My earthly life began on twentieth day of September, 1924. I was the seventh child born to

Leslie Casson Cahoon and Mary Leavitt Cahoon. I have jokingly said I came along with my

own personal bodyguard – my twin brother Lawrence who was born twenty minutes before me.

We were the first twins born in the old Cardston hospital.

We were also the first of my parent’s children to be born in the covenant. The Cardston temple

was dedicated on August 26, 1923. My parents were endowed and sealed on August 22, 1924.

I was amazed when I realized the sacrifice my mother must have made to do this when she was

less than a month away from delivering twins. The only way they would have been able to get

to Cardston was by horse and buggy. At that time, there were meetings prior to the temple

sessions. This was followed by initiatory work and the temple session which at that time took

about 3 hours. The sealings came after the session.

My Beginnings

My older siblings had all been born at home with a midwife but my parents decided the

rest of their children should be born at the hospital. Shortly before we were born my

mother went to the doctor for a check-up. She had concluded her visit and was on the way

out the door when she turned back and said to the doctor, “It’s twins, isn’t it?” The doctor

was shocked and told her to come back and let him examine her again. When he agreed

that she was indeed carrying twins my mother added, “Yes, and it is a boy and a girl;

because no two boys and no two girls would fight the way these two do.” It wasn’t her

size that gave away the fact that we were twins because, although I weighed about 6 lbs. 1

oz. and Lawrence weighed about 6 lbs. 3 oz., my sister Lila was 13 lbs. at birth. I was

blessed by my Grandpa Leavitt on December 7th, 1924. My mother wanted to name my

brother after Lawrence Leavitt who was a very good musician. She told the family to find

some name for me that would sound nice. If my memory is right they decided I should be

Lois, after Lois Matkin, although I don’t remember ever meeting her.

My parents had been married in 1914. When Lawrence & I were born our family consisted

of Lavar - age 9, Nada – age 8, Dewey – age 6, Irene – age 5, and Lila age 3. We lived in a

small home out by Beazer. We were only a few months old when our home burned and we

lost all our belonging. The fire started in the attic. In those days there were no chimneys.

There was only a thin metal pipe that went up through the roof. Normally, Lavar and

Dewey would have been sleeping in the attic, but, because Lavar was visiting my

grandparents, Dewey was sleeping in the main part of the house. My mother woke up in

the middle of the night and smelled smoke. She woke my father who opened the door to

the attic only to find it engulfed in flames. They quickly got their children out of the house

into the winter night. My sisters always folded their clothes at night and placed them on

the treadle of the sewing machine. They were able to save their clothes and my father was

able to reach through the pantry window and retrieve the gun and a box of shells. My

parents must have been devastated. My father had just bought winter clothes for the family

and now everything was gone. Although my sisters had one set of clothes each, the rest of

us had only our night clothes. The Olsen family gave my brother Dewey some old clothes

that were much too large for him. There was nothing else available, however, and he wore

them all that winter and wrapped his feet in gunny sacks as he had no shoes.

My Grandparents

After the house burned down we moved to Leavitt and my father built a home on the

hill about a block south of the church. One of my earliest memories is Christmas at my

grandparents’ home. I would have been about 3 years old and I remember that I spilled

my milk. I started to cry and my Grandma Leavitt said, “Now, now, we don’t cry over

spilled milk.” This is one of my only memories of my Grandmother as she died when I

was only five years old. I do remember Irene and Lila and I walking over to see her

when she was sick. Aunt Iva and Uncle Ralph were staying there to help care for

Grandma. Aunt Iva told us that Grandma was too sick to see us and to go out and be

sure we didn’t slam the screen door. I also remember the day she died. My mother was

weeping and pacing the floor and I was very worried about her. I wanted to go to the

funeral but I was not allowed to go because I was so young.

Thomas Rowell Leavitt Mary Alice Shaw

My Leavitt grandparents came to southern Alberta with

Grandpa’s father – Thomas Rowell Leavitt Sr. Great-grandpa

Leavitt was a polygamist and when he was asked to come to

Canada he first brought his youngest wife, thinking she would

find it easier to deal with the rigors of frontier life. She,

however, was very unhappy here so he took her back to Utah

and brought his first wife. His second wife had died and so

my great-grandma had been raising her own children as well as

those of her dear friend. When she came to Canada they

brought sixteen of their children with them. Only three

married children remained behind. Among those that came

were my Grandparents with my aunts and mother. Mother was

only 4 years old when she came to Canada. Aunt Annie was 2

½ and Aunt Elva was 1 year old.

“Lee Creek Tonight” depicts the arrival of the Leavitt family in Southern Alberta

My mother as a baby

My Grandpa Leavitt was a very kind and loving man. He was large of stature with dark

hair and a bushy mustache. His eyes shone with the love he felt for me. The greatest

desire in his life was to see his children and grandchildren become honest, honorable men

and women, to have respect for their parents and an unquenchable love for God and His

commandments. He had a knack of making everyone feel like they were very special to

him. He always carried peppermints in his pocket to give to his grandchildren when they

did something that pleased him. When I was about 3 years old my twin brother, Lawrence

had done something that delighted Grandpa so he offered him a peppermint. Lawrence

said “Please Grandpa, can I have one for Lois too?” Grandpa was thrilled with this. He

said, “That’s my boy, Lawrence! Because you are looking out for your sister, I’ll give you

two peppermints – and one for Lois too. It makes me happy that you are taking care of

Lois. You keep it up!”

Grandpa was a lover of good sportsmanship and fair play. He liked playing basketball and

baseball and he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He always scared up the birds so as to give

them a fair chance. He was always among the first to arrive for a service project and was

very active in community affairs.

Grandpa was a very intelligent man and was very diligent in all his church assignments.

He spent 12 years as a 2nd councilor in the bishopric with Bishop Frank Leavitt and

another 13 years as the 2nd councilor to Bishop W.G. Smith. His loyalty to these

positions, his wisdom in council and his love and consideration of others won him many

friends.

Grandpa loved music and was a member of the first Cardston Brass Band. The music I

remember the most was when he would sit in his rocking chair and play the mouth organ.

Grandpa had a black collie dog named Bruce and whenever he play the mouth organ old

Bruce would sit up on his hind legs and sing or howl right along with the music.

To me, Grandpa was my hero. I loved him so much. Some of the best memories of my

childhood are of Christmases spent at Grandpa’s. He always had a “fishpond” with gifts

for each of the grandchildren. We would also have a huge Christmas dinner and, as we

almost never had enough to eat on a regular basis, we would eat so much we would be sick

the next day.

My Cahoon Grandparents were also some

of the early settlers in the Cardston area.

My Grandfather Cahoon died before I was

born. I did know my Grandmother Cahoon.

When I was young I used to go to her

house and help her with laundry and

cleaning. Toward the end of her life she

lived with my parents and they took care of

her.

After Grandma died, Grandpa spent ten long lonely years living only for his family

and friends. Grandma was certainly the light of his life and he had a long wait before

he could join her again.

When Grandpa knew his time was short he said all he really wanted was to see his

grandchildren again. We all came and one by one we went to see him. He lay in his

big four poster bed in the front room that was now his bedroom. He made us all feel

so special.

Grandpa always said, “If I have ever done anything worthy of the Lord’s blessings, I

pray He will just let me sleep away.” Grandpa had great faith and the Lord granted

him his request. After he saw his grandchildren he was taken to the hospital.

Although he was in the hospital almost a month, he simply slept away. Family

members often asked the doctors if they were keeping him drugged so that he was

always asleep, but the hospital staff assured them they weren’t giving him drugs of

any kind.

I loved my Grandpa deeply. I thought he was the one perfect person in my young life.

My cousins Joyce, Fay, Gwen and I carried armfuls of flowers at his funeral. I felt

like I was such a little girl at fifteen – far too young to lose my beloved Grandpa. He

was a wonderful man and I still feel his influence in my life.

Childhood Memories

One spring when I was about five or six Uncle

John Redford was building a new house. Hugh

and Gwen Redford and Lawrence and I decided

we would go down there to play. They had a

basement in and the sub-floor on. We looked

down the basement through a window hole and

saw a skunk down there.

It had its head under a board and there wasn’t anyone around working on the house.

The other three decided I should go down and tie a rope around its back leg; then

they would pull it out and chop its head off with an axe. So I did. I have never

figured out yet how I accomplished such a thing without choking to death. But I did

and we did take it to the chopping clock and cut off its head. I think Mother smelled

us coming a block away. She would not let us in the house and we had to bathe

outside and then Mother buried our clothes. We couldn’t figure out why she was

doing such a thing or why she was crying. We had so few clothes that I’m sure she

must have been very upset with us.

My Aunt Sadie was my mother’s sister. She was a wonderful person. One

time when she was staying at Grandpa’s she told me that if I would come down

she would make me a dress. I went to visit and she made me a beautiful dress

and also gave me a pretty handkerchief. As I walked home through the fields I

lost my hankie. The wind was blowing and I never did find it. I wept bitter

tears over that. Lawrence and I stayed with Aunt Sadie when Golden was born

and I remember standing by the table watching her make a cake. I must have

been doing a lot of talking because she finally said, “Oh, Lois, can’t you be

quiet for one minute?” I always told her afterwards that it was her fault I was

such a quiet person.

Our family was very poor. We were often hungry because there was not very much to

eat. Usually our meals would be potatoes and milk gravy. My favorite food was

home-made ice cream and my least favorite food was cabbage. We had to carry water

from the well over by the school for our drinking water. Later my dad put a cistern

under the house for us to use for washing and cleaning.

