Got up early and got some of my work done so I could go up to the park and watch my grand daughters (Cristina, Kris and Tara) play ball.  Loyelin and Liza coach the team.  They won 17-1 so it wasn't too competitive.  While I was there I remembered I was supposed to go visiting teaching so I went and got in Jared's pick up and started to back out but something was holding me up.  When I got out to look it was Jason's bike I was hitting and it was all bent out of shape.  He had parked it there using the kickstand to hold it up, but I guess the wind had blown it over underneath the pick up.  I went on and with Idell Solomon we got our teaching done to Jackie Vaughn and Judy Tidwell.  

When I got home Jason met me at the door in tears about his bike.  He had been camping the night before so he was so sleepy he could hardly see straight.  I finally talked him into taking a nap.  He didn't want to cause he said naps were for kindergartener's but he didn't last long when he laid down, he was soon fast asleep and stayed there about 3 hours.  Finally I had to wake him up to go watch the Roger's family play ball.  They lost again.  So we came home and went to bed.

Memorial Day, Mom was up early doing her decorating out at the cemetery.  Aunt Thora was helping her.  I don't know what she would do without Aunt Thora, they enjoy each other even if it's to hear each others complaints.

Dahl and Shelley who had been camping up on the mountain called from Lakeside and wanted me to bring their car up and drive Jared's pick up (they had borrowed) home.  I called Loyelin, no answer, Liza, no answer, Mom, no answer.  I thought ( I was all alone in the world)  Finally I called Sheree and she said she would ride up to Lakeside with me, so she did on the way home we stopped and ate at the White Mountain Cafe.  We had an enjoyable time.  We visited with Dahl and Shelley and her 2 sisters Janet and her family (who had gone camping with them) and Vickie (who is expecting her 7th (I think) baby)  who lives in Lakeside, back of the drive-in-theater.

Came home and watched Jason lay ball.

Today was ward conference for us.  The theme of the conference was service.  They showed 2 films one called "The Mail Box", and the other was called "Uncle Ben"  they were real inspirational films.  One was about this old lady who walked everyday out to the mailbox to see if her children had written to her, but they never did.  Finally one daughter called the old lady's neighbor and told her they were going to put her in an old folks home.  The old lady trudged out to the mail box in the snow and there was a letter from her family.  But before she could read it, she had a heart attack and died.

"Uncle Ben" was about a man who was an alcoholic and the only relatives he had was a sister who had 2 sons and 1 daughter.  His sister died and because he was an alcoholic the court didn't want him to have the children.  But he promised the courts he would change if they would let him raise the children.  From the day he took the children until they all graduated he hadn't taken one single drink.

When we came home we really had a hail storm.  The streets out here were really flooding and about 2 inches of hail fell.

Loyelin, Rick and the girls came over and visited for a while.

Loye had a sports meeting he went to and we all went to bed early.

Saturday I haven't been worth a nickel all day.  I have simply been pooped.  Nothing worth writing about.

Josh, Stuart and Monte all graduate.  Yahoo!!  It's finally over for the summer.  Kate, Maybelle, Gwen, and I all went over to Trappers and had chef's salad to celebrate.  Liza came in and wanted to go to Pinetop.  Since I wanted to go with her she order her a salad and waited for me.  We were supposed to pick up a check at Aschauers for Loye but Art was gone and wouldn't be back for a while so we went shopping.  I bought some graduation presents.  Then we waited about 2 hours and he still hadn't got back so we went down where Loye was working in Linden  The boys teased Liza about always having to be where Mark is and we all had fun, Liza to (I hope).  

We came on home to get ready for graduation.  We went down about 7:30 and the program started at 8:00 pm on the football field.  There was a big crowd.  

Dahl and Shelley came up from Mesa.  They were late but we seen them come in so we signaled them to come and sit by us.  After the ceremony we went down to congratulate Josh and to see if his diploma was signed, it was.  Then we (all but Josh) went up to Show Low to the Pizza Hut and ate.  Got home about Midnight.

Josh went to an all night party at the Snowflake Golf Course club house.

8th Grade graduation for Yvette Rogers.  Our last day to cook, we made enchiladas.  Cleaned 3 ovens.  Will Wilson came and helped us clean our vent screens.  We had to work our way out of a pretty big mess.

