Sopapilla Cheesecake
By Jennifer Ward
2 cans refrigerated Crescent rolls
1 ½ c. sugar
1 stick butter, melted
½ c. granulated sugar
2 8oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1 ½ tsp. Vanilla
1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Open one can crescent rolls and lay triangle pieces across bottom of pan to form a crust. Press triangle pieces together. Beat cream cheese until fluffy, add 1 ½ c. sugar and vanilla. Spread over crescent rolls. Unroll 2nd can of rolls over cream cheese mixture, pour butter over top. Mix cinnamon with ½ c. sugar and sprinkle over butter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool then chill in refrigerator.
Serves 12
OTHERS...because that's who this newsletter is about
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
OTHERS September 2008
=================NEWSLETTERS================
Do not.
Greetings from MERCED.
We have been very busy as school is starting for many of us. CHRIS is in his final year (thank goodness) of his Masters program at UC Merced, and will graduate this May. He is taking a light load so he can focus on his thesis, which has something to do with groundwater moving into the Merced River, and chemistry. Other than that it all comes out as “blah blah blah…”.Chris assures us that it should be able to bring about world peace. Chris has enjoyed walking the town for Prop 8 on the weekends, and unlike many other people in our ward has not been yelled at once.
EMILY is busy as ever getting the boys ready for school, working out, keeping the house, tutoring math in the evening, and doing her calling as first counselor in Young Womens. Emily has joined a “boot camp” class at the gym that works her over three times a week. Make sure you buy your tickets to her “gun show”; it is impressive.
JACOB has started kindergarten and loves it. Jacob is a standout student and going to be the first kid to earn a reward by knowing his letters, counting and behaving kindly to others. Thanks to Emily, Jacob will be able to pass off his kindergarten requirements in about a month and will begin his 1st grade curriculum. Jacob has also been working on his bike riding in the afternoon, and can’t wait to ride to school with daddy.
JACKSON is as cute/bruised as ever. He has a new found hobby; potty training. Jackson is well on his way to becoming an official “big boy”. We are proud to announce that Jackson has made it through all of summer vacation free of any major accidents or trips to the hospital.
Motschiedler Madness
The move into our new house wasn't so bad. We had my brother and a few friends and it took about 3 hours. We only managed to ding one place, so that wasn't so bad. These week was also our Back to School Night at the school. We decided to hold it on 2 different nights because we have a lot of people this year, which meant working til 8:30 two nights in a row. So between unpacking and B2SN, I was pretty tired come Friday. This weekend we bought and planted some stuff for the yard. Check out our blog for pictures of that fun event and of our new house: http://web.me.com/kenmott/Site/Welcome/Welcome.html
WADDELL'S
LUCAS is the man of many tricks. He's trying to whistle, can throw kisses, play peek-a-boo and loves to wave at oncoming strangers in the store. He's still not walking, but perhaps that's a good thing now that I recognize what exactly he could be getting into if he were.
ERIC is busy busy in Kuwait. There was a humorous incident on their base with a suspicious box locked inside a bathroom stall which they had to disarm a few weeks ago... X-raying it was a challenge from most angles, so they just disrupted it's circuits. Turns out it was two oscillating fans in a giant cardboard box. He was called all day from Generals on the base wondering why he blew up the bathrooms stall.
CARALEE got a day off on Labor Day! YEAH! Marcy was kind enough to babysit while she, Timmy and Emily Butler went to Timmy's race in San Francisco for the day. They enjoyed the weather, the race, the food and the shopping all in 12 hours. It's nice to get out! She is learning to sew from patterns lately, making baby items for her pregnant friends.
WARD WIDE WEB
JEREMY began his new job at Computech and is surviving the first month quite well. He is getting to know the staff and enjoys spending more time with his dad, who is the librarian at his school, every day. He alternates between driving his "new principal truck" and his eco-friendly motorcycle to school each day. Did your principal ride a motorcycle to school?
JENNIFER has been busy reading some good books this month. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleed Hosseni was splendid reading. She also managed to read 3 of the 4 Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer. Did the house stay clean, you ask? Why of course, but the kids may have been a little stinky...
TREVOR is the big 4th grader on campus. He loves school! This year has started off better than any other year for our Trevor. He has a great teacher, a solid group of friends and he chose to do Cross Country for his extra-curricular activity. He has the best attitude for homework and reading - he even picked up a book just for fun!
LOGAN has Mrs. Logan for his 2nd grade teacher. Homework and reading time are not as easy as Trevor's, but he does have a good attitude about it all. The little incentive program we came up with is working wonders! He is all signed up for soccer and has all his gear. Practice starts next week.
LIZZIE is the lone cousin around our compound. All the cousins her age have started school and she no longer has a built in playmate every second of the day. She and Mommy have been playing school, dress up, games, reading, watching Super Why! and doing chores together all day long.
JACKSON (A.K.A bruiser) got a couple of good ones this week. He got slammed in the face with a door and fell off the golf cart smack onto his forehead - all within a day of the other. He looked like "camouflage kid" the way the bruises turned black, purple and green. He also had his first visit to the dentist. He was not a happy camper until the dentist declared, "All Done!" He was quite proud of his super clean teeth.
A thought from John M....
I thought that some of you may not know why we call our newsletter OTHERS. This will show you something about the humor that was always present in the family.
I thought that some of you may not know why we call our newsletter OTHERS. This will show you something about the humor that was always present in the family.
When the original Gang of Eight (the Boggs children of Ralph and Arba) met to chose the name of the news letter, many ideas were suggested. We finally pared down the list of suggestions to a small list of finalist names and then, just in case we might have missed a suggestion, we added a catagory of Other, suggesting that it wasn't too late for additional ideas.
When the votes were tallied, the overwhelming winner was.... you guessed it, Other. Suzanne then remembers it was her mother who suggested that we add '....Because that's who this newsletter is about.' to the title.
As I look back at some of the early editions, I see that I (John) designed the original logo letters (written in Uncial font) and then later on, Suzanne redid the logo in her caligraphy. And to this day, she still has to get in the last word.
Do not. Do to. Do not. Do to.
Greetings from MERCED.
We have been very busy as school is starting for many of us. CHRIS is in his final year (thank goodness) of his Masters program at UC Merced, and will graduate this May. He is taking a light load so he can focus on his thesis, which has something to do with groundwater moving into the Merced River, and chemistry. Other than that it all comes out as “blah blah blah…”.Chris assures us that it should be able to bring about world peace. Chris has enjoyed walking the town for Prop 8 on the weekends, and unlike many other people in our ward has not been yelled at once.
EMILY is busy as ever getting the boys ready for school, working out, keeping the house, tutoring math in the evening, and doing her calling as first counselor in Young Womens. Emily has joined a “boot camp” class at the gym that works her over three times a week. Make sure you buy your tickets to her “gun show”; it is impressive.
JACOB has started kindergarten and loves it. Jacob is a standout student and going to be the first kid to earn a reward by knowing his letters, counting and behaving kindly to others. Thanks to Emily, Jacob will be able to pass off his kindergarten requirements in about a month and will begin his 1st grade curriculum. Jacob has also been working on his bike riding in the afternoon, and can’t wait to ride to school with daddy.
JACKSON is as cute/bruised as ever. He has a new found hobby; potty training. Jackson is well on his way to becoming an official “big boy”. We are proud to announce that Jackson has made it through all of summer vacation free of any major accidents or trips to the hospital.
Motschiedler Madness
WADDELL'S
LUCAS is the man of many tricks. He's trying to whistle, can throw kisses, play peek-a-boo and loves to wave at oncoming strangers in the store. He's still not walking, but perhaps that's a good thing now that I recognize what exactly he could be getting into if he were.
ERIC is busy busy in Kuwait. There was a humorous incident on their base with a suspicious box locked inside a bathroom stall which they had to disarm a few weeks ago... X-raying it was a challenge from most angles, so they just disrupted it's circuits. Turns out it was two oscillating fans in a giant cardboard box. He was called all day from Generals on the base wondering why he blew up the bathrooms stall.
