Elaine's memories of her mother

Picture nine or so children and their Mama, dressed in their nighties, curled up on the two full-size beds in the big girls room (one of the beds was an in-the-wall pull out type.) Mother and her daughters each read her own Book of Mormon, marking her favorite verses. At the end of the reading each night, we read and discussed our marked passages with each other. This was not the beginning of my enjoyment of the Book of Mormon, though. Mother lived it. It cropped up in our daily conversations, our questions, our problems. It seemed the Book of Mormon had the answers for everything! Stories from it poured from our Mama's lips and heart and we loved them. Our mother was a professional teacher; coupling that with her love of family and the Lord, the book was her text in raising us and living her own exemplary life. She seemed to know and we practiced eternal doctrines that were later adopted church-wide. We always had homenight, family council, church together, two years supply of food and clothing, letter writing time, family history enjoyment both with living and deceased ancestors, scripture reading. Along with her obvious enjoyment of raising her family, Mother had this important hobby of family history research and temple work. Many mornings I awakened early to study for an examination only to find Mother just folding up and putting away her genealogy books and papers so as to spend her time exclusively with her children while they were with her. She had a great sense of the seasons for everything. From her I learned my present love for family history and temple-work, recognizing as did she the part this plays in our Heavenly Father's plan.

A photo of my parents at the time of their marriage.

Elaine's memories of her father

A photo of my papa when he was a baby along with a copy of his delayed birth certificate appear above. My papa was a great strength to his wife and his children and we did not doubt his love or wisdom. He had this quality of respecting Mother's motherhood to the extent that he seldom interfered with her decisions regarding us. Papa and Mama talked things over "privately" in order to present a united front. This was done in their bedroom but as Mama had to shout to make him hear, it was not as private as they thought. I suppose the really private talks were when the children were not home. One subject I remember is that Mama felt terrible when prohibition was repealed but Papa thought that moral issues could not be decided by vote. Listed here are some individual interactions with our Papa.
1. I giggled when he tossed me up and called me "Tiddlywinks."
2. Only on Family Night would Papa play the piano for us and that was usually the duet he played with Mama. If we coaxed him, he would speak the Maori language. One word was "kia ora" meaning thank you or hello and "tena koutou" which means hello to a group.
3. Papa and Mama were for 43 when I was born and I do not remember him going to work each day. He spent much time in his chair in the front room reading the three newspapers - Provo Herald, Deseret News, and S.L. Tribune. He was usually cross with the Tribune as they did not favor BYU or its sports, or the Church for that matter. Much of his reading inclued stock market activities, especially mining and other business. Father was very conservative in buying and selling, definitely not a gambler. Each day he would go to Uncle Well's (mama's brother) stock broker office and check things out. He often told us when the stocks went "down." WE took that as reason to help him worry a little and to be frugal. It used to puzzle me that he forgot to tell us when the stocks went up, and they must have done so for we had all we needed or wanted. Somehow, for me at least, money was not a concern and seldom discussed or thought about.
4. The big oval table radio was situated by papa's chair with his "good ear" correctly in place to hear every word. Nevertheless, the radio was loud!
5. Papa nearly always had time for BYU sports. When I introduced Arnold, Papa had already seen him running races at the trackmeet.
6. He loved to go fishing. Even though his family was mostly girls, we all have memories of fishing trips which are other stories.
7. We didn't know of any other father who would go to a sale at Butlers or Taylor Brothers and come home loaded down with party dresses! The size didn't seem to matter as he figured each would fit at least one of his nine daughters. The wholesale price he paid was really a buy. I enjoyed watching the excitement as my older sisters tried on these formal dresses. No one had the heart to tell Papa that the dresses were no longer in style and not what the wearer would choose if given the choice!
8. You all know the story of the pie that disappeared in a pan of milk. Papa's appetite for pie made its first appearance then as he was living with his Hinckley grandparents, about four years old, I think. Papa took us on many trips to see and appreciate our wonderful USA. Pie was a daily must for him even on these trips and sometimes he would have it for breakfast. A week or so before Papa died, I took him shopping and sure enough, he bought a pie to take home and bake.