Valley Visits

Tuesday, February 27, 2018: We get a surprise visitor from Utah!

March has turned out to be an incredibly busy month, and every bit of it was awesome. Originally, as February ended, our only plan as a family was to make our annual outing to the Arizona Renaissance Festival on the first Saturday of March, the 3rd. Then Sarah convinced me that we should get a hotel room and go down to the Valley a day early to visit with my sister Karla and her children and grandchildren. She pointed out that it had been over a year since we'd seen them. Worse yet, Karla had new grandbabies that Sarah hadn't even held yet!

A few phone calls and texts later, we had a plan for Friday that included an appointment with Mark's family lawyer, a visit with my good friend Gwen, and a gathering with Karla and Steve and as many of their children as were able to join us. It was shaping up to be a full, fun weekend.

Family dinner at El Rancho: Mark, Jake, Dylan, Chris, Sarah, and Jacob.

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

The fun actually began several days before expected, when my son Jacob suddenly showed up from Utah. He'd already told his brother Dylan that he couldn't afford to drive down and join us for the Renaissance Festival (or was that part of their insidious plot?), since he'd recently had Thanksgiving with us. Thus, I certainly wasn't expecting him.

Then, on Tuesday afternoon, three days before we intended to depart for the Valley, Dylan called and asked if I could pick him up at work and bring him back to my place for lunch, since he was short on money and Jake had dropped him off at work so he had no car. Knowing that Dylan had recently received a recall notice to have his own car's headlights repaired, I didn't suspect a thing. Although, I did have a fleeting moment of curiosity when he asked me to bring his dad along (it was Mark's day off). "Why?" I asked. Dylan had some lame excuse about wanting to pick on his dad. Whatever.

My chile rellenos were muy caliente, but also muy delicioso!

When we returned to my house, I was surprised to see Jake's Kia Soul in my driveway. I started to ask Dylan why Jake hadn't picked him up for lunch, then glanced at the car's clock and shut my mouth. It was almost 3:30 and I knew Jake got off work at 3:00, so it seemed obvious that they'd planned to meet at my house between their two workplaces in order to save time. Next, I was surprised to see that Jake wasn't waiting in his car, which he usually does when no one is home. He'd actually used his key to let himself in, which is highly unusual. Still, I never suspected a duplicitous plot was afoot. (The truth is that Jacob had arrived at their apartment earlier that day, so they needed to get Mark and me out of the house so Jake could bring Jacob over and smuggle him inside to hide.)

Once we were inside, I hung up my car key and started to ask if Dylan had taken his car to be serviced, but he interrupted and said he wanted to show me something on my computer. So he and I trooped past Mark and Jake and into my bedroom, toward my office through a door on the other side of my room. As I passed the bathroom behind me, someone big jumped out and roared. I can't say I was too startled--both my sons love trying to scare me--but I experienced a moment of confusion. As I turned, I was thinking, "I just passed all the men in my family; who's left to be jumping out of the bathroom?" Even when I faced him, it took a few seconds to comprehend who was standing in front of me. When it finally registered, I grabbed him in a big hug and yelled at him for not telling me, all at the same time.

  

The next night we had dinner at Lotus Garden. Cashew chicken for me!

Thursday, March 1, 2018

And so, we got to enjoy six days with all three of my children together again, including at the Renaissance Festival, just like in the "old days." Those who know me, know how much that means to me. That first evening, the guys--including Mark--went off to visit friends and explore the casino at Hon-Dah. The following night, Wednesday, we all went to dinner at our old favorite Mexican restaurant, El Rancho. On Thursday night we went out for Chinese at Lotus Garden, although Sarah and Chris decided not to join us this time. (They're saving to buy a house.)

The owner of Lotus Garden is also the housekeeping manager at the resort where Jake works. She has become a friend to Dylan and Jake, and she'd invited them to have a free dinner at Lotus Garden. So we invited ourselves along, naturally! The rest of us paid for our own entrees, of course, but Sujian hovered over our table, bringing us all the side dishes we hadn't ordered for the full meal, such as egg drop soup, rice, spring rolls, won-tons, and so on. It was such a great experience, being treated like we were practically celebrities!

