2013-2014 Wonderful Life in Midway, Utah

It has been a busy year for the Utah Mosterts. We celebrated our first anniversary and our birthdays in late January with a fun get together for 60 of our family and friends. Caren has 16 great grandchildren, but my first Nathaniel Valentine was born in Provo February 3, 2014 to Chris and Kylie Valentine.

We had a quick trip down to San Diego in early March to see Mika and family, stopping in Las Vegas for a night and a visit to the LDS Temple there.  Mika took us to the exotic LDS Temple in San Diego. Beautiful, but somewhat a maze inside.

In late March/early April, Caren and I traveled back to Illinois to get my house ready for sale. On the way, we stopped by the South Lineville, MO Cemetery to see Tepa's and my grave stone, then on to Nauvoo.  Caren had never been there before, so we did some sightseeing and also attended a session at the LDS Temple. From there to the Carthage Jail where Joseph and Hiram Smith were assassinated in 1845.  In Illinois, besides house cleaning, we drove up to Hartford, Wisconsin to see Troy and Sherry, Zach and Charlie.  Lots of fun. We were able to get the house ready for sale faster than we thought as we finished in two weeks. We gave most of the stuff away to members, friends, or the Salvation Army /Goodwill. On our way home we stopped in Liberty, Missouri to visit the Jail there as well as attend an Endowment session at the new Kansas City, MO LDS Temple (which is in Liberty).

Drove up to Idaho Falls to see Caren's sister Dina and attend a session at the Temple there. On to Rexberg, where we truly were delighted by the murals in that Temple. Came home via Star Valley, Wyoming, Caren's birthplace.

Summer was hot in June and July and wet in August.  After selling the house in Champaign, Caren and I flew to Honolulu to visit a retiring Colonel Kari Mostert and family. Wonderful visit thanks to Gina's planning.
We were inspired by the World War II Memorial at Pearl Harbor/USS Arizona. Tired out by the hike up Diamond Head. Thrilled by our visit to the Lai'e LDS Temple and Hawaii's North Shore, and delighted by the performances at the Polynesian Center. Did you know Hawaii was once a Kingdom? We visited the Royal Palace in downtown Honolulu as well as swam at Waikiki. Kari joined us for a day trip up the west side of Oahu to see the surfing beaches, swim at Waimea Falls, enjoy the pineapple treats at the Dole Plantation, and have a great meal on a Restaurant's Veranda overlooking the Pacific Ocean..  

Thanks to Caren's son Val and his wife Ruth getting tickets, we joined them early on the first day of the Open House for the newly remodeled Ogden Temple. Completely different from how it was before.
No longer oval in shape it was more square shaped. Also, the main entrance was moved to the East side. Unusual Celestial Room: Instead of a single large chandelier there were four small ones on the corners with a high domed ceiling. Impressive.

Another of my granddaughters (Kelsey Mostert) got married (to Bradley Lambert) in the Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, UT. on August 14th. Great to have a mini family reunion with Kari, Timo, Mika and Erik and families at the Reception. Kari retired from the Air Force and joined us after flying to Chesapeake Beach, Maryland where they will live while Konnor finishes his last two years of high school.
Kelsey and Brad left almost immediately for her internship in Texas, dropping off a lot of their "STUFF" in our basement. They'll be back for BYU in January. Kylie and Chris and BIG baby Nate will head up to Rexberg so Chris can go to BYU there.  Along with Nate, Kylie will nanny two other children.

We're looking forward to having Karson (home from his LDS Mission in California) and Itza (after her high school graduation) visit us often as they live in Provo and attend BYU. It is great having grandchildren near. Kristian graduated BYU this Summer, Kylie last January.  Kristian has left for Memphis, Tennessee to become an Optometrist. Three more years of school!  Brad's folks live in Brentwood, near Nashville.

Oh yes, and amidst all the other activity, we were able to hire workers to create a second guest bedroom downstairs and totally rebuild our deck. Both turned out beautifully.  You're invited to visit us.

Charlie is precious!  I drove up to Sherry and Troy's rural home near Hartford, Wisconsin on Saturday May 26th, returning to Champaign via Galena and Port Byron, Illinois. It was my first opportunity to see Charles Andrew Waltersdorf since he joined his family on Easter morning this year. Cute as a bug.  I'll try and get some of the pictures I took on this blog.  It was good to get reacquainted with his older brother Zach...now 2.
Sherry and I and the boys had a lot of fun together while daddy Troy, his brother, father-in-law and a couple of friends hunted bear in northern Canada. Word is they shot a lot of bear.  Don't know if they were able to bring any of the delicious bear meat home.  They already have a large bear made into a rug hanging on a wall.  Troy shot it some years ago. He uses both a gun and a powerful bow. Sherry and I took one day to drive into Milwaukee and visit the fabulous Harley/Davidson motorcycle museum.  Got great pictures there also.

I had never been to Galena, which was a major Illinois city at one time because of large lead mines, but when the mines closed the city slept until it warped into a major tourist attraction.  Visually the main street looks like you have stepped back into the middle 1800s. With boutiques and all the other modern stores located in ancient buildings.  Fun visit.  I also drove down along my friend (the Mississippi River) and stopped off to see our old home (1944-1949 and farm in Port Byron, Illinois.  Couldn't recognize it.  Houses all over the hills with trees and brush everywhere. Dad's old foundry/garage of cinder blocks was gone...as was our old two story house. A fairly new swimming pool was located where I used to milk cows.

Wonderful trip.  Thanks Troy and Sherry for inviting me to Wisconsin.  Love you all.

Dad

After 5,100 miles of driving...I'M HOME!

