Where Would I Live?

(Another Writing Class assignment: Where would you live the rest of your life if money was no object and you were all by yourself. I just can't fathom being by myself with no family around me ever for the rest of my life!....kind of an odd assignment if you ask me, so I just had to imagine having family there with me!)

It’s difficult to pick one place to live by yourself for the rest of your life. I considered a cabin by Lake Mary in the Sierra Nevadas, a cozy home nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley near Solvang, or that Laguna beach house near the tide pools we rented years ago. I was sorely tempted by the tidepools, but my mind kept wandering back to the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. I spent many a Sunday afternoon at that place with my family.

The Huntington Library has three main areas:

1. The library itself contains an extensive collection of rare books including a Gutenberg Bible, the first printed book in history, writings of Abraham Lincoln, Shakespeare and many other famous and historical authors etc. I am intrigued by the Ellesmere Chaucer, a beautiful and elaboarately decorated manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales created between 1400-1405.

2. The art galleries are home to the iconic Pinkie and Blueboy, and so many other beautiful works of art including sculptures, paintings, drawings etc. There are works by Gainsborough, Constable and Reynolds. The gallery itself it exquisite and peaceful. One of my favorite paintings is “Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse” by Joshua Reynolds. Of course I love Pinkie, which is a nickname for “Sarah Barrett Moulton: Pinkie” by Thomas Lawrence.

3. The gardens are varied and wonderful. There is a Japanese garden with a beautiful bridge and koi ponds and a cactus garden which contains over 5,000 species of cacti and succulents. There is also a Shakespeare garden, a Chinese garden, and the fragrant rose garden. If you saw the recent Muppet movie you saw one of the gardens at the Huntington Library.

Living at the Huntington Library would satisfy me in many ways: I would have a tasteful huge mansion full of incredible antiques, 120 acres of immaculate gardens to wander through, a library of rare 6.5 million manuscripts and books to peruse, and priceless artwork to ponder.

On a Sunday afternoon I might decide to study the Gutenberg Bible, printed in Germany around 1450 and how it helped put into motion the idea that every person could enjoy literacy and the scriptures, not just monks hidden away in monasteries. This was an important step towards the restoration of the Gospel.

On another day I might decide to examine the Huntington’s exquisite miniature portraits. Or I might feel like strolling through the grounds, watching things grow. There are so many pathways to take through the grounds depending only upon my mood.

Okay, I have to admit, part of my desire to have the Huntington to myself is to go behind those velvet ropes and sit in those antique chairs, dine at the tables and touch all the priceless items there….oh and to actually cross the gorgeous bridge in the Japanese garden. No docents to scold you or keep you on the other side. The Huntington is also an incredible place to play hide and go seek!

I think the Huntington Library represents good things; all the good that people have strived for and accomplished over the centuries. It’s not a bad place be.

Even if I did live there the rest of my life I could not discover every priceless treasure. But I guess that’s how life is anyway wherever I happen to live.

Photo Experimenting!

Today we had Chelsea and James come visit. We had so much fun! After doing some sealings at the temple and a nice sushi lunch we went to the Jacob Hamlin House to try out our cameras. Chelsea is taking a photography class at SUU and needed to take photos for her class, so I thought why not join in the fun. I have a new camera that I know nothing about but it was fun just trying it out.
Above is Mary Anne posing for me. She looked so cute and I think the photo doesn't look too bad.

I was suprised at the close ups I got with this camera, it looks pretty good! It's fun to look for designs and textures. Above is the hub of an old wagon wheel.

And there's the wagon! James showed me how to manipulate the colors, etc on the computer so that was fun too.

I love trees and branches. Just having fun with the fam and our cameras! What a fun day.

Mary Anne, Our Finale

In 1986 our family was living on 644 Fillmore Street in Fillmore, California. We had a wonderful little home in an older neighborhood in a small rural town. Heber was doing better with his teaching at the junior high school and we were enjoying life as best we could. We were ever poor and struggling to make ends meet, but we managed to do so. Heber was paid only during the months he taught, so every summer we faced the task of paying our bills till the October paycheck.

