Framing swimsuits

Seriously, wouldn't this be such a cute thing to do?
 Better Homes and Gardens  July 2013
 Going through my old magazines today before throwing them out, when I found this!

Part 2

Here's my follow up, but it won't make sense if you have not read Rozier Drama, first.

So after my Uncle Irving told his cousin Clair Tatton in high school
about his real mother Rowena.....things were not good between
Archie (Clair's Dad) and the Rozier family. 

This caused quite the stir in the family.

Then I learned something last week when I found this 
obituary about my grandmother Leonie, Romeo's wife in 1937...
This was March of 1937. 

Notice how it says the Romeo and Leonie Rozier had only been in Fresno for 5 months. 
That means they moved to Fresno in October of 1936. 
Irving and Clair were in high school in Stockton together in 1936. 
So I am making the assumption here that the big reveal may have been
what caused Romeo and his family to leave Rozier Avenue
and make a new start for his family in Fresno.

Then again, it could have been a coincidence.

So this morning Dennis and I decided to go see if the house Grandma Leonie died in was still there.
It was and here it is. 


Google said it was built in 1922. 
So the house was 15 years old when Romeo moved his family there.
 Just 2 bedrooms and 1 bath for a family of 8.
I think it's a cute. Amazing to think my Dad lived in this house 76 years ago!

Grandpa Romeo's niece, Marnie, wrote in two of her letters:

"It was a heartbreaking situation for Grandma Rozier to raise the baby for over 2 years and then have him snatched away by Archie with the declaration that Rowena was dead and his son was a Tatton, not a Rozier. Up until this time Romeo and Archie owned a tire shop together in Stockton, but Archie pulled out of this when he took Clair back. He never told Clair about the grandparents or the Rozier family. It was a shock when both he and Romeo's son, Irving, were going to Stockton High and Irving informed him that they were cousins. Clair had no idea that his real mother was a Rozier. Of course being of high school age, Clair had to hear the truth. However, he was never allowed to contact the family. As time passed, however, he did get in contact with family members.  Of course, Grandma and Grandpa Rozier were both gone by then and never had the joy of being reunited with him. ....

He was thrilled to know about his family and was in touch with several of the cousins.
Clair worked in the juevinille Div of the Bay Area Police Dept. for years and was also a high school teacher and principal for years before his retirement. He and I corresponded for years, and always at Christmas time. He never married, but was devoted to teaching. About 4 or 5 years ago the Christmas cards stopped coming (note: Marnie wrote this letter in 2008) and my cards were returned so I felt he must have passed away."

"

A talk, a friend, a baby, and a chopped head.

Last Sunday we got to attend church in Kerman, and it was too good not to remember.
A very dear friend of mine there, Wendy Lane and her husband Warren
were leaving on a year mission to Crockett, Texas.

Their talks were amazing and I could have listen to them all day.
Here are some key points I want to remember:

*Warren quoted the Fresno Mission President by saying:
"Attitude and Effort are EVERYTHING."

*Wendy talked about how happy it made her feel when people would do things for her children.
She compared this to how Christ must feel when we serve one another.

* She also talked about how years ago she remembers this day when things
were not going well at home. She just needed to escape for awhile so she went
to see a lady in their ward who was going through lots of health issues and was homebound.
Wendy just sat and visited with her for awhile and she could feel the light coming back into herself.
She went home happy again. The power of service.

*Wendy also talked about a woman in her ward with terminal cancer.
She was not doing very well when she showed up at church one day with
baked goods she made for the Young Women's Bake Sale.
Wendy told her she shouldn't have done that and this woman said,
"I want to support the Young Women."
She was a team player and thought of others even in her great time of need.

* Love this quote from Wendy:
"LOVE is the greatest changing agent there is."

For some reason I never got a picture of Wendy and Warren....
but I did see a long time family friend who lives in Kerman now.....

Maxine Davies!
She was good friends especially with my Mom. So we had lots of reminiscing to do.
How Mom and Maxine use to work closely in our Primary organization clear back in 1965!
She said Mom was one of her dearest friends, and what she loved most about her was how practical she was.
Yep, that's a good way to describe Mom.

And this little baby sat in front of us. 
He reminded me so much of Jonas at that age, 
that I had to ask his parents if I could take a picture of him.