Nothing special happened today.  But I loved it because my children and grandchildren and my mother are all nearby to cheer me up.  And make my load seem lighter and of course my precious Loye is here and I love him.

Our last day to make bread at school this year.  We had texas steak with biscuits and gravy.  Turned out to be quite a day with lots of work.

Came home washed, cooked a roast with carrots and potatoes for supper.  Then we went to Snowflake to watch the boys play ball at 7:30 on their team was, Mike Russel, Roger, Mark Williams, Ernie Pettyjohn, Joe Hatch, Keith Brimhall, Alex Stradling, Monte Rogers, Jared, Rick Aceves, Ken VanWinkle, and Shummy.  They got beat over 20 points.

At 9:30 pm we went to Taylor to watch Josh play for the Play Boys they played N.A.S. the score was 3-0 in favor of N.A.S.  On the Play Boys they had Joe Tigert, Jerry and Jerome Martinez, Troy and Gail Tanner, Tony Tate, Mark Pachta, Josh, Chad Walker.

Today we fixed tacos (another one of our good lunches).  While at work Loye and Jared came by to see what we were eating, but it wasn't to their liking so they went somewhere else.

When I got home Josh was here waiting to go to Pinetop with Liza to get his hair cut.  Liza was paying for it as a graduation gift to Josh.

Jason came home then went off with Mike Giles and they caught 2 crows.  Jason was pretty excited about it. 

Loye had to go to a High Council meeting for church baseball.

Jared just came home pooped.  After eating everyone went off to the ball games.  Finally I decided to waddle up to the park.  On the way home I jogged about 50 ft. and I could hardly sleep all night.  Guess I'll have to try it again so I can get in shape.

Oh Boy!  The last week of school.  It will be so nice for a while not to have to worry about getting to work.  We served Tostados one of the kids favorite meals.

Came home and got some clothes washed so Jason will have his ball suit clean to wear after while to the game.

Liza came by and we went to Snowflake for a drink.  When she brought me home it was time to run to Snowflake and pick up Loye so he could go with me to Jason's game.  While at the game we sat by and visited with Bob and Velda Hancock.  They have always been good friends to us and I appreciate and love them.  Jason's team won.

We went over to liza's and cooked hamburgers later.  Loyelin and Rick were there too.  We had an enjoyable time. 

Had to get up and finish some of the work I didn't get done yesterday.  Not a good way to start the Sabbath.  Anyway we went to all of our meetings.  Listened to the Bishoprick talk to us in Sacrament meeting.  Tom Wing teaches our Sunday School class.  He is a good man and a good teacher.  Bev Wing taught our Cultural Refinement Lesson in R.S.  She is a charming lady and really has a keen sense of humor.

Came home and fried chicken and filled my pie shells with 2 with lemon filling, 1 with banana and 1 with coconut.

Loye had a High Council meeting so he went there.  Violet and Earl came earlier in the day and gave Josh $10.00 for graduation.  Josh seemed pretty pleased about it.

When Loye came home we went down to Baccalaureate.  Beulah Hunt Stratton was the main speaker and she gave a good talk. 

Today is Saturday.  Loye, Mark and Josh went up to Pinetop somewhere to work today.  So they took Jason and Mike Giles up to Rainbow Lake to fish.

I stayed here and made bread, pie crust and cooked beans.  But before I got the bread baked Liza came over and wanted to go to Show Low and buy some groceries.  I talked her into waiting until I got my bread baked and then we went.  I bought $75.00 worth of groceries and I only had $70.  Had to borrow $5.00 from Liza.  She then bought my lunch at Asia Gardens.  It was all a nice outing.  When we got home I had to finish cleaning house.

Jared came back from Black River where he had been finish about 4:00 pm.  No fish.  Loye and the boys got home about 2:00 pm and I didn't see Jason until dark.  He practically lives at the Giles.

Jared and Josh went to the dance and the rest of us went to bed.

The weather is much better today and that alone can lift your spirits.  Loye and the boys (Roger, Jared and Mark) worked at Heber on some new classrooms for the school out there.

At school, we served hamburgers and fries and cherry pie.  The kids sure like our hamburgers.  

