7.02.2012

While the hubby's away....I will play!

Stolworthy Family Reunion
Saturday was my dad's side of the fam reunion. It was so much fun. I have the greatest family.

On my dad's side of the family I have 99 cousins. First cousins.
My oldest cousin, Janelle's oldest daughter, Krista, is going to UVU this year!

The day was full of park fun.
Oh Wyatt. Love that little man!

 I love this baby. She is so sweet! & eats EVERYTHING



 I'm the baby whisperer...or the blanket is.
 Wanting Cara's 3' hair.
 seeeeesters
 tallies & the shorty

 ha!
All the cool new things we learn at family reunions!
 Unkie Grant won the auction for Grandpa Dean's cane!
 Grandpa Dean's Army uniform & Grandma Azalias wedding dress!
 Little miss Jade got a little sick!

 Cute little Lydia, still eating :)
 Love all these little kiddies! 
BTW have I told you my family is creative?
Our slip n' slide was the largest Ford ad sign. Hilarious.


 Beautiful Brooke & Wyatt & little girl Brady in the oven!
 Chase, Me (w/ Lydia), & Deej w/ Grandpa Dean's army suit & Grandma Azalia's wedding dress.
 

All Grandpa's military medals.
 Grandpa Dean carried his Book of Mormon & Bible in his pocket his entire 2 years fighting in WWII.

 He's so handsome!

 We had a huge bag of Nazi Swastikas.
Every time they called a Nazi, they took their Swastika.


 Again, sideways. Their wedding photo.

 My Grandpa Dean & Grandma Azalia with their first 3 children!
I wonder if at this point if they knew they'd have 5x that many children by the time they finished!
Grandpa Dean's purple heart.
Grandpa Dean & Aunt Barbara at the train station in Texas as he was about to leave for war for 2 yrs. He served in the Army in WWII.
 Grandma Azalia & Aunt Barbara in matching dresses at the train station, seeing Grandpa Dean off to war.

 Grandpa Dean in his pop's arm.
 Grandpa Dean as a babe!

Sunday the fam drove around Provo canyon!
The views @ Squaw Peak!
 Sunday drive with the fam!
 On the drive up & down I almost tossed my cookies. THe sky was all smokey from the wildfires. The view was still worth it!


 Momma & Pops! 
I love them!
 Open your eyes, Chaser!
 I haven't seen him since last Thanksgiving. so 9 months. & he grew another foot. Love him!

Aw love him!
Not pictured: Deej, she was too afraid to get close to the edge. hahah

My family got here Friday night. However, I hadn't seen Weston in a long time. The fire he was on was an hour from Salem. I made four million cookies to take to him & his crew. He & I planned for me to come see him on Thursday. I was so excited. As I was walking out the door (after 1.5 hrs of STRAIGHT cookie baking) I got a text that they were spiking out. That means they're staying on the mountain, not returning to the ICP (incident command post) for food & to sleep. So....my dreams were dashed. However, I decided to take a leap of faith Friday night & leave before he got off work & be there when he was done w/ his crew dinner.  They came off the mountain luckily for me! & I got to bring him the cookies.. Which he didn't want. He had one & then told me how there are thousands of baked goods...& then I saw the huge table of all the homemade cookies people bring them....SO I found a bunch of firefighters to give them to & then one finally said he'd take the whole batch, lucky for me, because I did not want to bring those home with me!
So I just met my family the next morning for our reunion in Nibley, UT.

I come from such great stock. Seriously.  I am so proud to a Stolworthy & a Deloach!
My Grandma Azalia & Grandpa Dean were a stellar couple & I love hearing stories of them. Grandpa Dean died appropriately on the 4th of July.  However, it was the day before my 4th birthday.
Grandma Azalia died in October when I was in 7th grade. I have a lot more memories with her, but still feel robbed of time with them. I respect them so much. The stories of my dad's childhood are seriously priceless.

