My Cousin Becky

This is my cousin Becky. She passed away several days ago. I have been thinking about her a lot, and I wanted to share some noteworthy observations about her life.

Becky was a fighter. Two years ago she was told that she had stage four pancreatic and bone cancer. She wanted to live so very much and put herself through lots of radiation and chemo to extend her life. She was happily teaching her classes at the university until the end of spring term of this year.

Becky was extremely intelligent. She had a PhD in oceanography and was a professor at the University of Oregon. Not only was she very bright, but she also had a gift for presenting information to her classes that made the classes interesting and fun. She loved her students, and they loved her back. On Sunday, the university is presenting a program to honor Becky, and several hundred people are expected to attend. She made a difference in many students' lives.

Lastly, Becky was a kind and compassionate person. She was a good listener and showed interest in others' lives.

It is sad when someone with so much to give is taken too soon. Becky leaves a husband and a son behind to go on without her. She also leaves both of her parents, who are in their 80's; they are devastated to lose her. We are not supposed to bury our children; they bury us!

The special person who Becky was will live on in the hearts of her family, colleagues, and students long after she is gone.

The Alpine Loop

We spent the day in the canyons marveling at all the beauty of Mother Nature.

Cute Pictures of Nicole as a Child

Cute Pictures of Lucy as a Child

September 23rd Birthdays

Nicole is now 12 years old. She is in her last year of elementary school. Nicole loves to dance and is very talented.
Lucy is 13 years old. She has started middle school. She is in a special program at West High School called International Bacalaureate.
Mike and Patti and their two boys

The Moore family has the unique distinction of three birthdays on September 23rd. Paul's son, Mike, is a September 23rd birthday, and 30 years later, our granddaughter Lucy was born. One year after that, to the day, Nicole was born. These were all natural births, so the coincidence is remarkable.

Happy Belated Birthdays to Mike, Lucy, and Nicole. (I have been without a computer for the last four days. That's why I am so pokey!)

A Trip to Southern Utah

We spent four days in Southern Utah with our friends John and Sandy.
Here we are at the outdoor theater (Tuacahn) in St. George.
The play we saw was "Footloose". The dancing was terrific. We also attended two plays in Cedar City - "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "Woman in Black".
This beautiful fall display of trees is near Cedar Breaks.
Cedar Breaks is a short drive from Cedar City. The view is spectacular!
The combination of red rock and pine trees is impressive.
We spent a day in Zions Nataional Park.
Pulpit Rock in Zions National Park - a massive display of red rock

A Celebration

Dad, Paul, and I met my brother Allen and his wife Wendy at Chuck-A-Rama today in Provo. We were celebrating Dad's birthday. Allen came up from California for the BYU football game as well.

We had a good time visiting and laughing about all kinds of things.

September 17th - Grandpa McKell's 91st Birthday

Dad is the child in the stroller. (I think he looks a little like Brian, his grandson.)
Mark and Erma's wedding day - January 9, 1941
Dad and his brother Art with their mother (Rebecca McKell)
Dad and I when I was a baby. Look how slender Dad is.
Sometimes Dad would take all three of us children for a bike ride.
A family photo - I think I was a sophomore in college at the time.
Dad and Mother standing by their green car - Most of the grandchildren remember this car.
Dad and his siblings - Della, Art, and Mary Helen
80th Birthday Photo

Thursday, September 17th, my dad will turn 91 years old. He is still in good health and is active and involved in life.

Dad attends an organ lesson in Payson every Monday. He goes to a Senior Citizen's dinner each month. Keeping six rental homes occupied and up-to-date also takes some of his time. He faithfully plays his home organ every day, and he writes in his journal on a regular basis. Church meetings and home teaching responsibilities also occupy his time. He is a busy guy!!

During this past summer, Dad had many projects. He had roofing repairs made on his home and the rental home next door. He had some cement work done on the two homes' porches and walkways. Deciding to update his home, Dad bought new living room and dining room furniture and had his bedroom and the living room painted. He marked off an area behind the grass of the rental home next door with a fence and now he uses the gravelled area behind the fence to park two vehicles. Wow! Was your summer that busy?

My dad looks young for his age. Three times this last year (THREE TIMES!!)
someone asked me (when I was with Dad) if I was his wife. It was great for his ego, but not so great for mine.

Happy Birthday, Dad. You make my life richer. You are a wonderful dad, and I am so lucky to have you still with us (even if I sometimes have to get called your wife). I love you and hope that you have many more birthdays to share with us.

Mirror Lake

Since the weather has been so nice, we decided to take a little day trip today to Mirror Lake with our friends John and Sandy. As we traveled higher and higher into the mountains, the temperatures continued to drop. Jackets were required by the time we arrived at the lake (60 degrees).

The lake is beautiful, crystal clear, and very blue. Families were fishing in small boats on the peaceful water. A few miles from the lake we drove to a lovely waterfall where we also spent some time.

Our last stop was Park City for lunch; then we briefly hit the outlet stores. All in all, it was a very fun day!

September 11th

Alan, Jacob, and Derek on the one-year anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks

It is hard to believe that it has been eight years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It certainly was a monumental happening for our country. It is definitely a date where most people can remember exactly where they were on the morning of the devastation.

Paul and I were living in Park City in Paul's daughter's condo on September 11, 2001. We had sold our home in Sandy and were temporarily living in Park City until our new home in Draper was completed. The condo where we lived in Park City was surrounded by other ski condos that, for the most part, were empty at this time of year. So, we were quite isolated at the time and had no idea what was happening until later in the morning. Paul called his sister-in-law in Payson to wish her a happy birthday, and she told him to turn on the TV, that something worse than Pearl Harbor had happened. That scared me a lot, because I know how terrible Pearl Harbor was in the memories of those of my parents' ages.

By the time we turned on the TV, three of the four planes had already crashed. I remember watching those first few minutes and feeling helpless, wondering if our whole world was falling apart. Was it possible to ever feel safe again?

I also remember that all the news on TV was about the tragedy. A few months later, I thought to myself, "I wonder what other news happened in that time period." 9/11 was all-consuming for a very long time.

The only other event where I can remember exactly where I was when it happened was when President Kennedy was shot. I was working at a sewing machine in a Pattern and Dress Design class at BYU. I was 19 years old at the time.

Let's hope we don't have any more scary "I remember where I was" experiences in the future. The ones we have are definitely enough.