Happy Birthday to Mindy!

Happy Birthday to Mindy! Mindy turned 16 a few days ago. She has many great qualities. She is enthusiastic, she is creative--constantly drawing and creating books, and she is diligent in getting her work done. This whole summer she has gotten up at 6:30am so she can get dressed and ready for the day on time. She has been working hard to learn how to sew and recently finished a dress with a zipper without much help from me. When we take hikes she goes without complaining and is usually out in front. When school went online for the pandemic, she worked really hard to get all of her assignments done and was the most diligent student at our house by far. School is not particularly easy for her but she works at it. She has enjoyed being in a play this summer through the SCERA and has enjoyed being in other plays. She loves to sing and has a good voice. We look forward to seeing what great things Mindy is going to do!

Age 1, at the Eagle's Nest

Getting ready for a salt mine tour in Berchtesgaden, Germany

Age 2

With her dad who shares her birthday at age 3

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

Age 6

Age 7

Age 8

Age 9

Age 10

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Age 14

Mindy in the musical "Annie", age 15

Age 15

Age 16 in the dress she sewed by herself!

Mindy's birthday presents are the things she loves: clean Regency era novels, Spiderman, sewing, pretty purse.

Performing in Moana, Jr.

We're glad Mindy is in our family!

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Visiting Susquehanna: The Priesthood Restoration Site

On our way home from Palmyra, we decided to go a couple of hours out of our way to visit the recently opened Priesthood Restoration Site along the Susquehanna River. This is where we believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist which gave them the authority to baptize. This site also has the restored Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home where Joseph and Emma lived for a year as well as the home where Joseph and Emma lived on their own. We spent a couple of hours there and I wouldn't have minded a few more minutes but we had a long way to go that night. It's a beautiful setting, very much in rural Pennsylvania. However, on the day we were there, cars at a racetrack nearby were detracting from the peace and quiet. I'm guessing that's not as big of a problem on weekdays. The Hale Family was quite well-off for their day so their home was probably nicely decorated with wallpaper and carpet. ...

Book Review: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

This is a juvenile fiction book about a young girl named Melody with severe cerebral palsy. Her body doesn't allow her to feed herself, speak, or do much at all. She's very intelligent with a photographic memory but she can't really communicate. Finally, in 5th grade, she gets a "Medi-Talker" which is a computer that speaks what she types in. Finally she has a voice. This book explores what it is like to be severely physically disabled but not mentally disabled. It seems like one of the most frustrating of all scenarios. She is completely aware of all the cruelty (subtle and otherwise) that her classmates inflict on her because they don't really want to include her in their activities. One of the saddest moments in the book comes when she realizes that every one of her special ed classmates is kind, where the "normal" ones are not. Who really has the worse disability? The book was a quick read and fairly enjoyable. Wha...

Hansen Family Plot in the Provo Cemetery

On Memorial Day this year, our family went to the Provo Cemetery, as we do almost every year. We spent some time at the Hansen Family plot which contains the grave of my 2nd great-grandparents, Peter and Mary Hansen. They both emigrated from Denmark with their spouses to Utah. My grandfather lost his first wife Ane to cholera on the plains outside of St. Joseph, Missouri, along with three of his little boys within a very short time--about one month. It's a sad story but it's also one of admirable resilience. He brought his one surviving son, Jorgen, to Utah. He married his second wife Maren (Anglicized to Mary) some 9 years later in Utah She had been married before but lost her first husband at an unknown date. I wish I knew more about her but she left very few records, although I could do more research! Peter and Maren had 6 more children together. The youngest two were twins, Enoch and Ephraim. Ephraim is my great-grandfather and is buried in California. He is the father of ...

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