CARALEE got a day off on Labor Day! YEAH! Marcy was kind enough to babysit while she, Timmy and Emily Butler went to Timmy's race in San Francisco for the day. They enjoyed the weather, the race, the food and the shopping all in 12 hours. It's nice to get out! She is learning to sew from patterns lately, making baby items for her pregnant friends.
WARD WIDE WEB
JEREMY began his new job at Computech and is surviving the first month quite well. He is getting to know the staff and enjoys spending more time with his dad, who is the librarian at his school, every day. He alternates between driving his "new principal truck" and his eco-friendly motorcycle to school each day. Did your principal ride a motorcycle to school?
JENNIFER has been busy reading some good books this month. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleed Hosseni was splendid reading. She also managed to read 3 of the 4 Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer. Did the house stay clean, you ask? Why of course, but the kids may have been a little stinky...
TREVOR is the big 4th grader on campus. He loves school! This year has started off better than any other year for our Trevor. He has a great teacher, a solid group of friends and he chose to do Cross Country for his extra-curricular activity. He has the best attitude for homework and reading - he even picked up a book just for fun!
LOGAN has Mrs. Logan for his 2nd grade teacher. Homework and reading time are not as easy as Trevor's, but he does have a good attitude about it all. The little incentive program we came up with is working wonders! He is all signed up for soccer and has all his gear. Practice starts next week.
LIZZIE is the lone cousin around our compound. All the cousins her age have started school and she no longer has a built in playmate every second of the day. She and Mommy have been playing school, dress up, games, reading, watching Super Why! and doing chores together all day long.
JACKSON (A.K.A bruiser) got a couple of good ones this week. He got slammed in the face with a door and fell off the golf cart smack onto his forehead - all within a day of the other. He looked like "camouflage kid" the way the bruises turned black, purple and green. He also had his first visit to the dentist. He was not a happy camper until the dentist declared, "All Done!" He was quite proud of his super clean teeth.
DAILY DURAN:
THOMAS has been very busy with his new calling and working on getting a new business started. Our current business will be feeding into the new one, which will be along the same lines as what he used to do with air conditioners and duct systems. He just got his H-vac contractor’s license which was the first and biggest hurdle. He had been studying hard and passed on the first try! This is a difficult test that many guys have trouble passing after taking months of classes. Thomas is also getting ready to start his 2 masters programs at Fresno State . Last Sunday the Lundines (Amy's Sister and Family) stopped by for a quick visit and Thomas made a really yummy Mediterranean chicken lunch for them.
The last couple of weeks I have been preparing for and starting my first week of school as a Kindergarten teacher. I decided to take the job in San Joaquin . It’s a 45 minute commute but it has been fun so far, and interesting. I have a class FULL of ELL (English language learners) students and quite a few of my students don’t speak any English at all. It’s a good thing Kindergarteners are fast learners. The school is the only elementary in a very small town surrounded by fields. 100% of the school is on free lunch. Most of the poorest schools I've seen in Fresno have high percentages of free OR reduced lunch but this is the first I have seen where the entire school is on the FREE lunch program (not even reduced). Very different but they are good kids. I had a blast at the Whiting Reunion last month! It was fun to have all sorts of activities and sporting events to choose from all day long. My favorite were the dances, going out to the cave, seeing all the kids rolll down the hill in the pipe and swinging on the rope swing, and just being with everyone.
Amy
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
September 2008 Recipe-of-the-month
Monkey Bread
from Caralee
10-12 servings
Preheat oven 325ยบ
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbs Cinnamon Divided
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 12oz tubes refrigerated biscuits but into quarters
Instructions:
Melt Butter, brown sugar and one Tbs cinnamon in a small pan. Heat until bubbly. Set aside. Blend white sugar and remaining cinnamon in small bowl. Roll biscuits in white sugar mixture; then arrange in a greased bundt pan. Pour brown sugar mixture over top of biscuits. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for several minutes to set before turning bread out. Serve warm.
**Add thinly sliced Granny Smith apples for added zip!
from Caralee
10-12 servings
Preheat oven 325ยบ
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbs Cinnamon Divided
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 12oz tubes refrigerated biscuits but into quarters
Instructions:
Melt Butter, brown sugar and one Tbs cinnamon in a small pan. Heat until bubbly. Set aside. Blend white sugar and remaining cinnamon in small bowl. Roll biscuits in white sugar mixture; then arrange in a greased bundt pan. Pour brown sugar mixture over top of biscuits. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for several minutes to set before turning bread out. Serve warm.
**Add thinly sliced Granny Smith apples for added zip!
Here is a recipe that we should have used last month at Pismo:
Raccoon Kabobs
(Also known as "Ringtail Surprise")
from Jonathan
Two pounds, reasonably fresh raccoon, cut into one-inch cubes; one-half cup homemade French dressing; two green peppers, cut into squares; one large onion, cut into one-inch pieces; one-third pound mushroom caps.
Place raccoon cubes in a ceramic bowl and pour dressing over cubes. Let marinate two or more hours. Remove cubes, reserving marinade. Alternate raccoon cubes with pepper squares, onion pieces and mushroom caps on skewers. Brush all with reserved marinade and broil over hot coals until done to desired degree. Turn frequently and baste with marinade as needed.
Serves six.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
OTHERS August 2008
'*:^*:'*^:'**:^'*:^*:'*^:'*SPOTLIGHT*:^'*:^*:'*^:'**:^'*:^*:'*^
I thought it would be fun to spotlight one family member each month in our newsletter. Hopefully this spotlight section will help us know a little more about each other than we previously knew. Say hello to ... Suzanne!
What is your favorite color? Red
What are your hobbies these days? Painting, art, decorating, family time
Do you have a childhood memory you'd like to share? I remember Sunday nights spreading a blanket out on the front lawn of our house and laying there with the family, and the extra friends that were always over eating popcorn, homemade icecream and looking at the stars, and the trees silhouetted, and just talking and hanging out. sigh. It was nice.
GREAT SCOTT! The Utah Scotts
Toni got a promotion at work this month, and its going wonderfully! She's just passed her year marker at WesTech, and loves what she's doing.
Ben is enjoying being a stay-at-home dad during the days, and a plant-man by night. Our little apartment is sure shaping up cute, and we've decided to stay another year, so we can garden again next year.
Rebekah is working on potty training, after a little incident with a loaded diaper... :) She's doing very well, and shows a lot of interest, so here's hoping! She's starting to talk a lot, and she's finally gaining a little bit of chub, though her height is still over the 90th percentile.
We're surviving the crazy Utah heat with no A/C, and I for one can't wait for Fall. Hope everyone is having a happy and safe summer!
Love-Ben, Toni and Rebekah.
I think that's about it. Oh, we finished our 1st year of summer camp at the school, it was a hit. I'm glad it's over. Okay, now I think that's it. See ya next month from our new Casa De Montoya.
Ciao!
WADDELLS
LUCAS is now 1 year old. We celebrated his Birthday with a family dinner at my Dad's house. He loved, yes loved his presents! We also celebrated with a fish pinata which he didn't care for really. It was a long Sunday! He's not walking yet, but we all have high hopes for the month of August still. His new favorite word is "wow," which is repeated over and over when he's excited about anything!
CARALEE is finished with her summer class and is ready for a whole 9 units online this fall. Wish her luck, it's hard finding a ton of time for homework with a 1 year old tugging on your leg all day!
ERIC is still sweatin' it out in Kuwait. The temperature has reached 127 degrees already and isn't relenting much. He's super busy, but always finds time to go to the gym to sweat out the stress. His address is:
CPT Eric Waddell
217th OD (EOD)
APO-AE 09366
LA FAMILIA DURAN
We loved being at Pismo and are sad to be back. It was nice to be able to enjoy the ocean with its rejuvenating activities and also to spend time with those in the family that came and went and with those that stayed. It was all very restful except for the rousing birds that wake up at 6:30 AM every morning singing at the top of their lungs, dismissing any dreams of sleeping in.
Louie started working the swing shift last week and seems to be doing okay. He says the calls are different from what he has been seeing in the daytime even though he is working the same beat. Not as many paper crimes. And he was offered the “Golden Handshake” and was asked to retire by next month so the city could save some money by not having to pay his salary, something about a budget crisis and all with the bad economy. So we have been daydreaming of what we could do, like move to Hawaii, move to Montana, move to the beach. Yeah, he can’t retire yet unless he can find another job with good benefits. Anyone know of any?
