My Parents

My Grandparents, Joseph Welton Ward and Elizabeth Allen, and Jessie H. Dredge and Nellie Kunz, were from Malad, Idaho. Both grandparents were sheep men and farmers. My parents lived across the street from each other and were good friends. In fact, when my father was born Grandma Ward didn’t know what to name him. She was visiting with Grandmother Dredge and she suggested she name him Rulon. Little did she know at the time she was naming her future son-in-law.

Rulon Ward & Rose Dredge

Mother wrote about their courtship: “We’d grown up together and were more like brother and sister. We’d been in each other’s homes all our lives and he’d always called my mother Aunt Nellie. A day after I came home from college, Rulon came right over to our home and asked me for a date for Saturday night. I thought he was just kidding so I said, “Oh, sure!” A few days later, he called me on the phone to check and see if we really had a date, and I told him I thought he had been kidding me. He said, “Well, I’m not!” We went together for six weeks before we were engaged, and we were married in three months.”

Rose & Rulon Ward

Dad and mom were married October 21, 1936 in the Logan Temple. Early that next Spring mother and dad moved out on the ranch by Snowville, Utah. Grandpa Ward had purchased some ground in that area. Their first home was a sheep camp and they worked hard burning sagebrush and clearing the ground for farming. Mother was expecting me that summer. Daddy taught her how to shoot a 22 gun. Instead of “Annie Get Your Gun” it was “Rosie get your gun”. She spent a lot of her time shooting rabbits, rattlesnakes, and squirrels. When I was born, I was shell shocked and have never been able to slow down or sit still for very long since. 

Rulon & Rose 1937

My Birth

A short while before I was born, Grandpa Joseph W. Ward came to visit mother and dad and said he hadn’t been able to sleep for several nights, as someone kept telling him over and over to get mother to a specialist right away. He knew there was something wrong. He insisted they go to Ogden to see his cousin who was an obstetrician there. Dad took mother to Ogden, but they didn’t go to visit the doctor. When they returned home, Grandpa Ward came to visit them the next morning and said, “You didn’t go to the doctor, did you? I know you didn’t, because I had a bad night again. Someone keeps after me, so if you’re not going to take her to that doctor, I am!” He talked to Grandma Nellie about it and she decided to go with them. Dr. Ward said mother would not be able to give birth, and that he would have a hard time saving both of us if she went into labor. So it was decided I would be delivered by cesarean surgery. Grandpa always said to me, “Dolly, if Grandpa Ward hadn’t seen that your parents went to Ogden to that doctor, we’d never had you.”

Karolyn Rose Ward

I was born on July 24, 1937 in Ogden, Utah. All the Mormons were celebrating my birthday that day (Pioneer Day) Ha! Mother recorded some memories of my early years: “When we brought [Karolyn] home, I’d boil bottles and water and prepare several bottles of milk. She only nursed a small amount out of one bottle and that took her all day. Rulon said he knew he’d made a big enough hole in the nipple, so it had to be that something was very wrong with our baby. So off we went 150 miles to see Dr. Ward in Ogden, Utah. He looked her over and really checked everything and looked at us and said, “There’s nothing wrong with this kid.” He tried her bottle and said, “She’s nursing strong, so it has to be the nipple.” He got a large safety pin and heated it hot and put it in the end of the rubber nipple and made the hole larger. Then he sat down and fed her and she really emptied the bottle. He showed us how to burp her also and said, “You kids take this baby home and fix her other nipples like I’ve shown you, and I want to check her in a month.” We felt like crawling out the door, we were so embarrassed. It didn’t take Karolyn long to get fat and sassy when she got a chance to eat. She was a good baby. She only had a little fuzz on her head which was a light blonde color. I thought she’d never get her hair. I put bonnets on her for a long time because people would say, “That’s a fine-looking boy you’ve got there!” even though I had her dressed in frilly girls clothes. When her hair grew in, it was fine and curly, just like her dad’s hair. Rulon started jumping Karolyn up and down on his lap when she was four or five months old and she loved that. She’d about wear everyone out wanting to jump constantly. So we got a jumper and she really got her exercise and developed her muscles and legs, so that is no wonder she started walking at eight or nine months of age.”

