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.

Move to California and birth of Mark

In June 1963, we loaded up a moving van which Leon drove and I drove our station wagon. He had a couple of the kids with him while I had the rest with me. It seemed like a very long trip and I was so happy to finally get to our house. The address was 15692 Starboard, Garden Grove, CA. It was a nice four-bedroom home, two bath with living room and a dining room off the kitchen. It also had a two-car garage which never housed our car! In later years we converted it into a bedroom plus storage.
My sister Nancy and her husband Jerry bought a home just a block away and we did many things together. Now that she was married, the 11 years difference in our ages didn’t matter at all. We took our kids to the beach every summer, either going to the beach at Huntington Beach or to Newport Bay. The bay had calm waters and the kids learned to swim there. It was also very nice to be about 45 minutes away from my folks, who lived in Downey.
We belonged to the Westminster 4th Ward and Leon was 1st Counselor to Bishop Persons, who was the Marine Adjutant at El Toro Marine Base. His wife was a lovely Hawaiian lady named Anna. One evening the whole bishopric and wives were having a get-together and it turned out that every wife was a year older than her husband. The Bishop’s wife hadn’t wanted to admit she was older until the rest of us admitted our ages.
We enjoyed taking our kids on trips to the different canyons in the summer and up to Lake Arrowhead in the winter so they could play in the snow. The trouble was that all the benefit of being in the mountains was ruined by the long drives and traffic on the freeways on the way home.
We had six children but I never felt that our family was complete. We decided to try for number 7. While pregnant, Leon did some shopping on his own and bought a very firm mattress. Being pregnant, it was a very uncomfortable bed. He also bought a living room set, on his own, and it was ORANGE. Very comfortable, but horrible color.
For Christmas, 1967, we decided to drive to Colorado Springs to spend it with Leon’s parents. Trying to drive up the Cajon Pass our gutless wonder of a car, a VW bus, just wouldn’t make it. We went back home and turned the bus in for a pickup. We had a shell and benches in the back for the kids to sit on. Leon did some more work and made it so we could all sleep in the back. He rigged up beds, like hammocks, that went from side to side of the back. With the benches and the front seat, we had room for everyone. We also had our dog Tchai (Tchaikovsky) with us, a beautiful white Samoyed mix. He was a gift from the band kids to Leon.
We had a very nice visit with the Honeys. There was lots of snow that the kids enjoyed. Mom Honey had a little dog Cindy and no one could come near her. She was a mean little dog and barked a lot but Tchai didn’t let her bother him! The folks took us to movies and sightseeing. I don’t remember if it was this trip or another one that they took us for a ride on a cog railroad up to the top of Pike’s Peak. a beautiful mountain.
I told my doctor that I had had four nine-pound-plus babies but he said this one would only be about eight pounds. Surprise, surprise. Mark Richard Honey, born July 25, 1968 was 10 pounds even! He was 22 ½ inches and was born at 8:22 p.m. We were thrilled to have another

More Life in Glendale, 1960-63

I was expecting again and this time our drive to Mesa and Dr. Allen took one hour. I was in labor but one muscle didn’t want to relax and Dr. Allen put his hand inside to massage it. He said I was a real stoic, that anyone else would be screaming! I guess it worked because Rob was born January 21, 1961 at 10:20 p.m. and weighed 9 lb 5 oz. He was a cute, round-faced little boy who had a huge smile when he got a little older. I don’t remember who came to help us out.
We were given a little Pomeranian dog which we named Brownie. The kids loved him and when we moved to California he had to be left behind with the twin neighbor girls. Sylvia really didn’t like that.
Leon received his Masters Degree and started teaching in the Alhambra School District in Phoenix. He would go to two elementary schools a day teaching band. He also played for many musicals that came to town.
Another baby was on its way. My sister Mary came to help out with the kids but she was not much older than our kids. Sylvia was just 8 ½ and didn’t like having her in charge.. Leon and I went grocery shopping one evening and I guess that got things going well. Doug was born the next day at 4:25 a.m. on July 11, 1962 and weighed 9 lb 4 oz. He was my only baby born on his due date. David was a couple of days over and everyone else was early.
My father was the business manager of a Peruvian airline called TAPSA. There were several crashes of their airplanes and the airline went out of business. Dad sent Mom, Nancy and Mary up to the States. Mary stayed with Keith and Gina and Mom and Nancy with Leon and me. Dad stayed to settle up the business affairs. This was a very hard time for him as he had had to identify the bodies of the pilots. He read lots of action-packed books to get his mind off of all he had seen. He then came up to the States and he and Mom and girls moved to Downey, CA.
One day Tricia and Rob went for a walk. They thought they were lost and little Robby suggested they say a prayer. I was proud of the little guy for thinking of that.
Tricia decided she wanted to be a nurse so for her 3rd birthday she got a little nurses’ kit. Later for Halloween she wanted to be a mother. Sylvia was a little more exotic, and dressed as a bride or princess. David was always a cowboy or pirate. Alan wore a Bolivian knit cap and little poncho for his disguise.
After four years in Glendale, AZ, Leon wanted a change and interviewed for a teaching job in California. He accepted a position in the Garden Grove School District at La Quinta High School.

