Tender Mercies Realized

Start of School and Roadside Miracles

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 21:49:11 +0000

J.T. started junior high, and has been working hard on his basketball skills. He was initially disappointed that basketball class at the beginning of the school year seemed to involve a lot more sitting aro
und in the locker room than playing basketball. Fortunately, that has improved, and he's been spending plenty of time practicing on his own. He and Bruce have been walking to school together early enough to eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Whenever he can, he and Joy go to shoot baskets at the church in the early morning, and after school if he has time he prefers to spend an hour at JC Optimist Park near our home.

He has a goal to make a certain number of 3 pointers. Usually it's 30 a day, but sometimes it's 300 a week and sometimes it's a percentage. It always takes me a second to catch up when he comes home and announces he made 73 pointers instead of 70 ... ... ... 3-pointers. Right now the goal is 50% accuracy. He's just dreaming to make one of the two "real" basketball teams when they have tryouts in a couple weeks.

Lavinia has been settling into her online classes and seminary. When she gets together with her best friend, they typically have Avatar marathons. (They've mastered all four elements, but not the art of stopping after one episode.)

[Pictured, Nia was the only girl to carry someone else around on her shoulders during a youth sports event.]

With three face to face classes, all on TR, I've been able to leave Mondays and Fridays more free to work on my food security research. I was elected to Tarleton's Faculty Advisory Council (explicitly NOT the Faculty Senate, which are illegal in Texas).

One of our greatest blessings has been watching Grandma's continued recovery. After her heart attacks and the long months in nursing facilities, even climbing stairs has been a major accomplishment. Over the last several weeks she progressed from three steps to six, then made it all the way up to her bedroom! And at the end of September, she made it to church again. I joke that church lasted an extra half hour that day as people came up to greet her, they were so excited to see her again. Hooray!

One Wednesday we were the only patrons for baptisms at the Dallas temple, so we were able to do about fourteen names each. It was a lovely experience. Then we went to a Greek restaurant nearby. There's not a lot of Greek cuisine in Stephenville, so I translated all the recipes for the kids and was relieved and gratified that everyone enjoyed their meal.

The version of the family we try to present

Truth in advertising

Two days later, Joy and Nia were in Fort Worth for appointments when Candy - our minivan - overheated. They did manage to get out of Fort Worth, but were just east of the stake boundaries, over an hour away. They waited, added water to the radiator, and tried again, but it soon became clear that our car was not going to cooperate. I called a repair shop in Aledo, arranged for a tow, (Joy: We appreciated that, Derrill!) and eventually got a fellow high councilor to give them a ride to the rental car. They arrived Just before closing and finally made it home about 8 that night. The problem turned out to be the water pump, a repair costing roughly $1,000. Ouch!

Nia: I had an anxiety attack every day for the last several days. I thought 'It's going to be a miracle if I don't have an anxiety attack over this' and I didn't! So that was a miracle. Plus it wasn't too hot. Seriously, without AC for who knows how long we will be stuck there and running the heater at full blast to try to keep the engine cooler, I was expecting worse. Plus the fact we had expected get home like 3 o'clock, this side quest took 5 hours longer than expected! But we made it, and that's what counts!

Joy: And the people at the car shop were so nice.

Nia: We got to watch Strawberry Shortcake episodes and their seats were so cozy! Armchairs with pockets in the side, and I found marshmallows in my pockets while we watched an episode about them toasting marshmallows. That made me happy! Oh, and we grabbed Chik-fil-A on the way home and I got a shake.

Joy: And they let us stay in their establishment after they locked up for the night so we could stay cooler until our ride showed up. I felt like they took care of us like we were family, and that was really sweet since they didn't know us from Adam. [DW - or Eve, respectively] Oh, and there was something even better. It has been crazy at the retnal car place that day - folks waited for hours - but we didn't have to wait very long. We got in and out in 20 minutes and they were thanking us for being so much nicer than the folks who had waited hours. I wasn't about to say it was because we didn't have any reason to complain, unlike that other fellow. And our friend from the stake was glad to hear about Hyrum's adventures.

End of summer pics

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 12:00:03 +0000

At the young men campout JT discovered he loves fishing

I painted our family room wall

I had a birthday

Bananaphones are not dead!

At Six Flags

This Six Flags trip was a bit different. JT spent many hours working at home over the sumemr to earn money. His original motivation was to buy a ticket to Six Flags so he could take his brother there before he started his mission. (Awww!) But then we got a free ticket to use for Hyrum. So he used the ticket he earned for his best friend B. B's favorite ride is the Riddler, so JT went on it and discovered he loved it also. Best ride ever!

A continuing series: JT in weird
Six Flags hats

Guess where

Nia learned how to make balloon animals
a talent she has brought to several places

She also learned how to flip a crepe in the air

First new day of school, walking to the junior high with friends

Elder Watson's Letters - June-Aug

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:30:09 +0000

We have been greatly blessed that Hyrum is a faithful writer AND caller. Most every week since his departure, we have had at least an hour to spend on the phone or video with him. And first thing in the morning there is an email to his wide acquaintanceships around the world with some of the most creative and energetic titles and introductions. Among his favorite non-proselyting activities are eating Taco Bell and shopping Goodwill. Here are a few of his experiences and pictures from June-Aug.

A Goodwill success for a former
Stephenville Yellow Jacket

June 20 [TX] - “On Friday, I went proselyting with the local missionaries, and we made a new friend named B____. Now, I must point out that the missionaries I went with are English speaking missionaries. So I was quite confused when they drove into the trailer park where the Spanish missionaries get most of their work done. We went to talk to someone, and sure enough, they only spoke Spanish. So they handed the contact over to me, the missionary who had just began training. I stumbled over some words about prophets and the Book of Mormon ... So my first ever contact was in Spanish I'm never letting Elders Carpenter and Atuaia forget that one.”

In that letter, he also shared his surprise when Elder David A Bednar, an apostle, stopped into his district's classroom at the MTC for an hour of Q&A! His reaction was aspiratonal and inspirational: “As Elder Watson, it my fondest wish to teach with that kind of power and clarity. It is amazing to think that both of us are set apart servants of the Lord, full time witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The next week in the Provo MTC, after he spent a lot of time in the temple he said: “As I travel in Pittsburgh, I'm going to try to see every person for their eternal, glorious, potential. There really are no ordinary people, and I want to help as many as I can to feel how loved they really are.”

His MTC district

He arrived in his mission and his first assignment was to southern NY/northern PA. Very oddly, he lives a full half an hour away from his area and his district leader is an hour away! So they spend a LOT of time driving through the beautiful, lush trees along the I-86 that Joy and I drove when we were dating and living 5 hours apart. I was touched that he noticed the family significance of that road and said as much to his companion the first time they reached that highway.

July 6 - “My first day there, we went to meet some old guy at his house, and we find his wife instead, who notices our car has something hanging from the bottom of it. She goes into her house, grabs some duct tape, and lays down on the hot road to fix our car. She was super nice and already had lots of faith. She had even already read some of the Book of Mormon! We had a great discussion with her, and she is now one of our friends.”

July 27 - Among the many surprises to Joy and me was that he got permission to leave his mission boundaries because the Palmyra NY temple was closer than the Pittsburgh PA temple. “Thursday was the long-awaited p-day, where we got a ride to the Palmyra temple with our faithful ward member Wade. We got to visit the Sacred Grove and then do 2 endowments, which was super awesome. Afterwards, we went to an amazing sandwich shop, Byrne Dairy Deli, which costs about as much as Jersey Mike's, but they put like 7 times the amount of meat on there, it was sooo good.”

Wade, Elder Fraiken (trainer), and Elder Watson in Palmyra

During their planning, his companion and he decided to knock on doors on Washington St. They put Washington into their GPS and it led them to Washington in a completely different town! It was still their area, so they worked that street instead. "Everyone there was willing to talk to us, and we had some great converations. We did eventually find one person to teach, and I knew that was exactly where the Lord wanted us to be.”

Among his trainer's gifts is as a human selfie stick
With friend Casey and recently acquired Amish hat

Aug 3 - "I had an exchange with our [District Leader], who was desperate to get rid of his guitar. I was desperate to get rid of my money because I had way too much consecrated money just sitting around. So Elder Landon sold me his electric guitar with amp for $80, meaning I speedran the collection of my mission guitar Instead of going to an ATM and withdrawing $80 for him, he just went on a shopping spree at Tractor Supply where I bought him $80 of stuff."

Aug 17 - He starts signing off his letters with "love yinz" instead of "love y'all". About this point my dad chuckles that he needs AI to help him translate the missionary and PA slang into English.

"Transfers: Now I’m in Ohiyo"

Aug 24 - "At 8:50[pm] we were driving back [home] when we felt a prompting to go visit J___ right then. We fought it for a little because he has 2 younger siblings and we didn't want to make his parents more frustrated with us than they already were. But we went, and they happened to be awake and available. Since Elder Anderson is our district leader, he was able to perform the baptismal interview with J___ right there, which was a huge miracle ... ."

Aug 31 - “On Thursday and Friday, we had two pretty similar miracles. In both cases, we were driving to a house we were going to knock, and then the Spirit prompted us to turn back and knock a street we had just past. The first time, we found 2 people who were willing to hear the gospel! The second time, we found this guy (Drew) walking his scooter up the hill. He's super chill, and the only reason he hasn't read the Book of Mormon yet is because he hasn't gotten his hands on a copy! He was excited to recieve one, and hopefully we can get in contact with him more in the future. I know the promptings of the Spirit really are the real deal, and they do work miracles.”

Elder Shirley (Sherlock?) the second companion
and Elder Watson in a Navajo area

Elder Watson, fisher of fish

Elder Watson and his former MTC companion, Elder Johnson
follow the mission practice of getting a buzz cut.

21st Anniversary Murder Party

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 04:07:02 +0000

With everything going on in May, we didn't really have much time to celebrate our anniversary this year (a lot - I mean, we did honor each other and the day, but we never got to the Big Thing). Some years ago we got Joy a murder mystery social game, but we never ended up putting it together. This year she wanted to finally get to that. Pity we couldn't find it! So we bought another one, a murder in fairy tale land. Once Elder Watson was off in Pennsylvania and we finally finished sending our kids to church youth camps, we had a few brain cells to put on a big party on July 18.

