Happy Birthday Dan!

You are simply the BEST and we love you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

Funeral and Fun

I hope the title of this post is not offensive to anyone--I know it is a bit of a dichotomy. However, those two words really sum up best the last several days. On Friday, July25th, we attended Grandpa Clark's funeral in Salt Lake City. All of my siblings and their spouses were there, along with my parents, from our branch of the family. It was a nice service which focused on celebrating Grandpa's 93+ years of life. I know it was somewhat disappointing to our family and others that the precious truths of the gospel were not mentioned, not even a church hymn was included, but that was Grandpa's wish. Grandpa was an inactive member of the Church for the latter part of his life. However, he always expressed his support and often seemed proud of his children's involvement in the Church and their dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've always loved Atticus Finch's line from To Kill a Mockingbird that basically says you can't judge another person until you've walked in their shoes. That pretty much sums up my feelings about Grandpa and his choices regarding his activity in the Church. I didn't get any pictures at the funeral, but I took a few at the graveside service in Bountiful.

Now, the second part of this post reflects all the FUN we've been having with some of our Clark and Brown cousins who are visiting from Arizona. The Browns have been staying with us and we've had so much fun talking, shopping, eating and talking some more. Saturday night, the whole extended Clark gang (except Dave, Robin and their kids) went up Provo Canyon for a picnic dinner. Tonight everyone's coming over for a BBQ and FHE. I'm going to be sad when they all leave in a few days. In the meantime, we are enjoying the lazy days of summer!

Pioneer Day

Living in Utah, it is impossible to not remember what important event occurred on July 24, 1847. In fact, I'll never forget the year the first pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley because Dan's dad specifically picked the numbers "1847" to be their address when they built their home in Provo decades ago. Fast forward to 2008, and our ward primary put on the neatest quarterly activity a few days ago to celebrate this occasion. All the leaders and children dressed in their best pioneer dress, met a decent distance from the church building so the children could trek to the building for the actual activity. The leaders left out no details in their planning--including large handcarts that they pulled along their "trail." Julia's favorite activity, although she liked them all, was hand washing and scrubbing clothes with a board! In fact, she enjoyed it so much, she asked if I could get her a board so that she could start doing her own laundry by hand. What enthusiasm!

Here are a few pictures of the Provo Peak 6th Ward pioneers...

In Memory of Ezra T. Clark-- A Fortunate Fellow

My grandfather, Ezra T. Clark, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, July 19, 2008 in Salt Lake City. Grandpa was my last surviving grandparent and the only living great grandparent to my children. Grandpa had lived a long and wonderful life and his example and legacy will continue to live on through his posterity. He was born December 3, 1914 in Farmington, Utah. Despite the poverty of his childhood and youth and perhaps because of it, Grandpa lived and exemplified the principles of hard work, integrity and generosity. I will never forget this--his legacy--to me and my children.

As a child, I recall vividly Grandpa's Bountiful home. It was magical to me and I always looked forward to visits there. Looking back, I remember fondly my favorite room in his home, the downstairs library. I'm not sure what drew me to the room, whether it was the lush velvet purple arm chairs or hundreds of books which lined the walls. Whatever it was, I felt welcomed there by Grandpa. I will always remember the little things, like the time Grandpa voiced his frustrations to me about the raccoons which seemed to sneak through the fireplace in the room.

Years later, when I met my future husband, I was thrilled to hear of Grandpa's association in the Utah State Senate with Dan's father. Not surprising, both Grandpa and Karl had mutual admiration and respect for one another. As a result, I felt I had Grandpa's nod of approval in marrying Dan. It pleased me greatly that Grandpa would approve of someone I loved so much.

My tenderest memories of Grandpa will live on in pictures of him with me and my own children. No matter the milestone in my life, Grandpa was there. There were no long or in depth conversations. Instead, there was a bear hug and a kiss and in later years, a tender kiss on the hand. Most recently, our family had the privilege of seeing Grandpa and Geri at our youngest daughter's baptism. No surprise, Grandpa and Geri also attended our firstborn daughter's baby blessing sixteen years ago. These "bookend" events, if you will, these milestones in the lives of my children, were made more special with the presence of a great grandfather. Grandpa Clark, Ezra T. Clark, indeed was a great man and a fortunate fellow.

