Move to Orem 1977

Leon was getting tired of teaching and wanted a change. We had always wanted to go back to Utah and on one of our trips he found a photography studio for sale. Brent went in on it with us. Leon's last day of school was June 15th, graduation. Alan, who was the band drum major, graduated that day. He, Rob and Doug played in the band. We loaded up on a large semi-trailer that belonged to a member of the ward. He drove the semi, Alan drove the little Toyota, Rob drove the station wagon with Doug, and Leon and I with Mark and Nancy were in our camper.We had bought a large five- or six bedroom home in Orem, Utah 767 E 400 S. It had a fenced back yard with two very large old apricot trees and concord grape vines. We eventually had 4 bedrooms downstairs with a 3/4 bath and two bedrooms upstairs with a full bath and 1/2 bath. We had converted one of the bedrooms into a dining room. For the first years we had to endure ORANGE carpet in the living room together with our ORANGE couch and overstuffed chair. I hated the colors! After quite a few years we took up the carpeting and found lovely hardwood floors which Leon refinished. We also painted and put up wallpaper. Brent doing the wallpaper and it became a lovely home. We bought new living room furniture that added to the pleasant feeling in the living room.The photography studio was called Mountainwest Photography, located on University Ave in Provo. Brent and Leon took the pictures and I was the receptionist. They learned to take good pictures but were not pushy salesmen! Alan also took pictures before he left for his mission in Padova, Italy. This experience enabled him to become a professional photographer, a very good one. The busines really couldn't support two families and both Brent and Leon decided they would rather be teachers. Brent went to Montezuma Creek and Leon, after taking some classes towards a doctoral degree, taught at Brighton High in Sale Lake County. Alan and I ran the studio, then when he left Rob began taking pictures, a senior in high school. Eventually we just gave the studio back to the previous owner.

Another Barlow baby; Tricia's wedding

Another snippet about the Vietnamese. Leon would take them to the parking lot of the high school and try to teach them to drive. They said they were ready before he though they were but took them to take their driving test anyway. The man who conducted the tests told Leon to take them home and not to bring them back! I guess they eventually did get their licenses. They bought Tricia’s car and promptly wrecked it!
We exchanged Christmas cards with Xuan for several years and then they stopped coming. It was and interesting experience.
Leon’s parents filled a temple mission at the Manti Temple and when released, they moved to Ephraim. They lived in "The General" and two-bedroom trailer with a pop-out side in the living room. Dad Honey built a utility porch on the side and Joan bought an old home next to them. We enjoyed driving down and visiting with all of them. Joan and her family had a lot of funny songs they taught us.
Sylvia and Brent had another baby, David Michael, born in Cortez, CO. He was early and his lungs were not fully developed and he had to be flown to a hospital in Albuquerque. Leon and I came, borrowing Grandpa Honey’s little trailer on the way. I stayed with little Jenny and Brent and Leon took Sylvia and Tricia down to Albuquerque to be near David. I again celebrated Sylvia and Brent’s anniversary, their 2nd! I made Jenny her first birthday cake. Mom and Dad Honey were able to come to Montezuma Creek for David’s blessing.
The next big event in our lives was Tricia’s wedding. She met Alan Romriell at Young Adults and he was (and is) a great guy. They were married in the Los Angeles Temple and Leon’s folks, my folks, David, Fred & Carol, Brent & Sylvia and Alan’s family were present. Again I made the wedding dress. Tricia chose a Vogue pattern, a little tricky, and I first made a dressy dress then the wedding dress. She has worn her wedding dress as a temple dress all these years. Sylvia was matron of honor, some cousins, and Alan’s sisters were bridesmaids. Nancy and Alan little sister Janna were flower girls. Grandma Williams also wrote a wedding song which was sung at the reception. It was a lovely day. We now had two great sons-in-laws.