Joy: Thank you for making it happen, Derrill!
You are very welcome, my love.

Short version: We had the Dummars, Heiers, Van Valkenburgs, and Johnstons over as the other guests. Each of us played a role from a fairy tale setting with very thinly veiled name changes (Ice White is Snow White; Rumble Milton is Rumplestiltskin….). It was really, really fun handing out the first clues a week in advance because everyone was so excited about the game and talking about getting their costumes together. It felt like a right proper party!

Joy: I felt like we were getting together a masquerade with how much detail everyone was putting into their costumes.
We did put in the invitations that folks could dress up as much or as little as they felt comfortable and fun, and I think we picked the right crowd for this.

Mike and Mollie Van Valkenburg as the Warlock of Osland and Ice White
Joe and Chelle Dummar as the Knave of Hearts and Queen Black
Sue and Jim Johnston as Scarlet Cloak and Magnifico
Joy and Derrill Watson as Pandella and Prince Edward Jon
and Shelby and Eric Heier as Bella and Rumple Milton

Preparing for the game took a long time. "Yeah, poor Derrill. If we ever do this again, we need to remember that it took a long time, cause you gave yourself crunch time, and it was sad you had to do it in so short a time." Okay, we bought a kit that included most of the story and some props. It needed serious help. First, they claim it's for 10 people, male and female, but didn’t acknowledge before we bought it that there were 7 roles for women that were all necessary, and the only 3 male roles were optional. At first I only saw that there weren’t enough male roles in total, so I started by rewriting optional character Wicked Witch of the West (original) -> Naughty Witch (theirs) -> Warlock of Osland (mine), and started creating a character for The Beast from scratch. Then I realized all the men were non-essential and there were too many essential female roles, so then I rewrote two characters (Maleficent (original) -> Magnificent (their version) -> Magnifico (my version) and Alice in Wonderland -> Alicia -> the Knave of Hearts), and that required rewriting everyone else's clues, backstories, and romances! Anyway, once we figured out the cast of characters, I then had to rewrite some of the poorly written clues to make people more reliant on each other, the story clearer, to give people a fighting chance of figuring out whodunnit, I let chat completely rewrite their confessions, and … [Six hours later]

"Was it only six?" No.
"It took over work time for a little while." It's summer *shrug*. We finally had a good/decent story put together. I enjoyed my creative endeavors. At least one night I was enjoying myself so much that I couldn't sleep until 3am.

Another reason for me to rewrite a large chunk of it by myself is that I accidentally opened the Big Spoiler paper, thinking it was the instructions for the host and ruined the surprises for myself right off the get go. But if I handled all the behind the scenes stuff, that would preserve the mystery for Joy. "Poor Derrills." We sat down together to decide who should play which characters and we leaned very heavily on Joy's preferences for that. Actually, we spent one date together prepping for the adventure, making decisions and getting costumes and delivering the formal invitations....

JT made brownies for us, and he is very proud of how great they turned out. We also made Sue's “Christmas Trash” dessert and Chelle's p.b. bars. Dinner was a potato bar. We decorated the house a lot – spent all of Friday reorganizing and straightening and such. We had two afghans on the wall, partly to hide the plumber's construction work we were still in process of repairing and partly just because they look nice. We went to the dollar store for rainbow party tablecloths, golden paperware, golden sparkly tinsel over the doorways. We borrowed Nia's magical books to provide table lighting. And the house looked nicer!

One of them was the chief villain trying to take over the Enchanted Realm – cursing people, sending out mercenaries, kidnapping children to steal their youth, all the trimmings. During the second round, she is found dead (in a chalk outline of JT we hid under the rug) and we debated who among us had rescued the realm from her evil. It's important to note that until it was time for her to die, she had thought she was going to be the murderer! Even the murderer was not told they were guilty until they read their own confession out loud. Everyone had voted on who they thought the guilty party was, and oddly enough only the murderer and their spouse guessed correctly. (You see me being careful not to spoil anything for y'all, too!) I made a show of shuffling everyone's confessions in front of them to keep up the suspense, but I stacked the deck so that the murderer would be the last one revealed anyway.

Everyone’s costumes were really good. Joe Dummar (the Queen of Hearts’ executioner) was disappointed my instructions had included a *foam* weapon, so in addition to a large foam double-bladed axe, he also brought a knife and a sword. You can see Eric Heier (Rumble Milton) took the character in a mafia boss / loan shark direction, which went over well. Joy was Pandella (Cinderella) and I was a prince of the good king (Prince Edward Jon), though not her Prince Charming, sadly.

Mollie Van Valkenburg and Chelle played a great daughter/mother duo, with some excellent banter and gritted-teeth-cheesy lines for their love/hate relationship. "Whatever makes you happy, mother" *curtsy* (It's really hard to curtsy while seated at a dinner table!) Joy: "Their interactions were my favorite."

Nia filled several servant roles, including Detective Grimm bringing in the forensic evidence, while JT went over to the Heiers to help babysit the Van Valkenburg littles. I think everyone had a great time.

Happy 21st anniversary, my love!
"Hooray!"

Nia decorated each person's name tag and did a superb job!

July 4 game

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 20:50:09 +0000

As we drove home from the metroplex one day, I had a great idea for a board game. I eagerly and gleefully spent the next few days expanding on it, gathering pictures, and working with Chat to brainstorm and organize it.

Think of Forbidden Island or Pandemic, but from the perspective of the Founding Fathers. The players take on the role of one early Patriot, each of whom has a helpful ability.

In order to guarantee Independence, they must

Vote for Independence as a Continental Congress
Write the Declaration of Independence
Gather supplies for the Continental Army
Secure support from other countries

before the British army is able to overrun the country. Each turn players perform three actions, which may include moving, rallying support for independency, giving cards to another player, and so on. They draw two cards each turn, which will either be one of the victory cards they need, a helpful support, or an announcement that the British are advancing. Then the British army draws 2-5 cards, taking over key cities or valleys in the colonies.

There are two ways you can set up the board. Either randomize the 26 cities in a diamond or set them out in this stylized colonial pattern. I think the historical map is a bit harder because most cities have fewer connections.

I am most pleased with the five cards for the Declaration of Independence. Each one has a key quote from the Declaration:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."
"All men ... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ... Among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
"Governments ... derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."
"Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it."
"With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Each of the victory conditions has 5 cards you can collect. One of the patriots needs to assemble any 4 of them and bring them to one of two locations. Foreign support can be gathered to Yorktown or Charleston; the Declaration can be issued from Philadelphia or Boston; etc. There are several Midnight Ride cards honoring Paul Revere, Sybil Ludington, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott, who each rode off to warn the people in Boston. There are also some expansion cards for if you have 5 players (once Hyrum gets home in two years).

When a city is drawn the first time, we put a King checker on them (red for the Redcoats). Players can rally support for independence to remove a checker. If that city is drawn a second time, though, the card falls completely to the British and the card is flipped over. Patriots can no longer cross that area safely (except Lydia Darragh, a spy).

I learned some interesting things about locations of key battles. I was pretty good about battles in New England, but hadn't known about Guilford Courthouse or Cowpens, which were key victories for the rebels in the South.

We tried the game on July 4 and really enjoyed it. We won!

Elder Watson at the MTC(s)

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 17:41:12 +0000

His official missionary photo

Hyrum was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tue, June 9 by our stake president, Patrick Newman, and me. Pres. Newman met with Hyrum several times in the last few weeks as he prepared to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and to receive his endowment in the temple. Even though I have been a temple worker in three different temples and taught a temple prep class, I felt deeply privileged to be there as Pres. Newman walked Hyrum through all that sacred day would include. In the last few months, Pres. Newman has had these multiple interviews with more than 16 young men and women starting their missions, to say nothing of the people coming off their missions as well. It's been very fulfilling to witness and assist.

Just before the setting apart

Elder Watson started attending the Missionary Training Center from home for the next week+. It was a treat to still have him around, and to watch his growth in real time. I remember my feeling of growth during my two months in the MTC way back when - I wrote in my journal at the time that if this was all I received from my two years' sacrifice, it would have been worth it. Watching Hyrum grow and mature so quickly was amazing.

It also made letting go easier.

He and his sis have matching shirts.
He got this for her birthday that he would
just barely miss.

Departure at the airport

Training videos via Zoom let us see how very much the MTC has changed in the last almost-30 years since I was there and 35 since Joy was there. Among many other differences are the murals.

The Provo temple is currently being renovated, so they bussed the missionaries to the City Centre or Timpanogos temples. Here is Elder Watson with his 'twinner' companion, Elder Johnson. They got along famously, which was a very good thing as they were assigned to the same district once they arrived in Pennsylvania!

Among the highlights of his brief time at the MTC was that Elder Bednar, a living apostle, walked into their classroom and did an impromptu Q&A session with them for a solid hour.

The Y and the U, brought together for the Lord's work

I am particularly thankful that missionaries get to call home weekly now, instead of only at Christmas and Mother's Day. We all missed hearing from Elder Watson something fierce!

Arriving in PA July 1, 2026
with his new mission president

Nia quinceanera

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 17:38:11 +0000

Nia turned 15 this year. She had her very dear friend S over one day and celebrated with Hyrum before he left for the Provo MTC, she had a second cake on her real birthday, and then a few days later she left for Indiana to watch over her 5 yr old cousin for a few days.

New dress

Cake 1

Cake 2

Smiling at her friend

Birthday steak

Her favorite present by far was a magic book. "I got 2 magic books that light up on command. It has 4 colours- pink/purple, blue, green, and my favoriite, yellow." It speaks back to you when you address it as "Magic book" and changes colors. Gotta admit, they are super cool.

Here she is at the airport, about to fly solo for the very first time. "It was fun. L is adorable. It was funny that I wanted to watch Bluey more thans she did. She liked doing crafts, but needed more help than not with them, but it's the thought that counts. On the way up, Uncle Steve recognized me by my hair, and on the way back Mom recognized me because I was wearing bright pink sweatpants."

