PECANS IN THE CEMETERY

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.

'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me' said one boy.. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me..'

He just knew what it was.. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along.

'Come here quick,' said the Boy, 'you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls.'

The man said, 'Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk.' When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.

Standing by the fence they heard , 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.'

The old man whispered, 'Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord..'

Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything.. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord.

At last they heard, 'One for you, one for me.. That's all.... Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done..'

They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.

Beth sent me this it is very similar to a story Dad use to tell.

Christmas memories

The first Christmas I remember we lived in Mesa. I got a push car from Santa and Ray got a Fire car. I remember being jealous because Ray's car was a peddle car and had a bell. I remember pushing Ray in his peddle car up and down the driveway so he could learn how to peddle it. I have looked high and low to find a push car like that but they must not have been very popular because I haven't been able to find one even close. I rode the wheels off of that old push car. When I was about 12 I fixed the wheels using tin can lids and bailing wire and I rode it back and forth in the old blue truck bed. That was the only place I could find that was smooth enough to ride it on.

We always got a Christmas stocking from Santa. It was a mesh material and was filled with nuts, hard tack, ribbon candy, an orange, an apple, and usually a pack of gum. We always opened our presents on Christmas morning not any on Christmas eve. The cows had to be milked and everyone up before we could open presents. More than once Ray and I would get up and have the chores done when Dad got up on Christmas morning. I remember one time jumping into bed with our clothes on and acting like we just couldn't wake up to go do the chores. Dad was ready to get mad and he didn't believe us when we told him the chores were done.

My most remembered Christmas was like the next one. We still lived in Mesa and I had been watching cartoons and seen a goat eating tin cans. I decided I wanted a goat for Christmas. Mom and Dad both tried to talk me out of it but my mind was made up. On Christmas morning I was so disappointed when there wasn't a goat under the Christmas tree. Mom finally convinced me to look out side and there tied to the porch was my goat. Santa had left a harness and a cart and my goat was broke to pull it. I named him Billy and had him around for many years.I never did get him to eat a tin can but he would eat about anything else. Looking back I've been surprised Dad put up with having that goat around all those years. He would climb clear up on the barn and lay there and chew his cud.

When I went to uncle Myron's funeral I was talking with Paula and Allan and we were discussing how poor we had been I remembered a Christmas at the farm. I had wanted a set of walkie talkie's so bad for Christmas. I was disappointed when the walkie talkie's were plastic army green and you had to run a string between them. More than once I remember Dad asking us to give up a Christmas toy for a family that didn't get anything. That was so hard but I don't remember ever doing it for real. I think Dad was just trying to help us understand what Christmas was about.

Through the good years and the lean Santa always came. Looking back I don't know how Dad and Mom did it but they made sure it happened. They were always so excited on Christmas morning. Dad would always say Santa must have left his whole load at our house.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This should bring back some Thanksgiving memories! This was one of Mom's prized appliances. You didn't mess with the roaster. That was back before turkey bags and mom had to have a juicy turkey. The answer was the double boiler roaster. She only got it out once a year to cook the Thanksgiving turkey. I remember one year she took all the turkey left overs and ground them up put in some mayo, mustard and pickles and we ate every drop. We always had turkey for Thanksgiving and it was always the tradition for everyone that could, to get together at Mom's. We always had mashed potatoes and turkey gravy, stuffing, yams, homemade rolls, fruit salad made from fruit cocktail and homemade whipped cream and of course pie which had to include mincemeat for dad and pumpkin. I always ate so much it hurt and I couldn't even look at the pie until later in the day.
The old roaster quit working long before mom did and is just junk but it sure has some memories. It had a red light on the temperature knob and mom was forever yelling don't touch that. Mom would drain the juice off of the fruit cocktail and put it in a glass. Whoever helped in the kitchen(or was willing to get out of her way) got to drink it. You always wanted to be around when the whipped cream was done to lick the beaters. Mom would load the old roaster the night before and you could smell the turkey cooking all night and the next day. Mom could always find something for you to do even if it was just taking some scraps out to the pig bucket. Mom always rallied to the cause when ever her children were around. Even when it was a struggle. She always wanted to be joking around with her kids. She made all holidays fun!

