Tomatoes and Zucchini

I remember my dad cooking tomatoes and zucchini in the summertime. It was his special treat. He picked the ripe tomatoes and zucchini that he grew himself in the back yard, and he would chop them up and fry them up with spices. He’d mush the tomatoes up so they would get really soft as they cooked, and slice zucchini into the pan. Or, he would make plates of tomatoes for us, and later Mom would can them, too.
--Marilyn

Yellowstone

Some of my favorite memories from childhood are family vacations. Mom and Dad always made sure that we went on vacation every year, because they felt that it helped us grow closer as a family. One of Dad's favorite places to go on vacation was to Yellowstone. I remember we would take our trailer and go camping. We would go see the gysers and the stink pots (as we called them). We would hike to the waterfalls. I thought that Dad knew everything; because whenever we asked a question, he always knew the answers. Dad loved the beauty of nature. As the family got older our trips to Yellowstone diminished because Dad was not as mobile--Dave often quipped that Lisa and I "were spoiled because we didn't have to go to Yellowstone every year for family vacation." Despite Dad's lack of mobility he still enjoyed going to Yellowstone when we did go--he loved to drive through Yellowstone.

--Michelle

Football with Grandpa

A few years ago Grandpa decided that he would take all the boys to a Utah Blaze game. Grandpa made the night really special by treating me to my favorite restaurant -- Crown Burger. I had a great time with Grandpa, my dad, and all my boy cousins. We yelled really loud and I think our cheering helped the Blaze to win. Happy birthday Grandpa, I love you.
--Jared

Lost Wallet

One day when we were on our mission in Tallahassee, Florida, we had been out visiting people in Madison, Florida where we were assigned for our whole mission. On our way home, we decided to buy an ice cream cone. Claude took out his wallet to pay for the ice cream. He decided to leave his wallet out of his pocket. I set it on my lap and forgot about it. As I got out of the car, the wallet fell on the ground. We didn’t realize it was missing until the next morning. We looked and looked for it. When we couldn’t find it we canceled our credit card, but we didn’t know what to do about his Driver’s License.

A member of the church lived a couple of houses away from us. A lady who lived across from us found the wallet outside in her yard. She believed a dog had carried it into her yard. She noticed a paper in the wallet with the church’s name on it (Claude's temple recommend.) She took the wallet over to the church member’s house and he brought it back to us. Everything was in the wallet. We felt the Lord was watching over us. We felt so blessed.
--Joyce

How We Met

Claude and I met 60 years ago at a State Basketball Championship Game. My parents drove me, my sister Elaine, and my cousin Jean Marie to the game. As we were sitting there enjoying the game, these two boys came to sit by us and one of the boys was Claude. I had never seen such a handsome boy. We visited during the game and then my parents took me home.

The next day I got a call from Claude, asking me out on a date. I was so excited I could hardly stand the wait. We went on our first date to a dance. We had a wonderful time. We started dating pretty steady. When we didn't go out every night, we talked on the phone. We did many different things on our dates. We went to dances, we went on hikes, we played games, we went to Pineview Reservoir, and we got to know each other. I knew he was meant for me. He was always so kind and gentle. He was a member of the church but he wasn't active. We decided to get married civilly in April.

I was 18 years old, so I could go to get the marriage license alone. Claude was 20 so he had to have his mother go with him to let them know she gave her consent. We got married April 26, 1951, in my parents' home. We lead a wonderful life together for 59 years. We have 8 beautiful children that we love very much.
--Joyce

Wolf Creek

I remember one time the whole family went jet skiing. My mom and I were on the jetski, and I was driving. I took a way too sharp turn, and we were both dumped off. We laughed our heads off. I remember eating lots of candy and drinks because we stayed a really long time at the beach. I remember going on a jet ski with me, Jared and Trevor, and another time with me, Brandon and Trevor. When Brandon was driving he made us all fall off. When I was driving Brandon fell off. I guess we need more practice driving. Thanks for inviting us to go to Wolf Creek. I love Grandpa.
--Kason

Don't Eat Pete

I remember playing “Don’t Eat Pete” after having family night with them. Trevor, me, Reagan, and Kason had to have an assigned order when we played “Don’t Eat Pete,” so we wouldn’t fight. I loved the M&Ms then, and I still love them. I love you Grandpa! The end.
--Mallory