Family Memories in Montana

Newest family member

2010-06-14T17:08:00.000-06:00

So, just in case you didn't know we have a new family member. Her name is Khloe Mary Maud Slevira. Here she is with her sisters Victoria and Maddie.

And while we're on the subject of sharing pictures Dad needs updated pictures of his great grands to put in the front cover of his binder at the temple. Because he's a supervisor he's got his own binder and he's always decorated it with pics of his great grandkids. So if you guys could either post a group pic of your kids on your blogs or email them to me at lauranna53@gmail.com I'll pass them on to him. Chrislynn might want to wait until the newest member of her family joins the throng. ( by the way, Nan, because I've changed my email address I've had trouble with the notices for your blogs and logging in to view them. Could you possibly send me a new invitation at this address?

2009-09-11T11:34:00.011-06:00

Can you believe it I'm actually going to post something.

I was just talking to Dad and he showed me some genealogy pages that went back to the 1700's on the Asay line. He said the pages listed Joseph Asay Sr as being born in a place called Asay Springs, NJ. I thought that since we do have some family living in that general area these days that it might be interesting to locate that 'town'.

So I looked it up on the internet and found the following article:

Asay Springs
Until recently, the photo and hand drawn map on this page were the only evidence I really had that this place even existed. A visitor to this site sent them to me asking if I'd heard of the place, which I had not, so this page was created in hopes that someone out there knew something else about it. Finally someone found an article in the Trenton Times from 22 Feb 1906, and from that provided us with the following information:
... Asay Springs may not refer to an area, but to actual springs that are located in the White Horse area of present day Hamilton, across the Crosswicks Creek from Bordentown. That approximate area is the former location of a house once known as the Asay-Cubberly house. It was the home of Isaac Asay (son of Joseph, I believe), from 1849-1858 and maybe longer. A good account of the area can be found in Louis Berger & Associates, Historic Sites, Trenton Complex Archaeology: Report 12, The Cultural Resource Group, Louis Berger and Associates, Inc., East Orange NJ, Prepared for the Federal Highway Administration and the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Bureau of Environmental Analysis, Trenton, 1998. (That's a long way of saying they had to study the area before they could build a new highway. If you have a recent map of NJ, you'll see the area is now pretty well covered by the intersection of I-295 and I-195.) The springs were tapped to provide water to Bordentown in 1906
Recently I was contacted by a descendant of Joseph Asay Sr., born in Asay Springs, in 1771. I have no information about his father or family. One of Joseph's sons went west. There is an Asay Town in southern Utah, as well as an Asay Creek near Hatch, Utah named after the family. The Asays helped settle Lovel, Wyoming.
Note the caption on the photo which indicates it was taken near this town somewhere.

The map below gives the approximate location of the bridge in the above photo:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~batsto/Towns/Asay/AsaySprings.html

I couldn't read the caption on the picture so I played around a little cropping and enlarging that part and this is what I got. Still hard to read but I get "Covered Bridge Near Asay Springs on the top line. I can't make out the other line. Maybe someone with younger eyes could read it better.

I'm also posting a new story on http://princessesbunniesandmore.blogspot.com/

A Group With A Mission

2009-07-30T11:19:00.005-06:00

When we were young here in this gorgeous 'Big Sky Country' -- Billings and the area did not have a Stake. The individual Branch auxiliaries were overseen by the Mission. Mother was in the Mission Primary Presidency and traveled the state and some into neighboring states to visit with other leaders. I mostly remember those trips for the little gifts she would bring us back. I think that was her way of making missing her easier on us. She also told stories of the fun they had on their trips. I think she really loved her 'sisters' in the mission primary and although she missed us too she enjoyed the trips and getting together with her friends.

We recently came across this picture of a get-together they had with their spouses.

I'm sure you all recognize the couple on the front left. Good looking young people aren't they?! Next to Mother are Lois & JR Middleton (he's right behind her). On Lois's left is Heloise Butler - for some reason her husband isn't in the picture. Either he was taking the picture or maybe he was busy at their restaurant 'Butler's Broasted Chicken' [best chicken in Billings until it closed--Side story -- it's where our family went to celebrate when Dad finished paying off the mortgage]. Behind Heloise are the Fletchers. She was a very talented musician and he later was a mission president in Sweden. Dad says that he got his call in a rather unusual way. He was in a car with a General Authority who was visiting here and after the GA commented on Bro Fletcher's family background in Sweden the GA told him that he was the new mission president there. Don't know who the couple right behind Mother & Dad were.

Okay I want to ask all of the family to help out a little here. One of the reasons I haven't posted any new stories from Dad is because he's been trying to gather his thoughts to record his personal history. And I mean that literally. He's going to tape it and I have a gadget on my computer to transfer tape to CD so we can all share those stories in his own voice. What I'm asking of you all is to think about what you might like to hear. Are there times in his life you're curious about? If so let me know and I'll pass that on to him.

2009-06-18T12:13:00.016-06:00

The Example Is Carried On

As Father's day is here once again I want to pay tribute to all the fathers in our family.

Growing up the 'Asay 5' all knew that we were loved. Not only did Dad provide a home and the neccessities of life physically but he also took time for us. Some of my best memories are of the games we played, wrestling, & tickling (he's the only person who's tickling I could ever tolerate). He also set the example for all of us of how to live and especially how to treat the people who are important in our lives. We all knew that Mother came first. I've always told other people that my parents never fought. Some didn't believe me, but many expressed admiration.

So, following his example my brother's have gone on to create the same dynamic in their own families, loving and supporting their wives and children.

I believe that my sister Gail was influenced by that example when she met and married the honorable man she shares her life with.
Now we have a new generation and there are still more wonderful fathers filling out our family tree. I love you all and respect the way you care for your families.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-11T12:35:00.004-06:00

Happy Happy Birthday Sister Dear,
May happy days come to you all year
If I had one wish then it would be ---
A Happy Happy Birthday to you from me!

Gail Asay Glover

June 12, 19??

Okay I thought about putting the full year date in there but wasn't sure you'd appreciate that at all.

PS I finally posted another story on my story time blog: http://princessesbunniesandmore.blogspot.com/

Sunday Comics

2009-06-07T13:00:00.007-06:00

One of my favorite comics in the Sunday Papers growing up was Rick O'Shay. The weekday strips were funny, but the Sunday ones were even more special because they were pretty artistic.

So anyway I recently found a book at the local library that mostly daily strips for 1958 and had a few Sunday strips. So here are a couple of those to share. The really really good ones were lovely panoramic views that looked like a Montana mountain scene in full color. These scanned images don't really do them justice. In the first one (in case you can't read it which you probably can't) Rick O'Shay tells a friend that he was surprised to see him at church because he hadn't known that he was a Christian. The other man says that he's sorry to hear that because if he's know him for ten years and couldn't tell "Then I must be doing it wrong!"

In the other one Hip Shot (Rick O'Shay's best friend) is talking to a friend whose girlfriend has gone on a trip to France and wrote about the wonderful panoramas that she's seeing. He says he'd like to see a panorama too. The last panel that he's saying that in shows a glorious panarama of the mountains.

A family tradition

2009-05-08T16:45:00.005-06:00

I was talking to Dad about all the recent injuries to members of our family and he reminded me of the time he fell off a scaffold and cut his head open. It took about 25 stitches.
I also remembered that when Bob was a teenager he dove into a pool on a Mutual outing and hit his head on something. I knew I've seen a picture of him with his head all wrapped up in gauze so I looked through some old pics and hey I found the photo.

He doesn't look very happy does he?

I also wanted to let you know that I'm starting a new separate blog on which the only purpose will be to post stories that I've written. It's at http://princessesbunniesandmore.blogspot.com/ .

I hope you all enjoy them. I'll probably never be a published author but at least I can share these that I've ejoyed creating.

2009-02-18T12:00:00.002-07:00

Family Tidbit

This blog entry has two parts - the latter part I actually put together last week just after the last week's entry. I think it'll be self explanitory when you get to that part.
This first part is the result of a request Gail made to Dad when they spoke on the phone the other day. She asked to see a copy of the following photo.

This handsome young man is our Dad / Granddad / Great-Granddad.

Interesting personal story. When I was younger [probably, mid-teens] I was leafing through a photo album with Mother and saw a picture of dad in a bathing suit. I don't know if it was this exact one or not, but I said something like - Wow, Dad was a hunk! And she said with a funny smile: "See why I married him?" Well, we all know it was more than his body that she loved, but I guess it didn't hurt.

Historical Americana
While searching out historical info for the Lovell area I came across an interesting tidbit about Burma Shave. The connection is in here – wait for it!
For the younger members of our family who never saw any Burma Shave signs, here is a little tutorial. Before interstates people drove on 2 lane roads, and small red Burma Shave signs with white letters would be posted along the side of the road. Five signs, about 100 feet apart with 1 line of a 4 line poem on four of them ...... and the name Burma-Shave on the 5th. Here are a few samples:
IF HUGGING ON HIGHWAYS
IS YOUR SPORT

TRADE IN YOUR CAR

FOR A DAVENPORT

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT

And this one painted on the side of a building in LOVELL, WYOMING

BEN MET ANNA
FELL IN LOVE
HAD A FIGHT
BEN-ANNA SPLIT

Dad doesn’t specifically remember seeing that sign but says that it was most likely on the side of the drugstore downtown. It was originally called the Busy Corner, later Lovell Drug (ps a cousin of his ended up owning Lovell Drug). One side of the building adjoined a local gas station and that’s were he thought it was probably written.