Mica had her wisdom teeth pulled yesterday and thinks she is dying. (This is why we still need benefits.) I keep trying to give her more Vicodin but she won’t take it. Must take more drugs! Must be out of your head. Her FCYC (Fresno County Youth Choir) performed the day we got home from Pismo. It was an outstanding concert with many funny and entertaining opera and show tune pieces. One of the best concerts we’ve ever been to.
Jordan is geared up and ready to take a few classes at the new Clovis campus up on International and Willow. Even though it is in Clovis it takes about 20 minutes to drive there from our house. He is trying to get into the same classes that Stephanie has so they can drive together and do homework together. He still looks good driving his fancy red car.
WARD WIDE WEB
JEREMY had a quick, but full summer vacation. Shaver Lake for a week, Pismo for a week, scout camp for a week, Knott's Berry farm for a day and now he begins a new job. He's starting this year as Principal at Computech Middle School. (David just missed him by one year!) He's anxious to get started and see what pricipalship is all about.
JENNIFER has been busy cleaning up after all our vacations. The laundry is all-consuming after a week of camping! She has also been collecting ideas for redecorating the downstairs in the house. We have a new chocolate brown sectional coming and it is throwing off our color scheme! It will be a whole new house when she's done with it.
TREVOR and LOGAN have been in kid heaven since summer school ended. Video games all day, swimming in the pool, playing with cousins, camping, camping, and a quick trip down to Knott's Berry Farm and the Kids' Discovery Museum. What more could a kid want?
LIZZIE loves to sing. She sings all the words to all the songs in primary and she's the only one in her Sunbeam class that does! It's fun to hear her come home with new songs she's learned from next door like She'll be com'n round the mountan and Lou Lou Skip to my Lou. Love it!
JACKSON is still as busy as ever. He is always into everything and when he gets tired he gets worse! He, of all the kids, loved the rides at Knott's. He would have gone on everything, but he was just not tall enough.
I thought it would be fun to spotlight one family member each month in our newsletter. Hopefully this spotlight section will help us know a little more about each other than we previously knew. Say hello to ... Suzanne!
What is your favorite color? Red
What are your hobbies these days? Painting, art, decorating, family time
Do you have a childhood memory you'd like to share? I remember Sunday nights spreading a blanket out on the front lawn of our house and laying there with the family, and the extra friends that were always over eating popcorn, homemade icecream and looking at the stars, and the trees silhouetted, and just talking and hanging out. sigh. It was nice.
What is something on your bucket list? (A bucket list is a list of things you want to experience during your lifetime.) I want to paint the picture that I started (and am too afraid to finish because I'm not sure I can actually paint it) of my grandchildren at the beach at Avila.
=================NEWSLETTERS================GREAT SCOTT! The Utah Scotts
Toni got a promotion at work this month, and its going wonderfully! She's just passed her year marker at WesTech, and loves what she's doing.
Ben is enjoying being a stay-at-home dad during the days, and a plant-man by night. Our little apartment is sure shaping up cute, and we've decided to stay another year, so we can garden again next year.
Rebekah is working on potty training, after a little incident with a loaded diaper... :) She's doing very well, and shows a lot of interest, so here's hoping! She's starting to talk a lot, and she's finally gaining a little bit of chub, though her height is still over the 90th percentile.
We're surviving the crazy Utah heat with no A/C, and I for one can't wait for Fall. Hope everyone is having a happy and safe summer!
Love-Ben, Toni and Rebekah.
MOTSCHIEDLER MADNESS
Another month has come and gone. And this month we decided to buy a house. We move in 3 weeks. It's in Harlan Ranch in Clovis; 3 bedroom, 2 bath. It's a beautiful new house with wood floors and lots of windows. We're really excited. We've been shopping for a refrigerator, chandelier, shutters and furniture. Our wish list is growing longer every day.
We had a great 4th of July in Visalia with the Ryan Marshal family, parentals and Kelli's sisters, parents and familias. We begin by watching the kids do a great, wet obstacle course planned out by Ryan and company. We ate yummy bbq and then ended the night watching the neighbors do some crazy illegal fireworks. Who needs to pay big bucks to see a big show, anyway??? Oh yeah, we had our own fireworks too. It was a fun night.
Pismo was great. We did just the right amount of sitting around doing nothing, shopping at the Atascadero Fruit Stand, pizza eating and bike racing watching in SLO (courtesy of Timmy). Ken and I even managed to walk to the beach and watch the sun set. On our way home, we stopped at our favorite b&b for lunch in Paso Robles.
Last night was Ken's mom's 60th birthday party. They held a big shin-dig with lots of food, beverages and music over looking the lake. The band's lead singer was a friend that we hadn't seen in a while. She sings "standard" hits. I learned why they called them Standards. Does anyone else know???? Two of Ken's brothers are in town for her bday. Anthony Augustus Tobias Pizza (Pee-zah) is here from LA and is currently asleep in our guest room (it's about 1pm right now) and David and his 3 year old son Ian are staying with Ken's parents. We're going to have a family dinner tonight and then tomorrow we're meeting some friends at the lake to ride around in a boat and have dinner. It should be fun.I think that's about it. Oh, we finished our 1st year of summer camp at the school, it was a hit. I'm glad it's over. Okay, now I think that's it. See ya next month from our new Casa De Montoya.
Ciao!
WADDELLS
LUCAS is now 1 year old. We celebrated his Birthday with a family dinner at my Dad's house. He loved, yes loved his presents! We also celebrated with a fish pinata which he didn't care for really. It was a long Sunday! He's not walking yet, but we all have high hopes for the month of August still. His new favorite word is "wow," which is repeated over and over when he's excited about anything!
CARALEE is finished with her summer class and is ready for a whole 9 units online this fall. Wish her luck, it's hard finding a ton of time for homework with a 1 year old tugging on your leg all day!
ERIC is still sweatin' it out in Kuwait. The temperature has reached 127 degrees already and isn't relenting much. He's super busy, but always finds time to go to the gym to sweat out the stress. His address is:
CPT Eric Waddell
217th OD (EOD)
APO-AE 09366
LA FAMILIA DURAN
We loved being at Pismo and are sad to be back. It was nice to be able to enjoy the ocean with its rejuvenating activities and also to spend time with those in the family that came and went and with those that stayed. It was all very restful except for the rousing birds that wake up at 6:30 AM every morning singing at the top of their lungs, dismissing any dreams of sleeping in.
Louie started working the swing shift last week and seems to be doing okay. He says the calls are different from what he has been seeing in the daytime even though he is working the same beat. Not as many paper crimes. And he was offered the “Golden Handshake” and was asked to retire by next month so the city could save some money by not having to pay his salary, something about a budget crisis and all with the bad economy. So we have been daydreaming of what we could do, like move to Hawaii, move to Montana, move to the beach. Yeah, he can’t retire yet unless he can find another job with good benefits. Anyone know of any?
Mica had her wisdom teeth pulled yesterday and thinks she is dying. (This is why we still need benefits.) I keep trying to give her more Vicodin but she won’t take it. Must take more drugs! Must be out of your head. Her FCYC (Fresno County Youth Choir) performed the day we got home from Pismo. It was an outstanding concert with many funny and entertaining opera and show tune pieces. One of the best concerts we’ve ever been to.
Jordan is geared up and ready to take a few classes at the new Clovis campus up on International and Willow. Even though it is in Clovis it takes about 20 minutes to drive there from our house. He is trying to get into the same classes that Stephanie has so they can drive together and do homework together. He still looks good driving his fancy red car.
WARD WIDE WEB
JEREMY had a quick, but full summer vacation. Shaver Lake for a week, Pismo for a week, scout camp for a week, Knott's Berry farm for a day and now he begins a new job. He's starting this year as Principal at Computech Middle School. (David just missed him by one year!) He's anxious to get started and see what pricipalship is all about.
