Disneyland Day with our Small Family

Last Friday, March 7th, we got up at 6:00 am and drove to Anaheim to spend a day at Disneyland. It was an impomtu decision that week. We had such a nice day together with Mette and Hans...our small family! We've never gone to Disneyland without being part of a big group...it was so strange to get on a ride and tell them we just had 4 of us for the ride! And to sit down at a restaurant to eat....with just 4 of us! Is this how the rest of the world lives? It's strange for John and I! It was a nice getaway day!

One of the fun events of the day was to watch the Jedi Training Academy Show at the Tomorrowland Terrace. Children were called up from the audience to take part in some lightsaber training and then went up against Darth Vader and and Darth Maul! Hans raised his hand and wanted to be chosen, but enjoyed the show anyway.

Eager Future Driver! It won't be long!

Nothing like a Cool, Clear, Winter Sail to lift our spirits.....

A couple of weeks ago for Valentines Weekend, John wanted to take us out on a Sunset Dinner Cruise. It was a nice, clear but cool evening to cruise around Channel Island Harbor and barbecue our steaks. We had a wonderful afternoon and evening. Nancy and Allen Jenkins joined us and we had a really good time together. It was just what we needed to lift our spirits.

If anyone else wants to get out on a sail, just call us...John doesn't need much prompting to pull together an afternoon/evening sail!

Looks like a cute passenger (Ditte)waiting to board....here we come!

Allen, Mette and Nancy

Happy passengers for the sunset dinner cruise...(Else, Haans and Ditte...where's Jeremy...oh yeah, he'd rather be out motorcycle riding!)
Beautiful Sunset!
Tyson hanging out in the front of the boat, getting quite an up and down ride out there.

Skipper John, with Ditte looking on......I think this is heaven to him!
Bundled up Mette keeping an eye out for other boats....cute look out crewmember :-}
Cozy couples piled into the front bedroom of the boat!

picking up new passengers (Jonathan and Kirsten...get ready to jump onboard! Allen and John enjoying a chat after our delicious meal!

Lovebirds Jonathan and Kirsten keeping warm.

Happy Valentines Everyone!

Grandma Hancock's Funeral

Last Tuesday afternoon, John and I drove back to Mesa, AZ yet one more time for a family funeral. This one was for my sweet grandma Hancock , whom I posted about two weeks ago. I was so grateful to have been able to be there with my sisters, Julie, Lisa, and Jackie. We've been through a lot these last months, since our mother passed away suddenly in December, two days after my dad's father, Carl J Beecroft, Sr. In January we attended another funeral of my Uncle Roger Baldwin and our great aunt, Jean Taylor passed away in January as well.

I was privileged to enjoy the company of several of my cousins...my Uncle Doug's children whom I had grown up with in Mesa...Kristy, Buffy, Doug, Jr. and David Hancock. Some of their children and spouses were there as well. It was so good to see my mom's brother, Doug and his good wife, Jeanne who had done so much to take care of grandma in her last years. She has suffered from Alzheimer's Disease the last few years, so her passing is a great blessing to her and all who loved her. I enjoyed meeting some of my mother's cousins and some of her aunts and uncles on grandma's side.

My sisters and I and a couple of our cousins, sang "I am a Child of God" at the funeral and I felt honored to be able to speak and give a tribute to grandma. I read some funny things in her own words that I had found in my mother's journal:

"Rita had lots of friends and our home was always full of kids. LOTS of slumber parties (why do they call them slumber?) and she missed very few Friday night dances at the Mezona." "Rita planned on going out one evening (High school days). Her Dad and I were gone before her date was to arrive. Her younger brother, Doug, didn't want her to date this boy, and after we left, he tied her up with ropes and gagged her and left her in a back room and told the young man she wasn't home. She was VERY, VERY mad." "Our children always let us know when they came home nights. Their Dad would ALWAYS ask "what time is it?" We didn't know until years later when they were all home at the same time that Rita came in at "plenty after eleven" instead of "twenty after eleven"!

Fun stories to share. My grandma had such a great sense of humor and was always giggling and had such a contagious laugh. Everyone that spoke said that of her. I also held up a certificate that I'm very thankful for that I found in the things I have inherited from my mom's. It is the sealing certificate of my grandpa and grandma Hancock when they were sealed in the Mesa temple for all eternity on November 22,1972. That means more to me than any other material thing she could have left for us. I was so thankful when she and grandpa could attend my temple wedding in 1975.

Grandma's funeral was held in the Meldrum's Mortuary in Mesa. It was a pleasure to be there to pay honor to such a wonderful woman. I'm grateful to know she is with my grandpa again and with many other loved ones, including my mother.

My next post, hopefully won't be about a funeral! I've had more than my share these last couple months. I'm trying to lift my spirits and look forward to a happy year ahead. I'm thankful for my good husband who has supported me through all my grieving and been by my side through it all.