2009-02-13T13:07:00.003-07:00

Found another really old photo.

The lady in the middle in the front is Dad's Great Grandma Lemmon. The one directly behind her is his 'Grammie' Allred. He doesn't remember the other family members names but he says the other sisters married names were Durfee, Emmett, Faris, and Workman -- that apparently covers most of the families in the area. Of course, as he also said when you're related to the Allreds and the Asays that covers relationships with almost everyone in Lovell and possibly the whole Big Horn County.

Case in point for relationships: the current sheriff of Big Horn County is Ken Blackburn and the maiden name of the mother in first Blackburn family in the area was Asay.

Here's a little history of the area [info borrowed from other internet sites]:

Lovell was named after Henry Lovell, rancher.

Major ancestry groups reported by Lovell residents include:
English - 24% German - 23% Mexican - 8% Irish - 7% Scottish - 4%Danish - 4% Norwegian - 4% Swedish - 3% Dutch - 2% French - 2%· Welsh - 2% American Indian tribes, specified - 1% Russian - 1% Scotch-Irish - 1% Polish - 1% European - 1% Arab - 1% Other Hispanic or Latino - 1% Italian - 1% Lebanese - 1% Swiss - 1% All other tribes - 1%

Bighorn County, Wyoming, is located in the northern part of Wyoming's bighorn basin. Bighorn County was created from parcels taken from Johnson, Fremont, and Sheridan counties, and was organized in 1897.
The principle industries in Bighorn County are bentonite mining, farming, sugar beat & bean processing, and tourism. The county offers many attractions, including the Bighorn National Forest & Antelope Butte Ski Area, Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Refuge, Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site, Greybull Museum & dinosaur tracksite, Bighorn Reservoir Recreation Area, Shell Falls, Paintrock, and Medicine Wheel.

2009-02-05T13:34:00.006-07:00

Okay ----- Here are a couple of pictures of my Grandma Mary D. Asay that I'd never seen before. The top one is of her as a young girl with her family. The other is her with Grandpa Amos Earl Asay.

I wish the lighting on the one of the two of them had been better. You can't really see their faces. I found that one interesting because she's a little more, shall we say 'Robust', than I remember her being. The pose reminds me a little of 'American Gothic'.

Now, here is a rundown of who is in the top picture. Dad gave me the married names of the sisters in the pic, so that's why some aren't listed as Allred in this list.

Left to Right front row:

Floyd Allred, Grandpa {Edward Warren}Allred, Veda Lemmon [interesting story about her name -- in Spanish: vida means life, those of you who know this also know that although it is spelled with an -i- it is pronouned with a long -e- sound. So Dad thinks they were trying to use the Spanish word for life but spelled it like it sounded to them]. Anyway - on with the list: After Veda, who's in the middle, the next one is Dad's Grandma 'Grammie' {Rebecca Alverean} Allred [He says he never knew her full name until he was grown. She had always been just Grammie to him]. On the end of the front row is Angus Allred.

Left to Right Back Row:

James Anna Clark [Grandpa Allred wanted to use the name James for his first child -- who knows why he couldn't wait for a boy (as it is he ended up with 4) Dad says he knew her as Aunt Anna until he was a teenager, then when he found out her real first name he liked to tease. He might say if she answered the phone "Is this Aunt James?" to which she'd snarl " Oh Shut Up!]. Anyway on with the list: Ellis Allred, Mary Dianthia {Grandma} Asay, Vera Brinkerhoff [when she married Mr Brinkerhoff she had one child already, and he had four. Of those 5 kids three were grown and out of the home by then and the other two were out on their own not too long after. But --- she had another 9 children within that marriage: 3 girls and 6 boys. Their home had a large closed in porch which was where the boys slept and finally their father also. Dad says that she raised a very good family - "everyone of them"]. Next on that back row is: Chasty Reach [the last name is pronounced 'reesh' Dad says it's a Belgian name and that Chasty's husband was a hard worker. He was working at a small refinery in the area where he fell one day and broke his back. That wasn't ever diagnosed or treated until he was much older and was having a lot of problems with his back. He never missed work because of it]. Finally on the top right is Orvil Allred.

Beans anyone?

2008-11-20T14:20:00.008-07:00

I've found the cure for the old problem of impulse buying when you go to the store hungry. -- All it takes is to also have a headache - anyway nothing looks or sounds good to me when I've got a headache and so when I went to the store to pick up a prescription and thought I'd get something for my lunch and to maybe take for my dinner at work I came away with the prescription and a few other medicinal related items.
Soooo, when I told Dad about my solution to the impulse shopping problem he said that he'd felt that way the night before - not the headache but the lack of interest in any food. So he said he finally just heated up a can of bean soup. He said he's always like bean soup-- and that led to a story.
When Dad was growing up Monday was Bean Soup day. His mother, my Grandma Asay, would put a large pot of beans on to cook all day because it was also laundry and bread baking day. The bean soup was something that could cook pretty much on it's own while she did her other chores.
Their family owned about a quarter of a city block in Lovell. They grew a lot of their food - including beans.

He said when they harvested the beans they usually ended up with a couple of big sacks.

[Picture these sacks filled with beans instead of kids.] And they always ate all of the beans.
They also kept cows, & chickens - I asked, "right in the middle of town?" and he said, "Sure, everyone did it." To water their 'crops' and animals he and his brother Orvin would dig and clean the irrigation ditches around town to pay for their allotment of water.
On a personal note I'd like to report that I passed my Probation period and I think I'd have to mess up pretty bad to lose my job now.
PS: After I posted this I was telling Dad about it and about the picture of the kids in the gunny sack race. He said that their sacks were made of canvas and were about two feet longer than gunny sacks.

Favorite Things

2008-11-06T13:50:00.005-07:00

One of the things I want to do on this blog installment is to thank everyone for their blogs. Dad enjoys them so much -- it really boosts his day to read them. He enjoys every one of the entries. When he read the one about Olivia saying "I love Grandma Asay" he cried -- he had the page I printed out laminated to save it and he shows it to everyone who comes to the house. Nan - I was thinking that if you could either post or email me a picture of her with her quilt he'd probably like to frame them together. You can get my email address from your mom if you don't have it.

I decided to also answer Gavin's tag - He did say "anyone else" (by the way, he's very talkative for such a little guy) So anyway, here are seven of Grandpa Asay's Favorite things {his family isn't on this list because that's a given} Favorite Color: Blue / Favorite Book: The Book of Mormon - he loves reading it when he's out at the temple / Favorite Activity: Working at the Temple [of course] Favorite Movie: Anything with John Wayne - beginning with Stage Coach [he doesn't care for the earlier spaghetti westerns] Favorite Hobby: Rock polishing [no surprise there] Favorite Season: Anytime he can use his tractor mower - he's considering getting a blade for it to clean the driveway in the winter so that just may make it year round fun

Finally I'd like to request that everyone send me any new or corrected info for the family calendar. I'd also like everyone to send me the year of their birth and/or anniversary. I won't publish them if you don't want them to be but my calendar program has the full date field including the year but right now except for the littlest ones it shows only as the year I entered the Month and Day (the year doesn't show up on the actual calendar). I'd like to edit it with the actual correct date in all background fields for my benefit. Here's a weird thing few people know about me - I'm a little OCD about about some things and having accurate info is one of them. Thanks in advance. When I've got all the newest info I'll get the calendar's underway.

Catch up

2008-10-05T12:25:00.003-06:00

I just looked at my blog page and saw that I haven't written anything since July. I keep thinking about writing something but like most of my good intentions I don't get around to it. So here's just some rambling thoughts.

First of all I'd like to suggest that anyone who might be contemplating a visit to Montana in the near future to try for Thanksgiving week. I know that traveling in winter can be a challenge but it's going to be a hard time for Dad - since that week will also be his and Mother's anniversary I think he needs as much family as possible to buoy him up at that time. He doesn't talk openly often about it but little things remind him Mother and chock him up. Like the song choices in a recent Sacrament meeting which included 'Love at Home' one of Mother's favorite hymns (which I remember her singing when any of us were quarrelling), and 'Families can be Together Forever'. I've had times when that one has given me a few tears (the message is beautiful but can be a little hard for a person who is alone).

Dad still goes to the temple twice a week. He says he has a problem because he's had several brothers say that want to work next to him because he know how to do everything. So he worries that he can't make even any tiny errors.

I'm still in a probationary period at work and almost once a month someone else who is still on probation is fired. I don't know all the particulars but it is a little intimidating. Every time I think I think I've about got things down and that I'm making progress I get told of something else that I'm either doing wrong or something I should be doing that I'm not. The last evaluation I got from 'Training officer' included the statement that I make excuses or argue when told of mistakes. There were several other things on the evaluation sheet that I didn't totally agree with but what could I say after that statement.

