Kelly is the mother of 5 adorable kids--4 boys and a girl. The girl came in a package with a boy (twins).
Kelly is married to a charming young man who lives and breathes computers. They are also guardians for three nieces and a nephew.
She is active in the community having served as PTA President of a local elementary school,
on the board of the Salt Lake Mothers of Twins, as a district round-table trainer with the Cub Scouts, as a volunteer for Sidelines (a support network for Women on bed rest during pregnancy) and she and her husband are active in the LDS Church.
Salt Lake LDS Temple Centennial with a full 3D model of the building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.
This Single Image Stereogram was done at the 100 year anniversary of the building's completion.
"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer,
who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea,
his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to
drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation,
a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."
In the late 1987 I was introduced to a little red-haired orphan named Anne Shirley when PBS aired the new movie Anne of Green Gables. I liked the story, but something came up to prevent me from viewing the movie in its entirety.
Some years later it was re-aired as a promotional tool to raise funds for PBS. This time I saw it from beginning to end. This time I was hooked on the story. I wished there was more.
Not too long after this I learned that this movie was based on books written by LM Montgomery. In the early 90s I received the entire set of books about Anne. I read the whole set of 8 books in a little over a week. Like many good books that are turned into movies I found that there was a much better story told through the written pages than is portrayed on screen.
A few years later I reread the series. This time I could not put the story to rest. There were parts of the story that I felt were left out. In order to get the "fill-in" stuff out of my head I wrote, what I later learned, was fan-fiction.
I am now a huge fan of LM Montgomery. I have read other books she wrote beyond the Anne series. These include: Kilmeny of the Orchard, The Story Girl, The Golden Road, the Emily series, The Blue Castle, and various short story collections that have come to my attention. I have yet to read everything that she wrote, but give me time.
I write about this now because the story of Anne Shirley was first published 100 years ago in 1908. The author, LM (Maud Montgomery) hailed from Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. After writing the first two books she intended to leave the story there. But fans of the books clamored for more. The subsequent 6 books in the series were written here and there with a couple of the stories written out of chronological order. People simply wanted to know what happened between times.
"Cavendish is, to a large extent, Avonlea," Montgomery wrote in 1911. "Green Gables was drawn from David Macneill's house, though not so much the house itself as the situation and scenery, and the truth of my description of it is attested by the fact that everyone has recognized it." Montgomery's home is no longer standing, but the restored Macneill farmhouse, now known as Green Gables, has become part of a national park and draws thousands of visitors each year. That alone is testament to Anne's power to move the human spirit. "When the book was first launched, it was promoted as a book that drives away the blues," said Gammell. "It is uplifting, it does make you feel good." Carma Wadley, Deseret News, September 2, 2008
Huzzah to Anne and to the lady who created her, Lucy Maud Montgomery!!
In the early spring of 1988 we (two LDS missionaries) were on our way to an appointment in Amelia County, Virginia when we noticed a plaque next to a house on the side of the road. In the background was a lone cannon. This kind of thing was not uncommon as I had seen many Civil War and Revolutionary War era sites over the previous months. This was, afterall, Virginia.
We got out of the car to see what the plaque said. It read:
Battle of Sailor's (Sayler's) Creek
This is the Hillsman house, used by the Unionists as a Hospital in the engagement of April 6, 1865. From the west side of the creek the Confederates charged and broke through the Union infantry. But were stopped by the batteries along the hillside here. A mass surrender followed, including a Corps Commander, Gen. R.S. Ewell, several other Generals, many Colonels, about 7000 rank and file and several hundred wagons. It was the largest unstipulated surrender of the war. (over)
The other side said:
At the same time another engagement took place two miles north, on the main Sailor's (Sayler's) Creek, where Gen. John B. Gordon repulsed pursuing Union troops. He lost most of his wagons but saved the majority of his men. At this same time Gen. Robert E. Lee was tretreating from Petersburg toward Danville, closely followed by Gen. Grant. Lee lost half of his troops in these two memorable rearguard actions, which foreshadowed the surrender at Appomattox three days later.