That summer Heber went up to the Heber City area to work in his brother Paul’s rock quarry to earn money and I found out that I was expecting baby number four. Unfortunately, Heber took a fall down the rocky hillside and banged up his leg pretty bad. He somehow drove home with his nasty wound and was laid up for weeks. I had to help dress his wound and soak his leg in Epsom salts for many days while feeling nauseated from the early pregnancy. It wasn’t a fun time.. Heber needed a skin graft to cover the wound and it finally healed up.

I found Dr. William Lehman in Santa Paula to help me through this pregnancy which Heber and I both knew in our hearts would be the last for us. Four children were all we could handle and we were barely affording three. We felt good about this decision and it made this pregnancy all the more special. One evening while Heber and I were getting ready for bed we both felt a distinct strong feeling that we would be having a girl. We hugged and cried and said a prayer together; it was such a wonderful experience. A few of the boy names we liked were Sam and Caleb, though in our hearts we knew it wasn’t going to be a boy. I really wanted to name our baby girl after my sister, Mary Anne. My sister was my best friend and I thought it would be a nice tribute to her.

As the pregnancy went along I remember that there were certain things I could not stand eating or even smelling, namely chicken! I also never wanted tossed salad for some reason and these were foods I loved. Mary Anne was due March 3, 1987, right on my sister’s birthday, but since my other three had come early I assumed this one would, too. Towards the last month of the pregnancy I became ill, very fatigued and sustained constant low fever. The doctor put me on antibiotics and I took Tylenol for the fever but it persisted. I stayed a few days at a friend’s home (Hope and Jerry Asay) to have quiet time to rest and recuperate and even went to stay at Mom and Dad’s for a couple of days. I just had a hard time getting over whatever it was! I finally felt better and was happy to be home again.

On Thursday, February 19^th I started contractions which were pretty strong and regular. We drove over to Santa Paula to have Dr. Lehman check me. He didn’t feel I was ready to be admitted and sent me home. I was so discouraged! We even stopped at a diner on the way home to have some dinner just to try to cheer me up a little. Only a woman 9 months pregnant can understand how blue I was!

The contractions continued all that evening, night and the next day. They wouldn’t get strong enough or regular enough to run back to the hospital, but they never went away, either. Finally that night after 11:00 PM I threw up and started feeling very strong contractions. We watched some David Letterman for a while but I soon knew it was time.

We took the kids over to our good friends, Julie and David Woodfield (bless them!), and drove the highway over to Santa Paula Hospital. It was a nice little hospital with kind nurses to take care of us. Once again I declined an epidural but during the worst part of labor I begged to have something to help me through. I was given some Demoral which was wonderful! It felt like the pains were in the room next door. So this is what it’s like to have pain meds! I was finally ready to go to the delivery room. Only a few pushes and the baby made her entrance at 5:01 AM on Saturday, February 21, 1987. Dr. Lehman was out of town so a Dr. Patrick Diesfeld delivered her with no problem. A girl! I was so excited to have my little Mary Anne! She was my smallest baby weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz. I still remember when the nurses put pre-warmed blankets on me right after the delivery and how luscious and comfortable they felt! Ahhhh! Heaven!!

The room at the hospital was made up like a cozy bedroom and some friends and family came to visit that day. I was trying to find something on TV but since it was Saturday it was slim pickens. I finally found a movie to watch but soon realized it was “Rosemary’s Baby!” Ack! Not the movie to watch right after giving birth. So much for TV. Heber brought the kids to the room window so they could wave hello and get a peek at their new sister. That night Heber and I were served a nice steak dinner right in my room. I felt great and was so happy.

Knowing this was my last baby made life with Mary Anne very sweet. I enjoyed every minute and held on to every moment of her babyhood. Remember the first child? Being so stressed over whether or not she would meet every milestone on time and constantly comparing her to other babies to see if she was doing okay? Worrying about whether she would stop breathing in the middle of the night? It was stressful and worrisome. Not with the last baby!

