BCT Graduation-South Carolina

I was so happy that Curtis' and my planned trip to South Carolina to be at Ford's graduation from Basic Combat Training was still a go after my crazy medical adventures.

I was scared to try to take my Lovenox shots on the plane and received a tender mercy of finding out the day before we left that I had enough Coumadin in me to stop taking the shots. Hoorah!!

We drove to Durango and flew to Denver, then on to Atlanta. We found it was cheaper to fly out of Durango than to go all the way to SLC, so we went that route. I can also say that going through security at Durango's little airport was a breeze!

We got in really late to Atlanta, grabbed a few winks and were off again early the next morning to drive to Columbia SC. We were a bit late getting off but I think we'd have made it in time to see them do their exercises if there hadn't been a huge line of cars trying to get on base! Oh well, we made it in time to find him. It was interesting because we really didn't know where to look for him and everyone looks the same, soldier style. Took a while but I eventually honed in on him. They had to stay in formation til their family found them. I walked up to him with tears in my eyes and he smiled back at me. He had stood there so long he probably thought we weren't coming!

This was after we finally found him and were heading out of the stadium.
I don't know why he's doing that with his hands.

Had to find the Utah flag and have our picture taken there.

We were so happy that Grandma and Grandpa W would take the time to come with us to see Ford.
They are wonderful grandparents and really try to support their family, always trying to be at special events.

Mike Welch, Ford Welch, Ellen Welch

                                             
He had to stay on base that day so we went to a nice park and had a picnic, we went to the building where he went to church to an open house the missionaries have for those graduating. We drove around a bit, we walked at the PX, (Grandma tried to go in the liquor store! ;o ) and ate dinner at Popeye's. Along with every other soldier and his family in SC! Gotta love Family Day on base.
We had to drop him off at a certain time so he could get back to his bay on time and so we could go get some sleep.

The companies in formation on the parade grounds.

Here they are marching to the left to come around in front of the grandstands.

This is Ford's Company and he is on the end nearest us of the 4th row from the left,
(not counting the lone soldier at the left end). 

Grandpa congratulating Ford.

He was well trained to stand at attention while in his ASUs.  

Nice bright sunshine makes for a loverly picture. Oh, well, we had to document
that we were there anyway.

Ford and his battle buddy, Schneider.

                                               

"Can we just go, please?"

waiting for our burgers....

Of course, you would get peanuts for an appetizer in the South, wouldn't you?

Sitting in the parking lot, using the WiFi.....

Trying to catch up on what is going on in the world...we did lots of sitting in cars.

We are proud of you, Ford, for toughing it out through Basic. It was good for you!

 The next day we went back to the parade grounds and watched their  graduation exercises. It is something to see so many soldiers all marching and looking so sharp in their dress uniforms. 

After it was over, we found him again, took some pictures and then he had a day pass. We drove around Columbia, ate lunch at Five Guys burgers, drove through the campus of the university there, drove by the State Fair that was going on....and sat in the parking lot of a Target where Ford could get wi fi so he could set up his new iPod. 

At last it was time to say goodbye yet again and get him back to his bay on time. We were happy to see him doing so well and looking so confident, but it was hard to leave him again. Too many goodbyes for me! 

It was back to Atlanta and Durango and home for us and on to Fort Lee in VA for Ford!

Camp Jackson-Oct 2012

To celebrate my dad's birthday and spend time together as family my mom rented the cabin up on the mountain at Camp Jackson for a couple of days.

I had only been home from the hospital in Provo for a day and my ability to breathe was still compromised. I was still taking Lovenox shots and had started on the Coumadin. There are quite a few things to do at the cabin, but I mostly sat around because at that altitude I quickly became short of breath if I exerted myself at all.

We took 4-wheelers up and the kids had fun riding them around. Lots of game playing and movie watching, some craft activities and good food, but I think the hit of the trip for the kids was the paddle boats on the little reservoir. I even made my way down to the 'lake' and Wendy paddled me around for a bit. I was royalty and got a ride on a 4-wheeler back up to the cabin. 

My favorite part was the last night we were there. Each of us had a small battery powered candle. We sat in a large circle and shared our memories of Dad. As a person shared their memory their candle was 'lit'. Soon all the candles were lit and we basked in the glow of our love for Dad/Grandpa. Oh, how we miss him!

We talked about renting the cabin every year near Dad's birthday, but its pretty expensive so I don't know if that will happen.

This is the little 'lake' where the paddleboats are used.

looking down off the deck at everyone having fun outside.

It was just a bit too late for good fall color, rats. It was very cold up there too and we had to keep a fire burning in the stove at all times in order to be warm. Thankfully there was lots of wood ready to burn and lots of blankets.

He's In the Army Now.....

Pvt  Welch-far right

Well,  Mike has been gone for three weeks now. It is so strange not having any big boys in our house right now. When we eat or gather to pray we look around and end up counting to make sure everyone is there. The boys just took up so much space that it feels very empty with them all gone.

