Memories by Mauri Liljenquist Nelson

A heart felt thanks to Mauri for sharing some of her memories of Caprece with us! She says these are three distinct memories that she has of Caprece.

1. When we were in Young Women, we took a temple trip. I have an idea that we went to Washington DC on a big bus, but I don't know why we wouldn't have just gone to Atlanta. I remember Lisa Condrey was on the bus playing Yahtzee the whole way, so maybe she'd remember where we went. Caprece had a little stereo on the back of the bus, and I remember two songs from that trip that I associate with her. Lean on Me and Richard Marx' Endless Summer Nights. I was probably 12 or 13, and I thought Caprece was so grown up and so cool. Ever since then those songs remind me of that trip and of Caprece.

2. Just after Caprece's mission, she and I were both in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Maybe the summer of 1993 or 1994? I didn't know she was going to be there, and she was so excited to be back in her mission area again. Each day part of the opening exercises was for everyone to stand and recite the Standard of Truth. I remember Caprece actually leaping up in her excitement to participate in this moment. The force of her testimony and her love of the gospel seemed so obvious to me then. I always remember that moment as specific evidence of that testimony that guided all of her life.

3. Finally, I remember participating with you and Caprece in a stake mini-MTC for the youth a few years ago when she was pregnant with Abraham (is that right?). (Yes, that is correct. Matt was training at FLETC and Caprece was pregnant with Abe.) You can probably figure out the year. My mom and I taught about sewing on buttons and ironing shirts. You two taught about meal planning, grocery shopping, and recipes and meal making. You gave out this little recipe book, and I still use it for a couple of my standard recipes. I love the chili recipe I found there! This was probably the last time I saw Caprece. I saw her serving others and the Lord, working together with her sister, sacrificing to bring a precious little spirit into the world, and focusing her life around creating her eternal family. Most of all tha'ts what I remember about her.

Green Apple Memories

As I have mentioned in a previous post some tastes like smells have a way of transporting us back in time. Green apples do just that for me. My sister, Caprece, loved green granny smith apples, in fact it was the only apple she would eat. When we were young we enjoyed jolly ranchers and guess what flavor was her favorite? You guessed it "green apple". It was the same with now and laters as well. So, now when I taste or smell green apple sweet memories of her flood my mind. We started a tradition a few years before her death in which I would purchase her a super duper chocolate covered caramel apple for Christmas. She loved it! Although, she is gone I have continued the tradition only now I make them any time I need a "Caprece" fix. These I made and donated for an auction for the Youth at our church. Thinking of her all the while. Of course, I made one especially for my family to split. They were definitely SUPER DUPER! :)

Mama - Mommy - Mom - Mother

Currently I am serving as a primary teacher to the CTR 7 class. As usual this time of year we practiced during sharing time for our Mother's Day performance. One of the songs we sang is "I Often Go Walking". Honestly, I couldn't get through each and every practice of this song without tears trickling down my face. It didn't matter if we sang it 1 time or 10 times each time we began to sing these words...

O mother, I give you my love with each flower, To give forth sweet fragrance a whole life-

time through; For if I love blossoms and meadows and walking,

I lean how to love them, dear mother, from you.

These words filled me up with Caprece each and every time that we sang them. Hundreds of memories of blossoms, meadows and walking with her and her children filled my heart and mind. If there was ever a woman who understood her role as a mother and rejoiced in it each and every moment of each and every day it was my sister. Oh, she got frustrated with her children when they weren't obedient or were arguing but she never lost site of the work she was performing as their mother. She disciplined her children with love and in a very individual way. She listened to her children and honored their individuality. She didn't expect Lilah to act like Chancey or Livvy to act like Lilah. I remember once Chancey was given an assignment to write about her best friend and she wrote about her mother. It really touched Caprece that Chancey called her not only Mama but friend. Lilah, though she never actually said it, felt the same. Lilah's afterschool ritual was to come home and tell her Mother all about her day. Every little detail. Lilah relished this time with her Mother and Caprece felt the same. Miss Livvy and Abe were at home. While Abe was napping Miss Livvy received special one on one time with her Mama...reading books. Abe, well Caprece couldn't get him out of the kitchen...he loved to cook and she loved having him as her little helper. She was constantly seeking the spirit of discernment as she viewed each of her children praying to be aware of not only the weakness in each child (so as to help them overcome it) but to see the divine, the talents, the gifts. She wanted her children to see themselves as God sees them.

