I have been young a very long time!

September 2 1950 I was born in Denver Colorado to Ethelee Mae Knapp and Robert Fiske Hightower. I had an older sister Nancy and two years later a brother Robert Roy. Many a year my birthday was on "Labor Day" funnier for me than for my mother. Other years my birthday came the first day of school, I always thought that was ROTTEN luck. One can't exactly show up the first day of school with birthday cupcakes! My mom lucked out on that too, Nancy had a Dec 24th birthday, and Rob July 9th so she never had to or got to bring birthday cupcakes to school.

     I love this picture, looks like I adored my mother then and I still do.

Just one happy baby! Dad was a bit of a photographer as I see in my baby book. He took a long time to get set up. How he would have liked digital camera now!

Then there was the three of us.

Think maybe I was finished taking pictures?? Cute though huh? I still remember that little rocking chair that I am in. Check out the tv and the "wingback" chairs all 50's stuff.

One finally smiling. Nancy just got hit in the head with a swing so she is battered up. I think those dresses we have on are so cute!

First grade, never went to kindergarten, at Columbus school in Grand Junction, Colorado. Miss Angel was my teacher, I thought she was too. She would have us join in circle time and tell us all about "Ol Mister Alcohol" and "Ol Mister Tobacco" and how we shouldn't use any of those things. That was tough because my parents did both. Wonder if I lectured them about that? Can't remember, but surely I must have been conflicted. It was early training for the word of wisdom, surely could have used more practice in reading and math though.

This is my second grade picture. Mom always cut our hair. She used to cut mine just as it got long enough to be put into a ponytail. I don't know maybe I wasn't very co-operative when it came to hair styling. I remember sitting on the floor on a Saturday night and her putting "pincurls" in my hair. Which is basically hair wrapped around her finger, and a bobby pin put in to hold it until it was dry or all night which ever came first. That doesn't sound painful but sleeping on bobby pins, was not all that comfortable and as I remember sitting against her "prickly legs" wasn't either. Ha! I laugh just thinking how I used to complain about that, it's funny to me now. ( how embarrassing rather like the "big underwear" story, oh out of the mouth of babes). Save that one for another time. Sorry, have to pause now and give a good laugh.......

Now this was suppose to be FOURTH grade. Guess mom gave up on the hair at this point, but look how young I look, for a fourth grader.....ummm maybe I should have waited a year or so before starting school? As I remember I couldn't wait to start school, just because Nancy, who did everything wonderfully LOVED  school and raved about how fun it was.

Ok, this was quite a skip. One, I don't want to bore you to death and two, I can't find my pages to my baby book. It fell apart many year ago, I was redoing it and now, ummmm, just can't find...... but hope to soon. So this is me about a Junior in High school with Danny our pomeranian ( looks like he is smiling, funny dog!) and Babe a rescue dog. Mom work as a volunteer and this dog would jump up all the way into your arms to be held. Mom felt sorry for her and brought her home for the "night". She and Danny got along good they were the best of pals.

The cheerleading pictures, and other high school and early college pictures will have to be for another time perhaps. Besides LaVar said many years ago that he love me in spite of my high school "accomplishments", now he says he was just joking about all that...... the real truth is??
Well, we will go straight to the wedding, that was what is really important here anyway. June 19th 1970.  Aynsley that is the dress made be BYU homemaking department and yes, I still have it in Fallon NV.

Here we are before the hair went gray or was lost. I forget my hair was quite dark too. I think the picture shows it darker that it actually was because LaVar's was darker than mine and here it looks about the same.

These are the most important people on earth to me and us. They each have brought great joy and pride to us. They in turn have brought other precious people into our family and added even joy and pride, I can't even start on the 14 1/2 angels that have been invited to stay for eternity with us. (Milo being the 1/2, whole in October). There are 23 of us now, big enough for a fun FAMILY REUNION don't you think??
              Thanks dearest ones for all these years, some days were just a HOOT, other days deep sadness but through it all we have stuck together, so far, and I guess we can just plan on more hard times coming our way, and more fun days if we plan them. Certainly we can stick together through it all right?

             You are all our favorite, can that even be possible? well, I guess so because you are, rather be with you than anyone else. 

           So see Micah after all your mission companions were right, only now am I really 60! AAwwwk sounds so old, and yet I feel as young as I ever have. (memory must be going to).

            I have just been young for a very long time.

Don't Mess with Texas

They don't mess around in Texas either!
I had plans to go to Texas and be with Alyssa and her family in Corpus Christi, I really didn't think about being in the "ugly heat". The heat is hotter, the humidity is greater, the sky is bluer, the clouds fluffier, really things are "greater" in Texas. Life there is "intense" though we arranged a few "down days" that were very fun and we were grateful for them.







