Anniversay Reminisences

Today, July 29th, 2011 marked the forty-fifth anniversary of our wedding day. We were married for time and all eternity in the Logan Utah LDS Temple on that day so many years ago. Over the years we have been asked countless times how a shy farm boy from Lanark, Idaho ever met and married a vivacious, beautiful young southern girl from Macon, Georgia. I have often thought about this particular set of circumstances myself. The more I have contemplated this, the more I have come to recognize an Unseen Hand guiding our lives throughout the years, probably from the moment of our births and perhaps even in the preexistant world. This Unseen Hand did not force our relationship, but carefully guided us and helped us come together and grow to love one another and accept the challenge of marriage and raising a family in this somewhat difficult world. The result has been forty five years of growth and happiness. These years have not been without their ups and downs. There have been trials and even sorrows as we have met the challenges of life together, sometimes successfully and sometimes having to back up and try again. But through it all we have learned to love one another unconditionally and to love our children and their families likewise. As I look back, I can't think of anything I'd want to change much. We've grown and learned together. I loved my Iris the day she said "yes" over the alter and even before that, but my love for her now is immeasurable. We are in this together for the long term and I can hardly wait to see how much I will love her a hundred million years from now. I am equally blessed to know of her love for me and our family and to know that her love for us reaches beyond the limits of this life. We will always love one another, no doubt about it. We have changed in many ways over the years. For one thing I'm about seventy-five pounds heavier. Iris has gained a couple of pounds too. My hair has all turned gray and been that way for many years already, but I'm grateful to have a few hairs left. My energy level is not nearly what it used to be and I have some pains that just don't want to go away. I'm grateful though at age seventy-one to be able to do most of the things I used to do and enjoy. It just takes me a lot longer to get them done and I generally need some recovery time after doing anything very strenuous these days. The picture below shows what we looked like at the time of our wedding. This is the only wedding picture we have. We're lucky to have it. For some reason or other having our picture taken all dressed up in tuxes and wedding gowns just never entered our minds at the time. I guess we were preoccupied with other things. Oh, well, this will give posterity an idea about what we looked like when we were married. I was twenty-six and Iris was twenty years old at the time. Yes, I've been accused of robbing the cradle, but if I did, all I can say is: what a haul!!!!!

This year we decided to go back to Twin Falls, where it all began so long ago. I had graduated in May with a degree in education from Utah State University and had been given my first teaching job at Twin Falls High School. My assignment was to teach German and American government. I didn't know a single soul in Twin Falls with the exception of my room mate, Bob Allred, from Bellvue, Idaho. I had become acquainted with him while we were classmates at Utah State. He was starting a teaching career at nearby Kimberly High School and we had decided to room together in Twin Falls. We got along fine and had much in common, both farm boys, returned missionaries, USU graduates, and still single. We lived in a small one bedroom apartment on the corner of Addison and Madison Street in Twin Falls. We lived there for two school years. While Iris and I were in Twin Falls this week we decided to look up some of the places that had played a part in our lives while we lived there. This is the place I lived in. We occupied the apartment on the right side of the building. Not much has changed there. Maybe a new coat of paint put not much else. I remember the rent was forty dollars a month. We split it down the middle, Bob paid twenty and I paid the other half. It doesn't seem like much, but never forget our wages were equally low back then. My pay check that first year of teaching was $340 a month.

The Twin Falls area has many noted scenic attractions. One of our favorite attractions was the famous Shoshone Falls on the Snake River. It is about five miles east of the city of Twin Falls. I took this picture on Thursday. The falls are sometimes even more impressive if you can catch the river running high before the summer irrigation season begins. There are several large irrigation canals that are fed by the Snake River above the Falls which reduce the flow at certain times of the year. The flow of the river is also impacted by the amount of snow fall in the high country around Yellowstone Park the previous winter. After Jason was born we made a ritual out of driving out to the Falls every Sunday afternoon. He was always much more interested in the baby calves in the fields along the way than he was in watching the Falls.

Below, another picture of the Shoshone Falls, with Bart and Iris in the picture.