Caprece understood something key about being a mother and that was not only that she love her children but the importance of living her own life as close to the spirit through study, prayer and service as she possibly could. Caprece and I spoke daily throughout her married life and I can honestly say that a week never went by that she wasn't performing some act of service for a neighbor, friend or family member. She delighted in the scriptures and we reveled in our brief but wonderful moments of sharing scriptural insights from our recent studying. I miss these moments. She understood that her service to others would teach her children more about the gospel than anything she could ever say. Even in her weakness she taught her children about her testimony of the Savior as she got on her knees seeking his grace and mercy in overcoming.

Caprece, more than anything else but wife, loved being a mother.

Caprece, as I, have learned how to be a Mommy from our own sweet Mother who loves us both with an unconditional love. She doesn't just love us she likes us...and we too call her not only Mama but friend. Caprece comes from a long lineage of wise and wonderful mothers and she has left her own sweet Mama legacy that I know even now comforts, encourages, and inspires her children.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY CAPRECE!

Matt: Caprece and I find each other

I always like to boast that I never had to ask Caprece out on an official date, we just went straight to marriage. This isn't stricktly true, but almost. Caprece and Karmen hung out often at my apartment because there were three good looking, fun guys there- Jared, Todd, and Eric, and I happened to be there too reaping the rewards of my roommate's personalities. From my view, Karmen at one time was trying to decide if she liked Jared, then later on she had a bit of a thing for Eric who turned out to be too much of a perfection freak to stay with any girl very long. Caprece seemed to initially show some interest in Todd, but after a while I actually found myself talking with her and found that I really couldn't wait for her visits to our apartment. We developed a friendship and eventually I sort of suggested that maybe we could go up to the campus (USU) and shoot baskets together. I now know that Caprece had no interest in shooting baskets, but I'm just grateful that she was patient enough to go anyway. We continued to talk and hang out with everyone, but still no official "out on the town" dates. Then Caprece decided to take matters into her own hands and invited me out for my birthday (in April). She took me to Tony Roma's in Logan and bought me a shirt for a present. We had a great evening and Tony Roma's became a special spot for us for years afterward and we spent several anniversary dinners there. When I dropped her off at her place we stood out and talked for a while and I later learned that we both wanted a good night kiss very badly, but of course I didn't make that happen so we said good night and I went home disgusted with myself about my spineless, kissless night. At this point I have to share an event that nearly ended it all for Caprece and me. My roommates began to tease me a bit about spending so much time with Caprece and so I, of course, wanted to throw them off the scent of how important she was to me. So I made a bet with my roommate Todd that I wouldn't ever have another date with Caprece. Now, I knew this was all for show, and so did Todd, but he still put the word out in our circles that I had made this bet with him about Caprece. So Caprece of course heard about this. I'm lucky that she ever spoke to me again! But she showed up at my apartment supposedly to retrieve a dish that she had left there and she was in tears as she asked for this dish. I was baffled and didn't know what to do, but thankfully had enough brain power to ask her what was wrong. Well, she let me have it about my bet with Todd and it took some doing for me to convince her that I was just playing around and really wanted to keep seeing her. I was lucky that she let me off the hook because at the time Caprece wasn't the most easily forgiving soul- she tended to hold a grudge pretty well then. Anyway, after that we started spending a lot of time together and I started going to her and Karmen's little basement apartment a lot to hang out and watch movies with Caprece. Somehow Karmen was gone a lot during that time :) - thanks Karm! We fell in love and started talking marriage and about 6 weeks after our first date to Tony Roma's we got engaged. About 6 weeks after that we were married! Caprece initially wanted a longer engagement, but I quickly convinced her that there was no reason to wait and we should just get it done. Since you all know how amazingly beautiful Caprece was, you can imagine her fiance wanting to move the wedding along! :) Caprece often talked with me about how important our temple marriage was to her and how special her feelings were that day. The Bountiful temple will always be a special and extra sacred place for me because of the many wonderful times that we spent there together, beginning with June 29, 1995 when we entered into our eternal marriage there.

The Roof or Chuck-O-Rama

The title of this posting is the names of two popular restaurants here in Utah. The Roof is a well known restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith building which serves a very nice and very expensive buffet on Saturday evenings. Chuck-O-Rama is an all you can eat buffet...I think the name says it all.