Pvt Welch-far left

I found that Mike's company at Basic Training has a FB page and that they often post pictures of the things they are doing/learning. It has been such a blessing to me, as a mother, to be able to see my son's face. We can't hear from him right now except for letters, so it's nice to see him. I don't know who takes the pictures and posts them but I am so thankful to that person/s.  

Pvt Welch-far right

 The thing that first stuck out to me was how young and tired he looks. He looks like a little boy. Then it dawned on me that he may in fact be one of the younger people there, having just hit the ripe old age of 18. Might have something to do with the lack of hair as well. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like they've had some fun and some not so fun things to do. Yesterday was the 'gas chamber'. Can't wait to hear how he survived that!

Pvt Welch-3rd  from left (not counting the boot!)

He called us a few times in the first few days, when he was in what is called Reception-lots of line standing and paperwork. But once that was done and he entered Red Phase, he no longer had the use of his phone. When everyone in his company moves on to White Phase, he'll have limited use of his phone. We did get three letters from him last week, which were full of music to my ears. It has been a hard, humbling experience for him and because he has no one else, he has turned to his Heavenly Father for comfort and support. Something I've longed for for him for years. He said also that he is quite homesick and I suppose that he has had a bit of a culture shock. I think he can finally see how blessed he has been to grow up in a loving family with the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the center of it all.

I'm getting excited to go back to his graduation in Oct. I am reluctant to fly and give in to the stupid TSA requirements, but I am more anxious to be with him and support him. So very happy with my soldier boy!!

**Pictures from the C Co 3/34 FB page. I don't know who took them.

Our Pioneer Heritage

I have always had a love for my pioneer heritage and I have to admit, have been a bit too proud of it at times. You see, on both sides of my family I have ancestors who sacrificed much to 'come to Zion' to be able to worship according to their conscience. 

My mom's maternal Great-grandfather, Jens Neilson, joined the Church in Denmark and was in the Willie Handcart company. He suffered the loss of his only child and the child who had been entrusted to his care, as well as the use of his toes. He walked with a limp and canes ever after. In 1879 he joined the Hole-In-The-Rock party to settle the San Juan company in the SE part of Utah. That was a six month journey that was only supposed to be 6 weeks. More on that story here. My mom's grandparents on her father's side were chased out of Mexico by Pancho Villa, settling in 1915 in San Juan Co. UT. 

My father's Great-grandfather was also in the Hole-In-The-Rock party and was the owner of the team of blind horses that were the first down the "Hole" as they couldn't see what they were heading into. He settled in Bluff and later, in Verdure. He was a judge and the postmaster. His cabin is still standing on the Bluff Fort historic site property. My dad's great-grandpa on his mother's side was a pioneer in the company of Saints that were called to settle in the Big Horn Basin in Northern Wyoming. That is where I'm going to start my story.

In 1900 the Church called a number of families from Bountiful and Morgan Ut areas to go to Wyoming to settle in the Big Horn Basin. They were to build a 30 mile long canal that would irrigate 17000 acres of land. 

James Crossley Sessions was born in 1862 to Perrigrine Sessions and Sarah Crossley. Sarah had been in the Martin Handcart company and had survived but suffered the ill effects of that journey the rest of her life. She married Perrigrine Sessions, the missionary who had converted her family, a few years after arriving in SLC. James was her first son. James and his family went in the spring of 1900 to the Big Horn Basin. He was the first man in the company to plant trees in the basin. Unfortunately, even though they hauled water for them, they did not survive. He stayed in Wyoming for 5 years but returned to Utah because his wife, Selena Holt, suffered from diabetes and needed better medical care.

(No photo of James available)

There was another man in the Big Horn Company by the name of Charles A. Welch. He was born in 1860 In SLC. He married Mary Louisa Hinckley and in 1900 they moved their family to Wyoming from the Morgan UT area. Charles stayed in Wyoming for the rest of his life, and was a prominent member of the community serving in many capacities. He served in political and church roles as well as being a business owner.

Charles and Mary(Mamie) Welch

James Sessions had a son named Arvil Sessions, who had a daughter named Nina Sessions Barton, who had a son named Karl S. Barton, who had a daughter named Kassie.

Charles A Welch had a son named Charles Golden Welch, who had a son named Ford M. Welch, who had a son named Michael S. Welch, who had a son named Curtis Welch.

In 1986 I was living in Provo in the Raintree apts. Into my ward moved a handsome young man named Curtis Welch. We dated for about 8 months before becoming engaged and married in Aug 1987.

After we married I was looking through a book that Curtis had about the Big Horn settlement. In it there were little paragraphs about the early settlers of Cowley Wyoming. As I looked through them I found James Crossley Sessions. It was then that I realized and pointed out to my husband that our ancestors likely knew each other nearly 100 years before we met. We have often wondered if our pioneer ancestors helped in any way in our meeting and marrying. We like to think they might have!

Joining Cocoa for Wordful Wednesday!

Silver Anniversary in Silverton, CO

2012 marked 25 years since Curtis and I were married. Wow! 

Where does the time go?

 We decided to go on a little get-away to celebrate and thought that Silverton CO would be a great place to spend our silver anniversary!