Early Childhood

I had a baby brother David, who was born 15 months after me. We grew up together and I dressed him in my dresses. He was always a good sport. When the Watkins man would come around about once a month, he would look at him and ask, “How is little Mary?”

Karolyn & David Ward

I remember my playmates were the little puppies that would be born in the Spring. I would dress them in my dolls clothes and pull them around in the wagon. That worked for a while until they got big enough to jump out. Janice (my cousin who lived next door in the summer time) was my playmate. We would take eggs from the chicken coops and make our mud pies. They would set up really well.

Karolyn on the Ranch

Karolyn and her bunny

At this time we would spend the winters in Malad and the summers out on the ranch. With two small children, Dad and mother took an old granary and made it into some kind of living condition. I just remember mother talking about laying awake at night and listening to the mice run up and down inside the walls, and worrying about rattlesnakes getting into our beds. We were both scared to death of mice and snakes. We were trained to always watch and listen for them. We had an old dog named Blackie, and we would call him and he would kill them for us.

Rulon, Karolyn, and David

Sheila was born when I was almost 5 years old. I was so thrilled to have a little sister. I really enjoyed having a baby around to love and to hold. As she got older she was really spunky and knew how to take advantage of me. Then I wasn’t sure if I really liked having her around. She always knew how to get what she wanted from Dad and Mom. She has been a wonderful sister and we have enjoyed each other over the years.

Sheila & George Ward

George was born in November after I started school in first grade. He was a joy to our family; always happy and keeping us on our toes. He was never afraid of anything, and as soon as it got quiet mother would send us out looking for George.

Rulon and Rose Ward Family

Life On The Ranch

We lived right by the main highway, so there were always tramps and gypsies stopping by and asking for a handout. Daddy was always giving somebody gas or food, and sometimes a place to spend the night when their car broke down. We were 30 miles from Tremonton so Daddy would always take care of them. That was before we had any telephones.

Karolyn & David Ward

Daddy had a cow and a rooster that liked to chase us kids. I remember running to that house many times with one of them after me, screaming all the way.

During the summer months David, Janice, and I would have to get on the horses and take the cattle back up over the mountain after they came into the water lane for water. There were no fences at that time to keep them off the highway and that was always our job. I didn’t really like riding the horses. David and Janice loved the horses and they liked to make mine buck and scare me.

One day it was very hot and when we got back to the water lane “Old Star” (my horse) decided she wanted to cool off and got out in the middle of the pond and started to roll over with me. My foot was caught in the stirrup and I couldn’t get off. It scared me to death! I was screaming, yelling, crying all at the same time. I had never learned how to swim (we were never at a swimming pool) and I was scared to death of water. We were always taught not to go by the water until you learn how to swim. I finally got her out without going over on top of me. I never wanted to take the cattle again, but of course I still had to help. One day we came upon a rattle snake and it spooked the horse and I almost got bucked off again, so I always tried to be real busy and help mom in the house.

School Days

My school days in Snowville had four grades in one room. I had five classmates my age, 2 girls and 3 boys.

Karolyn Ward - Second Row, 4th Student from the Left

Mother or Daddy would have to take us five miles to school and pick us up after. It seemed like I was always waiting for them, never knowing when they would get there. We didn’t have phones in those days so I couldn’t call them. I just had to wait and see when they would show up. When I started my own family, I told Arlin, “I don’t care where we live as long as my children can walk to and from school.”

When my brother Allen was born he was sick a lot, so mother and dad decided to buy a home in Tremonton and we would spend the winters in town. That only lasted for one school year, and then they sold the home and we spent the rest of our school years back in Snowville. I loved that year and had a great teacher, and it was so fun to walk to school and have lots of friends to play with. It was also nice to be in a classroom with all the same grade students.

Karolyn's Class 1951

My 8th grade year was probably my worst. I had been really good friends with Kay, Pat, Rosanne, and Phyllis, but they were all a year older than me. So when they left for high school I was left behind for a year. I was a cheerleader than year and did enjoy being a cheerleader. I don’t remember much about what games we had or who we played. I do remember spending all of my recess time crocheting. Kay and Pat had taught me how to crochet and we spent a lot of time in the winter months crocheting hot pads and simple things, but it helped the time go by.

