Born in Inglewood, CA, April 30, 1959 to William V. & Joyce J. Westenskow. Lived in the Santa Monica Stake of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints until 1961, when my father left his career of Accounting, to Provo, Utah where he began attending school and I began attending Day Care, because Mom went to work for Ernest Wilkinson while dad went to school to obtain a teaching certificate from Brigham Young University. His Plan was to teach seminary for the Church, but he found that the students didn't respond to his methods of teaching the Gospel, so he was not accepted as a teacher, which broke his heart, for he truely loved teaching the Gospel. So..Off to plan "B", Bingham High, Home of the Miners in the city of Copperton, Utah, so...in the summer of 1964, We moved again to Kearns, Utah (Mom, Dad, Myself, New sister Lenny and New Brother Kim), this, after a brief stay in the Home of Hal and Lucey Fox in Salt Lake City, Utah. We moved in the summer of 1964 at 4531 West Point Drive, Kearns, Utah 84120
Kearns Utah (Summer of 1961)
After our short time in Ogden, Utah.....Dads plans to teach seminary didn't pan out....the Churches method of picking Seminary Teachers was to allow the students to evaluate each student teacher and if they liked them, the got in....if they didn't liek them, they were passed up....I wonder hwo many careers were decided by young teenage kids who couldn't have cared less about the Gospel....None the less, Dads plans were stopped , his heart broken, but his stamina in tacted...lol
We moved to Kearns, Utah to the house located at 4531 West Point Drive, 84120 and what a place! Right accross the street from Academy Park Elementary school, we had great neighbors (Leslie K. & Doris Harper, Dale & Reva Gates, Reed & Loafee Palmer, etc) who provided us great friends, friends like: Mike, Larry, Laura, Linda Harper: Brad, Dean, Peggy Bona: Craig, Gordon, Kurt Gates: Kenny, Kieth, Lisa, Vicki, Gena Bronson: Kent, Kathy Connell: Ron Schmidt: Kathlene Ruesch: Kathy Johnson: Patty Chipman: Cindy Marks: Wendy Murdock: Kevin, Michael, Julie, Linda Judd: Kelly, Tracy Tinnin: Kathy, Kevin, Teresa, Steven, Karen Crookston: Shauna, Susan, Tammy Palmer: Sandy, LouAnn Baxter: Niel, David, Ralph Bird: Debra Cole: Kevin Galleger: Danny Ball: Trent ?: Sam Wood: Brad Etchal: David, Jacob, Nancy Vandermeide: Trent, David Thurgood: and many more.
We (the guy's) did everything....what ever seasonal sport it was, we did it, if it was baseball, we played it at the school field, if it was basketball, we played it at the school grounds, if it was the Olymics, we build our own high jump stands and did it....if it was archery, we did it, if it was shooting BB guns, we did it (until the county Sherrif showed up at my house and said that he had recieved some complaints) I guess when we were shooting some birds in the back yard, the BB's that missed the birds went in to some windows and hit people working in their yard, etc. I didn't know....lol I remember Mom was in the hospital and dad at work, but i was scared to death, thought for sure i was going to jail....Dad even had me worried when he came home he did his own investigation byu pacing off the distance to each of their homes adn then taking our (galvinized) trash can and placing it the same distance accross the street on the school grounds and then going back to our driveway and trying to shoot it to see if the complaints were valid....I think he just wanted to shoot the gun....lol
Well, it turned out that I didn't have to go to jail....Mom recovered in teh hospital and dad was able to hit the can with my BB gun, so he must have had to buy a couple windows...But life went on and we lived there until I was 14 years old. Kenny Bronson was my best friend, we did everything together, including but not limited to, all the trouble....the more we hung out with Quinn Cox and his little sister, the more we got into trouble, not that they were bad, but we would always be doing something or going somewhere we shouldn't, even walking through one fo teh fields with Quinn and he stirred up a pheasant and caught and killed with with his own hands, pretty cool .....lol So it was a good memory....and she was very cute too, Keni Cox, what a cutie....
We did many good things as well....for one, we helped to build the LDS Church located at 4400 West Point Drive. This was back in the days, when the members would donate the labor and we would build the buildings, I logged 24 hours on that building, while my dad went every night after work for many, many more, like did many of the men in that area...but i have always treasured that memory and to this day, I am proud of the fact tht I hleped build that Chapel.
