This Old House

This old house once knew my children.

This old house once knew my wife.

This old house was home and comfort

As we fought the storms of life.


It has been with mixed emotions that we have been
preparing our home of the last thirty-five years for
sale in anticipation of our move to a new home in
Logan. My mind has been flooded with memories,
most of them good, about about family and events
that took place here as we have gone through each
room and tried to spruce them up before this old
house becomes the place of other people's
memories as well.



This is the front of our home. Alison helped me remove
shrubs that had been there forever and create a new
flowerbed in their place. The flowers got a rather late
start this year, but they will soon be looking good as the
summer progresses and their roots become better
established.


I would hate to count the number of loads of firewood
that have gone through this wood burning stone. It has
helped to keep us war on those cold winter evenings, and
a sense of nostalgic security when the winds howled
outside and the temperatures plummeted to more than
forty degrees below zero. In addition all those trips to the
mountains for firewood helped me to get in better shape
and even lose some of the excess pounds I seemed to
gain during the months of winter.



In this cozy family room many hours have been spent.
It has been the scene of many hours of play and
laughter. Here we had our family home evenings,
enjoyed the company of family and friends, spent our
Christmas eves together, and said our goodbyes each
morning as we went our separate ways.


We have tried not to be prideful, but I must admit, that
in this room we displayed with pleasure/pride pictures of
our basketball players, Eagle scouts, and our children's
temple marriages.


This small dining table replaced a much larger one where
nine people sat each day to partake of the delicious meals
prepared by my angel wife, Iris. We were never wealthy,
but as far as I know, no one ever went away hungry or
malnourished, for which we are very grateful.


This is a view of our new kitchen. Justin, Ammon, Ryan
and Stephen and I worked all night on it. Justin and
Ammon did most of the cabinets while Stephen and Ryan
laid the new flooring. They did a wonderful job and we
were and still are very grateful for their help.


Another view of our new kitchen. It was a wonderful and
much needed improvement to our home.


This picture was taken from inside our sun room
looking out toward the highway that leads up the canyon
toward Yellowstone National Park.


I built this "sun room" onto our house with my own two
hands. It is not perfect nor was its builder, but it allows
us to feel like we are outside in nature without going
out of doors. Many hours have been spent relaxing and
just looking out the window at the yard, the flowers, the
birds and the squirrels.


Our living room was mostly a place of peace and quiet.
A place where we could read and contemplate, a place
where we could enjoy the effects of good music, a place
for quiet conversation with family and friends.


Another view of our living room.






This small garden is but a reminder of the much larger
one we had for many years when the family was young
and there were many mouths to feed. Today it allows
me to get my hands in the dirt and to enjoy at least a
little of the fresh vegetables we grow. There is nothing
much better than young red potatoes, creamed peas and
carrots directly from the garden.


Here we see one of Grandpa Bart's flower beds. I have
always been a sort of "flower child". Justin helped me
get the blocks for the flower bed and the pavers for our
patio when he worked at Lowes. The mountain bike has
taken me over hundreds of miles of mountain roads and
trails and at least a dozen trips around beautiful Bear
Lake. I still ride it but not on such long rides as was
once the case.

This has been our home. I hope that memories of this
little piece of geography bring black many pleasant
memories. We had our moments, our challenges and
trials, but for the most part, I think we lived and
walked in peace and harmony before the Lord. We hope
that the experiences you had here have had a positive
effect on your lives.


I love you all, always have and always will.

Dad