Mary Anne was a girl on the go with so much energy and love. She was interested in everything her older siblings did and wanted to join in. She was social and had many little friends who would come to play. She loved going for walks, spending the night at Grandma and Papa’s, collecting little toys and especially loved animals…stuffed or real. She brought humor and love to all she did. Our family was complete when Mary Anne came to stay.

My mom holding her youngest grandchild...that's the beautiful blanket crocheted by Heber's sister Hilary.

Sweet Baby James

Written January 12, 2012

In 1984 Heber and I were residing at 917 Orange Grove Avenue in South Pasadena, California with our two children, Lisa and Philip. The Orange Grove house was our first venture into buying part of a home; we bought 25% of it and my parents owned the remainder. We purchased it from Bill and Sallie Porter, my parents’ closest friends and Heber and I lived in it for about a year. It was very small, about 800 square feet, and cheaply made, but to this day it was my favorite house and I miss it dearly. It had a heavy wooden front door with an iron hinged opening to peer out of. My favorite part of the deal was the huge old oak tree in the front yard…huge, shade-giving and kind. This home had a shaggy, grassy backyard for the kids to play in, too. It was a wonderful sweet home for us.

Once again I was expecting another child. Dr. Brown, who delivered Philip, retired so I found an actual OB/GYN, Dr. Frederick Austin to see me through my pregnancy. He was okay, but he was no Dr. Brown! I felt great most of the time and did tons of walking as we were a one-vehicle family. I pushed the stroller all over South Pas and loved taking Lisa and Philip to the old South Pasadena Library for story time or walking to Taco Treat with a silver coin given to me from Mom. Taco Treat would sell one burrito for one silver dime or three burritos for a silver quarter.

The new baby was due August 18^th, and with this new arrival were a few major changes to our family. Heber was finishing his schooling at Cal State LA for his teaching certificate and started looking for an actual public school teaching position. I managed to paint commissions here and there and tried to contribute a few dollars to our struggling family.

Heber applied to several school districts and was offered a position at Fillmore Junior High School in Fillmore, California, nestled amongst orange, lemon and avocado groves in Ventura County. At the same time, an architectural firm bought a nearby building and wanted our lot and a few neighboring lots for their parking lot. They made my parents a good offer and we made some money on the deal. Since they had no interest in the house itself we sold it for $5000.00 and it was eventually towed away to Highland Park! It remains there on Elgin Street.

As we got ready to move away from our snug happy home I grew large with child! Fillmore School District sent Heber to a reading conference in Oregon for a week in August, but it was before I was due. He traveled there by train and of course we had no cell phones to keep in constant touch with. I remember he called me from Oregon to see how I was getting along and he said he’d gone to go see Ghostbusters in the theatre and I was so envious! Heber would soon be coming home and I was excited to see him.

On August 10^th my mom took the kids and I to McDonalds in Alhambra for a fun evening out. I remember I had a Big Mac. My mom was so generous and kind…just little things like this were so helpful to this temporarily single mom.

That night I woke up around 3 AM to a gush of water…a very rude awakening! I had never had my water break on its own, so this was a new sensation. I got up and thought, “Oh Heber, why can’t you be here!” He was due home tomorrow, and it looked like the baby wasn’t waiting for dad. I got up and showered. I had contractions but nothing steady or hard. The doctor had told me to head to the hospital if my water broke so I felt like I better do it. I reluctantly called my parents to tell them and they were there for me. My dad watched the kids and my mom drove me to the same little hospital in San Gabriel where Philip was born. Bless my mom’s heart! She stayed with me all that day waiting for labor to happen. We watched the Los Angeles Olympics and cheered for Greg Louganis. The day was so long and tedious. My labor wouldn’t shift into gear and I was getting worn out. Heber was on a train coming home. Who would get here first, Heber or the baby?

