Happy Easter!!

Sunday April 11, 1982: From Wendy's journal (almost 14).

Happy Easter!! I didn't get a new Easter dress, but I got new Easter shoes. I didn't have a hard time getting up this morning like I usually do! I got dressed and then we went in to look in our Easter baskets full of candy! We got a big chocolate marshmallow egg, M&M's, jelly beans and candy eggs hidden around the house. Shane is 5 and still believes in the Easter Bunny so we have to be careful what we say around him! Also, for Easter each year we get to choose any kind of cereal we want to get for Easter. I chose Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch and Lucky Charms. Chris ate both his boxes of cereal in one day!

We went to church and learned more about the real meaning of Easter with Christ and His Resurrection. Today we gave our mutual teacher some candy and flowers. We had all pitched in money to do it. We saw a movie about Christ in Mutual. After church we went to Grandma Burgener's house for dinner and we had ham sandwiches and some decorated hard-boiled eggs and cookies and candy! It was delicious!

Great Grandma Bohne's 90th Birthday Party!!

(Wendy) We went to Fairview to celebrate Great-Grandma Bohne's 90th birthday! It was a big family reunion. We had a talent show and I played "Saturday's Warrior" on the piano.

Carousel Kids

 

After Wendy and Jenny outgrew the baton lessons, Jenny still wanted to perform. Mom signed her up for a cute little song and dance group called Carousel Kids. It was Spring of 1980. Jen still has a cassette tape of some of the songs the group sang (she doesn't have a cassette player though ...) Here's a few of the songs/lyrics she remembers, even 40 years later!

Mom/Margie didn't remember any of these songs (below), 

but she remembered the group performed "Wells Fargo Wagon" ...

• Walking in the Sunshine: "Tell the blues that I've got news I'm putting on my walking shoes and I feel fine. Ummmmm. Come on in and watch me grin I'm letting all the sunshine in, I've got the time. Ummmm. To go walking in the sunshine. Taking it easy. Living my life now one day at a time. La la la la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la ..."
• Ain't Gonna Rain: "Raindrops and teardrops someday when the rain stops I'll find me a new place somewhere in the sun. I'll find me a new place I'll share with someone, and it ain't gonna rain anymore."
• Good Friend: "If you let me, I could be your good friend. If you let me, we could walk together. We're not so different you know. Though we may have different dreams. When they fall apart. We hurt the same it seems...
• The Inventor's Song: "When you're spelling the word, America, don't forget to dot the i, for the inventors, don't forget to dot the i." I still remember MANY inventors because of this song.
• There was a Man: " John Smith, there was a man! Hi Ho Diddle Aye Oh! From Kentucky he began, to make our country grow-ow-ow-ow, make our country grow. Brigham Young, there was a man, hi-ho-diddle-aye-o, down in Utah he began, to make our country grow-ow-ow-ow, make our country grow."  I don't know if this "There was a MAN" would be considered politically correct today!
• Are You For Independence: This went through the first 13 colonies ... "Connecticut, are you for independence? Are you for the pursuit of happiness? For life and liberty and freedom? Connecticut votes yes!"

The bottom three songs are all "America" themed songs, and some years ago, Jen found an album with them on (America Pie, the Peter Pan Chorus) and was able to get MP3s she has in her Itunes library (along with Music Man! A favorite record from the Westra childhood). And in 2017, Colton's class sang one of the songs during a school program (and he said the other two sounded familiar as well). 

In the pictures above, the girl with Jenny was Natalie Lewis, a gal down the street (a year younger than Jen, Natalie's brother Jason was Jen's age) and they were in this singing group together. Jen found a couple mentions about the group in her journal (she didn't write much when she was not quite 10 years old) ...

April 12 Today I started a singing group. I go every Sat. at 10:00

May 17 Singing program and I was so good my grandma gave me $1

Jen would continue to sing - high school musicals and madrigals, community theater, and another song/dance group in college!

