It's Party Time!!!

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Please click on the blue link above that says "View Larger Map" to see better directions. The Park is located in Riverton Utah, (yes that is a change to what we said earlier). It is located on 12400 South and 1000 West. You will turn east on 12400 south into a neighborhood, once you are on 12400 south, just follow it all the way back, and you will dead end into the park's parking lot! I tried to show that you will get off on the 12300 south exit from I-15, the same exit you take to go to Grandma and Grandpa's, only you turn west instead of east off the exit.

And here are the updates!

Our contribution to the June family newsletter will consist of a historical review of Grandpa’s high school years. Gerald Allen Wilkinson lived in Navco, Alabama (a suburb of Mobile) with his parents, sister and brother when he attended Murphy High School from 1943 to 1947. You may recall that the United States’ active involvement in World War 2 was between 1941 and 1945. His high school years were from the middle of to shortly after the end of this war. Some veterans enrolled in high school after 1945. Murphy High was located about ten miles from Navco and there were no public school buses available, so transportation to high school each day was by car-pooling with other Navco students.
Murphy High was the only public high school in Mobile at that time. There was, however, both a Catholic high school as well as a private high school in the city both with a sizable enrollment. All three of these schools were segregated (whites only) and I suppose there was a colored high school but I don’t recall anything concerning it. Segregation was in full swing at this time but wasn’t an issue with either the white or black population. Mobile has a strong Spanish heritage and this is reflected in the architecture of Murphy High buildings. Admiral Pineda, a Spaniard, discovered Mobile Bay in 1519. The Spanish failed in their colonizing efforts of Mobile but the French succeeded in 1711. Mobile became an English colony in 1763 after the French and Indian War. The Spaniards reclaimed the city in 1780 and held it until the United States acquired it in 1813 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Gerald enjoyed his time at Murphy even though he was a small fish in a large pond. There were about 700 in the 1947 senior class and over 3000 total students. Interestingly enough, there were only about 6 or 7 LDS students in the entire student body. Mobile had an LDS Branch of less than 150 members with an average attendance at church meetings of 50-60. Gerald graduated, with honors, May 29, 1947 and left with his family the next day headed to Utah.

Grandpa & Grandpa

Ron & Maud Mary Family:

Hello family, this is Anne. Mom is recovering from surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and to shave off some bone spurs. She started writing this email but it was taking her a long time so I took over. She had surgery on Tuesday the 20th of May. Grandma brought us dinner. It was delicious. Then the relief society president brought us cookies. They were fabulous. Mom is feeling much better. The first couple days were a little rough and she took a lot of pain killers. It was kind of entertaining. She has been sleeping in the recliner in the living room and Karen has been sleeping in there also to keep an eye on her. She is doing much better now though. She has been up and back to her old self except for the fact that she can't really use her left arm. She will be in a sling for about 6 weeks and she is doing some physical therapy.

Dad is doing great. He has been trying to keep up with work and church stuff. He loves having Karen home to tease. He is excited to go to Idaho and we are hoping to get the Internet to work up there so he can come and visit us more often. For those who might not know we are getting ready to go spend time at the Westover Ranch this summer. For anyone who hasn't been there in a while you should come up and see us. It is kind of fun.

In Brent and Melissa's family you have already heard the best news. Elf is going to officially become part of our family on July 16th. Then on August 9th, it will become officially forever. He is such a fun little guy. Bear and Bug are doing well. They are busy playing outside with their friends and tending the garden. Bear is excited to be out for summer vacation and Bug is excited to go to Idaho. Bug graduated from preschool and is ready for kindergarten. Bear is taking care of Eric's chickens while their family is on vacation. It has been an adventure. Brent and Melissa are also doing well. They have been going to classes for the adoption and they have passed their background checks. Woo Hoo!

As I said earlier Eric and Shannon and their family went on vacation. They went to Nebraska to visit Shannon's sister. Eric has been working on his garden. It is huge. Shannon has become a bee charmer. She looks very cute in her bee costume. Emma is getting ready to start kindergarten. Dallin is still catching all the chickens. Lizzy is up and walking around. She has become a little tornado and she chases the chickens (the chickens usually out run her).