As impressive as Shoshone Falls may be there was one place in Twin Fall, that I wanted to see even more. It was the very place where my eyes first beheld my Iris. That first Sunday thatI was in Twin Falls I looked up the ward I would be attending. It was the Twin Falls Second Ward. I found the Church, went in and quietly took a seat on the back row. It took only a few seconds until my eyes found a beautiful young girl sitting with some friends on the north side of the chapel about half way down the wall. It was my Iris. Little did I then realize that we would spend our lives together, loving one another and raising a family. She was from Macon, Georgia and had come out to visit her sister, Linda, who had married Richard "Dick" Miller from Twin Falls. They had met while he served in the Southern States Mission and was assigned to Macon. Linda had asked her to stay a while as she was lonely for home and wanted some family company. The Unseen Hand at work. We met after church that first Sunday and before long started dating. While we were in Twin Falls on Thursday and Friday I sought out the old Second Ward chuch house. It had been sold to the Salvation Army and they had set up their Twin Falls operation there. I went in and asked if I could take a picture of the spot in the chapel where I had first seen Iris. At first they didn't know just what to say. The chapel had been converted into a hall for young children to watch movies in. There were about twenty of them lieing around on blankets watching a movie, I quickly found the spot which had changed my life and took a quick picture. It didn't turn out very well and probably wouldn't mean anything to anyone else but me anyway, but to me it was a place like the Sacred Grove, that changed my life forever. The picture below is the former Twin Falls Second/Fourth Ward building, now the home of the Salvation Army.

The picture below is not a good one. It was taken hurridly so as not to disturb the young people watching a movie there, but it is very special to me. My life would not be the same had it not been for the young lady I saw there sitting against the wall at a spot just about where the second set of stacked chairs stands in this picture. Sorry for being so sentimental, but that instant changed my life for the better for all eternity.

Below is Twin Falls High School where I started my teaching career. It has not changed much over the years. Back then it was the only senior high school in town. Now there is another one called Canyon Ridge High School. At the time it had aboiut 1600 students in grades 10, 11 and 12. I taught German and American Governement.

Across the street to the south from the High School stood an LDS chapel on Maurice Street. It was there that the early morning seminary class met during the school year every day at six-thirty.  I was asked along with Bob Allred, my roommate,to teach at the Seminary. I was a good experience and got me up and going before I had to report for school at the High School. I did this for two years. I made some good friends and came to admire the faithful young people who showed up, somewhat sleepy eyed, every morning to learn more about their faith and strengthen their testimonies. The picture below is of the Maurice Street Church as it looks today, not much changed from forty plus years ago. A new Seminary building now stands next to it and the church is no longer used for Seminary.

After we got married we made our first home in an upstairs apartment in the home pictured below on on 7th Avenue in Twin Falls, Idaho. It was a two bedroom apartment. To my recolection the rent was seventy five dollars a month which included utilities. We lived there for one year before I left Twin Falls to go to the University of Washington for my Master's Degree. I would return later to work at the same High School with the same assignement. It was there that Jason was concieved, though he would be born later during the summer in Macon, Georgia. I went down South to Macon and worked that summer while we stayed with Iris' parents and I got aquainted with the family.

After I finished my Master's Degree at the Universty of Washington, we returned to Twin Falls and I again taught at the High School. During this time we lived in this apartment building on Sunrise Avenue in Twin Falls. We lived in the very last apartment on the end.  We were living there when Jared was born. He was our only child born in Twin Falls. I remember the night he was born, our neighbors and friends in the next apartment knew we were going over to the hospital and made me promise to wake them no matter what time it was and tell them what we had, boy or girl. At about two-thirty in the morning they recieved a knock on the door announcing the birth of Jared, our second son, and that all was well. We only lived here for one year before moving to Bear Lake.

One reason for moving to Bear Lake, among others, was to be closer to a Temple. The Logan Temple was much closer to Bear Lake than to Twin Falls, which at the time did not have a temple. Since our marriage we have tried to attend the temple each year on or near our aniversary. This was one reason for our trip to Twin Falls this year. The Logan Temple was closed for remodeling and we had not yet had the opportunity to attend the new Twin Falls Idaho Temple, dedicated just a couple of years ago, so this year, that is what we did. It is beautiful, as all of the temples are. The special ordinances that are performed in temples are the same in all of the temples and the Spirit is also always wonderful. Here we are after attending a session together at the Twin Falls Idaho Temple. Below is a picture of the new Twin Falls Idaho Temple Jully 29, 2011.