California Dreaming

June of 1980 the Westra Family went on a family vacation to California to visit the Griffiths.

Wendy (age 12) wrote this poem to describe the trip~

Our Trip:

We drove to California in our car – we drove very long, we drove very far.

We drove past houses cities and cars. It seemed like we were going clear to Mars!

We drove past churches and hotels. We stopped in Nevada at Scott’s Motel. 

The weather here was very cool, so we were glad for an indoor pool.

Then on and on our trip we did go – until we finally arrived in Sacramento.

We got there on the thirtieth of May, to enjoy ten days of fun and play.

We went to a park called Fairy Tale Town, where there were slides and castles and a king with a crown.

We had a picnic and played all around, and went on a ride that went round and round.

The next day was Sunday and we went to church meetings. We were sure glad to have a nice greeting. 

On Monday we went to San Francisco, and do you know what we rode on, do you know?

We went on a trolley car and boy was it fun! Then we ate lunch and sat in the sun.

We saw a museum full of neat things – fishes and snakes and Indian rings.

We went to the beach and saw lots of waves, and we found lots of seashells to keep and to save.

Today is June second, it is no longer May, but boy it sure was a really fun day! 

On Tuesday we went to the park and the zoo. We fed all the animals and the little squirrels too! 

On Wednesday we played games such as tennis and bowling, where the ball went flying and the ball went rolling.

Scott was not necessarily being a teenager and stepping out of the photo. 

This picture was damaged in the scan and cut off. 

Thursday we went to Marriott – with our things all ready and our things all set. 

We rode the Demon and the Tidal Wave – and we even got little booklets to save.

We rode on Willard’s Whizzer and that’s not it, we rode on others and just couldn’t quit. 

I thought the Demon was the best, I thought it was more fun than the rest.

But the other rides were a total blast too, and there was always lots of fun stuff you could do.

We also watched a show about Bugs Bunny, you know, and one called “To Fly,” another great show.

Today was SO fun – riding rides in the sun! 

On Friday we went and water skied. Uncle Arnold had the boat and the things we would need.

I’d never done it before, I didn’t know how, but I did it! And boy was it fun – wow! 

We ate there on the island, there in the sun – and we played in the water and had loads of fun!

Saturday we went to a restaurant and ate – we even got seconds on a new plate!

But what I liked best was the vanilla ice cream – topped with toppings and nuts, see what I mean?

Sunday we got ready to go back home. Oh! I felt like I was going to moan!

But I missed my house, so I was kind of glad – I missed my friends, so I wasn’t too mad.

And again we drove past houses and hotels, and we stopped again at “Scott’s Motel.”

Then we drove again and arrived back home, and I will always remember our trip by this little poem!

By Wendy Westra (age 12)

Jenny wrote in her journal too ... not quite as much ;)

A few more photos and adventures from the trip ...

Twirly Girls

The Wonderful Westra Sisters! Wendy and Jenny were marching in parades in 1978 and 1979, dressed in these tiny, sparkly red costumes, and twirling a baton. Really, it was all in the wrist, we never even attempted a spin with fingers. It was more about the marching. A red bow on the back of the head, or a sparkly headband with a feather ... in the "winter" costume, note the white earmuffs and the red pom-pom on the shoes too.

The leader of this incredible group was our neighbor across the street from our Hermitage House. You can see the group really varied in age (and height).  We marched in several parades and participated in competitions and I'm sure Scott, Chris and Shane just loved coming to watch!

Here's some of Wendy's memories from her journal ...