Here is a 5 generation photo taken in 2001 ......

Ditte with Cozette on left, myself Debi, Kirsten with Audrey

Grandma Hancock and my mother, Rita Beecroft in front.

I have a blessed heritage and wonderful memories of these two great women in my life and now I hope to focus on our future and the wonderful grandchildren coming into our lives.

Feelings from my Heart on this Valentines Day......

This journal entry is full of feelings from my heart today....appropriate I suppose being Valentines Day....

I have had so many loved ones pass away since Christmas that it almost feels numbing to write that my mother's mother.... Grandma Lorale (pronounced LoraLee) Cox Hancock passed away yesterday, about noontime. She has been suffering with Alzheimers for a few years and when we went to sing Happy Birthday to her on her 90th, 2 years ago in Mesa, I looked into her loving blue eyes then and knew she didn't know me anymore. She has had to live in a Hospice Facility for the last year or so. Since she couldn't even attend my mother's funeral in December, we have been praying for her release from this life so she can be her happy, joyful self again with loved ones who have gone before her. I can only imagine the moment of discovery when she met my mother on the other side and wondered how she got there before her!

My Grandma Hancock was the best grandma a little girl could have ever wished for. She is my model for what I should be like to my little grandchildren. As my parents had two children right after me born with Cystic Fibrosis, my mother was a very busy mom caring for them and my grandma took care of me a lot. When I was 6 years old, my little sister Carla died as my mother was in the same hospital delivering my sister Pam. I went into shock and became violently ill and my dad took me to my grandma's house to stay until I got better. She took good care of me. I still have happy dreams about driving to her house and spending lots and lots of good times with her. She sewed all my little sister Carla's and my dresses and she could cook and she could joke and laugh with us. She has had such a profound influence on my whole life. I only remember her happy countenance and feeling so loved by this good, loving grandma. I was always amazed at her story of being a 17 year old young woman who eloped with my 37 year old grandpa. His first wife died and left him with 3 children to raise. Grandma stepped right into being a mother to a 12 year old son and two younger daughters and then she had my mom and Uncle Doug a short time later. I know she wasn't perfect....there were problems in their early marriage, but I just was in awe at the 20 year difference in her and grandpa's ages and loved how she loved and cared for him even until he was very aged and passed away around 1989.

Even through my adult life she continued to think of us....she and grandpa Hancock came up to Provo to be with us when we were students at BYU and we loved that visit so much.

My grandma was a convert to the Church after her marriage to grandpa. They were not sealed together until one summer after we had been camping together, my 16 year old heart could not take it anymore that she wouldn't be a part of our forever family. I poured out my concerns to her in a letter and within a short time, she and grandpa became prepared to go to the temple and be sealed to each other and to have their children sealed to them. I was able to be with her and my mom when she was sealed to her own parents. I was so thankful she and grandpa were able to be with me in the Los Angeles Temple a few short years later on the day I was married, too. My memories are extensive of her and I feel such a mourning going on in my heart to realize that although it feels like she has already been gone, now she has really gone on to the next life, and I miss her. But I know, just as I know my parents and other loved ones have passed onto the Spirit world, she lives and I'm remembering you, Grandma.......I love and miss you!

Birthdays, Valentines, and family times.....

Happy Valentines Day to all of you this coming Thursday, February 14th!

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we made homemade Valentines for our missionary... Steffen.

We each looked up scriptures that had to do with Love and wrote those on his valentines. It was a "small and simple" home evening.


This past weekend, Erik, Cristin and Luke came for a visit from Tehachapi so Cristin could get out of the snow and so we could celebrate her upcoming 30th birthday (Feb. 21st) . It was wonderful to have them come. We called up the family troops who live nearby and asked them to come over Friday night for cake and ice cream and we had an instant party! Thank you all for coming. It was a "small and simple" party but there was lots of love and we just enjoy being together, hanging out and, of course....... EATING! Candace and Tyler and Lizette even came! We missed our Utah family...Trine, Larry, Leyna, Christian, Emily and Gracie! Anytime you guys want to get out of the "snow", just come on down....we've been enjoying some really nice California beach weather the last few days and would love to have you join us.

Cristin, we love you! Happy, Happy Birthday. You were a great sport to wear the traditional Lassen birthday hat while we sang and watched you blow out the candles!

And no, Haans is not holding a cigarette....it's a candle!

Cub Scouts and Pine Wood Derby

Since Hans turned 8 years old I was asked to be the Cub Scout Wolf Den Leader. I have enjoyed this so very much. I only have 3 little boys, Hans, Gabriel Martin and Weston Benson and they are so hungry to live life, make things, explore things and have FUN! This past month the Cub Scout Theme for January has been "Car Show" leading up to the Pine Wood Derby a couple nights ago. We've had fun at our Den meetings using tools, lately. These little boys get such pleasure out of hammering nails into scraps of wood, taking the nails out and doing it over again! We made banana mobiles and played lots of games. I love little boys!