That afternoon Dr. Austin decided to help get the labor going and it did indeed get going fast! My mom stayed right with me and Dad went down to the train station to pick up Heber and tell him I was giving birth! It was a tight race. I was transferred to the delivery room and no Heber yet. My mom held my hand through the contractions and pushing and watched her grandson James Keith Trunnell enter the world. Though I missed my husband being there it was a special experience to have my mother with me. My dad met Heber at the train station right about the time I gave birth. They made it back to the hospital thirty minutes after the fact. Craig and Ginny were already there and had seen James before Heber did!

James was a wonderful sweet baby who only resided at the Orange Grove house for about a week before we packed up and moved to Fillmore. What a summer!

The saddest part of moving was when the oak tree was chopped down to make way for the parking lot. I cried. It made me think of Joni Mitchell’s song, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” But life for our family took a fresh start in Fillmore where Heber honed his teaching skills through the furnace of the junior high classroom and I took care of three small children in a new place!

James was an interesting little guy. As a toddler he took off running at any opportunity. We often had to chase him down the sidewalk and grab him before he made it to the corner. He loved to go next door to our neighbors, the Parkers, to see their cuckoo clock. He was so enchanted with that thing! One time in sacrament meeting he stood up on the bench, pointed to the clock on the wall and exclaimed very loudly, “COO COO CWOCK!!! COO COO CWOCK!!”

James was accident prone, he fell a lot and had many bumps, scars and bruises. He had curly blonde hair and a sweet smile. He loved police cars, called them “Oooo cars” (because of the sirens). Soon a policeman was called an “Oooo man” and then anyone in any uniform was an “Oooo man.” He loved this little book about helicopters that we checked out of the library about a hundred times. He loved the Parker’s English Springer Spaniel George and used to sit on him. James was a fun addition to our family.

Second Born, First Son

Welcoming a second child into our family was not the same as welcoming the first. We knew the ropes, we’d been there done that, so the scary unknown was not a factor. The pregnancy was very similar to the first except that I didn’t throw up at all. I felt great most of the time and was so excited to have child number 2.

I didn’t go see a doctor right away; we had gone to Kokomo, Indiana to sell books for the summer. It was a mostly horrible summer living in a moldy (mold on the walls, really!), bee-infested old apartment with Heber’s sister Carmen and her husband Patrick. Spending the days with Carmen while Heber tried to sell books to people who had no money was the only highlight of my time there. We cooked, went for walks and even sewed.

Towards the end of the summer I flew home to my parents since Heber and I did not have any place to live at that time. He was done with school at BYU, so we decided to live in Southern California to be near my family. Heber would be there in a few weeks; I took the opportunity to look at some apartments and found one on Garfield Avenue in South Pasadena. A few other LDS families with small children lived there, so it seemed inviting and fun.

I also made an appointment to see a doctor in Pasadena; it was getting towards September and I had no prenatal care yet. Shame on me! I heard about a doctor practicing in San Gabriel, Dr. Brown, who was LDS and charged a nominal fee ($350) for poor couples like us! I switched over to Dr. Brown and loved him! He took good care of us in his grandfatherly way. My due date was set for December 31^st.

Heber found work with L.D. Harvey doing construction making a low wage but the boss was hard to work for. We knew Heber had to get his teaching certification going so he signed up for classes and looked for a new job. He considered jobs as diverse as bug exterminator, air traffic controller (good heavens!) and auto parts sales. In the meantime I worked on making our new little apartment a home and preparing for the new baby. Lisa was still a baby herself. We loved taking her to Garfield Park and also Lacy Park in San Marino. There was a group of moms who would get together for outings to the parks or Arboretum.

At one visit I asked Dr. Brown, “Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?” He said, “Yep!”

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents’ annual Christmas Eve dinner and program. I was nearing the end of my pregnancy and was huge. We had a fun evening with family and went home to get some sleep. Tomorrow was Christmas and we had a few presents for little Lisa to open.

