One of the Bingham Homes

When we were in the San Luis Valley for a family reunion, we went on a picture taking expedition. These are the pictures of the Bingham family farm after many decades. We'll invite Mom and her siblings to write what they remember about this home.

When I was 9 years old, we moved from Manassa to this home. It was 3 1/2 miles from Romeo and 3 1/2 miles from Antonito.

It was a nice home, but the bathroom had never been finished, and water had never been piped into the house. The floors were hardwood and on the South side of the living room and dining room were french windows. They were like doors and could be opened like doors. there were three bedrooms on the North side of the house with a hall and the room that was not finished as a bathroom, was between the west room and the middle room. The west bedroom was the boys room and the middle bedroom was Mama and Daddy's room. There was a closet between the middle room and the girl's room, which was on the East. That closet was the full length of the bedroom and could be walked through from the middle room to the girl's room. The Livingroom and the dining room were one room. There was a fireplace between the 2 french windows. The door between the kitchen and the dining room, was a swinging door. There was a sink on the south wall of the kitcyen with cupboards on each end. The house was heated with wood and coal. The West entrance was into the kitchen and the East entrance was into the living room. In this picture you can see the windows on the North. Each bedroom had a window and the unfinished bathroom was the little window. The East bedroom had a front window also.


This picture (below) is the South side of the house. The trees are cottonwood trees. At one time we had a garden there, but it wasn't the big garden. On the back of the house, in line with the trees was a cellar. It was as big as a commercial cellar. It burned down one year when Daddy was in LosAlamos, working. It was big enough to park the car in the cold weather. It had double doors. For some reason, it did not burn the car, even though the car was parked in the cellar at the time it burned.

There were two big honeycycle bushes on the this side of the house. For several years there was a couple of yellow canaries that built a nest in those bushes. From inside the house we could see the nest and watch as the eggs were laid and hatched. That was so interesting. We were all disappointed the year that they didn't return.
On the North side of the house, we had a big garden. It was almost an acre. There was a row of rhubarb along the South fence. There was fence around it and there were willow trees along the West fence. We had a wonderful garden. We raised all vegetables and strawberries and raspberries. One year there were so many carrots that they filled a wagon box that was about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. Our cellar was really used in the winter. Potatoes, cabbages, carrots, apples and anything that needed to be protected from the weather.

-- Gatha --

This is the front entrance to the house. There were bushes on each side of the porch and a beautiful lilac bush on the north corner. There was a hedge on the South side of that lawn that went from near the house to the fence in front of the house. The highway between Romeo and Antonito ran just in front of the house and a railroad track was East of the highway. There was a train that ran from Alamosa to Chama, New Mexico every morning and returned every evening.

80--CONTINUED-- 24 --Tender Mercies from the Lord

In my lifetime I have been the recipient of many blessings from the Lord. They began the day I was born to Ted and Cora Bingham. I was a very loved child and member of a good family. My parents were loving and kind. I have wonderful siblings, that I love. I only remember my Grandma and Grandpa Dunn, because my dad's parents died before I was born. Daddy had one sister and many cousins and aunts and uncles, but I didn't know them very well, But my mom came from a big family and I loved them very much and they loved me.

I was blessed to learn about God and Jesus Christ, from the time I was small. I was baptized at the age of eight. I grew up in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, all of my life. Those are great blessings to me. I love the Lord with all of my heart. The gift of charity is one of the greatest blessings of my life. Paul tells in his writings that if we don't have charity we are nothing. I pray for that gift.

One of the blessings of my life is being married to a man who worked hard and furnished us with a home. Many blessings came to me because of my marraige. I was blesses to be sealed to him and my children in the temple. That is one of the greatest blessings of my life. The greatest blessing of my life is my family.

Donnie was our first child and he has been a blessing and at times a trial as all children are. He was the sweetest child and young man. He loved everyone and was kind and always saw the good side of people, when he was young. I ran over him with our car when he was about 2 years old. It was a miracle that he wasnt killed or injured, but he only had gravel burns on his back. I took him for exrays and all was well there. He has had all kinds of things that could have injured him, but he survived all of them. I used to tell him the the Lord was protecting him for better things. I believe he was. Donnie Served a mission for the church in Central America. When he returned home he got a job with the Phone Company and did that work all of his working life. He is now retired. He married Gloria Culler in the Mesa, Arizona Temple, and that has been a blessing to him and our family. Their three children, Marcy, Cory and Danette are my jewels, along with my other grandchildren. Each of their families are my joy, too. Marcy and Troy and Jason and Becky, Danette and Gary and Adam, Aubree, Katee and Riley, Cory and Lorrita and Brandi, Austin and Jacob are all very precious to me and are part of the tender mercies of the Lord, to me. Don and Goloria now live in Kanab, Utah.

