Scary Roads. . .

The roads in Santa Clara have been torn up and being improved for the past four months...which means we've had a lot of dirt, road closures, and even shaking houses as heavy equipment rumbles around.

When the roads became so dusty that it was coating everything inside the house, I made some phone calls, found out the water truck was SUPPOSED to be watering three times a day.  As soon as this window went up, with it's very public accountability, the truck didn't miss a watering!!

How do you get the roads completed faster???  

Not exactly sure, but the cinnamon rolls didn't hurt, either!!

WE LOVE OUR NEW ROADS!!

THANKSGIVING 2012

Can I PLEASE get off the emotional roller coaster?  I'm tired of it!!  It's just about two weeks later and it still hurts my head to think about it!  Yes, I had a REALLY bad stress headache Thanksgiving Day due to emotions running rampant, but with all that said, I am SO glad we enjoyed being with manyof our family! (I was not stressed because of the family, it was just too much emotion with Veteran's Day, Denzel's birthday, and Thanksgiving all piling up on top of each other within 9 days...I'm entitled, right?!?)

Brandon was up early when I was in tears and just wrapped me in his arms and held me.  It was very meaningful to me!  A bit later we made pie crust together, which was also very therapeutic!  Brand made the chocolate candy bar pies, and they were GOOD!

 Of course Nikki was entertaining for EVERYONE and we loved the time we got to spend with her!

Our dinner was WONDERFUL!!  Loved being at Brandon's and Tannya's, having Kristy and Nat there, and just being together!!

When we were done eating dinner we headed over to Ellison's with our pie to join the Barton side of the family in Layton.  What a fun time we had!!  Nice to see so many of the nieces and nephews, and to catch up with everyone!!

 L-R  Dan Barton, Patrice Barton Hunt, Steve Barton (kneeling) Fred Denzel Barton, Isabell Pack Barton, and Dawn Barton.  (missing are Linda Barton Ellison [inside doing dishes], and John Barton)

All too soon...like Saturday morning, Rod and I headed back to St. George.  We got back just in time for me to take two different groups of friends out riding.  Nat came down Saturday morning, too.  Always fun to have her home!!

ANOTHER Quick Trip To Salt Lake City!!

On Denzel's Birthday, after his special birthday breakfast, aimless packing, and finally getting on the road, Rod and I drove up to Mapleton, staying at Dan's and Janet's place that night.  Sunday morning we drove to the cemetery in Bluffdale where Denzel's body is buried.  Rod and I spent awhile there before heading to Murray.  It sure is hard to describe emotions sometimes.  I guess it's just easiest said that it was emotional...bad and good.  We don't just think of our loss.  We think of how Denzel's death has affected his siblings, his friends, his wife, his step-daughter, our extended family, friends and neighbors.  I guess we never really recognize how much our lives intertwine with so many!  Denzel's death has had an impact on many.

Since we had a little extra time, Rod and I drove up to the Draper Temple.  Neither of us has ever been there and it was a fun drive.  It is WAY up the mountain, and the neighborhood around the temple had some large homes.  We drove a couple of blocks further up the mountain and came across the two homes above in the one cul-de-sac.  AMAZING!!

Then we drove the scenic route to Murray from Draper...that is we drove on 13th East all the way there, rather than getting on the freeway!  It was FUN!  We went over to Kent and Trish Madsen's (Erika's parents) where we met Dane, Erika's brother, just newly returned from his mission to Peru.  We had come up to meet him and to hear him report on his mission.  It was a fun time and I'm so glad we made the trip.
After church was over, Rod and I high-tailed it for St. George, and didn't get in too terribly late!

Denzel's Birthday Breakfast

 



Of COURSE, we had a birthday breakfast this morning . . . 

after a few sobs when we put the "birthday plate and glass" on the table, knowing it wouldn't be used this morning, we enjoyed a really good breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, toast and Ovaltine!

LOTS of Ovaltine!! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

And then we did what we usually do: reminisced about the birthday boy/girl's birth.  In this case: Denzel's birth! 


He was our "firstborn in the wilderness" of Provo! Our doctor thought the delivery would take a lot longer since it was my first time giving birth, but an hour after Dr. Stubbs checked me, Denzel was ready to be born...our doctor missed the birth!! He had gone back to his office, and the hospital had the wrong number for him since they had just moved their office to a new building.   


But Dr. Stubbs came skidding into the delivery room, right after the birth, and was there to stitch me up. 

Denzel weighed in at 9' 8" and was slightly turned so he did some major tearing during his birth. But Dr. Stubbs was a GREAT stitcher-upper and I never had a problem...

I had NO IDEA that the plastic inflatable ring they sent me home with was NOT a bathtub toy for the baby, but was for ME to SIT ON!! *_*

We loved the good breakfast AND remembering this sweet boy's birth! Love you, Denz!!
(P.S. Thanks Nat [and Kristy] for being here with us!! {We loved the extra bacon we got cuz Kristy Jo Hunt left early for the college!] Love you both!!)

Dad's Tribute to Denzel on His Birthday

November 17, 2012

Today is Denzel's 32nd birthday. Happy birthday my oldest son!






Often I catch myself thinking, "I wonder when Denz will be down for drill again". Then I remember reality and that he is really gone and that it will be awhile before I will see him again. I miss him.