Finally a comment on KD and Nancy's blogs on exercise. I'm so glad you've decided to develop good habits so early in your lives. My doctor is always after me to exercise and I keep meaning to but it's really hard to make myself do it. I place the blame on bad experiences in high school gym that made me hate exercise, but that's not a very good excuse. Personally I often feel that exercise is the 'Snake Oil' of the 21st century. I'm always hearing on how exercise will cure this one disease or another or else prevent serious health problems. It's another thing that I keep intending to to improve on and don't find the right time or motivation.

Rose Town

2008-07-31T09:28:00.006-06:00

Happy Weekend everybody! Yes I know it's only Thursday and I'm not starting a long weekend. Like most other people my weekend is only 2 days long, but mine is on Thursday and Friday. Since the jail is open 24/7 everyone has different shifts and schedules to cover that. My schedule is on what is called 2nd shift - from 2:45 to 11:15 pm -- Saturday through Wednesday . So today is my Saturday. It sometimes makes it confusing as to what real day of the week it is.

Last Sunday (the real one) Kee Ostler (who's husbands family is from Lovell) said she thinks of Dad everytime they go to Lovell because someone told her that he helped plant the roses you see when you enter town. So I asked Dad about that & at first he said no - then after a few seconds he said that he'd helped plant roses on the east side of town that he doesn't think are there anymore. At the time he was about 24 and worked part time for the man who planted both strips of roses. Dr. William Watts Horsley had a huge rose garden around his own home and never seemed to get enough. He even bought a strip of land from his neighbor to fill with more roses. Dad said he would regularly get boxes the size of a refrigerator box full of roses. When he got new ones he often had to dig up old ones to make a place to put them. Dad helped him do that - then took the old ones to his own home. So now we know where his love of roses started.

Out of curiosity I looked up Lovell on the internet to see if I could find any pics of the roses. According to Wikepedia Lovell is nicknamed Rose Town of Wyoming.

I found this info on the town's Chamber of Commerce page:

"Dr. William Watts Horsley came to Lovell in the 1920's. As one of the foremost authorities in the United States on roses, he found the climate in Lovell to be exceptional for growing this flower and began to create rose gardens. This practice became popular in town and soon many yards and gardens became populated with many different types of roses. The Town itself has dedicated rose gardens and prides itself on the popularity and national attention in respect to its bountiful roses. A drive through Lovell in the summer will quickly reveal the dedication by residents to uphold the belief that Lovell is indeed Wyoming's Rose City."

Legacy

2008-07-10T13:37:00.009-06:00

While we are all recovering from the lose for a time of our dear mother (and grandmother) it can be hard to remember that this seperation is only a short time in the eyes of the Lord. Everyone I've spoken to since her passing that knew her have spoken of her goodness and kindness. She was well loved and respected and so many that also loved her welcomed her with open arms as she joined them on the other side of the veil. We can all be so grateful for all the happy memories we have of her and her legacy. We have had the honor of being part of that legacy. Here are some images of some of those who make up that legacy. [I borrowed some of these from other family members blogs - Mother always loved to read the blogs and see the pictures of her beloved grand and great-grand kids]

I know this is not totally representative of everyone. If Mother were looking over my shoulder I know she'd be happy to see these images and want more. So I'll try to get more together for another time. Just always remember the love we share with one another and the example of love and caring she always gave us.

A True Father

2008-06-15T06:00:00.004-06:00

Father’s Day is a nationally designated day to honor the men who gave us life & took care of us for a large part of our lives. To some Fathers it will mean a tacky tie or breakfast in bed. But then, to many in the world the term Father does not refer to a man as honorable and loving as the patriarch of our family.

Over 62 years ago our family began with two loving people who cared for each other greatly and still do to this day. They have set the example for all to follow. Bob’s youngest daughter recently asked him if his caring for his wife Cheri comes from the example that his dad set for him. Bob answered in the affirmative.

When I was in college I came across a little plaque the said "The most important thing a Father can do for his children is to Love their Mother!" I sent it home to Dad and the next time I was home from school I saw it prominantly displayed in the living room. I remember several times that it was pointed out to visitors with the statement 'That's the rule in this house!'

We are so fortunate to have the loving example we do. Recently a letter to Dear Abby detailed a nightmarish home situation, which a woman finally had the courage to leave and save her children from. She said that before she finally left she had appealed to her husband’s family to help her with him. Her brother-in-law sympathized but wouldn’t get involved. Her sister-in-law didn’t want to hear anything bad about her brother. Her father-in-law asked what she had done to ‘set her husband off’. It was obvious that her husband had been raised in a home were it was acceptable for the husband to use any excuse to get angry and abusive. In discussing this with Mother and Dad I made the comment that it’s too bad that everyone in the world wasn’t raised with the example we had growing up. I truly believe the world would be a better place if they had.

It all started here with this young couple obviously very much in love (and as Mother said when I showed them this pic and made that comment - they still are!)

He went to work with the railroad - being sent all over the State of Montana to support his young family.

This is a picture from one of his work stations in Hysham, Montana in 1957.

I remember one of my sisters (I don't remember which one) telling me something about living in a 'box-car' when we first moved to Billings. So I recently asked Mother & Dad about that. They first looked at me as if I was crazy, then remembered that one of Dad's work places housed the person manning the place in a converted coach train car and the family visiting him there for a week at a time on a couple of locations. That was at a little place called Benz, MT where there was a water tower and coal storage for the steam engines to stock up. The coach car was a passenger car with the seats removed and fitted out as a sort of trailer sitting on the siding with no wheels. Something sort of like this.

From that start the family has grown and his family has always been a priority to Dad. As a young father he carried a pocket sized photo album titled "Our Kids" with him when he had to go out of town. Here are a couple of the photos included in that album.

Here is the gang as we were not long after the move to the house on Lake Elmo.

And here's the final addition to the original family group. Baby David in 1961.

The love and example he has given all of us lives on and on in each generation of our family. We all love and honor the man who gave us life on this day and every day of the year!!

Old and new stories

2008-05-25T13:11:00.012-06:00

I was going through a photo album recently with Jenny (she wanted to see what pics we might have of her family). Anyway I found some really old photos of the early days of our family. I'll post a few at a time here with whatever stories I can glean about them. The 1st four were taken at the 1st place we lived in Billings right after I was born. Right after my birth Mother, Nancy, Gail, and I took up residence at a house on 26th street near downtown Billings. It was a house that Grandmother Wilson owned that had been turned into a 2 family residence - sort of a duplex, but with one apartment upstairs and one down instead of side by side. Dad was in Spokane at his telegraphy training and drove back to see his new daughter (me). Nancy and Gail were in a sandbox in the front yard when he pulled up. Gail jumped up and ran to the car yelling "Daddy's home!" Nancy glanced up - said "I know," and went on with her play.

By the way - here are a few of the photos I scanned for Jen. That's Zach and Jen in the 1st one, Jen at Christmas when she was probably almost 2, the 3rd one I call Speed Racer Zach, and the Fourth is Grandma and Grandpa Asay with baby Whitney, and Zach & Jen .

On the current front we're all very happy with mother's new walker. Jenny was here one evening and she saw how hard it was for mother to get around even with a walker (we have an old one Dad got at DI for $2 years ago before his first hip surgery). She suggested that if mother's cardiologist would write a prescription for it that Mother could get a newer one with a seat [with Medicare paying for it]. The very next day Jenny called that doctor's nurse and got the prescription written. Then she called the medical supply place that's associated with the Billings Clinic. They had one in stock so she picked it up and brought it over that evening. Dad has been after me ever since to tell you all about it here. Since I don't have a digital camera to take a picture of it here's a similar one from the internet.

Hers is all black [Oops - I posted this yesterday and I just looked at the walker again and realized that it is also blue where the one in the picture is blue -- but its a very dark midnight blue that I mistook for black]. The basket on hers is directly under the seat which flips up to access it. It's been really a great help to her to get around the house. Dad plans to puts some paving stones next to the front sidewalk to make it wide enought to push the walker from the bottom of the front steps to the driveway. The basket can also be removed so the whole unit can be folded up for easy transport.

Go to Jail, Go directly to Jail

2008-04-27T12:32:00.005-06:00

Before anyone starts worrying about the implications of the title of this entry - it's actually a good thing. A position I had interviewed and tested for at the local detention facility became available this week, and I decided to take it. It pays a little more than my current position ($12.25 per hour as opposed to $11.50), and it feels more secure [no pun intended]. It's just that the position at CNI is on a contract basis and some of the paperwork I went over in my orientation called it an 'at will' position - meaning they could terminate me at anytime. That's a particular worry with the contract aspect of the position - if the contract ends suddenly so does the job. I spoke to the lady I was working with this last week about taking a different job and she said good for me. She was actually laid off by CNI for a while last year in a group of 100, then was called back just before her severence period ended. Consequently she understands my feeling of insecurity about the job.

