Our Prophet Dear

Today funeral services were held for Gordon B. Hinckley, our beloved president and prophet, who died at the age of 97 on Sunday, Jan 27, 2008.

In November of 2000, President Hinckley challenged us to set goals for ourselves to be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, and be prayerful. These six "Bs," as President Hinckley called them, are a marvelous standard for all Latter-day Saints.

I am grateful for the life of this great man.

He is now with his beloved Marjorie.

My Grandmother Aartje

This is the only picture we have of my grandmother (my father's mother). And she has such a stern look on her face - but her children all say that she was a fun-loving person. She often danced around the house.

My grandfather was a glassblower - the factory whistle would blow at noon - and the workers would go home and have dinner. When my grandmother was courting my grandfather, she would run to the window when the whistle blew, so she could see her beloved walk to his mother's home. One summer day, the rose bush in front of her mother's window had grown so tall that it blocked her view. That just wouldn't do, so she took a knife to the bush and whacked the whole thing off, almost to the ground.

For centuries, it has been tradition in Holland to name the first son for the father's father - the first daughter would get the father's mother's name - the second son was named for the mother's father, and the next daughter would get the mother's mother's name. Other children's names would be taken from great grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.

For this reason, I have five cousins who are named Aartje, all named for our grandmother. The last three Aartjes born (of which I was one) were very close in age. Because of that, the families were tempted to compare them. So we have Tante Beth's Aartje (the prettiest), Uncle Huib's Aartje (the smartest), Uncle Tice's Aartje (that was me) - (the sturdiest!) Oh well, I survived. The three Aartjes are now 80 years old. Uncle Huib's Aartje lives in the Netherlands, so it's pretty hard to get together - but we're thankful for e-mail and phones. Tante Dien's Aartje is 88 years old, and lives in Australia.

On our wedding day, my husband and I did the work in the temple for grandmother Aartje and her husband Huibert. That made the day even more special.

Great-Grandchild Number 7

Samuel Kent Skousen

Jan 21, 2008 - 1:29 pm

9 lb - 22"

I am a child of God, And he has sent me here

Has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear.

I am a child of God, And so my needs are great;

Help me to understand his words - Before it grows too late.

I am a child of God, rich blessings are in store;

If I but learn to do his will, I'll live with him once more.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,

Help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do

to live with him some day.

-

Samuel Kent Skousen

son of Robert and Christine Skousen

grandson of Mark and Trixie Skousen

great-grandson of Robert and Aartje Smith

Sweater Weather

My granddaughter Gwyn attends Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, and boy, it's cold out there this time of year. The other day it was -11F. Not good for an Arizona girl. So I made her a sweater to help keep her warm. It was fun working with cable stitches again. Keeps you on your toes. I don't know how long she'll be able to wear it, though - she hopes to go to Africa in a few months.

She joined the Peace Corps and as part of her Master's program she will be spending two years teaching skills to people in a developing community, preferably Africa - helping to drill wells so that people can have water. After her time with the Peace Corps she will get her Master's Degree in Civil Engineering. Way to go, Gwyn!

What Do All These Buttons Do?

A year ago my children gave me a digital camera for Christmas. When I looked at all the options that were available, I was quite overwhelmed. "Do I need a PhD to run this thing?", I said. The answer was, "Yes Mom, P(ush) H(ere) D(ummy)."



The camera probably came with a manual, but I couldn't find it - and so my picture taking was by guess and by gosh. I did know that by turning the dial to that little green thingy, everything would be automatic. But I knew that there were some exciting possibilities, and I wanted to learn how to go about using them.

So yesterday when I was at Phil's place I tried to pick his brain. He went online to sony.com and found a manual for my camera (I swear I tried that myself at one time, but couldn't find it!). But what was even better, we found an online tutorial to run that camera. Hooray. I am now enrolled in a four-lesson course on "What Do All These Camera Buttons Do?" Watch out, world, here I come.

Emma Turns Three

Grandma Skousen made the prettiest Barbie Birthday Cake for Emma. Here Emma is showing Grandma where to put the candles.

Emma loves Dora. Most of her birthday gifts were Dora related.

And now we'll see if the cake tastes as good as it looks.

Oatman Massacre

Trixie lives close to some interesting historical sites. Last Saturday we packed a lunch and set out to explore one of those interesting places - the Oatman Massacre Site.



The going was pretty rough, and it wasn't too long till our old beat-up pickup got bushwhacked and we lost a mirror. The terrain is pretty desolate, very rocky, but with plenty of saguaros and other cacti.

The Santa Fe trail was also traveled by the Mormon Batallion.

Mark and Shanna pointing out the ruts caused by the wagons going over the trail

Several books have been written on the Oatman Family Massacre - you can also read about this site at http://southwest.library.arizona.edu/hav1/body.1_div.15.html

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Oatman

On February 18, 1851, the (Oatman) family (consisting of Roys and Mary Oatman, and children) stopped for dinner after a day on the Santa Fe Trail, on the edge of the bluff overlooking the Gila River. Servings were bread and beans. Yavapai Indians approached them, seemingly to ask for food and tobacco. A massacre ensued, and Roys, his wife, her unborn child as well as their other children Lucy, Roys Jr. and C.A. were killed. The only survivors were Lorenzo Oatman, Olive Oatman and their seven-year-old sister, Mary Ann.
Lorenzo was badly injured with wounds to his head, and left for dead. He recuperated and returned to Casa Grande. Olive and Mary Ann were taken as slaves by the Yavapai.

The bones of the unfortunate emigrants were gathered up in 1854 by Mr. Poston, and buried here. He carved the inscription with his penknife on a piece of board from his wagon.

Grave site as it looks today

After eating our sandwiches, fooling around a bit and playing some games, we headed for home, using a different route, where we saw an interesting old cabin.