While Caprece and I were at USU we planned to attend the Bountiful Temple open house with a group of our friends and go to dinner afterwards. To begin with we were going to all go together for the open house and afterwards Caprece and i were going to go to dinner on our own. We had been to the Garden, a restaurant serving lunch at the top of the Joseph Smith building and had heard while there that The Roof was really good. We pinched and saved our money so we could go. The Bountiful temple open house was wonderful. I will never forget how I felt when I walked into the chapel and first saw this beautiful print of the Savior's triumphant return to earth. It has to be 12 feet tall and 10 ft across. It was breathtaking and still is. We completed our tour and everyone wanted to do dinner together. We explained that we already had plans to go to The Roof and our friends said they would like to go as well. What Caprece and I didn't know was the price or that it was a buffet including prime rib and other pricey but yummy items. We were prepared though for whatever price it might be...our friends weren't. We arrived and were seated. Our friends took one look at the menu $20/person and wanted to leave. After a flurry of discussion, disagreement and finally resignation on the part of Caprece and I we all decided to go somewhere else. We didn't decide where to go before we all piled back into the cars. Caprece and I were so disappointed that we just followed the group. Remember, this was not the days of cell phones for the masses but for the elite few...we were NOT the elite few :) So we had no way of communicating as we went. We just follow hoping for the best. I guess our friends thought what Caprece and I liked so much about The Roof was that it was a buffet soooooo....they led us to none other than the local "Chuck-O-Rama" Just when Caprece and I thought we couldn't be any more disappointed we enter an all you can eat frenzy. The only thing I can remember eating that night was a small portion of mashed potatoes and gravy. Really disappointment doesn't begin to cover it.

Later Caprece and I came to love this adventure. It provided years of deep belly, tear jerking, pee in your pants laughter. Whenever we tried to tell others about the adventure we would be laughing so hard that all that came from our mouths was some strange language no one could understand. Just before I moved from Utah November 2006, I attended Caprece's book club and somehow as we were discussing things restaurants came up and someone said something about Chuck-O-Rama. Caprece and I looked at each other and we lost it. We were crying and Caprece 7 months pregnant was doing the pee pee dance...we didn't even try to explain. We knew it was futile but for us it was a terribly wonderful flashback. So you all tell me "The Roof" or "Chuck-O-Rama"?

Sisters, Friends, and Sparring Partners

There is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather....

Caprece and I are the best of sisters and the bestest of friends (More about this later)


Now having lauded our friendship...I'll let you all in on a secret (for my family this is no secret). Caprece and I fought quite a bit when we were younger. We yelled mostly but on occaision we got physical. Caprece's move of choice was scratching and mine was pushing. It started when we were quite young and continued until we were in middle school at which point the following took place.

I am not sure what we were fighting about...Caprece wanted to fry some bologne and I didn't want her to? Who knows...? but we were in the kitchen. It started with a simple argument and quickly turned physical. She scratched me and ran...I of course followed and pushed her. Well she had on slick shoes and the floor was a nice smooth linoleum. What is Newton's law? Something like...a body in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force...she slipped and fell on her back and it knocked the breath out of her. It seemed like forever before she got her breath back. It scared me to death. I of course began crying and apologizing. That was it for me...no more! I swore I wouldn't ever push or hit her again and I never did. However, I can't say the same for Caprece :)

Although to be fair, it was years later...we were in college at USU and definately old enough to know better. As you ALL know our family, especially siblings, can push our buttons. I guess I pushed one of hers. The next thing I knew she was hitting me and I was backing up into the bed where she had me pinned and was pounding away. To make matters worse the fact that we were both in our late 20's and behaving like this got me tickled and if any of you know Caprece you know the worse thing you can do when she is angry with you is to start laughing. The harder I laughed the harder she pounded. Now my sister was no boxing champ...I use the word "pound" very loosely. She was hitting me hard. Somehow she regained her senses with no help from me. I was still laughing. Through the years any time I ever brought this up she couldn't help but remind me that I had really made her mad and that I knew better than to laugh at a moment like that.

Oh yeah, years later, just before Caprece left us she confessed that the day she fell and lost her breath well, it was an act to teach me a lesson. Teach me a lesson it did.

You wonder why I would share something like this? Even in our weakness we loved, accepted and understood one another. I pray that the love, compassion, quickness to forgive, forbear and friendship I developed for my sister I will develop for all...those who love me and especially those who don't.

