Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom

Sixty seven years ago today George and Helen Ellsworth were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple.

They met when a mutual friend told a recently-returned-missionary George that there was this cute girl working at Johnson's Drive-In that George had to meet. The cute car hop in her white satin capri pants came to see what they wanted. George appreciated the view as young Helen bounced off to fill their order. When she came back she was flustered and spilled the entire tray of Root Beer and Hamburgers in George's lap. George went home, changed his clothes and quickly returned to the Drive-In. He went home that night and told his younger brother, Joe, "I've met the girl I'm going to marry."

After dating a short time George bought Helen a beautiful cedar chest for her birthday. She was the only woman he had ever kissed. One evening he looked into her eyes and said, "I'd like you to be the mother of my children."



They stood under a grapefruit tree during their reception at Frank and Annie Ellsworth's home, Helen's new in laws. As they left their reception at her new in-laws home they ran through the citrus orchard and Helen got a tear in her veil. She never repaired it. Just a few years ago Helen was in Mesa. The neighborhood has changed but the grapefruit tree was still there.



Helen and George lived through World War II. They had seven children, losing two at birth. Their family, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, numbers more than 140.

Daddy passed away from us on January 26, 2003 but today is his 67th wedding anniversary. The greatest thing he ever did for me was to love my Mother.

Snap Out of It!

I have a hard time coming up with things to write every week and, sadly, I've got the blues. The second computer is still having internet troubles (so tired of IT difficulties) and we're all trying to share time on Helen's. I finally got a turn! Here's a brief overview of my mundane existence:

1. Lots of rain. Upside? Everything is green and growing. Downside? Lots of mud to watch out for on Charlie's paws when he runs in and out.

2. Getting ready for camp. It's down to crunch time, only two weeks left. Time to find all the equipment, make sure everyone has their forms filled out and, gulp, make sure we have enough room to take everything and everyone up into the mountains.

3. Keeping things going. Trying to motivate myself is hard lately.

4. Worry and stress... I feel great about Chris in Maine (no worry). Allison and Emily have stellar grades and are anticipating their mother looking into insurance and taking them to get their driving licenses (stress). I'm so sad about Michael (worry and stress). He's tried everything to get a job (hasn't he, Marianne?) and still no luck. He's really down about it and worried about how to continue school. Sadly our unemployment woes have followed us and our credit took a hit so we can't even cosign for a loan. I hate not being able to help him!

Not the happiest post I've written but I'm trying to look for a silver lining in all the thunderclouds we're under (figuratively and literally). The quote "most people lead lives of quiet desperation" keeps running through my mind and I'm trying to banish it! I have so many blessing to be grateful for and I need to snap out of it!