I caught my very first fish in the canal behind the school, it was a cruddy old Cat fish, but i caught it, with just a spool of line and a hook and a worm....Cool! I had many memeories of going on Father and Sons outings out to the Sand dunes or up to the Spruces. Dad loved the outdoors, but his health made it difficult to be far form meds and eating right, plus he always had papers to correct or test to make etc....he was a very dedicated teacher and hard worker. I remember him setting up his card table in the living room and correcting papers etc. all the time, just wanting to be near the family. He worked us hard going to service projects or over to Uncle Woodrow's to help weed the garden that they shared with us. Building the retaining wall in the back yard or riding our bikes up at the dirt hills.
Going to school there at Academy Park was great, great memories and great friends, below I listed everyone I can think of that had some kind of influence in my life:
Students: Debra Cole, Mark Barber, Dean Bennion, Sandra Sorenson, Kevin Zipperstein, Mike Williams, Debbie Williams (Cousin to Mike), Patty Chipman, Sherry Howard, Wendy Murdock, Cindy Marks, Kaylene Teeples, Holly Brandon, Ron Ondrack, Keni Cox, Kenny Bronson, Lisa Bronson, Vicky Bronson (she was so cute), Kelly Tinnin ( The first girl I ever Danced with), Stan ?, Jerry Romero, Joe Shepard, Carol Bromberger, Julie Petty, Steven Berry, and sooo many more.
Crushes I had: Patty Chipman, Kelly Tinnin, Tracy Tinnin, Kathene Ruecsh, Cathy Johnson, Vicki Bronson, Lisa Bronson, Keni Cox. and I'm sure there wer others....lol
Teachers: Kindergarten: ? First Grade: ? Second Grade: Mrs. Lieter, Third Grade: Mrs Stokes, Fourth Grade: Linda Faith, Fifth Grade: Mr. Wess Connell, Sixth Grade: Mr. Evans
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Begining Of Our Family
In the early spring of 1982, I was convinced by my friends, Vilare Jensen and Brett McDonald, to go with them to a Singles Ward they had been attending in Sandy, Utah (the Sandy 47th Ward), so I agreed to go with them on one Sunday after noon and as we walked into this building and approached the Chapel doors, there was a gal standing there that immediately caught my attention. Her Cute face and brunette hair and giggles all came alive and I will never forget the blue and white striped dress she wore....I would have talked to her right then and there, but you couldn't get a word in edge wise between the giggles of her and Christie.....all they did was giggle, but I did some research and found her name and where she lived and got to meet her.....Her name was Connie Lynn Lunceford, she was from Bellevue, Washington and was down from there living with her sister Vicki and Brother in-law Rick McDaniel.
I went back to that Ward for Stake conference 2 weeks later, not really giving her too much thought, and as I sat in the Stake Conference, I found that she was part of the program having just been baptised and confirmed a Member, she was asked to bare her testimony and I fell in love! I really felt the spirit and thought she was the sweetest thing I had ever known.....the pursuit was on.....
I became a regular at that Sandy Ward and had my records transferred out there and became active and involved there. Of course I was motivated to do so with my new found affection for Connie. I learned that she was dating another guy and that she worked allot of Sundays doing security for the Nordstroms at Fashion Place Mall, I never cared for the guy, Dean, but it didn't matter what I thought, she did, and that's what I had to change.....lol We became friends and would see each other in passing, and would see each other at various activities or parties and get-together's, but all we did was laugh.....I found that she didn't take much interest in me because she thought I was to young, and then I heard that she and her room-mates were having a party where they each lined up the other with someone.....My friend Brett got invited, and I about died when I didn't get asked....so I lost some steam in my pursuit and moved on to other pastures.....named Gayle Cutler of Draper.....lol Gayle was a really nice gal, very cute and a School Teacher, and I tried everything I could to win her over, like jumped off a 40 foot cliff on the Ward River Trip just to impress her, and actually did win her over, she really liked me and didn't want to loose me, I even gave her a surprise Jack-in-the-Box to catch her attention, but in the end, she didn't feel I was able to give her the things she wanted out of life, she was very educated, and I was still going to school, and so she chose Dr. Dave Jack and they live happily in Sandy, Utah.
