Blast from the Past

 This picture of a color wheel is certainly a blast from the past for me.  As I was growing up, at Christmastime we always put up an aluminum tree in the living room window and set up a color wheel just like this to shine on the tree and rotate the colors.  It looked so beautiful in the window and is a big part of my Christmas memories.

We had a live green tree in the back family room where we celebrated Christmas:

Change Your Daily Routine

 

They Ruined My BeBops

 

They Ruined My BeBops

I have very fond memories of attending young women’s girls’ camp in my youth.  I loved being in the mountains and the fun activities and mostly sharing the week with the other girls.  But my girls’ camp experience got off to a rocky start.  It was a tradition in our ward that the first year girls were initiated.  I didn’t really know what that meant, but I knew it wasn’t good and I was scared.  The first activity for initiation was a “snipe hunt.”  They blindfolded us and led us up on the mountain and then took off the blindfolds and told us to find snipes.  It was all a big joke as there was no such thing as snipes.  I survived that okay. It was even kind of fun. But the second part of my initiation I did not survive too well.  In fact, I was so upset after this incident, that I did not go to camp my second year. 

One of our camp leaders was a young mother in our ward.  Her name was Hila Clapier.  She had one daughter and a slew of sons.  She was loud and happy and funny and not real ladylike.  She became my not best friend when she participated in the next part of my initiation.  She surprised me one afternoon by having older girls take my feet, she took my hands and they carried me down to the river and threw me in.  All the way down the mountain, I begged them to please let me take off my bebops. 

At that time, bebops, as we called them, were the most popular kind of shoes.  They were leather lace-ups, with two colors.  Some girls had black and white, but, as I remember it, the brown and beige ones were the most popular in our school.  Shortly before camp, I finally got a pair of bebops.  I was so thrilled with my new shoes.  I loved them.  I was not wise to take them to camp.  That was pretty dumb, in fact.  But I did.  And I had them on when Hila thought throwing me in the river was a fun idea. 

Hila was chortling the whole way down the mountain, as were the other girls.  They did not listen to my pleas and threw me right in with my bebops on.  I was completely soaked.  And it hurt as I landed.  I tried to be a good sport at the time and laugh it off.  But I was devastated.  I changed my clothes and tried to dry my beautiful, new shoes.  But they were ruined.

When I went home, I told my mom the story.  She also was very upset.  I can remember her being angry with Hila.  I don’t remember if I got new bebops or not, but I do remember that my mom supported me in my decision not to go back to girls camp the next year.  The young women leaders encouraged me to give it another try in my third year, so I reluctantly did.  I was so glad I did.  I really had a great time.  Ever after, I was always a year behind the girls my age as I progressed through the years.  But that was okay as I made a really good friend my fourth year when we were stake leaders with a girl who was a year younger than me.  Her name was Pam Jensen and we became really close friends.  She lived on a farm in Middleton, Idaho, but my mom was willing to drive out and pick her up so she could come over at times. I remember one time in particular that she came over for a family barbecue. I would probably not have made friends with her if I had stayed with my age group.  It all worked out fine, and, like I said, I learned to enjoy girls camp in spite of the bebop incident.

Neighbors and Other Stories

 

Neighbors and Other Stories by Bette Bono
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m not a fan of short stories. I am always left wanting more. And I guess that is true of this book, too. But I felt that this author had a gift for character development in a few words. I really enjoyed this book. Characters from some of the stories reappeared in later stories. The best and most memorable of the stories is Neighbors and it’s “sequel” Cherries and Rum. But I enjoyed most of them.

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A New Driver on the Road

 Watch out people!  There is a beautiful new driver on the road.  Our 16-year-old granddaughter, Gabbi just got her license.

Things You Save in a Fire

 

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Modern Fiction Physical Book
I had read that Katherine Center’s romance books are clean (as opposed to Abby Jimeniz and Emily Henry- I haven’t read Emily Henry yet, so I don’t know on her) This book was pretty clean; not pristine, but pretty clean. But it was so much more than a romance. The theme of this book is forgiveness. Forgiving others and one’s self can free someone to trust again. I enjoyed it. It immerses you in the world of firefighters and the firehouse. It was a light and easy read. The cover is beautiful!


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Linda Wright Passes Away

 This is a hard one.  We have been neighbors for many, many years.  Linda and Jonathan and their three cute blonde daughters moved next door about 30 years ago.  Jonathan passed away unexpectedly in 2017, just before we got home from our mission.  And now Linda.  She was seemingly healthy and active.  She passed in her sleep.  We just lost the best teacher in our ward.  She was a phenomenal teacher.  She was often asked to teach on fourth Sundays, special meetings of the young men and young women, Relief Society, Primary leadership, etc. Her current callings were teaching Sunday school to the oldest youth class and she taught Relief Society.  She served as president of the Primary, Young Women (she was our daughters' young women leader and they loved her), and Relief Society, and served as stake Relief Society president.  She was gospel doctrine teacher for years (trading with Ken at that time.)  She has served as an ordinance worker in our temple since it opened.

