Happy Birthday To Great Grandmother, Nyal B. Williams ~

 

Great Grandma Nyal B. Williams~

Today is the birthday for your Great Grandmother Nyal B. Williams, Grandpa's Mother. I thought that it might be fun today to share a story about our Mother, Nyal. 
I first met my mother in law when Grandpa and I were dating in High School. The day I met her she was in bed recovering from back surgery. She had a body cast from her hips to her upper abdomen. She was so kind and sweet at this first meeting. I felt so sad for her at that time.
 Through the years she was such an example of perseverance.  She endured much pain during her later years. Her back was never good and she had other ailments but through it all she just kept going. You would never hear her complain at all. She served valiantly in her church callings. She loved serving the Salt Lake Temple. She was always supportive of your Great Grandpa Lamar Williams. He was always very busy with his work at the Church Offices and he was an inventor of various items. He was gone a lot doing Missionary work and giving tours on Temple Square. 
Great Grandmother Nyal also taught school. She didn't have a degree for teaching but she did substitute teaching and always had work when needed. She was a beloved teacher of many.
Together they served three missions, the first was in the Northern States Mission when they had their first 2 children with them, then Nigeria, Ghana and an Asian Inter City Mission. 

Aunt Marilyn, Great Grandma Nyal, Great Grandpa, LaMar and Uncle Laddy~

She always thought of everyone else before herself. In fact, when we had dinner there she would not sit down in a chair to eat until every one was served. The comfort of others always came first  During all the time that we were together she was so gracious, kind and loving in every way.She loved her grandchildren and I know that many of your parents have fond memories of her. 
Here is just a short part of her history in her own words ~
I was born on a Sunday, February 9, 1913 (that would make her 101 years old today) at Lyman, Madison county, Idaho. My mother was Ethel Louise Earl and my father was Cacey LaVon Bowen. I am child number 5 in the family.
I was born in our log home in Lyman and log houses in those days were not very well insulated. My older sister, Evalyn, told me that for weeks before my arrival our dear mother had taken clean burlap, stripped it, and with a knife blade and wedged it in between the chinks of the logs to shut our the cold and wind. Then with burlap and fresh straw she had quilted a carpet large enough to cover her entire bedroom floor and made fresh straw mattresses for the family. She was one true and valiant pioneer although she came from well to do home and never known hardships.
They tell me that I arrived the night of the worst blizzard recorded in southeast Idaho to date. My father and Uncle Lewis (his brother) with four head of horses on a bob sleigh went into Rexburg to get the mid-wife, Sister Peterson. All traces of the road were wiped out. Their only guidelines were the upper portion of the telephone poles, with telephone lines laying on the drifts in places. My father just gave the horses the reins and let them pick their way. Thank goodness he always had excellent and well trained horses.
When I was two years old we moved to Poplar, Idaho. Dad bought a 160 acre irrigated farm with a log house. During that year our father was called to the Southern States Mission under Charles A. Calles. My brother Jay was the youngest and there were six of us.
When Dad returned from his mission he purchased a beautiful two story brick house all modern and steam heated, the first of it's kind in the valley, with a pretty fenced- in lot and lawn and large orchard and barns and pastures. We were a mighty happy family. In summer we had to divide our time between the Granite Ranch and our new valley home for there was much work to do at both. My sister Bea and I herded the cows. Very early in the morning we took them up by the big feeder head gates of the Snake river, where the river is divided into the north and south fork channels, and acrossed a scary narrow bridge. The pasture land lay between the two channels. In early afternoon we brought the cows back to rest in the shade until milking time.

Great Grandmother feeding her horse~

One day a band of Indians  came to our area looking for work and set up camp down by the canal, a few blocks away. The next morning at dawn we looked out and saw two of them up in a transparent apple tree picking apples. We children were frightened. Mother said, "It's all right, just leave them alone". After awhile they came and knocked on the door.
The man said to mother, "We want biscuit, you make'em biscuit?"
She said, "Yes". so they left Mom made them a huge pan of biscuits and in early afternoon they came back
He said, "Me Henry Moochoo:, and pointing to his wife said, "Her prettiest Moochoo: and in exchange for the biscuits gave mother a pair of beaded leather gloves and a pair of beautiful beaded moccasins.