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!
