couldn't be direct. I just can't get into it. So it went back to the library. I guess I just can't fit in with the rest of the sisters, *sigh*. So, sorry to disappoint but that is my report. I am reading an Amy Tan book instead - "Saving a Fish From Drowning" which I am enjoying but not as much as I did the others of her books I have read so far.

Otherwise, I am still tired. Moving is still going on. Drew has a soccer game this morning over by the old house so I will go and work some more. Bit by bit. I just wish it was all over!

More pics

Here is the backyard

















Rhiannon on the swing
















Rhiannon says this would be a good picnic place.
















Well, I am exhausted. Par for the course, I suppose. They are coming to move the piano today. Yesterday I managed to stay here all day and sort and clean and unpack. Not that you can tell that I did... The kitchen looks good, though. The kitchen is really, really huge. Like I am about all unpacked and there are lots of empty cupboards! Like when does that ever happen? Turns out that our closest neighbours also homeschool their two kids who are 5 and 11. What are the chances of that? And they take violin lessons from the same violin teacher. They seem very nice and Rhiannon has been busy playing outside all day everyday since we got here. It has such a great yard and space. She is in heaven! And wow what a difference that makes to me, too. I am here unpacking and sorting quietly by myself with my own music playing and there is no whiney voice following me around asking me to do other things. Not that I don't enjoy her company and doing many things with her. But it is sure nice to be able to get these things done in peace. I am sure you know what I mean, Katie.

Well, I haven't bathed since.... gross.... I can't remember. So I am off to jump into our clawfoot bathtub for the first time.

New House

So here is the driveway.
















Here is the front of the house






























Back of the house (wet because they pressure washed the moss off the roof today)















From the side - kinda dark but you get the idea - windows everywhere.

Exercise

Well, I have managed to keep up my exercise regimen for 2 weeks. I have ridden my bike 4 times a week and done my '8 minutes in the morning' monday to friday and mostly cut out sugar. I get so hooked into the sugar cycle it is hard to break it. But I think I finally have and I am not craving it anymore. Now I just have to not start again...

Today for my bike ride, Drew and I rode all the way to Coldstream to where we are moving and then back into town. A good work out. Now it is time to get a load ready for the dump...

Books

While packing books, I was remembering how when Erin was little and I looked at all the books that Mom and Dad had and I wondered if I would ever amass as many and I worried about having books for her. Now, as I pack my 20'th box of books, I wonder how I got so many. And I still have more to pack. All my counselling/pyschology books and the books from my bedroom (the inner sanctum books, if you will) have yet to be packed. Those little liquor boxes are perfect for books. I'm moving in a week. Sometimes I have little mini heart attacks thinking about everything that I have to do. This morning I went dumpster diving for boxes.

Keep you posted

New House

Well, our move is finalized. We are moving to back to Coldstream. Whew! I am tired of being robbed! We take possession April 1. It is a rural area of Coldstream near where we lived when Dean first became a member of our family. It is an old farm house built in 1898. It has been very well cared for and totally updated - everything from a brand new furnace (2 weeks old) to all new wiring and plumbing. It is the typical old farm house set up - all the bedrooms upstairs around a landing (kind of like 910 Gillette - not that any of you are old enough to remember that house - the house where Laura was born). The bedrooms are all around the same size and with interesting shapes. There is a skylite in one. It has 4 bedrooms - which was a must for us. It has a huge claw foot bathtub yet the bathroom is completely updated with a free standing enclosed shower, as well and lots of room. The biggest bathroom I think I have ever had. Downstairs is a little unusual as it is in houses like this - rooms are funny shapes due to all the updating. The kitchen is gigantic. There are lots of windows. The basement has one useable room in it as well as the laundry facilities but it is rather damp. It has the original rock foundation which looks really cool. The yard is huge, tons of trees, an old orchard with plum and apple trees, walnut trees, rope swing, tree house, basketball hoop. The kids and the animals are going to love it. When we lived in this area before, I hardle had to feed Tigger because of his steady diet of mice in the fields. We are back in the area where Kaetlyn's high school is and just one block away from her best friend. She still takes the bus but it will be a much shorter ride and she could walk if she was feeling athletic. I'll take some pictures of it as soon as I can and post them here for you all to see.

Thursday Morning Pictures

Well, I had to use Kaetlyn's digital camera this morning to take some pictures of Bozenka's art for her. So while I was snapping away, Rhiannon and I decided to take some other pictures. Rhiannon took almost 80 other pictures! She took pictures of her toys, about 10 each of Sheeba and Jodi, of our garden and of our little plants. Me and Dean, too. I've included some of them here. The first one is Rhiannon, of course who loves to actually wear the hoodie of her hoodie.











Next is one shot of our little seedlings. The ones you can see here are mostly zinnias.