As for me, I have moved out of the house I was renting with my roommates. I am hoping to buy a house in the fall. Since I spend most of the summer in Idaho I decided it would save me a ton of money if I didn't have to pay rentor utilities. My roommates found another girl to take my spot. Her name is Annie. We thought it was kind of funny. Anyways, most of my stuff is in the garage. Oh yeah, we also fixed up mom's garage for her. We built shelves and painted/sealed the floor. We got the walls and ceiling painted too. Well, I should say half painted. We got half of it done then mom had her surgery. We are hoping to get it finished in the fall. But now that the garage is all nice and pretty I stuffed all my belongings and furniture into that half of the garage. Grandpa saw it before we filled it up. He can tell you how pretty it is. So, anyways, if you know of any cheap houses in Davis County that I could buy, let me know. I can't wait for school to get out. As of tonight (which is May 28th) I only have 2 days of school left. Hopefully I can survive.

Karen is doing great. She finished the semester at Utah State. Now she is at home and is being all crafty. She is glad to be away from weird roommates. She stole my book The Host which I bought when it first came out. She says it is a great book and she is enjoying it. She has been very helpful to mom. The physical therapist showed her how to do some exercises with mom and so she has been making mom do her exercises.

Amy has been working hard on making rugs. She loves this new craft. She is pretty good at it. She has discovered the kits don't always have enough yarn in them so she is often trying to match colors, which can be difficult. Amy is excited to go to Idaho and to mow the lawn. She has been extra nice to her dad since father's day is coming up (wink, wink).

Niki is also busy helping out with the house. Because mom has only one good arm Niki has become the resident chef. She is actually a really good cook. She makes lots of different things. She is going to take the summer off of work and be our cook up in Idaho. She is going to interview for a job working as a teacher's aide tomorrow. Hopefully it will work out for her.She is excited to spend the summer with her favorite sister (I'm not tellingwhich of us is her favorite sister).

Brent Melissa & Boys:

We are doing well and are so excited for summer! Bear just finished 2nd grade and is looking forward to kids club starting. Bug graduated from pre-school and will start a summer kindergarten program next week. Bear and Bug are playing baseball and loving it! Elf is trying to walk, he wants to keep up with his brothers, when he isn’t playing in the dog food or dumping whatever he can onto the floor! In all our spare time we are enjoying the warm weather!

We are looking forward to the family party at the end of the month!

Dan & Verna Family:

The Higbee family is doing well. We just expanded our family to include 12 year old KuRanda. We don't know how long she will be with us, but so far so good. She is a real trooper and we love having her. Lacie is now officially out of foster care but living with us as a renter. We are thrilled with that. She graduated as an honor student from Emery High School and Tanya and Courtney graduated from San Rafael Jr. High.

Sunday, June 1 Davey will be ordained to the Priesthood and become a deacon. We are so proud of him.

John and Liz believe they have sold their video game store and are now ready for bigger and better things.

Brandon, Suzanne & Keaton:

The month of May has left us quickly. Brandon has been busy helping people move and working on the yard. In May, Suzanne had to have a 2nd set of Cortisone shots for her back (it has caused her pain since Keaton's birth). Even with side effects from the shots, Suzanne and Keaton are enjoying spending time with our next door neighbors. We just got back Friday from our yearly stay at Snowbird. Suzanne's parents have had a timeshare there for several years now and Keaton enjoyed the swimming, resort activities and the snow. Suzanne enjoyed getting out of the house and Brandon enjoyed the time off. We hope everyone has a great summer and congratulations to all that need to be congratulated for something.

Gary & Bev Family:

Gary & Bev - May has been a quiet month for us but it seems we keep busy. Gary is really busy with work. The division of Helix Electric he opened here in Phoenix has really done well. They even moved to a bigger office. Way to go Gary! Bev just stays busy at home. Going to lunches with a group of ladies and doing family history with the new family search.

Riley & family - keeping busy with sick kids, school, baseball, softball, PTA, & work. Chesley had closing ceremony for her softball. She has done very well this year. She also made All-Stars HOOOORAY!!!

Britany & Family - busy with plumbing problems, sick kids, swim music & dance lessons, & work. Maya had her first dance recital.

Kellen & Family - they also stay busy with Olivia and work.

We look forward to seeing you at the Wilkinson Reunion the end of June!

Britany:)

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

We hope this newsletter finds you well and most importantly that you have been practicing your organ skills. Oh do we have an offer for you! We recently attended an Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball game. While there we met a nice fellow by the name of Bobby Freeman. As you can see from the attached pictures, he plays the organ at the baseball games. When Gary started talking to him and mentioned his parents love of the organ, he made him an offer. Please consider his job offer to play as substitutes at the games that he is unable to attend.
If you must decline, know that you will be receiving an autographed copy of his picture (addressed "To Gerald and Donna"). This is a true gem!

