Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary tomorrow to a couple who really liked each other and the cabin.

Arcadia Stake Trek 1 of 3

This video documents the first day of the trek. (This one video used up my capacity for the week with Vimeo.) Day 2 and 3 will follow in succeeding weeks. There were fun and amazing experiences everyday... mingled with trekking..., so be sure to check back.

triathlon

So I did a triathlon a couple of weeks ago. In our old ward, a friend of ours had signed up and after she invited me to sign up I figured - why not?! 

Admittedly, the event I prepared for the least was the swim; it was just a quarter mile in a nice warm lake, but . . . I walked most of it. The water was only 3-5 feet deep, and I was happy to just finish it alive.

 The greatest perk was probably getting to wear the pink swim cap . . . in fact, that was the only perk.

 After getting out of the water I immediately hopped on my bike and took a 12 mile run around the creek where we swam.

 The ride was beautiful and I felt confident about the training I'd done. My goal was to do it under an hour and I made it in 49 minutes. Even though I got passed a lot by girls on fancier bikes, I had a chance to pass a few of them on the 2 mile run.

  It was up a trail and over the dam, and my only goal was to not walk, and I did it!

Spencer documented the day beautifully, including this photo of me crossing the finish line! In the second photo I am holding my medal and turning back to return the ankle bracelet that tracked my time.

 Here's my friend Amy Parker. I accidentally missed the call to go with my age group, and ended up going with the thirty-year-old's, so I didn't see Amy when we started. Oddly enough, when our scores went online we saw that we finished 13 seconds apart!
It was all over in just an hour and twenty-three minutes. I will definitely do another in the future. I did it mostly as an excuse to train (which has been made clear by the fact that I haven't done an ounce of exercising since the triathlon) and I'll try and get Spencer to do one with me in the future.

And what a great surprise it was when the picture that one of the staff at the race took of us ended up on Facebook! Yeehaw.

HOUSE

I thought I'd offer a few more pictures from our end of things on the house modifications.

This is the whole we put in under the bathroom sink. It is no longer a big hole, but it was a necessary hole to make.

 We chipped in that bathroom SO much. We made a lot of messes. And I can't say we've made much progress since mom and dad left (we've had other projects to do).

Lots of messes.

 Working on a house feels like moving a mountain of dirt; you work and keep working and you've only moved a tiny tiny bit. But it's been incredibly rewarding and the more progress we make the more satisfied and wildly joyful we become!

This room is currently our favorite. Dad painted the walls for us and we couldn't be happier. This room has given me hope for the rest of the house.

ComFest 2014

Since moving to Columbus, I've realized that Spencer and I have a lot to learn about life here. For instance, a few weeks ago a few of my coworkers were talking about this thing called "ComFest." I asked them what it was and they told me it was the "biggest community festival in the country." So we decided to check it out . . . on our bikes.

 The only problem was that I had forgotten my bike lock at home so we got to carry our bikes with us the whole time. There were a LOT of people there; a lot of very interesting people there. At one point my bike tire popped and we had to make our way to the closest bike shop, and on our way out it started pouring rain.

 As you can see by spencer's shirt and the table, we got soaked. During a break in the rain we got a bite to eat at a food truck.

We got pretty soaked on our way home. But it certainly made us feel like more bonafide Ohio-dwelllers.

Gilberth Haws and Hannah Whitcomb

Haws/Hodgkinson

Father of Albert Haws, Grandfather of Albert Alonzo Haws, Great Grandfather to Mary Armina Haws Hodgkinson, Great Great Grandfather to Melvin J. Hodgkinson, Great Great Great Grandfather to Sue Hodgkinson Cornwall

 Gilberth Haws was born 10 March 1801 in Logan, now Butler County, Kentucky, the eighth child of Jacob Haws and Hannah Neill. 
Hannah Whitcomb was born 17 April 1806 in Cazenovia, Madison County, New York, daughter of Oliver and Olive Bidlack Whitcomb.

Both of their families moved to Illinois where Gilberth and Hannah met and married on June 2, 1822.  Gilberth first heard of the Church in 1840 , and he and his wife were baptized in 1842 in Illinois.   After their marriage, they lived on a ranch near Zenia, Illinois , where he raised sheep and some cattle and farmed. They remained there until after the martyrdom, then they started west with the saints.

The following is from the history of Gilberth Haws written by a daughter Lucinda Haws Holdaway.

"In 1845 Elders came to tell us that the saints were being mobbed and driven from their homes and that we had better prepare to go west with the company. We remained in Wayne County until May 1847, when my father and family prepared to go west. We went as far as Iowa and stopped at a little place called Mount Pisgah for the winter. We remained there until the spring of 1848, then started for Winter Quarters so that we might be ready to go west with the first company. At Winter Quarters they built a bowery and danced all night with the permission of President Brigham Young. During the month of May 1848, preparations were made for the departure of the main body of the Saints on the Missouri River. President Young was General Superintendent of the companies and Gilberth and Hannah Haws were assigned to the 3rd Company under the supervision of Lorenzo Snow. This company consisted of 321 souls, 99 wagons, 20 horses, 3 mules, 388 oxen, 188 cows, 38 loose cattle, 139 sheep, 25 pigs, 158 chickens, 10 cats, 26 dogs and 2 doves. Gilberth Haws had two wagons, one team of horses and five teams of oxen. Hannah drove the team of horses all the way across the Plains. The family consisted of father, mother, seven sons and six daughters. Continuing to quote from the history of Lucinda Haws Holdaway, she says: "All went as well as could be expected on the journey. Of course, we had many difficulties to encounter--we had to wash our clothes in cold water and make fires of "buffalo chips" as there was no wood to be found. In the evening we would all assemble in the center of the corrals, which were formed by a circle of wagons, and sing and pray. Everyone seemed thankful and a time was had by all. Gilberth Haws helped furnish meat and game for the company. On September 23, 1848, we arrived in Salt Lake Valley. My father then bought one of the little adobe houses in the Old Fort which was built by the pioneers who came the year before. This house consisted of one room twelve feet square, containing one door, a fireplace and two port holes about ten inches square, one on each side of the chimney. The house was made of adobe with a roof of willows, rushes and dirt and a dirt floor.

