Soup to Nuts: 2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Meeting Myra Jane

Meeting Myra for the first time, Clark and Eva show intense interest in her owee.

Grandma and Myra hit it off right from the start.

Eva was so happy to see her mom again after 2 days.

Calm, sweet and tiny: words describing this newborn.

Clark is a happy big brother.

No explanation needed.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Recently I have come in the possession of some old original notes written by my grandmother Netta Poulton Spencer. My grandma Spencer would be 129 years old this summer. She wrote a short history about her grandmother who was born in 1829 in England. Interestingly, she wrote this history in pencil on four Union Pacific Railroad letterhead memo pad papers. Here is the content of her history:
Caroline Harris was born 4 Feb 1829 in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Baptized at Stratford-on-Avon when a girl. Married James Poulton 8 Feb 1852 at Birmingham. Endowed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Died in Salt Lake City 6 Nov 1898.
Sailed to America on SS Amazon under Captain William Bramwell on 4 June 1862. Landed in New York 18 July 1862 with husband and 4 children. Traveled on train to St. Louis and then by wagon to SLC. Caroline's health was poor, she was pregnant. They arrived in the valley in the late fall. The family lived in a small 1 room house that was unchinked with no floor. James was given the head of a beef from the slaughter house which when skinned and cleaned and boiled over a bonfire in a large kettle provided soup which was much enjoyed. Caroline's health became more threatened so the family was invited to live in a basement in the 20th ward where her baby was born prematurely and only lived a short time. James made a tiny casket and carried the baby on his shoulder to City Cemetery. James was a willing worker and soon was able to move his family to a small warm house on 4th South between 3rd and 4th West which was their home until 1891 when they built a store at 424 S. 200 W. Caroline worked hard alone in the store.
He found employment in the ZCMI shoe factory where he worked for years.
I can remember her so well with her little shawl around her shoulders. She was slender and bent a little. She had a sweet kind face and a heart full of love.
She was generous and interested in the poor and unfortunate.
She was the mother of seven boys and three girls besides two girls who died. For years the large family was invited to "grandma's" house for Christmas dinner and we enjoyed a bounteous feast. Grandma and grandpa loved music and the family was blessed with musical talent and also with rich singing ability. I can remember hearing grandma sing the Christmas carols. Her voice was a beautiful soprano. They were never happier than when their sons, daughters and grandchildren sang together in chorus. Caroline was a wonderful mother, a faithful Latter Day Saint, a friend of many and mourned by all at her passing.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Valentine's Cookies from a Good Cook

The ultimate Valentine's Day cookies.

Culinary Crafts 1053 East 2100 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84106 1400 West 400 North, Orem, UT 84057

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Sweetness

Put your feet up for a minute and enjoy!

http://god-gives-us-strength.blogspot.com/2009/12/lords-prayer.html

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Thirty First Anniversary

Does it get any better than this for your 31st anniversary? Turns out Harlingen Texas bought the plastic casting of the Iwo Jima sculpture. They had a local soldier who participated in the real raising of the flag in Iwo Jima. Plus they have a preparatory school for the marine corps there. We wanted to see this historic site and so we ventured out in the rain on the Saturday after Christmas to check it out.

I loved this picture of Ben and Eva. The Franciscos were the perfect hosts for our trip. We really appreciated the wonderful way they welcomed us into their home and showed us some fun places down Harlingen way.

I loved seeing this sculpture during one of our trips to Washington D.C. During that time the tour guide mentioned that there was an extra hand sculpted into the formation which was symbolic of God's hand in the battle. I loved that thought. Turns out it isn't true...

I wanted to see the famous fence on the border of the U.S. and Mexico. I really wanted to see the Rio Grande too. We started walking over toward this fence just at dusk (that's why it's a little blurry). A guard came out and stopped us in our tracks. We asked about the river. Turns out it is about a mile away at this point. Win some and lose some.

On our way up to San Antonio on the way home we stopped in Corpus Christi to visit the Lexington. This is a navy aircraft carrier that was decommissioned in 1990. It had most things a small city would have. There was a dental office, a post office, a barber shop, a chapel, and so many other things. The ship was huge. Our feet ached and we only saw about half of it. The most interesting thing to me was a description of the Japanese part of the war. Japan lost a lot of oil tankers to torpedos early on thus decreasing their ability to train their pilots in bombing runs. The general came up with the idea to train them instead to crash into the U.S. fleet's ships. This became a very honorable position for the Japanese air corp. The other thing that was interesting was the way the Japanese leaders asked the people to come together to fight for the motherland. They told the citizens they needed strong people both physically and spiritually. To strengthen them physically they would broadcast calisthenics instructions over the radio. Everyone dropped what they were doing at that moment and exercised together.