• December 1978: My name is Wendy Westra. I am 10 years old. I take piano lessons and baton lessons... My sister, Jenny is 8 years old. Me and my sister made up a routine in baton lessons, We did it to "It's a Small World." Our teachers thought it was cute!
• February 1979: For baton I did a routine to "Music Machine." It was my favorite record but the record melted and I was really worried because we needed to listen to it to do the routine because it was my best one and there would be trophies and prizes! Now I will have to borrow our neighbors. 
• July 3, 1979: We went to swimming lessons and to primary and then we took a shower and ate lunch and started getting ready for the Children’s Parade in Provo. We ate there and saw Cannonball and Harvey and we won second place out of the teams like drill, baton, pom poms, etc. (Last year we won first). We goofed up but the judges thought we were cute both years, but everything turned out pretty good.
• July 4, 1979: It’s the 4th of July. We were in a parade at Murray in the morning. Mom and Dad, Chris, Scott, and Shane came and watched us. There were lots of horses and I’m glad we weren’t after them because they went to the bathroom all over! There were people dressed up like Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.
• July 18, 1979: We had a slumber party at Shauneen’s house for baton. We slept outside and everyone brought a treat. We played games and had a lot of fun. They have a trampoline that we played on. I didn’t fall asleep till 12:30.

There was even some video footage uncovered!

https://youtu.be/tIAgBv18dtU

**FLASH FORWARD TO THE FUTURE

In 2012, Mom/Margie uncovered the little red baton outfits in storage. 

She passed them on to Wendy, and the Jensen girls tried them on and had a little photoshoot. 

Janelle, Jaiden and Jenna

Wendy wrote "One thing I remember (probably a few days before the parade) is Shauneen Hadley telling all of us to wash our hair really well the night before the parade so that it would shine! Then she told us that after we washed it -- wash it again! I thought that was funny that we had to wash our hair not only once -- but twice -- to make it shine!"

That reminded Mom/Margie of a memory ... "Talking about washing your hair twice brought back memories of how my mother always shampooed us once, and rinsed, then shampooed a second time, then rinsed. Then she rinsed our hair either with lemon water or vinegar water. The way she would curl our hair when we were little is with little strips of rags. She would roll a strip of hair up with the small strip of rag, then tie the rag to hold the curl in place. She would do this overnight and take the rags out in the morning----and voila, curly hair." 

Maybe Wendy and Jen should resume a routine and perform it at a family function! *Ü*

Kellie and Cory

Among the Westra siblings, there are two angel babies ... Kellie Sue and Cory Matthew. Kellie was just eight days old when she passed away, and Cory died in utero, just shortly before his due date. There weren't a lot of pictures of Kellie (and none of Cory) ... in Mom/Margie's history, she stated "She was such a beautiful baby, prettier every day--so each day I thought, tomorrow we'll get some pictures taken." Scott (age 15) had taken a picture of her through the glass at the hospital, there was the hospital photo (which Mom didn't care for) and a nurse took a couple polaroids when she was at Primary Children's. 

You can read the full history here ... History of Kellie Sue Westra

It's also in the family Dropbox (Word and PDF)

The next year, Mom/Margie was pregnant again. "I wish I could find the history I wrote up after his birth. He died in utero 2 weeks before his due date. I went to doctor visits alone with all our kids, so had to deal with the news alone. I hadn't felt him move for a day or so, so I was worried when I went in that day to the doctor. The doctor put some seaweed type stuff in, as I remember, that helps to soften your cervix to prepare your body to deliver, so you don't have to carry the baby longer before giving birth naturally. Then they induce labor the next day I think. He weighed 5 lbs. and was born in the labor room with just LaMar and I there. LaMar had to go find a nurse and tell her the baby had been born. We hadn't thought to take a camera and they didn't have one, so we don't have any pictures of him. I think hospitals have cameras now and are better prepared for those circumstances. They put me in a room as far away from the nursery as possible, so as to not hear the babies cry and see them delivered to the moms for feedings. We already had a friend birthday party scheduled for Jeni, so Dad handled that alone. The hospital brought me a little birthday cake since I was there on my birthday. They said there was a heart problem with Cory, but not bad enough to have caused his death, so they didn't really know why it happened."