Early summer pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:36:21 +0000

April 11 - Joy and I went on a walk around town along the Bosque River Trail and found a mural we hadn't seen before. We took a pic near a little fairy reading a book, just like our Nia.

April 20 - Nia on a giant trampoline doing backflips and 360s and scaring her poor father to death when she lands on her head. No damage done, bouncing up again laughing gleefully. Mom, thankfully, never saw it. JT sits tall and proud.

May 11 - Joy has taken up woodburning. Nia liked the idea and tried it out as well. She has some real artistic talent! Left: a dragon for Grandma. Right: a girl reading a book under a tree for our cutting board.

May 26 - Nia discovers Tofu and spinach

May 29 - Hyrum takes missionary pictures

May 31 - Mini golf. Joy hit Lovey's ball in for a hole in one!

June 4,5,6 - Hyrum's driver's license arrives!

Elder Watson's missionary name tag arrives too!

And then we spend the day at Six Flags!

Only after taking the picture did Bugs discover we were dressed for the "wrong" park

We stayed overnight at a hotel and then spent the next day at the temple

June 9 - Nia enjoyed her strawberry ice cream smoothie with sprinkles in a Buddha head cup. She also enjoyed going to For the Strength of Youth (FSY) as Hyrum was about to become ... Elder Watson!

Hyrum's great big Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 01:26:57 +0000

Boys don't usually get to celebrate Mother's Day, but Hyrum certainly had a big role to play in ours. My parents flew out here so that we could ordain Hyrum as an elder on Mother's Day.

Joy got a lightup mosaic lamp

Preparing caramel apples for Grandma

A few days later (May 13) , Hyrum went to the temple to receive his very own endowments, and my parents were able to come with. I was his escort. Lavinia and JT stayed at home when the rest of us drove up. After the endowment session, we also did a sealing session so he could see what that was like. Then we had Chinese to also celebrate Joy passing her counseling test.

Joy: "He and I were excited to start going to the temple together because I work at the temple on Fridays. We were hoping that he would be able to be a temple worker also, but there wasn't enough time for the eight required shifts before he left on his mission. But he did go with me every week. It was really awesome to go to the temple together."

It was the following Monday, after she got home, when my mother had her heart attack. We were so very thankful that we had been blessed to have such a special time together, particularly when we didn't know if it would be the Last time. So grateful it isn't!

Some other related pics:

Celebrating Hyrum's birthday on Zoom

Practicing his deadliest ping-pong serve yet

How many children do we have (at home) today?

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 02:38:05 +0000

Having picked up Hyrum from BYU, we were back up to our full complement of five humans in the house. Because I'm mathematical me and we had the math-based eldest son we have, we had set up a lot of family systems that relied on regular number patterns. For instance, who gets to sit by Dad at the dinner table? Mom, obviously. Who else? Take the number of the day, divide by 3, and if it has remainder of 1, Hyrum; remainder 2, Lovey, no remainder, JT.* I've used the date to keep track of whose turn it is to say the evening prayer and a host of other things, so rotating through the family using the calendar has been an integral part of providing some semblance of order to our otherwise fun chaos.

It was surprisingly easy to move to odd/even when Hyrum left and oddly challenging to move back to our normal when he returned.

Except of course when Hyrum wasn't here. He's an adult now, and he has young adult things to do. So some days we were 5 and some days 4, and that made my little number systems wobble a bit. The kids were very flexible, thankfully, slipping into one gear or the other without complaint.

Then he became a missionary and doing missionary training from home. That means he's here, but can only be with the family at certain times and doesn't have the time for some of the normal things we do. So maybe we have 2.5 kids?

About to depart for her first
solo flight.

Then Nia went to FSY (church youth camp) for a week and we had, like, 1.5 kids.

Then she came back and a couple days later Hyrum left and we're back to 2 kids. Except when JT went on a young men's campout for a couple days and we only had one child. And now this week Nia's on an adventure, will come home, and then go on young women's camp right after....

So this week we are getting foretaste of what it will be like when both Hyrum and Nia have moved out of the house and we have only JT left.

Joy, please tell us about Lovey's grand adventure this week:

"When Grandma got really sick and we weren't sure if she was going to live, one of my first thoughts was that they would not be able to go and watch 5-yr old L [our neice] during A's [her sister's] campout. They were going to do that right after they came to visit us. I felt like we should offer to help take care of L since Pop and Grandma weren't able to do it.

"I contacted Emilee [sis-in-law], and she said she thought they could make something work getting L back and forth from her day camp. But A also had another one she wanted to go to to Palmyra, and L would be home all day during that one. So we talked about me going, me going with Nia...."

L, Nia, A at church today

We talked about all of us going on a weeklong vacation and taking L with us. We talked about driving halfway there, meeting them and exchanging prisoners for a few days. We ran the gamut of possibilities.

"We even tried to find if Nia could with A to Palmyra, but that wasn't an option. We finally settled on Nia going by herself in an airplane, which she has never done before. One of the primary reasons we decided not to send me is because of my work and trying to make sure I've gotten started on doing that and getting my hours.

"Hyrum made a comment about wanting to be the one to go take care of L, but he was going to be on his mission so that wasn't an option. Then JT was, like, what about me? And he's just not old enough - that's a long time to take care of a 5 yr old, full time, three days in a row."

The fact that both boys also wanted to watch over and care for L was very touching. We all agreed they were sweet.

"In the end, Pop offered to pay for the flight and we sent our little girl to Indiana. I'm really glad that we could offer to help.

"We all want to be at Steve and Emilee's house!"

Nia took this from the plane

* - For those numerically inlined and worried about the 31st and Hyrum getting too many turns, we also rotate that annually. So one year Hyrum got all the 31st's, and the next year Nia did, and so on.

Nia - French face painting and flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 01:36:56 +0000

One of the things Nia was most excited about for starting her public, online school was that they would let her take French as a foreign language. After we brought Hyrum home, Nia spent a day at a school fair a few hours away representing the French club. She painted various faces using French-inspired designs. Her drawings are below the fold. Joy: "Her teacher flew all the way from Chicago to go to that fair, and brought French cookies from France! She had a real blast."

By happy accident, just before we found a beret at WalMart on clearance for $1, and she has been wearing it proudly with great regularity.

During the winter she got some bulbs from a lady at church, which she planted with great eagerness. She feared for their safety during the winter freeze, but they all survived. One has even started flowering - about one new flower every couple days. It blooms for a day, shrinks, and then something eats it. We appreciate that whatever it is doesn't seem to eat the flower until after it has blossomed.

Testing her designs on herself

If I remember, she sketched this too

Picking up Hyrum from BYU

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 04:03:18 +0000

Last week Hyrum - now Elder Watson - left for the MTC and eventually Pittsburgh, PA and its surroundings. Most of our summer has been spent preparing him (and us!) for this glorious two year quest of his. So let's back up!

Hyrum loved BYU. He enjoyed his first year of studies as a math major, attended lots of sports games, made friends, and generally had a blast. He also got his mission papers turned in before he turned 18. In February he got his call to the PA Pittsburgh Mission and we started preparations. April 22-23 we drove up to Provo to fetch our son back home for almost two months.

Nia took an impressive number of landscape photos from the back seat during the drive. I'm including one here.

One fond memory was on the first day I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner. They excitedly chose KFC, which we can't typically get in town and most years only have on Dec 23 as a family tradition. On the one hand, it was delicious. Our main takeaway, however, was to never do that again in the car -- no plates or silverware makes it REALLY hard to dish out greasy chicken and sides! Lots of clothes got messy. Chaotic fun.

We made it to BYU and checked into our hotel just across the freeway from the Orem temple. It's not often (for me) you get a view of the temple from your hotel! We were there for just a few minutes when Hyrum let us know he was done with his finals and ready to receive us.

After a quick peek at his room, we drove to the tennis courts across campus so he and JT could play some tennis before leaving. J: "Didn't you also play with him?" I did for a few minutes. We grabbed a bite at the cafeteria - a much more expansive and impressive place than when I was there 25 years ago - and then spent a frenzied hour moving Hyrum's stuff out of his room and cleaning it up for an earlier-than-expected inspection. We made it! J: "Though we did miss a couple of drawers, they were okay with me cleaning them out after the inspection." What a nice Mommy! Nia was also very helpful. "Hyrum wished he hadn't needed any help. It's hard to move."

After a short walk through campus, Hyrum went to say goodbye to some friends and we went back to the hotel. Joy and I repacked some of his stuff to take up less room and chose some cleaning supplies we really didn't need to haul back to Texas with us. Even though we four had only brought a couple carry-ons, unloading an entire dorm room filled the car surprisingly well! That was Hyrum's last night at the Y for the next few years. Here is Nia at the library, the place of her soul's delight.

The next morning early we picked up Hyrum and convened for our first baptismal session as a Full family of 5 at the Provo City Center Temple. "That was so awesome!" They have underground parking and an underground lobby before you enter the temple itself. (Picture of us outside the lobby below). Back when Joy and I got married, we talked about the kind of furniture and colors we wanted to decorate the house with, and I gotta say - the Provo City Center Temple lobby is about as close to what I dreamed of back then as I'm likely to stumble across anywhere. "It was one of the most beautiful foyers in the world, and you don't expect that underground." The chairs could be a deeper shade of blue and there could be more greenery, but really, *chef's kiss*

This was JT's third time in a temple, if I'm counting right, and the first time all five of us could be together inside the temple. I sat there next to Joy at the baptismal font as a witness. Hyrum and JT were in the font where Hyrum would baptize his brother on behalf of some of our departed family members. Nia stood ready at the side with a towel when JT would come out. There was this pause as I saw a foreshadowing of our family dream.

Eight years ago we created a family vision of where we wanted to be in 20 years. Part of that vision included getting together in the Celestial room of the temple - a room that represents the peace and beauty of heaven. We weren't there yet, but here we were gathered doing temple work together, preparing for that day. I didn't cry, but I was ready to. "JT did cry. He cried and held Hyrum tight after the baptisms before he climbed out of the font." A small piece of our heaven was being created there before my eyes.

