The Grandma Jar

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love it because it's all about gratitude, and family. I found a post with 30 days of thanks that I want to do. What smell are you grateful for today? Like most women, I love the smell of chocolate (and bacon). I love the smell of new babies, and fresh mown grass, and the ocean. Strangely, I love the smell of manure. Manure smells like farms and Grandpa Porter. When I was small and we visited Grandpa and Grandma Porter, Grandpa would get up early and go feed the cows. If I got up early I could go with him--and I LOVED to do chores with Grandpa. First, we would eat bread and milk, sprinkled with green onions, for breakfast. Now I'm sure that if my mom served bread and milk and green onions for breakfast I would have balked, but I'd do (and eat) anything to be with my grandpa. I haven't had this special breakfast for many years but I remember it fondly. Next, we walked out to the corrals to feed the home cows. We forked hay into ...

What was your childhood home like?  How many different homes or apartments have you lived in throughout your life?  1.  I was born in Richfield, Utah, in the old Sevier Valley Hospital so I guess that the hospital was officially my first home--but hospitals don't count as home and most of us look forward to leaving the hospital and taking our new babies HOME. So my first real home was in Central, Utah at Grandpa and Grandma Porter's house. Granpa and Grandma Porter's house (rear view) Dad was serving in the US Army and was completing basic training at Fort Ord, California so Mother moved in with her parents until Dad had his first official post.  Although Grandpa and Grandma's house was only my "official" home for 5 weeks I've loved this home my whole life and cherish the memories created here. Grandpa and Grandma's house was our favorite vacation spot. In fact, John and I took our first  vacation together to Grandma's h ouse. It w...

Yesterday was a big day for our family-- Andrew David Hastings was baptized and confirmed by his father Jonathan David Hastings. It was a special rainy day (Sister Debbie Welch, in her talk about the Holy Ghost, reminded us that the earth feels clean after rain). Andrew and Hailey Brixley, Savanna Welch, and Jaycee Young--three beautiful young women from his ward--became the newest members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and started on their journey back to Heavenly Father--to live eternally with Him. Andrew's grandfather's Floyd Hastings and Linel John Larsen served as witnesses for this special ordinance and Grandpa Hastings noticed that Andrew's toe might have come out of the water so Andrew got to be dunked twice. He was then confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by his dad, supported by his grandpas, his Hasting uncles, and his Uncle Sheldon. After the baptism, we went back to Andrew's house where we enjoyed great company and de...

Yesterday was the Riverton South Stake Relief Society Social. The social commemorated the 175th anniversary of Relief Society. Sister Sharlene Harsh took our theme "Anchor Your Faith in Christ" from a President Monson quote that reads, "We must develop the faith necessary to survive spiritually and to project a light for others. We must nurture our testimony until it becomes an anchor to our lives." We started planning this event six months ago and as March drew near I started to worry "what if no one comes?" We had a few last minute challenges when Katherine had to work and Becky came down with a whopping case of the flu; But, yesterday was a resounding success and because I'm celebrating the completion of a huge RS task I've been thinking a lot about my relationship with Relief Society. Mom used to say that she was a "Mutual Mormon." She meant that most of her life she served with the youth in Mutual or now it would be called Young ...

I love the #52 stories question for this week. It is "Do you like to dabble in lots of different hobbies? If so, what are they? Or do you have one primary past time that takes up most of your free time and energy? I'm a hobby purest. I generally choose one hobby and pursue it exclusively, and passionately until I move onto something else. When I was first married I loved to crochet. Crochet was a great way for me to relax and still feel that I was being productive. I usually crocheted as John and I watched TV in the evenings. The first year we were married I crocheted a beautiful granny square afghan in yellow, brown, and orange for my new father-in-law Keith (I will try to find it and post a picture). I crocheted prolifically! I was in Mormon Handicraft one day and noticed the crocheted baby clothes they sold. Eureka! A light went on--what if I could make money doing a hobby I loved. I made a crochet baby dress and a pair of loopy booties and approached the Mormon Handicraf...

