My amazing sister, Cara

I have a very unusual situation.  And by “situation,” I mean family relation.  I have two older sisters and two younger brothers. My mother had many miscarriages, so I always felt very blessed that I got to grow up in a family of five children. And I love each one of them. 

But what I didn’t expect is that I would get the wonderful surprise of another sister many years after my mother died. My father remarried Jean and to them was born my younger sister, Cara. Cara is much younger than me and much younger than my children. We always laugh when we talk about her being the aunt to my much older children.

My sister is amazing. Cara is wife to the wonderful Will Dahlquist and mother to three darling boys.  The oldest, Lincoln will soon turn 4, next comes Spencer who just turned two, and baby Connor is about 6 ½ months.  Cara not only takes care of her three little boys, but she also is a professional photographer (go to her web site here), trained in HypnoBirthing and works at HypnoBirthing Utah. She’s also an advocate of Empowering Fearless Birth and was a speaker at this year’s conference.  Did I also mention that she is an artist?   She is multi-talented. She throws the most marvelous parties and is a fantastic cook.  There is so much more I could say about Cara, but I mostly just want to say that I love her and am so very proud of her.  I stand all amazed at her maturity and talent. And she’s just a really nice, nice person and friend to all.

Not only is Cara a loving wife and great mother, but she has weathered some pretty difficult trials in her very young life.  For instance, the birth of her first baby:  Lincoln spent the first 6 weeks of his life in hospitals starting with his birth at Orem Community, then to Primary Children’s, and finally to Lucile Packard Children's in Palo Alto, California.  Instead of Cara bringing home her first born baby, he was air-lifted to California, with Cara and Will traveling there shortly after.  She was amazing during this time!  If you want to read Cara’s story of Lincoln’s journey go here. And I could tell you the story of when her husband Will had a car fall on him and the long struggle with his recovery.  But Cara and Will are resilient and they managed these challenges with grace. So I’ll stop talking and share some pictures. I have more of when Cara was younger, but I was too lazy to scan them, but I’ve included a few.

 

A very young Cara



Cara with Brad and Lori



Cara and Lori

And then she grew up................................................

Lincoln's Open Heart Surgery shortly after he was born

The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee

Watching General Conference - Oct. 5, 2013

Cara's four boys!  :)

Cara is simply amazing!!!!

Vying for #1 Son-in-law

I am so blessed to have fantastic sons-in-law and daughters-in-law.  No, really!!  I honestly love them all and am so happy they are part of our family. 

The sons-in-law here in Knoxville have some friendly banter about who is the #1 son-in-law.  And I must say it is neck-in-neck.  We had major problems with one of our computers in February/March, and our son-in-law, Scott, came to the rescue, spending more time than anyone could expect helping work out the bugs.  He certainly held the #1 son-in-law spot during those months.

But that all changed in April. I mean, does anyone have a son-in-law who would put their hands in their mother-in-law’s mouth to adjust her brand new retainer which he just made for her?!? Thanks, Allen, for helping get rid of  my teeth-crowding. For the past month, Allen’s been #1. 

 

I got to choose the color of my retainer

 

 

But yesterday, we got a call from David and he told us he was bringing us a pie from Old Mill Bread.  He called from the bakery and even let us choose our kind – we went with peach, and it is oh, so good!!!  Thank you David!!

 

Well, just gotta say: David is # 1 today. :)

David's peach pie puts  him in the the #1 spot for favorite son-in-law this week.

Strawberry jam and miracle triplets

In 2010, Russ and I thought we were so expert at making Strawberry jam that we forged ahead without thinking or reading clearly and ended up with a bunch of Strawberry syrup. (click here to read about that disaster) In 2011 we had been out of town right at peak Strawberry season, so we just skipped making jam altogether.  But this year, the strawberries came on early, due to a very hot March, so we jumped right in and made eight batches before the first of May. It’s in the freezer – looking oh so good. I’ve also started my own little Strawberry patch.  Perhaps it will grow and spread until I can pick from my yard to make jam. 

There is one little jar that I save and use every time we make jam.  It has a special meaning to me and is a constant reminder of the miracle of the birth of our triplet grandchildren.  In the year 2000, our triplet grandchildren were born two months early and it was only through prayers, good thoughts, fasts, and priesthood blessings that they survived. While the babies were in the NICU, their mother, Lisa, had to pump her milk, put it in little bottles and store it in the freezer at the hospital. Lisa had so much milk for her babies, that we also filled her freezer and our deep freezer. When the babies finally got their feeding tubes out and were able to drink from those little bottles we all took our turn to feed them there in the NICU. And when they finally came home two months after they were born, we still had two freezers full of those little bottles of milk.

So I kept one of those bottles, and have used it for one jar of jam every year since.  It will always remind me of the miraculous birth of the triplets, Tanner, Connor, and Sydney. The triplets are almost 12 years old now, but I still have the jar and will keep it forever. Love and hugs to our miracle triplet grandchildren. 

Some of our 2012 jars ready for the freezer

Comparing the triplet bottle to canning jar

The baby bottle jar I'll keep forever

My strawberry patch -- a beginning

The triplets and their Mom, Lisa - 2012

1940 – The Year Greatness Began

Today, September 14, my eternal partner of 43 years turns 70. I am more in love with him today than the day we married. He’s the one I’m growing old with. He’s the one who holds my hand and says “the best is yet to be……”

I like making lists. I’m a “list” type of person. Helps keep my life ordered. So here’s a short list of some of the reasons I love this man. This I do to honor him for his 70 years well-lived.

1) He is retired from full-time employment and yet works tirelessly serving others. Some examples of his serving:

-He helps a friend remodel a 40 year old home for this friend’s son. He’s been there working about one day a week for several months now.

-He fixes screen doors, hangs pictures, builds shelves, paints (yes lots of painting), and many more “handy-man” jobs for his daughters and sons-in law that live in town. And when he goes to Utah, he does the same for his sons.

-If anyone is moving in or moving out, he is there working side-by-side the 20 and 30 year olds. He’s usually the first one there and the last one to leave

-He volunteers to help anyone who needs help, whether it is yard work, house work, building, repairing, he’s the man

-He volunteers for community service and serves on two committees for the town of Farragut

-He unloads trucks at the Bishop’s storehouse (a job for a much younger man)

-He researches and does genealogy for others, as well as his own family

2) He spends lots of time with his grandchildren---not just babysitting, but taking them to baseball games, and other fun things

3) He is honest, faithful, pure of heart, and loves his God, family, neighbors, and friends

4) He treats me like a queen and honors my womanhood

5) He has supported me in everything I’ve ever tried to do whether I was good at it or not

Oh, yes, and what I like best of all is that he is so modest and unassuming. This post will no doubt embarrass him to no end. Happy 70th birthday and may you have many, many more birthdays to celebrate the wonderful man you are. Here’s a few snapshots of this amazing man.

Six year old

High School Pictures 1955-1958


Captain of the Baseball Team



Serving a mission in Argentina 1960-1963

Love of baseball - holding Troy before playing in a baseball game - 1968

Russ Trying to grow a beard while attending Utah State - 1973

Serving as Bishop of the Oak Grove Ward in Walnut Creek, CA

Russ the Engineer with Ash and Landy 1983 - Bechtel

Towards the end of his nine years as Stake President - celebrating the church's Sesquicentennial at the World Fair Grounds - July 1997

Elder Robert D. Hales, Sharlene, Russ - day of his release from being Stake President - November, 1998

Babysitter extraordinaire - 2000 -------------------My true love - pix taken 1999

September 14, 2010