Many memories are triggered today:

•  playing checkers and chess with Denzel, at least until he started to beat me all the time;
•  wrestling and arm wrestling with Denzel, at least until he started to whip me;
•  going to scout camps with him; playing football catch and baseball catch and basketball with him;
•  watching football games on TV;
•  putting puzzles together; 
• skeet shooting and target shooting; 
• driving to South Carolina with Denz. 

Denzel had a great sense of humor,
and an intense loyalty to family and friends. 

I miss his smile and his muscular hugs.

      This morning Trice announced that we were having a special bacon & egg breakfast for Denzel's birthday. 

That made me happy.

 As I came in to sit down at the table, I saw the red plate and glass that are always set for the birthday person at the honored traditional spot by Trice. 

I just started to cry and Trice came over and held me.


   








Thanks for the memories Denz. 

I hope you are doing well in the things you are doing and that you know of my love for you.

Love, Dad

Denzel's Birthday!!

November 17, 2012

Happy Birthday my son!  Can I tell you again, for the millionth time, how much I miss you?  How much
we ALL miss you?

So I’ve been thinking about the 31 years, 5 months, and 13 days that made up your life here on earth.  There sure are lots of good memories…and some stinky ones, too!  Go figure!!

When I was pregnant with you I was SO worried I wouldn’t be a good mom.  Over the course of the years, even when you were mad at me, you reminded me that I really was a “good mom” by the way you loved me.  Thank you!  And how you adored your dad!  You looked up to him, you admired him, you wanted to be like him.  What you didn't see was how very much you are like him!

And what a great big brother you ARE.  How many times did you and I talk about how hard it was at times for you not to have a “big brother,” but you did your part well for your younger brothers and sisters.  And, you “sacrificed” for them by being the “first born” and knocking off  many of the “rough edges” on your mother so the rest of the kids didn't have to go through what you did!!  I guess YOU were tough enough to “take the hit,” too! *_*

There are SO many memories, for which I will always be grateful!  Sometimes I have twangs in my heart that we weren’t able to give you the “things” that seemed so important during some of your high school years.  I wish I would have been smart enough THEN to know that it was okay to not be able to afford those things.

But I have always felt great peace about what we DID give you:  two parents who love each other; the gospel of Jesus Christ; a foundation of spiritual strength that cannot be bought; a family who did lots of things together and made lasting memories; a father who came home at night, sang you songs, played games with you, answered questions, and told you stories at bedtime; we gave you music, siblings (lots of them!), we taught you how to cook, sew, clean; you learned how to mow lawns, plant a garden, move woodpiles (even when they didn’t need moved!), and wash every window in the house. 

And you discovered a lot on your own: like how to put out a fire INSIDE the house; how to baptize a CAR; how to get a good reaction out of your mother when you stuckout your tongue and hardware was attached (which wasn’t nearly as good as the time you called me from work to say “I’m going to be a dad…just kidding…I got a tattoo and just wanted you to realize it could be worse!!”); let’s see…you also learned how to take apart a car, and move it inside your apartment to work on it; how to light bottle rockets off inside your apartment, aimed UNDER the bathroom door…while the bathroom was occupied by someone else!! And you learned how to NOT climb a cliff in the dark and fall off of it!!  By the way, how many phone calls have we had that started out something like, “Hi mom, are you sitting down?”  And I finally started responding with, “I HATE these kind of phone calls!!”

When you were a toddler I came across a piece of sheet music in Provo that I bought.  Every time I played it on the piano I cried.  The words to the song ripped my heart out.  The title was “That Little Boy of Mine” and I always pictured having to sing it at your funeral.  I think I threw it away last year.  Glad I did.  I would never have been able to get through THAT song.  

I guess, in some ways, I have prepared for your death for the past 30 years.  It didn’t make it easier!!  

There are some things that we just can’t “fix” and so we have to learn how to deal with them.  I am learning to put the difficult things in a “box” and leave it in the corner.  I choose to remember the many, many good memories we have together, and only occasionally open the box of difficult things.  They are important, too.  The thorns we experience through hardship, heartache, trials, sadness, disappointment, and grief help us TRULY appreciate the roses of peace we have because of our love, our family, and our eternal bonds to each other.  

Oh how I love you, my son!  I am so very grateful for the day you were born into my life!  I just wish you were here, so I could see your smile, pat your cheeks, rub the whisker stubble on your face, and have you wrap your arms around me.  

Love,
Mom

Pine Valley Rescue

It was Stake Conference Sunday and we were out of church by noon.  A big storm had come in and dumped a BUNCH of snow in Pine Valley, and we were worried about the horses.  Soooo, Rod and I took the truck and headed up early that afternoon.  (We had left the horse trailer up by the cabin.)

I am SO glad we went! There was a LOT of snow, and the bale of hay we brought with us was gratefully eaten by the horses.  However, Kodiak promptly laid on a bunch of it, and would hardly move.  She was very lethargic and it took her awhile to even think about eating.  By the time we were ready to load the horses, we were able to get her to stand up, and she loaded just fine.  Whew!

We took advantage of the beautiful snow and took some pictures while we were there!  Fun times!!

Halloween 2012

A couple of my piano students asked if I would be dressing up for Halloween...obviously they were some of my newer students!!  The ones that have been around for awhile don't need to ask!!  

Elijah Ence really enjoyed having his piano lesson on Halloween.  I told his "fortune" - -  that he would be seeing his dentist in the very near future...that was a pretty safe guess following Trick or Treating!!