Bandit (Jason's little pup) followed someone to school this morning so I told Jason to put him the the back f the pick up.  The pup didn't like that very well and he yapped all morning.  I kept getting reports on him from Tara and Cristina.  

Came home and made Jared a batch of chili since him, Rick Gibson (Midget) and Louis Alen are going to Big Lake fishing, they wanted the chili to take with them.

Josh washed Liza's car out here on the lawn so it would be clean enough to take Kim Montgomery to the movie "Tootsie" it was playing in Show Low.  Guess they took the long way home because it was 2:00 am before he got here.

Loye took Jason and I to the El Rancho to eat spanish food.  As usual it was good.  All spanish food restaurants are compared to the El Rancho and very few in my estimations measure up.  The same with the Asia Garden and chinese food.  Guess we live in perfect surroundings.  And I don't doubt this at all.

A big day for my little Jason.  Today was the 5th grade field trip.  They went to Black Canyon Lake out by Heber.  They had a big time.  Jason caught 2 fish.  

Kathy worked today for Gwen.  We made taco salad and frosted graham crackers the kids ate it pretty good.  We had an easy day and got home by 12:30.

Jason had a ball game but after 2 innings of dust and blowing dirt it started raining so they called the game off. 

Loye got home about 5:30 so we hurried and got ready and went up to the Asia Garden restaurant where we met and ate dinner with about 25 other school employees.  The meal they fixed for us was sure good.  We sat across from Mr and Mrs Austin.  He is Josh's English teacher and he told us Josh had made an A on his English test, he was surprised and so were we, but very pleased too.

It's always a big day when we have navajo tacos, so today was a big day.  And we really had a big crowd.  The weather is so unsettled it's hard to depend on a good day because there aren't very many.  After coming home from work and resting a while I got some clothes washed and dried then me and Jason went over to the stake center to watch Dennis Lewis get baptized.  He is the last of Mom's Grandchildren to get baptized as he is the youngest one of all of the grandkids.  Ben baptized and confirmed him with Bishop Ed Gillespie and counselor Keith Hall assisting.  On our way home we stopped at Liza's to eat cake and ice cream to celebrate Rikki's 3rd birthday but it wasn't quite ready so we came home and got Loye who had just got home from work and then we went back over.  The cake was a texas cake and was real good.  Came back by the ball park where Josh was playing ball.  He is playing for the "Play Boys" this year. Today Cathy gave me a permanent.

Finally made it home and to bed.

Was a much nicer day today.  Sort of cold, but at least the wind wasn't blowing 90 miles an hour.  John Hatch gave each us a new felt tipped pen, compliments of Sunrise Dairy and that is what I'm writing with.  At least it's nice and dark.

The 6th grade went on their field trip today.  They went down to Whiteriver and went through the sawmill then went to the Indian ruins and went through them.

Travis Caskey didn't want to go, but his mother bribed him into it by buying him some of his favorite junk food for his lunch.  On the way up there this Heath girl who has definite problems, sat in front of Travis.  She wet her pants and it ran down the seat and onto Travs' lunch that was sitting on the floor.  Needless to say he came home pretty hungry.

This afternoon Jason's little league team played the Padres who won by 3 points.  Jason played the whole game and really did a good job.  Too bad they lost.

Loye had to attend a church court this evening part of his High Council calling he really doesn't enjoy.  No telling what time he will get home.  He has been fasting all day and will be starving to death when he gets home.

The wind was blowing when we got up this morning and it has just raged all day long.  Sure makes it hard for the guys to work out in it.  Was sort of a dull day with nothing much doing.

A beautiful Sunday-Loye had high council assignment to talk in Taylor 4th Ward.  By the time we got everyone ready for church we got there in time for the sacrament.  

Frank Greer and Keith Blair was the High Councilman to talk in our ward  They both gave good talks.

Came home and fixed dinner.  We had baked chicken, dressing, string beans and slaw.

Loye, Jared, Josh and Mark all went to a priesthood meeting at the stake center where they watched and listened to a talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer.  Loye thought it was real good but I didn't hear much comments from the boys.

Mom, Roger, Cathy, Kris, Heather, Heidi, Mark, Liza and kids all came over and Rick and Loyelin got back home.  So when everyone went home it was so peaceful we all went to bed and slept.