They did not have a lot of money, but that family has a lot of love!  I love all the love &
I loved this reunion. I learned a lot more about my family & awesome ancestors on my dad's side. My great-great grandpa was a pioneer. Him & my great-great grandma lived in England. They had a baby & that baby died. They were visited by missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They were completely abandoned by their families after that. So they moved to the U.S. to live with the rest of the saints. They then had another baby that died. They had another baby that died along the plains.  Then they got to Salt Lake where Brigham Young told them to go and settle in Cache Valley. There they had another baby. This baby was the first white baby born in Cache Valley, all the indians came to stare.  Then my family hated the cold (truly my family) & they moved to southern Utah. They settled Blanding, Delta & Orderville as well. My great-grandpa left there when he was 17 & moved to Idaho where he had the opportunity to have free land. & he began a sheep herd. He farmed & herded sheep. He built a sheep herding cabin up near Blackfoot where he lived & it's still called "The Stolworthy Cabin." So neat!  My Grandpa Dean & Grandma Azalia were married in The Salt Lake temple & so were my parents & so was I to Weston! I love that! Also, my Grandpa Dean stole my Grandma from his friend from his mission! He went on a double date with her & when my grandpa's friend went away to war he wanted Grandpa Dean to watch over his then fiance, Grandma Azalia.  Grandpa decided he liked what he saw & he went for it & Grandma Azalia had a crush on grandpa & realized it's not great to be engaged & have a crush on someone else...so she broke off the engagement & her & Grandpa Dean were married! Love that story! Us Stolworthy's know what we want & we go for it!

He served a mission for our church in the Northern States mission, which included Missouri, Ohio, Michigan...and some other states!
As pictured above my Grandpa was shot when he was leading a raid to Hitler's home.

He was a farmer & he & my Grandma Azalia bore 15 children. the 15th child died because her stomach burst during a midnight feeding. She did not survive through the 9 hour surgery.  She was also born with a club foot, which had already been corrected through casting it. 

My dad is number 13 of the 15 children!

Update on Weston
Wes had his 2 mandatory R&R days.
Saturday June 23 he got called to Saratoga Springs to fight the Dump fire.
He was on that fire for 2 days when another fire had blown up called the Wood Hollow fire down in San Pete County.  It is a beautiful area. San Pete is one of my favorite areas to drive through in Utah!
He was there from Monday until Friday & then Saturday they got reassigned to the Clay Springs fire down by Delta, UT.
That fire has been insane. with regularly 100' flame lengths.
Yesterday they worked hard from 8am-1pm & then after that the fire got way too huge that it could not even be managed, they had to all back off & watch it burn. Flame lengths got up to 300'.

Saturday while working the Clay Springs fire, Weston got cornered between flames. He got a little burned, but is fine now!
I took these pictures when I visited Weston at ICP on Friday night!  This is at the Moroni Middle school. The yard is the location for the ICP for the Wood Hollow Fire.  We went inside to use the bathrooms. Wes got to see himself in the mirror, too & laughed so hard at how dirty he was!
I cannot remember which fire he was on when he sent me this picture, regardless, it is pretty intense!
xoxoquitetheupdate!

4 comments:

  1. Um... I hope your husband gets the BIGGEST pay check in the whole world. Colorado's burning up too, as you know, and it just breaks my heart. I've never been more grateful for firefighters!

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  2. I hope Wes knows how grateful we all are for him...this fire season has been crazy already! He and the rest of the fighters are in our prayers! You've got one tough husband!!!

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  3. Rachel, I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciated this posting with all the lovely pictures from the reunion, the wonderful stories of your grandparents, the amazing experiences that were passed on! This is maybe your best one yet! And of course, I loved seeing Mr Smiley Face! He would do that,smile through all that grit and grime! I would feel sorry for him, but I think he is doing what he loves to do and not many people get to do what they love to do for a living. Just pray he stays safe! He is certainly a blessing to so many people, especially to you! Love that boy! Thanks for all your hard work on this blog entry. I really loved it and will reread it again for sure!

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  4. Love all the pictures and stories! Thank you!!!
    I have to say, I think Lydia likes you so much cause you look like me, or I look like you.... ;)

    One of my earliest memories is running around at Grandpa's funeral when I was 3 years old. I also have a few memories of Dad coming home from work looking like Weston. ah! Glad he's ok!

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