Sylvia's baby, Vietnamese

That summer, 1975, Sylvia and Brent were moving to Montezuma Creek, on the Indian Reservation in Southern Utah and we were going to help. At first, we had a large trailer hooked up to our station wagon with all their furniture but the load was too heavy for our car. A truck was rented and Leon, Nancy age 5, and I started out on the trip. Sylvia and Brent went in their own car. I couldn’t believe how often we stopped for gas for that truck. We had to fill up in Victorville, which was just barely starting out on the trip. I think the truck got about three miles to the gallon and we stopped at every little town on our way. The kids had either rented or bought a trailer in Montezuma Creek and everything was unloaded Brent worked as a teacher’s aid at the elementary school.
I can’t remember whether it was on the way to Montezuma Creek or on the way home, but we stopped for the night at a motel. We made a little bed on the floor for Nancy to sleep on, made of blankets. Returning from the Barlows, a sheep ran into the road and we hit it. Nancy felt so badly about that, it really upset her.
In September, when Sylvia’s baby was expected, Leon, Alan and I drove back to Montezuma Creek to help out. Jennifer Lynn, our first grandchild, was born in Monticello on September 5th. How exciting, such a sweet little baby. Leon returned to Garden Grove to continue teaching. On September 6th, Brent and I celebrated their first wedding anniversary by eating out at a restaurant after visiting Sylvia in the hospital. After about a week, Leon drove back up to bring us home..
Sometime during 1975, many Vietnamese came into the U.S. Members of the church were asked to help out so we opened our home to two boys, Nien and Xuan Van Vu. Nien was the oldest about 27, and had been a teacher, Xuan was about 18. Leon had partitioned part of the garage so that we had two little bedrooms in it. Doug and Mark had bunk beds in the first room and the other boys in the back. Shortly afterwards, their brother Gon joined us. It was quite an experience! They took turns in all our activities and prayers. For family night they played the guitar and sang songs but never changed chords. It sounded very different to our ears and we never could figure out if they just didn’t know how to play or if that was really how it was supposed to sound. When I brought out the clothes basket with the socks in it to fold, Nien would say "the sock game." Sylvia, Brent and Jenny came for Christmas and when Nien prayed, he would say "and bless bebbee." meaning Jenny.

Sylvia's Wedding, 1974

Brent Barlow came home from his mission but Sylvia was a little nervous meeting him so she went to April General Conference with Leon and me. But things worked out just fine when they got together. They planned a wedding in September. Sylvia picked out the pattern for her wedding dress and asked me to make it. Things were a little hectic at our house, Nancy being just four years old and Mark a year and one-half older so my aunt Mona offered her home in San Diego for me to use. What a neat thing. Mona was out-of-town and Leon and I had the whole place to ourselves. I could lay out all the dress parts on the carpet and sew to my heart’s content. No little children to bother or need attention. I think we were there for about three days. The last day, my parents came down to visit.
The night before the wedding all the family, including extended family helped decorate the cultural hall at the Valley View Chapel in our stake. Gina and her girls Debbie and Melanie came, also my Mom and Dad. The wedding took place September 6, 1974 in the Los Angeles Temple. A very lovely affair. Many family members were present. We had a luncheon afterwards at Brent’s parents, Miriam and Maurice Barlow.
For the reception, Sylvia had Tricia plus cousins Deborah Honey, Debora and Melanie Morris and Nancy, as the flower girl, in her line. Brent had his brother Carl and Alan as his attendants. Both sets of parents were also in the line. My Mom had written a special wedding song just for Sylvia. Leon also wrote a special song, as did Brent’s brother Carl. We had lots of music during the evening. Our family had now started to shrink, one less around the table. Of course, David was already gone, serving his mission in Hong Kong.
The next summer, the family went camping along the Colorado River again. This time, Syl and Brent came too. We really liked that protected spot by the river and had a great time. Sylvia was expecting so it wasn’t a very fun time for her.

Dance Festivals and David's Mission

MIA Dance Festivals were very big in California the 14 years we lived there and many of our children participated in them. They were held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. One year, Sylvia and Tricia had dresses with miles of tulle or net in the skirts. Of course I made them. Another year, Alan was in a minuet dance and had a very elaborate costume with black satin knee britches and coat with a yellow vest and lace cravat. That was a challenge to make too. One year I made four costumes, three for our kids and one for a friend. The festivals were very fun to watch.
One summer David and another young man in the ward, Brent Barlow, needed to work on a swimming merit badge. I don’t remember just how far they had to swim but Leon swam with them, back and forth across Newport Bay until they had the required distance. My first memory of this young man was as a 15-year-old. He came to a Mutual costume party dressed as the Jolly Green Giant. When he received his call to the mission field in Germany, Sylvia asked him if she could write to him. Of course he agreed and they corresponded his whole mission.
In 1974 David received his mission call to the Hong Kong Mission. All of us were very excited about this, our first missionary. We all went to the airport to see him off for Salt Lake City. Shortly after he was sent to Hawaii where the missionaries going to Asian countries had what was their MTC. Being a violinist with a very good ear, he readily took to the Mandarin language. He not only learned to speak it well but also to read it. He served an honorable mission and we were very proud of him.
I was not very impressed with his mission secretary. When it was time for him to come home, David told us the date but said the secretary would mail us the flight number and time. It never came. On the correct day we went to the LA airport and met every plane coming in from Hong Kong but no David! My mother also had come with us. After being home for a while we got a phone call from David at the airport. He had flown first to San Francisco then to Los Angeles! Back we went to the airport, about 50 minutes away, and were finally reunited with him. I felt so badly we were not there to meet him but he was very understanding.

