Here are some pics everyone will love. These are another find from Gramdma Beecher's

photos:

Our Newest Beecher/Francom Family Member

I want to introduce you all to my newest grandson, Noah Beecher Francom. He was born on December 7, 2008. We were anxiously awaiting his birth and were happy to see that he made it very convenient for us all by coming on a Sunday. His older brother and sister came to our house at about 9:00 am and he was delivered by 11:00! He was 9lbs 1 oz. and 22 inches long. He is the biggest we've had! As you can see, he's going to be well cared for! All is well and you all can see him at our next family reunion OR if you stop by on any given Sunday!

Last night, we braved the weather and went to Lillian's Christmas Dance Recital. It was all very cute and we enjoyed all the dances, especially Lillian's. She knew every step and was right in time with the music. We also brought her pink flowers--a very important part of any little dance recital, we are finding out. We give Scott credit because he has been her transportation to all her practices--he took her to class, he took her to the dress rehearsal, then he was there for the performance. Yes, he saw it all many more times than a dad should have to so he's going above and beyond since Melissa is at home with Noah--just ask him!

Like Lynn, I also want to thank you all for all your sharing of memories of Grandma. She would be so thrilled to think that you all cared enough to take the time to write about her. She always wanted to be important to us and she now knows that she was a major player in all of our family doings. In her later years, I think her mere presents led us all to do so many of the things we did do. I hope we all continue to find reasons to be together for her sake. In her later years, as I learned to serve her, I often thought of my father smiling down on me as I would go out of my way to do what she asked or spend extra time and go into her condo when dropping her off. Now, as we all continue to try to do what is right, I hope to see both my mother and father smiling down at us and know that we are all trying to become that eternal family that is so very important.

We are not just part of an eternal family--I think we are part of a very important eternal family. When our dad died at such an early time in our lives, I think that he and Heavenly Father knew we still needed special help to become the family we would have been if our father would have stayed. I really KNOW that we have been blessed, above and beyond what we have been capable of. As I look at all six families, I can see things that could have been so different without our Heavenly Father and our dad watching over us. How grateful I am to have been given special attention and amazing blessing as a member of our family. What a responsibility we all should feel to continue to feel the help that is there for us all if we seek it. Everyone, please know that you are so important and we need to make the time to be together as often as possible. If you are in Salt Lake City during the holidays and would like to go to Grandma's condo or be part of anything the six kids are doing--we're all only a phone call away!!! I love you all!!! Karen

Looking for...

Hi Everyone,

I am wondering if anyone has used the PAF program from the church web-site to do our family's geneology history? If you have could you email me a copy of your file? I am just learning how to use the program and hoping I can get a head start from someone. Thanks!

Linsey

Grandma Atwood's Funeral

I would like to thank Mindy & Justin and all of the Grand kids, also the Great Grand kids for your kind word and love that you gave to Grandma Beecher. As grandma would always say "we sure have a wonderful family" and Mindy your thoughts are thoughts that this family all share about grandma. I love each member of this special family. I would like to share a couple of thoughts I did not have time for in my talk at the funeral, because of time. In my Patriarchal Blessing it tells me, "for you have been blessed with good parentage and this you should consider as a special blessing to you. When you study your ancestral line you will note that you have come of good parentage and that the Lord has been mindful of you in giving you good parentage and you are here now in the world to work out the potentials which you had in your pre-mortal existence when you were chosen to come into the world under good parentage and to be born in a good land. I bless you that you shall honor your parents; your mother and also your father who has passed on and that you shall be a dutiful son and not give your mother or the members of your family anything to worry about". Well I am truly blessed to have a father and a mother that taught me well and expect me to carry on their example. I would like to tell you how grandma helped me on one occasion. I was standing in front of our house on 14th street. I was about 14 or 15 years old when a car stopped and asked if I knew where a girl lived. There were four guys in the car and I said that there was no one by that name that lived around here. I probably said it in some smart tone that they did not like. One of them reach in the glove box and pulled some thing out. Well I found out real quick that it was a knife. Two of them got out of the car and came running at me with the knife in hand. I knew I was in trouble. I turned and started to run my self. The home on 14th St. had a porch with four stairs. I jumped onto the porch and could feel that one of them was real close. On the porch I turned and saw him leaping to the porch, I kicked and knocked him off the porch and that's when I heard someone coming out the door screaming at these two guys to stop right now and leave. I was so glad that they did what they were told. I looked and it was my mother that came and saved me from I'm not sure what could of happened. Grandma did have some real spunk in her. I am really starting to miss my mom and want each of you to know that I love her with all my hart and will always honor her. Thanks again for each of you and your kind words and love of grandma.

