The Prophet's Brownies!

Tara's mother in law, Janice Sansom has been working tirelessly for past nine weeks, serving on a Hosting Committee for the Draper Temple Open House. With specific duties of beautifully decorating the Culural Hall which served as the information center, and feeding the 700,000 plus guests that came through the temple, as well as, keeping the General Authorities, Apostles and First Presidency supplied with meals as they served in the temple. The past three days, March 20 through the 22 has been the Dedication of the Temple. Janice asked me to make Mint Brownies and Tristen to make Orange Rolls to serve to the Prophet and the Apostles. We were thrilled to accept and felt honored. Tara was asked to help serve the food, which she gladly performed, as well. Wow, this whole experience has been one we will never forget. Not only are we benefiting from a glorious new temple, we were asked to play a small role in the history of it's beginnings.

More of Mom's birthday

Bountiful Cemetary

Bountiful Cemetary cont.

Draper Temple Dedication

A tremondous opportunity for our family--Den and I were invited to be in the temple during the dedication of the Draper Temple, along with our adult children. Dennis and I were asked to serve on one the Committees to help with the Open House. Approximately 700,000 people visited the temple during the Open House. We were able to help with Spanish tourist. We enjoyed our time in the temple. Three of the six couples were able to get off work on a Friday afternoon and accompany us for the dedication. Since it was March 20th and Tiffany's birthday, Chad finished up work early and brought his beautiful wife all the way from Spanish Fork. Travis, Kim, Treavor and Sara were able to get off work and secure babysitters. Adam and Tristen were ready to come, but due to an accident in which their precious little Redd's arm got broken and dislocated, they were unable to attend at the last minute. Stephen and Tara went with the Sansom family on Sunday, since Steve was unable to get off work Friday afternoon, and Clay and Telisa had some lame excuse like living in Cleveland or something like that! We enjoyed the most beautiful weather, and we were blessed to get a glimpse of the Prophet and President Uchtdorf as they walked into the Celestial Room. We were seated in a Sealing Room. After the dedication, we assembled at "Chili's" in Riverton for a celebration dinner in honor of the birthday girl. Adam, Tristen, Pyper and Redd, along with Steve, Tara, their kids and the Beus' kids joined us there. It was heart wrenching to see baby Redd all wrapped up in an ace bandage. We wore out two Servers, but it was fun to walk away from that mess!
A blessed memory for our family!

Happy Birthday MOM!

Beautiful Joan Ruth Smith Stout!
My Senior Debutante Ball!!! You guys don't even know what those are! Too bad!
Brand Park, just up the street from our house. I use to walk up there all the time! I am in Junior High here!

Me and Mom in our homemade dresses! Mom loved to sew and she was constantly making me and her new outfits to wear! Some of the patterns she used on me, I used to make Tiffany dresses. After that, they pretty much disintegrated into dust!

Me and mom. She always told me she was 7 months pregnant in this photo. I hope she was mistaken! If that is true, that is very sad!

Primary teachers and leaders of Glendale West Ward 1956. Double click on this photo and check out the back row! Do you recognize anyone? Mom and I are sitting in the front row. We seem to be the only ones looking very happy! (on a side note, I love to see the inside of this chapel! It has such a sentimental value to me!!! Someday, I'll share all those stories)

Because today, March 16th is my mother's birthday, I wish to share some thoughts. I hope she knows wherever she is how much I love her, and am grateful for the love and caring she gave me. She was passionate for her family and the gospel of Jesus Christ. She was known for her beauty, but she was so much more than that! As her only daughter, I wish I could of helped her realize that truth! She was Valedictorian of her High School in Montana, she was a master Crossword puzzler, as you can see, she could sew anything. As a youth, she could run like the wind on a horse with or without a saddle. When she felt well, she spent much of her time on Genealogy work. She was very close with her mother and father. I believe she spoke or wrote to her mom everyday of her life, until Grandma passed away while we were on our mission.
Yesterday, some of her "fairly active and loud decedents" celebrated her birthday! We met up at the Bountiful Cemetery after Church and then headed south to our home for a traditional Stout Taco dinner. At the Cemetery my dad shared a few of his sentiments about my mom, his wife and your grandma. Fumbling a little bit over his words he tried to convey how much he misses her and wishes to be reunited once again with his eternal companion. He never fails to mention how much he appreciated Kim singing "Oh, Danny Boy" at her funeral. I am certain Grandma was thrilled to have some of her loved ones together. We missed Sara, Clay, Telisa, Bodie, Stephanie, Jason, Jack, Joshua, Andrew and Jenny, but I am sure mom was with them (a perk of being in the next life). In attendance was Dad and myself, Travis, Kim and their five daughters, Chad, Tiffany and their five kids, Stephen, Tara and their three kids, Adam, Tristen and their four kids, Treavor and Owen, David, Mikel and Lily, Todd and Sheryl, Gary, Lena and Ashling and of course, Handsome Harold!
Happy Birthday and we all love you mom!!!!

William Howard Peters- 100 years old

William Howard Peters was born 100 years ago on March 4, 1909. I felt we should pay tribute to the husband, father, father-in-law and grandpa that continues to this day to leave his legacy. He loved his family very much and made sure they were well taken care of even after his passing.
My personal memories of Howard were his great love for his wife Hazel. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her. He loved to spoil her, and gave her a tremendous amount of respect as she served by his side in the community. Moreover, his pride and concern for his three children, Lee, Susan and Dennis were commendable. A highlight for Dennis was when he baptized his father just prior to leaving on his mission to Mexico. Howard was always very kind and loving to me. But I have to say, when Howard became a "Grandpa", that is when his soft side really shown through. I believe he relished the role of Grandfather above everything else. It thrills me that the Howard name has been passed on to his grandchildren, Paul Howard Peters, Treavor Howard Peters, and great children, Owen Howard Peters and Redd William Van Leeuwen! Howard would be thrilled.

Mayor Peters teaching his son Denny to be charitable!

Howard with Governor Ronald Reagan!

Glendale Days Parade! You can see the joy in Dennis' eyes! Love the bow tie! Cute family picture!!

Mayor Howard Peters final Council Meeting- April 1973. I believe he served for twelve years! You know where your dad gets his passion for politics.