A beautiful start to our three-hour drive. My medieval jeweled circlet

is hanging from the rear-view mirror. Just a little bit of an anachronism!

Friday, March 2, 2018

Friday morning finally arrived, and we left my house at 7:40. It was 41 degrees outside, a fairly warm morning for 7,000 feet at this time of year! In my car, we had Jacob, Sarah, Chris, Mark, and myself. Although Jake had taken these two days off for the trip, as the rest of us had, a scheduling change at the resort forced him to work on Friday after all. He and Dylan still made the trip, but they didn't leave until about 3:30 that afternoon and joined us in Mesa later in the day.

At Jacob's insistence, we stopped in at the Burger House in Miami for their famous green chile burros. Despite the stop, we still arrived at the office of Mark's family lawyer in plenty of time for our 11:00 appointment. At last, after more than two years, the lawyer had some great news for us. He'd finally resolved the issues holding back the inheritance of the houses left to Mark and to the family of his Aunt Wilma (his uncle's widow). The issues arose due to two factors: 1) Mark's grandma Helen and her two sons, Mark's dad and uncle, died in an unexpected order over a relatively short period of time, which left no executor to the will; and 2) Mark and Wilma wanted to trade the houses they were to inherit. 

The house where Mark grew up from Nov 1979 to July 1989 is now his.

Six days after our visit with the lawyer, the recorded deed came in the mail, so it's a done deal! We have a lot to do before we can sell it, but at least we can get the ball rolling. Our next stop was to see the house and to visit with Wilma (who lives in the house next-door, the one Mark was originally set to inherit) so we could pick up the required signature documents. All persons with an interest in the properties had to sign an agreement to allow Wilma and me to act as co-trustees, so she'd had all her kids and grand-kids sign it. Then we took it so Dylan could sign it later that day, when he got into town. He was the last to sign!

We had some time to kill after our appointment with the lawyer, so we decided to go to the Fiesta Mall. Imagine our shock when we found the entire mall dark and surrounded by tall fences. None of us had heard that the entire mall had been closed, shut down by the competition of rival malls, Superstition Springs and Arizona Mills. What in the world do you do with an abandoned mall? Perhaps film episodes of apocalyptic doomsday shows and scenes for zombie movies?

By this time, we decided we were hungry enough to eat some lunch, and Jacob had it in his head that we needed to eat at In-N-Out Burger. I confess, I've never eaten there before. At least, not that I can remember. However, when we finally found an In-N-Out, we discovered there was a Red Robin next-door, and it was decided by general consensus that we would eat there instead. I'd also never eaten at a Red Robin before. It was good, but not as good as it was pricey.

Sarah, Mary, and Jacob at lunch at Red Robin in Mesa.

After lunch, we went on over to visit with our friend Gwen, whom we all adore. We miss her sweetness and her crazy sense of humor since she moved away from Lakeside. After we surprised her with Jacob's unexpected appearance, we all talked and laughed for about two hours before we finally said our reluctant farewells and headed off to our hotel.

Now it was time to check into our two rooms at the Ramada in Mesa. We got all moved in, then relaxed for a bit while we waited to hear from Dylan and Jake. They finally called us from Payson around 5:00, so we agreed to meet for dinner at Golden Corral Buffet around 6:30. We were a few minutes late getting there, due to heavy Friday evening traffic, and I absolutely gasped as we walked into the restaurant. Let me just say that 6:30 on a Friday night is not the time to arrive for dinner at a Golden Corral. I will never make that mistake again.