JENNIFER has been busy cleaning up after all our vacations. The laundry is all-consuming after a week of camping! She has also been collecting ideas for redecorating the downstairs in the house. We have a new chocolate brown sectional coming and it is throwing off our color scheme! It will be a whole new house when she's done with it.
TREVOR and LOGAN have been in kid heaven since summer school ended. Video games all day, swimming in the pool, playing with cousins, camping, camping, and a quick trip down to Knott's Berry Farm and the Kids' Discovery Museum. What more could a kid want?
LIZZIE loves to sing. She sings all the words to all the songs in primary and she's the only one in her Sunbeam class that does! It's fun to hear her come home with new songs she's learned from next door like She'll be com'n round the mountan and Lou Lou Skip to my Lou. Love it!
JACKSON is still as busy as ever. He is always into everything and when he gets tired he gets worse! He, of all the kids, loved the rides at Knott's. He would have gone on everything, but he was just not tall enough.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
OTHERS July 2008
'*:^*:'*^:'**:^'*:^*:'*^:'*SPOTLIGHT*:^'*:^*:'*^:'**:^'*:^*:'*^
I thought it would be fun to spotlight one family member each month in our newsletter. Hopefully this spotlight section will help us know a little more about each other than we previously knew. Say hello to JONATHAN BOGGS...
What is your favorite color? Blue and Red
What are your hobbies these days? Yard work, bicycling, photography
Do you have a childhood memory you'd like to share? How about an "adulthood" memory: Many years ago, I had a janitorial service and specialized in cleaning small offices. I cleaned one particular office every night. In the bathroom, there was a curved brush on the back of the toilet. I thought it would be a good brush to use to clean the toilet. I used it every night for several weeks and after using it would put it back on the back of the toilet. One day, I was in a store and thought I would see if I could find a brush like that to use. I search the brush section until I finally found it. It was labeled "Coffee Pot Brush". And no, I never told them in the office that I had used their brush.
What is something on your bucket list? (A bucket list is a list of things you want to experience during your lifetime.) I want to purchase a sailboat and go sailing.
=================NEWSLETTERS================
Motschiedler Madness
June was a rush of excitement.
It was the last month of my school's first year. We had 3 nights of graduations. The kids were adorable in their caps and gowns. We finally got our Trolley Train and it was a huge hit! It consists of two life-sized cars, one of which is a convertible for the adults. The train follows a track around our private park over looking the San Joaquin River. It's a lot of fun. Come by for a ride if you're ever in the area.
Friday was our 1st year wedding anniversary. We can't believe how the year flew by. We celebrated by going to Flemmings Steakhouse and reminisced about our week long wedding adventure in Hawaii. We had a great time but our stomachs were full long before we were done eating. We love that place. That was the end of a very busy week so we were tired and made it an early night.
We said our good-byes to Patti that week. Her funeral was very nice and it was great to see so much of our family. It's too bad we all don't get together more often. Patti's old ward was amazing and did a wonderful job providing lots of great food, a nursery for the kids and support. I found out later that one of the girls I work with was in the kitchen and is friends of the Binford/Butler clan.
At the beginning of the month, we went down to L.A. for the weekend to visit Ken's brother. We stayed in the W Hotel which is a pretty cool place. We had a great room with a fabulous view. On Saturday, Ken and I went to the Getty Museum. That place is pretty amazing. We saw lots of beautiful old art and some not so beautiful old art. It was a great day. We met up with Ken's brother and his friends and Ken's parents for dinner. The following morning we all went to a Petanque tournament, played a little Petanque, all had lunch together, and then hit the road. It was great to see Tony and we were sad to leave him.
Ken and I are planning to go to Pismo for the weekend of the 18th through the 20th. Who else is going???????
Until then...ciao!
WARD WIDE WEB
We will be at Pismo from Friday to Wednesday. We just can't resist that Splash Cafe!
JEREMY has BIG news this month - we're talking HUGELY BIG news. His team - the Fresno State Bulldogs - WON the college world series! He went to the parade, he bought the official t-shirt and he made 2 posts on our family blog about this championship game. The line he kept repeating all week was, "This is a once in a lifetime event." And it really was - who knows if the Bulldogs will ever pull this off again.
JENNIFER was happy to visit with so many Boggs' "out-of-towners" at Patti's funeral, wake, bbq/swim party. It was such an emotional day. It was so hard to say goodbye and feel only a bit of what her kids were feeling that day. There was so much love to feel too. You can't help but feel good when you are surrounded by so many good people.
TREVOR enjoyed a trip to San Francisco to see a Giants baseball game. He was stoked to be in the AT&T ballbark for his first professional baseball game.
LOGAN started swim club this month. His coach was a little skeptical when she saw his size, but warmed up to him pretty quick after she saw him in the water that first day.
LIZZIE has been our little fish. She swims all day every day and can't get enough pool time. Her tan lines are beyond good.
JACKSON is a thriving two-year-old boy. He is beyond busy. Here's what he did in one week: popped every key off of Jeremy's work laptop, emptied an entire economy size bottle of maple syrup in the living room and kitchen, and killed off another fish pouring bacon flavored mints in to the tank. He does have his cute moments though, when he likes to wear Lizzie's dress-up shoes and walk around the house sweeping and doing his "housework". It's all priceless, we know.
I thought it would be fun to spotlight one family member each month in our newsletter. Hopefully this spotlight section will help us know a little more about each other than we previously knew. Say hello to JONATHAN BOGGS...
What is your favorite color? Blue and Red
What are your hobbies these days? Yard work, bicycling, photography
Do you have a childhood memory you'd like to share? How about an "adulthood" memory: Many years ago, I had a janitorial service and specialized in cleaning small offices. I cleaned one particular office every night. In the bathroom, there was a curved brush on the back of the toilet. I thought it would be a good brush to use to clean the toilet. I used it every night for several weeks and after using it would put it back on the back of the toilet. One day, I was in a store and thought I would see if I could find a brush like that to use. I search the brush section until I finally found it. It was labeled "Coffee Pot Brush". And no, I never told them in the office that I had used their brush.
What is something on your bucket list? (A bucket list is a list of things you want to experience during your lifetime.) I want to purchase a sailboat and go sailing.
=================NEWSLETTERS================
Motschiedler Madness
June was a rush of excitement.
It was the last month of my school's first year. We had 3 nights of graduations. The kids were adorable in their caps and gowns. We finally got our Trolley Train and it was a huge hit! It consists of two life-sized cars, one of which is a convertible for the adults. The train follows a track around our private park over looking the San Joaquin River. It's a lot of fun. Come by for a ride if you're ever in the area.
Friday was our 1st year wedding anniversary. We can't believe how the year flew by. We celebrated by going to Flemmings Steakhouse and reminisced about our week long wedding adventure in Hawaii. We had a great time but our stomachs were full long before we were done eating. We love that place. That was the end of a very busy week so we were tired and made it an early night.
We said our good-byes to Patti that week. Her funeral was very nice and it was great to see so much of our family. It's too bad we all don't get together more often. Patti's old ward was amazing and did a wonderful job providing lots of great food, a nursery for the kids and support. I found out later that one of the girls I work with was in the kitchen and is friends of the Binford/Butler clan.
At the beginning of the month, we went down to L.A. for the weekend to visit Ken's brother. We stayed in the W Hotel which is a pretty cool place. We had a great room with a fabulous view. On Saturday, Ken and I went to the Getty Museum. That place is pretty amazing. We saw lots of beautiful old art and some not so beautiful old art. It was a great day. We met up with Ken's brother and his friends and Ken's parents for dinner. The following morning we all went to a Petanque tournament, played a little Petanque, all had lunch together, and then hit the road. It was great to see Tony and we were sad to leave him.
Ken and I are planning to go to Pismo for the weekend of the 18th through the 20th. Who else is going???????
Until then...ciao!
WARD WIDE WEB
We will be at Pismo from Friday to Wednesday. We just can't resist that Splash Cafe!
JEREMY has BIG news this month - we're talking HUGELY BIG news. His team - the Fresno State Bulldogs - WON the college world series! He went to the parade, he bought the official t-shirt and he made 2 posts on our family blog about this championship game. The line he kept repeating all week was, "This is a once in a lifetime event." And it really was - who knows if the Bulldogs will ever pull this off again.