Kent, our next child was such a tender hearted child. WE had a special feeling for each other all of his life. He survived bee stings all over his body and a snake bite. Both of them were frightening experiences, but they did no permanent damage. Kent served a mission in Torreon Mexico. He was the only one of our children who served in the armed services. He was in the army and served in Long Bin, Viet Nam, at headqurters. I am thankful that he was able to return home safely. He was in Colorado Springs still in the service, where he met and married Phyllis Hurtubise. They had Robert and Andrea. Kent got his BA degree in Colorado Springs and taught school for a time. He now works for IBM. Kent and Phyllis divorced and he married Betty Ann Wagner. Her children are Brenda and Eddie. The grandchildren from Kent and Betty are Andrea's Mathew, Luke and Ashliegh. and Robert's daughter Hannah, Brenda and Tim's daughters Aubrey and Chloe. Eddie was taken home to the Lord and had no children. He look forward to seeing him agaion. How can we say more about the blessings of the Lord to us. I am very thankful for Kent and Betty's family. Kent and Betty now live in Colorado Springs.

Bonnie Lynn, our next child and only daughter, When she came to our home and I was so pleased to get a girl. She is a person who never makes waves. She is as sweet a daughter as a mother could ever want. She has always been a blessing to me. She was her daddy's sweetheart. She went to Mesa and stayed with Leon and Jean and went to beauty school. When she returned, she worked in Alamosa as a beauty operator for a while. She served a mission in Idaho. After her mission she went to California and lived with Ina and Henry. That is where she met Emery. They married in California and lived there for most of their married life. Their children are Shandi, Emery J, Monica and John Henry. They went through a period of divorce. Ward and I went to Fallbrook, and lived there for almost a year. Later Bonnie and Emery married in the San Diego temple and all of their children were sealed to them. Their grandchildren are, Shandi and Todd's children, Amber, Michael and Meagen. Emery Jay and Daylynn have Alex and Anthony. Monica has no children and John Henry is not married. Bonnie and Emery now live in St George.

Larry is our last child. He was born in Romeo area. Arlo was working on a farm for Thales Smith and Larry was born at home. LaRue, my sister was expecting a baby at the same time as me and Harold was overseas. Both of us had our babies at our home. He was a big baby. Almost 10 pounds. He is such a smart person. He wore out our encyclopedias by reading them. When he was in the first grade in Manassa, he had brights disease, which is a kidney disease. His blood pressure went so high that the doctor gave him a shot that could have killed him, but it saved his life. We spent 10 days in Denver in the hospital, doing all kinds of tests. He never seemed to have anymore problems with that. Larry was at home after the other children were gone. He was 22 when he decided to go on a mission. He went to Argentina. He had many baptisms. When he came home, he went to BYU. He met Jeanette Cheshire there and they were married that winter. Both he and Jeanette finished their college after they were married. They had four children when Larry graduated with a masters degree in civil engineering. Arlo, Craig Brian, and Julie were born in Provo. Anita, Debra and Eric were born after their schooling. Their grandchildren are Leslie, Julie and Clint's daughter. They are expecting their second child. Craig and Brina have Bradly and Luke.. How very dear all of these members of my family are to me. Larry and Jeanette live in Hewitt, Texas, where Larry is working in his field on airplanes. Debra is in college at BYU Idaho and Eric is still at home. Arlo and Anita are in the Salt Lake area and Brian is in Colorado.

I have 3 sisters, and 2 brothers. Barbara, LaRue, and Doris Faye. Leon and Keith are my brothers. Keith died and now I have one living brother. When my parents died, Doris Faye came to live with Arlo and me. She lived with us for 6 years. She is like my child.

All of these people are my family and my great blessing. I love each one of them.
I believe these are tender mercies from the Lord.