All I know is his name is Adam, and he has 3 sisters who all dressed themselves for church. 
That would have been quite the picture.
Love it when parents let their kids do that!

But then I also like it when toddlers cut their own hair!
Sort of like what this little girl did.....
but I would have just left it alone...at least for a week or a month or so.
I find it so endearing. Sort of like a toddler's rite of passage.





Drama in the Rozier family

I was so excited about what I found Saturday night, I could hardly sleep.

But first I will explain.

You may remember this picture of my Great Grandmother, Mary Jane Cole Rozier.
She is the mom of my Grandpa Romeo.
Okay, see that little baby she is holding? I'm pretty sure that's her grandson, baby Clair.
He is the son of her daughter, Rowena.

So Rowena was married to a man by the name of Archie Tatton.
Rowena died when baby son Clair was 14 months old.
Why or how she died I haven't figured out yet.
So Mary Jane's daughter, Rowena, is dead 
and she takes over raising baby grandson Clair.

A year or two later (not sure exactly when), Clair's Dad, Archie, shows back up
and says he is getting remarried and wants Clair back. But it's worse than that.
He wants Clair growing up thinking the new wife is his birth Mom.
In order to do this he feels he needs to cut ties with Clair's grandparents and the entire Rozier clan.
Oh and did I mention that the Roziers lived in house after house on a street named after them near Stockton, Rozier Avenue?
They were a very tight group.

So gone is little Clair, leaving Grandma Mary Jane heartbroken, from what I've been told.
The entire Rozier clan, especially all those aunts and uncles living on Rozier Avenue,
must have struggled with this.

Fast forward several years and Clair is in high school.
He just so happens to be attending the same school as Grandpa Romeo's son Irving.
Even though Irving had been born the same month as Clair, he had been told about his cousin....
I'm sure it was the talk within the Roziers for years. So he explains to Clair how he is a Rozier,
and tells him about Clair's Mom, Rowena. What a shocker that must have been!
Clair had a right to know and I'm glad my Uncle Irving had the courage to tell him.
Rowena had a right to be remembered by her son.
After all, it's not like she gave him up for adoption...she died!

So I have wondered about baby Clair for well over a year....
since I first heard about him through my cousin's daughter Kelly,
and also from my distant cousin Meg in Idaho that I recently hooked up with.

What happened to my Great Aunt Rowena's son?
I finally heard through Meg that he had been a school teacher,
and then a principal somewhere in the Stockton, Ca area.
So I thought, okay, he must be in some year book somewhere.
Late Saturday night Elora and I went looking.
Page after page of year books online looking for Clair Tatton and we FOUND him!
1939

See him up there? 3rd picture down on the right. As soon as I spotted his face I thought, 
that's a Rozier if I ever saw one. No denying him! 
He looks some like my Dad and also my son McKay. 
I learned from my cousin Meg that Clair never married and never had children.

So there he is. My Great Aunt Rowena's son!

There's more to this story, what happened after Clair found out he was a Rozier, 
but I will save that for another day. This is long enough for one post!

If you are interested in just where Romeo and Rowena, plus Dollie and Frank 
(that I wrote about on anther day) fit into the Rozier family, 
here's their family sheet in my Mom's writing, back in 1957.


Odd to me now, but growing up these were just names on a sheet of paper. 
Now I think about these people everyday. I even occasionally dream about them. 
I have pictures of all the sisters except for Rowena. She was only 26 when she died. 
But still, her picture must be somewhere!



She would have done anything for her.

We got to have the grandgirl sisters for several hours last Saturday.

Unfortunately Cami was feeling quite sick for the entire time they were here.



Elora would hardly leave her side. I continue to be in awe over her devotion.

When I first started taking the video Elora wasn't even aware. But either way,
it made no difference...she wanted to do whatever she could to comfort her hurting sister.


.


Saturday night Elora casually mentioned that Monday were the school elections
and she would find out if she made it for Student Body President.
As I watched her with her sisters, I thought to myself,
"If that school knows what's good for them, they will get Elora IN."
We found out yesterday she won!

While browsing newspapers online I was surprised to find this...

Read this, and then I will tell you what really happened.