JENNIFER was happy to visit with so many Boggs' "out-of-towners" at Patti's funeral, wake, bbq/swim party. It was such an emotional day. It was so hard to say goodbye and feel only a bit of what her kids were feeling that day. There was so much love to feel too. You can't help but feel good when you are surrounded by so many good people.
TREVOR enjoyed a trip to San Francisco to see a Giants baseball game. He was stoked to be in the AT&T ballbark for his first professional baseball game.
LOGAN started swim club this month. His coach was a little skeptical when she saw his size, but warmed up to him pretty quick after she saw him in the water that first day.
LIZZIE has been our little fish. She swims all day every day and can't get enough pool time. Her tan lines are beyond good.
JACKSON is a thriving two-year-old boy. He is beyond busy. Here's what he did in one week: popped every key off of Jeremy's work laptop, emptied an entire economy size bottle of maple syrup in the living room and kitchen, and killed off another fish pouring bacon flavored mints in to the tank. He does have his cute moments though, when he likes to wear Lizzie's dress-up shoes and walk around the house sweeping and doing his "housework". It's all priceless, we know.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Patti was in the Bee!
Click here to view the article at FresnoBee.com.
An advocate of women, schoolchildren
LDS ward leader also was president of elementary PTA.
By Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee
06/25/08 23:28:44
More information
Patti M. Binford
Born: Sept. 10, 1948
Died: June 20
Occupation: Legal Document Assistant, co-owner
Survivors: husband, Tom Binford; children and stepchildren, Marcy Butler, Tim Butler Jr., Matt Butler, Chris Butler, Caralee Waddell, Tom Binford Jr., Rick Binford, Travis Binford, Tambra Pickford, Jared Binford, Andy Binford and Craig Binford; mother, Arba Boggs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patti M. Binford was well-known for her compassion and the ability to translate it into action.
Mrs. Binford, 59, of Fresno had suffered pulmonary fibrosis, and died Friday.
She was active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and had served as president of her ward's relief society, concentrating on the needs of women.
Earlier, she had been a leader among a small group of parents in Fresno Unified School District who challenged administrators and eventually prevailed on them to find more than $13 million to air-condition district schools. She and the ad-hoc group challenged the status quo that had forced tens of thousands of small children and older students routinely to sit in classrooms with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees for hours each day. They returned home literally red-faced on hot days.
Mrs. Binford was born in Lynwood and moved with her family to Fresno, where her father had found a printing job, said her husband, Tom Binford.
She attended Fresno schools, and worked for a telephone company until she graduated from Fresno High School.
She continued at Fresno City College, married and became increasingly involved in her children's schools, serving with the PTA and as president of the Del Mar Elementary School PTA.
That warmed her to schoolchildren's plight inside hot classrooms, Tom Binford said: "When I got here from the Bay Area, I was just blown away. I thought, 'How could anybody in this Valley not have air conditioning?' Administrators had it in their offices."
Mrs. Binford's work with her LDS church deserves at least as much praise, said her husband, mother, Arba Boggs, and close friend, Ellen Thomas.
"Patti was very organized," her mother said. "She was given basic responsibility from our bishop for the care of women in our ward," a geographic and administrative division of the church. "I guess Patti was called to do this."
Mrs. Binford maintained a notebook of all women in her congregation, or ward, and directions to each woman's home, her mother said. She kept track of the ward's "visiting teachers."
"She was born to it," her mother said. "We believe they come with these gifts. She helped a lot of families."
Thomas called Mrs. Binford "a master of organization," a talent she handled "with such dignity and grace."
Mrs. Binford also was an accomplished musician, particularly on piano and organ, teaching music in her ward along with organizational skills and preparedness.
"The compassionate service is something she did so well," Thomas said.
A memorial "graduation service" was held Wednesday in the LDS church on East Alluvial Avenue.
The reporter can be reached at jsteinberg@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6311.
An advocate of women, schoolchildren
LDS ward leader also was president of elementary PTA.
By Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee
06/25/08 23:28:44
More information
Patti M. Binford
Born: Sept. 10, 1948
Died: June 20
Occupation: Legal Document Assistant, co-owner
Survivors: husband, Tom Binford; children and stepchildren, Marcy Butler, Tim Butler Jr., Matt Butler, Chris Butler, Caralee Waddell, Tom Binford Jr., Rick Binford, Travis Binford, Tambra Pickford, Jared Binford, Andy Binford and Craig Binford; mother, Arba Boggs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patti M. Binford was well-known for her compassion and the ability to translate it into action.
Mrs. Binford, 59, of Fresno had suffered pulmonary fibrosis, and died Friday.
She was active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and had served as president of her ward's relief society, concentrating on the needs of women.
Earlier, she had been a leader among a small group of parents in Fresno Unified School District who challenged administrators and eventually prevailed on them to find more than $13 million to air-condition district schools. She and the ad-hoc group challenged the status quo that had forced tens of thousands of small children and older students routinely to sit in classrooms with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees for hours each day. They returned home literally red-faced on hot days.
Mrs. Binford was born in Lynwood and moved with her family to Fresno, where her father had found a printing job, said her husband, Tom Binford.
She attended Fresno schools, and worked for a telephone company until she graduated from Fresno High School.
She continued at Fresno City College, married and became increasingly involved in her children's schools, serving with the PTA and as president of the Del Mar Elementary School PTA.
That warmed her to schoolchildren's plight inside hot classrooms, Tom Binford said: "When I got here from the Bay Area, I was just blown away. I thought, 'How could anybody in this Valley not have air conditioning?' Administrators had it in their offices."
Mrs. Binford's work with her LDS church deserves at least as much praise, said her husband, mother, Arba Boggs, and close friend, Ellen Thomas.
"Patti was very organized," her mother said. "She was given basic responsibility from our bishop for the care of women in our ward," a geographic and administrative division of the church. "I guess Patti was called to do this."
Mrs. Binford maintained a notebook of all women in her congregation, or ward, and directions to each woman's home, her mother said. She kept track of the ward's "visiting teachers."
"She was born to it," her mother said. "We believe they come with these gifts. She helped a lot of families."
Thomas called Mrs. Binford "a master of organization," a talent she handled "with such dignity and grace."
Mrs. Binford also was an accomplished musician, particularly on piano and organ, teaching music in her ward along with organizational skills and preparedness.
"The compassionate service is something she did so well," Thomas said.
A memorial "graduation service" was held Wednesday in the LDS church on East Alluvial Avenue.
The reporter can be reached at jsteinberg@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6311.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Mother, Daughter, Sister, Wife, Aunt, Friend
Patti lived a full life full of love, humor and music. We are all sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful person. Each of our lives has been changed for the better because we knew her. Patti's "Graduation Service" will be Wednesday, June 25th at noon.
If anyone would like to share a Patti story or memory - humorous, serious or otherwise - please leave it in the comments or email it to me and I will post it here.
Patti's Eulogy
by Jonathan and family members
The Poet Andrew Morton said:
"The eulogy is the moment at which the deceased is brought close, and a time when he or she steps away. It is at once a greeting and a letting go."
He went on to say:…"the eulogy will start to heal us too. It will help us get things in perspective, and to understand that we cope with loss not by forgetting whomever has been taken from us, but by finding out how we can best live with our memories of them."
I am grateful for this opportunity to talk about Patti and her life in this short section of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of happiness.
I have always said I would not give a talk at the funeral of a family member, but I must have had a lapse of judgment when Tom asked me if I would speak today.
At a family get together Sunday night, someone mentioned that this service today is no longer being called a Memorial Service for Patti, but it is being called a graduation. So I am grateful to speak at Patti’s graduation.
Much of what I say today comes from Patti’s life history that she was writing using a laptop while she was in bed. I enjoyed reading and studying it to see what was important to her. A few points that stood out to me were that Patti loved to serve; she loved music; and she loved being in charge. I also realized how many times we do not know how much of an effect we have on people around us.