Here is one of me that Rhiannon took. I like it.















And here are our little crocuses poking up in the garden that won't be ours any more.

La Salle

Erin got the news today. She was accepted into La Salle College in Montreal for September. She is doing the Fashion Design program there. She got her letter this morning. She came down the Inner World School to tell me. We're going to go out and celebrate a little tonight! Wow! Montreal. That's a long, long ways away. I am excited for her and sad, too, for myself. I love her so much and she is so much a part of me to think of her across the country, by the Atlantic Ocean is hard. At least she is still in the same country! But so exciting for her - making her dreams come true. I am sure the skills that she learns there she will use for the rest of her life. She loves sewing and designing her own clothes.

So that is my big news of the day. I wrote something profound in the homeschooling online village that I am a part of. Maybe I will post it here. Sometimes I am afraid of posting my passionate beliefs for being judged. But then, if I don't, you won't ever really know me. Then I think, maybe you don't want to. But maybe you do.

Anyways, maybe that doesn't even make sense...

Star Search Report

Well, Erin didn't make it to the finals. She did an awesome job of Nut Bush - nailed it. She was way more comfortable on stage, she was dressed better. She was much happier with her performance. The judges only had good things to say about her but... 11 out of 22 were advanced. I gotta say that I don't get their selections. They chose some people who had REAL pitch problems. There were a couple of others that I was really surprised to see didn't make it and I was really surprised about some of the ones that they chose. Don't get it. They picked some old, ugly people who were really schmaltzy. Oh well, it always seems to be this way in these kinds of competitions. And like I said to Erin, there are people who make a career out of winning these competitions who never actually have a music career...

Not feeling so great today, either. I'm dragging my butt around. Still in my pj's.

Okanagan Star Search

Well, today is the semi-finals for the Okanagan Star Search. So I am leaving at 12noon with Erin to Kelowna. She's on at 2pm - that means she's got to be amongst the first. Not such a good spot. It seems like they often forget the first. We noticed last time that only one person advanced from the first set and she was the last one in the first set. But they advance 10 people today out of 20. That seems like pretty good odds to me. This time she only gets to sing one song. She's doing Tina Turner - Nut Bush. She sang it at the family reunion. The judges are all older than me so she thought they would like it. I'm going to enjoy it, that is for sure!

I am still sick. Although mostly better now. It seems like I feel pretty good for one or two days and then I wake up feeling like crap or like I could sleep all day. Today is one of those days. I managed to stay in bed until 8am which is quite a feat with Rhiannon. I miss Dean. He left Thursday morning and won't be back until late, late Sunday night. sigh. I hate being on my own when I feel crappy. I am going to make myself some nice tea and try to perk up for Erin.

The for sale sign went up this week. 4 people came to see the house yesterday. That was a little much. So we had to be gone for 4 hours. I took Jodi with us, too. Drew was in Cherryville (45 min away) so I went grocery shopping and then to pick him up and we stayed to visit for awhile (Drew's friend has a little sister who is 1 year older than Rhi). It was a nice visit. The house could be cleaner. I have been so sick for more than 2 weeks. Although the kids and Dean manage to keep the house 'clean', the tidiness factor really starts to slip....

I gotta go pick up Kaetlyn in 15 minutes so I had better go and get dressed...

Orpha Hatch Morrow Scott

Kaetlyn is doing a project for school where she is supposed to do her family history. So I re-typed this for her from the copy that grandma gave me many years ago. I thought you might enjoy it if you haven't already seen it. I think there is an error where she has her mother marrying her father-in-law...

By Orpha Hatch Morrow Scott (not dated)

My father was a polygamist and due to the pressure put on by the US Marshalls at that time in looking for these polygamists he had to go away and as my mother had a profession as a nurse and was more able to look after her family than his second wife was, he took his second wife and went to Moab Utah. I was seven years old at that time. I can well remember what hardships we went through because of this.

When I was 13 years old I became quite ill with anemia and was not expected to live much longer. When I was 14 years old my sister Olive and her husband, Jack Swain, were going to Burlington, Wyoming where my sister, Etta Dobson, was living. They wanted me to go and my mother decided that if I did go and slept on the ground that it may be the one thing that would save my life so I went with them and sure enough, I began to mend and regained my health.

Wyoming at that time was pretty much a frontier. I became very popular around Burlington as I was a very good dancer and that was about the only amusement there was there (except riding horseback).

I secured a job clerking in a store operated by Jim McKinnie. While there I met Mr. McKinnie’s stepson, David L. Morrow who began dating me and we got married Dec 19, 1901. Our courtship consisted of dancing and horseback riding. David and his brother played for dances all over the country so I used to accompany them to the dance and while he played, I danced. Most people around there were shocked when I married David as he was not a member of the LDS church and I was very religiously a member of that church.

