27 January 2022

Hi all!

Sunday 9th, John let me know that Bob Briggs is expected to pass away in the next few days.

Monday 10th, found out that Bob passed away last night.

Tuesday 11th, donated blood today, just worked in the afternoon.

Wednesday 12th, Len and I checked into the Stake Amateur Radio net tonight, for the first time in a while.

Thursday 13th, Len isn't feeling well, cough, body aches, etc.

Friday 14th, Len is feeling a little better. I enjoyed a day off work. Stayed home all day.

Saturday 15th, Gran and I went to Bob's funeral in Idaho Falls. Jocie and Janie both sang in the choir, John gave the opening prayer, and Miles and John were both pallbearers. Miles and Zach Briggs have been best friends most of their lives; Miles even lived with them in Michigan for a while. We went to the graveside service in Burton and then back to the luncheon which we had been invited to attend. It was a wonderful funeral, the only speakers were Bob's and Kathy's two son's, Zach and Adam. I got to see lots of old friends: John Hill, David Hill, Kim Spaulding, Kirk Hathaway, Byron Bates, Kevin Poulson, Bill Clements, Hal and his family, of course. Also got to meet Bob's and Hal's nephew, Greg, their older brother Randy's son. Long day, but so worth it!

Gran has been called as a specialist in the Young Women program in our Ward. She attends their Sunday meetings twice a month and her calling is to get to know the young women and write notes of encouragement to them. She was there the first Sunday in January when the new girls came in. One of those was Heath Anderson's daughter, Shaylee. She is in Dad's 4H shooting sports class and is consistently one of the top shooters, even better than her older brother, Ryken. When Dad was telling us about how well the Anderson girl was doing in his class, Gran remembered that she had just come into YW and it gave her an opportunity to fulfill her calling and she wrote her a wonderful note of congratulations.

Tuesday 17th, came home from work last night not feeling well. Went to the doctor and got an antibiotic for my sinus and ear infections and later in the day got a covid test, which turned out to be positive.

Thursday 27th, ended up being pretty sick, not as bad as last January though! I have lots of sick leave so I'm off until Monday the 31st. I still have a cough, but it's getting better.

I've done some family history research these past few days since I have felt like sitting up. One thing I found this week goes along with an old family story that we didn't know for sure was completely true:

When Uncle Herman and Bettie Lou were engaged, Gran was living with Nana while Granddad was out to sea. One day as Nana expressed concerns about the marriage, Gran said, "yes, and since Bettie Lou has been married before . . ." Well Nana didn't know that! Gran explained to her that "the only things she heard about Bettie Lou Turner, when they were in High School (different schools, both in Huntington) was that she had her own car, she had been married once, she had two fur coats, and she was a drum majorette." All these years Gran has worried that it had just been gossip about a previous marriage.

Well, this week I found the marriage record of Bettie Lou Turner and John W DeFoor, on 25 June 1946 in Greenup County, Kentucky, right across the river from Huntington. Bettie Lou's name is misspelled, Betty Lou, but her parents' names are correct, Harry Turner and Etheline Maynard. John and Bettie Lou are both listed as being 21 years old, but she was actually almost 16. John's age may not have been valid either. Since she went on and finished high school and married Herman in 1951 as "Miss Bettie Lou Turner" I imagine that her first marriage was annulled. Gran feels better though, knowing that she hadn't told Nana something that wasn't true.

Well, love to you all. I miss you!

Mom/Johanna/Nana

Hi Everyone,

Mom, thanks for the email and I hope you continue to feel better.

I had a fun time on a work trip to Los Angeles this past week. I saw one of the SpaceX rockets. I was able to learn a lot about some new products for work and spent some time with Autumn. I enjoyed some great seafood as well, the swordfish was my favorite. I ate the swordfish at a place on Huntington Beach while watching the sunset.

Joseph and I were able to go skiing with Sam and Brad on January 2nd and 3rd. We all had a great time and look forward to going again soon.

Joseph is really enjoying taking a photography class.

Joseph, Lynsey, and I were able to attend a photography presentation on January 15th at Cherry Creek High School. The speaker was a guy who works for National Geographic and gets to travel all over the world taking photos. It was a great experience and amazing to see some of the photos he has taken.

Lynsey is in the Relief Society presidency in our ward now and she is very busy with all that that calling includes.

My new calling at church is building security. I'm still trying to figure out all the details of that one, plus I'm still a ward missionary.

I went to the dentist this morning to have my teeth scanned. I'm considering getting my teeth straightened with Invisalign. I have a follow-up appointment next week. Do any of you have any info or advice on that?

I enjoy seeing the data from my Google Maps Timeline each year and 2021 was a good year for me. The following is a summary of the details:

I traveled a total of 56,603 miles, that's 2.3 times around the world.

I spent time in 3 new countries: Mexico, Iceland, and Ireland.

I was in 133 different cities, 71 of them that I had never been to.

I drove 38,905 miles.

I rode a bike 1,174 miles.

I took a bus or train for 639 miles.

I flew 15,588 miles.

I skied 180 miles.

I walked 65 miles. (I think I can do better than that this year)

I hope you all are doing well!

Love,