Sister Radvansky - Seminary Teacher and Friend

When I met Caprece the very first time she was like a ray of sunshine that walked into my home. I taught early morning seminary in Myrtle Beach SC when she, her sister Karmen, and mother Jacki moved here. I loved Caprece from the moment I met her. I think everyone loved her, she was always the one who wanted everyone to be happy and get along, always the peacemaker. It is funny now looking back, you know how mothers would like to pick out their daughters-in-law, I thought she would make a wonderful one for me, but of course it didn't happen. We made so many memories over the years, three years of seminary, mission visits in NY and how can I forget our trip to Washington DC? We never laughed so much in our life when the little Japanese boy just kept snapping the camera to his unaware parents, they were not happy with him, and we were just looking on and laughing our heads off. I never forgot that wonderful girl, I tried to keep up with her, when we were in Salt Lake City in 1997 we found her living in a small little apartment, happy as a lark, she had just had her first baby. She seemed to be the perfect mom. On another occasion when were serving our mission for the church in Salt Lake City, we looked her up in Logan, UT. she was happy to see us, and I just loved her children, I remember taking them a little book, they were so happy, she was expecting her third child then, and was eagerly awaiting for Matt to finish school. I remember talking with them that day about him getting a job with the IRS, to apply and try and get the east coast. Not much later I heard the news, it wasn't to be in the southeast but in UT. I always asked her mom how she was and never lost track. I will always remember her for as long as I live. She was a joy to know I just wish that I would have tired a little harder to see her this last time in UT, I had intended to find her, and come for a visit, I talked to her on the phone, but never made it. I will always regret that. I know that she has left everyone with a lasting memory that they will cherish as I do. Caprece had a solid testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, she lived a life that demonstrated the principles that He taught and lived. We have been blessed by her, I only wish it could have been for a very long time. I look forward to seeing her again one day. I hope I can live worthy enough to be where she is. Again, my life has been blessed by her presence. Her loving friend,Frances Radvansky
March 27, 2009 10:27 AM

BEAR SCARE!

Ezekiel decided he was hungry at 4am this morning and for some reason I couldn't get back to sleep. As I lay in bed this memory came to me and I decided to record it. Although I was there when this happened Matt's memory will be more detailed.

A very good friend of mine and Caprece's, Kollet, invited us (Matt, Caprece, Chancey, and myself) for a camping trip to yellowstone. Kollet and Pat had two little ones. One just older than Chancey...Savanah is her name. One just younger than Chancey...practically a newborn as Chancey was probably at most 8 months old at the time. Anyhow, Matt and Caprece brought a tent for their family to camp in and I was camping in "THE" sentra. Pat and Kollet had a 5th wheel camper...very nice! We were all excited about the trip and the area we camped in was beautiful. There are TWO things that stand out for me on this trip. First, I gave Chancey her first taste of chocolate while we were floating down the creek/river. It was a tootsie roll and she absolutely loved it! I got a lot of flack for that one but well it was an "aunt" thing. Second, the bear scare. The first morning I awoke to this story. Matt and Caprece settled in their tent and were asleep...well, Matt was asleep. Caprece had been awakened by the sound of something walking outside the tent. She of course immediately awoke Matt. Now, it is important to understand how Caprece's mind works, not to downplay in any way the scariness of the experience, but she was afraid alligators were going to come in our house when she was younger and was a bit worried about encountering big foot too. She tended to scare easily. I am certain Matt was the voice of reason in this situation however even he was a bit concerned because they had a baby in the tent with them. It, the bear, was snooping and walking around the tent. We assume it was a bear...I don't know if we ever confirmed what it was. I am so glad I slept through it all. So, they decided to go into the camper with Pat and Kollet. BUT they first had to wait for "it" to leave and be sure it was really gone before they made a mad dash from the tent to the camper. I can't imagine the fear Caprece had from the moment she stepped outside of that tent to the moment she and her family were all safely inside the camper. I do know it left a lasting impression on her mind. As far as I know she and Matt never camped in a tent again. The next day she and Matt shared the experience with me and I would have laughed but for the fear I saw in Matt's eyes. Although the beauty of Yellowstone was exquisite it couldn't compare to the bear scare! :)

A few Kimmie Jo Memories

For those of you who aren't familiar with Caprece's family tree :) Kimmie Jo is Caprece's Aunt....Jacqi's youngest sister.

My fondest memories of my niece Caprece started when she and Karmen came to live with us on 2nd ave. in Marianna Florida. (Jacqi had to sort through some unpleasant business before she could join us.) I had always been the baby of our family meaning that I had never had to take care of anyone. Caprece and Karmen became like younger siblings. I guess because they were so close in age and depended on each other, they acted a lot like twins. It was like they could read each other’s thoughts. They were always instep with each other. It’s not that they did anything bad; they were just always coming up with ways to aggravate a pre-teen who didn’t know the first thing about baby-sitting. LOL We learned together.

