TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO AND WHEN HE IS OLD HE WILL NOT
DEPART FROM IT.
When Naoma and I were married we were so much in love
that we wanted to be together and became best friends and constant
companions. We both wanted to raise our family in the church. We knew
that our children would be spirit children of our Heavenly Father sent
down to us to love and nurture. Now as we look back on those happy and
wonderful years when we were raising our family we can see that we were
training our children as we lived our lives in the best way we knew how.
We faced our life together with joy and eagerness. We were both 24 yrs
old and ready to build a happy home together.
Naoma learned many mothering skills from her mother.
Mother Haynie was a very good midwife and spent most of her life serving
and helping women deliver their babies. She came to be with Naoma for
each of our children when they were born. I remember her calm motherly
ways in handling the babies and taking care of Naoma.
Naoma faced each birth with faith and bravery and wanted
me there to help her with her labor. This really increased my love and
joy as each of our children were born. I marveled at the loving tender
care that she gave each of our children. I can see in my memory my
beautiful wife tenderly taking care of each of our tiny babies.
For the first three children she would open the oven door
of our wood burning stove and uncover their tiny feet to the warmth of
the oven. They would stretch out their tiny feet to the warmth and Naoma
would rub their little feet gently to be sure they did not get too hot.
She would place them on a soft pad on the table next to the little bath
tub and carefully remove their clothes. She would hold them securely so
they would not be afraid of falling and test the water with her elbow to
be sure that the water temperature was just right. She would support
their little head and neck while she gently bathed the tiny beautiful
baby. She was always careful not to get any shampoo or soap in their
eyes. They soon learned to enjoy their bath. When she would take them
out of the water she would wrap them immediately in a soft warm towel to
give them a feeling of security and warmth. She would oil them and
powder them where necessary. She would dress them carefully in warm
clothes and wrap them securely in a soft baby blanket, folding it over
at the bottom so that the feet would not come uncovered.
Naoma could always recognize when they were hungry and
would nurse them tenderly cuddling them against her and talk to them
with words of love. She nursed every one of them giving them plenty of
breast milk until they were over a year old. She could always tell when
they needed changing and would change them promptly so they would not
get sore or develop a rash. Even at night and in the early hours of the
morning she would hear their restless movements and get up immediately
and take care of their needs. She always used soft cloth diapers folding
them the right size and shape for the baby. She would wash the diapers
each day and hang them out in the sunshine to dry, so they were always
soft and smelled good. All during our lives, there were never any
diapers or clothes on the line on Sundays. We always observed the Lords
Day. As the children grew out of diapers we would hear their restless
stirrings and get up and take them to the bathroom. Most of the time
they would be half asleep and would go back to sleep immediately. Soon
they learned to go by themselves and we never had stinky wet beds.
When Susann was only two months old We moved out on the
flat to a new house on the Rancho Verde. Our transportation was
horseback, a two wheeled cart, pulled by a mule and a rubber tired
covered wagon pulled by a team of little mules. When we would go riding
horseback Naoma would put little Susann on a pillow in front of her. We
would put little four old Kiko on the Palomino horse. I had made him a
little buckskin saddle sinched on a saddle blanket with two rings for
stirrups. He rode very well and controlled his horse. I would put Little
Mary on a pillow in front of me. We would go where ever we wanted go or
just ride around the farm all of the family together. On Sunday, Naoma
would dress the children carefully in their Sunday clothes and fix the
little girls hair in ringlets. All of the children always looked their
best and many people commented on our beautiful children. Uncle Loren
Taylor would tell us, with his dry wit, "I don't know how you guys can
have such beautiful children."
We would hook up the little mules to our rubber-tired
covered wagon. Naoma would sit on the front seat with me holding the
baby on a Sunday pillow. Keith Larae and Mary would ride on a soft bed
of quilts in the back of the wagon. We had a canvass tied over willow
bows to give us shade and protect us from the rain. As we would go out
the gate and turn into the lane I would speak sharpely to the mules and
they would break into a run and we would be into the Dublan Church House
in ten minutes.
Because of the love and kind attention that the children
received they developed independence and love for family members. They
followed our example of reverence in church. We never had any problems
such as crying or spunking. Our children were always willing to go to
their classes because they felt secure in the belonging and the love of
the family.
As our family grew up we all wanted to do things
together. We started this when they were very young. One day as we were
returning from our farm on the flat to our home at Rancho Verde We had
our little family with us. Susann was on her mothers lap on a pillow and
Mary was sitting between us on the seat of our two wheeled cart. Our
little four year old Kiko was riding behind the seat in the back of the
cart. We were going along at a slow trot of the mule pulling the cart.
We heard a noise and turned to look back and saw our little son running
as fast as his little legs would carry him. He had fallen out and
instead of crying, he had jumped up and was running to try to catch up
with us. We immediately stopped and got him back in the cart with us. I
always remember that brave little guy running after us. He certainly
didn't want to be left behind.
All during our family's growing up years we would work
together and play together and go on trips together. We remember when we
went to summer school at the Y we would take all of the family and go to
Provo. On the way to Provo we would stop a few days in Aztec, New Mexico
to visit Grandma and Grandpa Haynie. Many times they would have a family
reunion while we were there. All of our family enjoyed visiting their
Haynie grandparents and Naomas brothers and sisters and their families.