Our home was very small. We had two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room. My

parents never owned a crib. They slept in a regular double bed and put the babies

in with them – even when they had twins. I have often wondered how they ever

slept, and how they managed without rolling on one of us. When Edward and

Edwin were born I was put to sleep at the foot of the bed with my three older

sisters. I would wake up in the night and they would have their legs all over me so

I would wiggle and wiggle until I could get out and put my legs on top of theirs.

But it seemed I always had legs on me. The only heat in the house was a wood

stove. My brothers slept up in the attic in the summer and when it was too cold

they slept in the living room.

My Parents – Leslie and Mary Cahoon

My father was a truck driver. He hauled coal and fruit and anything else he could to

get some money to feed and take care of is big family. He also tried a dozen other

things hoping he would some how get rich. He was a hard worker. He was also

generous, almost to a fault. He would have given anyone the shirt off his back if he

thought they needed it worse than he did. He never put a lock on our home doors. He

always said, “Trust everyone until you prove that you can’t.”

My mother was an angel from heaven. She had ten children, 6 boys and 4 girls. She

also had twin girls that died and several miscarriages. It took every minute she had to

wash clothes on a scrub board and to feed us all and take care of her home. She also

raised a large garden. My mother had great faith. She taught me to pray. I can never

remember not praying. No one could ever ask for a more wonderful, loving mother.

Our clothes were generally made of flour sacks that were boiled

and scrubbed and bleached in the sun. Sometimes they dyed them.

We only had two sets of clothes; one for Sunday and one for

school. Mother would rinse them out at night and we would wear

them again the next day. Many families were in a similar situation

but some families had more money. One spring my shoes were

falling apart but I couldn’t stand the thought of going to school

barefoot. One of the ladies from the town went to the school and

said that something should be done about the children that were

coming to school in rags. She thought they should have better

clothes to be allowed to come to school.

I loved my family dearly. These are some of the memories of my siblings.

My oldest brother Lavar was tall and worked with Dad most of the time. I remember

one time Aunt Edna cut my hair and she cut it short like a boy and Lavar was so mad

about it.

My sister Nada was like a second mother to me. I guess that is because she was the

oldest girl.

My sister Irene was wonderful but when I was young I used to think she was always

bossing me around.

My brother Dewey seemed to always be doing things that made my dad mad, and I

couldn’t see what he was so mad about.

My sister Lila was just older than I was and she was always very good at school and

always watching out for me.

My brother Lawrence and I were twins and whenever one of us would get sick the other

one would too. Edwin and Edward were also twins. I always thought Edward and

Lawrence were more alike and Edwin and I were more alike.

Golden was my baby brother and I was always very close to him.

My mother’s health was never very good. One time she had a gall

bladder attack that was so severe they thought she was dead. By the

time the doctor came they had to hold a mirror over her mouth to see if

they could detect any breathing. Grandpa came to administer to her. I

remember standing out beside the south front door of our home up on

the hill in Leavitt. I was crying and leaning my head against the wall

and praying, “Dear, Lord, please let Mother live. I need her so badly.

I’m too little to be without my mother.” And the dear Lord did hear a

little girl’s prayer, because my mother, whom they thought was dead,

got better and lived to see all of my children before she died at the age

of 83 years.

I

One August when I was about 8 years old my

mother’s garden had at leas a dozen long rows

of corn. It had been a good year for gardens and

Mother and our family had worked hard and the

corn was quite tall. This particular day Mother

and Dad were away from home. My mother

was not away from home very much unless it as

to church meetings, but this day Mother had

gone somewhere.

My sister Irene was home with us children. She told me I had to do the dishes,

and like most children, and even more adults, if we are told what we have to do

and not asked we get a bit stubborn decide there is no way we going to do it.

That day I decided I wasn’t going to be told what I had to do, so I ran outside,

climbed the ladder on the side of the house into the attic, closed the door and

hooked the inside latch before she could catch me. No matter what she said or

how she threatened I would not come down. I waited and waited and when they

seemed to have forgotten about me, I opened the door and peeked out. There was

no one in sight so I left the door open and climbed down the ladder and ran to the

garden and down into the tall rows of corn. There I sat down in the middle of the

corn patch. It wasn’t long before they discovered the attic door was open and that

I was gone. I guess they got worried and began looking all over for me. They

called and called but couldn’t find me. The day was warm and I soon lay down

among the rows of corn and fell asleep. I had come to the corn patch in the

morning and when I woke up it was late afternoon. I heard mother calling so I ran

to the house. They were all so relieved that I had been found that I didn’t get the

scolding I should have had. When I realized how worried they had been I decided

that that had not been a very nice thing to do and that I would never do it again.

My parents had so little money that we didn’t have much for Christmas.

I do remember one year my brother Lavar rode his horse into town to

pick up a parcel from Simpson Sears, so at least that year there must

have been a gift or two.

The real Christmas celebration was at my Grandpa Leavitt’s. He always

had a fish pond with a small gift for everyone. We were always so

excited for the fish pond to start. The Christmas dinners were extra

special too because that was the only meal of the year that there was

always enough to eat. I even remember being sick the next day because

I had eaten too much! I remember one Christmas when some of us had

the measles. It must have been when I was six because I had almost

every communicable disease imaginable that year. That was such a

terrible Christmas because we couldn’t go to Grandpa’s. Somehow after

Grandpa died it was many years before Christmas was fun again.

Another early memory I have from when I was

very small is when my sister Irene told me that I

needed to take a chicken over to Uncle Leonard to

have him chop its head off so we could pluck it

and cook it for dinner. I did not want to do that

but she kept insisting that I do it. She put the

chicken right up to my face and of course the

chicken started to caw and flap its wings.

I went down like someone had hit me over the head with a sledge-hammer. I just

passed out cold. And ever after that I was terrified of birds. My brothers soon

discovered this and found a way to tease me. We had chickens that ran free around

the yard. And of course we had an outhouse as well. My brothers got the roosters

to chase me every time I went out to use the outhouse. One day I had gone to the

outhouse and had got most of the way there before they saw me and came running

after me with their wings flapping. I managed to get into the outhouse but then I

couldn’t get out because every time I opened the door those darn roosters would be

waiting there for me. I think I spent about three hours in there before someone else

needed to use the outhouse and I had to come out.

My mother thought I was very silly to be afraid of birds. When I was a little bit

older we had a chicken coup across the field and I would help mother take feed

over for the chickens. I would carry the feed over there but then I would leave and

mother would feed the chickens. One day she had been scolding me about how

silly and irrational this fear was, and how I needed to get over it, when I looked

down and saw a little garter snake. I reached down and picked it up. I showed it

to my mother and said, “Look what I have, Mother.” My mother was just terrified

of snakes. She just about came unglued. “Oh you dirty thing,” she said. “Put that

down right now!” “Now, Mother,” I said calmly, “You know it won’t hurt you.

You really need to get over this.” She told me I had made my point but to put it

down anyway. After that she didn’t ever try to get me to not be afraid of birds.

When we were young we always had fun walking up to the rock ridge west of

Leavitt. It was about 2 miles and as we went we would pick buttercups and

shooting stars. When we got to the ridge we generally could find Tiger

Lilies. I guess I’ve always loved flowers ever since.

One time Dewey, Irene, Lila, Edwin, Edward and Lawrence and I were all playing

down by the road when a car stopped. The man asked if we were all members of

the same family. Irene said, “Oh yes! They’re twins, and they’re twins, and

we’re triplets.” (She and Lila and Dewey were about the same height at that

time.) The man was so shocked he took the Lord’s name in vain, climbed back in

his car and drove off.

In the summer time we would walk

over to Lee Creek about two miles

away. One time there were several of

us there and I got out over my head and

I couldn’t swim. I went down twice

before I was able to shout and ask for

help. It was a close call as I nearly

drowned.

I was baptized in the Cardston temple on November 22, 1932 by Heber W.

Harker and confirmed by Samuel L. Baker Sr. At that time baptisms were

done in the temple and my brother Lawrence and I along with our cousin Joan

were among the children baptized. Joan was absolutely terrified of water and

Aunt Ida had told her that if she made a fuss she would give her a good

spanking when they got home. But, despite the threats, Joan started to howl

the moment her toes touched the water. “Oh, Aunt Ida,” she cried, “You can

spank me all you want but I’m not going in that water!” I don’t remember

how they accomplished it, but I do know they eventually got her baptized.

Primary was held at the school. I remember the first time I

went I hid behind my mother’s skirts and someone asked who

the eyes were they could see behind her. My mother was the

primary president. When I was a little older my Aunt Emma

was my primary teacher.

Dad had a big truck (or at least it was big for our day) and used it to haul fruit from

Creston. One time, when I was about eight or nine years old, he took a load of flour to

Creston. Lavar went along to help drive and he took Lila, Irene and I along with him

to help pick ripe tomatoes. On the way over he made us a bed on top of the flour

under the big tarp. We picked our tomatoes and Dad stacked the wooden boxes in the

truck along with the fruit he was taking. He started to prepare a place for us to sleep

but then he said he didn’t feel right about it. They would be driving through the night

and he was afraid that if something were to happen we would be hurt. So he filled the

truck to the top with fruit and then left Lila in Creston while Irene and I rode in the

cab with Dad and Lavar. When we came to Moyer Lake Dad told Lavar he was just

too tired to drive around the edge of the lake so Lavar took over. It was about 3:30 am

and the road was a small gravel road. There were ridges along the edge and often

down the middle of the road. Lavar was so tired he decided he would straddle the

gravel ridge so that it would wake him if he started to doze off. The problem was the

ridge he was going to straddle was not in the middle of the road – it was on the edge.