She had a doctorate degree and taught at our local university.  She was a well-loved teacher.  She changed lives.  She made a difference. Shonna took Child Development from her at the college.  Shonna expressed that Linda truly influenced her and was instrumental in helping her choose her major: Early Childhood Education.  I carefully watched her teach and learned so much from her techniques.  She was one of the best teachers I have ever known.

 I was asked to play for her funeral.  It was an honor, but very scary.  Her two little granddaughters sang " I Will Walk with Jesus."  We loved Linda and will miss her immensely.

All three daughters and her two sons-in-law gave beautiful talks.

Linda's Obituary

St. George, Utah - Our beloved Linda Metcalf Wright, 67, passed away on July 24, 2025. She was born June 22, 1958 to Herschel and Tessie Metcalf. She married Jonathan Wright in the Salt Lake City Temple on December 17, 1985.

            Linda was born in Salt Lake City and raised in Bountiful, Utah. She graduated from Bountiful High School, Brigham Young University, Utah State University, and Walden University. 

            Linda taught courses in Nutrition, Human Development, and Early Childhood Education at Utah Tech University for 30 years. Her love of education and passion for teaching was felt by thousands of students. She loved her job and colleagues! She enjoyed cheering on her daughters at their various extra-curricular activities, watching professional tennis, basketball, baseball, and golf, riding her bike, and reading. Her greatest love in life though was her family and her faith. She was a devoted wife, the best mom, and the most fun nana! She loved serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and especially loved serving at the Red Cliffs Temple. She was a best friend to each of her daughters and can’t be replaced. 

            She is survived by her three daughters: Rebecca, Lauren (Todd) Hills, and Hilary (Gavin) Coburn; grandchildren: Lela, Tess, and MacArthur Coburn; brothers: Richard (Holly) Metcalf, Brent (Kristy) Metcalf, and Joel (Laurie) Metcalf. She is preceded in death by her loving husband, Jonathan and her parents.

            Funeral services will be held Wednesday July 30, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. at the Bloomington Hills LDS 4th Ward Chapel, 750 East Ft. Pierce Drive North, St. George, Utah. Visitations will be held Tuesday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Metcalf Mortuary, 288 West St. George Blvd. and on Wednesday, prior to services, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Church. Interment will be in Tonaquint Cemetery, 1777 South Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah.

Lily Makes the High School Dance Team

 Our granddaughter Lily has been taking dance lessons since she was a little girl.  She will be a ninth grader next year and will be in the high school.  She recently tried out for and made the high school dance team.  We are so happy for her.

Lance Funk Passes Away

 We didn't even know Lance.  We never met him.  He was married to Sharley.  We did know Sharley.  She was a youth in our ward when we lived in Washington many years ago. Her parents were and still are good friends.  Though we have both moved away from that ward, we have served in the temple together and so continue to see them often.

We became aware that Lance was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease.  Sharley is an amazing woman who began sharing their journey on Instagram.  I followed her religiously.  I was SO touched by her faithful love for him.  She is a wonderful writer and I was often in tears as I would read and also watch her video posts.  

We were able to attend the viewing and funeral.  

I have encouraged Sharley to write a book.  I know she has 100,000 followers on Instagram.  She has touched so many lives and could touch so many more.  We continue to pray for her and her family as they adjust to life without Lance.

If you would like to read and watch more on Instagram, her page is called:  the_moment_of_funk

Boys Will Be Boys

 

Kristen's family recently spent a week on the big island of Hawaii.  They got to watch the volcano there erupt and take pictures.  They hurried up there right after church.  They got a nice family picture with the volcano in the background.  But they also got . . .well, boys will be boys!

The nice shot!

Two of the Sweetest Days of our Lives

 Last year, Dave and Bonnie attended temple open houses in St. George, Red Cliffs, and Manti, Utah. They both were baptized and attended church as children but had not been to church since becoming adults.  They were touched by what they saw and felt.  Soon thereafter our elders quorum president was inspired to visit them.  They said they wanted to come back to church.  We were blessed to be assigned as their ministers.  What a joy it has been to be in their home and take this journey with them.  On July 16th they went through the temple for the first time.  We were blessed to be their escorts.  Then the next evening, they were sealed by Ken in our temple.  Those truly were two of the sweetest days of our lives.  We have come to love this dear couple.

July 16th after the endowment

Open the gates

Even the sunset seemed to be celebrating this glorious day.

We have an amazing ward.  It seemed the whole ward came to both events.  Many from Bonnie and Dave's work also came.  It was such a glorious, sweet time when they emerged into the celestial room.  Ward members and friends gathered around and hugged and congratulated them.  We feel sure that is what heaven will be like.  We had tears as we watched.

The next night, after the sealing.  We all cheered as they emerged from the temple.

This is Bonnie's oldest brother Dee .  It was so sweet to have him there.

The happy couple

Afterward, we had a reception for them at the church.

So many from the ward and from work came to celebrate.

As we walked out of the reception, I felt that the heavens opened with light.