Monday, October 19, 2026

Traces of Time . . . Week of October 19-25, 2026

 Traces of 

Time . . .

Last week: Scroll to end click

 "Older Posts" at bottom right.

It is in very tiny font: Older Posts} 

October

01 – Anna Sue Brewer (2014) “12”

04 – David Parsons –(1997) “27”

12 – David “Dave” Byrum Petersen (1969) “57”

16–Jacob Thad Petersen (2002) “24”

20 – {Jane Maria Prescott Petersen Hashman 1910-Feb 5, 2001 “90”}

26 – William “Will” Joseph Petersen (2008) “18”

Week of 
OCTOBER 19-25, 2026
Stay on the Covenant Path
to reach the
Tree of Life
"Time moves slowly, but passes quickly...        

On this blog I share with family and friends my thoughts, doings, what interests me, and--at times--tributes to my eternal sweetheart, Walt, who graduated to heaven on 8-21-2020.

Dedicated to our Posterity of 78: Seven children--Janie, Gary, Steve, David, Julie, Brian, Jen, their spouses, our 39 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and posterity to come.                  MONDAY, 

OCTOBER 19, 2026

Family is 
Everything... 

Sunrise: 7:43  a.m. 

Sunset:  6:42 p.m.

The weather forecast for the Utah Wasatch Front from October 19–25, 2026, features warm, above-average temperatures through midweek followed by a strong low-pressure storm system bringing heavy rain and much cooler conditions starting Thursday. 
DateDayHigh TempLow TempExpected Weather Conditions
Oct 19Monday69°F50°FMostly sunny, pleasant, and above average
Oct 20Tuesday72°F53°FWarm and sunny
Oct 21Wednesday73°F53°FSunny and peak warmth for the week
Oct 22Thursday71°F51°FRain starting in the afternoon, turning to heavy showers at night
Oct 23Friday55°F44°FMuch colder with steady light rain and gusty winds
Oct 24Saturday57°F42°FClearing out, partly sunny but remaining chilly
Oct 25Sunday62°F41°FSunny and beginning to clear up for outdoor fall activities
...

"There are people like that who believe that marriage ought to be eternal, but there is no other church in all this world, outside of our church, as far as I know, that believes in the eternal duration of the marriage covenant.

Just think what a difference it makes in our lives when we know that we are to live on and on forever and forever! I would just as soon believe that death is a complete annihilation of both body and spirit as to think that when death came it would separate me from my wife and from my children and that we would not know each other. I tell you, there wouldn’t be very much to look forward to. How could you want to live on and on forever without a continuation of the love ties that bind you together here?" - LeGrand Richards

💖💖💖💞💞💞💕💕💕💘💘💘💘

TUESDAY, 

OCTOBER 20, 2026

Family is Everything...
Honoring
Walt's Mother...
Grama Jane
Here's my text:

“October 20 -- Happy Birthday remembrance to Walt's Mom...our kids' Grama Jane. She graduated to heaven 26 years ago at age 90. Jane Maria(h) Prescott Petersen Hashman 1910-2000. Grampa Ray was there to greet her, having waited for 30 years. They had been married 39 years. She had married Laurence Hashman in 1973 after being a widow 3 years. They had been married 24 years when he graduated from this life in 1997. She was a talented and spiritual woman whom I loved and admired as my mother-in-law.”

1910-2001 - 90 years 

She liked the 
color purple.
Jane was born to
Byrum & Maria(h)
Smith Prescott
October 20, 1910
in Smithfield, Utah
Jane Maria(h) Prescott
Caption said...

"Jane in a prom dress"
Jane grew up in
Cleveland, Idaho and
moved to 
Wendell, Idaho
at age 14.
Jane & Ray Petersen
were married on
June 18, 1931
in the
Logan Temple
 They have four
children...
Bonnie, Phyllis,
Walt, and Dale

 
 About 1942...
 The age for missionaies
 
until the mid-1960s
was 20...
 Ray & Jane, 
Grama Rie, and Dale
went with Walt to
Salt Lake City with
Walt where he was
set apart by
Elder Sterling W. Sill
on August 20, 1954
as a missionary 
for the
Uruguay-Paraguay Mission
to serve August 1954 
to March 1957...
2 1/2 years.

Aug  16 Mon - Left home to enter mission home, receive temple endowment, be set apart.         Aug 17 Tue - Received temple endowment in the Salt Lake Temple.                                               Aug 18 Wed - Entered the mission home--A  Hotel in Salt Lake City.                                           Aug 20 Fri - Set apart by Elder Sterling W. Sill of the Council of Seventy, Salt Lake City.        Aug 21 Sat - Left Salt Lake City via train with 14 other missionarirs for New York City to receive visas  and then to board the ship U.S.S. Argentina to sail to Uruguay.                  Sep 14 Tue ARRIVED IN MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY

Grama Rie's page from her
Book of Remembrance...