Sincerely,

Jeremy, Britany, Maya and Kenyon

(Oh and Gary who did all of the "groundwork" in bringing this phenomenal opportunity to you!)

Dwayne & Patty Family:

Dwayne and Patty: Dwayne has been taking the missionaries to the temple once a week, and has been helping them with a woman and her daughter who have been taking the discussions. The daughter will be baptized June 14. I have finished up with school for the year and will enjoy the summer vacation time.

Ben and Alissa: Ben is closer to getting his business started. Ben and Alissa took Jacob to his first pro baseball game. He had a great time, and decided to take a nap in the 7th inning.

Todd and Jade: Todd is out of school for the summer and enjoying the break. Jade loves her new job.

Steph: Is coming home for a few days this month and we are so... excited to see her and spend time with her.

Heather: Is working hard and getting ready for college life. She loves the ward she is in and is meeting new people.

We are looking forward to the family reunion and visiting with everyone that will be there.

Hal & Diana Family:

Jeremy & Laura Family:

Jeremy and Laura are doing great. Laura got a full tuition scholarship to finish her program this fall. She also sold her wedding dress to a very grateful girl in Tooele. Laura also got another calling to add to her librarian standing. She is on the compassionate service board and is the lady who arranges for meals to be brought to families who need them. Paul got a shiny red tricycle for his birthday. He had a blast playing on Grandma and Grandpa's new swing set. Jeremy finally had success with the grill on Memorial Day and we had some good BBQ chicken and corn on the cob. Jeremy is glad that American Idol is over and he has his wife back on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We visited Ma and Pa Jensen in Richfield where the men folk went four wheeling in the hills and the women folk and baby folk ran errands and kept house. It was very nice.
-laura, jeremy and paul jensen

Josh & Jessica Family:

This part of the Jensen family is about the same. We are going on a camp out with Jessica's side of the family the last weekend in May. She is very excited and hopefully it will be lot of fun. We are also getting family pictures in a few weeks. We haven't had a really good family picture since before Kelly went on his mission and there have been three sister-in-laws and three babies added to the family. Crazy how time flies. Jessica did take me on a little surprise campout for my birthday. We went to Kolob and we fished the next morning. I caught about 4 fish in an hour and a half so all in all a good morning. That's about it. Jessica starts her marathon training on June 2 and is really looking forward to that. Hope everyone has a great month and Happy Birthday to Kelly on the 13th!!

Love the Josh Jensen's

May Mayhem!

Thanks everyone for the updates, I love it, and I know you all do too!

Grandpa & Grandma:
Dear Family Members,
April was a busy month for us retired people. We spent many hours Screening Preschoolers eyes for Lazy Eye We had about 12 children who struggled to see the chart. We hope the parents will follow through and go to a doctor to check our results. You who have children who will attend Kindergarten or first grade this year, will need to have this done. I believe this is part of the Kindergarten registration. We hope this is done for you.

The big event was the wedding for Kelly and Steph. We saw their apartment this week. It looks great. We wish them well . Their blog gives good details of that event.
We congratulate Brent and Melissa on their adoption proceedings. We look forward to those events.

If any of you have not seen the Movie "Emma My Story" Be sure and see it. It is in Movie theaters. We have also been following The Joseph Smith Papers that is on Ch 14 at 8 pm . Sunday nights These are papers found from both our church and the reorganized church.. They tell of other record kept by Joseph Smith. Did You know he wrote 3 accounts of the first vision? Did you ever tell of an incident in your life the same way three times? This is the same idea.

We enjoy St George And stay very busy but we also enjoy being in Draper. We enjoy drop in visits from our family members. We saw both of the Jensen boys and hope we will see some of you up north. I have said this before. We really enjoy your blogs Keep up the good work.

Our flowers are out in St George. This is really a pretty time of the year. We are about a month ahead of Draper as for as the flowers go. I suppose this will also effect hay fever.

We are both well and enjoy every day.

We encourage all of our family members to write a note for this news letter.
Keep up the good work. Tricia.
We Appreciate your work.

Love from Grandpa and Grandma.
Grandma is the scribe for April

Ron & Maud Mary:
Our family hasn't done anything super exciting this last month. We are just trying to get things done so we can spend the summer in Rexburg.