Glenday, AZ 1959-60

Before we moved to Maryvale, we took the family camping. Sylvia was 5, David 4, Tricia 2 ½, and Alan just a few months. We went north near Oak Creek Canyon but camped by another stream. We just laid our blankets on the ground and had one big family bed. Alan was in a little portable canvas bed I had gotten with Green Stamps. The kids played in the water and had so much fun. We drove to the Grand Canyon and also visited a fire lookout. The little house was built way up high and we had to climb up lots of stairs to reach it. Leon was really worried with the little kids climbing the stairs; he was afraid they would fall through the railing. The view was spectacular and the ranger very kind.
The house in Maryvale was very nice; four bedrooms, two baths with a family room off the kitchen. It had a very large back yard and a garage that Leon converted to a music studio where he gave clarinet lessons. Sylvia’s kitten Sugar got run over by a car so we got another one, a distant relative. It was orange and not as nice a cat. She named it Pinky and it was rather wild.
A family that lived in back of us had twin daughters named Brenna and Brenda plus a younger girl. Sylvia and Tricia became very good friends with them and they played together a lot.
Not long after moving there, David came riding up the sidewalk crying very loudly. When I got to him I could see a bow in his left arm. It was just a big dip. I called Leon at work and he came and took him to the doctor. While Leon was holding David on his lap, the doctor asked him if David was a brave boy. Leon said he was and the doctor just grabbed the arm and pushed it back into place. Leon said that the doctor hadn’t asked him if he were brave! That was hard for him. David wore a cast for several weeks. He had told me he had fallen off his tricycle but it wasn’t until many many years had passed that he confessed he had fallen off a roof, a place he was told not climb on. The decoration on the front of a neighbor’s house was like an A-frame and the sides reached down almost to the ground; very accessible to little boys.
That first summer in our home, Leon worked in a plant that was trying to extract tungsten from tailings. It was very dirty work!!! He would come home black from head to toe. He was quite a sight; only the whites of his eyes were normal color. I would make him get out of his dirty clothes by the front door. I kept a special pair of underwear for him to wear at work because I couldn’t get the clothes clean, always very grey!
Gina and Keith moved into a little old house not far from us. Early one Sunday morning, Gina and her kids appeared on our doorstep. Their house had caught on fire! I think their genealogy books were about the only things saved. Luckily they had all gotten out in time. I believe it was a problem with the wiring. They soon moved into a nice large home, still quite close to us. We would take our kids to Nelson’s Pool frequently during the summer. We had fun