Mika drove most of our trip from Chicago to Salt Lake City, but I drove all the rest of the 5100 miles of Andy's (?Andre's) Great Adventure. Had a wonderful time everywhere.  Except for the Colorado snowstorm that caught us in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming on our way out  and the stinking, oil smelling smog of far western Texas on my way home, the weather was magnificent.  Oh yes there was the snow storm on the sunday afternoon Timo and I got lost in on Traverse Mountain going to the boys' birthday party.  But we got there, had fun and got home safely.  Met many highschool and church friends, including one I don't remember ever meeting in highschool, but I still had fun spending time with her.  Thanks AudreyAnn from Andy.  Lots of Finnish friends and acquaintances.  Funny how a funeral can almost equal a Reunion.

Thanks to Mika's getting me out so often to walk the beautiful Pacific Coast beaches and parks of San Diego County. I lost many pounds and feel much better.  Mikael, you were terrific giving up your bed room for a month so I didn't have to climb stairs.  Itza, keep on running.  It keeps you slim and trim.
Federico, I wish I had seen you in your play.  I bet you are great in it.  Itzel and Mika,,,thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Had lunch with a nephew in Yuma, a weekend, including a fabulous visit to a Renissance Festival in Arizona, with my sister Trudy Wiltbank.  Several delicious meals with her and the Smiths. And then the long trip home through El Paso, Dallas, and Texarkana, Texas, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Cairo, IL and suddently I'm home.

A MOST MEMORABLE TRIP.   Thank you God that I was alive to make it.  I missed you Tepa.

Dad's in California

The death of your mother on Dec. 9, 2011 was shocking and hard to take, but we all knew she was not in the best of health and, in fact, was frequently in a great deal of pain.  So it was for the best that she moved to a better place.

Mika met me on Feb. 2nd, 2012 at Chicago's Midway Airport, from where we drove west to Utah. Had a great visit  in Sandy, UT, with Erik and family, then down to Timo's in American Fork, UT.  It is nice to have your own car so you can go when and where you want. Met with a lot of Provo High friends, BYU Friends, Manavu Ward friends (John, Conrad and I took in an endowment session at the Jordan River Temple then ate supper with them and Dale).  Great reminiscences of our youth and mission days.

I drove down to the St. George area where I met Bp. Morris and Betsy, then had family Home Evening and stayed the night with the Wright family, their son Christian is on a mission in Autsralia.  The Wrights and Morrises were friends who once lived in Champaign.

Am currently in San Diego staying with Mika and his family.  Wonderful to walk on a Pacific Ocean beach in February in shorts and short sleeves. Mikael, Itza and Federico were home from school for President's WEEK so I got a chance to get reacquainted.  Mika is job hunting as his company has had trouble raising the funds to keep it going  So he has been able to spend more than usual time with me.
After beautiful weather for more than a week, yesterday was rain, rain, rain...with snow in the mountains. Although a little cool, today was sunshiny.

This afternoon I was on my own so I drove down near the Mexican border, returning past the famous Coronado Hotel and than across the high Bay bridge to downtown San Diego. Everything is sprawled all over the place.

On March 9 I will head for Mesa, AZ to see my sister Trudy Wiltbank and family...and friends, then the long drive home across AZ, N.M., TX, AR. MO, and home to Champaign,  Illinois.  Some 2300 miles from San Diego.

Our missionaries: Kristian and Kylie are home

The first of our grandchildren to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Kristian and Kylie Mostert have both successfully completed their missions and returned to their new home in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Kristian, speaking Spanish and English, served for two years in the Las Vegas, NV Mission. He spent time in both Nevada and Kingman, Arizona.  For several months he served as one of the Assistants for the Mission President.  Kylie spent time in both New Mexico and Arizona as she served for 18 months in the Tucson, AZ Mission. She was called as an English speaking missionary, but had to learn some Spanish due to the large number of Spanish speakers in her mission. Kristian has resumed his schooling at Brigham Young University, along with his brother and sister: Karson and Kelsey. Kylie plans on returning to BYU later this year.

Their grandmother and I were most pleased with their desire to serve missions, as we had done in Finland in the late 1950s. Their father Kari, now a Colonel in the US Air Force, also served a Spanish speaking mission in the San Bernardino, CA Mission in the early 1980s.

How about that...three generations of Mostert Missionaries.

Tepa died Dec. 9, 2010

I don't know why I am just getting around to it, but I need to let those who follow this blog know that my wife of over 51 years Tepa (Terttu Tuulikki Aunola) died in a Champaign, IL nursing home the afternoon of December 9th 2011.  She was 75 years old.  She had several strokes that affected her life style. She suffered greatly from Osteo-Arthritis as well as Diabetes and other diseases. Just two weeks after we celebrated with all of our family members our 50th Wedding Anniversary in August 2010, Tepa suffered two strokes from which she never really recovered.  After rehabilitation for two months, she was able to come home and I, with paid and other help, was able to care for her until Fall of 2011.  Following several falls, she was confined to a hospital bed which we set up in the middle of our living room.  Then in September she was hospitalized with bladder infection.  Infection later traveled throughout her body, especially to her bottom, heels and lower legs. When taken back to the hospital for the infections they did all they could and we transferred her to the Heartland Medical Center in Champaign, which is where she was her last two months. Although not too lucid, I was able to understand her most of the time.  But finally she got to the point where she rarely opened her eyes and did not eat much. At her request we did not put her on medical life support and she passed quietly in her bed.  We held a Memorial Service for her on Dec. 27 and the next day I and sons Kari and Timo with Kari's two oldest sons: Kristian and Karson dedicated her and my graves near my mother's in the South Lineville, MO Cemetery and along with several of my cousins from the area of Mercer, MO scattered her ashes. A lovely gravestone is being engraved and will placed there in Spring 2012. The Cemetery contains Cox and Duncan family members graves dating back for over 170 years. I miss her.