High School

I attended high school at Bear River in Garland, Utah. Mother and Dad had us stay with families in town so we wouldn’t have to make the long ride each day. I stayed my Freshman year with the Thompson family. Pat Eliason lived with them and their daughter Margaret was my age. We had the basement to ourselves pretty much. 

When I started high school, I was scared to death and also very shy. I really didn’t know anyone but my classmates from Snowville. But I soon made many good friends, and learned how to play the saxophone in the band. I once had to play a short solo at a music festival. We got a great rating so I guess I did alright.

My sophomore year I lived with the Gee Family in Garland. They both were teachers and I helped with the housework, fixed meals, ironed, washed, etc. That helped pay for my room and board that year. My junior and senior year I lived with the Bowcutt Family. Their daughter Sonja and I were really good friends. She was the only girl in the family with one older brother and a younger brother. Her parents owned the grocery store there in Garland. I helped her mom again with a lot of the housework. Sonja was jealous of me because I knew how to do things around the house, and her mother thought I was wonderful. But Sonja was a beautiful piano player, and I can still hear her practicing every morning before we left for school.

I would go home on weekends if there wasn’t something more exciting to do. I had a lot of parties out at the ranch. All of my friends loved to go out there. We had ice skating parties in the winter time, down at the old Rose Ranch. Our dates would hunt jack rabbits most of the time. The girls would do the driving and the boys rode out on front with the guns, shooting rabbits. I didn’t like it when I would hear the rabbits cry. There were so many rabbits at that time they would have “Rabbit Drives” where they would pay you so much for a rabbit.

I loved to dance and we would always go to Salt Lake to “Salt Air” or Lagoon and they would have special musicians – Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole, just to name a few. We were always thrilled when we could get a date and attend those dances.
When it was time for General Conference, we would always go to Salt Lake for at least one session with our dates. We would get there as the morning session was letting out and then stand in line to get into the Tabernacle and wait for the afternoon session. They were special occasions. I remember mother taking me and my friend Cheryl when President George Albert Smith lay in state. I remember his long white beard and how nice he looked.
The year I graduated from Seminary I was asked to be one of the speakers. I was so frightened and never prayed so hard in my life. I remember looking down in the audience and seeing Grandma and Grandpa Dredge looking up at me with big smiles on their faces. It was a wonderful experience. That was the first time I had ever spoken to such a crowd. The tabernacle was filled with people. Kenneth Ward (my cousin) was the other speaker and everyone thought we were twins. Ha!

After I graduated from High school, Daddy let me take his brand new Oldsmobile and three of my girlfriends to Jackson, Wyoming for a little vacation. (Can you believe he would let me do that?) 

We had a wonderful time, until we rented a row boat and headed out on Jenny’s Lake. It was a beautiful day, clear blue skies, and the Grand Tetons were breathtaking.

Needless to say, none of us knew anything about rowing a row boat. We had drifted out quite a long way when the wind started up and the black clouds started to roll in. We all took turns trying to paddle our way back to shore. Around in circles we would go. I started to pray and cry. I didn’t know how to swim a stroke and was scared of water to start with. We finally made it back to shore with the help of our Heavenly Father. I have never forgotten that experience, and knew our prayers had been answered. I never visit Jenny’s Lake without that frightening experience coming back to my memory.

College Years

I had some special friends in High school, and when it was time to go to BYU we went together and stayed in the same apartment. We had so much fun I don’t know how much studying got done. I loved to dance and we spent a lot of time jitterbugging. Tennessee Ernie Ford singing "16 Ton" was our favorite song to dance to.

While at BYU I sang in the choir, which was a wonderful experience. I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover for the very first time. I never forgot the experience I had when I got to Moroni 10:3-4. How the spirit filled my body and, and I knew the Church of Jesus Christ was true. I can still see my bedroom and I was laying in bed reading. It was such a wonderful experience. I loved my institute classes. They were my favorite. English and Math were my least favorite. I hated writing themes. Leona, my roommate, was a real brain and she loved to write, so she always helped me with my themes. She was the baby of her family and she didn’t know how to cook or clean, so we worked out a trading deal. It worked out really well for both of us. Ha!