Hyrum baptized JT and Joy, then I baptized him and Nia. After we finished our service, we gathered in the car and started on the two day drive back to Texas. Hyrum regaled us with many stories of his last weeks at the Y, while he finished grading for his classes. We stayed in the same hotel near Farmington, NM both directions, which made some things convenient, but our arrival back on Saturday was late in the evening. We made it back in time for church on Sunday and I could get back to teaching classes on Monday, missing only one day of teaching because of our trip. (I had assigned my students some videos of me to make up for the missed lecture.)

Joy: "I'm so proud of Hyrum. He accomplished a lot as a 17 year old and did a really commendable job in his first year of college. He made good use of our money and his time. It was really nice to have Hyrum with us again on our way home, in the car and in the hotel."

Heart attack - part 3 - real recovery, but slow

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 04:16:50 +0000

Friday, May 22

Friday morning we were delighted to learn that her kidneys had started up again. Joy: "Yeah, we were! We felt like she might not die when her kidneys started working." The next few days the progress was veeery subtle - just gradually reducing the amount of support the machines were giving her and letting her body take on more and more of its customary functions.

The pacemaker was doing every beat yesterday, now her heart is beating on its own with the pacemaker as a backup. Her breathing was improving with perfect CO2 levels, so they regularly reduced the amount of oxygen they were supporting her with. Her blood pressure was stable. The staff was finally ready to say that she would be in the hospital for another week, even in a good scenario. (She did finally get out June 12, so, yeah.) We were even more delighted to see Mom responsive, nodding slightly in response.

Nurse Shannon was giving us wonderfully detailed information about just what was going wrong with her heart still and was amazed that we were able to follow along. As Pop explained how Mom's sons were both PhDs and he was a lawyer, the nurse turned to Mom and said, "You're from a family of nerds!" *Nod nod* Her eyes didn't open much, but her face was expressive.

If I remember the nurse's diagram correctly, the "SN" button there on the top left (of the picture, but the right side of her heart) wasn't firing correctly. We agreed with the doctors that she would need a pacemaker + defibrillator because a regular pacemaker wouldn't prevent what had happened.

1:20pm - The ventillator tube came out and they installed her CPAP mask.

I read scriptures over the phone in the evening with my family, and I got a chance to hear Mom's first whispered words of "I love you."

Joy: I bet that was really nice. That was worth the price of the ticket!

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Sat

The hope was to remove the temporary pacemaker today, and by the early afternoon they had!

12:30 pm - I heard Mom whisper I love you last night, but Pop had only been reading lips. He just heard her say Hello. She also quirked her mouth in the direction of a smile a couple times.

We were "entertained" by a fire alarm drill. They closed the doors and didn't evacuate anyone and life went on as usual. But it did get us wondering just how to evacuate an entire floor of ICU patients. Joy joked about a massive helicopter to just lift the top floor off the hospital to take everyone to safety.

By the evening, I said that Mom wakes when someone wakes her, but she doesn't stay awake very long. They didn't have her move much. Fever and pneumonia are both down. They started talking about when the pacemaker would get installed (Tue?) and that she might move out of ICU soon (Mon?).

Pop has quipped a time or two, but with more and more reason: "Every day and every way, Julene is getting better and better" and they removed a couple more tubes. They even had the bed sit Mom up for a bit.

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Sun

After attending church, I texted the family: "Wonder of wonders, Mom is propped up in a pair of chairs and we can hear her talk with voice! She has been lucid the last ten minutes, talking. She says she doesn't remember anything from the last few days. Cardiologist: for clarity, we don't know why this happened. We can't say we fixed anything, but the defib-pacemaker would prevent it." She was speaking loud enough for Pop to hear on the other side of the room while she was facing away.

4pm - When Mom says she's thirsty, the nurse comes with a "lollipop" - a swab on a stick - and she wets it and then rubs it all over her mouth to clean it and spread the water around a little bit. Our nurse today (the only one we weren't thrilled and delighted with) takes a good 20+ minutes to come when called, so Pop grabbed one of the lollipops just now, wet it, and gave the hyssop unto mother. Mom clamped her mouth shut on it and Would Not give it back. It was puppy time! That was a very happy moment.

----------------------

Mon

We visited Mom one more time before I flew back home. Mom's kidneys were functioning well, but her migraine was going to be terrible for the next week. Preparing her for heart surgery, they couldn't give her the usual migraine drugs.

The disturbing part was that just before we left, the nurse came in to talk to Mom, and Mom couldn't remember where she was. She guessed she was at home. Her favorite word as she heard about the heart attack and being at the hospital was "inconceivable" - which is a great word for someone who can't remember the last week!

I was so thankful I had been able to be at Mom's side these last several days and see her recovering so much. To go from nearly completely unresponsive to actual vocal talking, some moving around, and hearing and seeing the progress in other ways was a great relief to my soul. I know when I left, Pop was feeling much stronger than when I arrived.

My flights home got delayed as well. The trip from SB to Phoenix was just fine. For some reason (tornado weather west of Dallas?) they weren't letting Dallas flights leave Phoenix, so my trip kept getting delayed a bit longer and a bit longer. Pop got me a good hotel for a difficult night; I returned to the airport at 5:30am and our 7:30am flight made it out on time.

Mom's cognition improved throughout the day. A speech therapist arrived to help her swallow ice chips. Ice chips soon became a favorite for Mom, and Pop got an ice chip maker to keep in her hospital room.

8:30pm - Pop: "I'm about to go home for the night. Jewel was with me almost all day today, a huge improvement over her zoning out much of the day." She could remember that they had started a book together over the last couple days, so they were able to make real progress on it.

-------------------------

Tue morning, Mom moved her left arm, which she hadn't done the entire time I was there. She could also turn her head. She progressed from ice chips to water to apple sauce and was able to keep it all down.

I landed in Dallas. Hyrum dropped Joy off at work, then drove out to pick me up from the airport. We stopped by the bike shop in Granbury on the way because one of my tires was completely flat. It's been more than two weeks now and I haven't heard back about a replacement tire. It was good to be home again.

Wed - Mom's fever was over 101 during the night. Her heart beat steadily though the rhythm keeps changing. Around noon they talked about moving her to the telemetry floor, which is a level between the intensive care unit and a regular hospital bed. It gives the nurses more info about her heart rate, but less one on one attention. The move was postponed again. She started enjoying oatmeal.

Thur (May 28 = our 21st anniversary) - The fever didn't come down early enough to install the pacemaker yet, so the new plan is Monday. It did come down enough that she finally got out of ICU after 10 days there to telemetry.

Fri the fever left.

Sat 11am - "Grandma says hi! She is kind of sitting up on her own. She finally graduated to being able to have a smoothie, what she's really wanted for days." There was also real progress on motion.

Sunday's good news was that she wanted her phone so she could listen to music, which helps her sleep. Pop had tried bringing her glasses, but Mom didn't want to open her eyes long enough to need them.

Monday, June 1 3:22pm - "Almost exactly two weeks ago, Grandma went down. Today, just now, she stood up!" Three times, thanks to the help of a pair of physical therapists.

Tuesday the new pacemaker went in and she is doing great! Now that's done, they can give her a lot more pain meds. The main issue moved to helping her get enough to eat so they could send her to a rehab facility.

Thursday they removed the feeding tube and Grandma had a little steak for lunch - her first real meat in 2.5 weeks.

Friday she walked to a chair with assistance. They anticipate 3-4 weeks in rehab before heading home, and even then she will need real assistance.

Tuesday June 9 - Doctors determined a wound on her arm (we suspect problems trying to insert a needle at some point on her arrival) will require a surgeon to remove the dead skin. It's been getting worse and looks really nasty. "Consensus is that Grandma's next destination will be a skilled nursing facility rather than rehab. She truly isn't up to the three hours of therapy a day. She gets exhausted so easily. Rehab therapy can still be done there. It will just take longer."

Just after Hyrum was set apart as a missionary, the whole clan joined on a Zoom call to pray together for Mom. That and our regularly scheduled conversation with Mom on Monday evening were a great comfort to her as well as to us. It was so very good to have a real conversation with her again!

Wed the surgeon decided she didn't need surgery for her arm.

Thursday or Friday she was finally discharged from the hospital to a nursing facility. And that's where she is as of June 14.

Heart attack - part 2 - I fly out

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 04:34:30 +0000

Wed May 20

The ladies in Mom's geneology groups sent in many expressions of love and support. Among our favorites was the reassurance that "There's no question that an army will be pulling for Julene. She is the core of more lives than you'll ever know." We learned of multiple churches that were praying for her and friends from all across the country and even some abroad. Pop said he was "overwhelmed with the love from so many."

Both Joy and I had been wondering - now that all my grading for the end of the semester was done, over a week late - if I shouldn't offer to come out and be with Pop to support him. We prayed about it individually, and she came back to tell me it was really important that I go. She says, "I felt an urgency that you had to go. And I came back and told you, You have to go!" With her encouragement and Pop's acquiescence, I booked a flight for the next day. We were planning a visit to the Dallas temple anyway, so dropping me off on the way to the temple would be easy and convenient. Steve and one of Pop's work colleagues had also volunteered to come out, though Steve had recently started a new job that wouldn't let him get away. But because I'm a professor and didn't have any more class duties, I could very easily get away. Joy says, "Bye, Daddddddyyyyyyy!"

Grandma graduated from being on an AC to being on a fan, hoping to keep her at a normal 37C. Too much CO2 was staying in her lungs, so the ventilator had been pushing most of her breaths. They reduced her sedation since noon, but she was unresponsive.

4:15pm - "Doctor: it's all just supportive care and see what her body does. Kidney function has become a concern." CT scan said no change, so if she doesn't wake up soon, they will do an MRI.

Among my mother's superpowers is terrible sleep, so she is often unable to come out until after noon even when she hasn't been in the ICU. So even as Dad comforted himself that Mom had been on a lot of sedative, I joked that it IS Mom we're talking about, so her taking time to wake up is no surprise. "This was some of the best sleep she's ever had!" Joy quips.

8:30 as Pop left for the night: "On good news, her heart kept beating on its own, supported by the pacemaker. She's breathing on her own, supported by the ventilator. On bad news: she is not responding to me or medical staff. ... Good news: I am confident she is in God's loving hands. I know there is family watching over her. I know there's dozens, perhaps hundreds, of good people praying for her. I don't pretend to know how this will end up, but I am not worried. Whatever happens, our love will not change, and our union will not be severed. Halluljah for the blessings of God's Holy Temples."