I will be working in the control room at YCDF (that's Yellowstone County Detention Facility). That means I'll be closed in a sealed room with monitors and the controls to all the electronic locks. There are windows facing in so I can see people passing in the hall, but most of the time I'll be in there alone. I worked out there as a Booking Clerk about 15 years ago and thought at that time that I'd rather be in that nice enclosed room than outside dealing with some of the people I had to deal with. They asked in the interview how I'd feel about being closed in like that. I told them it wouldn't be a problem. I'm not claustrophobic - instead it's crowds that affect me (or do I mean effect - it's one of those confusing homonyms). I can be in a minuscule space by myself and I'm just fine. But put me in a crowded room - even an auditorium sized space and I feel like I can't breath well. I came very close to a panic attack at the local mall here in Billings one Christmas and I generally avoid most stores during the busiest hours on Saturdays or evenings.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know about the latest change. I think I'll be working the swing shift, so I'll be away from home in the evening but I'll have most of the daytime hours for any personal business or errands. It means I won't be able to ride the bus anymore (I'm not even sure there's one that goes close by, but there definitely won't be one available at around 11:30 pm when I'll be getting off), but with about $90 more per month I might be able to afford the gas.

Changes

2008-04-13T14:32:00.002-06:00

I started writing this entry with the newer info that will follow but decided that it had been too long since I'd posted any older stories. So I talked to Dad and got a little bit of history to add today.

It seems that he was born in a house outside of town that is now the club-house for the local golf course. But before that it was his family's home. Then when his Grandfather got older he traded with his son for a house in Lovell - which is the house we visited Grandma Asay at as kids. He says they always kept about 4 cows and their calves. He learned to milk a cow at the age of 5 because he liked his milk warm and his brother refused to go get him fresh milk for his lunch. On one occasion they had a cow who had just had a calf but did not like being milked. She got so difficult that they drilled holes in the side of the barn, ran baling wire through the holes and around the cow to hold her still. After 2 or three times with that treatment she finally stood still on her own.

The original hospital in Lovell was a small two story building with rickety stairs. Out near the sugar factory there was a larger one story structure which was used to house seasonal factory workers. Then the local doctors purchased it and moved the whole building to the location of the existing hospital. It became the town hospital and was the building in which Gail and I were born. It later became the Beverly Motel. Mother remembers having to walk to the hospital when she was in labor. She wasn't sure which time but since Dad was there when Gail was born and not when I was I think it was probably me she was laboring with when she had to walk there. Of course there is also the fact that she hemorrhaged pretty badly when Gail was born and we're not sure why. It really scared Dad who was watching the delivery through a window when they sort of tossed the baby onto a nearby table (something that's never set right with Gail) to cluster around Mother who was bleeding very badly. He says when he left the hospital he had to sit with his head between his knees for about 1/2 hour before he could drive home.

Dad started making changes around here this week to make it easier for Mother to get in and out of the house. We now have a rail along the sidewalk from the driveway to the front steps. Then on the top of the steps he built a small ramp with a slight incline up to the edge of the door sill. Although Mother has accepted the necessity of using a wheelchair when they go out to the temple she isn't ready to do so at home. Right now she can walk on her own if she has something to hold onto, but the distance from the top of the step up into the house was getting to be to0 much for her since there isn't really anything at that point to hold on to to get up. When it all painted and done I'll get a picture of it to post for everyone to see.

I want to thank all of my family for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers lately - it's paid off. I finally have a full time job again. I work for Chickasaw Nation Industries. It is a company that works under the auspices of the Chickasaw Indian Nation with corporate offices in Oklahoma and Albuquerque. This company does contract work all over the country for different agencies. Here in Billings it is working with the BIA in this area. So far it is interesting work. There is only one other regular worker on the project I'm on so we have a good size office all to ourselves. Our office is in the Federal Building on 3rd North. The building is just across the street from the spot where the bus from the heights parks. I had a small dilemma to start out with because while the bus got me downtown on time for a work schedule of 7:30 to 4:00, (there are actually two I can catch to get downtown from here) the evening bus leaves at 3:55 or 5:10. So I just missed one when I got off and had to wait another hour for the next one. I was fortunate that my manager (who is in Albuquerque) okayed it for me to work 7:15 to 3:45 which works on both ends for the bus. The starting wage on this job is very good for Billings ($11.50 per hour + benefits). The benefits will kick in just in time. I still have some of my prescriptions that I filled with a 3 month supply before my benefits ran out from my other job and I'll be qualified to start using my new insurance within a month.

Memories

2008-03-20T12:41:00.003-06:00

The other day I told Dad that I'd had a craving the night before for BLT's and did he mind if I made some for dinner. He said sure. Then Mother mentioned that BLT's were the 1st meal they shared as a married couple. When they left the SLC temple after their wedding they went to a small restaurant nearby and that's what they ordered.

Then Dad told me that after he got back from Japan after WWII he ate BLT's for every meal for a while. He had gone so long during his service in the Army without fresh foods that that was all he wanted for a while.

So for them BLT's aren't just a comfort food -- they stir up good memories. Amazing what a simple sandwich can do.

I was reading David's blog and it reminded me of events in my early college days. That's when I was into pranks usually at the instigation of roommates. Both years of college (at Ricks College - nka BYU-Idaho)I lived in the basement of houses (a different one each year) off campus. The 1st year the girls upstairs were part of my home-evening group. They played a lot of tricks on each other and on their friends and boyfriends. One evening my roommate and I went up just as they were getting ready for one. When we walked in they looked up and said "let's have Laura do it." They told me that they wanted me to tell someone on the phone that our bathroom wasn't working - could we use theirs. It turned out it was the guys in our home evening group that they were calling. They guy who answered the phone said okay. So we took towels, soap, and tooth brushes and traipsed over (about a block away). Once there we lined up and took turns going in & out of the bathroom. We really didn't do anything but just run the water, so it was a pretty silly prank. But the guys who lived downstairs from them got a big kick out of it - watching us lining up and taking our turns.

It was my second year that things got a little more active. We had a few running gags, i.e. we'd call guys up and sing the Big Spender song. Somehow I became the main chanteuse for that joke. Or we'd call people up and tell them that they had won a free pizza from the local pizza joint. I don't know how many times we did either of those but the one I remember is when we called a girl I worked early morning janitorial with. When I got the work the next morning she was in the process of telling our other co-worker about it. It seems our call came just as she was getting ready to go to bed (had to get up early for work in the morning). So she told her roommate that she and her boyfriend could have it. They hurried over and told the people at the pizzeria that they were there to pick up LuJean Bullock's free pizza. When the pizza people looked at them like they were crazy they realized it was a joke, but they thought that LuJean was the one playing it on them. After she told us the story LuJean said she knew who it was. Well, she didn't really, and I didn't tell her until the end of the school year.

Two of my roommates had two tricks they played on each other (and the rest of us some of the time). They threw glasses of cold water over the shower curtain on whoever was in there. So one day my roommate Jan threw the water into the shower when I was the showeree. It totally missed me, but she didn't realize that and was afraid that I might retaliate. She offered me info to my benefit to buy me off. It seems that Sherri - the roommate in my bedroom had put ice-cubes in my bed. (their other favorite trick). I took them out before they could melt without letting Sherri know. Then I took my time getting ready for bed. When I finally pulled back the covers and slipped in I settled down comfortably and turned over. After a few seconds I heard "Asay?" "Yes, Sherri," I said with a calm tone. "What happened to the ice!?" she asked. I told her I had found it and removed it earlier. I never did tell her that Jan ratted her out but I think maybe she figured it out because Jan's bed had ice the next night.

Childhood Memories

2008-02-24T09:35:00.005-07:00

Nancy's recent post about her favorite childhood program reminded me of mine - a cartoon called "Ruff and Ready". Unfortunately it seems that everyone I've mentioned it to never heard of it. So this morning out of curiosity I looked it up on the Internet and found this info in Wikipedia:

"The Ruff & Reddy Show is a Hanna-Barbera animated series starring Ruff, a cat voiced by Don Messick, and Reddy, a dog voiced by Daws Butler. First broadcast in December 1957 on NBC, it was the first television show produced by Hanna-Barbera. NBC cancelled the show at the end of the 1959-1960 season.
Messick's "Ruff" voice was very similar to the one he would later use for Pixie the mouse (whose nemesis Jinks the cat is known for the line 'I hate those meeces to pieces!'). Butler used his tried-and-true southern drawl for "Reddy", a voice that would later become mainly identified with Huckleberry Hound."

Just to show how unreliable our memories can be I thought that both characters were dogs. I do have a vivid memory of getting up early Saturday mornings to watch it - sitting really close to the tv with the sound down low because I was the only one up. I remember being in either that position or sitting on the heat vent when Dad came home from work. Both Mother & Dad worked night shifts but since this probably happened in 1959 or 60 when I was 6 or 7 Mother wouldn't have been working at that time (aside from the all-consuming business of being a mother).

Our littlest hero

2008-02-20T09:01:00.011-07:00

<--Jenny Asay - Bob's oldest girl holding her oldest daughter Victoria.