Steve took us all out to eat Pizza! Alyssa wasn't feeling well enough to go. We went to CiCi's and everyone had about as much as one could hold. Even Katie was completely filled up and just couldn't eat any more.

He gave everyone a quarter for the toy machine and that is what is in Jake's cheeks but this is how we all felt. Stuffed!













 All the kids liked the iphones and the ipad. Steve and Alyssa bought the new iphone and they were a big hit. Evan took this picture, and a few others. He always asked before, he got us in film. We spend many an hour in this 15 passenger van. I certainly felt powerful driving that thing. I never had to worry whether someone saw us, surely they did. They potholes around that city and other uneven pavement was felt every time we drove. Only once did I get into a situation that someone else had to move before I could solve my parking mistake. Aynsley about died but she was supportive and I didn't turn the van over which was a concern. In fact Aynsley was my gps for most of our outings. The first time out the first day there, Alyssa and Steve had gone to Houston for much deserved rest and retreat, and we were to take Katie to school. I thought I was listening to Aynsley but pretty soon Katie says from her backseat position, "you missed my school", so she is getting to know her way around too. U turns got less frequent as the time went on. Thanks Aynsley and Anna for being my navigators.

Aynsley helped me clean a room in the garage and with that she asked to be helped to learn to sew. She already knew the basics. When someone is willing to hand wind the bobbin they are wanting to sew pretty badly. I didn't get pictures of her sewing or the Barbie dresses she made, without a pattern like her mom liked to do. They were very cute and very original. Anna then started making lace scrunchies that were also very nice. It was fun to set up a sewing room with them and I was very glad to see these girls interested in sewing.

Not to be left out Max and Evan wanted a try at this new skill and enjoyed trying out the different stitches. They would have liked to do more but, the ipad and Jelly Car kept calling their names. It was fun to do with them, who knows who will end up being the real sewers??

 Aynsley and I got a few times to go out shopping. ( Note to photographer, watch the background it's not THAT funny! What, you want her to think she is loosing her mind? brain looks like it is coming out the top of her head and out her ear! If you don't notice that, it is a really cute picture of the girl in 21 looking glamorous and older.) We had a great time and even something for our memories. Priceless.

I even got to stick around for Emily's birthday. Aynsley talked us into getting fondant for a cake. So armed with a book, boxed fondant she selected a bee. Anna and Alyssa helped too. It was great fun. The other children didn't like the taste but the cake itself was a big hit. Sooo CUTE!!

One night we got to go across the street to the beach. The sunset was fabulous! and the breeze was refreshing. We loved getting shells, getting a little wet, and enjoyed each other.

Anna had this gymnastics meet at the very gym she goes to. It was a great treat for us not to travel. There were over 500 girls competing from all over Texas. She did well and we were glad to be there.

I also got to be there for the first day of their new school, Science and Technology! I looked like a great place with nice teachers. Jake and Aynsley went one day to practice opening the lockers. Evan and Max got to meet their teachers and sweet Anna stayed with Alyssa since she had surgery, and we didn't want her to be home alone. 

Evan on his rug in his kindergarten room!

(this is a far away picture Rachel). Thanks for the memories guys, it was fun, even if we didn't get to do a lot of things that were planned. Glad to be there and be a part of your lives for just a little while.  Love you all!! yup, even little Sophia

Great Falls, Virginia

We had a 24th of July Ward picnic at Great Falls Virginia. I know most of our kids had been there with scout troops, church groups, whatever, but I had never been. I just happened to be the hottest day of the year. We started early in the morning but by the time it ended at 12:00 it was already about 103 and the heat index was suppose to be more. I was a great time really. I understand that the water was really low and the falls are actually much more impressive. We will have to go again in the spring when there is more water. Notice how green the water is.....umm. 

We found this little spot up from the falls that is called "River Bend State Park" that has canoes to rent. That is my kind of adventure. Maybe we will go and do that one day.

Huntzinger Family Reunion 2010

We left Reagan National July 14th for the Huntzinger Family Reunion in Fallon Nevada. We met Rachel in Chicago and we got to hold Naomi while she slept. After landing in Reno, and getting a rental car, our first stop was the Reno temple for a photo shoot. It was a bright clear day, as usual in Reno. Grandma Cecile hadn't been feeling very well, but she was a trooper as we all descended on their home. Many of us stayed in a local motel with a swimming pool which proved to be our greatest recreation since it was so hot. It's a great memory and we thank those who got to come for helping us make those memories.   Linda had been in Fallon for almost a month filming the folks and their life stories. We will make copies for our children. She has also finished a book about some of our ancestors,  Always to a New Frontier. Hope you have been able to read through it, it has some great stories in it and is written so well.