Thursday

11am - "When I came in this morning, she opened her eyes and reached for my hand!" As he read her some of our messages and people's prayers, one of the janitorial staff said, "God is a God of miracles." Pop agreed: Yes, He is. "The hope is to remove the breathing tube today. The neurologist said he was jumping up and down with joy at her progress from a neurological standpoint."

As I went to print my boarding passes, I discovered I had inadvertantly booked them for June! I was fortunately able to rebook in a matter of minutes for the flights leaving in 4 hours and the rebooking fees weren't unreasonably more than getting tickets for the next day would have been anyway, so I felt fortunate. Joy realized she had left her phone at the one of the stores where she had errands. She was able to get a friend to pick it up for her and drop it at the house. She dropped me off several hours before my flight and I had a very easy time to my gate. My flights were uneventful, even if they were both delayed by 2+ hours. I got some work done. The family got to the temple late, but they managed to do their work anyway. At the airport I was feeling much more accepting and "ready" for the possibility this was all just a temporary repreive before Mom bid us farewell.

12:40 they put in an NG tube to help feed her. Pop: "These last two hours have been heaven for me, to be able to talk to her and know she's heard me, to be able to hold hands with her and have her respond. I am grateful for kind gifts."

2pm: Pop "It seems like half the time I meet a new nurse, they tell me I saved her life." He was more inclined to notice where he could have done more and credit "the kindness of a watchful Heaven and the skill of trained people that have brought her back from the brink. But whatever it was, I'm so glad for these hours with her."

Emilee reassured Pop that God helped in part by having Pop there as His hands. Not everyone follows spiritual promptings. I seconded her sentiment: "We can sing that 'Joshua fought the battle' without taking any of the credit away from God."

3:00 - "They are concerned that there may be pneumonia. They are monitoring that and accompanying fever. They are giving her antibiotics. Kidneys aren't really functioning. They often take a hit with heart attacks. Hopefully they realize there's adequate blood flow and wake up." They also started giving her some medication to try to jump start the kidneys.

Once I was there, Pop and I noticed that each nurse had a particular type of care they were particularly good at providing. One of them did Mom's hair tonight.

I landed close to midnight. It was a relief to be with Pop and hug each other.

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Fri-Sun

My days in California passed each in much the same way. Once Pop and I were awake, we would pick up breakfast from Carl's Jr, then head in to the hospital where we spent the day. Pop would sit next to his lady's side, holding her hand constantly in his, reading on his phone with his other. I sat to the side using a small table to work on a research paper or my apostle book. I would sometimes relieve Dad at Mom's side, holding her hand while he got a meal. Nurses came and went, sometimes inviting us to go elsewhere so they could attend to Mom's needs. Dad's refrain with each new nurse was that our top priority was Mom's care and #2 was making sure the nursing staff could do their job, so we were more than happy to move anytime we needed to so we would not impede their vital work. We usually went home again between 8-9pm, slept when and as we could, and started up again the following day.

Saying goodnight

Caring for Mom was almost Dad's single priority. We attended church to partake of the sacrament and thank the Lord that she yet lived. Then we returned to our vigil. When she seemed more alert, he would read scriptures to her or the book they were reading together or maybe talk about the Dodgers until she seemed unresponsive again. Otherwise, he just sat by her side, holding her hand, waiting and watching for signs of life.

Among my main contributions was playing scribe. Pop was free to listen to the doctors while I typed up notes of what was said and passed them along to the rest of the family. I read a bit to Mom. I sang to her. Much of what I really accomplished, and the point, was to be there for Dad. We could talk about the day's progress, hug each other, and offer comfort and support. During our brief times at home, I moved some of the furniture around in the house to make a few pathways wider so that whenever Mom came back, she would have an easier time getting around with a walker or wheelchair.

Hyrum on the eve of his mission

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:49:05 +0000

The end of April to mid-June has been an intensive time for our family. Hyrum returned from BYU - and I plan on putting up some posts about that time - but more importantly he is becoming a fulltime missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints later this evening.

Feb 11 Hyrum received his call to the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission, which encompasses the western portion of PA and small pieces of NY, OH, and WV. That area includes where Joy lived as she got her masters degree in counseling.

In his immediate preparations since receiving the call, he took a mission prep class at BYU, was ordained an elder, and entered the temple for the first time. He drove up at 4 in the morning every Friday with his mother (a current temple worker) to the temple to spend half the day serving in the House of the Lord. Today he will finish reading the Book of Mormon (for the 28th time), which he restarted once he received the call. There has of course been lots of purchasing and outfitting - with thanks to my parents and cousin Laurel - and packing.

H: I just wake up every morning and do my thing and go to sleep.

There has of course been time for fun as well - lots of tennis and time with us. But how are you feeling on the early morning eve of being set apart?

H: Honestly there's been a lot of suspense, and I've been waiting for it to start for a while. Like, I want to hold on to my last bit as a regular person, but I also want it to start. I am super excited about getting the opportunity to serve the Lord and bring lots of people to Him, and hopefully I figure out sometime how to do that.

H: I think about the three Nephites and how maybe it hadn't possibly been a very long time since Jesus had first called them when He asked them what they wanted most and they asked to teach the word for ever and continuously bring other people to Him. Maybe they hadn't fully figured out how that worked yet, and I know that's something I want and have that opportunity to do. I'm happy to get the chance.

When I remember my mission prep, I read through several classic gospel books: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder by LeGrand Richards and The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball and a few others. I'm not 100% certain, but I think I also read War and Peace for some reason - my freshman year at BYU gave me a taste of very long literature.

H: I wish I had taken the time to read some of those books too. They sound interesting.

But I haven't ever worried that Hyrum didn't understand the gospel. He knows a lot of facts about it, sure. More than that, he sees how the Atonement of Jesus Christ is central to everything, and correctly puts second things second.

H: That's something I've really learned in the last few months.

Heart attack - part 1 - Crisis

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 17:37:58 +0000

I want to preserve what has happened to my mother the last few weeks, especially the texts from Pop. All times are Californian. At this point, Mom is gradually improving and there is talk of her finally leaving the hospital for a rehab facility, so read this with a knowledge that things work out happily.

Monday, May 18

Pop and Grandma were having lunch together in the dining room, talking about the Book of Ruth. Pop was sharing "how I realized this morning that it is a beautiful demonstration of what covenantal love is all about" when she suddenly said, "I feel odd." She started breathing compulsively and her head slumped down. Pop called 911, and her breathing stopped while he was talking to them, then slumped over, unconscious. Pop was able to lower her to the ground and start chest compressions to get her breathing started again. The paramedics arrived, moved the dining room table out of the way, and continued trying to revive her.

Pop reached out to us right away. 2:42pm - "Pray for Grandma. I think she had a heart attack.

2:48 - She is not breathing and her heart is not beating.

2:49 - It may be starting up.

2:52 - Heart is beating. There is a pulse."

They took her to the ER and then to the ICU under heavy sedation and with a ventilator installed.

5:08 - "How am I? Alive and kicking. This is not the best day of my life. But I cannot tell you how grateful I am that I was there when it happened, and was able to call emergency services and start chest compressions. In the midst of everything going on, large teams of doctors and support staff, there wasn't a chance for me to give her a blessing until they kindly left the room and gave us a little privacy. The Lord is with her and I feel His comforting hand. I know we are in His care."

Doctors confirmed that there were no blockages, and to this date they are uncertain what the specific cause was. She was able to respond to commands, to squeeze a hand or wiggle her toes or grimace. Those remained her main forms of communication for the next several days, though she could move her head slightly and open her eyes for brief periods of time.

Pop and Grandma had just (just!) been to visit us for Hyrum's ordination (see future post). She had seemed unusually weak and I talked with him just before they left about about her health. It was a tender time of sharing our love and concern for her. Now scarcely three days later we faced the very real possibility of her passing.

As I counseled with Joy, I considered how unprepared I was emotionally to face her death. I don't know how someone gets "prepared" for that.

We were mostly in shock. To help comfort the kids (and me) we watched Bluey. Bluey learned to accept that things don't always go according to plan, but life can still be fun. Bingo had a dream that she had to give up her stuffed rabbit, but then the rabbit came back to her and tucked her in. JT particularly appreciated that one. As I talk about this post with the family, Hyrum shared the comfort that regular temple attendance gave him now that he is endowed, in knowing that we really are an eternal family and it would be all right.

Tue May 19

Mom had two more heart attacks and a mini stroke during the night. Doctors installed a temporary pacemaker that morning.

7:30am - "It is comforting to see her breathe." - a regular refrain these first days.

11:46 - It is very much touch and go. She is unconscious at the moment. It's very much one day at a time.

12:17 - Doctor finally dropped by to talk to me. She is in critical condition. The fact that her heart stopped - "she coded" in doctor speak - three times is not a good sign. If she codes again, they may not be able to revive her.

One of the most touching comments came from Emilee who shared her confidence that we still need Grandma's wisdom and that she will have something amazing to share about God's tender mercies. Steve suggested informing the geneology societies she works with about what happened. That unleashed literally hundreds of people who have benefited from her leadership in prayer for Mom. That put me in mind of reaching out to family. Most had already heard from Pop, but I did get her brother, Uncle Sherm, into the loop. During our chat that evening, Sherm - a doctor - confirmed that they were doing everything just right over there. Steve sent us all a copy of his barbershop chorus singing a peaceful hymn.

2:30pm the doctor was "cautiously optimistic. But we don't know what caused it and therefore all we can do is support her and buy her time for her body to heal. She is maintaining blood pressure on her own. They have a machine here to keep her body cool (36 degrees centigrade) to help prevent neurological problems."

Pop read Sister Amy Wright's 2023 General Conference address, where the Spirit reassured her that "everything is going to be OK" despite her cancer diagnosis. The bishop came by to give both of them priesthood blessings and a ward member who happened to be at the hospital gave him a hug. That evening, Pop lamented that "She is sufficiently out of it that I am not at all sure she hears me. She hasn't reacted. But that means she's out of pain. ... I am neither alone nor lonely. I am strengthened by the prayers of many." The good news was that "Julene is needing less and less medication to keep her blood pressure stable."