When Irene realized this she grabbed the steering and jerked it back. The truck

flipped upside down into a deep ditch. Had we been riding in the back we would

certainly have been killed. None of us were hurt but after we crawled out through the

window the big jack that was caught between the brake and clutch pedals fell and

smashed the window out. Dad said he knew I wasn’t really hurt because I was

screaming too loud. Then, after we got the truck back onto its wheels there were ripe

tomatoes smashed through everything. For me the most devastating part of the

accident was the loss of my favorite dress. I had a beautiful little blue pleated skirt

and bolero and a little pink blouse. I had them in a sack in the front of the truck.

When we tipped over the battery acid leaked out and ate holes in them so I could

never wear them again. I thought that was the prettiest outfit I had ever had and was

really heartbroken over it. Amazingly enough we were able to get home again but for

years afterward I was very nervous to ride in a car or truck.

One time when there was such a heavy wind that they thought the roof was going

to blow off the school so they sent the children home. Irene had taken hold of my

hand and we walked home. The fence in-between our home and the school had a

style that went over it and we had a terrible time trying to get over the fence.

Then, when we got to the lane on the North side of the house, we couldn’t turn in.

The wind was too strong and it blew us down over the hill. There was an old

decrepit car down under the hill so we crawled in it for a little shelter. Dad had

seen us coming and so he came down over the hill to help us get back up to the

house.

My experiences with school did not start on a very good note. Our first year of

school Lawrence and I got measles and mumps and whooping cough all in the

same year. Our teacher was convinced that either Lawrence or I was lying

because every time I got sick – Lawrence got sick. And every time Lawrence

got sick then I got sick. One time after we returned after missing several days of

instruction she got me up in front of the class to read. I stumbled all over the

place and finally she said, “Oh, go and sit down, you dummy. Let some else

read who can.” And so I was dubbed “the dummy” by the other kids in school

for the rest of my school days. Toward the end of the school year I got a fly in

my ears. It buzzed and buzzed until I thought I would go crazy. Finally Mother

took me to the hospital and they operated to take the fly out. By that point we

had missed so much school that Mother decided to just keep us home and start

us again the next year. I didn’t ever enjoy school. I didn’t ever read quickly and

I was the world’s worst speller. The only subjects I enjoyed were Social Studies

and history. I did have a couple of good teachers, Bill and Ada Blackmore were

both good teachers. We had a three room school. Grades 1 to 4 were in one

class, grades 5 to 8 were in another classroom, and then grades 9 to11 were in

the third room. Grade 12 was only offered in Cardston so very few students

took Grade 12.

My Aunt May Hall was one of my favorite people. She was my dad’s

older half sister and I often visited her. She was a sweetheart. One time

she took about eight girls up to Waterton for a campout. People thought

she was crazy to do such a thing but we sure had lots of fun hiking the

trails in Waterton.

I loved to play basketball. One time we had a tournament and our team

of six girls was practicing during the noon-hour when I sprained my

ankle. There was no such thing as tensor bandages so the teacher filled

a sock with snow and wrapped it around my foot. I was really careful

how I walked when I got home so I could go back and play my

tournament. We won the first two games but one of the girls passed out

from exhaustion in the second game which left only five of us to play

the third game. We didn’t win but we sure gave it our all. The next

morning when I got up my ankle was swollen terribly. My father was

furious. He told me I was never allowed to play basketball again. My

ankle has always been weak ever since. We also enjoyed playing

softball.

My closest friends when I was growing up were my Aunt Emma’s

daughters Joyce & Faye Broadbent. I also played a lot with my cousin

Beth. We played mostly active games, things like tag, softball and

basketball. I don’t remember playing with dolls much. I do remember

desperately wanting an Eaton Beauty Doll but they cost $1.00 and my folks

couldn’t afford to buy one. I had a rag doll instead. A dollar was a lot of

money in those days. A man would work a twelve or fourteen hours day

for a dollar’s wage.

Our family enjoyed riding horses. Lawrence had a beautiful black horse that he had

been breaking. My cousins Fay and Joyce and I wanted to go choke-cherries picking

and I wanted to borrow his horse. He was very reluctant because he hadn’t finished

breaking him. He finally agreed I could take him as long as I didn’t put a bucket on

him. When I arrived at Aunt Emma’s to meet the other girls they handed me a

bucket and without thinking I took it. The horse jumped sideways and I landed on

the ground. I got back on without the bucket and we carried on. Well, from that

point on, it was all I could do to control that horse. It pranced and danced all the way

over and all the way back. Poor Lawrence could never get that horse past shying. It

had been his pride and joy and I ruined it for him.

Edward & Ginger

Golden and his colt

When the war started it was hard on everyone. My brother

Dewey served in the army. Lavar was excused from service

because of health reasons. I was in grade nine when the war

started. Many of the men were away and those left behind

were often trying to help neighbors take care of their farms and

animals. My dad and brothers were gone for long stretches at

a time and I was responsible for carrying water to the pigs.

We had about 100 pigs and I could only carry two buckets at a

time. I carried water in the morning before school, at noon

hour and in the evening. One time I discovered that one of the

sows had stepped on one of her piglets and put a deep gash in

its belly. We only had black thread at our house so I ran to

Aunt Sadie’s and got white thread and a needle and sewed the

poor little thing back up again. I was quite heartbroken when

it died anyway.

Dewey in uniform

The summer I was fifteen the mutual girls went over to Lee Creek, west of the

Tire Hole, on a three day camp-out. There were about eighteen of us. Each girl

took quilts and food but there were no tents. A couple of wagons took us over

with all of our things and then went home. Edna Baker and Eva Wilson were our

supervisors, but they were only about eighteen years old. After we had got settled

for the night it began to rain and it really poured. We had an old tarp and we

strung it up in the trees to try to keep the water off. We put all the quilts together

and huddled under them together. We had about 4 or 5 quilts on top of us and

about that many under us. When one quilt would get too wet we would crawl

under another one. By about 4:30 am everything was soaking wet. After a lot of

trouble we managed to get a fire going and had an early breakfast. That morning

the sun came out and we spent most of the day drying clothes and quilts and

eating. Then after a good night’s sleep we got up ready to have a really good day.

About 10:00 am a wagon came to get Lavene Leavitt as her grandfather had had

a heart attack and died the night before. So we all decided to go home. We had a

wet time but we all thought it was great fun.

For my first Green and Gold Ball when I

was sixteen I got a beautiful new dress. I

was so excited and thought it was so

beautiful. I was all dressed up and I was

coming down the stairs when I met Edward

on his way up. He looked at me at said,

“Hey, sis, you look like a chicken with its

feather’s plucked off!” I was just

devastated. I continued down the stairs

where I met Edwin. “Oh, sis!” he said,

“You look so beautiful!” That helped my

hurt feelings considerably. Edwin was

always such a kind, tender soul.

At the age of thirteen I received my patriarchal blessing at the hands of John F. Anderson. It has been a treasured blessing and a comfort to me throughout my life.

My sister Irene got married when I was fourteen and I spent that summer with her.

They lived in Schuler, just outside of Medicine Hat. Her husband John worked the

farm and had a crew for threshing. I helped Irene with the cooking and cleaning.

Other people in the area asked Irene if I could come and help cook for their crews but

Irene told them that I couldn’t cook. This wasn’t true - but she wanted my help and

didn’t want me to go off and help someone else. One day she had to be away so I

cooked. The men came in from the fields and put away their horses but didn’t come to

the house. I waited and waited and when they still didn’t come in I went down to the

barn to see what was holding them up. When I asked if they were coming to eat they

were surprised and asked if Irene was home. “No,” I told them, “But dinner is ready.”

They were shocked because they didn’t know that I could cook.

John’s brother Chris Traxel was on the threshing crew and he loved to tease. I had

washed the dishes and he knew I was going to take the dishwater out. He went

outside, hid around the corner and jumped at me. In fright I threw the dirty dishwater

all over him. He didn’t think that was very funny at all.

Threshing Crew (Not one I worked on – but it gives you an idea.)

In my teens I worked during the summer. One summer I worked for the

Blackmores. Orpha was having great difficulty with her nerves and had a new

baby named Barclay. I would take care of the baby and take him to her to

nurse. I worked for the Salts for a couple of summers. Shirley Salt was a

farmer but he had to have white starched shirts to work in. I helped with the

cooking, dishes, laundry, housework and children – whatever needed done. I

didn’t earn a whole lot – maybe 30 dollars a month. I worked at the church

ranch the fall after I was supposed to have gone back to school for Grade 11.

But I only worked there about a month before I decided I was making a bad

mistake. I returned home to go back to school. The summer after I finished

school I worked in Waterton. That summer President J. Reuben Clark came

to visit so he could dedicate the Hartley church. He asked if anyone could do

something with his poor wrinkled shirt so that he would look presentable; so I

ironed his shirt and suit. I only worked there for part of a summer. President

Clark stayed at the place I was working. I can’t remember the names of the

people who owned the place, I only know they were rich people. I never ate

with them because I waited on the table. The lady always told me that their

flatwear was pure silver. They kept it hidden in a vault under the basement

floor. These people had a son who annoyed me immensely. He used to say,

“Come here, little maid…. Do this, maid….. Do that, maid.” He never called

me by my name he just said “maid”. So I decided I had had enough of that. I

had saved a little money and decided I would go to beauty school.