Celebrating a Blessed Life

I don' know how we will count time in the eternities, but I'm certain that we will celebrate Birthdays forever! What a joy to receive a physical body and be one step closer to being like Father!

Mom, Grandad and Gramma Lofgreen must have been so proud watching you grow into the lovely young woman shown in this picture (one of my favorites). And what a great example of womanhood you are to all your children and their children and so on. You influenced so many people in your life of service and good deeds.

HaPpY BirTHdAy, MOM!

We Love and Honor you on this day and always!

Quick trip to Bundyville

On Friday night Sept. 24th out of the blue I got a call from Ray. He says's I am in St. George and I know where the old Jones homestead at Mt. Trumbull is. What are you doing tomorrow? So I made some phone calls and the next morning we were ready to leave St. George about 8am Utah time. First point of interest was hay rocks.








As a Kid they seemed much bigger. Dad use to tell that they would put hay on top of the rocks where the horses and cows couldn't reach it. Then they could have some hay for their camp animals when they were herding sheep.So they wouldn't have to let them graze. They also put grain there if they had it. It was kind of a community thing. If there was hay there, you could use it as long as it was replaced.

If you look close you can see the old road along the other side of this wash. This was called the dug way. Ray explained that the road was dug in the side of the hill which is why it was called a dug way. As we rode along we discussed how the Arizona strip was Dad's escape. When things got too much to handle he would make a trip to the strip. One occasion was after one of his kids was born. He had a big Doctor bill and no way to pay it. He took his team and went out on the strip. He came across a bunch of wood that a forest fire had burned through. He loaded a load on his wagon and took it to St. George. That was no small feat when you consider he had to cut the wood with a hand ax. There was a man who sold wood in St. George and Dad talked to him and he told Dad He would take all the wood he could bring him. That was Dads answer. That was during WW2 and the depression. Dad had a team of horses so he didn't qualify to get a job like many men did. His team was made up of miss matched horses because the government had taken any of the good horses that were around. Dad had a horse named Herman and a mare named Molly who had a club foot. He got a horse named Queenie we thought it was given to him. Queenie could not be tied up by her neck. She would rear back and break anything that was put on her neck. Dad thought he would break her of that so he tied her up with a chain. He was sick when she wore her neck raw trying to break the chain. But he discovered he could tie her up with a string if he just put it around her front foot.
On one trip with a load of wood. Dad was headed down this dug way. The hold backs broke which would normally mean a runaway but which ever horse he had (I thought Molly)(Ray thought Queenie). The horse put her rump against the wagon and held it back all the way down the dug way. Saving Dad's life.
We also remembered Jim Copley being taken out to the dug way, beat up close to death put in the seat of the old KDXU VW bus and with the throttle blocked open sent down the dug way. It was to make his death look like an accident. He did crash but wasn't killed. We didn't ever know what was going on. His story was he was an informant for the FBI. They put up a street light across from the house in St. George so they could watch our house and bugged our phone. The kids were not allowed to answer the phone or tell anyone anything about Jim.

This is the infamous Wolf hole. Anyone who hears about wolf hole thinks of a wolf's hole but it is really a valley. It use to have a corral and a store of sorts. The valley use to hold water and was a way station for people going and coming from the strip.
We visited the school house and took advantage of the restroom facilities. Beth asked does anyone need some hand sanitizer? Dawna was the only one that said yes then Beth announced she had M&M salad but you have to have hand sanitizer to have any. When the dust settled everyone was in line to get it. After a little salad we drove back the direction we had come maybe 1/4 mile went through a gate, climbed through a fence and headed out through the country.

At first you couldn't even tell we were headed to a house. That is how well it is hidden right in plain sight.

