June Update and Historical Treasure

Sorry I've been so negligent with my blogging. Don and I will be going to San Diego to visit with his brother, Walter and Walt's wife, Linda. We will celebrate our wedding anniversaries together...we went to the temple to be sealed to our respective spouses on June 27th (47 years ago). Don will stay with Walt and Linda for two weeks and spend time working on a new cradle with Walter...I will spend the second week in Seattle with Rachel and family (celebrating Charlotte's 3rd birthday and their move to their new house in Enumclaw) and visiting with Aaron and Chrys. Don and I fly to San Diego on Tuesday, June 24th and will return to Salt Lake on the 8th of July. On another note, I have been researching colonial Newbury, MA looking for information on Sarah Chase (wife of Charles or Curmac Annis). I found a website www.newbury375.org (Newbury, MA is celebrating its 375th anniversary in 2010) and found a 1729 map of Newbury, West Parish with the names and house locations of all the families in that Parish...you guessed it...the Annis family homesteads were well marked (oldest sons of Sarah and Curmac, Joseph and Abraham, and grandson, John). Abraham and John are directline ancestors, and when we overlaid the current street map and Google Earth images, we were excited to learn that the original Annis family farm (1666) is now part of the Maudslay State Park and next time we visit Boston, we will look forward to walking the paths where our ancestors farmed. On still another note, we were able to visit for a few minutes, with our old friends, Stewart and Deanna Troxell...sadly, our visit was at Primary Children's Hospital where their little 3 year old grandson is undergoing treatments for cancer...we all decided that Don and I should take a trip to Phoenix this winter for a longer visit. I know there is more to tell, but it is getting late and I have to drive Don to Draper tomorrow for an evaluation by a VA doctor for his VA disability claim; then pack suitcases and prepare the apartment for our absence so I'd better get to bed and try to get some sleep. I'll try to do better next month and I'm sure to have some pictures to share.

A VERY Special Day!

This is a picture that tells about a VERY special afternoon! Today we had the opportunity to meet with Elder Jeffery Holland in his office at the Church Administration Building. Sister Jeri Avant is the editor of the Church News and is our Gospel Doctrine teacher...about 3 weeks ago Don was asked to give a sacrament meeting talk using a talk from General Conference as his topic...he chose a talk by Elder Holland and mentioned that we had "followed" Elder Holland (Seattle, Connecticut, Provo/Payson) for many years, but had never personally met him...Sister Avant decided to try to arrange a personal meeting as a surprise for Don...we spent about 30 minutes of this very busy man's time today, just remembering common friends and acquaintances and sharing bits of information about Don's conversion, family history and current circumstances. Elder Holland then went to his cabinet and presented us with a very beautiful, illustrated edition of his book "Christ and the New Covenant" in which he inscribed a personal message and signed it. We then presented him with a copy of Scott's "First Vision", for which he thanked us and Scott. Needless to say, Don was delighted and Elder Holland asked us to stay in touch with him...what a day!!

Pictures from our Seattle Trip

Charlotte with many ponytails!
Scott and Rachel
Rachel and Robert
Pamela (Aaron and Scott in background)
Grandma Knight and Scott

Charlotte
Calvin with Grandpa's hat
Charlotte and Wallace
Calvin...big blue eyes
Grandma reading to Charlotte....Charlotte provided pillows for each of us.

Aaron and Chrys' Wedding

Sorry, I haven't perfected the posting of photos...thought I coould rearrange them after I copied them to the blog, but I'm not sure how to do that, so the picutres are out of sequence.

Aaron and Chrys' Wedding (continued)

Rehearsal dinner...delicious Japanese food. Chrys, Aaron, Chrys' mother, aunt and grandmother.

Grandma Knight signing the guestbook and adding her photobooth picture.

Photo Booth...remember these? Guests took picture then chose one for the guestbook and received glass coasters/picture frames for a rememberance.

This is REALLY cake...Aaron was in charge and said he couldn't believe Chrys let him get away with this...real rotating disc ball on top...the cake was delicious.

A rehearsal kiss.

The happy couple...rehearsal's over...this is the real thing!

Aaron, Chrys and Don...Wow, Dad in a tux!

Chrys and Grandma Knight (88 and looking great)

Siblings...Pamela, Aaron, Scott, Rachel. It was good to see you together again...we missed the other half of the family.

Visits with Aaron, Spencer and the Pope

This has been quite a week for visitors: first, Aaron had to make a quick business trip to Salt Lake and we were blessed with two visits with him (Wed. and Thurs.)...I loved his comments..."I can't believe I'm getting married!" and "I know why you should plan your wedding together; it's to see how the marriage will be."...I remember John Bytheway saying that if you want to know if she's the right girl, take her on a picnic date up Provo Canyon; hike in and let her carry the picnic basket, or better yet, forget to tell her she's the one that is supposed to bring the lunch. (We all know how long it took John to find the "right girl"!) Anyway we had a fun visit and it was good to see him so happy. We love Chrys!! Next, I was busy putting the binding on the quilt I made for Aaron and Chrys, so I was plopped in front of the TV for a couple of days...I watched Mass twice and Pope Benedict's visit with the young people and seminarians once...I gained such an appreciation for how much we have in common and how the Spirit of Christ shines forth. I loved the greetings of peace to your neighbors as part of the Mass and the "Hear Our Prayer" part of the litergy. I was especially impressed with the Pope's message to the young people and I even printed it out off the internet...it could have been given at conference to our LDS youth by the prophet...truely, we share much more than what separates us. The Pope is such a humble man and reminded me a bit of President Hinckley. Today, (Sunday) Dad gave a talk at sacrament meeting and then we went to Spence and Nancy's for dinner (grilled salmon...yummm); Josh was working on a requirement for Cub Scouts, so Spence was teaching him how to grill the fish (last time I was at their house Josh was learning to cook bacon and eggs). Spence is home for three days, then leaves for Kuwait (he'll get one 2 week leave sometime before they come home next January...we willl miss him and pray for his safety and Nancy and the kids' wellbeing). Dad has three physical therapy appointments Monday and Tuesday this week, then on Wed. we will drive to Cedar City to pick up Grandma so she can fly with us to Seattle for the wedding. Busy days ahead, hope we all survive the activity.

50 year Reunion!

We just got home from lunch with the sister missionaries that taught Don the gospel. Today was the 50th anniversary of his baptism. We had a great time catching everyone up on the past 50 years. Sister Ann Wooley Graham is on the left and Sister Cheryl Butler Hood is on the right. Cheryl and her husband are now serving a Family History mission at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, hence the missionary ID tag.