Squirrel in the basement! Roy went to the downstairs laundry room to put groceries away, and a squirrel ran by him. He called me to come quickly and I ran downstairs and stood at the doorway. Roy said, "Don't let it get past you." But, as it came running at me I wasn't about to stand in its way. Thankfully it ran into the theater room where I could close the door to contain it while we found something to trap it in. Unfortunately, when I closed the door, it locked behind me. Someone must have turned the lock. It's been a long time since we've used the key to that room. We put in a regular keyed lock because we wanted to be able to keep teenagers out of the room. We had to go on a key hunt. I was pretty sure we'd have to call a locksmith, but, after trying many keys, Roy found one more and it fit. He got a large bin with a lid from the garage. I knelt in the doorway with the bin and the lid so I could be like a hockey goalie and get the squirrel to make a goal without missing and leaving the room. Roy chased the squirrel around. Every once in a while the squirrel would head to the door, see that there was no exit, and head back into the room. I guess it finally decided that it was the only possible way out, and he ran into the bin. I quickly slid the lid over the bin and we had the squirrel. We should have taken a picture when we let it go, but we didn't think about it. We checked throughout the theater and the laundry room and could find no squirrel deposits. I don't think it was in our house long, but we're really not sure how it got in. Roy had left the garage open for a while to cool it off, so it probably got in that way somehow.
Cook A Rama--Thanks to everyone who came and supported me in my assignments. I felt that it was a very successful night. We have such a wonderful legacy. Our ancestors sacrificed greatly so that we can have the gospel of Jesus Christ and live in this beautiful state. Let us find joy as we teach our children their history.
General Conference--We are always spiritually fed when we take the time to listen to our leaders and this conference was no exception. We also enjoyed having Crista and Matt stay the weekend and were also able to associate with all our kids except Elise and Andy (with whom we Facetimed for a few minutes).
Happy Birthday to Ollie today. Ollie had tubes put in his ears last week and has been trying to regain his energy. He is four today.
Genealogy Excerpt:
Fifth
Generation
Alonzo Howland Cook
Born
In Cov’t: 29 Sep 1855 Salt Lake
Baptized: 5 May 1865 Swan Creek, Id
Service: Bishopric Counselor
Endowed: 1 Apr 1872 Endowment House
Died: 7 (6?) Jun 1933 Salt Lake City , Ut
Melvin Cook wrote: A.H. Cook was as much like my father as
any father-son pair could be. He was strictly and religiously honest, general very serious but often jovial, genuinely
kind and considerate-a driver-man with great skill in the building and design.
. . . Alonzo did his best to comfort them and to keep [his children] together
as a family after their mother’s death. . . . Alonzo had great faith in God and
he was constantly aware of blessings he had at the hand of the lord. He was
honest and frugal, and he taught these qualities to his family by precept /
example. He talked continuously about the church, how to live righteous lives
and true religious philosophies. . . Once he called on me to shave him with
straight edge razor, though I had no previous experience. Yet he had complete
confidence in me; I came through, though with much difficulty, yet no cuts.
Amy Ellen Laker
Born
In Cov’t: 24 Dec 1857 Wallingford
Baptized: 6 Jun 1868 St. Charles
Service: Stake Relief Soc/YW Coun.
Married:14 Nov 1878 Endowm’t Hs
Died: 21 Jun 1919 Swan
Creek , Ut
Melvin Cook
wrote: “Amy was a good, religious woman with great faith. Mother lived with
Grandmother Cook a year while Father completed school and found her to be firm,
determined but kind and sympathetic. Her strong determination and great faith
certainly rubbed off on my father.”
Her
daughter Alvira wrote: “Amy was called to be first counselor to Nancy E.
Pugmire in the presidency of the Bear Lake Ste YWMIA . . . for 28 years. In the
early years, the stake extended about 155 miles to be traveled by team and
buggy. . . . These stake officers were often away from home one week at a time.