Our 20th Birthday

Above – With my Cake / Below – with Lawrence

Calgary

Calgary

I moved to Calgary and went to Beauty School. My course lasted 10 months. The school

was on 8th Avenue and I lived at Mrs. Wyrick’s on 17th Avenue. It was during the war.

Lila, Aunt Emma’s Faye, Uncle Math’s June and I all lived together in a basement

apartment. We had a small kitchen and a room with two partitions. There were no rugs

on the floor.

One of the things I remember about that apartment was on New Year’s Eve. There had

been a New Year’s dance and it lasted until about 1 am. June was going with Ned Olsen

and he was in the forces. Ned was supposed to be back at the base before 2 am. They had

been to the dance and then came back to our apartment. The problem is they fell asleep

and didn’t wake up until 5:30 am. Mrs. Wyrick cleaned the school and they woke up

when they heard her stirring. She was awake so Ned didn’t dare leave in case she saw

him. She must have heard something because she came roaring down the stairs and said

“Who’s here?” We heard her coming and Ned ran into the closet and shut the door and

we just innocently said, “We’re here. Who did you expect?” The problem was one of the

neighbors saw Ned leave and told Mrs. Wyrick, so after that she was always on our backs.

We had another landlady like that as well. When I was working at Eatons I lived on 4th

Avenue and Viola Olsen lived with me. The landlady’s husband worked late so we were

not allowed to come in to the house or flush the toilet after midnight. I’m not sure why

she thought we had someone there because we never did take boys to the apartment – but

one night she came down in the middle of the night, turned on the light and yelled,

“Who’s here?” It scared us right to death. After that we found a different place.

My Class from Beaton Beauty Academy (I am on the far left)

In March of 1944, while I was still taking my course, I began working in the

Scarborough Confectionary at night. I worked from 6:00 - 11:00 pm. It was a

kind of corner store and I worked there until I finished school on July 12, 1944.

Hairstyles from the 1940’s

Calgary Gleaner Class, 1948 (I am 2nd from the left on the back row)

Back then the young adults in the church were called M-Men and Gleaners. There were

about fifty gleaners in our ward in Calgary and, because of the war, there were only about

three M-Men. The church really was our main social outlet. Once a year we had a Green &

Gold Ball. A lot of the young men were stationed at the Army Base in Calgary so they would

be allowed to come.

The Calgary Ward Choir (I am on the left, 2nd from the end on the 2nd row,)

Calgary Green and Gold Ball – 1948

(Above – I am standing just to the right of the window)

(Below – I am winding a Maypole ribbon just to the left of center)

When I was a young adult we were still part of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Society. The oldest class was called “Gleaners”. While I was living in Calgary I completed all the requirements to become a “Golden Gleaner”, the highest award a young woman could receive. I took a lot of time and effort but I was very pleased to earn it. The following is the letter I submitted outlining the requirements I fulfilled.

When I finished school I got a job at the T.

Eaton Company. I used to do hair for the

CEO’s wife. She was such a lovely person

and was very kind. But a lot of women were

totally unreasonable. One woman came in

with a picture of a movie star with thick,

beautiful hair and she wanted her hair styled

the same way. The problem was that she had

thin hair and there was no way I could make

her hair look like that. We were scheduled to

wash & set someone’s hair every half hour.

One time I washed a ladies hair and it looked

funny. There were little white dots all up the

hair shaft. I went and got the supervisor and

told her that this lady had something strange

in her hair and asked her to come look at it.

She looked and then told me to come back to

the office with her. She confirmed the lady

had lice. I asked my supervisor to please tell

her because she was a really hoity-toity lady

and I was afraid to tell her. Another woman I

worked on was a doctor. I think from one

week to the next she must have never combed

her hair. When she came in we had to

schedule an extra 15 minutes just to comb her

hair before we could wash it. To top it all off

she had an exceedingly tender head. She used

to say to me, “You think doctors hurt you?

You should see what I go through when I

come here to see you people!” I would comb

it as gently as I could and she would sit there

and almost cry! There were all kinds of

people.

One time the T. Eaton company went horseback riding for a social outing. When we got to the

stables I said, “Don’t give me a dead-head! Give me something that has some life in it”. They

asked if I was sure and so they gave me a spirited horse and I was doing fine until some smart-alec

guy came up from behind and smacked my horse on the rear. Away we went – both his horse and

mine. I wasn’t afraid of falling off but I was afraid the horse might step in a hole. It took us about

a mile and a half to get those horses stopped.

Recovering from my broken shoulder & collar bone

Aunt Mae Hall

Another time I went riding with Hazel Ritchie in Calgary. We had rented the horses for hour and

we just on our way back to the stables when my horse stumbled and went down. Fortunately he

didn’t roll on me but I did break my shoulder and collarbone. Hazel stopped some man and asked

him to stay with me while she ran for help. He stayed but the whole time he kept saying, “Are you

all right? Please don’t faint! Please don’t faint!” The injury was quite severe. They asked me at

the hospital what doctor I wanted. The only doctor whose name I knew was a Dr. Townsend and

he was a bone specialist. My collarbone was so badly out of place they put me in traction for three

days with sandbags to try to pull the bone back into place. Finally the decided they would have to

set it the best they could. T. Eaton Company sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the girls in

the shop sent me a basket of fruit. I spent 10 days in the hospital and then Aunt Mae Hall came and

took care of me for another week or so until I was able to take the bus home. That bus ride home

seemed very long as I felt every bump along the way.

When the war ended we went to the

celebration on VE day (Victory in Europe).

There was a large open field and they had

built a platform and had a program there.

There were thousands of people come to it.

We were about 100 feet away from the

platform and there were so many people

behind us. Everyone kept pushing to try to

get closer to the front. I am claustrophobic

to start with and it was terrible. It could

have ended up being a tragedy. One lady at the front fainted and they couldn’t

get her medical attention because people couldn’t move to let her out. In

desperation they had to announce that if people didn’t move back the police were

going to use tear-gas. Finally, the crowd dissipated so that people could move.

Many people lost loved ones in the war. Several of the young men I grew up with

were killed in Europe. My brother Dewey came safely home along with his wife

Joyce who he met in England.

In 1947 I went to Seattle and took a post graduate course in Harper scalp

treatments and facials. While I was there I lived with my cousin Roma Walters.

Then I returned to T. Eaton Company and worked for another year before deciding

to serve a mission.

My Mission

When I was twenty three I decided I wanted to serve a mission. Time was very short

from the time I got my call until I had to be in the mission home in Salt Lake. I only had

16 days to get ready to go. I had not given notice at work so I had to work for a week

and then get ready.

I had to get my shots as well. They didn’t have time to give me my

shots each on separate days so the last day they gave me two at once.

That was also the day that I went to the temple for the first time.

My mother was too ill to go with me and my dad didn’t have a

recommend at that time so went by myself. I don’t remember too

much about the temple ceremony that day because I was feeling so

miserable. My arm had swollen up and was so sore that every

time I lifted it I wanted to scream.

The next day, June 16, I left to travel to Salt Lake with the

Andersons who happened to be going at that time. We went as far

as Idaho Falls the first day and then on to Salt Lake the following

day. I stayed with Uncle Os until it was time to go to the mission

home. Uncle Os was my Aunt Annie’s husband who had died of

cancer before that time. He was a very kind man. He took me to

a concert at the tabernacle and to do some sight seeing in the area

before I started my mission on June 21st.

After I got to Salt Lake I had to be interviewed by a General Authority. The man that interviewed me was Bruce R. McConkie. When I got to his office I was sure I had the wrong office. He looked much too young to be a General Authority.

We were also set apart as missionaries in Salt Lake. There was a large group of missionaries and several General Authorities who were setting us apart. I recognized Elder Widstoe and I prayed that he would be the one to set me apart and he did.

I was in Utah until July 5, 1948. There were no discussions to learn. We just had talks from General Authorities about missionary work.

My companion was Vernetta Hale. She was the daughter of the new mission president

who was going to Samoa. She had been serving as a nurse on a navy vessel during the

war and when her parents were called to serve in Samoa she decided she wanted to go

with them as a missionary. The people in Salt Lake told President Hale that he could

choose a companion for her but he declined and had the missionary committee choose

someone. They chose well because we became very dear friends in our time together.

We went to San Francisco on a train and then boarded the ship “The Marine Phoenix”

which took us to Samoa. The ship was an old troop ship. The women were put in the

hold and the men were up on deck. Almost as soon as we started I got seasick. There

were no portholes in a large community sleeping rooms and no fans. We had to cross

the equator and I was so hot and sick I decided very firmly that if it was that hot in the

“regions below” I was not ever going there. Devon Hale who was seven years old fell

when he was on ship and got a very serious concussion. They wanted to operate but

Vernetta absolutely refused to have him have brain surgery on a rolling ship. All the

missionaries fasted and after President Hale gave him a blessing he was healed. It took

eleven days to get to Samoa.

Myself, Sister Hale, President Hale, Joyleen, VernettaMarilyn, Devon

On the morning of July 18th we were up at 5:30 am. We went up on deck and could see a

faint outline of Samoa in the distance. As the boat came close and sun came out we saw one

of God’s most beautiful landscapes on earth. The ship sailed down the natural harbor and

there were mountains on both sides with colors that I had only seen in the movies. The

palm trees and the little native huts with the smoke curling up from them made a sight

beyond belief. Looking out we could see the Elders standing on the shore in their white

suits and the natives gathering from all directions.