Shum's 43rd birthday and our 30th Temple anniversary.  A beautiful day. I got my washing all done, dried and folded, all ready to start over, I'm sure it won't take long to get another stack of dirty clothes.  

Loye, Jared, and Josh went down to Snowflake and laid blocks for Jim Ballard.  Josh wasn't sure he could hold up for a whole summer of block laying.

At 5:00 pm we went over to watch Jason play Little League, they (the Pirates) played the Padres and the Pirates lost 18-3, it couldn't of been Jasons fault cause he wasn't in the game long enough.

Loye took me down to the Longhorn Cafe where we ate Prime Rib.  Sure was good.  

Well if anyone is superstitious this has been a bad day.  But as near as I can tell its just a regular normal day.  tonight there was a benefit supper for the Argust's who suffered the loss of their trailer and ceramic shop by a fire.  They raised approximately $500.  The dinner they served was Navajo Tacos, they were really good.

Got up and mopped the kitchen before I went to work, but was late getting there since I had to braid Sara's hair.  Yesterday she didn't even get it combed.

This afternoon we went bowling the last time this season.  Kate, Charlayne and I  bowled Ilene Brimhall, Elsie Martineau and Gwen Garrels to see who won, but they beat us.  They didn't give trophies just money so I won about $45.00 today.

Came home washed clothes, folded them, made supper, washed dishes and went to bed.

The wind blew all night long and continued on through the day, finally dying down toward evening so I could hang out some clothes to dry. 

Maybelle was back to work so everything was normal again  Today we served chicken chow mein but the kids just threw it away. 

Mom came over and visited for a while.  She said she didn't feel to good, but she visited and didn't complain to much.  I love my mother very much and enjoy having her come over.  

In the evening I rode down to a High School band concert with Roger and Cathy to watch and listen to Cassie play.  Some of the parts were dull but most were good especially the band.

We have Sara and Cristina staying with us until Loyelin gets back.  But they were all in bed when I got home, expect Loye who was up watching the fights on TV. 

Bro. Johnson in our ward was killed in a car wreck and his small son Jared was hurt bad.

Today has been another windy one.  So whats new in Taylor in the spring, just typical weather.  

Kathy Rogers worked today for Maybelle.  We got along just fine.  Served Pigs-in-a-blanket (bread dough wrapped around a weiner) pretty good.

After work I went by Loyelin's to see how I could help.  She had everything pretty well under control with Jane's help.  So I went on up to Liza's and we took the kids down to Snowflake and drake a coke.

When I got home it was time to get ready to go over to the stake center.  They wanted us there by 5:00 so they could take pictures.  And we made it on time.  

Loree Mills had decorated the Cultural Hall and it looked real nice.  We served punch made with mashed bananas, pineapple juice, orange juice and kool-aid and sugar frozen together, we then took it out of the freezer mashed it up and poured ginger ale over it.  Turned out real good.

Norris Baldwin, who is Loyelin's bishop performed the ceremony, I thought he did an outstanding job.  The ceremony was in the chapel.  Loyelin wore a long pink dress.  In her hair she had a halo of flowers.  She really looked pretty.  Rick wore a gray tuxedo and looked real handsome.  Sara and Cristina wore white dotted-swiss dresses trimmed with pink, blue, and green ribbons they looked like 2 little dolls.

The family was about all that came but from both sides I think all that could come were there.  They got some nice gifts.  Rick's Father, Louis Aceves II was there from Navajo and his Grand Parents Louis and Emma were there from Albuquerque.  Turned out to be a real nice party.  Mom and Eva were both there.

Jared still doesn't feel very good, and I don't know what to do for him.

Josh brought his graduation invitations and name cards home from school.  Here he is graduating from High School and he doesn't even know how to spell his name.  He spelled it Joshua Jaradine Willis on his cards but it really should be Joshua Jardine Willis.  I guess he should just be the J.J. Willis.

I bought me some new shoes for Loyelin's wedding.  We just got home and Jason said he had to have some cleats or he couldn't play Little League and they had their first game today.  So we went down to Snowflake and bought him some cleats and his first jock.  He lays on the Pirate team and they won 22-8.  Came home and fixed some punch base to put in the freezer for the wedding.  Ate supper about 9:30 and went to bed.