The following is from the local paper following a special heroes presentation last night:

***Selfless acts celebrated by Red Cross
Victoria Slevira walked up to the stage in the Crowne Plaza ballroom, tight-lipped and extremely nervous. She hugged her mother and buried her face in her side as several hundred people in the room applauded, even though she hadn't said a word.

Victoria, 6, was one of 17 Billings-area residents honored by the American Red Cross of Montana for their service to the community Tuesday. People from all walks of life - from a father and son to law enforcement officials - were recognized for their selfless acts at the 10th Annual Heroes Celebration.

"We want to show the community how important it is to stand up for values and what is right," said Kristie Boelter, regional director of the Red Cross of Montana. "These people are true role models."

Victoria was honored for staying calm and assisting her grandfather when he had a heart attack last July. ***

A few years ago Bob was honored with a heroes reward in a similar ceremony which is an annual event by the local Red Cross. He was nominated by Jenny who said he was a hero for being such a strong, good father - for always being there for his kids and sacrificing his time for them. Bob nominated Victoria for this one. When he was having his heart attack Jenny had just dropped her girls off at Bob's. Victoria was getting ready for a bath and had already disrobed when she noticed that her grandpa was acting differently. He asked her to get her mom, so she ran outside (in the buff) to get Jenny. While they were waiting for emergency services Victoria said to Bob - " Do you remember when your mom was sick and I told you that she'd be okay?" When he said yes she told him that he would be okay too.

Aren't we lucky to have so many honorable, heroic people in our family!

PS - I just received a job offer from a company that does contract work for the Federal Gov't. To finalized my hiring I have to pass a pretty extensive background check, so assuming that all goes okay I'll be starting work in about a month at almost $1 more per hour than I was making on my last job.

Too Much Excitement -- Part 2

2008-02-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been a couple of weeks and things have been improving physically for Mother & Dad.

We have, however, been carrying on an ongoing battle with the local newspaper over their new policy of 'edge of property delivery'. It started without even any notice. Mother went out to get the paper (which she has been in the habit of doing because she's usually the 1st one up) on the Sunday morning after their trip to the emergency room and it wasn't in the box. I got up between 7 and 7:30 and checked again in the box and around the steps, then I called to complain that we hadn't received our paper. That's when we were informed of the new policy. I told them that with two octogenarians in the house the edge of the property wasn't going to work. (I didn't actually use that word - I told them the exact ages) The woman said she'd pass my message along.

I went out and checked the lawn, front walk, and drive way - still couldn't find a paper. Later when I was leaving for church I found it on the neighbors lawn. From then on they have hit our driveway - but way down at the end. We called several times over the next couple of weeks to complain and got the same run around.

Earlier this week Mother and Dad finally got in to a specialist about their injuries and were given shots and meds. Dad is feeling so much better he's moving around the house much better.

On Thursday morning Mother decided that she should be able to get around more independantly so she walked out to the end of the driveway to get the paper. When she bent down to get it she lost her balance. She doesn't have the balance or strength to get up on her own. Dad and I were still in bed and didn't even know what had happened. When Dad got up he noticed the living room light on but Mother wasn't in the living room. He opened the door to go get the paper and found her on the front step. She had crawled back up the driveway. She still couldn't get up and with his prior experience he couldn't help her. So they buzzed me on the intercom and I came up to see what was going on. It took us a little while to figure out how to help her back to her recliner because she can't be lifted by her arms.

I was so mad I didn't trust myself to call them so I went online and sent them a carefully composed comment on their webpage about what I thought of their terrible customer service. I told them that I held them responsible for Mother's fall and that they were lucky that we aren't litigious people. I told them we wanted to cancel our subscription and a refund of all prepaid payments. They haven't yet responded directly, but the paper was on the front step this morning. I'm pretty sure they don't want to give a refund, but they've already lost any future business from this house. When our current subscription expires it won't be renewed. We can get our news from the tv or online. I also checked out the daily comics and we can assess all our favorites online. I even found a site that has the exact same jumble that Mother and I like to work.

It really amazes me that at a time when there are so many other resources that they would show such disregard for their customers. They may be the only daily paper in the area but that doesn't make for a monopoly anymore.

Too Much Excitement

2008-01-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

We had a little more excitement here than we needed this week.

It started on Thursday afternoon when Mother & Dad came home from the Temple. When Mother got out of the van her coat got caught in the door. She didn't notice and neither did Dad. The van moved just a little way as she turned to take a step. She stumbled and fell - catching herself with her left arm. She was afraid for a moment that she would be dragged down the driveway. She says it wasn't as bad as it might have been because she landed in a snow drift instead of on the concrete. Dad saw her fall and stopped the van to come around to help her up. When he lifted her up he got an immediate pain in his lower back. Mother came into the house with snow in her hair and on her glasses.

So as a result of this incident mother's left shoulder felt like her right one when she tore that rotator cuff, and Dad had a severe pain in his back. Dad wanted to wait and see if he felt better before going to the hospital.

On Friday he went to the store and decided being able to get around over there was evidence that he was better but that really wasn't a very good test. He went to Walmart where they always have a motorized cart waiting for him when they see him coming. Mother said she would wait until Saturday and go to Same-Day Care.

Then Saturday morning Dad was in so much pain he could barely move. I got out his old walker and he painfully made his way to the living room. We called for an ambulance. A firetruck showed up first, fortunately without lights and sirens since I had told the dispatch operator that he wasn't having heart or breathing problems. There is a fire station just up the hill so I think it's standard policy to send their paramedics first.

Mother and I followed soon after. Once we got down there we decided to have them check out her shoulder as well. So she was placed in another room. Her room was right across the hall from his and they sat up in their beds waving to each other and telling each other 'I love you'. They both had X-rays and there wasn't anything broken (that doesn't guarantee there is some sort of soft tissue injury, but neither of them can have MRI's because of their pacemakers). Dad couldn't stand or put any pressure on his right side so they decided to admit him overnight. They treated him with steroids and he felt so much better this morning that he came home around noon today.

When he got home he opened a package that came in the mail yesterday. It turned out to be a lovely photo album from the 'Spanish Branch' of the family. Thanks - we all enjoyed it very much!!

2008-01-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

I haven 't interviewed Mother & Dad lately and when they've spontaneously told stories I haven't had the presence of mind to write it down. So here's just a little bit I remember from light conversation.

We were watching ice skating on tv one day last week -- I commented that I'd only ever gone skating once because I'd fallen down over and over until my backside and ankles hurt too much to want to do it ever again. Mother told me about a similar experience. When she was young she, Betty, and the Asay twins were dropped off to ice skate on the lake outside of Lovell. Shortly after getting there Mother fell and hit her head. Then they all had to wait in a relatively isolated spot with no shelter until their ride came back. She never wanted to go again.

The most recent story that Dad told me was about a cousin who married young. His young wife apparently wanted to make sure he wouldn't leave her home alone more than necessary. So when he came home from work she would hide his shoes so he couldn't go back out 'with the boys'. I guess it worked, so maybe he didn't really want to go back out that bad.

Dad got a phone call the other night from the daughter of Uncle Archie's (Dad's oldest brother) adopted son. Her dad cut off contact with his whole family years ago. She's trying to reconnect. Dad said something about events at around the time of the adoption. She was surprised to learn that Archie wasn't her biological grandpa. Dad gave her contact information for Cousin Patsy (one of Aunt Vida's girls) because he thought she might know how to get in touch with the adopted daughter who would be that woman's aunt.

Currently I'm still job hunting. I've put out more applications than I think I've ever done before - it's so easy to do on the internet. So far no luck. I thought I had a pretty good shot for a job at the dispatch center (911) On the day of the interview the manager told me as I was leaving that I made a good impression when they had me come in pre-interview to observe, and that I presented well in the interview. She said she'd be making a decision by the end of the week so on Friday I kept waiting for a phone call. Then on Saturday I got the dreaded reject letter. I also think I did well interviewing for a position as a control operator at the jail. But the problem there is that they are only creating a hiring pool right now. So even if I'm top of the list I'd have to wait until someone else leaves. Sergent Metzger told me that they've got 2 people on probabtion in that position right now (since the jail is a 24-7 place there are 3 shifts) He said if either of them don't pass probation they'd have an opening. So I would have to be real mean to wish that someone else would wash out so that I could have their job.