Ray & Jane 1940s
Jane 1950s

June 14, 1961 
Salt Lake Temple
June 17, 1961...

...Wedding Reception
Gooding, Idaho
1983 Petersen
Family Reunion
Burley Idaho
Riverfront Park

Wendell Idaho Cemetery
Wendell Idaho Cemetery
Wendell Idaho Cemetery
Wendell Idaho Cemetery
"Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us everyday...unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear."  --Author Unknown. 
*** *** ***
*** *** *** ***
*** *** *** *** ***

*** *** ***
         Institute - 2 Nephi 



*** *** ***

   Our Tuesday night movie was
cancelled because I had Covid.
*** ** ***

WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 21, 2026
Family is 


Everything...


Lunch Bunch was 

at a new restaurant in Pleasant

 Grove...Chicken Salad Chick.


    came...

I didn't  go...Covid Day 12.


Thanks to Lydia for taking 

these fun photos.


SuzAnne, Jeanie...



Annette, Tammy...


 Marcy, Carol...
 

Sue...


Sue, Jeanie... 


Tammy, Kaye...


Kathie, SuzAnne... 


Diane, Lydia...


One of Mary Ann...


A Lunch Bunch from the past...

 WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2024  

Lunch Bunch was at Chili's

14 could come...

 The day before there 

was a sacred event 

in MaryAnn's life:

            TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2024 

  My friend,

MaryAnn Mardesich, was sealed to

her husband, Joe, today.

They are Eternal Sweethearts now.

It is also her 82nd birthday.

 

\💖💖💖💞💞💞💕💕💕💘💘💘💘

May 2026

July 3, 2024


2026 SEPTEMBER


Back to today

Cloudy...

\

Then a little rain...


Rembering our friend...

Sandi Warren - 

Sandi passed away Oct 23, 2023 age 75.

Sandi was a friend of Sharon & Howard at Highland High School in Pocatello, Idaho. 

She is covered with the beautiful quilt

Kaye made for her.

  

Sharon in her Harley mototcycle

 days...


 Howard turns 80 on Nov. 4 and their

60th Wedding Anniversary is Nov 16.






 ...

Quote from Elder Mzxwell:

Resurrection...

"The gift of immortality to all mankind

 through the reality of the Resurrection is

 so powerful a promise that our rejoicing

 in these great and generous gifts should

 drown out any sorrow, assuage any

 grief, conquer any mood, dissolve any

 despair, and tame any tragedy. Those

 who now see life as pointless will one

 day point with adoration to the

 performance of the Man of Galilee in

 those crowded moments of time known

 as Gethsemane and Calvary. Those who

 presently say life is meaningless will yet

 applaud the Atonement which saves us

 from meaninglessness. Christ's victory

 over death ended the human

 predicament. Now there are only

 personal predicaments, and from these

 too we may be rescued by following the

 teachings of him who rescued us from

 general extinction." (The Neal A.

 Maxwell Quote Book [Salt Lake City:

 Bookcraft, 1997], 287.) 

...

THURSDAY, 

OCTOBER 22, 2026 

                       Family is 


Everything…

                
        Cloudy...


Rainy...



*** *** ***


*** *** ***

 FRIDAY, 

OCTOBER 23, 2026 

       Family is 

Everything…

 







    

SATURDAY,  

OCTOBER 24, 2026 

                  Family is 


Everything…and 

so are friends...


  Rendezvousing with 


BYU vs 

Cougars / UCF



SUNDAY,

OCTOBER 25, 2026 

                     
Family is 

Everything


 Saratoga Springs 3rd Ward

Presiding:

Bishop Justin Thompson

Conducting:




Organist



Chorister

Cynthia Vaillancourt



Opening Hymn



Invocation:



Sacrament Hymn

#



Administration of the

Sacrament



Speakers:



Closing Hymn

#


Benediction:



New Schedule...5th week...

10:05 - 10:30

Gospel Doctrine

25 minutes...




 10:35 - 11:00

Relief Society / Priesthood

25 minutes... 


Cousins' Pumpkin Carving...






*** *** ***
If you have not seen 

our mini-life-sketch,

it is at the end of 

my testimony below...

Redemption is equal because Christ is infinite...

-- Alma 34:14.

Glory is different because agency is real...

-- Doctrine and Covenants 93:31.


--The Bronze Serpent

 

*** *** ***

*** *** ***

** *I am so thankful for The Plan of Salvation and the Atonement of  Jesus Christ that makes this

 Great Plan operational.

At the end of this 
October 25th, 2026

I pray you have had a                           restful, peaceful, and spiritual     Sabbath Day...

I share these truths as                                my testimony to you...