At 5:00 AM I woke up with contractions…really??? On Christmas Day??? I got up and watched TV; the only thing on was a Shirley Temple movie. I wanted to see if this labor was for real. It was. I woke Heber up and got sleepy Lisa up, grabbed her gifts and headed for my parents’ home. We dropped her off and told them to let her open her presents when she woke up. I remember her big gift from us was a Fisher-Price record player. Heber then drove me to the hospital, the wrong hospital! We knew it was in San Gabriel on this certain avenue but we had never been there. When we went in and they told us they didn’t have a maternity ward I almost cried. Then they told us the place we wanted was Valley Vista Hospital just a few blocks down the street. So back we went in the car and found the right place.

When I was in the labor room there was one other mother in labor in an adjoining room. She was Hispanic, I assumed, and every time a contraction would hit she would yell, “I YI YI YI YI!” This went on for hours. My contractions progressed along and I was soon in the delivery room and in came Dr. Brown. I apologized for making him come in on Christmas morning but he was more than fine about it and said he’d already opened his gifts. While getting prepped for delivery (no enema today! yay!) Heber came very close to fainting, but he made it through.

Philip Grable Trunnell came into this world without a hitch. He was a handsome little baby boy and cried like a little seagull. We were so ecstatic with our second cute healthy child! Heber’s parents had over forty grandkids but Philip was the first to carry the Trunnell name. (Heber was the first son after seven daughters). Again we received many wonderful gifts from friends and relatives which were greatly appreciated. He received cards from both his great grandmothers Linnea Spjut and Carlie Shurtliff.

Philip was named after Heber’s great-grandfather Philip Grable Trunnell who was also born on Christmas Day! Heber and I both have Uncle Phil’s whom we love and admire. I so enjoyed my new baby boy and Lisa. I loved being a mom and staying home with my children. I never wanted a career and hoped to be able to stay home to raise my kids. Heber has always worked very hard so that I could do so.

Our Firstborn

I guess whenever a couple has a baby it truly is a miracle, but especially when the first baby arrives it seems that no one else on earth has ever had a baby before. Let’s face it: despite reading all the books you can on childbirth, parenting and raising kids, there just is no way to know what it’s like until it happens.

In 1979 Heber and I lived In Provo, Utah in a top portion of an old house at 284 E 100 N #3. Our rent was $125.00 a month. I remember my Uncle Harlan stopped by once and immediately proclaimed it a firetrap, which it surely was, but we were in love and all was well. Soon after marriage I found out I was pregnant and was so excited! I borrowed books from friends and read all about pregnancy and childbirth. My doctor was Dr. Lewis. Heber’s family soon started calling me Preg-Annette and when I was far along I loved singing “I am the beautiful reflection, of my love’s affection, a walking illustration of his adoration,” from the movie “Funny Girl.”

Picking out names proved rather tough…Heber and I didn’t agree on a lot of them. I remember that he really loved the name Truman because it sounded like True Man, but it just didn’t go well with Trunnell…Truman Trunnell. He also liked Gabriel for a boy, but I wasn’t too keen on it. For a girl’s name Heber loved Genevra which was supposedly from some poem, but I found it absolutely hideous (apologies to all you Genevra’s out there). I had always loved the name Lisa…I had two good friends named Lisa and I have a cousin Lisa who is wonderful. It just seemed like a beautiful no-nonsense name, and-- bonus-- Heber liked it, too! Since I didn’t have a middle name I decided that our baby (if a girl) would have no middle name either.

One thing Heber and I were in complete agreement on; no son of ours would ever be named Heber. Heber was named after his father and it has been a source of confusion and trouble for many years. That in itself is another story to write.

As the pregnancy progressed I continued to walk all over town every day (no car) and though somewhat nauseous, only threw up once. Heber’s brother Paul and his wife Bobbi were expecting, also, so we attended childbirth classes at the hospital. During the birth film Paul fainted. Heber came close. When Heber and Paul had a masonry job in Kanab, Utah we all stayed there in a trailer and had a lot of fun.

That Christmas I sold a painting and bought plane tickets to fly to California to be with my family. It was such a fun trip and I received money to purchase a sewing machine. I used it to make some clothes for the baby. We also went to Los Angeles with my parents to see the Broadway musical, Annie. What a fun time we had. It was our first Christmas together and our only one without kids.