Lynn

Thoughts

I feel so grateful that Heavenly Father chose to "transplant" me into this family by marrying such a wonderful man. There have been countless blessings in my life by becoming a member of this family and His Church. One of the largest blessings I have received is through knowing Grandma and seeing her wonderful example. I would have much difficulty thinking of a more Christ-Like example in all of our lives. Justin and I have had the opportunity to have her for Easter, Fourth of July and most recently sharing my baptism day with her. What a wonderful way to end! Then I remembered that just a few short weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet her with Weldon and Gean at the last session of General Conference. It was such a great session....as a granddaughter in law, I will be eternally grateful for sharing this special time with her. I will miss her wonderful chip mix (with peanut m&m's) that she would bring for the grandchildren at every family function. Most of all, we will miss her sweet smile and amazing spirit!

Pictures of Grandma II

Various Pictures of Grandma

Funeral Video Message

Hello all,

The mortuary is putting together what is called a funeral video. Basically a video of a picture montage of Grandma's life. You can call in and leave a message to Grandma or about Grandma and they will put it on the video while it shows her pictures. Try to keep the message limited to about 20 seconds.

Dial 1-800-689-8561

and the code is 2696494

Make sure your message is recorded by 1:00pm on the day of the viewing (November 10th)

I think if we all do this it can be something special for our parents to have to remember how special Grandma was. Let me know if you have any questions and if you have any other emails of other family members that I didn't email forward it on to them.

See you tomorrow!

Kurt Francom
801-554-1955

Grandma

My grandma passed away yesterday. Although she was 85 years old she was always very healthy and we thought she would be around much longer. She was in a car accident and was hit by a car running a red light. Even though how she went was tragic I can't help but think it was meant to be. She lived a full life. She lost her husband at a young age and raised 6 kids. My grandpa has been gone for 41 years and 41 years is a long time to be alone. My grandma served a genealogy mission to England. She spent many years in the Genealogy Library in Salt Lake helping numerous people with their genealogy. Every time we visit Tom's family in California a woman in the ward thanks me for my grandmother helping her with her genealogy when she came for our wedding reception there. She has played the organ at the Salt Lake Temple for years and always enjoyed that. She even was walking to her car from the temple during the infamous Salt Lake tornado and survived that. Recently she started taking phone calls for the temple prayer roll. Just last Sunday she told us how she had received a few phone calls to put John McCain's name on the prayer roll. We saw my grandma every Sunday at my parents' house for dinner. She always brought "the mix" (chips, crackers, and M&Ms) and then a treat for the kids. Although you had to be sneaky about eating "the mix" or you might get in trouble for eating too much it was a part of Sunday dinner. Everyone always looked forward to "the mix" on fast Sunday especially. In the past several years my grandma hasn't been the same. Her mind hasn't been all there. She's always been very physically healthy but she wasn't the same grandma I grew up with. It makes me sad that my husband and kids never knew the grandma I knew and loved. As a kid there wasn't much better than sleepovers at grandma's. We loved staying Christmas night at grandma's house with our cousins. I have fond memories of sitting in her white living room staring at her ballerina statues and trying to pose exactly like them. As a child I looked forward to visiting my grandma's house on weekends. Holidays were always spent at grandma's house. Her birthday is just 2 days away from mine and we would always celebrate together. Sunday dinner won't quite be the same without grandma, her mix, her stories, & her phone call to tell us she had gotten home safely but I know she's in a better place. What a reunion she must have had with my grandpa and her parents. She always talked about that reunion and I'm sure it was just as sweet (or more so) than she always hoped. I'll never forget the way my grandma loved. Being together as a family was her favorite thing to do. I can even still hear her at reunions and such say how thrilled she was that we were all together. We will miss you grandma and look forward to being all together again.