Below:  Bart and Iris at the Twin Falls Idaho Temple July 29, 2011.

The picture below was not taken by me, but I thought some of you might be interested in the beautiful mural in one of the ordinance rooms of the Twin Falls Temple. This view was available to the public during the temple open house before its dedication.

As we left Twin Falls to return home to Logan we stopped at the Perine Bridge Lookout. This too is a beautiful spot which we enjoyed seeing during our time in Twin Falls. Below, the Perine Bridge stretching across the Snake River at a height of about 475 feet above the river.

The Blue Lakes Country Club in the Snake River Canyon just below the Perine Bridge is pictured below. Beautiful!!

Our little Anniversay trip to Twin Falls was great, but the greatest thing of all was the reaffirmation that I will be able to be with my sweetheart for all time and eternity. Thanks, Iris, for putting up with me for forty-five years on the way to forever. You are the best!!!!!

Camping in Logan Canyon and Sleeping under the Stars

Before school was out I promised Ethan that I would come and take him on a little camping trip.  One thing has led to another and I just got around to keeping my promise this past Friday night.  It was a holiday weekend here in Utah (Pioneer Day) so all of the campgrounds were pretty full, but after looking around for a while we found a nice spot in the Preston Valley Campground in Logan Canyon.

I pitched a small tent and reserved our campground.  It was close to the Logan River which is running very high for this time of year.  Fortunately there were a lot of willows between us and the river so I didn't have to worry much about it.  We could still hear the roar of the rushing waters though and it was rather impressive.  What had started out with the idea of Ethan and I camping out together turned in to something a little more and even better.  Hayden wanted to join in with us and in the final analysis, so did Kate.  We had a great time together exploring around a bit and then cooking some good hot dogs over the campfire on a stick.  We then had some marshmallows too.  I was surprised at how well the kids did.  They cooked most of them to perfection, though a few got a little over done, like charcoal black.  Fun just the same.  It kind of reminded me of the good old days when we used to do that with our kids and even before that when I did it with my brothers and sister and our parents.  What goes around comes around, they say.

One of the best parts of the trip was that Ethan and I got to sleep out under the stars.  We looked for falling stars and satellites crossing the sky.  We saw a few of each, but the best part was just lying there on our backs talking to each other and looking up at the beauties of the sky.  It makes one feel very small and yet grateful to be a part of such a beautiful universe.

Hayden was a fun boy too.  We hiked around and he climbed partway up a tree.  He is such a sweet boy and always pleasant to be around.  I think he had a good time.  We crossed a small bridge and he saw what he called a haunted house.  It was really just a small unused cabin with moss growing all around it.

I've got to admit I was worried about Kate.  I didn't know how she would react to a night in the canyon away from he Mama.  Maybe it was because Justin came after he got off work and stayed the night with us, but he was a trooper and didn't complain a bit. She actualy made a rather pretty little Indian princess, don't you think? All in all we had a great time camping out and sleeping under the stars.  Love my grand kids.

A Week in the Colorado Rockies

This past week I had the opportunity to go over to Colorado and spend the week at the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado with Mason and Stephen and their troop of boy Scouts from Pueblo, Colorado, Troop 30.  It is a rather long ride from here to there, but the trip was certainly worth the effort.  I don't get to spend much time with Mason or Stephen since they moved to Colorado about five years ago, but I think of them often and am very proud of what they are doing.  Stephen has proven himself to be not only a great leader of boys but also of men.  He has made a considerable sacrifice during these years as has his family, but they have also been richly rewarded and have grown close to the Lord and each other.  The photo below demonstrates how lucky Mason is to have a father who cares and who is there for him .  Not every child is so fortunate.  I think of the words in the Primary song, Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way, when I look at his picture.  Mason, will not go far wrong if he walks beside his father, who has developed truly Christlike character in so many ways.

I've been around Scout Camps for a long time it seems.  Most of these experiences have been very positive.  This week with Mason in the Colorado Rockies has been no exception.  He is an eager scout and though he just turned 12 last week and was ordained a deacon, has more than thirty merit badges already.  Of course, it doesn't hurt to be able to go to scout camp every week with his dad.  Mason has always shown an interest in many things and will go far in life as he learns to focus on those thing of greatest worth.