A month before I was due we moved to a basement apartment a few blocks away…it had two bedrooms and a washer and dryer, a bigger kitchen, plus we were able to set up our new waterbed. I loved that basement apartment; it stayed snug warm in the winter and was right next to a nice quiet park. I don’t recommend moving when 8 months along, but it was a good move. By the way, when did we quit talking about pregnancies in months and start referring to how many weeks along instead?

My due date was May 12 which I believe was Mother’s Day. The big item in the news was Mt St. Helen’s imminent explosion which was interesting because I felt like exploding, too. On Tuesday, May 6, I attended a softball game that Heber was playing in. I sat on the sidelines and felt huge. That night at about 11:30 PM I woke up feeling hard contractions. I woke Heber up (or so I thought) and told him I thought I was in labor. He mumbled something about “it’s okay, you’re fine” and rolled over and fell back asleep. Okay….I guess we’ll wait. I could only stand it for a few hours and tried waking him again. This time he sat straight up and the fog in his head immediately cleared. We started timing contractions and when they were close enough we headed over to Utah Valley Hospital at around 3:00 AM. I was admitted and given an enema. My nurse was extremely crabby…the only nurse I’ve ever had in my life who wasn’t wonderful and of course it had to be my first experience with one! When the enema took effect I found myself in a terrible dilemma. I had to use the bathroom badly, I was also throwing up, I had Charlie horses in my feet and oh yes, by the way, I was in labor! I don’t think I’ve ever been so miserable in my life.

Let’s cut from that happy scene to the labor room where I was set up with a monitor and Heber by my side. I never wanted an epidural (cost too much and they weren’t as refined as they are now) so I tried my Hee Hee Hoo breathing exercises I had practiced so carefully for weeks. When a contraction hits full force no amount of Hee Hee Hooing will make it feel any better. Heber leaned over me gently encouraging me to Hee Hee Hoo and I just wanted to grab him and punch him.

Being my first I needed the salad spoons to help the little one through. Lisa was born at 8:58 AM on Wednesday, May 7, 1980. Her head was pointed for a day, but she was beautiful! Heber was a wonderful coach once we agreed on dropping the breathing exercises. Some of his family came to visit (of course overly concerned about Lisa’s pointed head and also wondering why the baby’s name was Lewis Trunnell and not Lisa Trunnell? The card on her isolette had the doctor’s last name and our last name).

After getting home from the hospital my Mom came up from California to stay and help for a week. She made me shrimp sandwiches and helped clean up the apartment. It was so much fun and I was sad to see her go. On my own I felt pretty blue and lost for a few weeks, but I so enjoyed my new daughter! She was such a nice sweet little baby! Heber’s sister Miriam gave us a bag of hand-me-down clothes and we were given so many gifts from friends and family. What a special time in our lives. Never again will we feel that incredible feeling of becoming a new family with our little one.

**Sidenote: I've been taking a writing class taught by my dear neighbor Marjean Beaman. This is the source for some of my recent blog entries. It's a fun once-a-month get together with friends and it 'forces' us to write down some personal stories and compile them in a notebook.

Christmas is Almost Here!

Just thought I'd put up a few images of our Christmas "treasures"...I've seen homes that look professionally decorated for the holidays, but this surely is not one . Ours is a conglomoration of various items that I just happen to like. Above: On the in-side of our front door are two Swedish posters I acquired about 30 years ago. They a bit tattered but just seem so folksy and fun. I seem to remember my grandmother had a poster of similar ilk above the basement steps.

My sister sent 3 stockings made sometime in the 50's or 60's. I put them up each year; one has angels, one has Santa and of course this one with elves. I love retro items! Just takes me back to the 5-and Dime we used to shop at in South Pasadena.

Every year we have something for neighbors and friends who stop by. This year it's homemade salsa and crocheted hotpads. I love Christmas reminding me that we have such a great neighborhood! I also took homemade salsa to work. It's just fun to give out little gifts!