Several of us found comfort talking to ChatGPT about Mom's condition. It helped keep the worst case scenarios as very low probability events, describing what was meant by the medical terminology and what was most likely to happen.

The poorest spot

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:20:00 +0000

Jacob chapter 5 in The Book of Mormon is one of my favorites. It's got some lovely symbolism of how God works with us. Today I woke up aching all over, hair to toenail, to realize I hadn't taken my fibromyalgia medicine for two days, so I'm in for a bad time. And I have been. I eventually open up my scriptures, and I happen to be in Jacob 5 today.

In the parable, there are two people, the Lord of the vineyard and his servant. They discuss how to save a favorite olive tree, representing the house of Israel. Yesterday they decided to scatter Israel, to take some of the branches of the olive tree and plant them in other parts of the vineyard. Today they are checking up on those offshoots to see how they are doing, because the "lost" tribes are not lost to the Lord.

5:21 The servant said unto his master [with a few additions from Derrill]: [Could you explain to me] how [exactly you decided to] plant this branch [here of all places?] behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard!

5:22 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.

['Yes, I know it hurts. I know the trial you reading this are going through. I know it's hard. That's why I've been with you, supporting you, helping you this whole time. I know you don't see why it has to be this way just now, but trust me. I'm the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be.']

I find a lot of comfort in that thought. But it gets better.

5:23 [Then they went to the next branch and] the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: I have planted another branch of the tree, and thou knowest that this spot of ground was poorer than the first.

Yes, it could worse. It could be a lot worse. I am thankful it is not worse.

5:23 But, behold the tree. I have nourished it this long time, and it hath brought forth much fruit.

And even if it were worse, it would still be okay. Because God is the gardener. He nourishes his children, wherever they are, whatever their circumstances, so that we can bear up under them and be borne up by Him.

Throwback Thursday - longstitch

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:48:00 +0000

As a kid, I had a hard time sitting still and quiet. (Not unusual, I think.) Once I was old enough, my mother taught me to do longstitch, needlepoint, crochet, and eventually crossstitch. I still enjoy them and am halfway through two projects, one of a dragon and one of our Savior. Nia works on various creative projects now, as you may have seen. For preservations' sake, here are some of my early projects.

I made this at BYU, leaving her hair blank until
I met Joy and knew what color to put in.

I made this one for Joy because of her love of lighthouses

One of my first projects

My grandmother was big into southwest native scenes.
It was my least favorite project I finished. Combining threads of
different colors was a hassle. Never did get it framed.

DisneyWorld 25-26 - All Good Things

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 03:13:00 +0000

Sunday, January 4 we were all sick. We managed to attend church on Zoom and otherwise slept the majority of the day away. We finally gathered in Pop and Grandma's hotel room for one of the most important parts of our trip:

John-Thomas received the Aaronic Priesthood!

Hyrum was voice, with Pop, Uncle Steve, and me in the circle as he was ordained a deacon. Even though everyone was still tired and worn out, it was one of the higlights of the trip. He has loved serving as a deacon, having a quorum with activities, and passing the sacrament to the congregation.

We had planned to also take him to the temple for the first time on our drive home, but enough of us were still too sick to make that happen. :(

Monday - Epcot day 2?

Monday was the first day all of us were well enough to get to spend most of the day all together in the parks. Frozen, Remy, and the Guardians of the Galaxy naturally got more love.

We wandered through Moana's water fountains. It's such a lovely walk! Joy eventually decided to park herself there for a time and rest. "I wanted to stay there because it was so peaceful and beautiful. They even recreated Te Fiti. They did an amazing job with her. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the same one they used in the movie ;) ."

We finished doing most everything at Epcot and Hyrum had a hard choice. We had talked about him leaving the group to go to Animal Kingdom that he had missed because of being sick or maybe he could catch a couple roller coasters at Hollywood Studios. JT and I would follow wherever Hyrum wanted to go, so I said, "We just want to ride the Hyrum." That was one of JT's favorite memories. In the end, Hyrum decided to stick with the rest of the family for the afternoon.

We had dinner at the Space restaurant, where Hy told JT he had really been wanting to go on the Tron ride with him. JT: "That was the best time of my Christmas vacation!" The space restaurant had this chocolate cheesecake, covered in decorative chocolate to look like a planet with dusted chocolate chip asteroids and a somethingberry swirl. I liked the whole thing. Joy liked the asteroids.

After dinner, Hyrum, Nia, JT, and I raced from Epcot to Magic Kingdom (which takes quite a long time, really) to ride Tron. That was Hyrum's last ride.

Tron is pretty awesome. Since I wore the MagicBand+, it took pictures of me and whatever person I was with, but missed the rest of our party. Here are Nia and I experiencing it for the first time.

On our way out of the park, I parked the kids at the corner of Main Street to watch the electric light parade while I did a little errand. Joy had seen A and L enjoying some giant Mickey chocolate chip cookies and she wanted one. We asked at every cookie shop all over the place, and no one had them. Finally we just asked Emie, and she told us where they were. The cookie shop insisted they only had M&M cookies. I got several, which were WONDERFUL. But the searching and debating with the staff took a while. Once I came out, the parade was just ending. Hyrum said that watching the parade was "the perfect end for my trip." We were all very sad to put him on an Uber Tue morning early and ship him back to the Y.

Tue - Magic Kingdom

At some point I finally had the bright idea of letting the professional photographers around the park take pictures of us when we had a little time to kill waiting for someone else. I wish I had done so earlier when we still had Hyrum. I didn't know my parents were going to buy the full set of pictures. I just figured it was a little fun and maybe we'd be able to find a way to use a miniature or preview version of one. Instead, here are JT, Nia, and I outside Adventure Land:

One of the things I really loved about the trip were the Christmas decorations and especially the Christmas music in every park. The variety and, especially in EPCOT, the cultural versions of beloved Christmas songs were delightful. I've been scouring the internet to find similar renditions and just cannot. Disney is missing a trick, not selling me the international Christmas soundtrack! One of the sad things, was watching the Christmas decorations slowly vanish. There were a few fewer every day after New Year's, and by our last day they were mostly all gone. I sure do love me some Christmas!

Nia's favorite souvenier was a mini Eiffel Tower. She has loved learning French at school, so greatly enjoyed her time in France at Epcot. Here she is posing with it outside Tiana's water ride that replaced Splash Mountain. Sadly, it broke. Both the ride (again!) and the tower. Pop and Grandma were staying in Florida an extra day or so beyond what we did, and even though they were feeling very sick, they did a quick jaunt to Epcot to get her a new tower. My parents really spoiled all of us!

Our second time on Tron.

Wednesday morning we flew home (well, my old home), arriving in Santa Barbara in the early/mid afternoon. We rearranged all the stuff we had left at Pop and Grandma's, fed the cats, and drove off to Riverside, CA for the night. That's where we had hoped to do temple work Thursday morning. Instead we got off to a late start, ending in our usual stop in Deming, NM before finishing the drive home Friday. We were very thankful to have taken two nights for the drive instead of just one. That gave us permission to pause or rest when we needed to. I attended my college meeting on Zoom as we drove.

And THAT was our great adventure to DisneyWorld and California this Christmas!

Joy's big test

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 02:45:00 +0000

With Hyrum away at college and the other kids much older, Joy has been pondering what more she wants to do.

Joy: "The one thing that was really clear to my mind one day was a timeline of my life. I had focused on being a mom for something like 20 years, and I probably had about 20 more years of feeling really good and being able to do some good. If that was what I had left, what was I going to do with it?"

One of her big desires has been to serve. So she volunteered to be a temple worker in the Dallas temple Fridays and reached out to a local counseling center. She has been volunteering there with whatever odds and ends they needed help with ... while preparing to join them as a counselor!

~~~Wavy flashback~~~

The first night we met

22 years ago, Joy was a graduate student at Edinboro University, PA (now PennWest University) getting a masters degree in counseling. She got her degree with a concentration in career counseling at the beginning of May 2005, and we married just 3 weeks later. She opted to stay home from the beginning so she could prepare our home for the children we hoped for and now have.

In the intervening time, she has kept her membership active in the big counselor associations. That has included taking continuing education credits, studying family counseling, and spending several years studying new counseling techniques. This was in preparation for the day she might want or need to make more professional use of her degree. And that day is here!

~~~End of wavy flashback~~~

Since we got back from DisneyWorld, Joy has been increasingly focused on preparing for the major National Counseling Exam. The last time she took it was 20+ years ago right after spending two years of classwork studying. It was the culmination of her masters degree. Now she's going after it without the help of teachers or fellow students. During the last month, she spent 30-40 hours a week in fulltime study mode.

Joy: "I feel like Heavenly Father has helped me as I have tried to find the best way to study for the test for me. Even as I've made my note cards, everytime I felt the test coming closer and I felt to stress out about it, I've been able to quickly get ways to adjust my studying so it wouldn't be as stressful and I would be able to understand the material better."

"A tender mercy came a week ago Friday when my supervisor at the temple decided to let me stay home because of the expected bad weather, and I felt like I really needed the time to study. I wouldn't have asked for the time off, but I was thankful when it was offered."

The test is this Tuesday!

When she passes, she will join the Compassionate Counseling Center across from the high school as a counselor a couple days a week (the only days they're open). The women there all love Joy - naturally! - and have been very cheering and encouraging, helping to pave the way for her to move forward with this. It will be volunteer work to serve the community, and we are all excited for her to accomplish this dream and move forward.

Joy: "I'm really looking forward to being done with the test!"

Good luck, Joy!

DisneyWorld 25-26, Day 3, 5, 6

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:17:00 +0000

Wed (31) - Magic Kingdom

We spent New Year's Eve in the Magic Kingdom. Our family huddled near the exit from Tomorrowland for the fireworks at midnight. Everyone else had gone to bed. Disney sure does know how to do a good display!

This was the day John-Thomas discovered the joy of roller coasters and began going on ALL of them.