Though it did not give the exact casualty count, I knew that it was no small number of men (young men, mind you) who had lost their lives on that spot of ground adjacent to the Hillsman house. The reality of what this piece of land, in the middle of rural Virginia, meant sunk into me. The Civil War was no longer just something found in high school text books. Real men lost their lives in that war. Real families lost their sons, fathers, and brothers.
Less than one month later, as I was moving from Farmville, Virginia to Roanoke, we stopped by the McLean House in Appomattox, CH. This was the culmination of the events that were set in motion on April 6, 1865 on a rural plot of ground in the middle of Virginia.
That was the beginning of my quest to learn all I could about that piece of history.
On the first day of the 10th grade I sat in Mr. Walker's College Algebra class for the first time. As the year went on I learned that this teacher was no ordinary math teacher.
Jim Walker was a tall gray-haired man who walked with a slight limp. He almost always wore a white lab coat while teaching. He said he was a full time sheep farmer and a part time teacher--though he taught full time. He hailed from a fairly unknown small town in the southwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley. But this is not what made this teacher stand out among the others.
He stood out among other teachers due to his enthusiasm for teaching math.
That first year I got a taste of this enthusiasm as we solved polynomials and memorized digits of pi (at least the first 5 or 6 digits) and learned the quadradic equation. Interwoven into our lessons on the Pythagorean theorem we learned more about who Pythagoras was. We learned about how Pi (3.14159265...) came to be defined. As his students we made it a goal to calculate the digits of pi out 100 digits.
In 11th grade my schedule would not accomodate the regular trig/analytic Geometry class so I found myself (along with 2 others students) in an independent study math class held in Mr. Walker's class room during his off hour. I barely passed math that year. But, oh, we still had fun with Mr. Walker.
On occasion he would ask us to run down the hall to the vending machine to get him a Coke or some other soft drink. The first time he asked us to go we gladly took the opportunity to escape the classroom for a few minutes. On the way back that Coke was tossed and rolled and otherwise well-shaken.
On this particular occasion he was onto us. He deduced what we had done and tapped the top of his soda to lessen the severity of any explosion that might occur due to our little "shake-up."
A few weeks later the same request was made. Again, we all jumped at the chance to get out of class for a few. And again, that Coke was tossed and rolled. But this time, due to being obsorbed by correcting Calculus examination papers, he paid little attention to the abuse to which we had subjected that aluminum can.
Needless to say, the Calculus students found a sugary substance on their corrected math tests the next day.
But all this was still only a taste of what this teacher was about. My senior year found me in Mr. Walker's Calculus class. There were 16 of us in his class that year-- 8 boys and 8 girls. This was a class we could get college credit for if we took a test at the end of the year and passed it.
Though I struggled to wrap my brain around that daunting subject, I thorougly enjoyed the class. Though there were days when I really didn't like doing calculus, I always loved going to Mr. Walker's class. I probably paid more attention to his lessons because I enjoyed the class than I would have if I had dreaded going to that class.
As the final advanced placement examination loomed, Mr. Walker gave up a Saturday or two so that we could have a couple study sessions. These were times where we could cram our hearts out with the benefit of having the teacher there to answer questions or review a difficult problem. Perhaps it was the pizza he provided or the real need to study for the exam, but nearly every student was there for those study sessions.
In late summer 2001 Jim Walker succomed to cancer. I attended his funeral. In 2004, just before Christmas, I moved to that small town in the southwest corner of the Salt Lake Valley that was home to the teacher I remember best.
Mr. Walker's home town is not so small any more and his legacy lives in his son who sits on the city council in this once small town. NOTE: Jim Walker's son is no longer on the city council, but his daughter in law now teaches math at Herriman High School. Right here in our not so small town.
