Photos of Penrose and Dwight's Two Oldest Boys

 This is a sad lesson in why we shouldn't crop photos.  These are photos I took of Dwight's two oldest boys, Russell and Ron, when they came to Penrose for a visit.  The first photo shows a few more fun things about the living room, (besides two cute, mischievous boys) before the radio died, and the gas heater/stove was replaced with the wall heaters.

 This photo is fun because it shows some of the outbuildings (chicken coop!!!) and a very young Ron.

Note the truck loaded with hay, the garden tractor shed, and the light pole that so often served as home base, or in the case of baseball, first base.  I just thought these showed a few things that were worthwhile to share.  

Love This Picture

Just wondering who these two kids are.   Pretty good looking couple who are far from beet fields and coal cinders.  This was buried in the pictures that Dwight shared with me some time ago.  I'm stealing it now.

It's Spring, and the Swallows return to Capistrano

We enjoyed two short visits with Dwight and Velna last week - I'm sure they came north from St. George in time to enjoy the briskness of northern Utah springs, and to be at home so we could stop to see them. (By the way, Dwight promised to do bodily harm to me if I posted this picture, but since we live over 100 miles from them, he would have to come to Preston, right?) Anyway, it's always a joy to be able to visit, and we got to admire the beautiful photography that Dwight is doing these days.)

A Day's Outing

A Visit to Fort Collins

Mom visits us in Fort Collins in 1959 just before we moved to Cheyenne.  We loved our little yellow house.  What year did Mom go to Laramie to go to summer school and stay at Blacks?

Louise's Turn

Now, we move on to December, 1953. I was home for college, and Louise was getting married. She had been teaching school in Cody that fall. Mileage and costs for the trip to Idaho Falls as follows:
Home, mileage 46,713 Full Tank
Bozeman 46,943 @33 1/2 cents $3.98
Left Bozeman 46,950
Belgrade 46,961
Idaho Falls 47,226 10.3 gal @ 33.9 $3.50
Dillon 1 qt. oil & gas @34 cents - 9 gal. 3.20

We stopped in Bozeman at Dwight and Velna's student housing apartment - very basic, if I remember correctly. We were enchanted with Russell - the first grandchild-nephew. Dwight and Velna with Russell joined us going to Idaho Falls. The weather was terrible, and Dwight was a big help to Mother. When we got there, again, my role was to stay in the motel while everyone went to the temple for the ceremony, and I got to babysit Russell. As I recall, he wasn't any problem at all - in fact, he slept a lot. I don't remember much else, but the trip home from Bozeman on was a real challenge, with very icy roads. Mother finally got so tired, that she let me drive, but I had to creep along at a very slow speed. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic. We were glad to get back to Penrose.

Another Celebration-Anniversary is on its way!

