Back Again

This blog post is a day late, but it's looking remarkably like last week's post.  Here Sue is sitting in the Salt Lake airport writing it.  But this time we are waiting to get on the flight back to St. Petersburg.  We have loved our week home with so much family and many other loved-ones.  But we are also anxious to get back to St. Petersburg and continue the good work there.  We have a four-hour layover in Denver, so this may be long.....

Model of the Passive Solar Home

Sue and her two sisters, Carol and Louise, spent the entire week from early morning to late night cleaning out Mom's house.  Our Mom had a wonderful home that was designed by our stepfather, Wilford Knights, who was the architect for ZCMI Department stores for 30+ years.  It is a passive solar envelope house done in Danish modern style.  Mom loved that it had so much good storage space.  But we were cursing that it had so much good storage space!  Neither Mom nor Wil were inclined to throw away anything that might have some future use or any relation to family history, or anyone else's history.

Leona and Tim Schmalbeck at her baptism
February 3, 2018
Lehi, Utah 15th Ward

Originally we had planned to fly to the USA last Saturday, but luckily Sue was talking to our foster-son, Tim, about the schedule.  He told us his daughter, Leona, was getting baptized on Saturday!  We couldn't arrive just six hours late for that, so we came to Utah a day earlier and were able to be there on this very special occasion for a wonderful granddaughter.  











On Sunday we went to Mom's ward for church.  So many people expressed their love for her!  She had attended that church for 35 years.  

The first ten boxes going to Rachel's

Then Sue, Carol and Louise spent five straight days cleaning out every closet, drawer, cupboard, file cabinet, office, attic, basement and garage space we could find.  We had three different piles:  keep, DI, trash.  [DI is Deseret Industries, the Utah equivalent of Goodwill.]  The "keep" pile went two ways.  Sue kept all the photos and family history stuff.  Other good things were saved for the grandchildren to take.  Sue has asked Rachel to store 'a couple' of boxes until we get back from Russia.  It turned out to be 14!  One box is things to keep--a large nativity from Austria, some photos, a sweater, a silver tray.  The other 13 boxes are about 1/3 of the family history stuff that Mom had.  Sue threw out anything that she knew was already online.  When we return from Russia it will be a big project to go through all the boxes page-by-page and either scan to save on FamilySearch and then throw away, or just throw away.

Kathy Allen Bright, cousin Juan Munk, Ken

It's a good thing that senior missionaries don't have to stay together all the time!  Ken took off for a couple of days and went up to Cache Valley and Idaho to visit with his family.  His sister, Kathy, returned in November from a mission in Hawaii.  She lives in Lewiston, Utah.  (Also home to our St. Petersburg volunteer, Elder Derik Jensen.)





  

 Uncle Ross Allen, Aunt Maureen, and Ken's brother Scott, with Ken.  Ken had to go to see them at the beginning of the week, because Ross (age 89) and Maureen were leaving for a month or so in Hawaii on Thursday.  Ross was one of the founding faculty at BYU Hawaii in the 1950's.  They try to go back every year.

Scott had just bought himself a house in Malad, Idaho.  He was 'house sitting' for Kathy while she was on her mission in Hawaii, so now he is glad to have his own place, and Ken was glad to go see it.

Thursday night we were blessed to have dinner with dear friends from our St. Petersburg Mission.  Tom and Sheryl Roberts came down the mountain from Park City.  President and Sister Childs came up from Provo, and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner together.  They are all  happy and healthy and missing St. Petersburg, of course.  

On Friday night the eleven grandkids and spouses (but no great grandkids, of which there are tons of little ones) were invited for order-in pizza dinner and 'shopping.'  Mom had wanted everyone to take at least one silver tray.  Besides that, there were kitchen cupboards full of baking items, bowls, dishes, etc.  And lots of costume jewelry.  In the basement we'd left a big pile of several dozen baskets of various sizes, a bunch of brass bowls, lanterns, and trays, and shelves of glass and ceramic vases.  

Mom had been a part-time professional caterer for many years, and she had a collection of silver serving dishes that filled both the dining room and kitchen tables.  This is what the dining table looked like after everyone had taken away what they wanted.  It is all silver plate, so not worth much monetarily, but worth a lot in memories of Mom and all the great parties she would throw.  Never paper plates at Mom's house! 

It was a very fun evening as we talked and laughed about Grandma Knights and her life and love of family.  We wish we had taken photos of Carlie wearing the white pleated ball gown, and Emily in the full-length mink coat that Mom had bought at some charity auction.  Emily lives in Alaska and is the only grandchild who might actually wear the coat!  I don't remember Mom ever wearing it.  [And a bit of news for the SPB mission crowd.  Our predecessors in the office, the Hintzes, are in Emily's stake.  He was just called as a Bishop, replacing his son-in-law, the former Bishop.]

Saturday was Mom's Memorial Service at Holladay Third Ward.  It was a beautiful time, with many kind words about Mom.  She loved and served so many people.  Louise is a talented floral arranger (as was Mom) and made this beautiful spray for the memorial.  Orange and green were Mom's favorite colors, and these orange roses were stunning.

Mom had already planned her whole service, and written her obituary.  She was always organized. One of her requests was that the great-grandchildren sing "Families Can Be Together Forever."  Emily didn't bring her children from Alaska, and there are a couple too young to sing, but here are the rest.  A beautiful group!

Louise, Sue and Carol at Mom's grave

After the service we all went to the cemetery to dedicate the grave.  It had been snowing lightly when we woke up in the morning, but by noon the sun was out.  









We all went back to the church to a great lunch prepared by the Holladay Third Ward Relief Society.  They are a wonderful bunch of women who all love Mom.  We stayed there for a couple of hours, visiting with all the cousins and family.  Mom's sister, Doris June Harker, (age 89 and going strong) came up from Springville with her children Alan and Nancy, and her daughter, Janice, came from California.  Mom's brother, Doug, died 20 years ago at age 80, but two of his sons, Mark and Mike Miner, came from Arizona and California.  Her other sister, Barbara Beckett, is 95 years old and felt it was too hard for her to come.  [She's stopped playing golf a couple of years ago, but still plays Bridge regularly.]  Mom has several 'adopted' daughters.  Dianne Rime came from SoCal, and Lisa Stephens came from Washington State.  And lots of others from around Salt Lake and Utah valleys. 

Then we and our children went to Rachel's to hang out for awhile.  We loved all this time with so much family and dear friends.

Sunday morning we had to get up and leave.  That was the hard part.  By the time we come back another family will be living in Mom & Wil's home.  We hope they love it as much and have as many wonderful family times there.