We went to church without breakfast because I had to substitute as a teacher in primary and I had to prepare a lesson instead of fixing breakfast.  Jean Adam's was sick so I had to take her place.  

I had Eddie Cole, C.K. Udall, Jason Johnson, Jason Davis, Laurie Evans, and Jeff Solomon.  They were pretty good kids.  They also had a Mother's Day Program in primary.  After meetings I came home and made dinner.  After that I washed the dishes then Loye and I went up to Eva's and over to Mom's to take plants we had got them for Mother's Day.  When we got home I made 2 cakes so the kids could all come up and we could have cake and ice cream for Jared's Birthday.  They all came including Rick's Mother who flew in from Washington so she could be here for Rick and Loyelin's Rededication of their Marriage, which will be Tuesday May 10th.  

It was so nice and peaceful when everyone went home and we all just went to bed.

Tara's 10th Birthday.

Drug out of bed this morning and fixed breakfast and got Loye and Jared off to work.  (They were pouring a footing somewhere in the Linden area.)  Then started washing and cleaning house.  Washed and pressed our Temple clothes so they will all be ready the next time we go to the Temple.  

Mom and Liza came over and stayed quite a while.

After Loye and Jared had come home from work and Josh had gotten home from the valley with Andy Savage and his parents, I decided to go to Snowflake and buy my Mother's Day presents and Jared a birthday present since his birthday is on Mother's Day.

I came home and we called "Trappers Cafe" and ordered some Bar-B-Q sandwiches (a specialty of the house.)  After we had eaten our sandwiches, Roger called and invited us down to eat cake and ice cream in honor of Tara's birthday.  Josh went to a dance so he didn't go down and Jared is sick so he didn't go either.  We stayed a while, then came home and went to bed.

This morning we got up and fixed breakfast and ate and got ready to go to Mesa to watch the baseball game between Snowflake and Dysart in the class A State Tournament.  We left about 7:30 a.m. In Mark and Liza's green thunderbird.  Mark and Liza, Mandy, Judy, and Loye and I all went down.  It was kinda crowded but we made it just fine.

We went by Dahl and Shelley's and visited a little bit then we went over to Fiesta Mall where I eventually bought me a dress (a float) to wear to Loyelin's wedding.  We also bought Loye some clothes.

Then we went on over to Diablo Stadium where our team was all warmed up and ready to play.  But they got beat the first inning when they let in 3 runs.  I kept thinking they would get it together and win but they just kept making errors and at the end of the game the score was 5-6 in favor of Dysart.

The boys were pretty disappointed but it's all over now, and so is Josh's High School Sports.  It has really been fun watching him participate these last 4 years.  He has been a good athlete.  Now he needs to concentrate on more serious things.

After the game Judy went with Sue Wood and said she would meet us at Rion and Bonnie's.  We went back to the Mall and got our purchases then we went to Garcia's where we emt Dahl and Shelley and we ate spanish food.  It was really good.

While at the game we visited with Van Shumway who is assistant principal at Dysart.  He said it broke his heart to beat Snowflake the place where he spent his High School years.  

Another windy day in northern Arizona.  I'm thankful we have it all the time and not in the form of a tornado.  There has been so much destruction in other states just this week from tornados and in California this week they had an earthquake in Coalinga in the San Joaquine Valley.  Lots of damage done.

We had a hectic day in the kitchen we made turkey and dressing, potatoes and gravy, harvard beets, rolls and pumpkin pie, it all turned out real good.  Roger and Cathy, Jared and Loyelin, Sara, Heidi, Candon, Rikki, Mom, Grandma Willis, Ann Lewis and Viva Hatch all came by to eat dinner with us.

After work we went bowling and I bowled a 119 game and a 155 and a 145 which wasn't to bad for me, but Kate had a 209 game, it sure made her day.

In the morning we are going to the valley to watch the ball game at 7:30 hope I can get done everything I need to.

Today was bean day at school.  We soak the beans over night in a steam kettle then all we have to do is turn them on.  The cooks, however, didn't eat beans.  Kate decided to fix us a treat and that is exactly what she did.  We ate the best green chile burros and hot tortilla chips dipped into a salsa avocado dip she had made and it was just plain good.  