Several months had gone by between giving up on Connie and Dating Gayle for a few months and it was about April or May of 1983 when I was no longer dating Gayle and so I started going to parties again and ended up at a party with Connie and her new room-mate Disert, and Connie and I ended up at their kitchen table playing cards and gambling with a bowel of fruit and just being silly and she was laughing so hard and we were having so much fun, I couldn't help but start to fall for her again. Later that night some of us went swimming and she came out and joined us and we continued to have fun, and when we all went back and were heading home, she was in her apartment with DEAN'o, that I just had to leave, as it turned out, she broke up with him shortly after that and we began to spend time together, I would hang out at Nordstroms and give her rides to and from work, and we would go and run errand etc, until one day we were in a lighting store over off 4500 South and State when we actually ended up holding hands, it was a good day......and then in passing she asked me if I would take her to the airport because she didn't have a car and couldn't afford to keep asking her CITY CAB buddy, Lee Morgan, for another free ride, so she asked if I would take her, which of course, I certainly jumped at, and not only did I take her to the airport, I walked her to the terminal and waited with her until her flight left....and I enjoyed every minute of it, then as she was getting on the plane she asked me if I could pick her up when she came back, and again I was thrilled. I think that was the longest 5 days of my life....lol
At the end of the 5 days I arrived at the airport a bit late, so I missed greeting her off the plane, but I did meet her coming up the concourse and we got her bags and headed home where we visiting and catching up on the Trip and stuff and I asked her "so how was it?" and she replied, "it was awful.....I missed you so bad" and I turned my head and said "Ya! Hoo!" and we were off and running, we spent every minute of everyday (that we weren't working) together, this was July of 1983, and by September of 1983 we were engaged with a marriage date of February 11, 1984.
I loved her so much....we spent so much time together that we began to learn things about each other that caused fear and doubts etc. So in January of 1984 I thought we needed a Little more time, this was a very hard thing to do and it about killed me to do it, I hurt her very much and broke her heart. I still wanted to date her, I just thought we needed more time. needless to say I was not very popular with her or her family, her mom had bought the dress, had things engraved, etc. Connie was so hurt and or mad, that she moved on me int he dead of night, and if it hadn't been for the fact that i knew where she worked, i may have never seen her again. We were apart for a few months, dating other people, and talking on the phone, I would bug her at work, but she would not go out with me nor tell me where she lived. I would send her flowers etc. only to have her say thanks and brush me off....lol But I knew that i missed her and didn't want to be without her, so after several months, she finally agreed to let me take her home and we got back together in September of 1984 and had a 6 week engagement and with only 6 weeks to get ready, allot was going to happen. she had 2 bridal showers, one from the friends and girls in the Singles Ward and another one from the relatives on both sides of the family (the Westenskow's and the Jex's), being from Washington state and not having lots of family, only her mom and dad came down for the wedding stuff, her sisters Kathy Haugerty and Jamie Anderson could not make it. And the fact that her mom and dad were not members, made it a little tougher on Connie, because she was "Daddy's Little Girl" and he would not be able to give her away or be in the Temple for the Ceremony, but the her sister Vicky and her Husband would be there, or so we thought, when we announced that we were getting married, Vicky and Rick announced that they were leaving the church. This was very devastating for Connie, she wondered why? The very people that got her so involved in the church and got her baptised, and her only family link in the church, and now they were out, this really hurt her and scared her a little. We talked about just getting married civilly so that her parents could be a bigger part of it, but she thought about it and she chose to go ahead with the Temple Marriage because it was the right thing to do, which I was very proud of her and I knew it was a hard decision. So we then worked some things out so that her dad could giver her way at a ring ceremony that we had prior to the reception. It was very nice, he go to walk her down the isle with people on both sides, Bishop West made a few remarks about marriage and what the rings represented and it was a nice thing and I think it made so that her Mom and Dad felt apart. So we got married on October 19th, 1984, in the Salt Lake (LDS) Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It was a cold and snowy Friday morning, and with the unexpected snow, it was a beautiful day. A very fitting day for a beautiful bride. Connie had a beautiful wedding dress and I could not have felt more blessed than to know that she was going to be my bride. We had to be at the Temple at 7am and Connie had stayed with her parents at their hotel that night, so I had to go there to pick her up and still be at the Temple by 7. It had snowed that night so the roads were covered and very slippery, but it was a beautiful morning and I was very excited ...it was our day.