Since the passing of LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley I have read many articles and seen many pictures in tribute to this great man. But today I listened to a tribute that brought tears to my eyes. I share that with you now.
I wish I had had the opportunity to shake President Hinckley's hand as well though I did get some pictures of him. I was attending a Relief Society (LDS Women's organization) Conference in the LDS Conference Center when I remembered I had my camera in my purse. I pulled it out in time to capture this cherished picture.
Gordon B. Hinckley was indeed an influence for good in my own life.
On January 27, 2008 Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died at the age of 97. As members of that church we had expected he would not be with us much longer. At each LDS General Conference we wondered if this would be his last. In April 2007 he said, in one of his addresses:
"My beloved brothers and sisters, I am pleased with the opportunity to speak to you. I thank each of you for your prayers in my behalf. I am so very deeply grateful to you. In my 49 years as a General Authority, I have spoken well over 200 times in general conference. I am now in my 97th year. The wind is blowing, and I feel like the last leaf on the tree.
Actually my health is quite good, despite all the rumors to the contrary. Skillful doctors and nurses keep me on the right track. Some of you may go before I do. However, with my age in mind, I wish to give you my testimony of the basic truths of this work."
The following Conference in October, 2007 he said:
"We look forward to seeing you again next April. I’m 97, but I hope I’m going to make it."
In June 2004 President Hinckley was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush. He was among a handful of others to recieve such honor that year. Others receiving this honor in 2004 include: Other 2004 honorees include journalist Robert Bartley, politician Edward Brooke, historian Vartan Gregorian, National Geographic Society Chairman Gilbert Grosvenor, cosmetics mogul Estee Lauder, actress Rita Moreno, ophthalmology researcher Arnall Patz, journalist Norman Podhoretz and economist and banker Walter Writon as well as actress Doris Day, golfer Arnold Palmer, Pope John Paul II .
"As the 15th president of the Church, leader of more than 12 million members, Gordon B. Hinckley met and greeted heads of state abroad or at home. And he ventured where no other church president had, on the national media scene.
'Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" said he asked, "President Hinckley, would you, is it conceivable that you might be persuaded to do a profile for 60 Minutes, of yourself? He said, 'I see no reason why not, Mike.'" 'A couple of years later he was the guest on "Larry King Live."
'"We never speak negatively of other churches. We say to people, you bring all the good that you have and let us see if we can add to it," President Hinckley said." KSL.com
I will miss our dear Prophet. Through the years of his service to the LDS Church I join millions who have grown to love and admire this man of God. We will also miss him greatly. But he has been reunited with his dear wife, Marjorie Hinckley.
I recently sat down to read a book that was highly recommended by a good friend. I don't know that I would have ever picked this book to read, myself, but as it was given to me I felt I ought to read it.
The book I am talking about is Give Us This Day by Sidney Stewart. It is the true story of a survivor of the Bataan Death March.
It took me a couple days to get past the first page or two, but then I was drawn in with a vengeance. It took the better part of a day to read the remainder of the book. I could not put it down. But OH how I cried!
I was warned that it was a hard read. It is most definitely NOT for the faint of heart. The night after I read it I could not sleep. My mind simply would not be quiet. It had too much to talk about and discuss with me.
It is an incredible story. I was profoundly moved by the underlying story of faith that carried this man through this horrendous experience.
Thank you, jb, it was/is a really good book!
"Sometimes, son, men know not what they do. They cannot help sometimes when they lose faith in themselves, sometimes even in God. But God is just. Your God is a just God."
---Father Cummings
Suddenly I felt stronger again. I reached over and touched [my friend's] body. It was growing cold now. I looked down at his face. It was strange to me that I had not noticed how very thin he had become, how sunken his cheeks were. He had suffered, he had wanted to live. He had been good, always kind and good. I looked up, closing my eyes, and I could feel God about me. I knew that God forgave him.
Christ's own words came to me like whisper:
'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me!'