Jim and Garry Porter 2017 This week we said goodbye to my Uncle Garry. My mom's younger brother  passed away on February 15, 2017. The funeral highlighted a life well lived. It was fun to learn things about my Uncle Garry that I didn't know. What I do know about Uncle Garry is that he has always been so good to me and to my family. My kids love to walk down and visit Uncle Garry and Aunt Rula every time they visited the mountain and they always knew they would receive a warm welcome. Uncle Garry gave the best hugs. It seems strange to say that a funeral is fun--and maybe "fun" isn't the right word, but Tuesday, February 21st was a wonderful day and an awesome reunion. I spent the day with some of the choicest people on this earth: my cousins. Porter Family Reunion 2017: Cousins picture Back row: Mark Black, Neil Porter, Wayne Porter, Mariann Taylor, Teb Black, Ryan Porter, Troy Porter Front row: Kathy Cowley, Me, Carol Howell, Susan Crawford ...

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other is gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That's how long, I will be your friend. I grew up with the best friends in the world. We lived in Highland, Utah when it was a small farming community (unlike the thriving metropolis Highland is today). We went to school in American Fork and rode the bus to school each day--miles on the road bonds friendships. We learning to cross stitch, knit, and crochet together in Primary. We loved to go to Girls camp together. One year (and I'm not sure who can up with this crazy idea) we decided to cut my hair--what a fiasco! I loved the party's we had. One day we were partying at Layna's house and her mother taught us how to make "parched corn." After harvest, they husked and dried the corn on the cob. We took the corn cobs and popped the kernels off and fried them in an open pan. The parched corn tastes like Corn Nuts! Yum! The night we ...

I met John Larsen when I was 14 years old. He had just returned from a mission to London, England. His parents moved into our ward right before he left on his mission but I really don't remember meeting him then. He was kind to his little neighbor girl and regularly gave me rides to our ward choir practice. He liked to tease and he called me "cabbage head" because I was a freshman in High School (I don't see the connection). When I was 16-17 he was our Sunday school teacher. It was a big class and we really gave him a run for his money. Right after I graduated from High school my friend Debbie Nielson told me that John would like to date me--I was shocked, he was OLD (25). About a week later I went with the Young Adult group to the Manti Mormon Miracle pageant.   I rode in John's car and observed him carefully all evening. I decided it might be nice to go out with him. I usually stayed awake on long car trips to chat with my dad to help keep him awake so I did the...

Tuesday is Valentine's Day and love is in the air. Love has lots of definitions but some of the best and most enduring love stories exist right in my own family--Stories of love, sacrifice, and eternal devotion. Today's question for my #52 Stories Project is  "Do you know the story of how your grandparents met and fell in love?" And so on this Valentine's Day I'd like to share love stories for Russell and Eyvonne Black, Mark and Nina Black, and Var and Forest Porter--my parent's and grandparents. Russell and Eyvonne Porter Black Here is Rusell and Eyvonne's story in Eyvonne's own words. "After I graduated from High School I went to Snow College. While there I met Joyce Peterson and we became real good friends. Joyce was from Ferron, Emery county. I don’t remember the reason we went to BAC (Branch Agricultural College), it must have been something to do with sports because Joyce and I were walking from the BAC campu...

Yesterday I had an awesome experience meeting with a group of Sister leadership to hear Elder Renlund speak. According to Shaun Nelson, our stake president, the first presidency found that Elder Renlund had a free Saturday (Heaven forbid he take a day off) and so they contacted our area seventy Elder Nemro to see where Elder Renlund could do the most good in our area. After counseling with local stake presidents they decided to invite all the sisters holding leadership callings to attend a meeting in the afternoon. And to have Elder Renlund speak to the region youth in the evening. Sharlene Harsh, our Stake Relief Society President saved us seats on the 3rd row. My favorite quote of the day from Elder Renlund is “the church is an Atonement delivery system.” I’ve pondered on that idea ever since. Awesome. The second thing he told us, that I hope I remember the rest of my life, is that the only emotion that he has never felt when associating with the Prophet and the Council of the...