In my institute class they announced that they needed participants for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. That sounded like such a great experience. I talked it over with Mom and Dad and they felt like that was something I should experience. So I signed up to do that. I got a bad cold that winter and they gave me penicillin which I had a bad reaction to, so then I was really sick. It ate away the tissue lining my mouth and down my throat. I just remember how bad it hurt, and I got so weak. Dad and Mom had me move back home at the end of the quarter. After the holidays I went to college at Utah State to be closer to home. I stayed in the dorms, but I was still pretty weak. I remember walking up a flight of steps to go to class and thought I was going to pass out. But I did regain my strength and finished that year of college.

That summer it came time to leave for the pageant. We had to be in Palmyra two weeks before the start of the pageant to practice. We traveled by bus and had to wear dresses all the time, as we were told to keep the missionary rules. That was the only part I didn’t enjoy – wearing a dress all the time. It was a wonderful experience, and I have never forgotten the feeling I had when the Savior appeared on the top of the Hill Cumorah, the gentle breeze moving his white robes. We were all reaching up towards him and trying to sing with tears running down our cheeks. Mother and Grandma Dredge decided since I was in the pageant they would plan a trip back east and come to the pageant. It was so good to see them and be able to spend some time with them. They went on a church history tour and had a wonderful trip as well. We met a lot of the missionaries who were serving in that mission. I knew Gary Bowie really well from Canada, and met him again at Utah State. In fact, I did his laundry for him at the girl’s dorm. It was good to see him again and remember the good times we had together. Colleen Russell (Flamm) also participated in the pageant and we became good friends.

When it came time to start thinking about college again, I didn’t know what I wanted to study. But I always thought I would like to become a beautician. I loved to play with hair and see how pretty I could style it for someone. So we did some checking around at different beauty schools. My dear friend Diane Rose and I got visiting, and she suggested I go to Weber State in Ogden, Utah. She had decided to leave “The Y” also and wanted me to come live with her and her Grandma in Ogden. So that is what I did, and I loved every minute of it. One day this nice-looking older lady came in and had an appointment with me to do her hair. She had beautiful long hair and liked to wear it in a French twist. I kept looking at her and thought she looked so familiar to me. Finally, I said to her, “You remind me so much of my grandmother.” So as soon as I told her who my grandmother was, she just let out a little chuckle and reached up and gave me a squeeze. She was my Great Aunt Charlotte, Grandmother Dredge’s sister. Aunt Charlotte and I bonded immediately. She took me under her wing and had Diane and I over for lunch several times. She always tipped me really well each week as I did her hair.
When I was ready to graduate from cosmetology at Weber State, I needed to look for a job. One of the salesmen, who I really liked, asked me if I would be interested in working in Jackson, Wyoming for the summer. He knew a lady who was looking for someone. I wanted some of my friends to go with me if they were willing. So Pat Eliason and Sonja Bowcutt and I made a trip to Jackson. They both found jobs working at the Roundup, and I met the lady I would be working for. We also heard about a lady who rented bedrooms to LDS girls, so Sonja and I were able to stay with her. Sister Robertson became a dear sweet friend to me. She was a wonderful older person, a widow very strong in the church. We always rode to church together because I didn’t have to work on Sundays. My work was about four blocks from her house, so I was always able to walk to work. I was able to make good money because the tips were so good. Most of my customers were tourists, so I met all kinds of people.
My boyfriend at that time was from Utah. He had an airplane and would fly up to Jackson to see me on some weekends. Other times he would just drive. We flew up around Jenny’s Lake and close to the Tetons, and once flew over Yellowstone Park and got to see Old Faithful go off from the air. (Crazy girl) When I was at the ranch in Snowville he would fly out there and buzz the house. Maybe that’s why I hated to fly as I got older.
That summer I got a phone call from mother telling me I needed to get on the bus and come home. Sheila had been sick a lot that summer and couldn’t seem to get better. She had been sick with pneumonia that spring. They were going to operate on her and remove a part of one lung. That was real scary in those days needless to say. So I left Jackson and headed for Tremonton, Utah. The bus stopped in every little town, including Sugar City. I remember looking around and thinking, “Who would want to live here?” (Little did I know…) I also remember stopping in Rexburg on College Ave. It took forever to get to Tremonton. I spent a week or so with Sheila in the hospital and helping mother. Then I went back to Jackson to finish my summer work.
When fall came it was time to move on, but I wasn’t sure where to go. The same beauty salesman who had helped me get the job in Jackson asked if I would like to come to Logan, Utah and work for him in his beauty salon. I was excited to be able to go back to Logan. I loved being close to the Utah mountain range. I found an apartment close to the Artistic Beauty Salon where I could walk to work. I lived with three other girls and we had a great time. When it was time for me to buy a car, again my boss came to my aid and sold me his Buick for $500. It was a two door, blue in color, and seemed like a big old car to me. Daddy wanted me to get it too. He felt like I would be safe in it if I ever got into an accident. He didn’t want me to have a little car.