All at once I knew that God had taken [him] home. God was good. ----excerpts from Give Us This Day
Whether I support Romney or not for President, this here tells me a lot about his character...his convictions. He is not going to back away from something that he strongly believes in just to get elected.
(KSL News) Last night [June 5th] the Republican presidential candidates squared off for their second debate.
And, as has happened in the past, Mitt Romney had to defend his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"I also believe there are some pundits out there that are hoping I'll distance myself from my church, so that it will help me politically. That's not going to happen," he said.
Romney got a solid round of applause after making that statement.
There are far greater things than being President of the United States.
With all the talk of blame we have been hearing regarding the massacre at Va Tech I was encouraged by the story of Professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, sacrificed his own life for those of his students. (Monday, April 16, 2007, was Holocaust Remembrance Day.)
As Jews worldwide honored on Monday the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, a 76-year-old survivor sacrificed his life to save his students in Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech College that left 33 dead and over two dozen wounded. Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the man attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio. More of the story...
This man, who was a living memory of the horror of the Holocaust, is now a hero to many of those who survived Monday's tragedy at Va Tech.
We should take care not to place blame on those who have come to this country from other parts of the world. Yes, the gunman was a foreigner, but so was one of the heros.
On May 13, 1857 my husband's 3rd Great Grandfather, Parley Parker Pratt, was killed near Van Buren, Arkansas.
While on his mission, Parley sensed his approaching death. He wrote home, “I long to do my duty while here and then go to rest in the paradise of God.” Indeed, Parley stated, “I neither dread nor fear death, but I anticipate changing worlds with joy inexhaustible.” In May 1857, shortly after his 50th birthday, Parley was murdered outside the small town of Van Buren, Arkansas.
As he lay dying, Parley testified to those who had come to help: “I die a firm believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. … I know that the Gospel is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God, I am dying a martyr to the faith.”
Many things, both good and ill have been written about Parley Pratt. But there is no doubt that he was not an ordinary man. His legacy lives to this day.
In the mountains to the east of Salt Lake City there is a canyon that bears his name. I-80 East from the Salt Lake Valley climbs through this Parley's Canyon.
"The transportation story of Parleys Canyon is one of development by phases, in which one mode of transportation improves on, or replaces, another. The most recent phase is today's high-speed six-lane limited access freeway which is Interstate 80; but it all began with Parley Parker Pratt's initial exploration of the entire canyon in June 1848." Utah Rails.Net
In November 1849, after suspending work on his road for a season, Pratt was called to head an exploring company of fifty men to southern Utah and to counsel Brigham Young on promising areas for new settlements. Pratt gave to the legislative assembly optimistic forecasts for settling the present sites of Richfield, Marysvale, Parowan, Cedar City, Washington, Santa Clara, Mountain Meadow, Beaver, and Payson. His company brought back samples of iron ore, coal, and other minerals. He provided specific information on weather, soil conditions, water, forestation, and other topographical conditions.
He opened his toll road in 1850, and during its first season of operation collected $1,500 from California-bound gold seekers and others. He left for a mission to Chile the following year, and the road largely fell into disuse. Today, what was then the "Golden Pass Road" is the Interstate 80 freeway through Parleys Canyon, a major scenic route into the valley, and one that services numerous communities east of Salt Lake City. http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/p/PRATT,PARLEY.html
He was a poet, song writer. Seven of his songs are currently included in the LDS Hymn Book.
In the old historic Nauvoo, Illinois there is a street bearing his name. It was along this street which runs west to east toward the Mississippi River that most of the early Mormons last saw their beautiful town. Parley's Street became known as the Trails of Tears (later to be renamed the Trail of Faith). As the Mormons were being driven from their homes in February 1846 they followed this road to the River and on to the west.
Parley Pratt, in his short 50 years, would cross the oceans six times. "Parley provided crucial leadership in the trek to the Salt Lake Valley and in the early exploration of Utah. During the winter of 1849–50, he led a 50-man expedition to investigate possible settlement sites and natural resources in southern Utah. In the 1850s Parley traveled twice to California as president over a mission to “all the islands and coasts of the Pacific.”