Random Memories and News

2007-12-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

I asked Mother & Dad if they had any special Christmas traditions growing up and they said not really. I think it's probably more likely that what their families did just seemed so natural to them that they didn't even think of it as anything as formal as tradition. Mother remembers one year a family in their ward telling Grandma Wilson that they wouldn't have a Christmas if it weren't for her, because of her nursing care for a particular member of their family. Dad remembers stringing popcorn to decorate the tree and having 4 clips to attach candles to the tree. Yes actual lit candles!
I didn't have any notion growing up that anything we did could be categorized as tradition. I can see now that we had patterns if nothing else. We (the 'kids') were not supposed to go into the living room on Christmas morning until Dad got home. He worked nights and so it was probably around 8:30 or 9:00 before we started the gift opening part of things. We usually got into our stockings first which always had an orange, an apple, a banana, nuts (in the shell), and hard ribbon candy. Dad would sit near the tree and pass out the gifts to the rest of us. I don't remember any set order to things and it seems from that point it was just sort of general mayhem.
Now the tradition is definitely for Christmas Candy. Mother doesn't have the energy for the actual candy making anymore so Dad has taken over that task. For the past 2 weeks he has spent a chunk of time almost every day sitting at the counter by the stove mixing and stirring up batches of fudge and caramels. He made 9 separate pans of fudge and caramels (that's 4 of the caramels & 5 of the fudge). Everyone gets a pan of each and we've got one of the fudge for us here.
Other than that things are going along pretty much as normal with a few small exceptions.
Until this past week Mother had not been out to the temple for several months. Ever since the temple opened here in Billings Mother and Dad have been working two regular shifts on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Mother had to take some time off after her heart attack last year and when she went back it was just one day a week. Then she had a bad day - in about April I think. Dad suggested that she use a wheel chair and it kind of upset her. She stopped going at all because of the drain on her energy. Then last week she decided that if she needed to use a wheel chair out there then that's how it'd be. They when through a regular session and then did several sealings. Mother did fine, but Dad passed out for a few seconds when he stood up too fast to go back to the altar to do proxy for a set sealing sons to the family.
I am currently in employment limbo. My employer (who shall remain nameless for several reasons) decided that they were overstaffed for the workload they anticipate having in the near and distant future. So on November 1st a group of us were called into a meeting room and informed that we were being 'displaced'. Officially at the present time I am a non-working employee with regular pay and benefits until Jan. 8th. Then I will have a month of severance pay and continuing benefits until Feb 3rd. I have been putting out a lot of application mostly online. So far I've only had two calls for interviews. The first was back at my old company and I wasn't broken hearted to learn that I didn't get it. From what I understand of the atmosphere out there things are still more than a little tense and I don't trust that another position there would be very secure. The other is coming up this week at the Billings Clinic. I had been a little concerned that I wasn't getting any calls but decided that it was all for the best as I am still recuperating from surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder. This is a picture of the inside of my shoulder.
In the bottom photo the pinkish bit on the right side is the bone that the rotator cuff is supposed to be attached to. The white thing above is the rotator cuff that's supposed to be attached there. The thing in the middle is what they anchored to the bone to put it all back together, and the top photo is everything after they where done. Not the prettiest picture you'll ever see - sorry.

Our Honored Veteran

2007-11-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

The handsome young man on the left in this photo is Maurice Earl Asay, our dad, granddad, and great grandad.

Dad served in the army after his mission in the latter part of 1944 and most of 1945.

He was first sent to the Philippines. He spent about 6 weeks in Luzon - the main island - where he first landed then was sent to Cebu -the southern island - where he was stationed for the next 6 months. The war officially ended while he was there and the main duty of those stationed there was to round up Japanese soldiers who were scattered in the hills. Eventually 20,000 Japanese soldiers were brought down out to the hills of Cebu.

While he was stationed there a chapel was built for the use of the various denominations. Dad and other LDS soldiers started having classes in the building before the roof was even on it. Their unit had a Catholic chaplain but when the supervising chaplain visited he gave the LDS group 1st choice of meeting time - they picked 10:00 am. An LDS chaplain from another unit visited and set Dad apart as the presiding elder for his group. He was about 23 at this time and was a Private 1st Class. He earned two rows of ribbons and the Infantry Combat Badge.

After his time in the Philippines he was sent to Japan for almost a year where he was made a staff sergeant and put in charge of supervising the quarter master laundry where the workers were local Japanese women. The workers liked him and when he'd get his laundry back even the socks and underwear were ironed.

Part of his rations while he was in the service was a carton of cigarettes every week. These he sold to some of the local Japanese. With the money that he accumulated he bought two authentic Japanese kimonos. He gave one to his sister Anna Mae. Mother has the other one.

Jenny recently asked for a picture of him for a display that they were putting up in her office to honor veterans. The night she came by he didn't have a picture in uniform on hand. He looked through some old pictures the next day and found the one that's on this page now. She originally took his mission picture just to have one of him at the approximate right age to use. She also took a copy of the picture of Andy Wilson that I posted on the blog a few weeks ago. When she came by on Halloween to bring her girls she said that a man that came into her office said he recognized Andy from the picture. She told him that it was her grandmother's cousin who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge - he said "So did I!"

1 of the new 'Twins'

2007-10-30T17:14:00.001-06:00

This is just going to be a short entry today to introduce you to one of our newest family members. Most of you probably know by now that Whitney had her baby on Friday afternoon (10/26/07). I now have pictures.

Whitney brought her by to visit her Great-grandparents this afternoon, took pictures, and left some. Sooo - here she is - Miss Akira Kay Wilson.

Dad is telling people that we now have twins in the family -- just with different parents. I told my co-workers that I got two new grand-nieces this weekend they asked about twins. So told them yes - except that one was born here in Billings, and the other in New Jersey.

Family Photos

2007-10-21T17:24:00.000-06:00

We recently reconnected with another part of our family when Joann Gilmour Rivers called, then emailed to get in touch with us. She is the oldest daughter and middle child of Betty Wilson Gilmour - Mother's next oldest sister who passed away a few years ago. Joan lives in Oregon with her family.

In her own words from her email here are the identities of those in this pic: "I thought I would share pictures of our family here. This group shot is my family and Dad at my middle girls' wedding. It was taken outside the Portland Temple in February of this year [2007]. From left to right: Sandy {Gilmour - her dad}- Cynthia (our eldest) her husband Nathan and their kids, Ashley and Andrew. (They are expecting their third in February.) Gary, my husband and best friend, Stephanie and her new husband, Jonathan. Myself, our youngest son (but tallest at 6'5'), Marc and Melissa (They were married in March of this year). Scott, our eldest son, is holding Colby, (his adopted son) Michele, his wife as of June of this year. (They are expecting in April). Last but not least - our youngest, Brittany."

Joann has also been sending copies of pictures that Betty had collected but which had no names attached so we've been identifying those we could.

So here are a few family photos from way back:

This is Belle Low Armstrong - One of Grandma Wilson's sisters that lived in California.

This is Grandpa and Grandma Wilson - Since there is only one child in the car with them we're assuming it is the oldest -- Myrtle.

This is Charles 'Chick' Wilson -- Charles [aka Chick], Bill, John, Andy, and Jean were Cousins of the Wilson sisters (Myrtle, Betty, and Mary). They are the children of Great Grandpa Wilson and our Grandma Wilson's Sister - Mary -- his 2nd wife. Grandma (Nan) Wilson raised them along with her 3 girls after the Death of their Mother. Since their father was our mothers' grandfather they were Uncles & Aunt(Jean), but since their mother was our grandma's sister they are also cousins. Chick was very much in demand in the field of race car construction in his day - working in California

This is Andy Wilson - He fought in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. After he returned home there was a police chase with guns blazing that passed by the shop he was working at. Everyone rushed to the front to watch the action, but when it was past they looked around and couldn't find Andy. He was finally located behind a cement wall on the property.

The couple holding the little boy in this group picture are John Wilson and his wife Helen. According to the geneology sheet mother showed me they had two boys - Robert Ben Wilson born 2/11/41, and John Dee born 9/4/42. I don't know which if either this little guy is. The lady on the far left is Betty, and Grandma Wilson is in the middle.

If Joann sends more pictures we will share them here as we are able to identify them.

If anyone comes across this blog who may have lived in the Big Horn Basin area in the 40's let me know -- I'll add some of the pictues we couldn't identify and maybe you'll know them.

Old and New

2007-09-03T16:42:00.000-06:00

I'm changing things around a little bit as of this post.

I feel like I've been a little stilted in my writing here, so I'm going to try to be a little less formal. I am also going to do a little of the older stories and mix in more current events. We'll see whether this sounds any better.

Those of us who grew up here in Billings on Lake Elmo Drive know that a lot of the cooking of dinner meals over the years has been done by our dad - Maurice.

The family story is that Dad taught his new bride - Mary how to cook. Dad says that he learned to cook in the mission field in self defense. His first meal prepared by his first companion in the mission field was a pan of boiled potatoes and a quart of milk. So he took over the cooking to get something more resembling a real meal. Along the way he learned to prepare Mexican meals (taught by people he met in his missionary labors) On one occasion his mission president brought the mission office staff to Dad's home for him to make a Mexican meal for all of them. On another occasion a family that had a ranch in Mexico asked Dad if he knew how to butcher a cow. [They had to smuggle a cow across the border because even though the cow was their own if the ration board found out they'd brought it into the states they'd loose all their ration coupons for every other food items] So Dad who had butchered pigs on his families farm in Wyoming but never a cow told them he could do it. He was rewarded for his help with several large steaks. Shortly after that the other elders in his apartment were all out - leaving him home alone (rules have sure changed since then haven't they) So Dad took one of those big steaks and made himself dinner.

Mother on the other hand was the youngest in her family and hadn't had to do any of the cooking at home. Then she went to nursing school where she ate all her meals in the hospital cafeteria, and continued that practice after she went to work.