It was an odd day because we kept splitting up. Joy walked with the rest of us to Pirates, which she doesn't like, then walked back to join Steve's family for the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train. The mine train was A's favorite, so she went on it as many times as her special pass would allow, taking each of us with her 2-3 at a time. That's also why we kept getting together and splitting up again.

We have known for a long time that Nia looks a lot like my mother.
This picture shows that JT gets his looks from her too!

I had this memory that the Autopia was "too easy" a driving experience. Maybe it is at DisneyLand, but in the Magic Kingdom it is one of the hardest cars to manuever! You have to keep jerking the wheel back and forth to stay going straight, but you can keep the wheel straight to go around curves smoothly. JT enjoyed it greatly, and you can see Nia here being very cool about it.

A and I, Grandma and JT

That night we also caught the Country Bear Jamboree, which they have updated to include a bunch of countrified Disney songs. I have to say, it was a blast! Nia and I were falling over ourselves laughing.

L and Pluto

Fri (2) - Animal Kingdom

After Give Kids the World, we spent Friday at the Animal Kingdom, where I got my newest hat: a safari pith helmet. It's very good at shade and keeping cool, but is not as good at blocking rain as I thought it would be. For some reason I think of wicker holes as being less permeable than they are. Nia says, "It was the first time I ever left a store bearing my personalized name on something. You can NEVER find those ANYWHERE if you have a unique name. It was an engraved bracelet, and only $15 or less, and I was like, MINE." Joy got a tribal drum that fits in your hand.

Nia and I had a great time during the safari. Our tour guide kept pointing out things on the trail and saying, "And we know that because...." So when we got to the Baobab tree, he explained that it actually grows that way; nobody had planted it upside down accidentally. I called out, "And we know that because....?" He didn't get what I was saying, so Nia helped. "How do we know that someone didn't sneakily plant it upside down?" That stumped the guide. He said he was going to be pondering that all day. And he referred to it again as we left.

Joy remembers really enjoying the safari ride. We got to see a lot more animals than usual, everywhere we looked. "And there was a walk through Asian architecture and animals that was really nice too. I enjoyed the bird sanctuary. I worried about getting pooped on, but they always make the bird sanctuaries so green and pretty" Nia remembers meeting up with Pop and Grandma on the walk.

My favorite fun fact about Baobab trees is that in German they are
Monkey-Bread-Trees.

We love breakfasting at the Tusker House. It's a character buffet with both traditional Mickey breakfast items plus a number of African specialities. Joy says, "It seems there was some yummy whip cream thinger that they were serving that was really good."

Hyrum was sick starting today. He hadn't been feeling too well at Give Kids the World, but today he was really down. He hoped to rejoin us when Pop and Grandma did at lunch, but he still wasn't up to it. So he spent all day at the hotel.

L at the Yak & Yeti

Nia and JT loved the Mt Everest roller coaster. My stomach can still just manage it and the seats are ever so much more comfortable than the Matterhorn at Disneyland.

We watched the Nemo play. Joy says, "I think that was my favorite play." L and A enjoy the plays and bring us along. "It was cute and fun and worth watching." And of course we love our dinosaurs. We managed to catch one of the last showings of the new Zootopia 3D show that replaced A Bug's Life. I had pointed out the holes in the seats to JT, telling him about how little bugs would poke you during the previous show, and there they were again in the new one!

Dinner was at the Yak and Yeti, which we hadn't ever tried. It was one of my favorite dinners. We also got their souvenier mugs of Buddha's head, which turned into a .. well, not a running gag, but we sure did buy a lot of souvenier mugs this trip! Nia enjoyed some shopping with Grandma. At one point the ladies tried to sneak away to do some shopping, but the menfolk had no other instructions, so we picked a direction and started walking ... right behind them. They got about 2 minutes of uninterrupted shopping. Sorry, ladies!

We usually get through the Animal Kingdom in half a day, but this time it took the full day! The park was spectacularly crowded. I had expected worse crowds on the 31st, but they came out in force once the New Year started!

Sat - Hollywood Studios

Joy, Nia, and JT got up extra early in the hopes of catching Rise of the Resistance before the line got long. I stayed with Hyrum for a bit, but he urged me to get to the park and enjoy myself. I caught up to them at the Resistance, but Joy had left the line to find breakfast. She was too late for the breakfast and then missed us in line too! A very disappointing start to her day. Nia and JT waited for Joy at the end of the line and convinced the cast members to let her in all the way to the start. Joy had many worries for her children, "But none of my worries happened, and it was nice."

I remember being very disappointed about Rise of the Resistance. It's one of my absolute favorites, but for whatever reason they opted to have the line skip all of the cool interactive stuff, like Rey inviting you to join and BB-8 and all that. Nia says, "I think they were down, out of order ... which is funny because it's the First Order, so maybe that's why they were down." The ride didn't quite break down while we waited for it to start, but it was a long delay. Some of the props hadn't been cleaned in a while, it seemed. It just felt like an older ride than it is! Star Tours was great, though!

The Little Mermaid play left something to be desired. There's, like, only one human actress (Arial of course). Everyone else is either a muppet or CGI. "Even Eric was a muppet!" Joy agrees. Eric and Arial don't even kiss at the end! But it is a good review of the excellent songs, with just enough plot to tie them together. The effects are good.

JT with his new lightsaber

Hyrum joined us with Pop after lunch while we were in line for Toy Story Mania. I gave up my scooter so he could sit, but as a merely-17-yr-old he wasn't allowed to drive. So I manned the controls and walked alongside it in line. I won the Toy Story Mania for our car.

We eventually decided between the rain and him and JT not feeling well that I would take them back to the hotel for a nap before dinner while the others headed to the Rock n' Roller Coaster for our last chance to ride it before it is upgraded. Unfortunately, it took us so long to get to the hotel, that it was already time to leave for dinner! So we just traveled for a couple hours, arriving last to the dinosaur restaurant in Disney Springs. Think of a Jurassic Rainforest Cafe and you've got it. We sat in front of the T-Rex. Every 20-30 minutes, the meteor strikes as the lights change color and all the dinosaurs scream for their lives. Joy says, "That was one of my favorites. It had a lot of atmosphere. It wasn't just a place with some decorated walls - it was a different world! That made it fun."

Most everyone went home after dinner, but Joy, Nia in her wheelchair, and I tried to find a particular souvenier. We got caught in one of the most torrential downpours! We took cover in a surf shop for 15 minutes while I found a couple ponchos. Nia remembers the hard time she had picking a souvenier at the many parks. She eventually chose an Eiffel Tower from EPCOT "to be my special little souvenier."

One of these days, no memory which one, Joy and I grabbed a deep fried Hawaiian roll and some corn dogs on the Boardwalk. That deep fried roll was surprisingly good! "Tasted like a really good cinamon roll," Joy says.

Give Kids the World, Jan 1, 2026.

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 15:24:00 +0000

Many of you will be familiar with Make a Wish kids. You may be much less familiar with Give Kids the World. Those Make a Wish kids who choose to do a weeklong Orlando vacation go to stay at an equally magical resort called Give Kids the World. There are streets and streets of vacation homes where their families stay. Dedicated volunteers focus on helping the children and their families be able to relax and enjoy this very special time as much as possible.

Hy, Joy, L, me, Nia, Pop, JT, A, Steve, Emie
Mom was too sick to make it

My niece, A, was a Make a Wish kid some years ago because of brain cancer. (She beat the cancer into submission.) For her wish, she chose to stay at Give Kids the World and enjoy a week of Disney, Sea World, and I don't know what else. They allow alumni to come visit occasionally and bring family with them. During this Disney World trip, we took Thursday to visit. For our TX family, it was the first time experiencing this loving place.

The main building and welcome center has a large collection of stars, one for each child. They like to know that you are coming in advance so they can find your special star (that you signed as a Make a Wish kid) to showcase for you. There's a lovely ceremony where cartoon fairies welcome you back to see your star and they send their friendly giant to help you find yours. The door opens and you are ushered into a room of stars and they reveal where yours is.

Like, a LOT of stars

There's also a bunch of stuff for kids to do there. There's a movie theater, a small arcade that also has ping pong and one of the most complete, interactive model train sets I've ever seen, several parks to play in, playground equipment, and dino mini golf. They have an antique merry go round that needs a bit of a push to get it running.

The dino mini golf is pretty special. The dino statues are sometimes statues and sometimes animatronic. When you get your ball in the hole, various roars resound. There are some that spit water at you when you pass them. The last hole has a T-Rex that pops up to say hi. There's a hole in a volcano with lots of glow in the dark paint. ... It's well done.

The cafeteria has a wide variety of kids food. A robot brings by fruit snacks. They also have all you care to eat ice cream and cookies. And all of it was free for all 11 of us because we had A with us. JT best remembers that they had great food. Nia says, "It was fun. The dino putt-putt was cool. And the ice cream was yummy."

L being adorable

We spent a full day there. One of the staff drove me up to the local WalMart to get a prescription med we had run out of. The volunteers really are something special. Joy says, "The people are loving, going out of their way to help with the very smallest comfort. The dear lady in the cafeteria who cleans up after people have eaten defends her sacred right to clean up every dish, requesting very kindly that you not do her job and you leave your dishes there. The people at the ice cream shop come in and ask if you would please like to have more ice cream, and don't even complain when you ask to bring it someone who isn't there" [like me at WalMart!]. "They didn't just take Derrill to WalMart. He was unable to get the prescription because we sent it to the wrong place. So then the man very kindly came back later to pick my husband up after the prescription got to him. They aren't just working for those kids. They are living for those kids, and it's really beautiful."

Really, it's a bright little jewel and a wonderful service these folks give. It's a charity well worth supporting!

A and Nia

The train set

The boys playing ping pong

Disney World 25-26, Day 1-2

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 14:38:00 +0000

The Big Christmas Surprise, that we all somehow managed to keep from the children, was that Pop and Grandma were taking us all to DisneyWorld for about ten days!!! They gave everyone a matching family shirt. Little L (4 yr old) hid hers in the air vent somehow, which took a while for Nia to find. Monday after Christmas we flew out at much-too-early a.m. and enjoyed dinner at the Rose and Crown in Epcot that night.

