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.

Homemade Valentines!

I thought the effort to make these adorable Valentines deserved a post! Thanks Kourtney, Zach and Tiffany for the thoughtful and time consuming gesture! On behalf of all of us recipicants, we say "THANK YOU AND HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY"

Peters Family Music!

Den and I were so moved last Monday night when the Peters family invited us over to present us with a long awaited CD of music their family had performed at some point during the year 2008. Travis had been working for literally months trying to get all their songs recorded! Travis, it was well worth your efforts! Thank you! Thank you!! Kim, Sabrina, Whitley, Bailey, Morgan and Mylee, thank you so much for sharing your musical talents and gifts with us!! If you wish, you can listen to their songs from our family website: www.familiapeters.org We love you Peters family!!! I LOVE OUR SONGS!!!!!!

Family Home Evening with "Jack"!

Dennis and I are in our third season of watching 24 each Monday night with our dear friends, Gord and Carol Lambert and Bette Davis and Marilyn Richards! We take turns at each other's homes and the host family provides a dinner prior to "24". It's become a very fun tradition for us, as well as, a true joy to reconnect with dear friends that we have known for around 30 years, not to mention, there's always a meal worth devouring !! It's our combined opinion, that this season may be the best! We are enjoying the return of Tony, Bill and of course, Chloe! Thanks Jack, for reuniting friendship! A quote from Carol, "Jack not only saves the world each year, he saved our friendships!!"

Valentine's 2009

This year for Valentine's Day, Dennis and I were committed to a babysitting assignment for Travis and Kim's five girls, as well as, working at the Draper Temple in the evening, so we celebrated a bit early, on the 12th of February. I made a gourmet dinner (well, gourmet for me) for the two of us consisting of: BBQ Spicy Meatballs with Mango Salsa, Glazed Carrots, Garlic Bacon Asparagus, Wedge Green Salad and Creme Brulee'. Most husbands think of chocolate, flowers and maybe jewelry when it comes to Valentines Day, however Dennis enjoys coming up with his own unique ideas. This year he thought personalized "Director Chairs" would be so romantic! So, as you can see, that was my gift, along with the roses! I made him twelve personalized coupons to be redeemed at his request, and presented him with a gift card to Uinta Golf World! Can't go wrong with golf stuff! After dinner we went to see the movie"Inkheart". We both enjoyed it mostly because we have seen a string of duds lately!

Blast From The Past! MORE

Two of my all time favorite pictures! Tiffany and Tara comforting their camera shy little sister, Tristen!

Christmas Eve, I have no idea the year! Can anyone figure it out? Do you recognize Tara, Treavor, Telisa, Mikel and Chris Haven?

Blast From The Past-February

Dennis and his little boys!

Treavor feeling a little nervous now that he climbed the tree!

Guess who all these people are? And who is missing from this photo? Who is hiding behind me?

Do you remember this?

Blast from the Past!!!

For my 2009 Blog, each month, I am going to post some old photos from our past! These are some photos my grandma had, and subsequently I confiscated them from my mom's photo albums. I don't imagine they will be in any particular order--just ones that have some sentimental meaning. So, check it out!

This is dad and me in St. George visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Smith while we were dating. I was attending Dixie College at the time and dad was at BYU. We pretty much saw each other every weekend! Dad put a lot of miles on his little 240Z Datzun. After one semester, I transferred up to the Y!

Our Engagement Picture!!! Tara, I cut my own hair in those days, and I had to sew my own clothes! Actually, those kind of blouses are pretty much back in style!? Who knew!

I love this shot! This is our Taylorsville home. Dennis is getting lots of help putting in our yard from his three best helpers, Travis, Tiffany and Tara. Notice the old pick up truck and Foxy, our trusted dog!

More contestants!!

Mylee and Bodie called me this week and wondered why they weren't entered in the Contest! I thought, what an idiot I am!! Now they are entered as well!! Rylee and Jovie, you're next!!! Get your photo shoots done! The pictures have to be taken within the last month. The photos I took of Rylee were in November and of Jovie in October!! So Moms, get your kids to me or take the photos yourselves! It's free and it's fun!

Regis and Kelly's Beautiful Baby Contest

Do you think this face can win?

Redd William's 3 months old

Just taking pictures of my grandkids could keep me in business!! Can't tell by looking at that happy angelic face that he has two ear infections!! Thanks Tris, for letting me include you in the photos!

Redd's Photo Shoot cont.