Karen is finally done with school for the summer and is thrill that it is over for this year (she had some "interesting" room mates). Anne has 3 1/2 weeksleft of school and is very jealous that Karen is done. As you can tell we are all very excited for school to be out and summer started.

We are also excited that Braden will officially be part of our family on July 16th.Then in August will officially and eternally be part of our family.

Eric is also done with school and is excited for the month break that he gets. Now he can work in his yard all he wants. He is going to take some classes this summer though. If you haven't looked at their blog, you should and see Shannon's new hobby. We think it is great as long as we don't have to get near them.

We are also glad that Grandma and Grandpa are back in Draper now so we can see them more often. We hope you all have a great month of May and enjoy the last few weeks of school.

Dan & Verna family:
We are all really excited for the end of the school year. Lacie will be graduating on May 21st, Tanya and Courtney will have their "promotional exercises" from 9th grade on May 20th.
Dan has finished another semester and will begin his summer semester soon.
Verna has been busy with year end stuff at school with Math Core Tests. She also received a new calling after having been retired for the past 6 months in Ferron Creek Ward. She is now the official Relief Society Chorister and permanent Lesson Substitute.

Brandon, Suzanne & Keaton:
Happy Cinco de Mayo!

April flew by for us but we can't seem to think of anything to report for the month. We continue to hold our Nursery callings faithfully and Brandon does his best to sing during singing time. We had a next door neighbor move and we welcomed a new family to the neighborhood. They are from PA. They lived in Korea for a year while the husband was serving in the Army. They have a 5 year old daughter that Keaton enjoys playing with.

Yesterday, we attended a regional conference. It was a nice brake from having to keep 18 two year olds content. We are excited for the Wilkinson family get together and this is to say to all that we will be there.

April was a sad month for us. Suzanne's Grandpa passed away after holding on for so long for his loved ones. He was a World War II Veteran and we watched as he was given a five gun salute and we listened to the bugle call taps.

On a lighter note, unfortunately I was not able to use any bereavement days because the funeral was held on a Saturday. During that time, we also heard that Grandpa Wilkinson was not doing well due to a bout with pneumonia. From the sound of things from my mom and Diana, I thought maybe I would get a chance to use bereavement after all but we are extremely happy that that was not the case. Also, we learned that Grandma Higbee was not doing well and again I thought that maybe bereavement was meant to be but happily it has not.

We again like to congratulate the newlyweds Kelly and Stephanee. It was nice to see both of you. Hopefully you do not fall off the face of the earth like your other siblings.

To you Jazz fans out there. Why can't Korver shoot well in the playoffs and what's up with his defense?

A funny story to end. Saturday, I worked in the backyard and Keaton was doing his best to help. On a part of our walkway, I noticed a couple ant hills and I was trying to use ant spray (killer) and of course Keaton wanted to do it. I wouldn't let him so Keaton started stomping on the ant hills. I grabbed Keaton's hand and tried to pull Keaton away and Keaton fell. He then proceeded to cry and I took him inside because I could not console him. I left Keaton with Suzanne and went back outside. As Keaton was walking off to wash his hands. He turned to Suzanne with tears in his eyes and sobbing as he said, "Daddy pushed me." He has since forgiven me and we are buddies again.

Last of all, Happy Birthday to all the May birthdays and if you don't get a card from us. We probably forgot to mail it. Until next month...

Gary & Beverly Family:
April has been so mild in AZ. We have enjoyed this spring. Temps in the 80's and cools down nicely at night. No 100's YET. Bev and Gary have been busy doing Young Single Adult activities. Gary has golfed. Bev as joined a book club, so is busy reading to stay caught up.

Riley and Tricia are busy with kids, school, softball and baseball. They are looking forward to summer to have a break from chaos! Chelsey has been nominated to play on All Stars, we will find out if she makes it on June 1. Corbin is loving baseball and Keegan and Kaylix love cheering for both Corbin and Chelsey, and everyone loves being outside, when the weather cooperates!

Britany and Jeremy are doing ok. They have had a lot of flu going around in their nieghborhood and one of them seems to get it everytime. Also if you look on their blog, they are having some water problems. They are surviving.

Kellen and Camille are glad that April is over. Kellen is done with finals and will be graduating from the U. They are still waiting to hear where they will be next year for grad school.