The family members living here in Billings still get the benefit of Dad's cooking. We have frequent family dinners in which Dad does most of the cooking. A couple of weeks ago he got a new larger crock pot which came with a cook book. So this week he used it to cook a whole pork shoulder and made pulled pork sandwiches for a family Sunday dinner yesterday (9/2/07) with a jello salad and a potato salad. I work in the Nursery at church with our block ending at 4:00 pm. Our family dinners are usually scheduled to start around 2:00 pm because everyone else is out of church at that time and Bob needs to get home with some time to get a nap before going to work at 11:00 pm. So when I get home everyone has come & gone. I miss seeing everyone, but Mother & Dad really enjoy their time with the family.

Early Days

2007-07-08T18:09:00.000-06:00

After their marriage Maurice Earl and Mary Maud lived in a small house on a corner about two blocks north of Main Street in Lovell. The house was divided into two halves. A younger couple lived in the other half. Some days when Mary M. sat out on the front porch with the other young wife the girl would sit watching her friends going down the road to the town pool with a very intent wistful look. She was young enough to want to still be having fun with her friends but couldn't do the same things anymore since she was now a wife and mother.

Mary continued working in the Hospital, and Maurice worked at the Sash and Door Mill. One day he came home from work with his hand behind his back.

"What did you do - cut your hand off?" Mary asked.

"Just about." He answered. It was actually about a 1" cut in his wrist with 4 (large) stitches in it. Mary says that at that time if a cut was on the face it would be closed with smaller stitches so that it'd heal with less of a scar but the stitches were a little bigger on cuts on other parts of the body.

One day Mary came home from work to find 'the whole side of one wall gone. Maurice was installing a bigger window and took out the whole wall to do it. The window didn't take all that space so he built the wall back in around the new window.

Their first child Nancy came along 10 months after their wedding. She was a cute, chubby baby with curly blond hair and was the darling of Maurice's family.

One day Maurice's mother May Asay came to him and said that he should give Nancy to her. "I'm all alone," she said, "and you can have more children."

He told her, "No - You raised your children, I'll raise mine."

Maurice worked for the Sash and Door Mill for about 2 years and then worked a year as the City Police Chief - a job he found to be totally thankless. On one occasion he stopped a man who had been beating on his wife right out on the street. As he was preparing to haul him off to jail the woman got mad at him for taking her husband away. On another occasion he came across a toddler bawling his eyes out - sitting alone in the family car outside the bar. The little guys eyes were swollen and about crusted shut, and his sleeves were soaked up to the elbows. Maurice took the baby into the bar and handed him to his parents. The bartender promptly threw them out and they got mad at Maurice for interfering.

After the Police Chief job he went to work for the Railroad as a 'Car Toad'. It was his job to check the packing on the wheels on the cars the RR dropped off at the refinery outside of town and oil them.

Maurice and Mary recently were given a picture of a new great grandchild which they would like to share with every one.

This is Whitney Kay Asay's little girl, Akira Kay. We'll have better pictures to share after October we think.

Courtship?

2007-06-24T17:46:00.000-06:00

Mary Maud Wilson first met her future mother-in-law when she was in her teens. Mary, her Mother, and her sister Betty kept a 1/4 acre of beans from which they picked beans every other week all summer. Everyone in town would take their beans to Mary D. (May) Asay's home to be weighed before they were sold to the local cannery (which bought them by the pound). Maurice and Mary did not connect at that time. He thinks that he was probably out in the hills at the time herding cows. Mary knew Orvin Asay (Maurice's older brother) before Maurice. She thought he was very nice because when she would see him around town he greeted her with a friendly hello, something other boys older than her would not do. She felt like the other's thought of her as a little kid.

Maurice Earl Asay knew who Annie Wilson (his future mother-in-law) was but he didn't every really meet her until he was engaged to her daughter. He says that everyone in town knew who she was. It was common to see her riding her bike all over town.

Both of them dated a few other people before they got together but no-one serious to either of them. Maurice received 3 marriage proposals while he was in the mission field. The mother of one of the boys Mary had dated was very disappointed when Mary and Maurice got together because she had hoped that Mary would marry her son.

Shortly after returning from the war (WWII) Maurice went one night to the movies. On the way out of the theater he met up with a friend and they ran into Mary and a friend that she worked with at the hospital. The four of them went to the drug store for a soda and Maurice walked Mary home asking her out for the next night. He took her to his mother's home to watch slides. They went out the next day and on that date he asked her to marry him. They went downtown to the jewelry store where Mary picked out the ring she wanted. Maurice went in the next day and bought it. (paid for in full from his checking account - he had a healthy balance from his army wages)

Mary got a ride to Billings to see her mother who was running the 'Clark Hotel'. She told her mother that she needed to find a wedding dress. Annie said that she knew that she was seeing someone but thought it was too soon. Maurice said his mother said the same thing.

Orvin told them that they could borrow his car if they would buy new tires for it. On a trip to Billings they stopped in Bridger for gas and found 2 tires. Then they found two others at a station in Lovell.

So two weeks later with their borrowed car and with Annie Wilson along as chaperon they drove to Salt Lake for their wedding in the Salt Lake City Temple. They stopped by Maurice's uncle home while in Salt Lake. His uncle asked him how he was making out. His uncle explained that when he had gotten married he had to borrow $50 from the bank for the trip to Salt Lake. The uncle was somewhat surprised to hear that he had written a check for $300 to pay for his wedding trip. On the way back Annie got a kick out of Maurice as he burst into joyous song in Spanish.

About a month later the biggest town gossip approached Mary at the grocery store and asked how her 'boyfriend' was. Mary said, "Do you mean my husband." The lady rushed off to find out from Maurice's sister when they had gotten married so that she could put it on her calendar.

"Thanks (to our Parents) for life, for caring, for sacrificing"

2007-06-17T10:25:00.000-06:00

I intended to prepare a Father's Day Blog similar to the Mother's Day message posted previously. The amount of information remembered by Maurice and Mary Asay about their father's is limited however owing to the early loss of those gentlemen.

As mentioned previously Mary's father was a big teaser a fact which she did not understand as a young child. On one occasion as she was running around outside the house - along with 2 other children she bumped into her dad who was whittling. She excused herself. Before she could run off again he shook his knife at her and said, "You'd better excuse yourself" She thought he was seriously angry. Probably - if she had looked back before running off she probably would have seen a grin on his face, but since she didn't this incident added to her belief that he was mean. The only time she stood up to him it was in what she felt was defense of her mother. Her father was trimming corns on her mother feet with a pocket knife. To a little girl it looked as if he was hurting her beloved mother. She got angry and told him to stop which he found very amusing.

Thinking now of her father she quotes a recent talk by Elder Richard H. Winkel (Ensign Nov. 2006) "When you come to the temple you will love your family with a deeper love than you have ever felt before."

Maurice's strongest memory of his father is what a hard working man he was. Even during the Depression he always had a job. It might only pay $1.00 a day but he kept busy. He always kept teams of horses and when the Railroad lines were being put in between Frannie and Cane*, WY (*located east of Lovell - toward the Mountains, along the Big Horn River) he and another man ran two teams of horses to assist in the building of the tracks. He worked for a sheep company in the summer transporting groceries to sheep camps in the Mountains from Cane to Thermopolis, WY once a month in two wagons. It was while doing this work that he developed the Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick fever which killed him.

On a personal note I learned early in life that although all of his children were well loved the strongest love was reserved for his eternal companion - his wife. I have a very definite memory of the time I inadvertently made my mother cry and later asked him for help with something. He angrily told me that he didn't feel like doing anything for me since I had made her cry. When I was in college I came across a little plaque that stated: "The most important thing a Father can do for his children is to love their Mother". The next time I was home from school I saw it prominently displayed in the living room, and on several occasion I witnessed him pointing it out to visitors and telling them that that was the rule of the house.

Friendships

2007-06-03T18:02:00.000-06:00

In a recent comment on this blog a question was asked as to the relationship between members of our family and Chester (Chet) Asay of Wyoming. So I asked dad - Maurice Earl Asay - what that relationship might be. It turns out that the familial relationship is limited but there was a bond of friendship that was stronger.

Chet's dad, whom Maurice called an Uncle, was probably a second cousin. Chet's family lived about 5 miles east of Lovell and he was a year older than Maurice.

Chet and Maurice were best friends in high school and played football together. In a practice scrimmage on one occasion Maurice ran head on into Chet's helmet. It knocked Maurice out and broke his nose.

Chet got his mission call & about 4 months later Maurice got his to the same mission -- The Spanish-American Mission. The mission covered Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California. About one year later when Maurice was transferred from Tucson, AZ to Corpus Christi, TX where Chet was stationed they talked their mission president into making them companions. Their companionship was for about 4 months.

Chet went into the Army before Maurice left the mission field. They both ended up in Japan at the end of the war. Maurice was stationed in Sendai at the Quarter Master's Laundry. Chet was stationed about 200 miles away in Tokyo. At that time Maurice did not have a superior officer so he wrote himself a pass to Tokyo and Chet planned a trip to a ski resort outside of Tokyo. On the way up the mountain they were hit by a Japanese man in a farm truck - and that was the end of that trip.

