Laura Lois Crowther Stratford

I think I have made it clear, through the years, of my admiration, love and devotion for my mother-in-law, Lois. She has been in my life for more than twice as long as she hasn't. I wrote a tribute to her in this blog entitled, Memorable Chit-Chat With Lois. You can click on it "here." 

    

In her last few months of life, her health failed with all of the issues incident of old age. 

Up through age 94, she was the Gold Standard for aging. 

I think, watching from Heaven, she was pleased with her send-off. Each of her loving children picked a quality of hers and spoke of treasured memories. Great-grandchildren played violins, accompanied on the piano by a granddaughter; a great-grandson (our grandson, Josh) played a piano solo, "How Great Thou Art;" and a great-granddaughter beautifully sang the song she requested, "Somewhere, My Love."

She was taken to the cemetery in an ornamental, horse-drawn hearse that is owned by her son-in-law, Glynn, and her daughter, Chyrrl.

Pink balloons, her favorite color, were released in her honor.

Oh, how her huge posterity will miss her! She was bigger than life to each person's life she touched, making him or her feel as if they were her favorite.

Lois with her brother, Lorin

Lois with her only sister, Florence

Goodness radiates from her sweet face!

Lois and Keith, Roger and I and Mom and Dad are at our Wedding Open House in Caldwell

Keith and Lois

One of our cousins all got sweatshirts alike Christmases

Stacy's plan worked!

Lois was famous for her handwork - crocheting, hand-quilting, needle-point, sewing and so much more!

She absolutely adored babies and each grandchild, great-grandchild and great-great felt her adoration and love. She is holding her namesake, Laura Claire.

Many wedding and baby showers through the years for the grandkids and the greats were held at her home.

Stacy invited Keith and Lois to a 49er game in San Francisco when Steve was playing for them and during his glory days. This pic was taken in Steve's apartment.

They accompanied us on a trip to Israel when I sang with the Kay Henninger Singers for Lex De Azevedo's, "Hosanna."

We enjoyed many family dinners together at our home in Ogden

Here are some of the Mother and Son pics through the years.

This was taken at her favorite place for lunch, Chuck-A-Rama, just a couple of week before she died.

Here are a few shots of me with my favorite MIL through the years.

Keith and Lois treated us to a Caribbean Cruise and after Keith died, Lois took us on three trips: a Church history trip back east to New York, Washington, D. C., Vermont and Ohio; a trip to Ko Olina, Hawaii and on an Alaskan cruise.

I have put in a few pics to represent our many family gatherings through the years.

Lois with our three daughters at my Dad's funeral

Grandma and Grandpa came to St. George to support the marathoners.

My daughters, daughter-in-laws and Roger's sisters, Susie and Chyrrl, with Lois.

Here is a sampling of occasions Roger and I were with this Grand Lady.

We shared oh, so many Christmases together.

And we always had a big party to celebrate Lois's birthdays.

This is our last lunch out together. We are at her other favorite place, Pizzaria.

I am eternally grateful that the Lord gave me this choice woman for my mother-in-law.

 

Sam's Ready for Home MTC!

As the expression goes, we've kept the tires hot on the road to Ogden from St. George for months, helping to care for Roger's mom. And we traveled from there to Boise two weekends in a row in August. 

Lois was not doing well when we slipped up to Caldwell for Cindy's dad's funeral for two days, then returned Sunday, and early the next Thursday morning, August 12, she passed away, which I will blog about next with a special tribute. Oh, how we loved her and will miss her!

 

We drove back to Boise Friday morning. We had looked forward to going through a session in the Boise Temple with Sam for him to receive his endowments, and we were so happy we got to do that. And we also were pleased to hear him speak in his ward's Sacrament meeting the next morning. What a fine, fine young man he is! He is full of life, seeking out adventure every chance he gets and he has a golden heart. He doesn't always want you to see that tender heart of his, but it's always been pretty obvious to us! He hopes he will get to go to Cochabamba, Bolivia, which would be a grand adventure, but with Covid, he will first serve in Washington, D. C. He's actually pretty happy with that assignment, too.