Arlin Bartschi

I took some night classes at the college institute and started meeting more friends. My roommate was dating a boy and she wanted me to double date with her one night, so they set me up with one of his roommates on a blind date. That was the night I met Arlin Bartschi. We had fun and did a lot of things with them. When Christmas came, I went to Snowville for the holidays and Arlin went back to Nounan. I sent him a Christmas card and he sent me one too. I was excited to hear from him. He was what you would call tall, dark, and handsome. Ha ha!

Arlin Bartschi

After the holidays we started dating more and more and enjoyed being together. Arlin had such a funny sense of humor, and loved to scare people. I guess I had told him once how scared I was of mice, so one night we were walking down the sidewalk on our way to a movie and he held out his hand and said, “Here.” I held out my hand and he handed me a rubber mouse. I jumped and screamed “Oh S---!” He never let me live that down for a long time. Ha ha! He was always scaring me and loved to watch me jump.
My parents knew I was dating Arlin and were anxious to meet him, so we made the trip to Snowville. He was right there to help Dad with the chores, and Dad thought he was wonderful. He went with me to Dave’s mission farewell and spent all day in the kitchen helping mother wash dishes. When he asked them if he could marry me, it wasn’t hard for them to say yes. Ha ha!

Arlin shared this version of our courtship: “Like most other things I did in life I was a little slow in the uptake of dating and going out with the girls. I think I had one date in high school, and then spent three years on a mission. I didn’t get a running start. There were so many other things I liked doing running with the boys, I didn’t give it much of my time. As I got older, and with a little pushing from my sisters and others, I thought maybe it was something I should look into. When I was at Utah State, my best friend Karl Peterson kept encouraging me along those lines. There was lots of help trying to get me started. I did go with some nice girls, but some lived so far away I couldn’t get excited about going so far away from home. Ha! Then one of my other friends was going with a girl and wanted me to take her roommate on a date so we could double. Well, this girl’s name was Karolyn and she was from Snowville, Utah not too far from Logan. I remembered I had a classmate by the name of Joe Larkin who was from Snowville. When I told him I had gone on a date with Karolyn, he told me to keep going with her because she sure came from a good family. Well it wasn’t long before I went to Snowville and met her family. I felt right at home because they were farmers and lived the same lifestyle I had been raised with. It wasn’t long before I took Karolyn home to Nounan to meet my family. They all fell in love with her and took her under their wings. The rest is history and she is still keeping me around. I made a good choice.”

We were engaged in March and set our wedding date for June 3rd. It was exciting and lots of fun having bridal showers, finding a wedding dress, and making all the plans for our wedding. We found an apartment that had a kitchen, bath, and living room. Our bedroom was just a bed that came down out of the wall (murphy bed) at one end of the living room. It was small, but in our price range. Ha!

We were married on June 3, 1959 in the Logan Temple. It was a beautiful June day. Our reception that evening was in Snowville. We had a great turn out, with lots of dancing and fun for everyone.

We decided to go to Sun Valley, Idaho for our honeymoon. When we got there, we couldn’t afford to stay there or even eat. Everything was so expensive, and we were rather poor. We spent one night in Ketchum, in a cute little log cabin with red checkered curtains.