Fresno Bee August 1964

It was a back yard "carnival", and apparently my Grandma called 
our newspaper to tell them about it. 
The Fresno Bee called our house back, 
and John (age 7) just so happened to answer the phone 
so he gave all the info and his name and age, etc. 
Truthfully I don't remember him doing any of the work. 
Maybe, he ran one of the booths.

My Grandma had encouraged me to have a carnival 
to earn money for the Mental Health Association. 
Her best friend's son had a mental illness, and she wanted to help. So I did. 


It was great fun planning and preparing for weeks. 

I made invitations and passed them throughout the neighborhood. 
My siblings and I ran the various booths in our backyard. 
Robin (age 5) sold food through the window in our playhouse.  
Another ran the little Doughboy pool (Robin remembers 
it was 10 cents for 5 laps around our small plastic pool) 
One of my siblings had to stand there and make sure 
they got out of the pool when their 5 laps were over. 


I'm sure my Mom had a huge part in all this too. 
But when you're a little kid, 
adults just seem like they are somewhere in the background. 


Now 50 years later I can't remember all that we sold and did, 

but it was a big deal to us. 
Even Peggy remembers it, and she was only 3! 
Or perhaps this was an annual event for awhile?


I remember begging my parents to call that newspaper 
back up and tell them the truth, but they wouldn't. 
I thought of course the paper would want to know what really happened. 
I thought the media was all about honesty. Imagine that.


Yeah, we looked right about like this.
Starting from the back: Richard, Jill, John, Robin, Peggy

Baby Peggy must have been in the car with Mom...
or maybe she wasn't even born yet.
Richard, Jill, John, Robin
How do like our hair cuts? Don't answer that question. 
That's the only thing my Mom ever failed at in her life...allowing her daughters to look like that.. 

And yes, we all use to squish together in that VW.

Homecoming night in Utah!

Our granddaughter Jessica....Homecoming dance.....
last night in Logan, Utah.



His name is Kendall. That's all I know.

These pictures came in during Sacrament meeting.
It was all I could do not to look at them.
Well okay, I did take a quick look.


I've studied them many times since I got home.
Those two are CUTE, I must say!



And that stunning golden princess dress....who made it?
Our Sweet Jessica. She's as sweet as she is pretty.

And Kris, not to change the subject, 
but what's the name of the chocolate brown paint on your walls?
I quite like it.

My boys grew up with this....and now look who's singing it.

We would often have this song playing in our home back in the 80s and 90s when my sons were growing up.
I had it on a little cassette (along with other similar songs) and it would often be in the car.
So I'd go retrieve it from the car in the morning and bring it in so they could hear it during breakfast before school.
(This is what Moms do who can't sing well)

Then I would pop the song back into the car and drive them to school.
I can still hear their little voices singing along from the back seat.

And now, what do you know.....David Archuleta does it so well....
You've got to hear this....it's gorgeous!



Grandma found their purse!

Today, I found a newspaper article online from Sept 9, 1931 about my Grandma Slinkard.

This was during the depression. My Grandpa was out of work and they were very poor.
They had 3 small children (the youngest being my mother).
Three years later Grandma's brother, his wife and 2 daughters also moved in and stayed for 7 years...
all in a small 2 bedroom house. (The kids slept in the enclosed back porch.)

I never heard this story, but as hard as it must have been to give up the money she found,
I don't think she was even tempted to keep it! I knew my Grandma well.




How sweet of Lula and Vada to call the newspaper and give my Grandma credit.

The picture above was taken the very same year Grandma found the purse.
She's standing behind my mother.

The second longest marriage in the world

....and we got to attend their funeral last Saturday. Since they died just 3 days apart,
he was 101 and she was 100, it was a double funeral.

As the bishop said towards the end of the service,
"Their unique passing was as classy and unique as their lives." 
He said a better script could not have been written for a movie.

This couple married in 1929, a year before my father was even born!
They had been married just 2 months short of 84 years.
Most people don't even live as long as this couple was married!

After we were seated in the chapel, and before the actual service began,
I decided to go look at the display table of their lives out in the foyer.
I saw their ward missionaries coming up the hall, so I asked them if had known this couple.
They both assured me they did, and said
Max and LaVere were both at church up until just a few weeks ago!


 They were both only 17 when they secretly married. Her parents said it would never last.