Below, three generations of scouts standing before our home for a week at the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch.  Stephen and I slept in this tent while Mason and one of his buddies slept in one just like it across the way, while a bear grunted and moved around our tent nearly every night.  I got up one night to go to the bathroom and was trying to be very quiet so as not to wake Stephen.  He heard me though, sat up abruptly in bed and yelled as he threw a pillow at me, thinking I was a bear trying to get in his tent.

Thanks to Stephen and Mason for inviting me to come and including me in a very memorable week.

A Part of our Heritage, The Paris Tabernacle

As we were driving through Paris, Idaho yesterday I couldn't resist stopping and taking a couple of quick pictures.  The Paris Tabernacle has always had a special place in my heart.  I remember dad telling me that it was there after a conference that he first saw mom.  They were both fourteen years old.  He said that from that moment on he knew that she was the girl he would one day want to marry.  I also remember the Stake Conference meetings we attended there as I was growing up.  I remember listening to some of the Apostles and even President David O. McKay in that building.  I remember my Seminary graduation and that we had a special speaker, A. Theodore Tuttle, who came to our little graduation ceremony (there were only about thirty of us in that graduating class) and addressed us.  He went on to be one of the leaders of the Church and a General Authority for many years.  It was there that I graduated from Fielding High School in 1958.  I remember going to special patriotic programs that were held in the Tabernacle each year in celebration of Independence Day on the Fourth of July.  I remember being involved in special dramatic production when I was the Stake Young Men's President in the Paris Idaho Stake.  It was called RX, Take Thou the Following.  I'm not sure where that title came from, but it had a special spiritual meaning and turned out to be a great success.  Iris and I even attended an Original Opera written by one of the Call brothers from Star Valley that had its premier performance in the Paris Tabernacle.  Of course, an improvised stage was created for these productions.  I'm sure it was not world class, but it was a definite treat for Bear Lakers and others who filled the Tabernacle.  I'm sure many of the rest of our family have special memories of this place in their lives as well.

The exterior of the building is imposing in its own right but the interior is a genuine work of art as you can see in the photo below.

Much of the lumber for the construction of this building came from my Grandfather Price's mills in Paris.  You can still see some of the remains of one of the mills at the mouth of Paris Canyon.  He also owned a shingle mill, and I'm sure the meticulously cut four inch shingles were a product of his mill.  Each time I enter this building I am awestruck by the workmanship of these hardy pioneers of the Bear Lake Valley.  Others of our pioneer Bear Lake ancestors undoubtedly spent many, many hours helping to complete this building which was finished in dedicated by President Wilfred Woodruff in September of 1889.  During the construction of this building which was built entirely by donated labor and money, many of the saints in the area were still living in humble cabins, some of which still had dirt floors.  It is a testament to the faith they had in God and their religion, and in their desire to worship and honor Him.  I am glad to have descended from such pioneer stock.

Above is a tea pot and creamer that was owned by our grandfather, Arthur Eborn.  He inherited it from his own grandparents according to the  card in a display case located in the foyer of the Tabernacle along with relics from other pioneer families of the area.

By Bart

Eleven Feet Higher and Rising

Today we had an appointment with our dentist in Montpelier.  Doctor Hammond has been our dentist since he first moved to Montpelier right out of medical school.  In fact I was his very first patient when he took over his brother's practice several years ago.  He is such a kind and thoughtful person, not to mention his obviously great skills as a dentist, so when we moved to Logan three years ago we determined to keep him as our dentist so long as we can make it back over the mountain to Bear Lake.  Of course, a trip to the dentist  and to Bear Lake means a lot more than just getting our teeth checked.  We haven't been over that way for several months and so we were interested to see the rising levels of the the lake, which we have been hearing about.  For several years the lake has been rather low due to the drought years and the use of the water stored in Bear Lake for irrigation and hydroelectric power downstream in lower valleys Idaho and Utah.  For many years locals have wondered if the lake would ever get back to its high water mark of years past.  Due to the  heavy snow pack in the Bear Lake and Bear River drainage this past winter the lake has risen a reported eleven feet (that represents a lot of snow flakes) and is nearing its capacity.  Water is still flowing into the lake at record levels as of today, July 6, 2011.  Not nearly as much beach as people have been used to, as you can see.

Oh, and our dental checkups were fine. I feel sorry for people who don't get to enjoy their trips to t