We left the Sunday after returning from our family vacation. We reserved a room in Cortez because the rooms in Durango and Silverton were pretty expensive. We wanted to do more on our trip than sit in a hotel room. Food would be good!

Just looking over a beautiful green valley on the way to Silverton.

On Monday morning we drove to Durango and on to Silverton. I have not been clear to Silverton before and let me say, 'Its quite the drive!' I think they paved a deer trail. It clings to the steep mountains and goes over several high passes before arriving in Silverton.

We had cool cloudy weather almost the whole trip. That was nice. Unless we were walking around and it started to rain.

We had cool, cloudy weather throughout our trip. 

                                         

Looking up Main Street in Silverton.

We decided to grab lunch before wandering and found ourselves in a bright pink building having a delicious pulled BBQ pork sandwich. 

Thee Pits BBQ-as seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri.

                                         

We spent the afternoon wandering through town, window shopping and being tourists.
We sprang for some yummy funnel cakes, taking Curtis back to his Ozark roots. 

I have always wanted to go into a mine. I don't know why, I don't particularly like cold, dark holes in the ground, but they intrigue me. When I was looking at what kinds of things we could do on our trip I saw that there was a mine tour just outside Silverton. Decided that would be one of our activities. (couldn't afford the Zip Line thing we looked at) After paying our fee and getting outfitted in hard hats and raincoats, we climbed onto the mine train and chugged our way into the mine. Not a big group, just us and a boy with his dad. Our tourguide sure had a good time with the little boy. At one point he was showing us how they drilled the holes to put the charges in and he had the little boy come hold the drill and then he swung up the sledgehammer. This was a really big man. He would count and the little boy kept dropping it fearing that his hands were going to get smashed. It was all in fun, but I don't think the little guy knew it. Our guide explained the bell system and lingo used in mines as well as the tommyknockers in the mines.

Heading into the Old Hundred Mine.

It was really damp and drippy in the mine. We were glad to have the overcoats. 

Some of the old mining equipment and my groom of 25 years!

After emerging back into the sunlight we hung up our gear and spent a few minutes panning for gold,(fool's) in the sluices they had set up there for that purpose. It seemed harder than I thought it would be. I kept swirling everything off my pan.

Curtis has always had a hankering to pan for gold. 

Any color?

Looking up the mountain from the mine entrance. There is a boarding house up near the very top that the miners lived in. I believe they said it was accessed by elevator from the mine. CRAZY!!

We left the mine and Silverton and drove back to Cortez, tired and hungry from our adventures. We decided to eat Mexican food that night. We both love it and it had been a while since we had had some. We ended up eating at Fiesta Mexicana and we liked it enough to plan to go back again.

Fiesta Mexicana

I'm in Utah taking a picture of Curtis in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona!

We decided to take the long way home on Tuesday and we drove quite a ways up McElmo Canyon, admiring the farms and vineyards, before heading for the Four Corners Monument. I've lived a lot of my life in San Juan County and had never been there that I could remember. It was much more touristy than I thought it would be. We met a very interesting Navajo man there, Joe Begay, who was selling jewelry but who was also an actor. He spent quite a bit of time talking to us and showing us his scrapbooks of his career. He was on Little House on the Prairie once and I'm sure I saw him.
We took the obligatory pictures of ourselves standing in four states at once and then headed on to Bluff.

Mom and her childhood 'flame', John Wayne! (Gouldings Museum)

When we got to Bluff we found that Uncle LaMar, Aunt Colleen, and Aunt Erma were there and had plans to head to Monument Valley. They invited us along so we hopped into the van and off we went. We went to the Navajo Tribal Park and walked around their gift shop. It was a busy place and there were loads of foreigners there. Then we went to Goulding's to go through their museum and then we had dinner at Goulding's restaurant. Had a really good Navajo Taco. After driving up past the hospital between the rocks, we headed back to Bluff and home.

It was lovely to have no schedule and be able to spend 3 days together. I am so blessed in my marriage and I look forward to the next 25 years, and beyond! Hopefully, we won't have to wait 25 years for our next trip together.

Montana's Reunion

We were sad that Montana would not be with us for our big Welch Reunion. I joked with him that I would make a life sized cutout of him and take it with us. He thought I was weird.
But the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. I looked all over the Internet and found some places that will make one, but it was very expensive. I just couldn't justify the cost of it. Then there was the space issue. The suburban being out of commission left us with very little cargo space.
So instead I blew up a headshot picture I had of him to approximately life sized and glued it to some cardboard. We attached a little handle and he was set to go with us!

When we left the reunion we sent  Montana to Rexburg with Jordan to see what college life is like.

Jordan and Montana renewing their acquaintance in the main lodge.

Not sure what Jordan was doing here.....Jordan?

Hallelujah! My, what long arms you have....

Pass along cards for Elder Welch....nice photobomb Ford.

Mmmm, Doritos tacos from Taco Bell for lunch.

Family Picture at Cove Fort

Knock, knock! Who's at the door? Looking through the peekhole.

Look closely, it's Elder Welch rolling a hoop!

Elder Welch checking out all the antique furnishings in the rooms of Cove Fort.

What a wagon-load!!