We all have fond memories of those wonderful days and enjoyable visits.
All of our children learned to love both sides of our families.
In Provo we rented a house or an apartment on campus and
set up housekeeping. While Naoma and I went to our classes the older
children would take care of the younger ones. At times on Sat. we would
go to Salt Lake to Temple Square. We would go through the visitors
center and tour the Temple grounds. Other times we would visit relatives
in different places in Utah.
On the 24th of July we would all attend the 24th of July
parade together. Sometimes it was hard to find a place on the crowded
Salt Lake streets from which to watch the parade. In the evening we
would watch the fireworks from up on the hill of the B.Y.U. campus.
These experiences broadened our view of the world and we all learned
many things.
We worked on the ranch together and all of the family
learned to ride horses well and do the ranch work. As soon as the
children grew big enough we stopped hiring men for the roundups and used
the boys and the girls to help us do the work. Many of our older
grandchildren would help whenever they were here. We also had many fun
times at the ranch. We would take what ever we wanted to cook and go
down by the lake and set up camp. We would ride horses around the ranch
to enjoy riding and checking the cattle. Back at our camp we would take
off the saddles and get in our swim suits. We would mount the horses
bareback and swim them out into the lake. It was fun to feel the horses
swimming under us in the deep water. When we would turn back, we would
race back to camp. After a number of times swimming out and racing back
we would turn the horses loose and cook our supper.
Every summer during the rainy season we loved to go to
the mountains taking all the family and the invited guests. We would
travel in the vans to the Cebadilla or wherever we had our horses and
mules. We usually had a cowboy waiting for us with the animals all shod
and ready to ride and to pack into our chosen camp of that trip.
With everybody's help we would get all of our camp packed
on the pack mules and everybody saddled up and ready to ride. We all
enjoyed riding the rugged trails into some remote canyon of the Sierra
Madre mountains. We would set up our comfortable camp with tents for
everyone and a good bed. We would put up kitchen flies and get a nice
fire going. We had all of our camp equipment that we had collected and
invented during the years. We would enjoy the days fishing and hunting
and traveling to different swimming holes as an excuse to travel around
the country. When you are riding a horse or a mule you sit and enjoy the
scenery and the beautiful mountains even on the steepest climbs. The
horse or the mule does all the work and makes it a joy to ride around
the country. We enjoyed seeing the numerous terraces and remote mounds
and dwellings. We found them where ever we went and enjoyed imagining
the ancient peoples living in their beautiful homes and gardens.
We enjoyed fishing in the clear mountain streams. All of
the family knew how to fish and catch the wiley rainbow trout. We
usually caught all that we could eat and enjoyed the delicious fresh
trout fried in butter on our big grills over an open fire. All of our
children are very good campers.
In 1970 we all worked together to build our own swimming
pool. It was a metal tank set in cement. It was about 20 ft. in diameter
and about 5 feet deep in the deepest part. We coated the bottom with a
smooth coat of tar so the cement would not wear off the bottom of our
feet. In the summer this pool was enjoyed by the family and all their
neighborhood friends. Many people tell us that they learned to swim in
our little old pool. It is still in use every summer and especially when
our families come home.
We always had milk cows here at home to supply the family
with milk. As the boys grew up they learned to milk and took their turn
milking the cows night and morning seven days a week. They each in turn
took the responsibility without complaining because they were helping
the family.
We had a separator and separated enough milk to supply us
with cream for whipping cream, icecream, and for all the butter we
needed for our family. We even made cheese and cottage cheese and many
times Naoma would make asaderos.
We had many other projects for the family, such as
building chicken coops, pigeon pens, and duck ponds for ducks and geese.
We raised pigs for the lard, bacon, ham and sausage. We had plenty of
water from our drilled well to water the garden, the flowers and to fill
the pool as well as for drinking water and household use. We drained and
washed the pool once a week and put a new coat of tar on at least every
summer.
All of the family were always willing to help in all of
our meaningful work for the family. We never had any trouble getting
help from our children in anything that we wanted to do. As we look back
at this wonderful time in our lives we realize that we were training our
children in the ways of our family.
We were always inviting all kinds of people into our
home. All of the children knew that they could invite their friends or
who ever they wanted to into our home and they would be welcome. We
always looked for opportunities to help and serve other people. Now our
children are the same way. We are passing along the training we received
as children in our families. We hope it will continue in our
posterity.
In our family we always accepted any call that we
received in the church and worked diligently to magnify all of our
callings. Our children learned that our church callings came first and
we gave the time necessary to carry them out. Serving in the church is
our way of life. We tried to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. We learned
to love by serving each other. We extended our service and love to all
with whom we came in contact with.
We started out just the two of us and now our family has
grown into a multitude. We have nine children, 32 grandchildren, and 28
great grandchildren. With the spouses that we have added in we now
number 90. Before this year is out there will be even more.
Although we are here alone again we do not feel alone.
Our hearts are full with each one of you and we try to keep track of
where you are and what you are doing.