Not only were the lines extremely long, but the line I got into was experiencing problems with their register, so we weren't moving at all. Meanwhile, in the other line, Jacob, Sarah, and Chris had paid for their meals and been seated. (Another lesson: always stay in the same line as the rest of your party!) Literally, I could have been perfectly cast in a commercial depicting a "hangry" customer as I fumed angrily and finally complained that my party had already been seated some time ago. At that point, they allowed me to crash the other line, to the angry glares of some (I smiled a semi-apologetic smile and thought, "Get over it, I've been here a lot longer than you have!"). I also paid for Dylan and Jake's meals so they wouldn't have to wait in line, and they arrived not long after I was finally seated. Then I was able to calm down and enjoy the company and the food.

Mark, Chris, and Sarah enjoy visiting with family.

Now the only stress was the feeling we had to rush through dinner in order to meet up with Karla's crew around the time we were expected. It turned out that Karla and Steve had tickets for 6:00 on Friday night to attend a school play in which their granddaughter Jaycee was appearing. In order to have the best chance of seeing everyone, we drove out to the far-flung town of Maricopa, where two of Karla's daughters live with their families, and met with whomever could make it to the home of my oldest niece, Genevieve, and her husband Scott. They're also the parents of little actress Jaycee, so Karla and Steve were attending her play in their community.

At first, when we thought Dylan and Jake would be in the Valley ahead of us, we expected to be at Genevieve's house around 6:00 or 6:30. Then plans changed, so I figured on a 7:00-ish arrival. Then it was the Golden Corral debacle, so I pushed the time back to 7:30, but we didn't even leave the restaurant until 7:35. With a 45-minute drive to Maricopa, it was about 8:15 when we finally pulled up at their house. We actually beat Karla and Steve there, though, since they went to grab a bite to eat after the play. They got there within ten minutes of our arrival.

Jacob's worn out from his travels, but Dylan's always up for some goofiness.

Once we were all together, Karla teased Jacob for not showing up on her doorstep on Tuesday instead of on mine. It seems Jacob had not only been in contact with Dylan, but he'd also called his Aunt Karla a couple of times. My own sister was keeping this secret from me! (I razzed her a bit about that.) While planning this trip, Dylan and Jake had originally intended to be in Mesa from Wednesday until the Renaissance Festival on Saturday, so Jacob had asked if he could stay at Karla's house Tuesday night. Then he'd join the guys at their hotel for the remainder of the week.

However, the change in Jake's work schedule had ruined those plans, so Jacob came directly to us in the White Mountains instead. Unfortunately, he forgot to notify Karla of the change in plans, so she was left wondering why Jacob never showed up. He felt really bad when he realized his oversight.

I do believe there is a theme running through this tale: Stay flexible when you travel, or when you plan to travel, or you'll make yourself cazy!

Cami, Jeremy, Lexi, Karla, Genevieve, Gabby (and Steve in the kitchen).

Now that eight of Karla's ten children are adults, it's pretty hard to get everyone together at the same time, so, sadly, we didn't get to see everyone. We missed Julien and the families of Brianna and Celesta. But we had a wonderful time visiting with Karla and Steve, Josh, Gabrielle, Addison, and the families of Jeremy, Genevieve, Elyssa, and Mariah. Sarah was especially in heaven, getting to cuddle and play with Dallin and Mariah's baby girl, Hazel. The house was filled with energetic children, racing from the playroom upstairs to the backyard play equipment.

Despite our late start, we had a good long visit. We didn't leave until about midnight, even though we knew we'd be up early the next morning (7:00) for the Renaissance Festival. And it was another 45-minute drive back to the hotel. Nonetheless, it's always hard to say goodbye when family gets together. That is not, of course, the end of the story. There were more family get-togethers waiting in store, but that's a story for my next blog post!

Until We Meet Again

Ernest DeVon Butler, US Marine Corps.

One week ago, my dad's last remaining sibling passed away at the age of 94. Today, my Uncle Ernie was laid to rest in his hometown of Fresno, California. My father, the youngest of eleven children, drove to Fresno to attend the funeral. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to join them, but I'm very grateful that I was able to visit with Ernie and his sweet wife, my Aunt Alma, just five months ago while we were vacationing in California.