Patti Marilyn Boggs was born on September 9th, 1948 in Lynwood, California to Ralph and Arbalee Boggs. She is oldest of 8 children. She wrote that "Her birth certificate indicates that her father’s occupation was rabbitry. Where my father did raise rabbits, his real occupation was that he was a bookie. This being illegal, and because he collected lots of money, they would hide the money in cheese jars in the freezer. In today’s world, that would have been a bad place to hide money! The story goes that my father had a friend at the police department who tipped him off that they were going to raid the organization, and Dad got out and never went back. He started looking for a job at various newspapers as a printer and got a job at the Fresno Bee. So they moved to Fresno when Patti was around 2 years old. A little while after moving to Fresno, her parents joined the church in the old First Ward - in the Fresno Stake which at that time went from Merced to Visalia/Hanford.
Patti remembered that Sister Thompson was the organist and Brother Thompson was the chorister. I think that was an indication of things to come as music was an important part of Patti’s life.
Patti remembered a couple of years after the family joined the church that Donald J Hill was our bishop and he loaned his station wagon to us to drive to St George to the temple so we could be sealed as a family. Patti wrote : "That was quite a trip. There were six of us kids then. All the back seats were put down for the trip and boxes of our belongings were lined around the outside of the laid down seats. We sat at the boxes and used them for desks and did our homework because the trip took a week and we were missing school. (this was before the seatbelt law) This was quite fun! We stayed at the house of one of our ward member’s mother and I had to sleep with her. Her back yard was up against a mountain and we knew the mountain was full of Indians!"
One of Patti’s favorite childhood memories was the summer Mom and Dad made homemade root beer. They bottled it and stored it on shelves in the garage to age. The garage got so hot that the bottles exploded and root beer went all over the bicycles. Patti said: "I’m sure it was all over everything else in the garage, I just remember the sticky bicycles."
The summer between fifth and sixth grades, the family moved to the Tower District and lived in a big house on Englewood. Patti was very disappointed to move then because she was supposed to be the Traffic Patrol Captain that next year and was really looking forward to it! She wrote: "The power and prestige - all lost in one move!" She did get accepted into the traffic patrol at the new school, and was real embarrassed when she realized that she didn’t know the name of the streets on either side of the school. She said she learned real fast!
Patti said that "The Englewood house was perfect for our large family. There were four boys and four girls and she being the oldest had to babysit often. She wrote that the three kids directly under her were the hardest to manage. Let’s see, Suzanne, Nancy & Jonathan. Hmmm… She said the trick that worked the most often was if she would get upset and go to her room crying, they would eventually come around, apologize and then do as she had directed.
A couple of stories that were shared the other night as the family got together
The four girls (Patti & her sisters) shared a big room in the house as we were growing up. Every night, Patti would use one of those big Vaseline jars to put Vaseline on her lips before going to bed. Many nights, Suzanne would already be in bed and ask Patti if she would bring the Vaseline over to her so she could use it too. Every time, as Suzanne put her finger in the jar to get Vaseline, Patti would shove the jar up and jam Suzanne’s hand into the Vaseline.
Another time as Patti came in late from a date, Suzanne was already asleep. Patti turned on the light and was getting undressed to go to bed when Suzanne woke up. Patti told her it was time to go to seminary and she had better hurry up and get dressed. Suzanne got up and got dressed and ready to go to seminary.
Patti said her parents were always faithful in their church service and a good example to us children. Because of this we actively serve. She said she has always loved serving in the church.
My first calling was to play for primary. I attended Fresno High School which was just across the street from the Echo Building. This was before the block, so primary was on Wednesday afternoon. I just walked across the street for primary. Janice Parker was the primary president. I am continually grateful to her for her faith in my abilities. I had never accompanied anyone and was terribly nervous. This is a most common problem. For probably my first six months, my playing was terrible with lots of wrong notes and many times no notes. Because of my fear, the pages seemed to go blank . When I was finally getting a handle on myself, she then encouraged me to play the organ for prelude and postlude. She gave me a few basic organ lessons and had me start. Because of her, I have spent many years in the church playing the organ which I loved.
I had one more lesson to learn on the organ. I guess my name got out because I was called to substitute for Sacrament Meeting on the organ. The sad part was that it was always last minute, so I had no time to practice or prepare. I usually had a boy friend attending church with me, so would have to leave him to sit with my family. (darn!) To make matters worse, I usually botched up the opening hymn real bad while I was trying to get control of my nerves. I was so embarrassed that I would usually cry during the opening prayer hoping no one was looking.
I did after a couple of years get control of my nerves and have happily played the piano and organ in church. I love the power of the organ. It seems that in some wards the person who can play is abused and overused. I understand that this is sometimes a matter of supply and demand. It has been my motto to be happy in my service and be glad for my talent and ability. It’s been hard to do. In my later years, when I didn’t have children to worry about, it was easier.
I learned another big lesson from Janice Parker. One day during primary, I was sitting in the foyer of the church waiting for singing time. A very handsome young man came into the foyer from the school across the street. He asked me what I was doing there and I said, "I have to play the piano for primary." Sister Parker heard my answer and after the young man left, she very kindly instructed me that we "get" to do things in the church, not "have" to. I never forgot that lesson.
When Patti was in high school, she and her friends went to lake and took a 6 pack of beer to bleach their hair. Asked about it later, she said she was never tempted to drink it.
One of Patti’s first jobs was an operator with the phone company. It is interesting that one of Patti’s supervisors at the phone company is the landlord of the house Patti and Tom and just moved into.
Lloyd (Patti’s youngest brother) tells of how he used to dial "O" and ask for Patti. The operator would say "Which Patti?". One time Patti finally answered and Lloyd got scared and hung up. When Patti got home that night, she asked Lloyd if he had called. He of course denied it.
In July of 1969 Patti married Tim Butler and they had 5 children: Marcy, Tim, Mathew, Christopher, and Caralee.
In talking abut service, Patti said "my favorite service was as a mother. I love my children and loved being a stay at home mom. I love the challenges of organization and learning all the skills involved".
Her children said that "Mom was always cool. She was ready for a party anytime. One of their favorite dinners was Popcorn and smoothies.
Every year for many years, our family has gone camping for a week at Pismo. Louie reminded us of the time that he and Tim were down on the beach watching all the kids and were kind of bored. So they asked kids if they wanted to make money? They instructed the kids to dig a big hole in the roadway on the beach and cars would go around. Of course as the cars went around they would get stuck in the sand. The kids would offer to dig them out for $5., So a little later, (after the kids had already mde 35 dollars) the mothers came down to the beach and there were their little kids under the cars digging tem out of the sand.. Patty said to Tim and Louie: "are you guys out of your mind? You’ve been the sun to long already! Get away from there. That stopped the money making adventure but they did go out and buy pizza afterwards.
I don’t think our yearly camping trip will be the same without Patti’s scones and popcorn she always fixed for us.
Patti made jeans quilts for each of her children and some of the kids said they keep the quilt in the car, because it is great for everything. It took her about six months to make each one and she would make them while watching TV at night..
Caralee: told us that thy always loved it when Patti would play Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano and she would always play it. The children would always sing along and would ask her to play it faster, faster while they tried to keep up.
One thing I recently learned is that Patti used to play laser tag with her kids and she would always win. She would position herself in a corner where she could not be seen and wait for someone to pass by. He kids said she would always sniper you from across the room. She would kill at laser tag. .Patti’s nickname was always mother goose. After the game as they were walking down the hall, the kids said "You could always hear mom cackle and say, you don’t mess with mother goose. She was so cocky and it was perfect."
When Marcy started school I became involved in PTA. In the second year I was chairing the carnival committee and a couple years later became PTA president. I was so surprised at what the women on the board could not do. It was then I realized how many skills I had learned just through my service in the church. For this I was and am grateful, I was able to train the women on the board. It was at this time that I also became an activist! The school board was threatening to cut all the music programs in the district, so I started a letter writing campaign using the PTA as the vehicle. I contacted each PTA President and then mailed him/her a sample letter to use. I collected packages of letters from all the schools and presented them to the school board in one bankers box. I don’t know how much this helped save the program, but it was not cut.
