Building the House

    The winter of 1946-47 was extremely cold.  Our shack of a house was cold.  There wasn’t any place to get warm.  The house had originally been a one room log house.  Four lean to rooms were added after.  None of them had any insulation.  We could have the thermometer read ninety, in the front room by the wood burning stove and freeze water on the floor.  Jess was sick that winter with yellow jaundice Lee was a tiny baby and Steve running around on the cold floor.  Jess was determined to build a new house.  

      We drew plans as our winter entertainment and by spring knew just what we wanted.  Jess’s mother was a big help, insisting that every available corner had a cupboard built.  She knew the things she didn’t like in her own home and made sure we didn’t make the same mistakes.     Jack Stacy was an excellent building contractor.  We contracted with him to build our new house for $9,500.00.  We had that much money, if we sold all our beef cows.   We had enough money to build the house but had to borrow to buy the furnace.  That was the first time we had ever been in debt for anything, except the farm.   Jess always wished he hadn’t sold the cows.  We should have borrowed for the house and kept our cows.  We had good quality cows and never again had top quality cows.

Jess's dream at this time was to get $50,000.00 dollars in the bank.  He figured we could live good off the interest.  That shows you money had a greater value then.  Jess also said if we had a hundred head of cows we could sell the calves  each spring for enough to live on.  He wouldn't have to buy more ground.

Busy summer  

Needless to say it was a busy summer.  Lee was learning to walk and I was trying to paint and run errands for the farm and house.  One day Lee fell on a guy wire, at the edge of the garage and severely cut his wrist.  Jack Stacy drove my car and I held Lee’s wrist together to stop the bleeding as we rushed to the doctor in Rexburg.  It was a close call.  All at once the new house didn’t seem so important  

       We had another disaster that summer.  We were at my mother’s house and my mother had put some diesel fuel in a pop bottle to be used to start fires.   Steve went on the back porch and thinking the bottle had pop drank some..  He chocked and we knew he was in trouble.  I drove a hundred miles an hour to Dr. Hoffman and it was a wonder we weren’t both killed on the ride.  The doctor gave him some medicine and kept him there to watch him.  I never criticized any mother who has a child killed or hurt in an accident.  Every one of my six sons could have been killed in an accident growing up.  I am grateful that none of them were ever killed or crippled from my mistakes.