Rather a random picture taker. This is in Grandma's bedroom where I brought scout patches to have the boys sort out. I am so glad I did because they had them sorted out in minutes. That also led to stories of their childhood, which included some never heard before details of the fire in the George Washington National forest. As we were sitting there, Sam and Ollie came with the look of panic and Sam motioning to Tim said, "Dad, I really need your help!" It seemed that one of the chickens got out of great grandpa's chicken coop and the boys couldn't get it back and needed help. I was so impressed with this story; first, because of the look on Sam's face; second, that he was willing to come and get help when he needed it ( since we were just talking about a time when Tyler and Tim had made decisions that got them into more trouble than they even imagined); and third, that Tim and Tyler both jumped up to help their sons when they asked for it. I was glad to see that they are being such great dads to our precious grandchildren.

I tried several times to get a cute picture of Tucker and this antique truck being run through the rocks. After this one I said, "ok, one more",  and he said "no" and walked away.

Some of the group ready to hike the desert petroglyphs and on up the hills to the caves.

Ollie had some blue Gatoraide before we left to hydrate him for the walk.

Some of the carvings are more self explanatory than others. They were all over these rocks. I had no idea when we lived there that these were so interesting. Have I said what a hot day it was?

The first cave was "cool" on several levels.

This is the ceiling of the first cave. Wonderful patterns.

What is the walk in the desert without catching hold of the locals?

Lichen has always interested me. It has such bright colors. In a desert landscape of so much dull brown, dull green and gray these colors are unusual.

Why would I want to memorialize this look? Umm I wonder, but that is how it was. And it was extremely hot already. We were the last ones to come walking back to the cars.

How many "Huntzinger's" can one get in one place? About 47 it seems, that is about half of the family. We certainly missed those that were not able to come. Laytons had all of their children and grandchildren there, as did Brad. All the rest of us were missing some. We are grateful to those that made great efforts to be there. Natalie Petersen came on the train from Utah, 15 hours, stayed one day and left with Terry and her family.

The auction was well attended. There were many interesting objects. Cecile brought many things from her house and garage. The bidding was slow as many of us spent our money just getting there. There were some interesting purses that seemed to be full of personal stuff that got offered but the owners recognized them before the bidding stopped.

We are grateful of the Huntzinger family and we have a good time when we get together. Thanks to Brett and Rowena for many of the meals etc. Grandma has not been feeling well since we left. She has had a bad time with vomiting and fatigue. I asked if Ralph had also been sick and she said, "No, and that just makes me so MAD!" and then laughed a hearty laugh. Ha, great lady with a wonderful sense of humor and has left a great legacy.

Story of the Handkerchiefs

    I had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1969 and a year later I was about to be married. I had gone to Brigham Young University where I met my husband to be, Ralph LaVar Huntzinger. We wanted to be married in the Manti Temple in San Pete County, Utah. My parents Ethelee Mae Knapp Hightower and my dad, Robert Fiske Hightower were not members of this church.
     I had struggled with the fact that my parents were not going to be able to come to the temple with us and that brought me great sadness. I really felt that was the way the Lord would have us be married. LaVar being very patient with me had always determined that he would be married in the temple. We had chosen the Manti temple together. Two weeks before we were to be married on June 19th, LaVar went home to California with his parents and I went none to Colorado with mine. One day my mom had been thinking and she said something like, "only Mormons can go through the temple, but they have to let non-Mormons in to see their children get married right?" I said, "No." "What?" She said emphatically. "No, they don't", I said more tenderly. There it was, I had been assuming that she knew and now I understood that she didn't. Oh, the profound regret that something else couldn't be worked out, but I couldn't figure out how to please my God without disappointing my precious mother, and vise-versa. She said something that showed her profound disappointment and went into her room and shut the door. She was in there what seemed to me a long time. I prayed for whatever the Lord would bless us with. I cried and cried, just so sad. Presently, she came out of her room very resolved and calm. She sat down with me and explained her plan. She laid out 2 identical handkerchiefs. They had come from her nightstand; they smelled like anything that came from that place that we were strictly forbidden to wander. Even as a child, that was somewhere I never did go adventuring. It was her private space and we always respected that. Her plan was that she would carry one handkerchief with her the day we were married and think of me and I would carry the other one on that day and think of her. She seemed very satisfied with this idea. I ventured an explanation to our choice and she stopped me and said very tenderly, that I had chosen what I thought was best and I should stick with it. She said it more eloquently but I have now forgotten just how. She also said that this was one of the most important days of my life and she wanted nothing to mar it in anyway.
  In the sealing room of the temple there was an empty chair, I looked at it many times and imagined her there. I didn't need the handkerchief to remind me of her of course but it did help to have something tangible. When Cecile Huntzinger, my mother-in-law brought the headpiece and veil, she had made for me, to the open house in Greeley, Colorado, my mother helped me put it on and began to cry. She quickly composed herself to go and have pictures taken.
   This story may have many lessons, but some that stood out to me at the time and does as I repeat it and means the most to me, is that the Lord will help us as we try and do the right thing. We can't always do the right thing and not hurt someone else. The love we feel for others can overcome our personal hurts. Because I was able to be married in the temple with my mother's blessing, the whole experience was sweet and tender, where as without her blessing I might have resented her, but because of her unselfish attitude I was free to wish she was there and feel great love for my wonderful, precious mother.