Then we went to Craters of the Moon, and explored Idaho Falls near the temple and stayed a night there. Little did we know that was going to be close to our future home the rest of our life. After the honeymoon we went back to Nounan and had a reception there with Shirley and Vickie’s help.
We received many wonderful gifts and had fun fixing up our little apartment. One of our wedding gifts was a Cuckoo clock that we kept in the living room/bedroom. I would be getting dressed and that cuckoo bird would pop out and scare me to death. Arlin already had me so jumpy from scaring me so many times. We kept very busy with our jobs and Arlin’s school work. I’d help him study and drill him on the nights before his tests. He did get better grades and our hard work paid off. I tried to support us financially as much as I could, and Arlin worked at construction and painting to help us get through school. He worked hard that first summer and tried to save as much as he could to get ready for school that fall. Elda was our landlady and she was a beautiful knitter. She taught me how to knit and I made sweaters that winter for Arlin, me, and our future baby.

Starting Our Family

The next spring we found out we were going to have our first baby in November. We were so excited. We knew we needed to find another place to live that had a bedroom, so we found a little two-bedroom home that we could afford. Arlin added on a utility room on the back that helped pay our rent. We fixed up our little nursery and anxiously waited for our new arrival. We had a great ward and had so much fun in our calling as Young Married Stake Leaders. We met some choice young couples: Merle and Janice Jeppsen, Jim and Coleen Flamm – although I already knew Coleen from the trip to the New York Pageant.
The morning of November 17th 1960, I was awakened with a bad pain about 5:00 a.m. After 30 minutes we knew I was in labor, so we arrived at the hospital and Arlin called mom to tell her we were having the baby. She didn’t think there was any need to rush, since it took her forever to have her babies. When she arrived, our little son was already here. It didn’t take him long. What a joy to hold my very own baby in my arms for the very first time. The tears flowed and it was such a miracle to see that new little spirit from Heavenly Father. I knew our life would never be the same again. We named him Craig Arlin Bartschi after his father.
Arlin’s memory of Craig’s birth is as follows: “Being our first born, this was a big event in our lives. It is good the Lord watches out for his spirits, as mom and I weren’t too sharp on what to do. We welcomed this new little spirit with open arms. I thought I should hand out cigars, so I went to town and found some baby blue candy cigars, which worked just fine for all of our friends. I was so excited I even handed them out to people whether I knew them or not. Ha ha! Our first Bartschi boy to carry on the family name. When we got home with our son, he didn’t want to nurse. The doctor told us how to mix some canned milk and water in a bottle. Somehow, I think we got the formula mixed up. After Craig drank down the milk he started to choke, and he couldn’t breathe. He started to turn blue, so Karolyn turned him over and pounded on his back while I held him over the sink and we finally got it worked out of his throat. That was one scary experience, and we were blessed we were able to save him with the help of our Heavenly Father.”
I was able to work in the evenings while Arlin tended Craig and studied. We were able to make it through one more year of school, and then Arlin signed all the papers and thought he was ready to graduate. He interviewed for a job teaching school in Roosevelt, Utah, but then his advisor told him his major was too close to his minor and that he needed to go to school one more semester and get a different minor. That was quite a letdown. So he went back to school that fall and got a minor in psychology. Arlin had taken a lot of Institute classes, and they had an opening for a seminary teacher in Logan starting in January. They asked him if he would like to take that job until Spring. That was an answer to prayers in many ways. He loved teaching religion and decided he would rather do that than teach Industrial Arts.
Our son Bryan was born on March 13th, 1962 on a Friday. (He has brought us a lot of joy in spite of his birthday being Friday the 13th). Craig was 16 months old and keeping me plenty busy, so life became even busier with two babies. Grandpa Bartschi came and spent a few days with me and helped out. He was so thrilled to have two grandsons. One day I had Bryan in a bassinet in the bedroom and went in to check on him, only to find that Craig had piled all of his toys on top of him. He was learning to share real young. Ha ha!