We found the old Jones home. It has been plastered but was originally made of Quaken aspen. They would drag them in and let the animals eat the bark off when they would. Then they would peel off the remaining bark, notch them and lay them together to make a log cabin of sorts. We could identify the house because of the windows.

Ray showed us the dugout where the Jones family lived when they first arrived. We marveled when we thought of a family of 7 or more living in it through the first winter. It was just behind the Jones home.

Here you can see some of the Descendants of Eddie Lee Jones standing in front of the Jones home. Dad helped built this house and we felt him close as we pictured Him with his dad building the roof and nailing on the home made shingles. Everyone that went was glad they were there. Even though it meant a quick trip and a long day.

When I grew up with Thelia and Eddie

Sayings we grew up with.

I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.
Dad gum it Nancy.
It is grass but it’s Snot grass.
Did you see the soldier (Sniff) with the green stripes down his leg. (Mom would wipe her nose on her hand and wipe it down her leg.)
Don’t be like the little boy that lost his gum in the chicken coop and thought he found it!
When crossing a cattle guard, Pick up your feet or you’ll marry a cow.
On the sidewalk, Step on a crack and you’ll break your mother’s back.
If you stubbed your toe, Did you have a good trip.
Your like talking to a post.
Don’t sit there like a bump on a log.
After dinner, If I was in bed with my pockets full of pancakes. I wouldn’t get up for any supper.
Eat every tatter and pee on your plate. ( Red potatoes and peas.)
I saw U P on a boxcar. (Union Pacific you pee)
They can’t chew gum and walk at the same time.
Here I am 100 miles from home and I can’t spit off of my own property.
A rooster doesn’t say Cock-a-doodle-do. They say Uncle He-ber.
I always had rooster tails in my hair and Ray had a cow lick.
Soak an eye (So can I)Which eye do you want soaked?
Beth’s favorite, Don’t be soft.
I’ll give you something to cry about.
Cry baby cry, stick your finger in your eye, tell your Aunt Mor-i it wasn’t I. Cry baby cry.
When you looked out of the curtains, Don’t be an Okie.
Fart a doodle.
It will feel better when it quits hurt‘n.
This hurts me more than it hurts you. (with a spanking)
For Ray and I to wake up in the morning Dad would come in singing. Get up get up little girls get up. Get up little girls get up.
Or : It’s nice to get up in the morning when the sun is in the sky. The birds and bees are in the trees. But it’s nicer to stay in bed! (It was always still dark outside.)
From a book. And the very next day he was on his way. Good old Dr. Goat.
Howdy Chester. (they would pound on your chest) Good to see your back.(they would pound on your back) Haven’t seen ya for two long ears.(they would pull on your ears) Catch a hare on the way. (they would pull your hair)
What color was George Washington’s white horse?
Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?
Fart in the bush.(Dad use to call horses that)
It’s raining it’s pouring the old man is snoring.
Heavens to Betsy.
Two heads are better than one even if one is a sheep’s head. Also cabbage head.
My causa is su causa.
Don’t cry over spilled milk.
Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.
Chinga lita ska wanta paketa. (no meaning)