Angie Haynie

Grandma Beecher

My dear Grandma Beecher was taken this past Friday when an SUV ran a red light and hit her car.

Growing up she was Grandma Atwood untill just a few years ago she asked that we refer to her as Grandma Beecher. This is because her first husband and only eternal compaion was Grandpa Beecher. After his death when my mom was only 19 years old, she later remarried Grandpa Atwood who later passed on as well. Although she loved him with all her heart, she was sealed to and wanted to be tied back to Grandpa Beecher. Who could'nt understand that...

I remember at least one time each summer growing up in Missouri we'd travel back to Utah to visit family. That was were most of our extended family still lived. We'd split our time between the Beecher side and Hill side. I have such great memories with both. I remember staying at Grandma Beecher's huge house. I can still remember the smell of it and sometimes find myself right back in her house when that smell will hit me in other locations over the years. That was one of my favorite things about her house, was the smell.

I remember having mini slumber parties with cousins and playing hide-n-seek in her basement. Which one of my cousins related had a scary room to it, the storage room. It's funny that I thought the same thing of that room too. I remember my cousin Lyle putting on a scary warewolf mask and chasing us around her house. Very scary for a little girl. I loved her "off limits" room that was right off the front door. It had white carpet and beautiful green furnishings, if my memory serves me right? I remember being told that room was not for play. It was one of those rooms that only the carefullest adults could even enter. It was beautiful and had an amazingly huge floral arrangement that could be seen from the road.

I loved sneaking into her, what I thought was the most lovely bedroom I'd ever seen. She had this huge white sheep skin rug next to her bed that I loved to walk on. I loved going into her bathroom that had this great three-way mirror you could see all angles of your hair in. I marveled at her being able to perm her own hair with the help of that mirror. She was the one who inspired me to learn how to do my own hair as well. I just remember thinking that this was the life for a woman. I loved sitting in the big dark wicker bar stools in her kitchen to eat my morning bowl of cereal.

I remember playing in her back yard with the family dog, Brew and acting out so many different types of games with my fun cousins. I remember all of us girls getting these really pretty little aprons and being waitresses for one of her great parties at her house. I remember always thinking Grandma looked so beautiful all of the time. I remember feeling let down and sad that she sold that house and moved from Ogden, Ut into Salt Lake City. I was sad that with so many wonderful times in that house with her and family, that nothing should ever change. I am so grateful for those times I had with her and hold them very dear to my heart. I can share those memories and stories, and many more with my own children to help them know her better.

I was lucky to have made a few treasured memories with her at her new home. I worked in SLC and sometimes the weather wouldn't allow for me to travel home to Provo. She always had her door open to me to crash on the couch or spare bedroom. I loved, once again, the same smell that followed her to her new home. I always knew that wherever Grandma was, great things would be there also. I know that she is now with her dear loved Grandpa Beecher who has waited a lifetime for her. I love her and will miss her, but will give them both great big hugs when I too go to join them.


Jason and Amy Caldwell
jabellac@hotmail.com

Jewelers together again!