Marine Phoenix at Harbor

Samoa

Sister Hale on the Gangway

Pago Pago Harbor

Arriving in Samoa

Unfortunately about that time they

announced that there was measles

aboard ship and that everyone

getting off in Samoa would be

immediately quarantined.

The Samoan islands had never had

the measles and if it had been

brought to them it could have

decimated the islands. There was a

large group of people gathered to

meet us but they were disappointed

because we were all taken to the

naval barracks for two weeks. There

was one big long room and they put

a curtain down the middle to

separate us from the naval men.

The crowd gathered to meet us

There were two bedrooms that had been assigned to President and Sister Hale and

their two youngest children. Vernetta and I were assigned cots that were right next

to the curtain. President Hale decided that was not at all acceptable and gave up his

room so that Vernetta and I could have a little more privacy. Vernetta was not

accustomed to sleeping with anyone and because she had served in the war if anyone

touched her in the night she would leap out of bed ready to be on call.

We had a hard time adjusting to the food. It tasted quite terrible to us. We enjoyed

the bananas but everyone told us we would get sick if that is all we ate. They had taro

to eat. It is a root and it tasted like putty to me. They also had something called

polisami. That was greens mixed with coconut milk. I really had to choke to get that

down.

The day of our arrival – in front of the hospital

We could go out on the porch

and the missionaries and

Samoans would come and

talk to us from the other side

of the fence.

The scouts and the Samoans

would sometimes come and sing

for us to help pass the time. The

Samoan members also brought

food for us to eat.

We had to pay to stay at the Naval

barracks and I got quite a shock

when they charged me twice as

much as they charged the others.

We were in American Samoa and

although the others were Americans,

I was a “foreigner” and had to pay

double. I was quite offended that

they thought I was a foreigner; after

all, both my parents were born in the

United States.School children entertaining us

Scout Troop

Playing mumble-peg to pass the time

When we finally got out of there all the missionaries in American Samoa came to be together.

The former mission president had been sent home about three months before that and so the

two assistants Brian Smith and Reed Fauns had been running the mission. Everyone was

very glad to have a new mission president. The next night we went up to the village of

Sauniatu. We traveled there in a car that just arrived on the ship from America. As we drove

into the village they honked and honked to let everyone know we were coming. They had

everything decorated and a huge feast to celebrate our arrival. On our way back to the

mission home that night the car was hit by a drunk driver. The car was totaled but fortunately

most of us were not hurt. President Hale got a scratch on his neck and I had whiplash. It

could have been far more serious as we nearly went over a cliff that had a hundred foot drop

to the ocean shore below.

President and Sister Hale - Eating with their Fingers

Our Welcome Fia Fia (party and feast)

We spent about a week in American Samoa after we got out of the hospital. We

met with the missionaries, visited the various villages, and met with the members.

Each village had their own welcome fia fia for us. Our arrival to the village would

be heralded by honking horns and everyone would come to greet us. At Mesepa

they even had a ribbon cutting ceremony

When we left American Samoa we went to Western Samoa where headquarters were.

Again we were welcomed by the missionaries and the local members.

King Tamasese (one of four Samoan Kings) attended the festivities and program held at the mission home not far from Apia.

Most of my mission was spent in Western Samoa. Vernetta and I taught school. We had open huts

and the children sat on the floor. I had a blackboard but not much more. Vernetta taught the

younger children and I taught the older ones. One of the hardest things I was supposed to teach

them was English money. That was a real challenge because I didn’t have a clue – I didn’t know a

pence from a pound. For a while it was hard to convince the children that I knew more than they

did. Vernetta and I made uniforms for the students to play sports. We took the kids to a Catholic

school one day and I sat and visited with the Mother Superior while they played their game. She

said they always gave their students breakfast because they didn’t have much in their heads, so

they’d better have something in their stomachs. We did not do too much proselyting. We taught

Sunday School and Relief Society.

Huts similar to those in which we held school School class in the uniforms

Mission Home and Headquarters

It was soon discovered that I was a hair-dresser. There was

a school that had a lot of lady teachers in it and they hadn’t

had someone do their hair for a long time. Also, the wives

of government officials were anxious to have their hair

down so they asked President Hale if I would be allowed to

do some beauty parlor work. He said that would be fine as

long as it was done also as a service to the community and I

didn’t get paid. So, from that point on, I often did hair on

Saturdays when I wasn’t teaching school. I think that may

have had a little bit to do with the quota for missionaries

being lifted. We did not have a large group of missionaries.

In the beginning there we were only allowed to have twelve

missionaries on the island. Then they raised the quota.

First they said we could have twenty-one and then they said

they could have as many as we wanted.

L.Kunz, B. Smith, R. Hamblin, R. Watkins, A. Smith, R. Fawns, F. Smith, R. Kirby M. Memmott

J. Bates, M. Winward. J. Hale, L. Cahoon, V. Hale, Sister F. Hale, Pres, G. Hale

R. Litchfield, C. Hulet, K. Hogenson, R. Bytengurp, G. Steed

Sometimes we traveled to the other

islands and always I got so terribly sick.

The bay was too shallow for a ship to

dock so we went out to the ship in a

smaller boat. They packed the boats and

you could either stand at the rail or sit on

the floor. One time I was so sick on the

small boat that by the time we got to the

bigger boat I was dry heaving. I really

thought I wasn’t going to make it. The

others must have thought so too because I

was given the Captain’s quarters to lie

down in. I was on the other island for

three days before I was well enough to

move around again.

Apia to Tutwilla – the sea-sick boat

Aboard the Betty-Lou to Savaii

The boat came about every three weeks and usually there would be a letter or two for us. But at

Christmas the boat came and there were no letters. I was so homesick and disappointed that I went

upstairs and lay on my bed and cried. Sister Hale went for a walk with me in the moonlight and

cheered me up. The next time the boat came the elders went and got the mail. Because they knew I

was anxious to get a letter, and boys will be boys, they hid my mail and told me there was nothing

for me. I was really upset then and went upstairs to cry. President Hale figured out what was going

on and asked the elders if they had done something with my mail. When they admitted they had he

really scolded them and told them never to do such a thing again. He made them come and

apologize and bring me my letters. I was so homesick that I dreamed that I had gone home and no

one would speak to me because they were so disappointed in me for not finishing my mission.

When I woke up the next morning I decided that was enough of that nonsense and I just needed to

get to work. So I did and things were better.

Christmas was different in Samoa. They didn’t really

celebrate Christmas the way we do. A lot of the

missionaries were from Canada and they went out and

found a nutmeg tree which was the closest thing they

could find to use for a Christmas tree. We decorated

with silver paper and anything else we could find.

Most of the missionaries came from in from the

villages to celebrate with us. At that time there was no

rule about missionaries swimming so we went

swimming at the beach on Christmas day. We would

jump into the incoming waves and ride them into shore.

We had a great time but the sun was so hot that we got

terribly burned. We had to just wrap in sheets and stay

in our room for three days before we could put clothes

on and go about our normal activities.

The Hale family was so good to me. President and Sister Hale treated me as if I was one of their own daughter. The letter below is one Sister Hale wrote me while I was still on my mission

I learned a little Samoan but not a whole lot. Sister Hale also tried to learn a little

Samoan but soon found that the language was rather tricky. The same basic word could

mean two completely different things depending on where you placed the accent. For

example “soo-soo-mi” means “come and eat” and “soo-soo-mi” means “breast milk”.

The elders had an office upstairs and one day Sister Hale wanted them to come down

for lunch. She called up the stairs, “Soo-soo-mi, Soo-soo-mi.” The elders just about

rolled on the floor they were laughing so hard. Sister Hale vowed to never again try to

speak the Samoan language.

While I was serving we had a wonderful miracle take place in our mission. The wife of a

man who was serving as a Branch President in one of the village contracted leprosy. The

man asked to be released because he couldn’t do his calling without his wife’s support. The

chief of the village was not a member of the church but he liked this man and he didn’t want

to have him released. He suggested to President Hale that they should just heal the woman.

This took President Hale back a bit but he returned to the mission home and prayed about it.

They decided they would give the woman a blessing. He took some of the elders and they

laid their hands on the sister but they did not tell her she would be healed. He said they

came away with a dark, terrible feeling. They knew they had offended God with their lack

of faith. He came back to the mission home and sent word out for every missionary to fast

and pray. I remember taking part in the special fast. Then they returned and gave her

another blessing. He said they were not afraid but that they laid their hands on her head and

promised her in the name of the Lord that she would be healed. She wasn’t healed

immediately but she slowly improved. After about three weeks there seemed to be no trace

left of the disease. The doctors would not believe it. They sent samples of blood to the

States and about 6 weeks later word came that there was no leprosy found. It truly was one

of the highlights of the mission as we all felt like we had taken part in the miracle.

One of the things we did that I enjoyed the most was to help the Samoan people hold their very first “Green and Gold Ball”. Everyone really enjoyed the preparations and the event was very successful.

The first Samoan “Green and Gold Ball” – (I am on the far left)

I served for eighteen months and at that time Vernetta took Joyleen and went

home as well. When we left the people all came to say goodbye. They loaded

us with leis and sang “Tofa Mi Felanie” (Goodbye, My Friend) for us. The

crew on the boat made us throw the leis into the water. We traveled first to

Fiji and then caught the boat traveling from New Zealand to Vancouver.