If you lift a calf over the fence everyday when it is grown you will sill be lifting it over the fence.
We don’t shew our flies we let them go bare footed.
A water melon bust. Tender footed.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Stars in the morning a sailors warning. Stars at night a sailors delight.
Clean your plate. There are kids in China starving.
Mom use to ask Dad when he was eating fast, Are you going to a fire? He would slow down for a couple of bites.
Railroad crossing look out for the cars can you spell that without any R’s.
When you ask what time is it. You would get, Are you catching the bus or taking medicine?
Whistle britches.
Grasshoppers, Squeeze their head and say spit tobacco or I’ll kill you.
June Bugs. We use to put them on strings.
Sow bugs=Potato bugs = rollie pollies.
Strike while the Iron is hot.
Nigger Rig
Monday’s child is fair of face. Tuesday’s child is full of grace. Wednesday’s child is full of woe. Thursday’s child has far to go. Friday’s child is loving and giving. Saturday’s child works hard for a living. But the child that’s born on the Sabbath day is bonney and blithe and happy and gay.
Grandpa’s slow but he’s old.
Good night nurse. Tell the doctor I’m no better.
If wishes were fishes we’d all have a fry and if horse turds were biscuits we’d eat tell we die.
Damit to hell.
If the dog hadn’t of stopped he’d a caught the rabbit.
Loco in the Cabasa.
Indian Giver.
Sweat like a butcher.
Plan Jane.
Splitting image.
Choke a chicken.
Shut the door were you raised in a barn?
Don’t take any wooden nickels.
See you later Alligator. After while Crocodile. Pretty soon Baboon.

Dad use to tell a story about a little boy riding the bus home with his mom. The boy asked, “Mom can I go wee?“ Not yet son wait until we get home. A little later the boy asks. “ can I go wee now?” The mom says we’re almost home can you wait? As they are getting off the bus the boy says, “ Mom Can I go wee?” The Mom says oh go ahead! The little boy jumps down the steps of the bus. Yelling Wee!

I may have missed a few! If this brings any to your mind put in a comment. Or at least e-mail me. Thanks, Lyle

A trip to Tucson

Beth, Jamie and I made a wild trip last weekend. we started with Paul's 8 man football game in Glendale Arizona. See the program. The Diamondbacks kind of got beat but it was a fun game and they held them to less than 50 points. We had fun yelling.Who would have thought Littlefield school district would be playing football with one of the grand kids on the team!




From the game at about 10 Pm. We went on to Tempe to a motel. Of course we were hungry so we found Clam Jumper's open and had a bite. That's about all Jamie can eat. The next day we headed down to Tucson. Where Nelda had a nice home a couple of doors down from her house for us to stay in. We got settled in and decided to go see the Biosphere 2. Which was farther away than we had thought and a little expensive but it was a great adventure and we really enjoyed our selves.

Here you can see Beth and Jamie's heads as they learn about the fog desert. It is different from our desert but has some of the same species of plants. The grass you see in the containers is one of the experiments ASU is doing on the effect of globel warming on our water supplies.

This is how Beth and Jamie look in a rain forest just in case you were wondering what they would look like!

These white tanks are the clouds. They contain the condensed water that is used in the fog desert. So now you can see what Beth and Jamie look like walking through the clouds. Kind of scary huh.

If you couldn't guess this must be the end. Oh sorry Beth! We had a great time and a great visit with Aunt Nelda. She is a true Lofgreen we kept her up all hours of the day and night and we shared a few M&M's together. Beth had made a tossed M&M salad special for the occasion. Sandi had a real nice service and I included a copy of her program below for those of you who couldn't be there.

If you missed it here is Mark's program

Mark had a real nice service it was right on target with stories of his service to others. Mark was always willing to help anyone with anything. Even when he was young.

As I attended Mark's memorial I remembered a story Wanda use to tell about Jay and Allan. I guess Jay had got a scratch on his leg or foot, and of course for anyone who worked for a power company. Methiolate was what got used to get them to heal. I think it was about 80% alcohol. Jay wasn't real happy about it so when Wanda put it on Jay yelled out ,"Blow Allan Blow!"

Here it is the 24th of July and still nothing of the 4th

For those who missed the Lofgreen reunion it was great. Jim did a great job! Aunt Nelda was there and was full of stories. Thelia's family were the big attenders though we were missing a lot. Flagstaff was nice and Jim had a great campground set up. You probably all saw the e-mails.

It was kind of a tradition for the Eddie Jones family to spend the 24th of July in Veyo . We always got to pick some of the Leavitt's black berries and have some of Ruth's dilly beans. It was always enough cooler up there that we could sit out under the trees in the front yard and be comfortable. Mom and Dad, Loyd and Ruth got along good together and we spent the day visiting , eating and relaxing. Of course Ray and I always found time to explore the surroundings.