In 1851 he sailed from gold rush San Francisco to Valparaiso, Chile, along with his wife and another missionary, making the trio the first missionaries to South America. Unfortunately, civil unrest, restrictive laws against non-Catholic religions, struggles with the language, the death of an infant son, and lack of adequate funds cut short this early effort." The Extraordinary Life of Parley P. Pratt
A Note: Two of his descendents have run for President of the United States. George Romney was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968, losing to Richard Nixon and his son Mitt Romney who is currently in the running for the same nomination.
An ordinary person did an extra ordinary thing--Ken Hammond
Ogden Police Officer, Ken Hammond, didn't wake up February 12th thinking, "I am going to be a hero today." None of us do, but Ken stepped into that roll before the day was over and probably saved countless lives.
Phelonius commented in a previous entry,
"May I go off topic? You have a guy there in Utah that is a hero now, and I am talking about Ken Hammond. Off-Duty cop who had the wherewithal to have his service revolver and a wheelbarrow worth of huevos handy when that Bosnian loser let loose with a shoulder cannon in a mall. Now...on to "Politicians Say the Silliest Things":
Quote:
“Thank goodness he was there,” said Greiner, who is also a state senator. “You don’t want to ever say it’s good we were there and killed somebody, but it’s probably good someone was there.”Probably good? Probably? The guy is a hero and the Police Chief and Senator says "well, perhaps it is good somebody just happened to be there..."
Wow, is the best response I can come up with.....just.....wow."
"The Ogden off-duty officer involved...... has been identified as Ken Hammond, a six-year veteran of the department. He was scheduled to appear at a press conference Tuesday night.
His chief, Jon Greiner, said the officer is "a very level-headed traffic officer. He's just a good, all-around officer. Does his job."
Hammond was involved in a shootout in the crowded mall that eventually left Talovic, a Bosnian refugee from Salt Lake City, dead.
Greiner said a "significant number" of Ogden police officers carry weapons off-duty. In fact, Greiner said, the wife of the officer involved in the shooting has a concealed weapon permit.
Police identified the mall's shooting victims — five who died and four others recovering from injuries in area hospitals. Killed were: • Teresa Ellis, 29. • Brad Frantz, 25. • Kirsten Hinckley, 15. • Vanessa Quinn, 29. • Jeffery Walker, 53. Wounded and hospitalized are: • Carolyn Tuft, 43, (the mother of Kirsten Hinckley). • Shawn Munns, 34. • Stacy Hanson, 53. • Alan "A.J." Walker, 16, (the son of Jeffery Walker)."
In 1995 the space shuttle Discovery made a visit to Salt Lake City, Utah. I took my youngsters to this once in a life time event. So, when I learned that it was this very space shuttle that took our great country back into space for the first time since the Columbia disaster I cheered.
But then I thought more about how apropo the name Discovery is in the context of a letter I wrote to the editor shortly after the demise of Columbia.
Here is a copy of that letter:
This is what it says:
As I have contemplated the impact of the space shuttle Columbia's demise and the subsequent heightened arguments for the end of such missions I am reminded of one man whose name Columbia honors--Christopher Columbus.
Columbus lived in a day when the Atlantic Ocean was much like space is to us. Venturing into that vast ocean was an expensive undertaking and was no less risky than a ride on a shuttle into space. Columbus and his contemporary explorers set out to find the unknown. Many lost their lives. But they did not give up. Neither should we.
In honor of Columbia and Christopher Columbus, we shall rise to the occasion and never give up.
Kelly (February 2003: Deseret News Editorial page)
I add to those words I penned at that time..."and just as Christopher Columbus and his contemporaries did we will set sail on a voyage of discovery on the space shuttle Discovery.
And in the words of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin speaking of the July 4, 2006 launch:
