A couple more stories...

During their teen years mom and Rula would go to work in the fields in Wendell for 50 cents an hour. One day they needed to get to the fields and Rula proposed they take family car, a 35 Plymouth. This presented a temporary setback, as neither of them was tall enough to drive and reach the pedals. But with Rula handling the steering and mom on hands and knees behind her manning the gas and break pedals, they set out. All was proceeding nicely until the highway turned north and they met another car - literally. A woman jumped out of the passenger side and started screaming that they were in BIG trouble. A truck driver who had witnessed the incident stopped and told the other driver it was his fault. The mouthy woman didn’t say another word. Rula and mom limped back home in the overheated car and counted themselves lucky.

Education was always important and mom completed her senior year of high school at Albion Normal School. She and her friend, Meredith, were the only two graduates that year. Mom spent another two years at Albion and earned her teaching certificate. She and Rula lived in Comish hall and Grandpa and Grandma Hall provided $15 dollars a month for them. The rest of their living expenses were covered by “hashing” in the cafeteria. To hash meant that they were in charge of a specific set of tables. Using a large oval tray, mom on one end and Rula on the other, they would deliver meals and then clean up afterwards. In the dormitories they cleaned the bathrooms and in the classrooms they cleaned erasers and blackboards.

It was during those years at Albion that mom met her future blue eyed husband, Bob. Dad also worked in the cafeteria and noticed the cute redhead long before she realized he was even alive. Shortly after they began to see each other mom informed dad that she would only continue to date someone who could take her to the temple and dad began to investigate the church. Mom graduated in 1948 and got a job teaching third grade at Gooding. She was thrilled because for the first time she was able to buy everyone in her family presents for Christmas.

On 1949 mom and dad were married in Idaho Falls. They made their home in Richfield where they lived in a 12 X20 foot house. In February, Randall Robert was born in Wendell, ID. During that time her younger brother, Lewis, came to live with them. One day while dad was working at the sawmill and mom was out doing irrigation. Lewis was in the small house washing dishes. Randy, not quite one, was in the little jumper in the middle of the room. Lewis saw something moving and was startled to see a small rattlesnake headed behind the door. It slithered into a paper sack that was filled with more paper sacks. Lewis scooped Randy out of the jumper and headed outside. When mom returned and learned about the snake she marched into house, grabbed the bag and shook out the snake. She used her irrigation shovel and tried behead it. The shovel was too dull. After several failed attempts, she held the snake pinned with the shovel, reached into a drawer, grabbed a knife and lopped its head off. Talk about the proverbial mother bear instinct!

(So...I think there is a STRONG resemblance to Miss Amy Lee and her eldest son in that last image of mom...what say ye who know them?)

And a BIG thanks to Celiac who sent me a couple images to co along with these posts.