Heavenly Father lives and knows us each by name. He loves us and wants us to return to Him and Heavenly Mother when we leave this mortal existence.  He loves us just as we are at this very moment.

*** *** ***
*** *** ***
Heavenly Mother...

♪♫♪♪♫ "...Truth is reason;

truth eternal tells me I've a

Mother there..." ♪♫♪♪♫

--Eliza R. Snow
"O, My Father"












President Dallin H.Oaks said...

"For as we have a Father in heaven, so also we have a Mother there, a glorified, exalted, ennobled Mother. That is a startling doctrine, I recognize, to some folk, and yet we ought to be governed by reason in giving consideration to this doctrine which is a revelation from God" (Sermons and Mission Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard, 205).

"For reasons the Lord has not revealed, we do not know much about a Heavenly Mother. But we have been told that the purpose of life on earth is to give us the opportunity to grow toward being like our Heavenly Father. And we know that we are children of Heavenly Parents. So we know that we have a Heavenly Mother or Mothers. But for reasons the Lord has not revealed, we do not know much about our Heavenly Mother. But we know we must have one because both men and women are working for exaltation . . ." - President Oaks

*** *** ***


Jesus Christ came to earth as The Only Begotten of the Father and fulfilled the Atonement. He is the Redeemer of all. 

“An omnicompetent God leaves all mortals free to choose, but how grateful we should be that God chose long, long ago to rescue and to resurrect all His children through the Atonement of His Son. Nevertheless, some reject and many are indifferent to these and other divine beckonings, mostly because they are too caught up in the cares of the world. They are strangers to the Savior, who is far from the thoughts and intents of their hearts.”

Neal A Maxwell

How Choice a Seer!


                                                                     Revelation 19:16: -- "And he hath on his vesture and on
 his thigh a name written, 
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS".


*** *** ***
*** *** ***
I am thankful for the guidance of the Holy Ghost as the third member of the Godhead. 
Walt said to me once: "I look forward to thanking the Holy Ghost in person when I get to Heaven. I don't think we give Him enough credit for all He does."

***  *** *** *** ***
Joseph Smith was foreordained to be the Prophet of the Restoration.  He is the Restorer of all things.
*** *** ***
President Dallin H. Oaks is the Living Prophet today for all the world. 

*** *** *** 

*** *** ***

The Bible is "the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly" and is a Testament of the Divinity of Jesus Christ.
*** *** ***
The Book of Mormon is the Word of God and is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is the most correct book of any book on earth.
*** *** ***
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the True Church on the earth today.  Because of the restored Priesthood Temple Ordinances families can be sealed for eternity.
Priesthood
Aaronic and
Melchizedek
*** *** *** *** ***
 
*** *** ***
Of these truths I testify in the 
Name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Eileen Petersen
October 25, 2026  

"Time moves slowly, but passes quickly...              Class of 1957...Wendell, Idaho


 Our mini-life sketch:

 TRACES OF my
TIME on this earth. . .                  Stay on the Covenant Path to reach the Tree of Life

 
A wise person once said, 
"Every society will be judged by
how it treats the least fortunate."
                 

TIME...we belongto eternity...Neal A. Maxwell
On this blog I share with family and friends my thoughts, doings, what interests me, and--at times--tributes to my eternal sweetheart, Walt, who graduated to heaven on 8-21-2020.

*All that I am or ever hope to be,
I not only owe to my 

angel mother and father...
...but to my wonderful husband,
Walter Ray Petersen.
For the 59 years we lived 
together on this earth,
I pinched myself that
I was the lucky gal 
whom he chose to be
 his
eterna sweetheart.
I still can hardly
believe it.

Walt called himself... 

"The last of the old-time country doctors."

He delivered about 4,000 babies, among fixing broken hips, other surgeries, and even made house calls.As Janie said in his obituary:"He healed many hearts, heads, hands, and everything in-between."He not only healed medically, but he healed spiritually as a bishop, stake president, mission president, temple president, patriarch, doctor, friend, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather--an all around exceptional person. Our friend, Jeff Rasmussen, said: "There will never be another like Walt Petersen in our town."

 In the 1950s you had to be 20 to serve a mission. This is Walt in August 1954, on the day he was set apart in Salt Lake City 
to be a missionary.

One of Walt's happiest of happy places--
 second only to being 
with me and our children--
was as a pilot flying...

Our first plane was a piper Cherokee...
Then in a six-seater Cessna high-wing, turbo-charged airplane. 4824 Foxtrot was the call number.  {He owned the plane with two partners).

We were blessed to serve 4 missions together--FIRST MISSIONJuly 1995-July 1998  3 YEARS 

               Mission President and wife of the                Mexico Merida Mission - YucatanCancun was in our Mission.We drove 3,000 miles each month to Zone conferences and to interview the missionaries.*** *** ***SECOND MISSION     Mar 2005-Feb 20072 YEARSArea Medical Advisor - Central America Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua,  Costa Rica, Panama.We lived in Guatemala City.we went to a differant country each month.12 missions -                     2,000 missionaries.*** *** ***THIRD MISSIONSep 2008-Mar 20101 1/2 YEARSArea Medical Advisor - South America So.Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay14 missions - -2300 missionaries*** *** ***

FOURTH MISSIONJuly 2011 -Nov 20143 YEARS 3 MONTHS
Temple President and Temple MatronSan Salvador El Salvador TempleDedicated Aug 21, 2011*** *** ***This totaled 9 1/2 years out of theUnited States.Grampa Petersen told our grandchildren that the Prophet said: "If you love your grandchildrfen, serve a mission,"To which g-dau Ashley asked:"How many?"
*** *** ***

Walt was also a carpenter at heart--like his carpenter father, Ray Petersen.

Family... From 1963 to 1974 we hadseven and called that heaven...

June 1986 - Our 25th Wedding Anniversary













2018 - CHILDREN AND SPOUSES










  July 2018 - Last family photo by our

Burley Idaho home of those who 

could come to our Family Reunion...


When you lose the man you loved most in this life, things are never the same.

The grief doesn’t just disappear — it 

simply becomes part of who you are. 

I will be forever grateful for my husband, one of the greatest gifts I've ever rsceived.

2020 - Walt's headstone atthe Wendell, Idaho Cemeterydesigned by Aimee,our oldest grandchild.




Sealed by the authority

of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood

  for time and eternity...

which means forever together.

*** *** ***

This blog is...  Dedicated to our seven children--Janie, Gary, Steve, David, Julie, Brian, Jen...




 







...their spouses--Julie, John, Jennifer, Jerry--our 39 grandchildren--12 spouses of G-C, and with a new gg-son 7-22-'26 = 12 great-grandchildren--for a posterity of 78...

I'm  adding a little more 
this week from Walt's
 birthdaypost in 2025...

  THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2025

Family is Everything…

    APRIL 17, 2025

               Walt's Birthday Remembrance
He would have been 91 today.

APRIL 17 IS WALT'S

BIRTHDAY

"Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking."
— Malcolm Gladwell, author
Walt made a lot of decisions

in his life. Many affecting 

other people's lives for good.

He not only went by the Gladwell

quote but by prayer and inspiration.


Whenever he was confronted with

a situation, he never acted until

he knew both sides.


Here's  my face book post:

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Walt Petersen

--my Eternal Sweetheart--

today April 17, 2021 - 91st B-day

 Remembrance. It's his fifth one in heaven.

Walt died from Lewy Body Dementia

on August 21, 2020.

He was born in Wendell, Idaho,

April 17, 1934.

We had moved to Burley, Idaho, in 1966 after

medical school at Washington University

in St. Louis, internship in Minneapolis,

and military service at an Indian Hospital

in Talihina, Oklahoma which included

some time on the Coast Guard

Cutter Chatauqua in the

Pacific Ocean.

(The U.S. Public Health Service

furnishes the medical needs

of the Coast Guard--

anyway it did in the 1960s).

We lived in Burley, Idaho

for 52 years -

1966-2018 before moving to

Saratoga Springs, Utah,

when our kids determined

our health wasn't good

enough for us to live alone.

We are thankful for their

watchful care of us.

***

Julie's post from 2022:



Dad, you were larger than life

but you were also just my dad.

I know I’m one of the lucky ones

to have had such a great influence

right in my home.

I’m so grateful

my children were able to live

with you two different times

in their lives.

I love and miss you very much.

Wishing you a

Happy Heavenly Birthday! 💙

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Remembering Walt on his

91st Birthday...

This painting by Norman Rockwell

could have been Walt going off

to college...

his Dad was a hard-working carpenter

of very modest means.

Walt took a train to the state university -

University of Idaho --

265 miles from Wendell, Idaho

to Moscow, Idaho.

(Pronounced Mos-coe, in

Russia theirs is Mos-cow.)

 And when I got engaged

to Walt, his Mom said to me: 

"Eileen, you know Walt has

always had a dog."

Norman Rockwell painting

for the

Saturday Evening Post.

Details show the father, a hard-working man 

of modest means, was going to flag 

the train to pick up his son. 

The wistful dog is a priceless inclusion.


Before he grew up and

went off to college...

here are some growing

up years . . .

Walt - 1938 - Age 4

with his dog Peggy.


Summer 1940

Walt - age 6

Ray 32, Jane 29, Bonnie 10,

Phyllis 8, Dale almost 1.


Walt - Age 6
 

Walt - First Grade

Walt - Freshman - 1948-1949

Wendell High School


Walt 14, Freshman - Dale 9, 4th grade

Big Winter '48-'49

Living in basement

Wendell, Idaho

Walt - Winter 1950 

Sophomore - age 15, Dale 10.

Dad had just finished their home

above the basement where

they had lived for 3 years.


Walt - Sophomore 1949-50

Played on Varsity team


Walt wouldn't smile

in photos because of

the gap between his 

front teeth.


Walt Senior year - Class of 1952

Wendell High School


Walt - 1952-53 was on the U of Idaho 

freshman basketball team.

He was also in the ROTC.


Walt - 1953-54
 
The coach at Boise Jr College

recruited him to play basketball

his second year in Boise.

Walt - Sophomore at 
Boise Jr. College
1953-1954
{It became Boise State University}

Walt - Age 19
with his sister Phyllis
and brother Dale
Walt - Aug 1954 to Mar 1957
A young man had to be 20 to
serve a mission and a 
foreign mission was an extra
6 months to learn the language
in the country because there 
was no MTC.
August 17, 1954 received 
his endowment in the Salt Lake Temple.
(With Grama Mary Petersen
and
Grama Maria Prescott -
prounced "Mariah")
Walt - Aug 18-21, 1954,
Wednesday to Saturday
he had 4 days of instruction 
on being a missionary. 
On August 19, the group
of 127 missionaries did
a session in the 
Salt Lake Temple.

These four days also
included being set apart by
a General Authority. Walt was
set apart by Elder Sterling W. Sill
on August 20, 1954 at the Church
Administration Building.

He boarded the train at 5:30 p.m.
on August 21 with 12 other
missionaries--4 going to Brazil,
 5 to Argentina, and
4 (including Walt)
going to Uruguay/Paraguay. 

They were 48 hours in
New York City getting
their visas, and boarded
 Ship S.S. Argentina on the
afternoon of Thursday,
August 26.

It took 20 days to
arrive at
Montevideo, Uruguay on
Tuesday, September 14, 1954.

Walt's first assignment that
evening was to go to the
the Mission Basketball
Team practice.
"Deseret" was the name
of the team.
 One of the highlights of
his 30-month mission--
during the 9 months he was
an Assistant to the President--
was to travel for 2 weeks with
the Apostle Henry D. Moyle
and be his translator.
This included a meeting with
the dictator of Paraguay,
President Stroessner.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Walt returned home from his
mission in March 1957 and
turned 23 in April.

He enrolled that spring 
quarter at BYU,
but since he could finish his
engineering major a year
sooner at University of Idaho,
he went back there for the
Fall Semester of 1957.
At the end of three weeks
back at the U of I, he was
thinking about medicine vs
engineering. He went to talk
to the pre-med advisor and
within an hour he had switched
out of his engineering  courses
to pre-med classes. 

His Dad & Mom, sister Phyllis,
and brother Dale came to his
college graduation in May 1959.

(Actually, Dale had also been at
the U of I with his brother those two
years 1957-1959, and Dale stayed
with his engineering major, but after his mission to Argentina he finished at BYU.)
Walt's U of Idaho graduation photo.
Was it the right decision for
Walt to change to medicine?
...he said to me on his graduation 
day from medical school:

"I could have been happy as an engineer,
but not now that I've graduated 
in medicine."

Walt - June 1963 
Graduates from
Washington University
School of Medicine

"Dr. Petersen"
Did I miss something?
Oh...just that Walt found his
eternal sweetheart in Idaho
in the summer of 1960 and...
...they got married on
June 14, 1961 in the
Salt Lake Temple
Our reception was in Gooding, Idaho
June 17, 1961
...one of my favorite  photos
from the reception.
...Walt was all smiles at
the end of the reception.
Walt did his one-year 
family physician internship
at the Minneapolis General Hospital
June 1963-June 1964
Walt became a father on the
very day he began his internship--
two weeks after he graduated
from medical school...
He was age 29.

Grama A and my sister, Janice, came
on the train from Gooding, Idaho
to help us.

My mother had become a
grandmother at age 43.
My Dad was age 50.

For Walt's parents,
Janie was their 12th grandchild.
Ray was age 41 and Jane 38
when they had become 
grandparents in 1948.
Mary Jane "Janie" Petersen
Walt - U.S. Public Health Service
June 1964 - June 1966
We had 7 children in 11 years...

When we had seven we
said that was heaven
and called it good.

Janie, Gary, Steve, David,
Julie, Brian, Jen.
Walt - Family Physician
and Surgeon in 
Burley Idaho - July 1, 1966
to January 14, 2005
Walt took flying lessons at the
Burley Airport in 1967, 
and got a small Cherokee 
Piper airplane. 
Then we had a 2-engine
Aztec with two other 
partners for a while. Walt flew 
us in that to a medical meeting 
in Guadalajara,
Mexico in
October 1972.
Then he ended up with his
dream airplane--a Cessna 206
turbo-charged (means it was 
 like always taking off at sea level). 
It had the high wings that could
land on "pasture airstrips" without
loose rocks damaging the wings.
He was partners with
Newel and Leo.
Later Mike became
a partner, also.
Walt's happy place...
to fly with his wife and kids,
grandkids and friends...
...with Gary
...with Cortney and Kelsey
...with Kimble
♪♫♪♪♫ "Off 'he' goes into
the wild blue yonder..."♪♫♪♪♫
Info from Wkikpedia

"High Flight is a 1941 sonnet written by war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr. and inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Magee began writing the poem on 18 August, while stationed at No. 53 OTU outside London, and mailed a completed manuscript to his family on 3 September, three months before he died in a training accident. Originally published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was widely distributed when Magee became one of the first post-Pearl Harbor American casualties of the war on 11 December, after which it was exhibited at the American Library of Congress in 1942. Owing to its gleeful and ethereal portrayal of aviation, along with its allegorical interpretation of death and transcendence, the poem has been featured prominently in aviation memorials across the world, including that of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986."

High Flight

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

 

Walt & Eileen - 1970s
...with three years when
serving June 1995 to
July 1998 as a
Mission President for the
Mexico Merida Mission.
Presidente Petersen
loved his missionaries. 
They worked very hard,
bicycled a lot of places, 
then it changed to all walking.

"Dr. Petersen" did surgery on a lot
of ingrown toe nails
during these three years.
Hermana Petersen loved 
the missionaries, too.
How blessed we were to
serve with such outstanding
young Elderes y Hermanas!
When we finished our 3 years
in July 1998, the mission office
(behind us) and a chapel to the 
other side of us were torn down
and the
Merida Mexico Temple 
was built there.
Dedicated missionaries...
Going back 25 years
before he was  a
mission president...

Walt - 1970-1976
Bishop
Burley 7th Ward 
We started skiing in
JANUARY 1976.
The photo below was 
about 1977--Walt age 42.

Guess which number 
Walt is at this
ski lesson at Sun Valley...

"7" our family #.

Walt also served on the high council,
as a counselor in a stake presidency, 
as a stake president of the new
Burley Idaho West Stake when
it was divided from the
Burley Idaho Stake in
May 1983. 

He served 9 1/2 years
 until November 1992.

He was called as a patriarch
in February 1993 to give 
blessings in Spanish 
throughout all 14 stakes
in the Magic Valley.

 1994 he was called by
President Hunter
to be a
mission president,
serving 3 years--

June 1995-July 1998--
which photos have been
posted above.

Branch President/Bishop --
Young Single Adult Branch/Ward
covering 7 stakes --
Burley/Burley West/Declo/
Oakley/Paul/Rupert/Rupert West
Jan 2000-Sept 2004

Walt worked 7 more years 
after we returned in 1998, 
then retired on January 14, 2005,
at age 70.

Here is Walt three weeks before
he retired having just delivered
his last baby of about 3500-4000.
 I enlarged photo to see Walt better.
Recording in the chart...
Here's a photo of our
home on Burton Avenue,
Burley, Idaho,
that January of 2005.
Walt then served three more
missions with his wife:
2. Area Medical Advisor 
for 2000 missionaries in
the 12 missions in Central America
for 23 months.
March 2005 to February 2007.

In between these missions,
we served as temple workers in 
the Boise Idaho Temple, 
driving 320-miles round trip
each Saturday from 
March 2007-March 2008.

During this same year
Walt served on the 
Twin Falls Temple Dedication
 Committee  with other
former stake presidents 
from throughout the
Magic Valley--one of them
his best friend from Wendell
High School days--
Rulon Chandler.
Elder Brent H. Nielson,
Area Seventy, was over
this Committee.

Sunday, August 24, 2008 was
the  dedication
of the Twin Falls Temple.
The mural on the back wall
is of Shoshone Falls.

Us at the Twin Falls Temple --  After our mission to Argentina-Uruguay-Paraguay, we were temple workers on the Wednesday evening shift, which did a Spanish session.
Walt was called as a sealer in September 2010.
The Sunday after the Twin Falls 
Temple Dedication,
was our "farewell" on
August 31, 2008 for
our medical mission to the 
South America South Area.
 
3. Area Medical Advisor for
2300 missionaries in the 
15 missions for the
South America South Area of
Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay,
for 18 months --
September 2008 to March 2010.

#4 and final mission Walt served was
as Temple President of the new
San Salvador El Salvador Temple
July 2011 to November 2014.
Temple Presidency
and the 
Temple Matron and 
her Assistants.
Left: Pdte Rafael y
Hna. Aida Majano
Right: Pdte Eduardo y
Hna. Consuelo Alas.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** 
Our children grew up...
All seven graduated from BYU. 
Six served a mission...
and all have been sealed in the temple...

Walt became a grandfather at age 53
when our first grandchild
was born--Aimee. 

Twenty-six years later--
by age 80--in 2014 he was
the grandfather of 39 grandchildren.

Aimee, Daniel, Katie, Heidi, Sam, Ashley, Michael, 

McKell, Abbey, Jacob, Isaac, 

Kelsey, Cortney, Kimble, Carter, 

Joshua, Anna, Sam, William, 

Mikayla, Jacee, Jackson, 
Maddie, Rigdon, 

Emma, Taylor, Avery, Elliott, 
Slate, Olivia, Kayden, Jordan, 

Seth, Sarah, Ben, Josh, 
Liz, Adam, and Anna.

8 great-grandchildren in our family...
with one due in Sept 2025 

Walt became a great-grandfather in 
2016 when he was 81 years old.


When Walt died at age 86 in 
August 2020
he had two great-grandchildren.
Taitum and Diesel.

Since his death, 6 more great-grandchildren have been born--
Umi; a boy; Scottie Marie, Maeve,
Ohi'a, and Ingrid.

Counting our grandchildren's
spouses,
Michael, Kelly, Parker, Pono, Sara,
Josh T., Maddie, Spencer, and David,
this brings our posterity to 71.

We have joy in our posterity.

Family photo for our 
50th Wedding Anniversary
June 2011
 Last family photo at
our home in Burley 
for our Family Reunion

-- WEPR stands for--

" walt & Eileen Petersen
Family Reunion"

IN JULY 2018 
 before we moved 
from Idaho to Utah.
Janie & Shawn in charge.
"Aloha" theme


Our 7 children and their spouses in 2018...
Left to right:
Natalie & Steve, 
Brian & Jennifer, Gary,

Walt - Family Physician
and Surgeon in 
Burley Idaho - July 1, 1966
to January 14, 2005
Walt took flying lessons at the
Burley Airport in 1967, 
and got a small Cherokee 
Piper airplane. 
Then we had a 2-engine
Aztec with two other 
partners for a while. Walt flew 
us in that to a medical meeting 
in Guadalajara,
Mexico in
October 1972.
Then he ended up with his
dream airplane--a Cessna 206
turbo-charged (means it was 
 like always taking off at sea level). 
It had the high wings that could
land on "pasture airstrips" without
loose rocks damaging the wings.
He was partners with
Newel and Leo.
Later Mike became
a partner, also.
Walt's happy place...
to fly with his wife and kids,
grandkids and friends...
...with Gary
...with Cortney and Kelsey
...with Kimble
♪♫♪♪♫ "Off 'he' goes into
the wild blue yonder..."♪♫♪♪♫
Info from Wkikpedia

"High Flight is a 1941 sonnet written by war poet John Gillespie Magee Jr. and inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Magee began writing the poem on 18 August, while stationed at No. 53 OTU outside London, and mailed a completed manuscript to his family on 3 September, three months before he died in a training accident. Originally published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was widely distributed when Magee became one of the first post-Pearl Harbor American casualties of the war on 11 December,after which it was exhibited at the American Library of Congress in 1942. Owing to its gleeful and ethereal portrayal of aviation, along with its allegorical interpretation of death and transcendence, the poem has been featured prominently in aviation memorials across the world, including that of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986."

High Flight

"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

 

Walt & Eileen - 1970s
...with three years when
serving June 1995 to
July 1998 as a
Mission President for the
Mexico Merida Mission.
Presidente Petersen
loved his missionaries. 
They worked very hard,
bicycled a lot of places, 
then it changed to all walking.

"Dr. Petersen" did surgery on a lot
of ingrown toe nails
during these three years.
Hermana Petersen loved 
the missionaries, too.
How blessed we were to
serve with such outstanding
young Elderes y Hermanas!
When we finished our 3 years
in July 1998, the mission office
(behind us) and a chapel to the 
other side of us were torn down
and the
Merida Mexico Temple 
was built there.
Dedicated missionaries...
Going back 25 years
before he was  a
mission president...

Walt - 1970-1976
Bishop
Burley 7th Ward 
We started skiing in
JANUARY 1976.
The photo below was 
about 1977--Walt age 42.

Guess which number 
Walt is at this
ski lesson at Sun Valley...

"7" our family #.

Walt also served on the high council,
as a counselor in a stake presidency, 
as a stake president of the new
Burley Idaho West Stake when
it was divided from the
Burley Idaho Stake in
May 1973. 

He served 9 1/2 years
 until November 1992.

He was called as a patriarch
in February 1993 to give 
blessings in Spanish 
throughout all 14 stakes
in the Magic Valley.

 1994 he was called by
President Hunter
to be a
mission president,
serving 3 years--

June 1995-July 1998--
which photos have been
posted above.

Branch President/Bishop --
Young Single Adult Branch/Ward
covering 7 stakes --
Burley/Burley West/Declo/
Oakley/Paul/Rupert/Rupert West
Jan 2000-Sept 2004

Walt worked 7 more years 
after we returned in 1998, 
then retired on January 14, 2005,
at age 70.

Here is Walt three weeks before
he retired having just delivered
his last baby of about 3500-4000.
 I enlarged photo to see Walt better.
Recording in the chart...
Here's a photo of our
home on Burton Avenue,
Burley, Idaho,
that January of 2005.
Walt then served three more
missions with his wife:
2. Area Medical Advisor 
for 2000 missionaries in
the 12 missions in Central America
for 23 months.
March 2005 to February 2007.

In between these missions,
we served as temple workers in 
the Boise Idaho Temple, 
driving 320-miles round trip
each Saturday from 
March 2007-March 2008.

During this same year
Walt served on the 
Twin Falls Temple Dedication
 Committee  with other
former stake presidents 
from throughout the
Magic Valley--one of them
his best friend from Wendell
High School days--
Rulon Chandler.
Elder Brent H. Nielson,
Area Seventy, was over
this Committee.

Sunday, August 24, 2008 was
the  dedication
of the Twin Falls Temple.
The mural on the back wall
is of Shoshone Falls.

Us at the Twin Falls Temple --  After our mission to Argentina-Uruguay-Paraguay, we were temple workers on the Wednesday evening shift, which did a Spanish session.
Walt was called as a sealer in September 2010.
The Sunday after the Twin Falls 
Temple Dedication,
was our "farewell" on
August 31, 2008 for
our medical mission to the 
South America South Area.
 
3. Area Medical Advisor for
2300 missionaries in the 
15 missions for the
South America South Area of
Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay,
for 18 months --
September 2008 to March 2010.

#4 and final mission Walt served was
as Temple President of the new
San Salvador El Salvador Temple
July 2011 to November 2014.
Temple Presidency
and the 
Temple Matron and 
her Assistants.
Left: Pdte Rafael y
Hna. Aida Majano
Right: Pdte Eduardo y
Hna. Consuelo Alas.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** 
Our children grew up...
All seven graduated from BYU. 
Six served a mission...
and all have been sealed in the temple...

Walt became a grandfather at age 53
when our first grandchild
was born--Aimee. 

Twenty-six years later--
by age 80--in 2014 he was
the grandfather of 39 grandchildren.

Aimee, Daniel, Katie, Heidi, Sam, Ashley, Michael, 

McKell, Abbey, Jacob, Isaac, 

Kelsey, Cortney, Kimble, Carter, 

Joshua,Anna, Sam, William, 

Mikayla, Jacee, Jackson, 
Maddie, Rigdon, 

Emma, Taylor, Avery, Elliott, 
Slate, Olivia, Kayden, Jordan, 

Seth, Sarah, Ben, Josh, 
Liz, Adam, and Anna.

8 great-grandchildren in our family...
with one due in Sept 2025 

Walt became a great-grandfather in 
2016 when he was 81 years old.


When Walt died at age 86 in 
August 2020
he had two great-grandchildren.
Taitum and Diesel.

Since his death, 6 more great-grandchildren have been born--
Umi; a boy; Scottie Marie, Maeve,
Ohi'a, and Ingrid.

Counting our grandchildren's
spouses,
Michael, Kelly, Parker, Pono, Sara,
Josh T., Maddie, Spencer, and David,
this brings our posterity to 71.

We have joy in our posterity.

Family photo for our 
50th Wedding Anniversary
June 2011
 Last family photo at
our home in Burley 
for our Family Reunion

-- WEPR stands for--

" walt & Eileen Petersen
Family Reunion"

IN JULY 2018 
 before we moved 
from Idaho to Utah.
Janie & Shawn in charge.
"Aloha" theme...


Our 7 children and their spouses in 2018...
Left to right:
Natalie & Steve, 
Brian & Jennifer, Gary,


  


Rest of 2026...
NOVEMBER 1-8, 2026
NOVEMBER 9-15, 2026
NOVEMBER 16-22, 2026
NOVEMBER 23-29, 2026
THANKSGIVING IS NOV. 26
EDITED

NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2026
CHRISTMAS TREE - 2026 DEC - IDAHO
FIR CHOSEN AUG 15 FOR WASH DC

DECEMBER 7-13, 2026
DECEMBER 14-20, 2026
DECEMBER 21-27, 2026 
CHRISTMAS IS ON A FRIDAY
DECEMBER 28-JANUARY 3, 2027
NEW YEAR'S DAY IS A FRIDAY

Next Week... IN 2027
Next week during my turn on earth...
JANUARY 4-10, 2027


JANUARY 

FEBrUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

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