Moving To Idaho

Arlin’s seminary teaching assignment for that fall 1962 was in Sugar City, Idaho. We had some friends from Idaho, Kay and Joyce Johnson, whose parents lived in Sugar City. They invited us to go home with them on a weekend in April. Bryan was just a few weeks old and we were anxious to see where we would be living. The next morning after we got there, we woke up to snow. That should have told us something then, right? There was no place for us to live in Sugar City, but we found an upstairs apartment in Rexburg. Mother and Dad helped us move from Logan, and Mother helped me get the apartment clean and livable.
On our first visit to our new ward in Rexburg, we ran into our friends The Flamms and The Jeppsens, from Utah State. We couldn’t believe it! They had moved back home and Merle was working on the family farm and Jim was working at the family mortuary. Over the years we have been great friends and have done many things together with our families. I would cut the girls hair and Merle would cut hair for the men (except Arlin) and we would put the money in a jar, which was the money we used to buy gas for all of our little trips we would take together with our small children to Yellowstone Park and Grandpa Bartschi’s ranch.
Arlin got work in construction that first summer and helped build the Kmart building and many homes in the area. That fall before school started, the Stake President asked us to move to Sugar City. They wanted us to be in the community where Arlin would be teaching. They had a home on the church dairy farm. They also needed a relief milker on weekends, so this would help pay our rent. We were thrilled to be able to make the move. The house didn’t have central heat, just wood-burning stoves. Arlin had to do a lot of work fixing it up. He finished the upstairs and made a bedroom for the boys and a playroom. We were expecting another baby in May and needed more room.
Besides Arlin teaching seminary and milking cows on the weekend, he was asked if he would also like to be a school bus driver. So he would get up early in the mornings and go to Newdale, pick up all the students in that area and head back to Sugar City in time for school to start. Then after school he would take them all back home. He loved that job and really got to know all the kids and where they lived. He also drove the sports teams to their games and he loved that. So you can see I was home alone much of the time trying to raise our family. Arlin was a good hard worker and loved to be around people. They all loved him as well, with his humor and all the tricks he played on everyone. His seminary classroom was above the school cafeteria and he came home almost every day smelling like an onion. I guess that is one of the reasons he dislikes them to this day.
We were always very busy with church job and our little family. Our home on the dairy had a fenced in yard and we lived on the main high way. So I felt safe letting the boys outside to play. One day I had made cupcakes and set them out on the back step for the boys to eat them, since I had just cleaned the house and didn’t want crumbs all over. A few minutes later I went to check on them and couldn’t find Bryan. I asked Craig where he was and he said, “He fell in the water and we will have to get another one.” I looked and saw the gate was open where Arlin would go to the dairy barn. There was a small bridge where the canal runs through the property that Arlin always had to walk across. I ran as fast as I could up and down that canal crying and hollering for Bryan. I couldn’t see him anywhere and the water was moving quite fast. A few minutes later the milkman came carrying him out of the barn and asked me if I was looking for him. He was just a little toddler and only had his diaper on. I was never so glad to see my baby. He had gotten the gate open somehow and had made it into the barn. He was tall for his age and had very long arms for just a little guy. That just meant he could get into more trouble. Ha ha! That was one day I knew our Heavenly Father was with us and protecting us, and it was one experience I’ll never forget. Of course I was scared to death of water and never learned how to swim. Arlin even tried to teach me how to swim after we were married, but he finally gave up… you can’t learn how to swim if you won’t put your face under the water. I did make sure all my children learned how to swim, but I hated taking them to swimming lessons. I was always so nervous and just knew they were going to drown, but I was so glad when it was all over and they finally knew how to swim.
On May 8th, 1964 our Lisa Ann was born, weighing 8 lbs, 8 oz. (This was the only birth date and weight her dad could remember, because it was all eights!) I got to bring her home from the hospital on Mother’s Day. What a special Mother’s Day present. She was a darling baby with lots of black curly hair. I was so thrilled to have a baby girl, especially with all that hair that I could play with. She was a thrill for all of us, and the boys really enjoyed their new baby sister. We still lived in the house on the dairy farm. When she started to move around, I had her upstairs in her little walker and told the boys to watch her while I ran downstairs for something. The next thing I heard was her crashing down the stairs, walker and all. They were steep stairs and plenty of them, but she landed at the bottom right side up and still in one piece. We were so lucky she didn’t get hurt, just crying and scared, and it scared all the rest of us as well. Our Heavenly Father was watching over her that day.
In June we had to go to summer school in Provo for six weeks as one of Arlin’s Seminary requirements. We stayed in the girl’s dorm up on the second floor that summer. Arlin and I were busy unpacking the car, coming up the stairs with an arm load of things, only to find our two sweet country boys peeing out over the deck trying to see who had the longest aim. Needless to say, we had to teach them a few things about city life.