Here's some pictures from some of our Den meetings as well as Pine Wood Derby night this week. Jonathan, our son-in-law, is the Cub Committee Chairman and he did a great job dealing with the stress of making sure all 27 cars got to compete against each other and on different tracks and bringing it down to the top 3 winning cars. (and the hardest job of all....keeping parents happy.) The boys had so much fun and it was an exciting night for Hans....his first Pine Wood Derby experience. His cool black and chrome car got 2 firsts and 1 second. He wasn't even that much concerned about winning...just racing. We were proud of him for being a great sport and just having fun. He had a good time designing the shape and sanding and drying the car with his dad.

It's funny, I remembered back to the morning that Hans was born and John saying, "great....I have to do more pine wood derby cars!" We counted it up, John has helped make 10 pinewood derby cars with his boys.......3 with Erik, 3 with Christian, 3 with Steffen and 1 so far with Hans........8 years of waiting and now Pinewood Derby night came and went again. I guess we get to look forward to the next 2 years and then we can relax and enjoy our grandsons' derby cars!

What is this White Stuff in Camarillo????

Hey, Tehachapi, Utah, and Virginia....you have competition when it comes to the "white stuff" coming down in your areas....Camarillo, CA got some of it tonight!

We had a LOT of rain today and tonight during dinner it was DUMPING rain....our house was loud from the sound of the rain....we went out on the front porch to walk Kirsten and her kids out to their car and there was ice on our grass. I guess the rain was partly hail! We are not very used to this here! Just last week it was in the 70's! Poor us, huh? Compare this to Steffen's picture from this week in Virginia....

Thinking on Good Times.....

Today I wanted to think on some good times....I have this picture next to my bedstand in a frame that says, "Sisters". This is me and my sisters, who all live in Arizona and I live in California. I drove over to be with them and we went for a drive with the top down in my car around Mesa. We were together several times in the last two months as we gathered to care for our sick and dying mother. This was a happy moment during a lot of difficult times in the last months.





Here is another picture that same day, but with my brother Jon also in the picture. My siblings and I have lost both our parents now....it's good to have each other still.

Lisa, Pam, Jackie, Julie, Deb and Jon

We received e-mail from Steffen today

Homepage for Alexandria, VA

http://visitalexandriava.com/

So, we've been waiting since Monday to hopefully recieve e-mail from Steffen (Elder Lassen) but I guess his P-days must be on Wednesday, not Mondays. Today we got 2 e-mails from him. The first one was short and he was frustrated because he typed out his letter only to lose the whole thing as the computer shut down! But within an hour, he had the chance to try again and was able to get the news out to us that he's been assigned to serve in Alexandria, Virginia, just 5 miles south of Washington D.C along the Potomac River. He's on a bike and he's loving his experiences so far this week. He said his companion, Elder Gray who is from Arkansas is awesome and that he knew Jacob Blickenstaff and David Giles who served or have served in Arkansas! Small world! He sounded so positive. In checking the weather for his city, I noticed a big snow/sleet storm heading their way tomorrow, so I wonder how he'll do riding his bike in that! (You can read his e-mail on his blog at http://www.slassen.blogspot.com/ )

It was a nice highlight to the day to hear from our missionary and to know he is well, happy and working hard.

Another fun thing about today was that we had little visitors come over for a short time today....

Wyatt and his mommy came over for a short visit on their bicycle and then a little later, Isaac came to stay for lunch and naptime. When gramps came home for lunch, he laid down to take a short nap and Isaac laid down next to him and they were out for a nice, winter's nap :-} I would have taken a picture but didn't want to wake them...they were so cute!

Hans had his first Cinemagic Practice today and then he stayed home with his dad tonight while I went to have a YW presidency meeting and then attended a New Beginnings Program for Camarillo 3 rd Young Women's.

John and Allen Jenkins are working out in the garage tonight...it's their Wednesday night Project Night. Each Wednesday, they take turns at each other's garages and spend a few hours helping each other work on their old cars. John works on restoring his Model A Ford and Allen has International Scout he is restoring. It's great to have friends to keep you motivated!

Today is Larry Krueger's birthday! Happy Birthday, Larry!

Steffen is off to Washington DC Today!

Steffen called at 4:00 AM this morning from the Salt Lake Airport. It was a joy to talk to to him for about 30 minutes. John and I each had a phone to our ear and listened to his enthusiasm.
He expressed that he has loved being in the MTC and enjoyed the speakers and firesides especially.
Tonight he's probably had dinner with his new Mission President and had an interview before learning of where his first assigned area and companion will be. For more info, keep checking his posts at http://www.slassen.blogspot.com/ .

Quote from Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

“It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.”


Pres. Hinckley (spoken at his wife, Marjorie Hinckley’s funeral)