As we drove to the Temple, we held hands and talked about how excited we were to finally be getting married. the Temple its self is a very beautiful building, built by pioneers in 1847 and completed in 1887, its made of Granite with 6 spiers, it glistened in the snow. As we got there, it was very difficult for Connie, because her parents were not able to join us inside the Temple due to the fact that they were not members of the church and the Temple has special requirements before one can enter, so it was very difficult for her to not have them present, but she did have lots of friends and relatives that were inside in the sealing room that made her feel supported etc.
Being married in the Temple is special because it Seals couples together for "Time and All Eternity" and no just "For Time...Until Death Do You Part", something that was very important to Connie and I, important enough that she would leave her Mom and Dad for a time to go and be sealed with me for Eternity. This sealing was performed by my Uncle Joel M. Jolley who was a Temple Sealer in the Salt Lake Temple at the time. It was great! Surrounded by family and friends in the sealing room, looking into the mirrors on both sides of the room, and seeing the eternal effects of mirrors facing each other, it goes on and on forever. It was a great day....The happiest I had ever been.
I went back to that Ward for Stake conference 2 weeks later, not really giving her too much thought, and as I sat in the Stake Conference, I found that she was part of the program having just been baptised and confirmed a Member, she was asked to bare her testimony and I fell in love! I really felt the spirit and thought she was the sweetest thing I had ever known.....the pursuit was on.....
I became a regular at that Sandy Ward and had my records transferred out there and became active and involved there. Of course I was motivated to do so with my new found affection for Connie. I learned that she was dating another guy and that she worked allot of Sundays doing security for the Nordstroms at Fashion Place Mall, I never cared for the guy, Dean, but it didn't matter what I thought, she did, and that's what I had to change.....lol We became friends and would see each other in passing, and would see each other at various activities or parties and get-together's, but all we did was laugh.....I found that she didn't take much interest in me because she thought I was to young, and then I heard that she and her room-mates were having a party where they each lined up the other with someone.....My friend Brett got invited, and I about died when I didn't get asked....so I lost some steam in my pursuit and moved on to other pastures.....named Gayle Cutler of Draper.....lol Gayle was a really nice gal, very cute and a School Teacher, and I tried everything I could to win her over, like jumped off a 40 foot cliff on the Ward River Trip just to impress her, and actually did win her over, she really liked me and didn't want to loose me, I even gave her a surprise Jack-in-the-Box to catch her attention, but in the end, she didn't feel I was able to give her the things she wanted out of life, she was very educated, and I was still going to school, and so she chose Dr. Dave Jack and they live happily in Sandy, Utah.
Several months had gone by between giving up on Connie and Dating Gayle for a few months and it was about April or May of 1983 when I was no longer dating Gayle and so I started going to parties again and ended up at a party with Connie and her new room-mate Disert, and Connie and I ended up at their kitchen table playing cards and gambling with a bowel of fruit and just being silly and she was laughing so hard and we were having so much fun, I couldn't help but start to fall for her again. Later that night some of us went swimming and she came out and joined us and we continued to have fun, and when we all went back and were heading home, she was in her apartment with DEAN'o, that I just had to leave, as it turned out, she broke up with him shortly after that and we began to spend time together, I would hang out at Nordstroms and give her rides to and from work, and we would go and run errand etc, until one day we were in a lighting store over off 4500 South and State when we actually ended up holding hands, it was a good day......and then in passing she asked me if I would take her to the airport because she didn't have a car and couldn't afford to keep asking her CITY CAB buddy, Lee Morgan, for another free ride, so she asked if I would take her, which of course, I certainly jumped at, and not only did I take her to the airport, I walked her to the terminal and waited with her until her flight left....and I enjoyed every minute of it, then as she was getting on the plane she asked me if I could pick her up when she came back, and again I was thrilled. I think that was the longest 5 days of my life....lol
At the end of the 5 days I arrived at the airport a bit late, so I missed greeting her off the plane, but I did meet her coming up the concourse and we got her bags and headed home where we visiting and catching up on the Trip and stuff and I asked her "so how was it?" and she replied, "it was awful.....I missed you so bad" and I turned my head and said "Ya! Hoo!" and we were off and running, we spent every minute of everyday (that we weren't working) together, this was July of 1983, and by September of 1983 we were engaged with a marriage date of February 11, 1984.