It's been a long time but finally the Ruby makers are back together again. Can you believe it's been over 41 years since they've been together?! What an incredible reunion that must have been! I can only think that Grandpa sat next to Grandma Friday morning as she was making one last trek to Brigham City. I'm sure he thought he had to be there to comfort her for the short amount of pain she probably felt and then as her heart stopped in mortality, both of their hearts probably skipped several beats as they hugged one another and embraced as only true eternal love can afford. Grandma told us several times over the past few years that she tells Heavenly Father each night that she was ready whenever He was ready to take her back home. That time finally came. Like all of the grandkids, I never knew Grandpa but I certainly knew about him because of Grandma and am so excited to meet him one day. I can already picture the reunion that I will have with both of them. They will be hand in hand with their arms extended towards me to give me a hug when my journey here on earth is through. Grandma was a stalwart in her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She knew it was true and had no problem letting you know about it.

I had to post the picture above of this past Memorial Day. (No that's not Brittany pushing Grandma to the ground ;). ) Some of you might remember how after taking a big family picture on the hill in the Brigham City park, we started to roll down the hill. After most of everyone had left the hill, Grandma decided to roll down the hill herself. Quite the feat for an 85 year old woman.

Every summer my family would always go to Riverdale to visit Grandma and the Burtons. One time when I was around 10 years old, Grandma wanted to take Jeremiah, Colton, Kurt and me to Bear Lake for the day. So we packed some lunches and piled into her Riviera car. We stopped off at Smith and Edwards Country Boy Store (you're singing the song aren't you?) so she could buy us some slingshots. Our moms probably wouldn't have approved of getting us slingshots but since she was our Grandma she would do anything for us. As we drove through the canyon to Bear Lake we would stop at rest stops along the way so we could get out and shoot rocks at the mountain. As we drove we jammed out to the new The Little Mermaid soundtrack and we all sung along. As we returned from that little trip, I remember thinking I had the coolest Grandma alive. Who can forget the cookie jar in her Riverdale house that was right by the door for easy access. It seems that all of us grandkids took advantage of that nice accessory...especially Brady. One of the coolest gifts that I ever got for Christmas was when she bought all of her grandsons a Sega Genesis to play at her house. I'm sure she had no idea what it was but she wanted us to have a good time when we went to her house.

The past few years Grandma certainly wasn't herself. But she truly cared about each of us. She always wanted to be in on the conversations and to ask us about our jobs and life...even though most of the time the questions were the same as the ones she asked the previous week. She wanted to contribute each week to Sunday dinner even though she couldn't cook anymore. So she brought "The Mix". It has helped me break my fast on Fast Sundays for the past several years. It was fun to test Grandma by taking "The Mix" away from the bar and into the family room. I liked to see how long it took her to realize it was gone and she would come hunting for it. For some reason, this was forbidden in her eyes. The bowl of "The Mix" had to stay on the bar and there was no picking, only handfuls. And heaven forbid if none of the redheads in the family weren't able to eat any of it.

We say goodbye to one of the great daughters of God this week. But only for a time. Grandma taught each of her children about the Plan of Salvation and they in turn taught each of us. We know where Grandma is and know "that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of ^ahappiness, which is called ^bparadise, a state of rest, a state of ^cpeace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow." As I read Alma 40 Friday night, I felt that peace that only the Spirit can give that told me she's finally home. That was just like the single ring she would make to my parents' house each Sunday night to say she arrived safely. I love you Grandma and hope to be a stalwart like you.