Provo East Stake Girls Camp 2008

Dan and I headed to Girls Camp yesterday afternoon for "Bishop's Night" with the Stake. We arrived a little early so we could see our girls before the evening's activities got underway. As always, we were grateful to see them happy and looking awesome (thanks to the spa day they enjoyed courtesy of the Stake Relief Society). We are so grateful for all the amazing camp and young women leaders on the ward and stake level who did so much to make the experience a positive one. A highlight for the young women every year is trying to make the priesthood leaders look a little silly. This year they made cute tutus and caps for the men to wear and had them dance to "Flight of the Bumblebee." After dinner, the stake presidency spoke to all of us and then we divided into our ward units for testimony meeting and dessert. It is always a treat to come up to Girls Camp for one night, well-rested and clean, and listen to the young women bear their testimonies and witness the growth they've experienced in such a short time. Thanks to Brother & Sister DeWolf, we enjoyed yummy dutch oven cake and ice cream to end the evening. I can't wait to see the girls later today!

Practice Makes Perfect

So, I finally received my new camera in the mail and I've been pouring over the manual to try and figure out how the contraption even works. It is going to take some time to just learn the various settings and options. Obviously, I'm not looking to be a professional or even amateur photographer at that. The goal is to simply take better pictures of the family. Today, my darling niece Ruthie was my prop. Despite my lacking photography skills, I must say that she would make any picture perfect.

Quiet Week...

It's going to be a quiet week at our house with Emily, Hilary and Hannah at Girls Camp. As fun as it will be to have one on one time with Julia, it won't be the same around the house without the older girls! I'm excited that Dan and I will get to go up on Friday night and see them. Last night, the girls had a very late night at the American Idol concert in Salt Lake City, but it was well worth I'm told. Gratefully, Emily didn't have to leave at 6:45 am as previously planned. All the girls got to ride up on the buses together which didn't leave until noon. I hope it rains like crazy for Emily (she loves the rain) and I hope they let the girls shower this year (this will make Hilary and Hannah extremely happy)! We'll post later about all their mountain adventures. Until then, I'm off to play another game of "Battleship" with Julia!

It's Great to be EIGHT!

As you know, Julia was baptized May 31st and since then she has eagerly worked on the Faith in God program. Last week, she helped me make sack lunches for the homeless in our area--she makes a great turkey and cheese sandwich! Then, last night while Dan and I were out for our "date night," she welcomed us home with a beautiful poem she had written while we were away. She explained that the poem she had written would pass off one of her goals in the Developing Your Talents area. I know I am a proud mother, but I was awed at the thoughts she jotted down in her poem. Enjoy it below!

Heavenly Father's creations are great,

I give it a million stars, That's what I rate.

He made you and me,

He made prairies and seas.

He made our house,

He made something called a mouse.

He also made the Faith in God,

He gave us parents to teach us to hold on to the iron rod.

He gave us friends,

And in the end,

We will go and live with them.

Fourth of July

This Fourth of July was unique for us in that we held our BBQ indoors at the grill. Why set up tables and chairs outside when we have an entire restaurant dining room at our disposal?! It was a last minute change of plans but I figured why not give it a try. My lovely girls set the tables for 30 family members and Dan played head chef at the hot grill--thanks honey! The modern amenities of A/C and a commercial dishwasher made for very comfortable surroundings and a quick clean up. The kids LOVE to work the commercial dishwasher! You can't beat it--squeaky clean dishes in 90 seconds. We enjoyed hosting the Andersen family, the Estes family and the Houston family, as well as Grandpa and Grandma Snow.
The highlight of the Fourth for the females in our household was Stadium of Fire at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Of course, Miley Cyrus was the main attraction and she did not disappoint the 50,000 plus crowd in attendance. Emily scored a free ticket from her friend Matisse Hales which included a pre-show party with the Blue Man Group and Miley Cyrus herself. Because Emily is the true photographer in the family, I will give her credit for the beautiful, crystal clear pictures on our blog.

Independence Day

The Fourth of July holiday is incomplete for me without recognizing and remembering some of the great men and women who helped in the establishment and continuance of the United States of America. My favorite American President has always been George Washington and I find a visit to Washington D.C. unthinkable without going to Mount Vernon. However, as of late, thanks to some great reading and perhaps our family's experience of living in the South surrounded by Civil War sites, Abraham Lincoln has been elevated to new heights. No matter their numerical distinction, I am in awe of their mighty contributions then and now. It was Leo Tolstoy who wrote concerning Lincoln, "[He] was bigger than his country---bigger than all the Presidents together. Why? Because he loved his enemies as himself...he was a Christ in minature, a saint of humanity, whose name will live thousands of years."

Those who know me, know of my love for American history (thus the American Studies major). My favorite reads include just about anything nonfiction in this genre. My recommendations for reading something patriotic and very American are listed below.

Bonds of Affection (Matthew S. Holland)

Team of Rivals (Doris Goodwin Kearns)

With Malice Toward None (Stephen B. Oates)

Mary Todd Lincoln (Jean Baker)

Martha Washington (Patricia Brady)

Founding Mothers (Cokie Robertson)

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

His Excellency, George Washington (Joseph Ellis)

Founding Brothers (Joseph Ellis)