Here's the nativity set that my mom bought so many years ago (late 60's?) Every year we would set it up in the front room fireplace. I love it so much! The star is a very old beaded ornament that my parents had from probably early in their marriage. I know there are probably nicer or cooler or fancier nativities out there, but....I'll keep this one.

The tree with the same ornaments we've collected over the years. I see other people's trees with their "themes" and decorator colors, matching ornaments etc...my family insists we keep our tree the way it is and guess what...I'm glad!!

New this year: I mailed a package at Santa Clara Post Office today and on the way home saw "Uncle and Auntie's Gift Shop" run by two older sisters in an old renovated home. I just had to stop and go inside. I was the only customer in that quaint little place (what a glorious difference from Target or WalMart!)...I saw these two little carolers and the evergreen tree. The children looked Swedish to me...I fell in love and had to buy them. The owner of the shop and I had such a nice chat, it was a most pleasant experience!

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful Christmas! God Jul!

Wedding Breakfast, Trunnell Style

Heber J. Trunnell and I were married on July 19, 1979 in the Manti Utah Temple on a warm sunny early morning. The night before our marriage Heber’s dad told his son that he wouldn’t be able to go in the temple to see us get married, so that was a surprise and disappointment to Heber. But he did come and wait outside the temple while we were sealed.

Our wedding plans were always pretty simple; neither of us were into too much fancy stuff, but we did plan for two receptions. Both our families helped us with the reception in Provo and my mom and I planned for a reception to be held in my hometown: South Pasadena, California. I knew that the groom’s family was supposed to be in charge of some sort of brunch or lunch after the wedding, but didn’t really bother to find out what their plans were. Heber, of course, came from a very large family (seventeen kids) and they were not well off.

So…the ceremony went wonderfully with many friends and relatives representing both families. The Manti temple is beautiful and serene. After the wedding I asked Heber what his family was doing for lunch or breakfast; what was going on? He seemed to have no idea. His dad overheard us talking and announced that while we were getting married he had noticed that there was a Scout Breakfast over at the Veteran’s Hall…let’s all go there. And we did! I wish someone had taken some pictures because my memory is a blur. I remember a crumbly old building with a bunch of scouts and people inside and in we came: an entire noisy and laughing wedding party. Those scouts were thrilled to sell so many paper plates full of pancakes and sausage. I do recall that they made me an extra large pancake because I was the bride!

The planned receptions are not what people remember or talk about. It’s the pancake breakfast at the Veteran’s Hall in Manti, Utah. It is still talked about at almost every Trunnell Reunion to this day. I just wish I had a picture!

Influential Teachers In My Life

It’s safe to say that my parents and siblings were probably the most influential people in my life, and still are. Other than family there have been so many people in my life that have influenced me in so many ways.

Teachers are there for us in times of our lives where we either hate or love school…sometimes loving and hating school at the same time. We are thrown in classroom situations without much choice of who our classmates or teacher will be in our undergraduate years.

First grade introduced me to Miss Betty Dyke. I was very homesick in first grade…I remember seeing my tears plop on my lined newsprint paper. Miss Dyke gently helped me through some rough days. I ended up loving school so much due to her kindness. Later, as a high school senior, I had the opportunity to help Miss Dyke as a classroom aide each morning for a few hours. It was wonderful to connect with this sweet lady again.

In 8^th grade I found myself in Mrs. Murguia’s English class. She was head of the English Department and had high expectations of her students. She introduced us to literature and a love for it, books such at Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, The Diary of Anne Frank and Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre became my favorite book; we read it together as a class and she would show snippets from the movie starring Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. Many of us girls fell in love with Mr. Rochester, we were there with Jane through thick and thin. Never has a book come alive so much for me. I’ve reread it several times; I feel like Jane is a good friend. Mrs. Murguia had a shelf full of paperbacks we could borrow to do free reading and that’s when I read To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time. Thank you, Mrs. Murguia!