Here's a little bit from Max's personal biography that was on display:
He wrote this 9 years before they died, so they had only been married 75 years so far....

I think 17 year olds were made differently back then, compared to now.

I love the way their granddaughter told about a time when both her grandparents were about 80.
Her Grandma walked in the room and her Grandpa said, "Isn't your Grandma so beautiful?"

And in case you are interested, here's their joint obituary that appeared in our newspaper:

When Bishop Perkins learned that just 3 days after Max's death, LaVere died also, 
his first split second reaction was, "Isn't that terrible." 
But he quickly changed his mind and said, "Isn't that wonderful!"

We just never know how life will turn out

Many years ago (30?) my first husband's parents, Niada and Bill,
were stranded in the hills of California in their motor home.
Another couple, Vern and Lani, about their age, spotted them and came to their rescue.
Must have been destiny because ever since then the two couples became the best of friends.

Then in April of 2011, my dear father in law passed away in Arizona.
On the very same day, Vern's wife Lani also suddenly died in California.

Niada and Vern were there for each other to comfort and support one another.
They get together often....she flies out to California, or he visits her in Arizona.

This week Vern drove Niada all the way to Portland so she could see her grandchildren,
McKay and Tyler, and their sweet wives and her great grand babies.

I just love this story.

McKay sent me a few pictures from their weekend together.

McKay, his Grandma Niada, and Vern

Grant and Great Grandma Niada

She also got to see her great grandbabies Scarlett and Leo!

They are visiting Tyler and Karen also, so If I should be so lucky to get more pictures, 
I will post them here.

Well what do you know....here comes some more pictures.
Thank you Karen so much for sending them!


Leo looking up at his Great Grandma. 

Oh and there's Richie with Uncle McKay! 
(He loves "Kay" but I think he'd rather be playing with Grant right then.)

Havasupai Falls... Logan's story


Here's Logan's story.  This is a follow up from blog posts written on Sept 7-9. 


"How I Became A Havasupai Refugee
Hello, my name is Logan Heasley and I am a Havasupai refugee. My wife Amy and I backpacked into the Supai village 8 miles on Saturday the 7th of September 2013. We planned on staying there until Thursday the next week. It was a long and challenging hike, yet fairly flat.

As we arrived to the village we found an LDS church. 

We were very surprised since there are no roads that lead into Supai. The only way to get in is by foot, helicopter, or horseback. In fact it is the last place in the United States that still receives its mail by mule. We checked the meeting time and found that the service started at 11:00 am on Sunday. Amy and I were interested in going to the service and were curious as to how many locals would be there. We then hiked another 2 miles to the campgrounds. Those last two miles brought us along the river, which led us to Navajo Falls. Then at the end of the two miles we found the gorgeous and famous Havasupai Falls.

It was a beautiful day and we had great expectations of reasonably good weather. The forecast stated there was a chance of rain but Amy and I were determined to have a great time even if it rained a little. All throughout the river and falls the water is turquoise blue because of the lime mineral in the water. This is what makes the Havasupai region uniquely beautiful. We noticed that the camp was quite busy and full of people. We were concerned whether or not we would find a good campsite. The campgrounds essentially begin when you arrive to Havasupai Falls. The river leads through a tall canyon and there are campsites along both sides of the river. We hiked until we found what we considered to be a gem of a site along the left side of the river on slightly higher ground about 400 yards from the first campsites. It was sort of tucked away and gave us a small sense of privacy.


We were absolutely exhausted but mustered up enough energy to set up our camp (tent, sleeping bags, clothes line, organized our belongings, etc). 

By this time it was around 4pm, we quickly made some chili Mac with beef from Mountain House foods. By the way, Mountain House camp meals were a hit every time. We were so tired that we fell asleep only to wake up around 8pm. We then made dessert inside our tent since it was raining outside. Amy said the banana cream pie was the worst thing she has ever eaten in her life. It wasn't Mountain House, some other brand. I thought it was tolerable and enjoyed it as much as I could. We then fell right back to sleep and didn't wake up until 7am the next day.