“Amy was
very active from early childhood always anxious to gain more knowledge. . . .
In 1879 Amy was called to be the first counselor in the presidency of the Bear
Lake Stake YWMIA-serving for 28 years.
“Amy was
dynamic and efficient, yet she was tender and sympathetic. A strict
disciplinarian. She kept all her children and home in order. She was a very
hard worker often forcing herself far beyond her physical strength to put over
the many home duties as well as the great number of public jobs and
responsibilities she always carried.
“Because of
ill health, Amy was released (from her stake church calling). She was an
invalid for the last 11 years of her life, but through it all she retained her
strong will power and wonderful mentality to the end.”
Of his
mother A.L. Cook wrote: “I trust that for me and mine their lives shall ever be
a beautiful and strong incentive to “make our lives sublime and in parting
leave behind us” records like theirs.
George Anson Osmond
Born: 18 Apr 1858 Bountiful
Baptized: 1 Jul 1868
Service: Sunday School Superintendency
Endowed: 12 Jul 1883 Endowment House
Died: 19 Nov 1904, Portland
Of her father Maude wrote: “He was a
quiet man, not easily provoked. His
judgment was often sought after, as he was a straight thinker. He was a hard worker, from morning until dark
he was busy. He did his best in
everything he did, never slighting the smallest details. It was said that he could do
the work of two men, as he was strong and a steady worker. He never seemed to
be in a hurry, but he was always busy, and having his work well planned he was
able to accomplish much. During the
forty-six years of his life he accumulated between two and three hundred acres
of land and a sizeable herd of cattle. He did not believe in debt and paid his
way as he went along. He was honest to a marked degree and was an ardent lover
of truth. He loved his family, both his own and his parents and brothers and
sisters. At the close of each day he
would call at his mother’s home for a visit with her, and she relied upon him a
great deal.
He met with
an accident when he was forty-six years of age. He was a member of the Sunday
School superintendency and had attended Sunday School and an officers meeting. The
sacrament meetings were held at 2 p.m. on Sundays and he desired to attend this
meeting. He climbed by ladder to the top
of a high haystack and fed the horses and then instead of going down as he came
up, he jumped to the roof of a shed. This roof was firm in most places, but the
spot he landed on gave way and he went through and on to a cement stable floor,
striking the manger as he fell.”
Alice Catharina Hart
Born in Cov’t: 14 Sep 1864 Salt
Lake , Ut
Bap: 15 Sep 1879
Endowed: 12 July 1883 Endowment Hs
Sealed Sp: 12 July 1883 Endowment Hs
Died: 17 Sep 1942, Farmington ,
Ut
Maude
wrote: “Joy and success, pain, disappointment, and sorrow have been her
portion, but through all she has kept her faith and optimism, and her love for
humanity has not diminished. She did not spend time in self-pity nor bemoan her
lot, but with courage and faith in the future and in the kind Father of all,
she rose to her responsibilities. Alice
was for many years a visiting teacher. She worked for three years indexing
names for the temple. She had a gentle, loving nature.
“Alice was, and always had
been, extremely charitable and was generous to a fault. She was never so happy
as when she was giving something to someone or doing something to make someone
glad. . . . [P]romised as a child in a blessing that her table should always be
spread with the bounties of life, and she would impart to others, this has been
verily fulfilled.”
Seventy
years “of abundant living has been Alice ’s
privilege. . . She may now look back on
a life-time of interesting experiences, of unselfish interest in others, of
devotion to duty, of faithful performance of every task required of her, of a
conscience void of offense, of a heart filled to overflowing with the “charity
that never faileth.”
This last was the great grandmother I was named after. I thought it was interesting that she spent three years indexing. When I think of indexing, I think of turning on my computer and digitizing the names. Of course, my great grandmother wouldn't have found it that easy. We are certainly blessed to live in such a time. We need to appreciate our marvelous blessings and not take them for granted.
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