WORTHWHILE counsel and advice from some very knowledgeable people....

I have been asked several times to write up the things I've shared about what I did raising my children and traditions I had in my own family as well as how I tried to carry them out in our family.  I have written things up many times to share but in all my words, all my pages, all my pictures and words of wisdom NOTHING works better than just listening to the Prophets we've been blessed to give us counsel, just for us in our day, from the Lord Himself. I will add some as I find them from here on out.  This first one was given at BYU in 1973 and President Hinckley was quoting Jenkin Lloyd Jones a Unitarian:

  






 




  

          

FRIENDS outside of family. . . . TRAITS of a Father...."You can never have too many friends."

My Daddy was quick whetted and never knew a stranger. I've been told that I take after him (which totally true or not is a great compliment to me).  He told me "You never can have too many friends."  Another one of his sayings to me was "Everybody that know's you loves you."  Well, when I was middle school age I came home from school and told my Daddy that that saying of his wasn't true that there were some girls in my class that didn't like me.  He quickly came back with "Then you'll just have to give them the chance to really get to know the real you and they'll change their minds." Those sayings along with his three squeezes to my knee, which meant "I love you" were traits of a Father that I have truly grown up loving about my Daddy, Israel Ard Hoyt.  There are people in my life that I've felt blessed to call my friends since my early childhood.  Some friendships were developed once I started school and some came along when we vacationed or changed neighborhoods or Church locations.  Jim, also has friends from his youth, some of which are mine as well since he and I have known each other since we were three years old.  Some friendships developed in the Wards and Callings we've had thru the years:


John Nicholas Udall, Jr. Rodrick Clelland, & my brother Timothy Ard Hoyt - all 3 livelong friends.

 
The seven children of Dora & Joe Dana: top: Judy, Kathleen, Susan, Marilyn
bottom row:  Carol, Reed & Kent

   
The women in my Ward (it started out plus one from Tempe so we wouldn't be accused of belonging to a click) JaNae and Darlene don't get together with us much any more but there's still Karly, Chris, LoAnn, Judy and Charlie and me.  We use to call ourselves twenty some odd years ago "The Beach Babes" now there's not a name for what we've become, but "Eternal Friends" fits nicely.  Thru it all we've stayed close and enjoy sharing our lives and that of our families with each other.

  
Kerry Doyle & her hubby Kenny Driggs.  Jim and I have known Kerry since our Third Ward early childhood days.  Later Kenny became our friend when we got to know him at the "Y".


 
This special couple we got to know when we moved into our home on Black Hill.  He was our Bishop, and former Brazilian Miassionary.  He extended us our call to serve as a Senior Couples Missionaries.  We lived again in his Ward when we returned for a year and he was in our Stake Presidency then.  His wife and he were also close to Neph and Marge as they were in a Ward together before it split and became West Wing Ward of the North Peoria Arizona Stake.  Scott and Ellie Pace.


  
My good friend and former VT companion (and we visited in this car and had a blast) Judy Boyd.  The Chuck & Judy Ogden Family we met when we first moved out to Paradise Valley and they lived one street over.  Our children were friends with their children; Brett, Megan, Bree, Alisa, JC & Todd.

  
Silvio (my Brazilian son), Tobias (our CES Leader) & Mattas (my language trainer at the "Y") with their wives. Preparing for our Mission & while on our Mission.   
Judy Dana Eagleston Rassmussen, Carol Dana Rose Baugh & hubby Glenn. Childhood friends.  My dear friend Shirley Brown Weenig's family after she passed away from cancer. (They named their eldest daughter Shirlyn after me.)   My girlfriends in highschool Lana Gorman, Cheryl Strickland, LoWanda Slade, Linda Simmons, Beverly Sue Christensen, Nancy Gibson, Judy Hubbard, Mary Ada Thomas, & my cousin Floreen Hatch; Then my college girlfriends, Kerry Doyle, Shirley Brown (nor pictured:  Phyllis Hansen, who became my brother Tim's wife)  All of which I still can call my "Eternal Friends".

PETS....grew up with them or had hardly any

I grew up with pets, indoors & out type.  We had dogs, parakeets, cats, goldfish, 2 horses (Gib & Charlie).  Jim had at least one dog that we have a picture to document and I know Steve (I think) had a parakeet.  Our kids grew up with dogs, cockatoos, parakeets, tortoises, parrots, gerbils, goldfish and one snake (for a Scout Merit Badge project only).  We feel that kids need pets, they help teach them responsibility and help in their socialization skills.  Pets fill a void when children are feeling out of sorts and want to vent safely!  Our "Grand's" enjoy their pets and even some pets that they just have while on vacations but then have to leave them behind:

   

       

WHITE SHIRTS and SCOUT SHIRTS speak volumes.about a man. . . . worthwhile commitments.

               I love my men in their white shirts at church. I wanted the Sabbath Day to feel different and special to them.  Special enough to wear clothing different than they wear ever other day of the week.  To me it shows respect for themselves and the callings or future callings they hope to be worthy to serve.  In order to not have this become an issue as my boys grew up I made sure that a nice, crisp white shirt was always clean and ironed and set out for them each Sunday morning.  They were not free to choose where this dress code was concerned. I know this is not a commandment like "thou shalt not wear any other color" it is just a "mother thing" that I feel strongly about.

 
 For a young boy to commit to achieving the rank of Eagle Scout and then sticking to that commitment and he becomes an Eagle shows me that he can achieve anything he desires that is worthwhile in life.  All my boys worked hard and achieved this goal and I KNOW their sons, my precious "Grand's"  can do it as well. 



(More pictures to come when I get them on my computer out of my scrapbooks for each of my sons.)