When I sent home, Mom came over and brought some parched corn she had made, so we sat and ate it and visited with Liza and admired my Grand kids who are such cute kids.

Mom even said she felt better which sure sounded good to me.  Mom is so much fun to be with when she is feeling good.  

In the evening I went over to watch Jason play little league, they were just practicing so I didn't stay very long.  I came home and spouted off at my boys cause Josh didn't want to go to the Temple excursion to do baptisms and I would so love to have him get some spiritual experiences, and then Jared and Roger upset me, but Jared is such a calming influence, this isn't the first time he has calmed me down.  He is such a sweet boy.  I'm thankful the Lord sent him to our home.  We all love him.

Well at least I feel better, and Loye does too, he went up to Pinetop and talked with a man that gave him some work to do, so he starts working in the morning.

We had just an ordinary day at work so it wasn't to bad.

This afternoon I picked up Mom, Megan, Dennis, Jason and Loye and we went to Snowflake to watch Josh play baseball with Blue Ridge.  Josh caught and did a real good job.  But he couldn't bat the ball for "sour apples".  Every time he batted he fanned.  But Snowflake was ahead 4-1.  And then!  They let Josh pitch.  He walked two runners on base and when he pitched a ball to the next batter coach Reynolds pulled Josh out and put him back in to catch, but the two runners Josh walked came in to score, besides one more run, making the score 4-5 with Snowflake behind, but having one more time at bat.  Alan Loggains was 1st batter and he got out.  Todd Reidhead was next and walked.  We thought "Oh Boy!"  Tony Tate is next and since he is our best batter maybe he can hit Todd in and we could at least tie.  But alas!  Tony flied out.  Well Andy Savage is a pretty fair batter maybe there's a chance, he hit the ball and made it to 1st.  And guess who the next batter was?  Joshua, who had fanned out every time.  Well coach Reynolds called him aside and talked to him, I thought he probably told him to walk.  And it looked like that was exactly what he had done when the next 3 pitches turned out to be balls, and then they called a strike on Josh.  The next pitch came in just right and Josh swung and met the ball hitting it clear out into right field and letting in the 2 runners o base and him ending up at 3rd base, where Paul Reynolds met him with a big hug and all the boys were ecstatic over this latest baseball hero.  Loosing and winning the same game.  Friday they play in the valley at Diablo Stadium where I hope they can win some games.

What a depressing day!  When I went to work, there was Maybelle telling of the wonderful spiritual things that Troy had enjoyed, the Senior Class Testimonies and a production that was brought down from Utah and was presented at Joseph City, "Its a Miracle."  They said it was an outstanding play.

Josh couldn't have gone even if he would have wanted to because we didn't have the money.

When I got home Loye was just walking the floor because he is out of work and it is just worrying him sick.  

Roger and Jared went to Roswell, N.M. to get some of their tools and stuff they have left at Don Johnston's, when they had built his house.  They didn't get home until 2:00 in the morning.

Jason went to little league practice and it was a fairly decent day (weather wise) so they had a pretty good practice except he has lost his mitt and we can't find it anywhere.

May Day and it has been cold and windy all day.  Also it has been fast Sunday.

Our Meetings begin at 8:30 a.m. with church being first.  It was really a nice meeting with the 2 babies being blessed.  My dear friend Shirley Knight was here to see her grand daughter recieve her name.  I was so glad to see her, that I started crying and I just couldn't get a hold of myself until after Sunday School had started.  She has had some problems to cope with , but she has never mentioned them to me.  But I think it has taken toll on her.

Some very good testimonies were born and it was a good church.  Russ Crossman said he told the Lord that he felt so bad last month for not bearing his testimony, that if he would just let him live one more month he would do the job this month and the Lord spared him.  Jared got up and said since it was near Mother's Day he wanted to tell his Mother that he loved her.  No wonder I'm glad to have him home he's such a sweet boy.

Liza had invited us to eat dinner with them today, and it was really good.  We had turkey, dressing, green beans, bread and butter and strawberry shortcake.  We enjoyed it all.

Roger, Cathy, Mark, Liza and kids came over to visit in the afternoon.

Our new neighbors the Giles' moved into the Olson home and Sister Giles gave the Relief Society lesson.  She was certainly a spiritual teacher.