They would only allow you to take a very small amount of money with you when you left

the country. They had told us to go to a certain place in Fiji to get lodging while we waited

for the boat but when we went there it was dark and dirty and the rooms were only

curtained off. We decided we would have to go to the English hotel and even then there

were only curtains instead of doors. Vernetta & Joylene were going to sleep in one room

and have me next door but there was no way I was sleeping in a room alone. We took the

two single beds and pushed them together and the three of us all slept on them. Vernetta

still jumped if anyone touched her during the night so we didn’t get a lot of sleep. We felt

so alone. There were no members that we knew of except for a man who got off the boat

from Samoa with us and he had disappeared and we had no idea where to find him. We

had nothing to do but wait for the boat. There was a swimming pool about 2 blocks away

and we would go swimming every day. Finally the boat came.

Our ship, the Aorangi, was a better boat than the one we had on the way out but I was still

dreadfully seasick. Our cabin had two bunks and I was on the top bunk. Whenever the ship

would roll to one side my bunk would slide out about six inches. Then when it rolled to the

other side it would slide back and bang against the wall. We were on that darn boat for about a

week before we could get them to believe that the bunk was doing that. Then they finally moved

us to a different cabin. I weighed 122 lbs. when I left Samoa and I only weighed 109 lbs. when I

got home.

AORNAGI

DINING

ROOM

MENU

I had a box of curios with some fine mats, some baskets, a kava bowl, a spear etc. - just small

mementos that I wanted to bring home with me. When we reached Seattle they said I would

have to pay $60.00 duty. I was shocked. I explained that they were only gifts with very little

monetary value. When they still said I had to pay I told them I would throw them overboard

rather than let them have my souvenirs . They told me I couldn’t do that but when they finally

realized that I was quite serious and was not going to hand over my box they allowed me to

take it. Grant Litchfield was on the boat from New Zealand so he was traveling with us. We

went on to Vancouver together. Grant and I were going to take the train home from

Vancouver and we had very little time to get off the boat and catch the train. Just as we were

headed to the gang-plank we heard my name being paged, “Lois Cahoon, come to the pursers

office. Lois Cahoon, come to the pursers office.” I told Grant that I wasn’t going but he told

me I really had to go. He said he would find our luggage and wait for me. When I got to the

pursers office I found that my dad had sent me an airplane ticket for the next morning so that I

could be home in time for my brother Lawrence’s wedding. I shouted to Grant that I wasn’t

coming and he went on without me. I got a hotel room to share to Vernetta and Joyleen. We

were traveling with such a small amount of money I gave them every cent of money that I had

except for just enough to cover the taxi to the airport. We were afraid they might not have

enough to get back to Utah. We said our goodbyes the next morning and I went on to catch

my plane. When I got to the airport and my luggage was too heavy. I owed $2.00 and I didn’t

have it. I explained that I didn’t even have a nickel. At that time mostly business people or

wealthy people flew on planes and they couldn’t believe I didn’t have $2.00. I was so

embarrassed I wanted to crawl right under the rug. The man behind me offered to give me

$2.00 and the lady behind him also offered to pay for me. She was getting off in Calgary and I

knew I could repay her when Lila picked me up so I took it from her.

We arrived in Calgary in bitter cold. I had

asked my mother to send me my winter

coat but as it didn’t arrive before I left

Samoa I had had a coat made in Fiji. They

used the heaviest material they had but it

was still a very light-weight coat. Lila was

waiting for me and she was wearing a fur

coat so she traded coats with me. We flew

on to Lethbridge and Dad met us there to

take us home. I was only there a couple of

hours before the wedding. Lila had

bought me a new dress but it just hung on

me because I had lost so much weight.

My mother was most upset to see me so

thin, but it was good to be home. That

whole winter I shivered with cold. My

blood had grown so thin in Samoa that I

wondered if I would ever be warm again.

Lawrence and Caroline’s Wedding Picture

Home Again

After I returned home from my mission I decided to stay in the Cardston area. I was asked

to report my mission in Stake Conference. There were several returned missionaries and we

were each given three minutes. I started talking and before I knew it a red light came on

telling me my three minutes was up. I got so flustered the I just abruptly ended and sat

down. I also reported my mission in Calgary. I was worried about what I could possibly

say about my mission when I felt I had done so little. I didn’t think teaching school was

much of a mission. However, I reported anyway and did the best I could. Later I had

someone tell me that my talk had been instrumental in bringing someone into the church. A

woman in the ward in Calgary was married to a non-member. The day of my report she

convinced him to come to church with her because she knew there was a missionary

reporting. As he listened to me speak he saw a halo of light around my head. He asked his

wife if she could see the light around me. His wife then said “Doesn’t that tell you

something? Are you listening?” It made me feel like something I did had helped

somebody.

I found a small apartment in Cardston on main

street above the Trading Company store and

took a job at Cheeseman’s Beauty Parlor. I

lived there for a while until my parents and Lila

moved into Cardston and then I moved into a

basement suite with them.

There was a group of South-Seas missionaries

that got together on fairly regular basis. At one

of these get-togethers I met Grant Webster but,

as he had his sister Ardith with him, I thought he

was married. He thought I was dating Reed

Fawns so it was a while before we found that we

were both unattached.

Courtship and Marriage

My husband likes to joke that I told him to “get off the fence and on the ball” before I really even knew him. I was involved with planning a dance with the South Seas Missionary group and I was assigned to call Grant and make sure he came. When I reached him he told me that he had a contract to do fencing that stretched from Mountain View up to Waterton Park. That is when I told him that perhaps he ought to take a break and “get off the fence and on the ball.”

At Christmas I went to the Christmas dance and we danced together several times. I thought maybe he would ask to take me home but he didn’t. While I was walking home that night he came by with Dick Low and when they saw me walking they stopped and picked me up. Grant had thought I had come with someone else and that is why he hadn’t offered to see me home. He asked if I would go with him to a dance in Glenwood that week.

We quickly found that we enjoyed each other’s company. I went out a couple of times to his place and then he took me to the New Year’s Dance in Raymond. We went in Dick Low’s car and after the dance we sat in the car and talked for hours. Grant suggested that we both fast and pray about marriage. I agreed and we both fasted and prayed. As we both received a positive answer we got engaged.

When Grant told his parents, his father said that the only way I could marry his son was if I got down on my knees and begged for his hand. So, just to please him, I got down on my knees and asked if he please would allow me to marry his son.

Wm. Grant Webster

Grant’s FamilyLemaun, Ardith, Grant

May Davidson Webster & William Webster

Calving season started in April so we decided it would be best to get married before then. We set our wedding day for February 27th. When the ring came it was too large and we had to send it back.

About a week before the wedding I was attending the temple when Sister Hattie Jensen , a very dear, kind woman who was serving as the temple matron, said to me, “Come on, Lois. I’m going to show you the Bride’s Room.” I think she thought I was never going to get married and she didn’t want me to miss seeing it. I told her, “That would be lovely, but can you wait a few days until the wedding?” She was so excited to hear I was getting married.

Because our courtship was a bit of a whirlwind very few people even knew we were engaged. We had fun surprising people. In those days a missionary farewell was a big party, usually with a fund raiser and dance. Shortly after we got engaged my brother Golden had his missionary farewell. Grant and I only had eyes for each other. At one point Georgia Olsen asked my sister Nada, “Who is that guy that Lois is hanging onto?’ Nada replied, “He’s Grant Webster, and I think she has a right to hang onto him – they’re getting married next month!”

My sister Lila bought my wedding dress in Calgary and brought it down as a gift. It was too large for me so we had Sister Sherwood alter it for me. She took it in as much as she could and told me not to lose a single pound because she couldn’t take it in any more. The Sherwood’s also held a bridal shower for me.

Our Wedding

Our wedding took place in the Cardston temple. We were married on February 27th, 1951. The ceremony was held in the evening so Grant’s father did not have to miss school. We attended the chapel meeting at 7:00 pm. Grant’s brother Lemaun had arrived home, very unexpectly, from the mission field the night before our wedding and he was called on to speak. Beth, Edna & Joyce Cahoon sang “The Temple by the River”. From there we went up to the sealing room where President Lloyd Cahoon performed the ceremony. Our fathers were both witnesses. They both spoke as well as my uncle, Matthew Leavitt and Grant’s uncle, George Allison.

Following the wedding we drove to our new little home on the ranch in Mountain View. The following day we traveled to Lethbridge and spent one night at the El Rancho hotel before returning for our reception the following day.

Our Wedding Party Dick Low, Lemaun Webster, Grant, Myself, Lola Sherwood, Ardith

Webster

Our wedding reception was held on March 1st at the school hall in Leavitt. We had a lovely supper and program followed by a dance. Many of our friends and family came to wish us well.

The only sad part of the reception happened during the dance. I had borrowed my sister-in-law Caroline’s veil to wear and while dancing with my Uncle Cordon he stepped on it and tore it.

Marriage & Family

During our engagement Grant and his dad had built what we now call our “Honeymoon

Shack”. It was a little, two-room house that was about 10’ x 24’. They built it on skids

so we could move it when we wanted to build a more permanent home. Grant had bought

his Aunt Fanny’s old barn and they used the lumber from that to build the house. We

were quite pleased with how we had it fixed up. The main room held a wood stove, table

and chairs, a small cupboard and a couch and chair. We also had a bedroom with a bed,

dresser and a small closet. We wallpapered and had linoleum on the floor.

Because we were not planning to live there very long, and because we thought Spring

would soon arrive, the house was not insulated. We tell our children that we had our love

to keep us warm. But, despite being head over heels in love, it was a very cold winter.

Grant cut willows for our little wooden stove but the fire would not last through the night.