The last time Maurice and Chet got together was shortly after returning from Japan. Chet's father had a ranch outside of Meeteetse, WY. They went big game hunting there.

Mary Maud Wilson (Asay)'s best friends in High School were Norma and Carma Asay -- known locally as the Asay Twins. One summer when the twins' Mother was away for the summer the twins, Mary M., and her sister Betty almost lived together.

A favorite outing was to go together on long bike rides. Mary M. remembers calling out 'Car coming' as vehicles approached on the road where they were riding, then 'Car gone' as they were passed.

Mary M. remembers that the twins' father didn't think that boys should have to do any work around the house (not even empty the garbage) so the twins were responsible for any housework that needed to be done.

An old acquaintance from Lovell mentioned recently to Mary M. that she had a strong memory of the day that Betty was burned in a fire at the family home in Lovell. Sister Doerr remembers that when she was in High School she heard the local siren give the signal that meant there was a fire. She was afraid that it was her home.

Following the fire - after treatment for her burns Betty and their Mother Nan Wilson went on a trip to Scotland. While they were on a tour during their trip Betty met Sandy Gilmour whom she later married.

Mary M. remembers the 1st death that affected her when at the age of between 6 and 7 a friend who lived about a mile away died. It was a shock at that age to have someone her own age - someone she actually knew -- die.

2007-05-27T17:57:00.000-06:00

As far as family histories go this one is very disorganized but I hope that it still is enjoyable to all. So here are a few more random stories.

Childhood activities:

Hide and seek -- played at night with a bonfire for home base. (it had to be jumped to make it safely 'home').

Run Sheep Run -- Both Maurice and Mary Maud remember playing, but don't remember the rules - Mary M. says it was some sort of tag.

Maurice and his siblings played a form of baseball using a tennis ball. Instead of running bases there was a line about 1/2 block away that had to be crossed. Then you had to wait there to be batted in or attempt to steal home.

In his teens Maurice and his brothers collected eggs laid by wild birds on their farm property. They piled them together and covered them with moss. They were left for a few weeks. Then they took the ripe eggs and gathered on both sides of the canal that ran behind their house. Stripping down (totally) they had an egg fight - jumping into the canal to wash off if hit by one.

Maurice read a lot growing up. At the age of six his family was living on their farm and he rode alone on his large black horse Coalie into town carrying a flour sack full of books from the week before to the town library. Then he would bring back another load for the whole family.
He remembers the Uncle Remus stories as some of his favorites - picking up 2-3 several times on his trips to town.

The town librarian (in Lovell, WY) Daisy Booth acted as censor for patrons. If she didn't think a book was right for you she wouldn't let you check it out.

Maurice's dad - Amos Earl always kept horses. On one occasion he left a big gray team standing outside the house. When they started walking away 5 year old Maurice climbed onto the wagon and took the reins to steer them around the block. Amos ran through the block to catch up with him when a neighbor told him what had happened. Out of breath he stopped the team and asked what he thought he was doing. He explained that he was just bringing them around the block, back to the house.

Maurice says that their family never bought any of their food stuff from the local store. Even their flour was acquired by Grandpa Allred taking a load of wheat to the mill in Billings once a year. Part of the load served as payment to get enough ground to flour to last until the next year.

When Mary was 4 her family traveled to Logan, Utah to be sealed. They made the trip in a farm truck with the girls bundled up in the open box of the back of the truck.

Mary's dad was a big tease and as a little girl she didn't understand that it was meant in fun and thought that he was mean. One time she was ill and her mother had gone to town and her dad was trying to take care of her. She wouldn't let him do anything for her - sitting, instead, watching out the window looking for her mother.

Although her mother and older sister Myrtle were accomplished at crochet Mary had to teach herself how. When she had asked Myrtle to teach her she was told "Get a book & follow the directions".

A more recent event

On a trip to Utah to visit Gail and her family they saw a bright light flash across the sky in front of their car. A UFO sighting?

2007-05-13T17:11:00.000-06:00

A Few Random Questions And Answers

What is your Greatest Joy:

Mary Maud & Maurice Earl Asay- Each other and family

What is your Greatest Sorrow:

Mary Maud - That my mother couldn’t live to see how happy I am.

MEA - My Father’s early death

What did your grandfathers do for a living:

Mary Maud - Farmer

Maurice Earl - Grandpa Allred was a Farmer and Grandpa Asay mostly lived off of his children and helped his son Amos Earl Asay on his farm.

Did your grandmothers Work:

MEA - Grandma Allred worked very hard on the farm, caring for her family, canning, and maintaining the home.

Do you recall any special event that took place in your neighborhood while you were growing up:

Mary Maud - When the family moved to Lovell an elderly neighbor, a gentleman named Bird, told my mother that I would live to see the second coming.

MEA - When they put in the city water – it was all dug by hand with picks and shovels.

What makes your brothers and sisters special:

Mary Maud - I always wanted to pattern myself after my oldest sister (Myrtle) because she was doing ‘grown up stuff’. Jean liked to work on my hair – one over enthusiastic perm destroyed the already natural curl in my hair. (family note: Jean was both an aunt & a cousin who grew up with Mary Maud i.e. Jean’s mother was Mary’s grandpa’s 2nd wife and her mother’s sister)

MEA - I was the middle of 7 and always got hand me downs. When I was 6 my brother Orvin and I would gather the cattle all over town and herd them for 5 cents a head. We had a deal with the local dairy to handle their whole herd for a dollar a day. One time when the Dairy owners son was herding them they passed a spot on the side of the road where someone had dumped a load of rotten onions. For about a week after all the milk in town tasted like onions. The next day we had to get there ahead of the cows to cover up the pile. We put an old mattress on it and burned it.

Maurice Earl and Orvin Asay

2007-05-08T18:11:00.000-06:00

This is the tale of 2 strong independent women -- Mothers – who in times when others might have whined about the difficulty of raising even one child alone handled the task of raising large families who went on to become strong and caring people in their own right.

Mary Dianthia Allred (whoese friends called her May) was born 8/18/1894 in Northup, Utah. Some time later her family moved to the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming – traveling by wagon in a small company.
Each evening when they camped one of the boys in their party would take his gun and shoot enough rabbits for dinner. This was the mainstay of their diet for the trip.

One day as her father walked beside the wagon the horses bolted with the wagon and the family inside it. Unable to catch them her father dropped to his knees and prayed for assistance. The horses stopped dead a short distance away where he easily caught up with them.

May met and married Amos Earl Asay in Lovell, Wyo on Nov 13, 1912. She has wanted to continue her education after high school but was overruled by her father who told her that wasn’t a woman’s place.

On 09/05/1923 they were sealed in the Salt Lake temple when their 4th child Maurice Earl (of 7) was 2 years old.

They had 22 years together when Amos died of Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever on 03/13/1934.

Left with 7 children to raise during the Depression May did what was necessary to take care of them. They lived off of rental property proceeds and the harvest of a large garden which she maintained for years next to a small 2 bedroom house (which had originally been two smaller houses which were joined together). They always also kept a small group of livestock – 2-3 cows, a few pigs, and chickens in pens behind the house. Maurice remembers covering the garden with manure from the livestock every year. He believes that over the years it would add up to at least a 3 foot high pile over the surface of the large garden plot.

May passed away on March 28, 1972 in Powell Wyo preceded by her youngest child Carmen; and survived by 6 of her children, Archie, Vida, Orvin, Maurice, Ted, and Anna Mae.

Annie Turner Low was born in Duchray Aberfoyle, Scotland on July 17, 1889.

When Annie was a young girl her Mother told her one day that when the fresh bread that was baking was done she could have a slice of the heel - her favorite part. So when it was done she decided that the end piece was too small so she cut her slice lengthwise on the side of the loaf and buttered that. Then she sat on their front step crying as she ate it because she knew she’d be in trouble when her mother got home.

Her older brothers taught her to ride a bike – holding her up on each side as she learned how to peddle it. Unfortunately when they let go she rode straight into a tree. This training helped her later in life since she never learned to drive a car and often used a bike for her transportation.

When she was a young woman she traveled to the US via Canada to visit her sister Mary Low Wilson who lived with here husband Isaac Wilson in Wyoming. While there she met her sister’s grown step-son Robert Benjamin Wilson. He had previously seen her picture and stated – “That’s the woman I’m going to marry”, which he did on July 24, 1916. They had 3 daughter’s – Myrtle, Betty, and Mary Maud. They also soon after took in Mary Wilson’s 5 children when she passed away. Robert died on May 10, 1932 when Mary Maud was 8 years of a heart attack.

Annie supported her family living at that time in Byron, Wyoming working as a housekeeper or whatever work she could find in Lovell. On one occasion she was entertaining the child of one home and his friends with stories she made up on the spot. The story was interrupted when the parents came home. Years later the boys came to her and wanted to know the end of the story which was long gone from her memory, but not from theirs.

She passed away while living with her youngest daughter Mary Maud and her family (who all loved to listen to her stories too) on December 17, 1967.