LYDIA

I thought I was pregnant. Couldn't go to the store for a test stick in those days. One had to wait for four months and then a doctor would see you and give you the news you already knew.

I was teaching 1st/Kindergarten at Malad Elementary. After school one afternoon Jon came home with a pretty good gash from snowmobiling with his dad. It was after hours so we had to go to the emergency room for stitches. While there I simply said, "Dr. I think I am expecting. Could you write me out an prescription for Bendectin (morning sickness stuff)."

"Sure." he replied. Wow, those were the good 'ol days. This was perfect because I didn't want ANYONE to know I was expecting.

In the morning the doctor turned to his nurse (or pretending to be one) and told her to call in my prescription. The nurse was none other than my principal's wife. At 11 o'clock that day while in the lunch line, the principal said, "So if you are expecting, does that mean you will be resigning real soon." I was furious. Oh the newsberries from a small town.

Two days later I found myself at the doctor's office getting the "official" news. The doctor simply said, "You know your dad is in the other room." Oh, I didn't know.

An hour later my mom was sitting in my living room giving me he news that my dad had cancer.

Instead of the excitement and thrill of having another child, I dealt with the sad, lonely time of knowing my dad was very ill. Let's see, I was 4 months pregnant and my dad lived 5 months. Yep, I was due the day after my dad died. Lydia was born weeks after. She was well overdue with eyelashes and fingernails and my largest baby by nearly 2 pounds.

She was born in the same hospital that my dad died in. In fact, the nurse threw open the curtains in the morning to let the sunshine in and my view was of the side room where I had last seen my dad. That moment was a tough one.

I actually went to Logan to have my kids. First, we were living in Snowville when I had Cles and it was closer. The incident with the principal's nurse and the grapevine from hell caused me to go back to the doctor and hospital in Logan.

At the end of the school year, the Superintendent shook my hand and said, "We don't believe that a lady in your condition should stand in front of our children." I had been relieved of my teaching duties because I was pregnant.

It was a great blessing because I was in no mental state to work with kids. I had the most precious gift in the world, my first daughter. With Cles who was a great kid and Lydia I was the happiest mom on earth.

On Saturday Jon and I just walked in the door from the Ranch at about 11 pm. We sat down to watch Saturday Night Live and wow, the water thing happened. Jon grabbed his parents car and we were off to Logan. Jon compared me to his cow all the way over. He was panicked because she was not coming with contractions. That's just not a safe thing with a heifer, ya know.

They put me into a room and informed me that the doctor was in Kentucky at his daughter's wedding, that he would be back in the morning. They gave me a shot to stop the action until the doc was there to deliver her. The nurse an her needle left the room. As the door shut, the pain started. Jon slept through the whole thing. No pain killer, no epideral, just pain.

Lydia was born an hour later.

Lydia was quiet. In fact I would place her in the bassinette and move her into the room I was in because she cried so quietly that I couldn't hear when she was awake. I knew when Cles was awake. He was not quiet.

Here are a few pictures:


She was beautiful from day one!










And she was painfully shy and quiet.















Lydia and her little sister, Kristin.

And the hairdos just keep coming. Sorry Lyd!

I think we have always loved Disneyland!

A good way to end!