From Mom/Margie: When Kellie died on April 25, 1979, Heidi Lindsay in our ward went to the cemetery and gathered flowers that were there from the burial and created this nice framed arrangement from them. I think she brought it over to us on Memorial Day. Such a thoughtful surprise.

When Cory was buried after he was born on Nov. 5, 1980, we gathered flowers and hired Beth Crook in the ward to make one as a remembrance of him. Beth did a beautiful job and would not accept any payment. The larger one is Kellie's and the smaller one is Cory's. Kellie's could be displayed in different directions--I don't know which is correct. I always thought if we had a wall group of the other kid's photos, we would have these for two we lost.

The Homestead

 

The Homestead in Midway Utah ... I don't have distinct recollections of activities at The Homestead, but just a general fond memory of trips with the family there. Looking at my personal history (written in my 20s) I mentioned a memory of a bee sting, while gathering tennis balls in the woods around the courts.  In a 1975 annual recap, Dad had mentioned he and Mom making a trip there alone in July. There was a family trip (sans little Shane) in July 1977  and then another family trip (again, sans Shane) in August 1978. Looking at the photos above,  the top left photo in front of "The Farm House" would be the 1977 trip ... based on Wendy's hair (look close, it's long, in a pony-tail ... even though she DOES seem to have on the same shirt and pictures with short hair) and Scott's height. Then the remaining five pictures from the 1978 trip. Dad kept little Diary Books, and looking back, he found some written memories and tidbits from these two family trips to The Homestead ...

Trip to The Homestead (11-13 July 1977) 

We dropped off Shane at Burgeners, we were in Room 17, two nights, room cost, $34.48 plus $2 sleeping bag charge. We had a dinner charge the first night, on the bill, $13.09. The second day, we went to the Hub Cafe, $10.68 Bank Americard. I have the bills in my little book. We had extra costs, Horses $1.50, Miniature Golf, $1.50, Pool, $0.50. I even have the score card for Miniature Golf, for Scott, Chris, and myself.  We had lunch on 13 July, $14.40 BankAmericard.

Trip to The Homestead (22-24 August 1978) 

I took three days of vacation. We had earlier reserved two nights at The Homestead. 

Tuesday morning, Marge and I took the little car down to Cottonwood Motors for a 50,000 mile checkup. Then Scott and I took our old lawnmower in for repairs.  We got the car packed, left Shane at Burgeners, and headed to the Homestead about 10:30. The drive was short, and the room wasn’t ready when we arrived. We drove to Heber, got slurpees at the 7-11, and then went back to the Homestead, where we unpacked and moved into the Guest House.  We played tennis, went swimming, and played shuffleboard. The water in the outside pool was very cold, so we spent most of the swimming time indoors.  We had a snacky lunch before playing and we all went out for pizza that night at the Pizza Hut in Heber. 

Wednesday, we did a bit of swimming and tennis. There was a mix up in our room reservations, so we had to move out of the Guest House and into The Barn, which was a much more roomy place, and a little more fancy.  Marge and I and Wendy had a nice breakfast Wed morning, while the rest snacked cold cereal in the Guest House.  We went in to Heber City for lunch – hamburgers and malts at the Dairy Keen.  Marge and I went to a nice dinner in the dinner room – roast beef. 

Thursday, Chris and I got up early and went fishing. We drove near the Chalet, which we had investigated the first day, and we hiked along the railroad tracks around the west side of Deer Creek Reservoir. We fished for about 2 hours and I caught one nice rainbow trout, about 14” on a daredevil. The water was quite murky and green with algae.  We returned, packed, checked out, and had snacky meals. We also did a little swimming and tennis before check out time of 12 noon. We had an ice cream and bought candy bar snacks for our trip home. 

We got back in plenty of time Thursday afternoon to get ready and go to our Thursday eve 6:00 class, after stopping by Normans, and picking up Shane at Burgeners. We stopped on the way home and picked up rocks for the rock garden.