They loved to have stories read to them, Karmen would sit with me looking at the book but Caprece had to keep moving. She would act out the parts in song or dance. I used to think she would be involved in the arts in some way. (Acting, singing, dancing) Sitting still was not one of her favorite things. I could identify with her as I couldn’t or didn’t want to stay in any one place for very long. I used to call Karmen my baby genus. Believe me, it wasn’t that I was a good teacher; she just wanted to learn everything fast. She was reading before she started school.

Caprece was always curious and didn’t want to miss anything that was going on around her. We would laugh so hard when she would get so caught up with what ever was going on that she would put off going to the bathroom, afraid she would miss something, until she would start dancing in place, holding her self until someone would whisk her off to the bathroom. She was always giggling and having fun. She could be sullen but those times were rare. She really had a positive spirit.

I loved the way she was uninhibited around her family and friends. Again I thought she would be a famous actor one day. Mom used to say this trait would help her when she grew up and faced the world as an adult. (Mom was always full of insights).

The summers were spent at the local swimming hole called “Blue Springs”. Mom would drop us off at lunch and pick us back up after work. The water was freezing, fed by a spring from a cave. It would take them both a while to work their way into the freezing water to the point they were used to it. They were eager to learn to swim and I was eager to teach them. We knew we had to get to the point where we could all hang out with the big guys.

Caprece felt comfortable swimming under water in the shallow before learning to swim on top. I thought this was pretty incredible. They both wanted to swim where the big girls were at the diving pier and they worked hard to learn the “dog paddle.”

We finally graduated to the pier, which was pretty scary. The diving pier was a large concrete thing with a high dive and regular diving board. It started out in shallow water on the sides but in the front where the diving board was it dropped of into a big beautiful cave. There was a ladder on the shallow side but they would have to jump on their tiptoes to get to it. They had a blast! Every time they started climbing up the ladder I would hear shouts of “KIMMIE JO, KIMMIE JO, WATCH,” and they would jump into the water and come up looking to see if I was watching. My friends and I would all clap, hoot and holler “Way to go!” This would go on for hours. I never heard a complaint until they were hungry and would get really cold from being out of the water.

I left home the fall of my 16th birthday to finish school in Houston with my sister Charla. At the time we didn’t realize I would be gone for good. I watched them grow up from afar.

I’ll never forget one time Jacqi was staying with me. It was summer and Mom, Karmen & Caprece came to visit. Caprece had plans to visit Uncle Porter so Karmen was staying with us. It was getting close to time for Mom and Caprece to leave. Caprece wondered over to the swing set and just sat down. Karmen strolled over and sat by her. I’m not sure if they said anything to each other but seemed to be comfortable in their space with each other. When the time came to leave they stood and hugged hard. Karmen stood with her Mom’s around her waving at Caprece goodbye. This sounds really sad but I’m telling this memory to show the bond these two sisters have.

Timeline

Hi everyone!
I have posted the beginnings of the timeline...I have completed it up to 1995 when she gets married. I will finish it within the next couple of days. Please begin to look at it and let me know if there is something I should add to it.

Here is how I would like to proceed. I would like each of you to look over the timeline and as you feel prompted pick a time period and write your memories of her in it. I would particularly like you to share things you remember that she shared with you. For instance...when she graduated high school she spoke with you about how she felt.

Directions for posting are as follows....click the "New Post" link at the top right hand of the page. Please let me know immediately if you have any problems. Once you click the "New Post" link it will take you to a page that you can type your thoughts. When you are finished just click the orange "Publish Post" button and you are finished. Remember if you don't want to publish items on the blog...you can just email them to me and I will add them to the finished project.

Welcome

Hello Everyone,
As I pondered what goals I wanted to set for this New Year my mind continued to return to Precie's children. Since I married Rodrigo I have terribly missed his Mother. There are so many questions I have wanted to ask her...especially once Joaquin was born...I wanted to know about Rodrigo's birth, what he was like as a child and so many other things. I always enjoy when Grandmommie tells me stories of my own mother and of my ancestors. So, I thought I would enlist your help in building Caprece's personal history for her children and generations yet to come. I considered many different ways to go about this but wanted to make it as easy as possible for everyone and with the least amount of expense. So, I created this blog. It is still under construction...but I don't want to wait until it is visually perfect to begin.
I will soon be posting a rough draft of a Caprece timeline and would ask that everyone look at it and please let me know if there is something missing. We will work from this timeline in building her history. My goal is to have her history completed by September 8th, her birthday. I will then print it and prepare a copy for each of her children, Matt, Mom, Dad, and Grandmommie. The blog will remain for everyone's enjoyment and of course can be added to as time goes by. Thank you in advance for helping me to undertake and complete this project. All my love to each of you!!!