Uncle Ernie and Aunt Alma, at ages 23 and 19.

Alma is now 90 and has dedicated herself to caring for her childhood sweetheart in his declining years. Her gratitude that she was still physically able to do so was so very sweet. She told me recently, on two occasions, that when Ernie passed on she will have fulfilled her mission, and then she plans to join him on the other side of the veil. Such devoted love is a rare thing in this world.

Alma and Ernie with his cousin Eldon.

Until Alma is able to rejoin her forever-sweetheart, I love to think of Ernie's joyful reunion with their two sons, my cousins Bobby and Jimmy, who passed away many years ago. I'm sure there were many happy tears, as well, when he reunited with his parents, my Butler grandparents, Ed and Myrtle. Not to mention the nine other siblings who preceded him beyond the veil.

My Grandpa Ed Butler with his son, my Uncle Ernie.

Ernie and Alma have three children still living: my cousins Larry, Carol, and Bryan, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They are a wonderful family. No one I've ever met has been kinder than my dear uncle and aunt. I never doubted I was loved while in their company.

Ernie served in the Marine Corps during the final years of World War II, as a turret gunner on a bomber plane. My thanks to my cousin Debbie's husband, Mike, who posted many of these photos online, allowing me to add them to my collection. I believe they were displayed at the funeral today.

Uncle Ernie Butler, Marine, with his cousin Eldon Christopherson, Navy.

Uncle Ernie on the left.

This map was eye-opening regarding my uncle's dangerous missions.

The green indicates where he was stationed; the blue is where they were bombed.

My dad is almost eleven years younger than Ernie (as the baby of the family, Dad is now 83 years old), so he was just a kid when his big brother went off to war. Ernie was always his hero. My dad may have been the taller of the two, but he looked up to his older brother in every other way.

Uncle Ernie as I'll always remember him.

I wasn't born until 1954, so of course I don't remember Uncle Ernie as a Marine and war hero. The man I knew was soft-spoken and gentle, with a quiet, endearing sense of humor. He made a 23-year career as the Boy Scout Camp Ranger for Fresno County, and he loved the great outdoors. We created many happy memories enjoying family camp at Camp Chawanakee on Shaver Lake at the end of the Boy Scout season each summer.

Uncle Ernie and me, picnicking at White Mountain Apache Reservation.

Oct 13, 1990

Some of my best memories of Ernie and Alma come from when Mark and I moved here to the White Mountains in eastern Arizona during the summer of 1990. Sarah was nine months old and I was beginning a new career as a teacher at the local high school. Everything was new and our closest family was a three-hour drive away. Except for Ernie and Alma, that is, who--as luck would have it--were serving an LDS mission in Whiteriver, just a thirty-minute drive from us, on the Apache reservation. For the next six months or so, until their mission ended and they returned home to California, they filled our empty spaces with love and fun, showing us the sights on the reservation and inviting us for meals and holidays and picnics. I love those memories!

My grandparents with ten of their eleven children on their 50th anniversary.

July 2, 1963

Sadly, with the exception of my father, everyone in the photo above has moved on to the next life, where I trust we will all meet again one day. Front and center are my grandparents, Lawrence Edward (Ed) Butler and Myrtle Van Ausdal Butler. Flanking them are their two eldest children, firstborn Twila Kester (on the left) and second-born Elda Bennett.

In the back row from left to right are the rest of my Butler aunts and uncles: Jean Stokes, Vera Clark, LouDene Shields, my dad Myron Butler, Ernie Butler, Fern Haley, Bonnie Hawkins, and Irene Eugster. Not pictured is eldest son (and third child), my Uncle Lynn, who died when he was only twenty-one, many years before this picture was taken. My dad was still a child when his oldest brother Lynn died.

Until we meet again, Uncle Ernie, I'll remember you and miss you and look ahead to the day when we're finally gathered in the eternal embrace of all those we love.