Oh, Yeah!

I forgot to post what the pathology report said about my thyroid. The sweet surgeon, did I tell how young that guy looks, yeah, really young, however he told us that he would be happy to give us the written report but that we "wouldn't understand even a third of what is said." I am happy to report that a man with a PHD in Economics and a simple mortal did in fact understand it. What it said was that the "cancerous nodule was .6 mm" down from the 1.3 mm that was measured in the ulta-sound, no lymph nodes were abnormal therefore none were taken out and the cancer is believed not to have spread. The endocrinologist did not suggest any further treatment, ie. the swallowing of radio active iodine, he also put me on a thyroid hormone that they get from pigs, and whatever dosage he started with is doing great! I believed as he said too, that it would probably take about 6 weeks to 3 months to get it right, but that it would work out eventually. Well, not sure how it is, but I can't think how I could feel any better than I do right now. He must have gotten it right the first try, Amazing!
Glad that is all behind us. We did have some learning experiences and attitude adjustments that were a challenge, glad to have those in the past also. Now we are again ready to live life with this new perspective. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers, we felt them.

40 Years Ago Today

June 19, 1970 was our wedding day. We were going to school at BYU. I had joined the church in February 1969. LaVar was in his last year of school there. We met when his apartment of boys was asked to be a "family home evening group" with our apartment of girls. He lived in Sparks and we lived in Tawzer. Our first date, some time in October, was to a Green and Gold Ball. 

We were married in the Manti temple. The gorgeous room was our sealing room. LaVar's parents and sister Linda and her husband came, as well as LaVar's aunt Lucille and a special couple that LaVar served in the Stake Sunday School presidency with, Pete Peterson. There was a empty chair where I had several special people sitting who were not able to be there.

We had an open house in my parents home in Greeley Colorado and another open house at LaVar's parents home in Hayward California.
 


   Thank-you sweetheart for 40 years of a wonderful life. We have lived in many great places, 15 to be exact but 25 moves and have had great experiences. Our children are our favorite experiences of all. We dearly love each and every one of you.  You each has added to our joy by adding your spouse and joy upon joy 15 ( and that is increasing) wonderful grand children. I have always wondered how Heavenly Father could love each of us so much, individually. I now understand in miniature. I love each of you individually and each of you are our favorite person.

This is really hard to read so to preserve it I will write it here.
"Miss Judy Hightower, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Hightower of 2729 W. 14th St. became the bride of LaVar Huntzinger son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Huntzinger of Haywood [Hayward], California, in a double ring ceremony Friday morning, June 19, at eh Latter Day Saints Temple in Manti, Utah. The bride wore a floor-length white gown of reversed satin. Lave accented the empire bodice, cuffed sleeves and shirt. Her veil of illusion, made be the bridegroom's mother, was held in place by a band of the same lace, and she carried a bouquet of white daisies, yellow roses and baby breath.
Miss Nancy Hightower served as her sister's maid of honor. She wore a floor-length gown of yellow crepe with long full sleeves and a collar. She carried a bouquet of white daisies.
     Miss Terri Huntzinger, a sister of the bridegroom and Linda Anderson of Del Norte, [Colorado] served as bridesmaids and were dressed identically like the maid of honor. [ not true but I didn't write it]. Montil  Huntzinger [Montel Jenkins] served as his cousin's best man, and ushers were Rob Hightower, in bride's brother, Curtis Huntzinger, the bridegroom's brother and Ken Hunt of Grand Junction.
   A reception for the couple was held at the home of the bride's parents on Saturday, June 20, with 50 guests present. The bridegroom's family, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Huntzinger and children were present, as was the bride's grandmother, Mrs. R.M. Hightower of Greeley.
   For a honeymoon to San Francisco, California the bride changed to a dusty rose dress and coat. Following their honeymoon, the couple will make a home in Provo, Utah.
   A graduate of Grand Junction [Colorado] High School, the bride attended Aims College of one year and Brigham Young University for one year. Huntzinger is a graduate of Farmington High School in Farmington  N.M. He labored as an LDS missionary in New Zealand for two years and is a recent graduate of BYU.