When I went to BYU in 1976 I took a painting and drawing classes. Some were very good, some were okay. I took a drawing class from Trevor Southey where I felt my talents bloom nurtured under his direction. I then took a Head Painting class from William Whitaker; he was very opinionated and strict…more an artist than teacher. He made it fairly clear that girls should be homemakers, not artists, but I always wondered if he was just trying to be contrary and make us try harder.

It was a very intense class and I tried my hardest. While painting after class hours one day a fellow student told me that Brother Whitaker was going to have a program where he handpicked 2 or 3 students to paint and study with him all day long five days a week. He had never had a female student study with him so I thought, game on! I was going to try to a spot. He asked students to bring a portfolio of drawings to show him, so I did. He looked through the portfolio, handed it back to me and said, “Come back next week with fifty more drawings.”

I went back to my apartment and drew and drew and drew. I went back (to his surprise I’m sure) the following week and we sat down as he looked through the portfolio. He slowly looked at the drawings without saying much of anything. When he was done he looked at me and said, “Stop apologizing.” I looked at him and said, “Huh?” I didn’t know what he meant. Again, he said, “Stop apologizing.” I didn’t realize that the whole time we looked through at my drawings I was telling him, sorry it’s not that good, or sorry it isn’t quite right, etc etc. I don’t remember saying all this but apparently he heard it all and taught me a great lesson, “Don’t apologize for yourself or your efforts. Be proud of your accomplishments!”

I was in the program! We painted from 7:00 AM till 5:00 PM in the third floor of the old Brimhall Building that overlooked the home where the President of BYU lived (Dallin Oaks!) I learned a lot and did some wonderful drawings that I still have tucked away. I stayed on for another semester with Brother Whitaker. It was a wonderful experience and I honed my art skills which I have used so many times throughout the years. Brother Whitaker was such a character and interesting person. He once had the police in his studio where he did a composite sketch for them. At one time he was working on a painting of Joseph Smith and had his death mask sitting on the bench in his studio. It really had an impact on me to be able to hold that! If you go to the Conference Center and see a wall of portraits of important people in the Church you will see that some of them have been painted by William Whitaker. Some things I learned from Bill:

· Paint what you love

· Listen closely to your feelings

· Care for your art supplies the way you'd care for yourself

· How to see detail and color

· To step back every so often from your canvas and just calmly let your eyes look over your work

· Rejoice in being able to see mistakes in your work- it's part of your talent that you can see them!

· Always make your work space tidy, and to keep a good feeling in it.

· What I am doing right in my work and what I should pay attention to

One interesting side note: Brother Whitaker gave me a couple of canvases to paint on, they were starts of paintings that he ended up not liking for whatever reason. I painted over one, but the other one I just couldn’t bear to paint over. It is a painting of a pregnant Indian maid with a cradleboard hung up behind her. Even though it is just in the beginning stages I loved this painting and finally had it framed and it now hangs in our computer room. I went to Brother Whitaker’s website and noticed that his paintings start at $12,000!

I’m indebted to the time they took to nurture my gifts, to teach me to love learning, reading, drawing, to teach me to be curious about the world.

Clayton's Shapes Party

Once again I was able to be here for Clayton's birthday...he is five years old now and loves "shapes" like circle, square, rectangle, etc. Lisa had the house all decorated and fun activities for all the kids.

Clayton opening presents. I got him some art supplies because he loves to draw, color and write with all the colors!
Clayton's cake had a shape clown that he loves. What a handsome young man he is!!

Getting ready to blow out the candles...Clayton, what are you wishing for??

I love this picture of Clayton looking at the cake...while Mom lights the crayon candles.

Eating pizza, drinking juice, joking around and enjoying friends! That's the recipe for a fun party!
I know, it looks like Dory cut her nose off....she is just enjoying her cake and all the great frosting! What a nut.


Above: Lillian and Clayton are in the same Primary class...they both LOVE to color an color and color. Those are the pencils I got for Clayton.

After the party and everyone went home Brian made this card for Clayton. I love it!! It's great to be here with Lisa and her family...I'm having a wonderful time.