Since I got caught short by Bob and Judy's 50th wedding anniversary, I thought that I'd be beforehand with Dwight and Velna's 57th (right?) anniversary coming up on Friday. As Dwight's younger siblings, we felt such a part of his "romance" with Velna, because he was home one spring, doing the plowing and other work on the tractor. Regardless of which field he was in, when Ez came down the road with the mail, he would leave the tractor, and get home extremely fast, hoping for a letter. Also, he would serenade us as he drove the tractor - the sound carried extremely well over the sound of the John Deere. When we knew that they were to be married at Christmas time, we were all excited. Dad had to stay home to milk the cows, so Mother and I set off for Laramie to pick up Dwight. I hadn't learned to drive the car yet, so Mother had to do all the driving - I recall her pulling over in Wheatland to take a long nap. The day was dreary and cold, and everything looked brown. (If only it had stayed that way!). We made it into Laramie, went to Blacks' new home on Sully, and saw the apartment where Dwight was living and where he and Velna would make their home after the wedding. I remember that they had received a toaster as a wedding present, and Dwight loved to make toast. When we got back to Black's, I made things a little exciting by fainting, but I think I was just so excited about everything that it was too mcuh. Both Mother and I went to bed, ready to begin the trip to Salt Lake with Dwight in the morning. Unfortunately, the weather did not stay just cold and brown - heavy snows came, and our trip to Salt Lake with the nervous groom was pretty hairy. (Velna and her parents went on the train.) We had to be in Salt Lake in time for them to go to the courthouse to get their marriage license - and, as I recall, we just made it. And, after that long, hard day fraught with nervous tension, we went to Dwight and Velna's room in the Hotel Utah, where Mother and Dwight changed clothes, and left to walk over to the temple. I can remember looking out the window of the room, down on the temple walls and grounds - the snow was still falling, and the lights glittered - everything looked like a fairy land. The only snafu was that I had a pounding headache that didn't leave until the next day.
After the ceremony, Dwight and Mother came back to the room. (Where was Velna? I don't remember?), Dwight gave Mother a big hug, and we were away, to find a place of our own to sleep. And the place Mother found was a doozie. It was a motel somewhere in Salt Lake City, with paper thin walls. Mother soon fell asleep, probably from exhaustion, but I stayed awake, fostering my headache, and listening to all the goings-on around us. We woke to a new day, and clearer weather, and headed south to Provo to pick up Louise to take her home for Christmas. Provo seemed like summer, compared to what we'd just been through. We found Louise, loaded her into the car, and headed up Provo Canyon to Rock Springs and South Pass. Louise got in the car and slept ...and slept...and slept...I don't know what she'd been doing before we came, but, obviously, it didn't include sleeping. We stopped in Basin to get gas, and they had little Christmas trees for sale, so Mother bought one. tucked it in the trunk of the car, and we went on our way home.
The only thing that would properly finish up this tale would be to have the beautiful wedding picture of Dwight and Velna standing in front of the fireplace at the L.D.S. Institute in Laramie.

The Hill Cumorah in Days of Yore

This sign is definitely no longer here.

These steps are no longer here.  And how did all the trees get on the Hill Cumorah?  Photos from the 1920s show a bald and treeless hill.

Another Happy Birthday for Dwight

Capture the moment!!! Pictures let us see ourselves as we would like to be, and this picture of the six of us is probably the best. It was taken in 1993 - does anyone remember what serious business Dwight was responding to?

As I went on a picture hunt for your birthday, I must say, this is one of my favorite pictures of you. The day was difficult (this was taken in Cody, Wyoming on the day of Dad's funeral), but you were taking your traditional role of holding us all together in stride.

It is true for me that birthdays seem to be a time of stirring up memories, just as Judy said. My memories of you in the growing up years are memories of awe (you really got to drive the tractor? and who would have ever thought to put out their typewriter case lid in place of a Christmas stocking?); mystery (what did you really have in your chest that Steve and I couldn't see? What, there is just shoe polish and a few odds and ends - at least that was what we found when you left for college); curiosity (just what did you and Dad talk about in the cow barn and where did you learn those songs?); and maybe just a little fear of my older brother. You provided (perhaps unintentionally) Steve and me with our first bicycle(s) that we took apart and put back together and then spent hours riding all over Penrose. What a world you helped open up for us.

Over the years, as I got past feeling somewhat intimidated by an older brother who I could never be as smart as (ask Miss Biddle), it has been so fun to talk with you, learn from you, and to find a very dear friend in you. It is easy to forgive you for being a Democrat, because other than that one small flaw, I see you as being the best older brother ever.

Happy Birthday, Dwight. This flower picture gives you an update on what happens to the Sedum Joy you had posted on Curmudgeonly. In another couple of weeks the color will turn to copper.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday - and year. Love you lots.

Dwight & Velna

Dwight and Velna are here in their dependable and family supportive style. Note the color coordinated suspenders and shirt on Dwight. I am impressed! Jacob stands where the Blood grandchildren have taken off for their missions. What a good place to do so.

Wedding of Megan Blood and Alan Seawright

Judy has requested that I post photos of Megan and Alan's wedding.  More are posted on the Summer Mornings D&V Blood family blog, linked on the right.  My motto has become "today's events are tomorrow's history."  Very profound.