We both ended up with chill blains. We were very glad when spring arrived.

We started building a new home during the summer. We built the frame

for a 24’x 36’ home, but we only finished the first part of it. It was

January before we were able to plaster the room that is now the kitchen.

We had to move the wood stove into the new house and keep it burning

so the new plaster wouldn’t freeze. Of course that meant that we had no

heat in the little house so we moved in as well. By that point I was only

about a month away from having our first baby. With the fire roaring and

the moisture from the plaster it was like a sauna! I finally took a blanket

and slept on the floor where it wasn’t quite so hot and humid.

Our first baby arrived on our first anniversary.

Our neighbor, Ilo Tolley, had left his truck parked

in our yard and told us to go ahead and use it if we

needed to. We took the truck down to Grant’s

parents home and then borrowed their car to go

into Cardston. In those days they did not let your

husband anywhere close to you. They didn’t even

have a waiting room for them. Mary was born just

before 5:00 pm. We named her Mary May after

both her grandmothers. They kept you in bed in

the hospital for so long (usually a week or more)

that by the time a new mother went home she was

about as weak as a kitten.

Our dear little Mary was, of course our pride and

joy. She was the first grandchild on the Webster

side of the family and so was much adored.

In July of that year I started feeling very ill. I ended up spending ten days in the hospital because

I couldn’t keep anything down. Eventually we discovered the reason for my illness…I was

morning sick. I’m not quite sure why they call it morning sickness because it was certainly not

restricted to the morning. Louise was born on March 20, 1952 in the middle of a huge blizzard.

It was difficult to get into the hospital because of the snow. Grant had to drive with the door

open part of the way because he couldn’t see where he was going. We were delighted to have

another little daughter and called her Ardith Louise after Grant’s sister Ardith. Mary was pleased

with her little sister. Even though she was only just past a year old she was able to say “baby”.

When Louise was almost a year old and Mary had just

turned 2, I was called to be the Primary President. Being

the Primary President back then was quite different than

it is now. Primary was held on a weekday and of course I

didn’t drive so I had to have Arlene West stop to pick me

up or sometimes Bea Tolley would drive me. Mary could

walk so we would go out to the end of the road and wait

for our ride. One time while we were waiting a truck

came around the corner just as a deer ran across the road.

The truck hit the deer and caused quite an accident right

there in front of us.

The primary had several events other than our weekly meetings. The 9 to 11 year old girls

used to be called “Home Builders” and we put on a full banquet to celebrate their

achievements. We served roast chicken, dressing, potatoes, gravy, salad, carrots, rolls, tomato

cocktail as well as ice cream and cookies. The Home Builder girls were all presented with

corsages. The Stake officers attended and commented that it was very lovely and far above

their expectations.

We also held a Primary conference. We had some postponements because of weather and

finally decided to hold it on a Friday afternoon before the children went home from school.

The side roads had been blocked with snow for three weeks with only the school vans getting

through occasionally. Friday morning dawned bright but with heavy wind clouds over the

mountains. We watched them anxiously all day until it was time to go. Just as the children

came from school the wind started to sift the soft snow. As I started on the stage to announce

the opening prayer I was called by the van driver and asked to send all the Caldwell children

out as he was going to take them home before the wind blocked the road. This would have

taken about 15 children away from our conference and would really have spoiled it. Sister

Iretta Thompson was in the foyer and asked him if the principal had given him permission to

take the children. So while he went to get permission we started our conference. It went

beautifully and all the leadership commented that it was one of the best conferences they had

ever attended. The bus driver didn’t come back to get the children until we were just

finishing our conference.

I had to be released from my position in March 1955 as my health was not good and I was

expecting another baby.

Our third daughter Susan Lois arrived on June 22, 1955. Grant had been down

at the new church helping to lay linoleum but by mid morning I sent word that it

was time to go to the hospital. Susan arrived in the late afternoon. She had

beautiful blond hair and blue eyes. We named her after me.

Right after Louise was born, Grant’s brother Lemaun and his wife Inez moved

in with us. We were only using the south side of house and had only one

bedroom and the kitchen. We slept in the bedroom with our two little girls and

they slept on the fold out couch in the kitchen for the first month or so. After

that we they moved into the basement. They didn’t have any cooking facilities

so they ate with us. I was very busy as I had my little ones and did all the

cooking and cleaning. Eventually Grant helped insulate our first little home and

they moved into that where they lived for several years.

For two years previous to this we had been engaged in the chicken business.

But we got a disease in our chickens which lost for us our business and our

shirts as well. For several years we had been talking about Grant going back to

school so with the demise of our chicken business he decided it was time to go.

In September 1955 Grant left for Calgary to attend University. I stayed in

Mountain View with our three little girls. It made for a very hard and long

winter for all of us.

Now looking back we see the blessings and are very grateful we made the

sacrifice that we did, but back then it was the longest winter of my life. Our

little home did not have any running water. We had to get our water from the

spring at Fenton Webster. We had some large buckets that we put in the back

of an old run down truck that we had and hauled the water back to the house.

While Grant was away Lemaun was supposed to get the water for me. One time

I ran completely out. I could melt snow to use in the house but I couldn’t give

my little girls snow water to drink. I’m not sure where Lemaun was or why he

hadn’t got water but I was desperate so I decided to get it myself. I didn’t really

know how to drive so it is a miracle that I was able to drive that old truck over

to the spring and fill up the buckets so we would have water. We also had to

use the outhouse instead of having a bathroom.

The winter was bitterly cold and we mostly used the wood stove to stay warm.

We found it would not stay warm through the night so we had a little propane

heater that had a hose that ran through the floor into the basement where the tank

was. One night when it was nearly 40 below we ran out of propane. I bundled

the girls into their snowsuits and put them all in bed with me. We put every

blanket in the house on top of us and shivered our way through the night. The

next day the elders came and filled up the propane tank.

Grant came home as often as he could. For the first three months he was able to

catch rides with Bud Sloan who was doing an apprenticeship program in

Calgary. After that he would hitchhike to come down to see us. We were

always so glad to see him. It was a hard winter for him as well to be away from

his little family. Despite the trials, it was the best decision we ever made.

Starting that next fall Grant was able to teach school, a job he loved and was

good at, and a job that provided for our family.

Our first son, William Keith, was born on

January 3, 1957. We named him William after

his father and grandfather and great-grandfather

but called him Keith to avoid confusion. We

had thought the baby would arrive at Christmas

time but he waited another week or so. He was

a big boy! He weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz. and I had a

rather difficult labour to get him here. We were

thrilled to have a new baby and the girls were

delighted to have a baby brother. When they

were told they jumped up and down on the seat

of the truck and shouted, “We have a baby

brother, we have baby brother.”

Keith was the only one of our children that I was able to nurse. With all the other children I

didn’t have enough milk for them. Doctor’s had some funny ideas back then because they told

me to quit nursing Mary and give her cows milk mixed with water. It is no wonder she didn’t

gain weight very quickly! But with Keith I ended up finding a solution quite by accident.

When he was only tiny I had some home made root beer and the yeast in it must have triggered

something because I suddenly had lots of milk. So I nursed him and when I started having

problems with milk supply I made a batch of homemade root beer.

Keith wasn’t very old before I discovered that it was quite different to raise a little boy. He

was a very busy child and was constantly into everything. Grant used to say he could tell by

how I looked at the end of the day how Keith had behaved. He would often come into house at

the end of the school day, look at me and then say, “What has Keith done now?” He was a

very energetic little boy!

Around this time we decided we would try our hands at raising sheep. We started off by

getting a bunch of lambs from Melvin Pilling. We bottle fed them so that was a whole lot of

work. Of course they grew and we soon had our own little herd of sheep. Raising sheep was a

rather hectic undertaking especially around lambing time. We always tried to arrange lambing

so it would fall during Easter when Grant had a break from school but for some reason or

another it never seemed to work that way. It seemed that they either came too soon or too late

which meant I was usually the one doing the lambing. They also seemed to come during the

worst of the winter blizzards. The lambs were cute little things but I was quite glad when we

decided after ten years of toil that we were not cut out to raise sheep!

When I got married I said I was going to have a piano before I got a fridge! It was very important to

both Grant and I that our children have music in their lives. When our oldest daughter Mary was six

we discovered that both she and Louise had a gift for music. Grant’s brother Lemaun lived next door

to us and taught piano so we started the girls taking lessons. At first they used a cardboard strip with

the notes on it to practice on but soon we got an old piano. We soon found that Susan was equally

gifted so we her taking piano lessons at the age of four.

I always loved music and wanted to play the piano but when I was growing up there had not been

money for a piano let alone lessons. We sang songs at school and one of our teachers taught us to

notes in the treble clef. As I got older I sang in the church choir. When I was in Calgary I started

taking singing lessons but it was hard because I didn’t have a piano to practice with.

On November 9, 1959 a second son joined our family. It was a long a difficult labour

as somehow the baby ended up lodging on a nerve where he sat for many long hours.

The pain in the nerve was so severe I could hardly even feel the contractions. I was

very glad when Barry Grant finally put in an appearance. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and

we were so delighted to have another son. Barry made up for all the misery he put

me through during labour by being a sweet, mild little fellow as a baby.

Barry’s favourite toy was a little hammer that he called his “moo-moo”. It

went everywhere with him. When he went to bed he hung it on the end of the

crib.

We didn’t have an indoor bathroom for many years and so the

outhouse was very much a part of life for the children as they

were growing up. One Sunday afternoon we had come home

from church and the girls were helping me make dinner. Keith

decided he needed to go to the outhouse. After he had gone in we

saw a skunk making its way across the yard toward the outhouse.