My husband was born Nov 13, 1877 in Talmage Ohio where his mother had gone to visit her mother. He was the fifth child. The two eldest died in infancy. He had a sister Laura May and a brother Joseph Wesley. His father died when my husband was one year old. His mother married James McKinnie who homesteaded near Burlington Wyoming and my husband was raised on the ranges of Wyoming where he became a very good rider and roper. He was working in a small sawmill for L. K. Jonston at the time we got married.

My first baby was born Nov 28, 1902 at the home of my sister, Etta Dobson. I had intended to have my baby in our own home at Otto Wyoming. My sister, Olive, came to take care of me but her two little girls took sick with measles and diphtheria which was sweeping the country at that time. So I had to go to Etta’s. My sister Olive lost both of her girls one dying a few days before my baby was born and the other one two days after. My first baby was a son and we named David Lendrum after his father and grandfather. He grew to maturity and became a member of the LDS church. He married Alta Drollinger in the Cardston Temple and they had 3 sons and twin girls. At the time of this writing he lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and is Sales Manager for the Sugar House Van Lines Inc. and has 10 grandchildren. My second child was a girl, Eltie May born Sept 7, 1904 in Claresholm, Alberta, Canada. She grew to maturity and married but has no children. At the time of writing she lives in Los Angeles where she works for a bank where she has been for many years. She became a good pianist and played on radio in its infancy.

My third baby was a son, Ronald Clive born April 8, 1907 at Roundup, Alberta, Canada. He was born at my mother’s home on Willow Creek. He grew to maturity and joined the LDS church. He married Mable Jones and had two children, a boy and a girl. When the girl Marylin was ten days old, her mother died and 12 days later he buried his son, Ronald Gaylen. He remarried Lucille Severns and moved to California where he is now the Bishop of the South Pasadena Ward. He had a daughter, Gale by his second wife. My fourth, fifth and sixth children were girls. Hilma was born Dec 9, 1910 on our farm, 3 miles south of Granum, Alberta, Canada. My mother was the midwife and it was only through her expert knowledge and care that my life and that of Hilma were spared. Hilma grew to maturity and was baptized a member of the LDS church. She is a graduate nurse graduating from the Holy Cross Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She married Fred Bullock and has two sons and a daughter. They live in Powell River, BC, Canada. Verna Aleda was born March 2, 1916 in Blackie, Alberta, Canada. She grew to maturity and is a member of the LDS church. She married Clifford Thompson and has two sons and two daughters. They live in North Vancouver, BC, Canada and I make my home with them. Verna is one of the stalwarts in the church and is always doing a good deed. Verna also had a son that died in infancy. So did Hilma.

Laura Madge was born Feb 15, 1919 in Blackie, Alberta Canada. Her father died when she was only 2 years of age. She grew to maturity and is a member of the LDS church. She married Fred Clarke and has at the time of writing seven children, four boys and three girls. They live in Powell River, BC, Canada.

After we were married my husband went back to the sawmill where he was working and I stayed with my sister Olive. About a month later, my husband came back and we rented a small home in Otto, Wyoming where we lived until the next fall except for a few months that we worked for a Mr. Dowse until he sold his farm and went to Canada. The May after my first child was born we left for Alberta Canada. We drove in a covered wagon to the Lewistown, Montana where we stopped to visit my mother who had married Jim McKinnie and stayed there. We remained there for about a month. We left there with our covered wagon and three horses, one of them my saddle horse, Buttons. We crossed the border into Canada the 5th day of July 1903 and proceeded to David’s brother’s place in the foothills west of Granum where they had filed a homestead. Wesley filed on the NW quarter and we filed on the NE quarter of the same section. We built a log cabin and moved into our own home that fall. I knew the greatest joy of my life when we moved into that little log cabin. We sold my saddle horse to buy the lumber for the floor. The cabin was small but oh how much love was crammed into it. I had not had a home since I was a little girl and I was supremely happy there. We traded our home for a wheat farm south of Granum something we always regretted. After several crop failures there we moved to Aldersyde, Alberta where my husband bought grain for the Nation Elevator Co. In 1914 we moved to Blackie Alberta where my husband bought grain for the United Grain Growers. In 1920 we went to Castor Alberta where my husband bought grain for the Alberta Pacific Grain Co. While in this place one of the greatest tragedies of my life occurred. While loading a car of barley, April 29, 1921, my husband was suffocated and taken from me and my family. Thus ended nineteen years of a very happy marriage. We buried my husband in Claresholm, Alberta, Canada. I moved my family to Calgary, Alberta where my eldest son went to work for the company his father had been working for.

In 1925 I married a childless widower, Harry Scott and moved onto his farm west of Gleichen where I worked very hard for several years.