Gramma Atwood

We hear about love stories just about everyday. We see them in the movies portrayed a bit shallow or hear about a high school crush that seem to last about three days. Every girls dreams about meeting their prince and living with them happily ever after. We get the goose bumps of love when we look at a wedding announcement and think of the sweet couple getting married. Even in those shallow hollywood flicks we hear the actors proclaim to the other "I love you". But at this moment somewhere across that thin veil there is a love story that is ahead of all others and that will last eternally. I have not yet been able to meet the prince, but I did have the most blessed experience of knowing the princess and I called her Gramma. I remember my Grandma telling me stories of my Grandpa. One day she approached me with a small picture. She was covering up everything on the picture except two eyes. She told me, "You have his eyes, you know." Or she would always remind me that I got my witty humor from my Grandpa. Though she was separated from her prince for 41 years it seems there was always some connection to him. With every scout advancement, priesthood advancement, birthday, or mission call all of her grandchildren knew Grandma would give them a hug and whisper the words "Your Grandpa would be so proud of you." Grandma made memories in her Riverdale home to last an eternity. I can still remember the smell of that house that would remind me that it was a holiday or I was about to have a good time with family. Don't walk in that front room because it's off limits and children don't play in there. She had the scariest food storage room that always seemed to be moaning in the dark. Sleepovers were the best with cousins when she would tell stories of her mission in England until we fell asleep. Well Gramma, you now have your prince back who I know is so proud of you. Enjoy every moment with him and know that we miss both of you. I am not sure how the phone system works on that side of the veil, but if you can take a moment and give us one ring so that we know you had a wonderful time and that you made it home safe.

Hi family....

If you haven't heard there is a really cool new website on the Internet and it was created by me.....check it out

www.drawyoufunny.com

Things to Consider When Blogging or Posting Information Online

I saw this on KSL.com and thought I would share it with the family. It is about blogging and posting pictures of children and information online.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4699330

Chad

Is Anyone Out There???

Hi, everyone! I keep coming to the family blog and no one has posted anything for about TWO months. I guess we're all busy but it's always nice to read what you're all busy doing so take a minute and share a story or picture. This is the only way we can keep up on some of you and what you are doing!

We've been busy, too! Rick and I went up to Seattle with Kent and Pat for a Washington vs BYU game which we barely won. Yes, the men always find a way to watch a good game. It was fun and we did some fun sightseeing at the same time.







Then, over UEA Rick and I visited Zion's National Park--I know...as a teacher I should have stayed and attended the convention but..... The park was just an amazing place with so much to see and do. We went on several hikes but the most impressive was "Angel's Landing." You all really must experience it then you'll know all about "Walter's Wiggles" too!

While we were there, we went over to Micah's to watch another "Big BYU Game." It wasn't so big because BYU lost! Kent was leaving the next morning to drive over to LosAngeles to pick up a truck. What? That's a major vacation for most of us!!! Anyway, he didn't return as early as expected so Rick and I went and visited with Pat and all the kids and their grandkids. This was the first time in the last year that all the grandchildren had been together--even Tonya was there with Brinley and Jayden. Pat had just taken them all to a pumpkin patch and everyone had their special pumpkin to carve into a jack-o-lantern. It was a little scary to see each child with a knife out on the patio but when we saw parents step in and special pumpkin carving knives in use, it helped. What fun they all had and never think that this set of kids don't have their own opinions as to what makes the scariest jack-o-lantern! Tonay really liked being there because she had so much help with Jayden. It was fun to see this growing family! Chelsea is planning on a mission in the near future so we'll all have to stay tuned!



















Sunday, Linsey and Ben came and joined us for Sunday dinner. They are staying in Centerville at his parents' home and looking for a job. He does have a couple of leads so we're all hoping and praying that something happens soon. Linsey says he's become a great guy to have hanging around most of the time!









Of course, Halloween was the perfect time for visiting with family members. Angie's neighborhood had a neighborhood party so we went and helped with the kids since Tom was working. Zac and Abbi were so excited and looked exactly like Indiana Jones and Cinderella! Then, on Halloween, I went to Grandma's and picked her up so she could join in with us for the evening. We met Jan and David (they were in town for his daughter's baptism), Chad's family, Jeremiah's family, Colton and Amy, and Scott's family for a "Trunk or Treat." It was so nice and warm and the kids were all so excited. We had a soccer goalie, a witch, a kitty, a clone, a purple fairy, Buzz Lightyear, the Cat in the Hat, Clark Kent, and Shelley's mom was a Scottish dancer. I went as a the luckiest grandma and Rick was a proud grandpa??????????????