After we were settled we had a very hard time to get food to eat. A little corn had been raised the year before by the settlers, some of which we bought. This had been roasted and the bread we made of it was almost black. The people had sacks of dried buffalo meat which they used, making a kind of soup and thickening it with a little flour. Once in a while a cow was killed and a little piece of meat portioned out to each family. So we lived in this condition until the next summer."

Cabin

Babies have been going to the cabin for a long time - Shirl, Kent and Kevin.

Click on the above image to go to A Voice from the Vineyard.
NEW AREA - WILLITS, CA!

Trek photo sharing web site is set up.

Go to https://arcadiastaketrek2014.shutterfly.com/

A Taste of Trek

Mom and Dad trekked with the Arcadia Stake Youth this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  It was a glorious three days with wonderful youth, stalwart Ma's and Pa's, beautiful settings, spiritual vignettes and with many challenging experiences.  This post includes a few (of the more personal) of the 325 photos and video clips dad took the past three days just to let y'all know we survived.    Future posts will document the entire experience.

The entire Arcadia Stake Company

 

Mom was the Lemon Drop Lady in the lemon colored apron.  Throughout the trek she went up and down the line of 16 carts opening her pockets to the weary, dusty cart pushers and pullers.

Mom fussed over all the youth and was their cheerleader and supporting friend to the great trek leaders.

Along the trail we met up with Ephraim Hanks

The event was a physically testing, testimony building, legacy appreciating blessing. 

FYI - a few details have were added to the below post.

Hirum Spencer or Hyrum Spencer

Spencer/Cornwall

Today we are going to share the story of Hyrum Spencer. (The blue section of the fan above.)  He is the father of Charles H. Spencer, Grandfather of Mary Ellen Spencer, Great grandfather of J. Spencer Cornwall, great great grandfather of J. Shirl Cornwall and great great great grandfather of Kent Cornwall.  He was born in 1798 in West Stockbridge, Berkshire, Massachusetts.  Nice to have a little Cornwall heritage in Massachusetts.

Here are some excerpts from his niece, Aurelia Spencer Roger's, life sketch.
"Hyrum Spencer was a man of large stature and great physical power; and as void of fear as men are made. In 1838 a marvelous vision was given him, in which was shown the Southern Rebellion, and other troubles that were to come; with which manifestation he received an assurance of the truth of the Latter-day work, of which, from that time, he was enabled to testify. He embraced the gospel and moved to Nauvoo. The day that Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred he was on his farm six miles east of Nauvoo, and was so influenced that he could not work; and he three times saddled his horse to go to Carthage, but rebuked himself for nervousness."

" He was among the first in that memorable exodus of the winter of 1846. At the time he left the camp at Garden Grove the weather was very unfavorable. He rode fourteen days on horseback through that, then wilderness country, and not one twenty-four hours but what it rained. Arriving in Nauvoo he disposed of one farm for a hundred and ten head of cattle, and some wagons, to a citizen at Alton. A mob resident of Nauvoo hearing this, procured writs of attachment to the stock, until the second mob could arrive in Nauvoo, and give him a confiscation benefit . . . That same day the stock crossed sixty miles above Nauvoo, and it was a race (from that to the first Mormon camp)  . . .  Six days and a half, and six nights, in the heat and flies of early August, were these cattle driven and guarded by him, and his nephew Claudius, with only six hours sleep, except on horseback. The strain was too much; he rode until 4 o'clock on the afternoon of his death, when his nephew seeing him reel, rode to his side asking him what was the matter. The reply was, "Not much, only I cannot last through; help me down and I will die here." That night at 11 o'clock his labors were ended and he lay, with the peaceful smile of a child, a few feet from the trail, with only one relative to hear his last words, to witness the heroism of a voluntary martyr's death. There was not a groan or a murmur, "Say to my family, live and die with this work." These were among his last words. He left eight children by the wife of his youth [Mary Spencer -  Mary's maiden name is Spencer, perhaps a distant cousin as Spencers settled in Mass. in the early 1700s.  Mary died in Mass. in 1840.  The Cornwall's come through Mary's line.], and two by his then living wife, formerly Miss Emily Thompson, whom he married in Nauvoo. After Uncle Hyrum died, two or three men from a camp near by assisted Claudius in preparing for the burial. This was done by taking some boards from a wagon-box and forming a rude coffin, in which he was taken to Mount Pisgah, and interred in the burial ground of the Saints."

Partying like a four year old!

Bennett had a super 4th birthday party with his friends!

He wanted a superhero cake and that is just what he got!

His party consisted of superhero training.  Including:

Knocking down buildings,

 Creature Rescue- by punching through (tissue paper) walls.

 Spraying orbs with webs (silly string)

 And of course water balloon fun!

 It was a very very fun party!

The day of his birthday we had the family over for dinner and cake.  I made an ice cream cake with a superman theme.

 A highlight was a baseball helmet, bat and a full supply of t ball style baseballs.  We all watched Bennett hit the balls.  He had so much fun and was fantastic!  He insisted on being pitched to.

 Another highlight was getting  a 20 dollar bill.

We had some fun parties with this sweet boy!  He is so much fun!