Birth of Nancy, life in California 1970-73

We didn’t want Mark to be what would amount to be an only child, with the other six children all older, so we decided to have another baby. I was in labor all day on February 25, 1970, but wasn’t quite ready to deliver. Leon stayed home all day from school to be with me and finally in the late afternoon, I went to the hospital. Leon couldn’t stay with me because it was the night of the Mutual Choir Concert and he was the conductor. At 6:25 p.m. I gave birth to a beautiful little girl, 9 lbs 8 oz but no one was there to share the news with. The doctor told me that she had had the cord wrapped around her neck. I was glad I was at a hospital with all available medical knowledge.
After the concert, around 9:30 p.m. or so, Leon and Sylvia came to see me and I could finally show off our little girl. We named her Nancy Elizabeth. Nancy after my sister and Elizabeth after all the heroines in the books I had read. Sylvia and Tricia enjoyed having a living doll to play with and were a great help.
One of Sylvia’s friends, Dixie Hirschi, was having problems at home with her mother and she came and lived with us for a while. During that time we took the family camping in northern California. Sylvia, Dixie and David stayed home; they were all working. We went to Lake Huntington and had a great time. The lake water was so clear but very cold but we all went in anyway. It was a very fun time.
The Orange County newspaper came and interviewed our family for an article to be published in the paper. We were chosen for several reasons: Leon was a local music teacher, our older kids played musical instruments in his band and/or orchestra, and most had had all their schooling in the Garden Grove School District. They took a nice picture of the family to go with the article.
Our Ward had a fundraiser for the building fund and gave most families $25 and asked them to multiply it. We chose to put on a musical program, calling it "Honey Kith & Kin". We asked the Williams, Kaufman and Tolman families to participate. It was a fun evening with choir numbers, trios, solos, instrumentals with my Dad as the master of ceremonies. We were able to double our $25 for the building fund and everyone had an enjoyable time.
We had another fun outing with the family in 1973, this time with Alan, Rob, Doug, Mark and Nancy. We drove to Phoenix and had a great visit with Gina and her family. Then we went to Leon’s folks and borrowed their "Draggin Wagon" a trailer and drove to Salt Lake City. We parked at a place just outside of Lagoon which provided the kids with tickets to the amusement park. Leon would drive me into SLC and drop me off at the Genealogical Library and then he would take the kids to various parks, museums, and Lagoon. There was even an circus we attended and the clown impressed Nancy and she said she was going to marry him. My Aunt Beth, who worked at the Genealogical Library, helped me with my research.

Camping and death of sister Nancy

In California, schools have a week off for Easter. The Easter Week of 1969, we decided to take the family camping on the Colorado River. Sylvia was 15, David 14, Tricia 12, Alan 10, Rob 8, Doug 6 and Mark 9 months. We found a secluded spot, north of Blythe, where there was a quiet inlet next to the river. The children didn’t have to go into the fast-moving river but had calm water to play in. We had a tent, where the kids all slept, and Leon and I slept on the benches in the back of the pickup. It was a very fun time.
We were going to stay until Saturday but decided to go home on Friday. Sad news awaited us. We no sooner had driven into our driveway when our neighbor and friend, Woody Cluff, came to tell us that my sister Nancy had died in a car accident in Mexico. She and her husband Jerry had left their baby Mitchell with the Cluffs, and with the other three children and another couple, the Murrays, had driven into Mexico for their vacation. Nancy had been driving their VW wagon and had hit a rough spot in a construction zone. There had been no sign warning of the problems in the construction zone. The car rolled and Nancy was the only one hurt. She was also the only one who spoke Spanish! She died of a ruptured spleen. My folks said it was so sad to see Jerry come across the border at San Diego carrying Nancy’s purse. It is hard to lose a child.
It was a lovely funeral. The women of the family sang My Plea, the first sacred trio that Mom wrote; Fred flew in from Wisconsin, and a friend of Nancy’s from Peru, now a member, came and spoke. It was hard losing her, such a good friend besides a good sister. We had had so much fun doing things together with our kids, and singing together for church functions.
Jerry was still teaching school with about three months to go. Maryann Cluff came and watched the kids four days a week and I came one day. Jenae was only 5 with Dana, Jerry younger and Mitchell just 7 months old. Nancy was expecting at the time of her death; she had been hoping for a little girl.