We use to go to Pine Valley and spend the day up there before it got so busy there was no room. There was nothing better than a water melon that had spent the day in the cold Pine Valley creek.

I also remember going to Uncle Lavon's ranch for the 24th It just so happened he had black berries growing on the pond bank. To this day I get hungry for black berries on the 24th.

I would be remiss if I didn't Thank our pioneers for the good life their actions have given me. Both sides of our family crossed the plains. I am pretty sure both sides of the family crossed the plans in wagons rather than pulling hand carts. But I know they must have done a lot of walking. I have always been impressed with Anders Persson Lofgreen's one journal entry. "We crossed the plains ." Life in Sweden was tough crossing the plain was just what they did. I have to find some black berries. Happy 24th of July.

A trip to Mt. Trumbull

This is the first house you see as you get into mt. Trumbull. It looked like maybe it had been a dugout that they had built a home on top of. Dad use to tell that his family lived in a dugout when they moved out to Mt. Trumbull for the first year.

This was the barn by the first home we came to. It was surprising that it was still standing.

This sign was on a plack in front of the school. From it I learned that the reason James S. Jones moved his family out to Trumbull was to homestead for 640 acres of land that could be dry farmed.

This plack shows the original school house before it was burned down.

Here is the official school house marker.

I don't know that Dad ever went to school here. He spent most of his time hearding sheep. He use to tell how each family with kids in school had to take turns for a week at a time going early to light the fire in the wood stove to heat the building before school. He use to tell about doing that. He also use to tell about attending dances here on saturday night. His dad James S. use to play the violin or fiddle for the dances.

My dad always told about his mother doing her visiting teaching on a white donkey. He had to saddle it up for her at times.

From James S. history he said he shouldn't have moved his family out to Trumbull. He said looking back his father had warned him not to do it. When they moved back to St. George to the temple house they had nothing. I do think maybe it was for his family more than for him. Ester must have shined as the Relief Society president. She is dearly remembered there.

I could not really identify the family in this picture. I think it is the younger children.

Here is the beloved president of the Relief Society.

I have been unable to identify Dad in this photo. Maybe you can?

Here is a later picture of the Jones family with Aunt Harriet and Bonnie Elane.
This picture in front of the Jones home shows Lee, Ordel, George, Manola, Ester, and Grandma.

We left the school house and headed south to what is called Whitmore canyon. The photos shown here are in one picture frame hanging on the wall of the school house.

After a long rough road we came to the lower end of the Colorado river you can get right down to the river in this area. The road is mostly traveled by four wheelers which would make the trip much faster.

Here are a couple of tourists standing at the edge looking East up the canyon before it gets Grand. From here we back tracked to the corner at the Mt. Trumbull school house then we went East from the school to the mountain.

This is looking back to the school house from the Mt. Trumbull mountain.

Here is the site of the sawmill. This is where a lot of the lumber came from for homes and the lumber for the St. George temple came from this saw mill. It was run by a steam engine. Not by the Ford Cadillac you see in the picture.

Dad use to talk about Nixon spring. This is also where the water came from to run the saw mill. We got a drink here from a nice faucet but we didn't treat it.

Here is the grand canyon at the Tuweep look out. The canyon is one mile deep and one mile wide at this point. Dad use to tell about being here and a tourist lost his stetson hat over the edge with a gust of wind. Dad looked along the edge and found a deep crack that he could put his back against one wall and his feet against the other and he let himself down and recovered the hat and gave it back to the man that had lost it.

Here are those same two tourists again standing on the edge of the grand canyon. This was a fun trip and Kent's old ford Diesel got us there and back. It was rough road all the way into Tuweep and all the way out but there were a lot of people there. We went home by way of Colorado city since we were sight seeing anyway.