Our caravan of 11 (at full strength) was a half-chariot troop. Pop, Grandma, and I were in motorized scooters, A and L had their strollers, and Nia was in a wheelchair because of her sprained foot. It was sometimes a struggle to find enough people to push. I normally pride myself on my ability to walk and endurance, but standing in lines gives my back enormous pain, making the wonderful Disney parks a great trial. Our three strollers were decorated with Star Wars characters, inviting many friendly comments from our fellow vacationers.

Tue Dec 30 - EPCOT

We had breakfast crepes. Nia practiced her French with the waitress, who expressed pleasure at Nia's attempts. Right after breakfast most of us did Ratatouille and the key on my scooter broke. I had to climb out of the line to get a new key when the company's rep got there so I could move the scooter again. JT and Hyrum ran off by themselves to hit Soarin and Imagination while we were in line for Ratatouille.

L is particularly fond of Elsa's ride in Norway, so she took people with her in shifts so she could ride it many times without anyone else getting too sick of it. I hadn't been yet and am very impressed with how they remade the Viking ride. Joy: "I loved going on Elsa with L. She makes Disney so magical!" She runs around wearing princess costumes all the time, even at home, so she fits right in.

I took several pictures with odd decorations under the heading
"Me and my brother enjoying DisneyWorld".
He gave me permission to share this one. :)

Nia enjoys "Figgy", aka Figment's World of Imagination. We did Soarin' and visited the Epcot greenhouse called The Land. Nia: "There were lots of signs that tell you to stay off the sand. I think it's because there are tiny hermit crabs that will crawl out and bite you! Either that or there are things that digest stuff under the sand that will infect you." Or they just ask you to stay inside your boat at all times on all rides. I was impressed with how little soil was being used to grow such a very wide variety of plants. "They were BIG! Explosion of vines!!! Like the tomatoes, and the cucumbers, and I think there were some squash that big too."

Most folks did the Space ride, but I remember (from like 20 years ago) that the Mission Space ride was too much for me, so I stayed outside with L. In the middle of waiting, she suddenly crouched down in the middle of the plaza and cried out, "I am LOST! I don't know where my parents are!" A bunch of visitors were staring at her as I came up to comfort her. 'We know where your parents are. They are right inside that building there. They left me to take care of you.' I was most concerned that the staring people would suspect the guy in a goatee of nefariousness. Thankfully I could demonstrate that she trusted me and she was in my party, and let us go at that.

Joy was in line for the faster version, but eventually backed out because of all the signs warning of how extreme it was, so she never got the chance to enjoy it. I did eventually do the easy version with the kids on our second day in Epcot.

A's favorite ride, and rightfully so, is the new Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind coaster. Nia and I agree it is one of the top three roller coaster/attractions of all time. The other two are Star Wars Rise of the Resistence and Universal's Harry Potter experience. Great, great experiences, one and all! It is so cool, how your cart manages to spin independently of the coaster, so it feels very much like you're going through a double corkscrew and ride backwards, but on minimal track changes.

(Pictured, JT, Joy, A, and Steve on our later day.)

Joy and I have some confusion about which night was which, but Pop and Grandma weren't feeling up to it one night, so the rest of us headed to China for dinner, only to get there after they closed. The boys and I managed to pick up the last meals served in the America pavillion just before the fireworks started. Joy and Nia had been doing some shopping while Steve's crew did Elsa again. We finally all got together during or just after the fireworks.

Christmas memories, Dec 20-28

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 21:10:00 +0000

Our Stephenville ward Christmas program was held a week earlier than usual, so we got to participate. Nia sang a solo verse of Angels We Have Heard on High in French, and she and Joy were part of a lovely quartet. She and "John-Thomas" were credits to the tenor section, Joy sang soprano, and I accompanied and sang bass. I also had a solo called Joseph's Song, where he reassures Mary that she can rest while he protects and cares for her and Jesus.

Hyrum flew to Pop and Grandma's in California a few days before we did. We drove up Sat evening - an uneventful trip - and the next morning all three children joined the tenor section for my home ward's Christmas program. Hyrum has developed a much stronger voice this year, so his siblings could rely on him for support. Joy was in the soprano section, and I joined Pop in the bass section except to accompany the Hallelujah Chorus.

Pop arranged for 4/5 of us to stay at a hotel, while the last one stayed at their house with my brother and his family. Usually it was Nia there so she could be with her cousins and Hyrum could be with JT, but we sometimes switched it up. Hy and I enjoyed using the hotel weight room together. I've got one buff-looking son!

A few headlines

My parents' jaccuzzi was just upgraded this year, so the kids enjoyed much soaking in it.
I tried to fix a problem in the curio cabinet when a glass shelf fell and broke on my head. I did finally get the one problem fixed at least!
Pop figured L (4) was finally old enough for us to read through the entire Christmas Scroll Grandma caligraphied in college, and she was. Joy: I was glad we could read the whole scroll. I don't think I'd realized we had been shortening it.
Pop and Grandma also shared some special books they had made to help L be reverent during church and a song to remind all the grandchildren that someone was always thinking about them, loving them, and waiting for their return home.
We did several buffet style meals. Joy particularly enjoyed the kringla.
Hyrum would pull L in her little red wagon, while JT shot at him with whatever missile they were playing with that day, like a Paw Patrol pool ball. JT says, "Playing with Hyrum was the big part of that week."
Joy: I was most happy to be with everyone, and to see Hyrum again.

Nia and I assembled a new clothes organizer together for Grandma
Joy: I really enjoyed seeing how happy Nia was
with helping Grandma upstairs

Nia: I successfully had a 'terrific' tumble in which I thankfully didn't fracture anything, but I got like at least two different sprains in my foot and ankle. I didn't even know spraining your foot was possible! The doctor said I tore a couple ligaments. I am grateful that my foot no longer wishes quite as much to be a chameleon.

???

Nia: My joke has been that my foot saw a chameleon when it fell, and it decided it wanted to be like, so it changed colors and grew! Playing with L was fun. We made up a new game. Because I couldn't walk around, I was watching A (14) play games and one of the bad guys was a piggy. At one point, the piggy was made of marshmallow, so everytime L said "Piggy marshmallow piggy," I tickled her. And she really liked that!

Nia: I did not know that Grandma is good at hair cutting, but apparently she's done some before with Aunt Emilee and on her mission. So I got a haircut from my grandma and will be keeping some of my new look!

Christmas Eve night was really special. The fire alarm at the hotel went off at 2am. The hotel evacuated, then we waited in the pouring rain (Santa Barbara had enough rain in 3 days to make up a full year's worth!!) until someone finally announced that it was a false alarm and we could return to bed.

A few favorite pictures of the opening of presents below the fold...

L, always adorable and dressed up

L, blowing up JT's fuzzy balloon

Nia looks so delighted with her presents

JT enjoys a gift or two

Beautiful, happy Joy, laughing over her Toffifee

Hyrum, making a Y with his hand,
decked in more Cougar blue.

A, worn out from opening So Many presents,
and patiently waiting for the next

Joy's birthday plus some other photos

noreply@blogger.com (Derrill Watson) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 03:38:00 +0000

The most important thing most every Oct/November in our home is usually Joy's birthday. We also had a surprise visit from Pop and Grandma, who delivered us a replacement for our car Joy had just had an accident in. Not knowing if we'd be able to drive it again, my parents offered to just GIVE us their car. We very thankfully accepted. Among the nice parts is that they drove the exact same make and year we did, just in red instead of black. That made the trade much easier. Once we learned that our black car would live again, we similarly handed it off to another family who had lost theirs.

Joy says:

I have a hard time deciding where to start. Everyone takes such good care of me. This year I feel very successful in not getting stressed for the holiday season. My birthday is so close to the season that I often have a hard time enjoying it. So that is my biggest gift to myself: being relaxed for my birthday. Part of being relaxed is paying for a cake and not making it myself. I got a lovely cake from HEB, the Oreo ice cream cake, yum. At some point Derrill got me some flowers that I am still enjoying. We were at the store and Derrill asked me what kind of flowers I wanted for my birthday. I looked at all of the pretty flowers and wondered if I would finally have the courage to get baby's breath instead of large flowers. As I asked myself that, I started looking at the Baby's Breath and found a nice marroon colored group. I told Derrill I was thinking about getting the little maroon flowers, He seemed ok with it, so I got them. I really enjoyed them and I might get that kind of flower again sometime.

When Pop was here we tried to go Ocean Buffet, a new Chinese buffet in Fort Worth, but the wait was so long that we ended up eating somewhere else. The weekend we were going to be celebrating my birthday there was also a stake dance planned in Fort Worth. Nia had not been to many dances, because she had just become old enough in the summer and we were out of town for most of it. I proposed that we could try the Oceon Buffet if we went before Nia's dance and then took her to the dance. The three of us took board games to play during the dance. We played Splendor as one of the games and we might have played Crew.

At the Chinese restaurant, Angel Nia

The Ocean Buffet was awesome. I am glad that we went. Besides having good sea food they also had a chocolate fountain just like in Frozen with cookies next to it that you could put chocolate on. I chose to have Mongolian Barbaque. It was really yum! I wished I had looked around, Derrill mentioned that they had some different themed rooms for customers to sit in while they ate. I only saw ours.

I got some realy fabulous gifts. I received two very beautiful shirts to help me prepare to be ready to work and I have been studying diligenlty with materials I was given for the National Counselor Exam which I plan to take in the spring. I got a book and some flash cards, hurray.

I also received a beautiful organization kit for Wingspan (left). It is carved with leaves and ivy and makes that game more playable. I spent time putting the organizers together and we played that game using the organizers on that same day. I am really proud of myself for putting it together and not getting distracted (I don't usually finish projects so quickly).

I also chose to spend some of my birthday having some mini dates with the kids. I believe I played Tsum Tsum with Nia and Pinball with Derrin. I had a realy good birthday and not even Thanksgiving got in the way.

Nia's Halloween costume:
a Muggle Gryffendor-enthusiast

It rained a lot one day and for some reason
I tried to get a shot of the waterfall by our front door

DW: After Joy's birthday we set up the Chrstmas tree. Our biggest change from usual was setting a Hyrum ornament in the hands of the angel on top of the tree, because our dear Hyrum is away at the Y.