We hope everyone is planning on attending the Wilkinson picnic! We will make Food assignments in June's Newsletter. See you in June
* We wanted to know how many people will be attending the summer party, but right now, only 9 people are coming! So, here is what I want you to do this time, please leave a comment at the bottom of this post, and tell us how many people from your family will be coming. If you are not coming, you can either tell us or not, don't worry, you won't get any hate mail for saying no!

Dwayne & Patty Family:
Dwayne and Patty: Dwayne has been busy with his church calling as Ward Mission Leader. He organized a mission blitz in our ward to find the inactives and the non-members. It was very successful, and the bishop and stake pres. were very impressed with the success that they had. I have been busy with End of Level testing at school, and trying to decide what colors to paint the remaining rooms in our home. We found out the other day that we are going to be grandparents again. We are so...... excited.

Ben and Alissa: Both Ben and Alissa have been busy with their jobs, Ben's new business is getting ready to get off the ground. They are also staying busy with Jacob who is an active 2 year old and has learned that famous word " NO ".

Todd and Jade: Are all settled into their new condo. Todd is finishing up his first year of nursing school and is looking forward to the summer break. Jade will be starting a new job as front desk Manager at the Washington City Community Center. They are also expecting their first child around Thanksgiving time.

Steph: Is enjoying the warm California weather, and staying busy at work. She is coming home for a visit in June. I am so..... excited to see her.

Heather: Is working for a dentist in St. George and loving her new job. She has been staying with Todd and Jade but has decided to move into off campus student housing. Her and Jade are happy that IN and OUT has finally opened up in St. George. Now if they would only put one in Salt Lake.

Hal & Diana Family:
Hello family, Thanks to all of you that came and supported us at Kelly and Steph's wedding. It was fun to see you.
Life is crazy right now for me as I get ready to end another school year.
Everything is going great with our family. We are looking forward to summer and maybe getting to go somewhere, haven't figured out where or when but somewhere.
Hal and Diana

Jeremy, Laura & Paul:
Jeremy got accepted to USU grad school in Rehabilitation Counseling. He starts part time this summer as a distance student. Paul will turn 2 years old on May 18. Hooray for these big accomplishments for the two boys in our family.

Updates to hold you over till the big one!!!

Sorry to Karen and Jessica, I have been overwhelmingly busy, and haven't checked in for a few days, but thank you for sending in updates, I love it!!!

Karen:

I love looking at people’s blogs and seeing pictures. Here are a few from my family recently.

Only 3 days left of classes!!! Yeaaaaaaaaaaa…Finals week is next week. Good luck to all college students who have finals coming.

Love, Karen

p.s. the reunion is coming up, I hope you all are making arrangements to come. Even if you don’t want to participate, we’ll have a Nintendo wii in grandma’s and grandpa’s trailer to play. It’s even fun watching grandma and grandpa try to beat each other at bowling. See you soon.

.

Jessica & Josh:

HI Family

I thought it was finally time to contribute to the family newsletter. I always assume everyone just looks at our blog and then they will be updated. You know what happens when you assume! I learned that valuable lesson the first day of school freshman year from my geometry teacher. Things have been going really well. I guess I will just go down the line and give everyone a run down on our little family.

Josh- He drew out for the deer hunt and is super excited about it. I'm happy about it to because I still remember how bad he pouted the year that he didn't draw out! He has also started to work-out. I think he is in training for the deer hunt but he hasn't said anything about that. He has had alot of time this month at home with the kids while I have worked and he does such a great job with them.

Jessica- I am doing great. I have a Half-Marathon that I am training for and run it on May 3rd. After that race then I can concentrate on the St. George Marathon in Oct. I hope to get Josh to run alot with me this summer. I am now working in Mammography and really like it. I am preparing to take my boards for it and get my license. If I'm going to handle breasts all day I want to get paid more for it!

McKendry- The past month she has grown up on me. She has a crazy imagination and loves to play the computer and has to tell me how to play some of the games. She is in a dance class and has her final recital on May 13th. I think we are going to try soccer next. She is a great big sister and loves to play with/harass Connor any chance she gets.

Connor- If you have checked our blog lately then you know he had to have an EEG. We still haven't got the results back on that yet but I am trying not to think the worst. There are worse things then epilepsy. He had his top four teeth come in all in the same week! He also had grown so much in the past month. He's still not interested in walking but I think he will soon enough.

Well that is quite an update and hope everyone enjoyed! Have a great month and hope to see you at the family party. Still trying to work that weekend free!

Love the Josh Jensen's