We are in back of the Boise Temple after going through a session with Sam.

Stacy flew to Boise from Mesa and Rick and Jodie flew from SLC. My sister, Joan, and her husband, Tom, and daughter, Whitney, also came through the session with us.

Sam's talk was full of his cute personality and he also expressed amazing spirituality and wisdom. After the block, we went to Missy and Jedd's home for a tasty buffet. Dustin, Jedd's only sibling, and his wife, Christine, surprised them by driving up from Malad just for the special day.

Christine, Dustin, Stacy, Rick, Jodie, Pam, Roger, Sam, Claire, Missy, Jedd and Ellie

(Roger and Jedd changed out of their suits before we got a pic!)

Some of Sam's favorite foods were served: pulled pork sandwiches, Smith's baked beans, Jedd's Dutch oven potatoes, Cole slaw, veggies and dip and lots of fresh fruit. And Stacy's yummy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!

We drove back to Ogden Sunday afternoon with Stacy in our back seat, and enjoyed chatting with her on the long drive. She didn't fly back to Mesa because Grandma's funeral was the following Wednesday,  and, as it turned out, she was a real godsend in helping us all prepare for the funeral.

Sam was set apart as a missionary by the Stake President that afternoon, and "entered" into home MTC the next morning. He is working hard to learn Spanish and he really likes the other missionaries assigned in his district on Zoom. We so admire these young men and women who have made that commitment to serve the Lord, made more difficult with Covid. Sam's brother is serving in the Scottsdale mission, also Spanish speaking, and his cousin, Katie, is serving in NYC. All of their attitudes are upbeat and they are tickled to be immersing themselves in service to the Lord.

 

Shakespeare, 7/24 & the New Caldwell

Roger and I grabbed some "day of"tickets to a well-performed musical at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, "Ragtime."

We loved Fred Adams, the founder of the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, and listening to his enthusiastic pre-show discussions through the years. He is missed!

We cooked a big breakfast on the 24th of July, then enjoyed watching the Days of '47 Parade. I've been making homemade pancakes after discovering how much yummier they are compared to the Bisquick ones we have been eating for years!

It's been so great to attend church in person for the last few months instead of watching it on Zoom. We missed seeing our friends - especially the hugs! And it gave me a chance to wear the jacket that my cute daughter, Stacy, sent me as an out of the blue surprise!

Our cute sister-in-law, Cindy, John's wife, lost her daddy the end of July and we decided to drive to Caldwell to attend his funeral.

We stayed in Missy and Jedd's home and we missed seeing them - they were on a family vacation to Couer d'Alene, Idaho. They made us feel so welcome when we arrived - there was a bowl of Roger's fav, M & Ms (their kids call him Grandpa M & M!) and it was sitting atop grandson Anderson's book he just wrote. He had canvassed the neighborhood for advance "investment" from his friends. He made 3 extra copies when he took them around and sold those, too, all for $1!  

Missy's tomatoes just came on and she had previously texted a pic of her BLT. She had all of the fixins' waiting for us when we got there. Delicious tomatoes - yum!

After we met at Clay's viewing, Patty and Hal, Joan and Tom and Roger and I explored Caldwell's amazing renovation and transformation of downtown Caldwell. We missed Kay and Ken. Wow! Indian Creek is uncovered, enhanced and a scenic spot flowing through downtown Caldwell with lovely plantings along its banks. There are creative sculptures, upscale shops and restaurants and a huge plaza with piped music where the big kids were dancing and squirting water from the ground where the little kids were playing. Inspiring!

This Security Police woman was offering rides to any takers on her electric bike. Tom and Roger took her up on it!

We have heard how great the food at this steakhouse is. We've got to return to check it out!

What a lovely funeral it was - all participants were Clay's grandkids. The very best part of it and so worth the drive was seeing John and Cindy's kids and their kids - living in California, Oregon and Idaho Falls. We also saw Caldwellites we grew up with. So fun, all of these years later. Fun to come home again!

This parched summer with floods and Covid continues on, but true respite from it is the gathering with each other, reaching out to each other, despite the difficulties.