The picture of Alex, Scott's little boy is just too precious. We were watching him and I shared a cookie from school with him....yum, yum, yum! He's not a very good eater unless it's sweets but I let him enjoy it with no guilt from Mom and Dad--that's what grandmas are for, right???

Today, we had Sunday dinner, as usual. We had a FHE about pirates--a story from The Friend. Angie had the kids go on a treasure hunt so here's a picture of our pirates! You can see how excited Lyle and Maddie were. Yeah, that really like the family things!

The Beecher Twins have landed...in Provo!

That's right...we are so excited that Brittany and Brooke are at BYU. This is especially exciting because they will be working at Courtyard in our kitchen. I told them Lindsay worked here years ago and they thought that was funny. In addition, Justin and I are happy to have them as "on call" babysitters occasionally for our kids! I'll have to post some photos of their first day of work. No need to worry mom and dad~I'll keep close tabs on these sweet girls for you!

Summertime 2008

What a great summer! I've meant to write but my computer crashed and I'm now back up. Life is so crazy when you don't have a computer--especially the internet! I feel like I'm finally able to communicate with the world again. Some of the summer highlights seemed to be....Grandkids....Grandkids.....Grandkids and, of course, other family members. We taught Haylee how to roller blade and others tried to skate. Many just enjoyed swinging and learning to hang from their knees. All the mom's and myself took the kids to the children's museum down at the Gateway for a fun-filled learning day on July 25th. It was fun but we learned one important lesson--never plan a big outing just after staying up late for fireworks the night before.

Then, on July 31st, we made the annual women's trek down to BYU for the Women's Football Clinic. We met Linsey and Katie there and had many hands-on lesson about the sport while all the men stayed home babysitting. (Chad and Shelley were out of town but we'll get her next year.) Of course, there's always one or two who think they can crash the party (Lynn and Ben). AND, Linsey won the prize for coming the farthest (Japan) and Ben made it on the BYU news station for trying to crash the party. It was fun and I think we rubbed shoulders with all the right players. We were all in such great shape that no one was sore the next day.....right!

On August 3rd we attended Mindy's baptism. It was a wonderful day and there has not been a better attended baptism ever! This shows Justin and Mindy's kindness to so many others. It was great fun going to their house and visiting with everyone and witnessing the blessing of Celeste's twins--Shawn and Jaxson. As we visited, we realized how many twins were there so we took a picture. We were all wishing we'd thought about it earlier so Kent could have been in the picture but I represented him well and Lori represented Lynette also. Did you know that Celeste's twins were born on April and Amy's birthday? Cool......

On August 23rd, Kent and I attended our 40th high school reunion. Now remember, we were so "advanced" that we started high school at about the same age as all of you were starting kindergarten!!! (Just in case you're thinking we must be REALLY old!) We met Kent and Pat at Tonya's house and saw little Jayden. He really looks great! He smiled and was a very happy little guy. Then, Rick picked up Brinley and she was not too happy about that but she managed to give us a little smile. They really are a cute little family! They are doing well and are preparing for another heart surgery soon. We'll have to stay in touch!

Well, give me credit for getting this posted. It might not look too well organized but I'm learning with every posting I make. I hope all of YOU keep it up, too!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Grandpa (Daddy) Vern Ruby Beecher's Birthday...

Happy Birthday!

Pistachio Cookies

Note: for those of you who requested the reciped for the pistachio cookies we had at our house on my baptism day, you can go to our family blog (jmhillfamily.blogspot.com) and I have posted it. It was a long one and I couldn't get it to copy, but it's there if you would like it. ENJOY!

What An Awesome Day!

There are no words that adequately describe the wonderful feeling I have had since Sunday! Thanks to all who helped to make it such a special occasion. I feel eternally grateful to become part of this wonderful Church, The Gospel, and the love of all of you!