I loved her so much....we spent so much time together that we began to learn things about each other that caused fear and doubts etc. So in January of 1984 I thought we needed a Little more time, this was a very hard thing to do and it about killed me to do it, I hurt her very much and broke her heart. I still wanted to date her, I just thought we needed more time. needless to say I was not very popular with her or her family, her mom had bought the dress, had things engraved, etc. Connie was so hurt and or mad, that she moved on me int he dead of night, and if it hadn't been for the fact that i knew where she worked, i may have never seen her again. We were apart for a few months, dating other people, and talking on the phone, I would bug her at work, but she would not go out with me nor tell me where she lived. I would send her flowers etc. only to have her say thanks and brush me off....lol But I knew that i missed her and didn't want to be without her, so after several months, she finally agreed to let me take her home and we got back together in September of 1984 and had a 6 week engagement and with only 6 weeks to get ready, allot was going to happen. she had 2 bridal showers, one from the friends and girls in the Singles Ward and another one from the relatives on both sides of the family (the Westenskow's and the Jex's), being from Washington state and not having lots of family, only her mom and dad came down for the wedding stuff, her sisters Kathy Haugerty and Jamie Anderson could not make it. And the fact that her mom and dad were not members, made it a little tougher on Connie, because she was "Daddy's Little Girl" and he would not be able to give her away or be in the Temple for the Ceremony, but the her sister Vicky and her Husband would be there, or so we thought, when we announced that we were getting married, Vicky and Rick announced that they were leaving the church. This was very devastating for Connie, she wondered why? The very people that got her so involved in the church and got her baptised, and her only family link in the church, and now they were out, this really hurt her and scared her a little. We talked about just getting married civilly so that her parents could be a bigger part of it, but she thought about it and she chose to go ahead with the Temple Marriage because it was the right thing to do, which I was very proud of her and I knew it was a hard decision. So we then worked some things out so that her dad could giver her way at a ring ceremony that we had prior to the reception. It was very nice, he go to walk her down the isle with people on both sides, Bishop West made a few remarks about marriage and what the rings represented and it was a nice thing and I think it made so that her Mom and Dad felt apart. So we got married on October 19th, 1984, in the Salt Lake (LDS) Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It was a cold and snowy Friday morning, and with the unexpected snow, it was a beautiful day. A very fitting day for a beautiful bride. Connie had a beautiful wedding dress and I could not have felt more blessed than to know that she was going to be my bride. We had to be at the Temple at 7am and Connie had stayed with her parents at their hotel that night, so I had to go there to pick her up and still be at the Temple by 7. It had snowed that night so the roads were covered and very slippery, but it was a beautiful morning and I was very excited ...it was our day.
As we drove to the Temple, we held hands and talked about how excited we were to finally be getting married. the Temple its self is a very beautiful building, built by pioneers in 1847 and completed in 1887, its made of Granite with 6 spiers, it glistened in the snow. As we got there, it was very difficult for Connie, because her parents were not able to join us inside the Temple due to the fact that they were not members of the church and the Temple has special requirements before one can enter, so it was very difficult for her to not have them present, but she did have lots of friends and relatives that were inside in the sealing room that made her feel supported etc.
Being married in the Temple is special because it Seals couples together for "Time and All Eternity" and no just "For Time...Until Death Do You Part", something that was very important to Connie and I, important enough that she would leave her Mom and Dad for a time to go and be sealed with me for Eternity. This sealing was performed by my Uncle Joel M. Jolley who was a Temple Sealer in the Salt Lake Temple at the time. It was great! Surrounded by family and friends in the sealing room, looking into the mirrors on both sides of the room, and seeing the eternal effects of mirrors facing each other, it goes on and on forever. It was a great day....The happiest I had ever been.
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