A year later I noticed a first grader being sent home from our school who had a heat rash from his chin to his ankles. It was exceptionally hot that year before school was out and there was no air conditioning in the school. I thought about it. We have in our homes, stores, cars, but not in our schools and we expect our children to learn something? So she started a campaign with a friend Jamie Stienberg. They went to a school board meeting and got on the docket to speak. She said that after we both spoke to the board about our concerns of having no air conditioning in our school, the board president very ungraciously asked us why we should have air over some other school. Who did we think we were? So Jamie and I went home with our tails between our legs and talked about it. Of course all the schools needed air conditioning. We also did some research and came up with some real good arguments about the benefits to learning, etc. We went back the next month and spoke to the board again, this time better prepared and this time with written support from all the schools. This time the board president laughed and asked where we expected them to get the money to afford it. Each month we went back with more homework done and each month she shot us down, but we didn’t quit. We took our shots as a challenge. There was a Keith Chin (who owned Gongs Market) a board member who had been silently watching us. He approached us and said he had an idea as to how the air conditioning might be paid for. He talked with the district financial officer and they came up with a plan. Eventually a plan was made and the all the students in Fresno can thank Patti and Jamie for the air conditioning in their classes.
In July of 1991 Patti married Tom Binford and welcomed his children as her own. I don’t think Patti and Tom ever lived alone – there always seemed to be someone staying with them.
Patti leaves behind a legacy of service. She wrote: One of the saddest things of my terminal disease, was that my service abilities were lessoned as time went on. I held callings as homemaking leader,several times. This calling was quite big in that there was no manual and very little direction. I had a committee to work with me, usually women who were new in the gospel or needed fellowshipping. My motto in this calling was that on homemaking/enrichment night, my job was to provide as much information, hands on, education, ideas, etc on the subject we were covering. I always had displays of other information, handouts, etc as well as the usual classes or lectures. This meant lots of planning and usually hauling lots of "stuff" to the church each month. I loved big productions as well as felt it was my duty!
Around the same time I was also primary music director. I loved this calling because it was a "creative" job. There was no direction on how to teach a new song, only what song to teach. I was leading music in primary when the hymn, "I love to see the Temple" was new. I was so touched by its message.
My two most favorite jobs were RS President (two times) and working in the temple. I also served as RS Chorister, Ward Music Chairman, Sacrament Meeting Chorister, Organist, Pianist for all auxillaries, Choir Director, Primary President, Primary Counselor, YW personal progress leader, and MiaMaid Leader. I substituted as a teacher in primary and really loved teaching the 10-11 year old girls. That was my dream job. A job with a teachers manual!
Even after Patti thought she was unable to serve, she served others by allowing them to serve her.
Caralee her daughter wrote" She (Patti) served everyone so much. She always felt like she didn't have anything left to give others in the end, but by allowing me time to come over each day and be with her, she served me best. I needed a place to get out of the house to go to and a person to help me raise Lucas, being that Eric was gone so much. She was my refuge and my confidant and ultimately my best friend.
Suzanne her sister sent me the following: The thing that I keep hearing about Patti from everyone is how gracious she always was. Even when she was sooooo sick, and felt terrible, and didn't look her best, she was gracious and kind about everything. She delighted in anything that was done for her. Her face would light up and she would look so pleased at any little act of service or any little gift. I was so impressed with her. She did not complain, ever. She was independent to the end, until she absolutely could not do for herself. And then she handled it all with such dignity and grace.
Patti was a wife, a mother, a mother-in-law, a grandmother, a sister, and a friend to many.
I am grateful to know and understand that Patti lives on and look forward to the day when we will all be together again.
If anyone would like to share a Patti story or memory - humorous, serious or otherwise - please leave it in the comments or email it to me and I will post it here.
Patti's Eulogy
by Jonathan and family members
The Poet Andrew Morton said:
"The eulogy is the moment at which the deceased is brought close, and a time when he or she steps away. It is at once a greeting and a letting go."
He went on to say:…"the eulogy will start to heal us too. It will help us get things in perspective, and to understand that we cope with loss not by forgetting whomever has been taken from us, but by finding out how we can best live with our memories of them."
I am grateful for this opportunity to talk about Patti and her life in this short section of our Heavenly Father’s Plan of happiness.
I have always said I would not give a talk at the funeral of a family member, but I must have had a lapse of judgment when Tom asked me if I would speak today.
At a family get together Sunday night, someone mentioned that this service today is no longer being called a Memorial Service for Patti, but it is being called a graduation. So I am grateful to speak at Patti’s graduation.
Much of what I say today comes from Patti’s life history that she was writing using a laptop while she was in bed. I enjoyed reading and studying it to see what was important to her. A few points that stood out to me were that Patti loved to serve; she loved music; and she loved being in charge. I also realized how many times we do not know how much of an effect we have on people around us.
Patti Marilyn Boggs was born on September 9th, 1948 in Lynwood, California to Ralph and Arbalee Boggs. She is oldest of 8 children. She wrote that "Her birth certificate indicates that her father’s occupation was rabbitry. Where my father did raise rabbits, his real occupation was that he was a bookie. This being illegal, and because he collected lots of money, they would hide the money in cheese jars in the freezer. In today’s world, that would have been a bad place to hide money! The story goes that my father had a friend at the police department who tipped him off that they were going to raid the organization, and Dad got out and never went back. He started looking for a job at various newspapers as a printer and got a job at the Fresno Bee. So they moved to Fresno when Patti was around 2 years old. A little while after moving to Fresno, her parents joined the church in the old First Ward - in the Fresno Stake which at that time went from Merced to Visalia/Hanford.
Patti remembered that Sister Thompson was the organist and Brother Thompson was the chorister. I think that was an indication of things to come as music was an important part of Patti’s life.
Patti remembered a couple of years after the family joined the church that Donald J Hill was our bishop and he loaned his station wagon to us to drive to St George to the temple so we could be sealed as a family. Patti wrote : "That was quite a trip. There were six of us kids then. All the back seats were put down for the trip and boxes of our belongings were lined around the outside of the laid down seats. We sat at the boxes and used them for desks and did our homework because the trip took a week and we were missing school. (this was before the seatbelt law) This was quite fun! We stayed at the house of one of our ward member’s mother and I had to sleep with her. Her back yard was up against a mountain and we knew the mountain was full of Indians!"
One of Patti’s favorite childhood memories was the summer Mom and Dad made homemade root beer. They bottled it and stored it on shelves in the garage to age. The garage got so hot that the bottles exploded and root beer went all over the bicycles. Patti said: "I’m sure it was all over everything else in the garage, I just remember the sticky bicycles."
The summer between fifth and sixth grades, the family moved to the Tower District and lived in a big house on Englewood. Patti was very disappointed to move then because she was supposed to be the Traffic Patrol Captain that next year and was really looking forward to it! She wrote: "The power and prestige - all lost in one move!" She did get accepted into the traffic patrol at the new school, and was real embarrassed when she realized that she didn’t know the name of the streets on either side of the school. She said she learned real fast!
Patti said that "The Englewood house was perfect for our large family. There were four boys and four girls and she being the oldest had to babysit often. She wrote that the three kids directly under her were the hardest to manage. Let’s see, Suzanne, Nancy & Jonathan. Hmmm… She said the trick that worked the most often was if she would get upset and go to her room crying, they would eventually come around, apologize and then do as she had directed.
A couple of stories that were shared the other night as the family got together
The four girls (Patti & her sisters) shared a big room in the house as we were growing up. Every night, Patti would use one of those big Vaseline jars to put Vaseline on her lips before going to bed. Many nights, Suzanne would already be in bed and ask Patti if she would bring the Vaseline over to her so she could use it too. Every time, as Suzanne put her finger in the jar to get Vaseline, Patti would shove the jar up and jam Suzanne’s hand into the Vaseline.
Another time as Patti came in late from a date, Suzanne was already asleep. Patti turned on the light and was getting undressed to go to bed when Suzanne woke up. Patti told her it was time to go to seminary and she had better hurry up and get dressed. Suzanne got up and got dressed and ready to go to seminary.
Patti said her parents were always faithful in their church service and a good example to us children. Because of this we actively serve. She said she has always loved serving in the church.
