Birth Story: Deanna Kay Grant

This memory was recorded by Dale Grant in March 2015.

I was working out in the corrals with some cattle, I think that we, Dad or your Grandpa and David and I, when my mom (your Grandma) came and got me and said that your mother thought it was time to go to the hospital. I went to the house and your mother and I headed to the hospital. It was around 4:00PM. When we got to the hospital the nurses checked things out and admitted your mother. A about 5:00PM the nurse came and told me to go home for a while and have supper because nothing would be happening for a while, they thought it would be at least midnight before the baby would be born. I was assured that everything was okay and so home I went. I went and had some supper with mom and dad and was watching a hockey game on television. At about 6:45 I headed back to the hospital (the old Taber Hospital that has since been torn down and the Provincial Building is now in it’s place at the corner of 5oth Street and 50th Ave.) I arrived at the hospital at 7:00PM and Deanna was born at 7:03PM. The doctor was just about too late, he had been downstairs talking with a nurse and they paged him and he did not respond until the second page because he thought that there was no need. It was a nice day for December 3 and I became the father to the first daughter that I would have with your mother and the first grandchild to both of your grandparents.

And so began a life of great pleasure and joy with your oldest sister. She has been a real blessing all of her life and I am so very thankful for her. She was an easy daughter to raise and always strove to be the best that she could be and hardly ever misbehaved!!!

John R. Young and the Miracle of the Seagulls

 In 1847, when the first pioneers arrived in the valley of Great Salt Lake, they planted crops so they would have food. As the grain began to ripen, thousands of crickets came to the fields and started eating the crops. The people tried to fight them off with brooms, shovels, water, and even fire, but there were too many crickets. The pioneers fasted and prayed and then continued to try to get rid of the crickets. Their prayers were answered when seagulls appeared in the sky. 

John R. Young described what happened. "There must have been thousands of (seagulls). Their coming was like a great cloud; and when they passed between us and the sun, a shadow covered the field... At first we thought that they, also, were after the wheat and this thought added to our terror; but we soon discovered that they devoured only the crickets." (Memoirs of John R. Young, as quoted in William E. Berrett, The Restored Church [1961], 285; see also 283-84)." (Gospel Art Picture Kit)

The seagulls would eat the crickets until they were full, fly to the nearest stream, take a few sips of water, spit out what they had eaten, and then they went back to eat more. After about 3 weeks the crickets were all gone and the crops were safe.

This story is special to our family because John R. Young is one of our ancestors. His father is Lorenzo Dow Young, who is the brother to the Prophet Brigham Young. John R. Young is the father of John Royal Young, who is the father of Dee Christopher Young, who is the father of Lillian Ruth Young, who is the mother of Peggy Dee Larsen.

Welcome to the Blog!

This blog has been created to share the family history stories of Deanna, Rachel, Katie, and Kristi. We hope that you will visit often and learn more about your cousins and ancestors. We believe that knowing our family stories will increase our love and bring us closer together, no matter where we live.

Rachel, Deanna, Katie, and Kristi in Salt Lake City, July 2010.