Still sticky and dirty from the day before, I was determined to go up to Havasupai Falls and clean up before church. It was a beautiful day with sunny weather. The water was about 70 degrees and it couldn’t have been more perfect. I stood at the bottom of the 100-foot waterfall and let the strong mist penetrate me. It was for sure one of the best showers I have ever experienced. By this time it was 1010am and we had over a two-mile hike ahead of us to the church building.

We quickly left and made it to the church by 1103am. The door was locked but I noticed the light was on. Amy and I thought it best to at least put some pants on since we were going to church so we put them on over our bathing suits. We knocked on the door expecting to see a local Indian but to our surprise it was a white guy dressed for camping like us. He welcomed us in and to our surprise the chapel was filled with a bunch of white people from the campgrounds, some of which we had recognized from the day before.


There was one man in a shirt and tie who was conducting the service. We learned that he was on the high council from Kingman, which is a town about two hours away. He said that someone from the high council commutes in by helicopter every week to conduct the service. He also gave the only talk. 

During the service, one of the local Indian women and two of her children came in and sat down. The high councilman told me later that there are 30-40 members in Supai but their attendance is weak unless one of the tribal leaders tells them to come (who is also LDS). The talk was about conversion and the spirit was very strong. We very much enjoyed our sacrament service in Supai.

Afterwards, we took some pictures and made some quick friends that we didn't expect to really get to know ever again. During the service it began to rain pretty hard. Our sunshine had disappeared and Sunday was quickly turning to a rainy day. 

We noticed that there were instant waterfalls pouring all around the canyon walls. 

The town is inside of a canyon of red rock. We waited outside of the church under the veranda for the rain to calm. Then Amy and I put on our ponchos and attempted to be on our way. 




We found the dirt roads were knee-deep water and difficult to pass. I wasn't deterred until I got about 100 feet down the road and found one section impassable because it was a roaring river. 

So we turned around and went to a little store by the church to enjoy a Klondike bar.

Soon the rain slowed enough and the river road was now a passable stream road and we made it safely to the middle of the town where there is the main store, cafe, and community center. We rested there and talked with some of the other hikers who had just hiked in during the rain. It was then that we learned that there was a family stranded on the trial from a flash flood. They were able to make it to high ground just in time before they were swept away. Another lady named Chris had told us that she was caught by the raging water and was taken under. She said that it was God looking over her because she was able to grab a big knot on a branch that saved her. She hung on for dear life as her friends formed a human chain to pull her to safety. We also heard that there was a train of horses that were killed in the flash flood. We were told there were at least five dead horses on the trial. One of the horses broke its leg and had to be shot in the head to save it from a long death.

Amy and I then started down the trail hoping that our belongings were still somewhat dry. By the time we got down to Havasupai Falls, the water was no longer a beautiful turquoise blue, but a chocolate brown raging river.

 The waterfall was no longer narrow but fairly wide. As soon as we arrived to the campsites we heard a loud horn and saw some of the locals telling everyone to evacuate. We asked if we had time to gather our things and they said yes.

Amy and I hurried down to our camp and began to quickly gather our things. We were packing them into our bags and trying not to waste any time. When we arrived we noticed that the river was higher and were afraid of it getting even higher. As we were packing out stuff, Amy says to me, "Look Logan, behind you!" I turned around and saw that the river had risen so fast within only a couple of minutes. We were only feet from a raging river that had once been the trail. We were now surrounded by water and we were unsure if there was a way out. Had we chosen just one more campsite further, we would have never gotten out.

I told Amy to grab whatever ever she could because we were leaving now. We had to leave behind our tent, sleeping pads, and tarp. The tent was not even disassembled yet. The only way to go was in the thick brush along the canyon wall. We quickly walked about 40 feet through the brush until we came to a narrow 3-foot wide space covered in brush against the canyon wall. Amy said that there was no way to go and that maybe we should just stay there. I was afraid that the river was going to continue to rise and then we would be goners.

I told Amy to take her pack off and set everything down. I got out my buck knife and began cutting a hole in the brush that we could crawl through. I didn't know what was on the other side but I was praying for land. As I made a hole Amy was crying but trying not to let me know, I got to the other side and found water but it was only ankle deep. I told Amy to hand everything to me through the hole that I had created and I ran each item 20 feet away and put it on a rock just big enough for all our gear and out of the river. I kept running back and forth with one item at a time thinking about how thankful I was that we had got in shape for this hike. I thought about the fight or flight response and made a clear decision to fight this one out. There was no way I was being taken out by water.