There was a plank missing on the bottom on one side and the

skunk went right up to that hole. I sent Mary out to retrieve Keith

but by then the skunk had moved around to the back of the

outhouse. We Keith was asked if he saw the skunk he said, “Oh

yes, I just kicked it in the nose.” We were all surprised he didn’t

get sprayed.

One year in late August we had gone out to look at our wheat field. The growth had been

amazing and the wheat stood higher than my head. The very next day we had a terrible hail

storm. It started in the North and blew against the house with terrible force. We all moved

into the kitchen but then the wind changed directions and came at us from the South. The

force of the wind and hale broke the kitchen window sending glass flying everywhere. The

children and I were terrified. I didn’t know what to do and was almost hysterical. It is the

only time in our married life that Grant ever raised his voice. He shouted over the sound of

the wind, “Lois, for the sake of the children, pull yourself together!” I was able to gain

control and we have joked between ourselves that the only time it was okay to yell at

someone is if the house was on fire or during a hail storm.

Music was a big part of our home. When the

girls were still quite young we discovered that

Louise and Susan both had perfect pitch.

Grant’s brother Lemaun was teaching them

piano and he convinced us that we really should

have a grand piano for them to play on. In

reality I think most of the reason was that he

wanted to buy a Steinway grand and needed us

to buy his piano so he could get a new one.

Whatever the real reason was we ended up

buying the baby grand piano. It was put to good

use with all of our children taking lessons at

some point in their lives.

.

We also decided to start the girls with dancing lessons. They enjoyed dancing together and I

ended up making numerous costumes to fit their various dances.

After Barry was born we decided that we had

completed our family. I had always wanted a

large family but with getting married later,

difficult pregnancies, and my labour with Barry

we decided that we would be content with five

children. Our daughters had other ideas. The

three girls begged and coaxed and pleaded until

we took the matter to the Lord. We decided that

we should have one more child.

The pregnancy was long and difficult. I had terrible morning sickness. The only relief was

when my doctor would hypnotise me which helped a little. Marilyn Lila was born on

November 24, 1963. She was born on a Sunday afternoon and they had to get Dr. Spackman

off the stand at church to come deliver her. She weighed just six pounds. We named her after

Marilyn Hale, the youngest daughter of my mission president and his wife, and my sister Lila.

Although we had thought that we might even out the boys and girls in the family we were all

delighted to welcome our new baby girl. We had a small crib out beside the piano and she

slept through all the hours of her sister’s piano practice.

On the North side of the house we had a large window

with panes in it. Whenever Grant and I would go

somewhere and leave the children behind they would run

to the window and see who could wave to use from the

highest pane. Sometimes one of the older girls would lift

Marilyn up so that she could “wave the highest”.

We decided in the spring of 1966 that we

would add onto our home to make more room

for our family. We poured footings and added

another 20 x 26 addition to the North side of

the house. It was a challenge to work around

the haying and other farm work.

In August we ripped off the roof of the old part of

the house so that we could put a new roof on.

With help from friends and neighbours we were

able to do most of the rafters and sheeting in 2

days. The problem happened the day after when it

started to rain. It didn’t just sprinkle either! For 2

days it poured. We covered up the grand piano

and our books and food storage but pretty much

everything else was soaked. We spent a few

nights down at Grant’s parents.

After the rain stopped we had quite a mess to clean up. The ceiling tile in our bedroom had been

ruined from the rain. Some of the tile was hanging down and I decided I would just pull it down so I

could clean it up. I stood on the bed and pulled on the tiles. Not only the hanging tiles came down

but most of the tiles in the room. The tiles and all the heavy, wet insulation knocked me off my feet

and I fell with my leg caught between the footboard and the mattress. I had to shout for one of the

girls to go get their father to pull me out from under the heavy, soggy mess.

By the time Marilyn came around Barry was

our only one not at school. Although he was

only four when she was born, he became quite

the little babysitter. I often had to go out to

check on the sheep or do other chores on the

farm and he would keep her entertained and

happy until I came back.

As the time approached for Barry to go to school and leave Marilyn as the only child at

home, my sister Lila became quite concerned about how lonely she was going to be. She

wanted us to buy her a puppy to keep her company. We told her that we really weren’t

interested in getting a dog and that Marilyn would be just fine. What we didn’t tell her at

that point was that we had another plan that would mean Marilyn would not be the only

child left at home. We had learned that there were many children available for adoption

and not enough families to provide homes for them. As we had always wanted a large

family this seemed like the perfect opportunity. We prayed about it and with the

enthusiastic response from our children decided we would go ahead and request that we be

allowed to adopted two children.

Before we got a chance to tell Lila or the rest

of the extended family she took matters into

her own hands and showed up at our house

with a poodle puppy which she presented to

Marilyn. Although we really didn’t want to

have an indoor dog we didn’t have the heart to

tell Marilyn she couldn’t have the dog. As a

result Lucky Tim became part of the family for

the next several years.

I had always wanted to have twins so when the chance to adopt came we asked for twins or, if

twins were not available, babies who were as close as possible to the same age. It only took a

month from our application to adopt before we were approved, however they told us that we

would not be allowed to adopt two babies and “make” twins out of them. We agree to a boy

and a girl that would not be closer than nine months apart. Once we were approved the waiting

began. On January 26th we got a call telling us that they had a six month old boy who was

ready to be part of our family. We were so excited. We arranged to pick him up on Monday,

January 29th.

We left very early on Monday morning. We took

Susan and my sister Lila with us. Our new little son

was beautiful and we were so pleased to have him.

They didn’t give us much information about his life to

that point but we were certain there hadn’t been a lot of

attention given to him. Although he was six months

old he couldn’t sit up, even in a high chair. We are

quite sure that he must have been sat in front of a

television because when the radio came on he looked

around for a picture.

It was not long before he was eagerly responding to all the love and attention from his new

family. We named him Lawrence Dale after my twin brother. In three months time he went

from not being able to sit up to walking. By his first birthday he was running around on the

lawn.

Mr. Gobel, the social worker who did our home study, transferred up to Calgary and we told

him to be sure to make sure we would soon be able to have our little girl. The call came on May

30th to tell us our baby was waiting. She was a beautiful little girl with dark hair and brown

eyes. She was just six weeks old.

The very next day we headed to Calgary to pick up the youngest member of our family. This

time Mary, Louise and Keith came with us. I often said that my last two children were the

easiest labours I ever had. I have always felt that they were meant to come to our home. We

named our new little angel Karen Irene after my sister Irene.

Our house was very busy with two babies and six other children. The older girls were a great

help. We soon found a few challenges with Karen’s health. She couldn’t keep anything down.

We tried several types of formula and milk but she didn’t tolerate them and everything came back

up … with great force. Through trial and error we finally found that she could tolerate skim milk

so we decided to use a separator so that we had milk for her. All of us soon learned to drink

separated milk.

We also found that whenever we laid her down on her one side she would wake up crying. She

did this even when she was sound asleep before we laid her down. I was quite concerned and

took her to the doctor in Cardston. He looked at her and said, “Oh, Mrs. Webster, she’s a

beautiful baby. Just don’t worry about her.” I tried to explain that she was my eighth baby and I

knew when there was something to worry about but he didn’t pay any attention. After trying

another doctor with the same kind of response, we turned to the social workers for help. We

asked them to send us a letter telling us that we needed to take our baby to see a specialist.

We soon had an appointment to see a specialist in Lethbridge who examined Karen and took x-

rays. He told us that she had congenital hip and would need to be put into traction in the hospital

and then have a “frog” cast that would correct the problem. They had an opening that day so he

had us leave her there at the hospital. They told us that we shouldn’t come to see her as it would

only make it harder for her and that we could come get her in about two weeks.

Leaving my baby at the hospital was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It just about

broke my heart. The whole family was devastated.

We found that people didn’t always understand that our youngest children we just as much a part

of us as our older children. One lady in Mountain View, when she found out that Karen had

congenital hip asked me why I didn’t just send her back and get a different baby. I was so angry

I just about hit her. Karen was my child and, despite the challenges, she was the baby I wanted.

As you can see in this picture the cast covered most

of Karen’s lower body. It was made of plaster

which was rather like having my baby cased in

cement. She was very heavy and in a position that

was very difficult to hold or cuddle.

Lawrence adored his little sister. For some reason

he called her “Dee”. When she had to go into the

hospital to have her cast changed he would stand by

her crib and call, “Dee, Dee, Dee.”

Because she was so heavy with her cast on Grant

made a rolling table so that I could wheel Karen

into whatever room I happened to be working in.

We called it the “roll around” . It had shelves

underneath to store diapers and clothes. She was

the sweetest, most patient baby you could even

imagine.

The cast had to be changed every two months or so

which meant a trip back to the hospital. While the

cast dried they would leave her with nothing on so

she always came home with a nasty cold.

After about 8 months of being in a cast they

finally removed it and put her in shoes attached

to a brace. Before long she was scooting

around the floor. It was amazing how quickly

she could move even with her feet attached to

the brace.

January 24, 1970 was a wonderful day. The final adoption papers had come

through and we were able to go to the temple and have Lawrence and Karen sealed

to us. We had been told that we couldn’t bring Barry and Marilyn because they

were too young. When we arrived we found out that we could have brought them.

We were disappointed they missed such a special event. My Uncle Matthew

Leavitt sealed Lawrence and Karen to us, making us a family forever.