My Mom's 73rd Birthday

Today would have been my mom's 73rd birthday. I can't even imagine. My dad put a bunch of pictures of her life together and wanted to have it here too. He gave me permission. I love it. Thank you Dad. 

Happy Birthday, Harriett!!  She would be 73 years old today.  I wonder if they celebrate birthdays in the spirit world.  If so, I guess her birthday would be May 20th and she would be 24.  

I thought I would share a few snapshots of her 48 years of life on this earth, beginning with the Wymount Village announcement of her birth (Wymount Village was a married housing complex at BYU):

Here is the first picture taken of her in the Utah Valley Hospital:

 

 This was her blessing day (being held by her dad):

 Being held by her mom:

 And then being held by her older sister, Sue:

 There were just the two at first.  Mom took them for wagon rides...

 ...and dad took them for sleigh rides:

Harriett would hold Sue's hand if she felt insecure...

...until she could stand on her own two feet:

Proud parents of two pretty girls...

...in two pretty dresses.

In this picture, Sue's mad and Harriett's glad.

 A twosome becomes a threesome, with the addition of Kris (Harriett is the sassy one.)

l to r: Grandma Lovell, Kris, Sue, Harriett, and Lois (mom)

Same group with a dog added in. (Harriett is in the foreground.)

l to r:  Sue, Kris, and Harriett

And then along came John (l to r: Harriett, Sue, John, and Kris)

tallest to shortest:  Sue, Harriett, Kris, and John

l to r: Sue, Harriett, Kris, and John

Mom and Dad, Harriett, Kris, and John

Jackie is added to the family.  Here is a photo at Christmas time.  Harriett is laughing because Santa Claus is taking the picture.

Take two:  Harriett's fine, but Sue frowns, Kris decides to poke out her eye, John holds his nose, and dad can't hold his smile any longer.  Santa gives up.

And Steve brings up the rear. Back row, l to r: Harriett, Sue, Kris.

Front row, l to r: Steve, Jackie, John

Harriett's on the right.

Harriett's on the left.

 

School Pictures of Harriett:

In 7th grade Harriett had to write an autobiography of her life up to that point (obviously):

After Harriett graduated from High School she went to BYU.  Here are her roommates.  Harriett is in the lower right.

This is the dorm she stayed in her Freshman year.

Here are some of her roommates later on in front of our house on Columbine Way:

Harriett waited for Bryan on his mission, then gave him a "Dear John" personally when I showed up on the scene.

 The sign says, "Danger! Single Girl"

Harriett was going to stay for the summer in Idaho Falls.  I had just met her and had to talk long and hard to get her to stay in Provo and go to summer school while I worked at the smelter in Tooele.  I volunteered to take her to Idaho Falls to see her parents.  I was successful in convincing her to go to summer school.  This picture was taken in her backyard.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her that I took that summer:

 This was taken that summer in front of the Seville Apartments where she stayed that summer.

Here's a couple of phone booth photos.  It cost me a whole quarter.

And then I asked her to marry me.  For full details see Blog #47, August 2, 2014; also found in Three Score Ten and Counting, Vol. 2, p.87-97.

Harriett would give out this high-pitched squeal when she was excited.  If the picture below had sound to it, you would hear that high-pitched squeal.  She was having a bridal shower.

This was our wedding picture:

This was one of Harriett's wedding pictures:

Here is the wedding announcement in the local paper.  I like the caption at the bottom:

We got married in the Idaho Falls Temple on Feb. 1, 1969.  The temperature never got above zero.

The reception that night was in the cultural hall of the church.

I finished out the school year in Vernal.  Harriett decided to come live with me there.  We lived in this house: (That's my 1968 Mustang in front.)

As soon as school was out, Harriett's family drove to Vernal in their camper and picked up Harriett and me, and we drove to Indiana to see Sue.  Here is a picture taken in Sue and Chuck's house:

Back row, l to r: Sue, Tammy, Harriett, Kris, and John.  Front row, l to r: Terry, Steve, Lois, Jack holding Rozie, and Jackie.

Jack, Harriett's father, made me promise to let Harriett graduate from BYU.  She just needed a summer, so after finishing the school year in Vernal, we went to Provo for summer school.  She graduated in August.

The next school year she and I taught in Vernal--Harriett taught English in the Jr. High and I taught English, Speech, and Drama in the High School.

Then we moved to Provo and lived in a mobile home which we purchased while I was getting my Master's Degree in Communicative Habilitation.  After I graduated, I got a job teaching Speech Therapy in the Granite School District.  We moved our mobile home to a new trailer park in Salt Lake.

This is a picture taken on a camping trip with my parents:

We went on a little vacation to southern Utah and the Grand Canyon.  We had been married for three years and had never had a honeymoon, so we called this trip our honeymoon (at least I did).  For details see Blog #46, July 27, 2014; also found in Three Score Ten and Counting, Vol. 2, pp.79-87.  The start of the trip should not be termed "honeymoon" but "honey bucket."  Pretty gross way to begin your honeymoon.  Here is a picture of Harriett at the Grand Canyon:

We were carefree and happy in those days...

...and then came the kids.  (just kidding)

Here are some random photos, not necessarily in chronological order:

Harriett and Stephanie

Brett's blessing day:

Harriett and Michael:

Harriett and John:

Brett feeding Matt:

Spencer and Stephanie:

Spencer and Stephanie:

Spencer, Stephanie, and Brett:

Spencer, Stephanie, and Brett (again):

Stephanie and Michael:

Harriett and Stephanie:

Us with Stephanie:

Spencer and Stephanie with bubbles:

Michael's blessing day:

Spencer, Stephanie, and Brett:

Spencer, Stephanie, Brett, and Michael

Spencer, Brett, and Mike

Steph's 2nd birthday:

My parents on the left, Hank and Gayle on the right, Harriett and I in the middle:

All six kids:

Random shots of Harriett and me:

Sue and Harriett at Lagoon:

Harriett:

Harriett:

Harriett:

Harriett:

At Mike's Eagle Court of Honor:

At Stephanie's wedding reception:

My favorite--we lived happily-ever-after:

The End