My first calling was to play for primary. I attended Fresno High School which was just across the street from the Echo Building. This was before the block, so primary was on Wednesday afternoon. I just walked across the street for primary. Janice Parker was the primary president. I am continually grateful to her for her faith in my abilities. I had never accompanied anyone and was terribly nervous. This is a most common problem. For probably my first six months, my playing was terrible with lots of wrong notes and many times no notes. Because of my fear, the pages seemed to go blank . When I was finally getting a handle on myself, she then encouraged me to play the organ for prelude and postlude. She gave me a few basic organ lessons and had me start. Because of her, I have spent many years in the church playing the organ which I loved.
I had one more lesson to learn on the organ. I guess my name got out because I was called to substitute for Sacrament Meeting on the organ. The sad part was that it was always last minute, so I had no time to practice or prepare. I usually had a boy friend attending church with me, so would have to leave him to sit with my family. (darn!) To make matters worse, I usually botched up the opening hymn real bad while I was trying to get control of my nerves. I was so embarrassed that I would usually cry during the opening prayer hoping no one was looking.
I did after a couple of years get control of my nerves and have happily played the piano and organ in church. I love the power of the organ. It seems that in some wards the person who can play is abused and overused. I understand that this is sometimes a matter of supply and demand. It has been my motto to be happy in my service and be glad for my talent and ability. It’s been hard to do. In my later years, when I didn’t have children to worry about, it was easier.
I learned another big lesson from Janice Parker. One day during primary, I was sitting in the foyer of the church waiting for singing time. A very handsome young man came into the foyer from the school across the street. He asked me what I was doing there and I said, "I have to play the piano for primary." Sister Parker heard my answer and after the young man left, she very kindly instructed me that we "get" to do things in the church, not "have" to. I never forgot that lesson.
When Patti was in high school, she and her friends went to lake and took a 6 pack of beer to bleach their hair. Asked about it later, she said she was never tempted to drink it.
One of Patti’s first jobs was an operator with the phone company. It is interesting that one of Patti’s supervisors at the phone company is the landlord of the house Patti and Tom and just moved into.
Lloyd (Patti’s youngest brother) tells of how he used to dial "O" and ask for Patti. The operator would say "Which Patti?". One time Patti finally answered and Lloyd got scared and hung up. When Patti got home that night, she asked Lloyd if he had called. He of course denied it.
In July of 1969 Patti married Tim Butler and they had 5 children: Marcy, Tim, Mathew, Christopher, and Caralee.
In talking abut service, Patti said "my favorite service was as a mother. I love my children and loved being a stay at home mom. I love the challenges of organization and learning all the skills involved".
Her children said that "Mom was always cool. She was ready for a party anytime. One of their favorite dinners was Popcorn and smoothies.
Every year for many years, our family has gone camping for a week at Pismo. Louie reminded us of the time that he and Tim were down on the beach watching all the kids and were kind of bored. So they asked kids if they wanted to make money? They instructed the kids to dig a big hole in the roadway on the beach and cars would go around. Of course as the cars went around they would get stuck in the sand. The kids would offer to dig them out for $5., So a little later, (after the kids had already mde 35 dollars) the mothers came down to the beach and there were their little kids under the cars digging tem out of the sand.. Patty said to Tim and Louie: "are you guys out of your mind? You’ve been the sun to long already! Get away from there. That stopped the money making adventure but they did go out and buy pizza afterwards.
I don’t think our yearly camping trip will be the same without Patti’s scones and popcorn she always fixed for us.
Patti made jeans quilts for each of her children and some of the kids said they keep the quilt in the car, because it is great for everything. It took her about six months to make each one and she would make them while watching TV at night..
Caralee: told us that thy always loved it when Patti would play Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano and she would always play it. The children would always sing along and would ask her to play it faster, faster while they tried to keep up.
One thing I recently learned is that Patti used to play laser tag with her kids and she would always win. She would position herself in a corner where she could not be seen and wait for someone to pass by. He kids said she would always sniper you from across the room. She would kill at laser tag. .Patti’s nickname was always mother goose. After the game as they were walking down the hall, the kids said "You could always hear mom cackle and say, you don’t mess with mother goose. She was so cocky and it was perfect."
When Marcy started school I became involved in PTA. In the second year I was chairing the carnival committee and a couple years later became PTA president. I was so surprised at what the women on the board could not do. It was then I realized how many skills I had learned just through my service in the church. For this I was and am grateful, I was able to train the women on the board. It was at this time that I also became an activist! The school board was threatening to cut all the music programs in the district, so I started a letter writing campaign using the PTA as the vehicle. I contacted each PTA President and then mailed him/her a sample letter to use. I collected packages of letters from all the schools and presented them to the school board in one bankers box. I don’t know how much this helped save the program, but it was not cut.
A year later I noticed a first grader being sent home from our school who had a heat rash from his chin to his ankles. It was exceptionally hot that year before school was out and there was no air conditioning in the school. I thought about it. We have in our homes, stores, cars, but not in our schools and we expect our children to learn something? So she started a campaign with a friend Jamie Stienberg. They went to a school board meeting and got on the docket to speak. She said that after we both spoke to the board about our concerns of having no air conditioning in our school, the board president very ungraciously asked us why we should have air over some other school. Who did we think we were? So Jamie and I went home with our tails between our legs and talked about it. Of course all the schools needed air conditioning. We also did some research and came up with some real good arguments about the benefits to learning, etc. We went back the next month and spoke to the board again, this time better prepared and this time with written support from all the schools. This time the board president laughed and asked where we expected them to get the money to afford it. Each month we went back with more homework done and each month she shot us down, but we didn’t quit. We took our shots as a challenge. There was a Keith Chin (who owned Gongs Market) a board member who had been silently watching us. He approached us and said he had an idea as to how the air conditioning might be paid for. He talked with the district financial officer and they came up with a plan. Eventually a plan was made and the all the students in Fresno can thank Patti and Jamie for the air conditioning in their classes.
In July of 1991 Patti married Tom Binford and welcomed his children as her own. I don’t think Patti and Tom ever lived alone – there always seemed to be someone staying with them.
Patti leaves behind a legacy of service. She wrote: One of the saddest things of my terminal disease, was that my service abilities were lessoned as time went on. I held callings as homemaking leader,several times. This calling was quite big in that there was no manual and very little direction. I had a committee to work with me, usually women who were new in the gospel or needed fellowshipping. My motto in this calling was that on homemaking/enrichment night, my job was to provide as much information, hands on, education, ideas, etc on the subject we were covering. I always had displays of other information, handouts, etc as well as the usual classes or lectures. This meant lots of planning and usually hauling lots of "stuff" to the church each month. I loved big productions as well as felt it was my duty!
Around the same time I was also primary music director. I loved this calling because it was a "creative" job. There was no direction on how to teach a new song, only what song to teach. I was leading music in primary when the hymn, "I love to see the Temple" was new. I was so touched by its message.
My two most favorite jobs were RS President (two times) and working in the temple. I also served as RS Chorister, Ward Music Chairman, Sacrament Meeting Chorister, Organist, Pianist for all auxillaries, Choir Director, Primary President, Primary Counselor, YW personal progress leader, and MiaMaid Leader. I substituted as a teacher in primary and really loved teaching the 10-11 year old girls. That was my dream job. A job with a teachers manual!
Even after Patti thought she was unable to serve, she served others by allowing them to serve her.
Caralee her daughter wrote" She (Patti) served everyone so much. She always felt like she didn't have anything left to give others in the end, but by allowing me time to come over each day and be with her, she served me best. I needed a place to get out of the house to go to and a person to help me raise Lucas, being that Eric was gone so much. She was my refuge and my confidant and ultimately my best friend.
Suzanne her sister sent me the following: The thing that I keep hearing about Patti from everyone is how gracious she always was. Even when she was sooooo sick, and felt terrible, and didn't look her best, she was gracious and kind about everything. She delighted in anything that was done for her. Her face would light up and she would look so pleased at any little act of service or any little gift. I was so impressed with her. She did not complain, ever. She was independent to the end, until she absolutely could not do for herself. And then she handled it all with such dignity and grace.
Patti was a wife, a mother, a mother-in-law, a grandmother, a sister, and a friend to many.
I am grateful to know and understand that Patti lives on and look forward to the day when we will all be together again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)