I told Amy I loved her and not to worry. Once we had our gear on the rock, the ankle deep water was now knee high. Amy crawled through the hole and then we quickly grabbed our stuff and made it to the end of the campground. We were the only ones that were still that far in the campground. We found out later that there were some hikers farther down the canyon at Beaver Falls that we're nearly swept away but were saved by the helicopter. Amy and I then started hiking up the trail and saw that Havasupai Falls was now even wider and more dangerous than it was just less than 45 minutes earlier. 

We knew we weren't safe until we got to the top of Havasupai Falls and crossed the bridge. The locals had feared that the strong current would take out the bridge. Once we crossed the bridge, I gave Amy a kiss and told her we made it.

We walked the rest of the 2 miles back to Supai village to the community center where they were doing an inventory of all the tourists. They offered to let everyone stay inside the community center or pitch a tent on the basketball court for the night. 

This is when I realized I was a refugee and was officially part of a large-scale evacuation for the first time in my life. The huge adrenalin surge that I had experience was now wearing off and I began to feel light headed. My face went pale and I felt very weak. One on our new friends from church, also named Amy gave me some Gatorade to help me feel better.

One of the church members/campers said he had heard from the high councilman where one of the local LDS members lived and that he might have a key to the church so we could stay there for the night. A key was found by way of some smooth and fast talking by Brother Lakes. Sixteen of us pulled into the church and set up camp for the night. 

We had a great time getting to know everyone. 

We had some great conversation and gained a better appreciation for our membership in the gospel. All of our new friends were such great people. I wish I could remember all of their names. Some of them were Brad, Rick, Amy, Penelope Lakes, Karen Lakes, Julianne Jones, Jim, Elise, Dave and more that I wish I could remember. If I have forgotten you, please forgive me. We took many pictures and shared in the bonding experience.

The next day we went down to the community center and waited for a chance to leave the Supai village by helicopter. We debated on whether or not we should hike out or fly out. We were some of the last people to sign up for a helicopter ride out. If they couldn't get us out on Monday then we would have to wait until Thursday for the next helicopter ride out. They advised us not to hike since the trail was severely damaged for the flash floods and there was a chance of floods again that day. Amy had some foot blisters and my tendon in my hip was bothering me, so it didn't seem like a good idea to attempt an 8-mile hike out. We waited and waited for about 150 to 200 people to be flown out ahead of us, 

until finally at 4:30pm we were able to get flown out of Supai and back to our car. 


What took us 4 hours to hike, only took 3 minutes to do in a helicopter.

My grandfather paid for this trip with the conditions that we go somewhere that would be fun, outdoors, adventurous, and memorable. He wanted us to experience something great that he would do if he were physically capable. This trip was all of that and more. Although this tale may seem like a nightmare, it was not that at all. I would not trade this experience for anything. Most people leave saying they saw some pretty waterfalls and went on some cool hikes after visiting Havasupai. But not too many can say they escaped a flash flood, was part of a mass evacuation, and became a refugee. Amy and I vowed to come back to Havasupai to enjoy fully all that it has to offer. Next time we will be bring our 7children and will plan to arrive when it is not monsoon season.

I am very grateful to my generous and loving grandfather who wanted so much for us to attend this adventure. Richard (Dick) Rozier has been an ideal example of how to live an adventurous life to all of his 30 plus grandchildren. All of the married grandchildren (14 couples) received money for the sole purpose of going on an adventure of a lifetime of our choosing. In his honor I am proud to say that we have done this and will continue to seek out new challenges and opportunities that provide memorable, fun, and adventurous experiences. "

 Amy figured out later the reason these bands 
were put on everyone before the hike. 
Enough said about that.
I want to end with a happy picture, 
although I don't know if this was one of the several horses 
who drowned when the flash floods came. 

If any of Logan's cousins would like to share their Grandpa Rozier-inspired-adventures here,
just send me your story, with pictures, if you have them, and I would love to share them here, exactly as you send it.


Postscript:  Tonight (Sept 14th) Logan and Amy went over to Dad and Susan's 
to tell them about their adventure. Jonas (age 4) took the picture!


Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...