Greer House in Phoenix, 1958-59

While living in the little house on 39th street, on the east side of Phoenix, Leon graduated from Arizona State with a BA degree. Also, Sylvia developed the habit of sucking her thumb and pulling out her hair. The top of her head was just stubble! We tried everything we could think of to make her stop sucking her thumb, the only time she pulled out her hair. We tried nasty-tasting stuff on her thumb. We also tried tieing newspapers on her arms so her thumb couldn’t reach her mouth, all to no avail. We finally got a black and white kitten and that did the trick. She loved that kitten whom she named "Sugar". I guess petting the kitten helped her to not want to suck her thumb and pull out her hair. It is the only cat I have really liked.
Leon obtained work in the Alhambra school district, on the west side of town. He taught band in elementary schools, going to two schools a day. He was one of two band directors. A family in the ward named Greer moved out of their house into a new one and offered the old one to us. Since Leon was now employed we moved into that house. It was on Picadilly street. The house had three bedrooms and one bath but with a toilet in the laundry room. The back yard was a grapefruit orchard. Men would come pick the fruit each year and pay us for it. The yard was watered by irrigation water and the kids loved to wade in it when it was our turn to inundate our yard.
We were expecting again. A woman in the ward told me that if I had a boy, that I would be really thrilled after having a girl, a boy, and another girl. I thought it a strange thing to say but I really was thrilled when Alan Veness was born, March12, 1959. He was 9 lbs and 9 oz. and was born at 10:30 a.m. Leon was supposed to be marching in a parade with the elementary band but when I started labor, he let the other band director take care of things and took me to Mesa to Dr. Allen. The doctor now had a brand new hospital, but nicer than the little clinic where Tricia was born.
My aunt Mona came to help us out. Leon earned her love and respect when he came home one day , I had come home from the hospital by then, and the house was really messy. I had washed my hair and curled it and all he said was "You look really nice." That impressed Mona. She thought it so nice of him to not comment on the mess.
Leon got tired of driving clear across town every day to teach school and a new housing development opened up in Glendale. The development was called Marysvale and built by John F. Long. The price was very affordable. We let Leon’s brother Bill and his wife Kathy have our house and we moved across town to a four bedroom, two bath home. It was on a cul-de-sac with a very large yard. Bill and Kathy decided to move to California so we had to give that house back to the Greers.

Life in Phoenix, 1956-57

We first lived in a little house, that was one of about five in a row, in an orange grove. The grove was on the front of the house and a driveway was in back of the houses with clotheslines on the side. Our little washer was outside on the back of the house by the door. It had two bedrooms with a large closet, reached by both rooms. Sylvia was a little pack rat and whenever the comb or another item was missing, it could be found on the floor of the closet. Some of the odd jobs Leon did to earn money was to play in the Phoenix symphony, wash dishes at a Mexican restaurant in the evenings, and or worked at a dog kennel. Some of these jobs were summer type, others during the school year.
I was expecting again and went to Dr. Ben Allen in Mesa. He had been one of my father’s missionaries in Argentina. A very caring person. If the doctor’s bill was paid before the baby was due, it was only $100.00! The hospital bill was comparable. His hospital was just a little clinic, later a nice hospital was built where others of our children were born. Patricia Ann was born on December 1, 1956. I had gone for my checkup that morning and the doctor told me I would have the baby before the next week. That afternoon my pains started. I had washed my hair and it was put up in curlers so that’s how I looked when she was born. She was 9 lbs. 4 oz and it was at 6:30 p.m. when she made her appearance. This experience was much better than in an army hospital. Leon’s parents came to help out with Sylvia and David. We now had three under the age of three all in diapers; Sylvia didn’t turn three until the end of January.
We next moved into an little old house on a large lot that had a horse pasture next to it. This had one bedroom and a large living/bedroom combined. The little bedroom had a door that opened onto the front porch but had no key. We put the baby’s bed in front of that door. The side door opened onto the living/bedroom. It had a large swamp cooler that blew air into the bedroom and the other large room.
Once, when Gina was having problems with her teeth, she came with her two little ones and stayed with us. She loved being on Sylvia’s bed where the cool air blew right on her. We enjoyed doing things with Keith and Gina and visited frequently with them. Their daughters Debbie and Melanie were exactly nine months older and nine months younger than Sylvia.
The pasture next to our lot was rented out to a boy for his horse. He took care of it. One Sunday morning, when Leon was at Priesthood meeting, the horse got loose. I took off after him with a rope, dressed in my robe and hair in curlers. I must have been a sight but I caught him and brought him back to the pasture.
I have a cherished memory of little David. Once I looked out of the window and saw him in the pasture looking up at the horse and the horse was looking down at him. It was a darling picture and I wish I had captured it on film. He was either 18 months or close to being two.
Some more memories of that house. Once, I caught Sylvia about to touch a scorpion on the rug inside the house. I quickly pulled her away and killed it. Another time, Sylvia and David decided to put "gasoline" in the car and put water in the gas tank. A scary memory happened one night when I had forgotten to lock the side door. Our bed was across the room. I heard someone outside the door and then saw the door handle start to turn. I sat up in bed and the noise must have scared the person away. That was very frightening.
I suffered a miscarriage while living at the little house; the only one I’ve had. It was on Valentine’s day and the person who prepped me painted a heart on me with something red. It was different being in the hospital with no baby.
I was the Primary chorister in our ward in Scotsdale. I was lucky with the accompanist because she could play by ear besides read notes. I made rhythm instruments and the kids played to the theme of the Adams Family, plus others.