14th Day of Love

Glen and Laurel, BYU Campus, 1994

I love Glen because he has always been willing to meet me in the middle. In a 34 year marriage, there have been many opportunities for compromise. It's not always easy to negotiate and to be respectful enough to listen and ponder one another's point of view, but it is necessary. It also involves trust; trust that you will not be belittled for your feelings or ideas.

In the photo we are back on the campus where we first met in 1974. We are visiting our oldest son, now a freshman at BYU and who has already met his future mate, Susan. As I have posted my 14 Days of Love, it has reminded me that we are all a part of the circle of love and the flow of life. Generations come and go but the most important thing is to LOVE one another.

Happy Valentine's Day!

13th Day of Love

I love Glen because he is a very generous person. He is generous with his time, his talents, his resources, and his love. In our early marriage I often felt like he was "generous to a fault." I've changed my mind on this one as well. It really is better to be optimistic, friendly and generous.

The photo is of something red that Glen gave me this week for Valentine's Day. It is a gel mat to stand on during long stints in the kitchen. I loved it this morning as I made rolls for a missionary zone conference. These five rolls are the ones I saved for Glen. I felt slightly guilty when an elder sought me out and asked if there were any more rolls, but only slightly. I thought my generous man deserved some, too.

This is the something red that I got Glen for Valentine's Day. I went to his section of the bookstore to find this book. The red cover was important, but I also liked the title.

Yes, the flap is covering up the "Oriental Trader" logo on this box which arrived this week. Glen was asked to host the HP Valentine Social in his beautiful backyard and of course, generously said, "Yes." It looks like he has also decided to decorate.

I really do appreciate all the generous things that he does. Most of them are in a quiet, anonymous manner. I'll keep it that way.

12th Day of Love

I love Glen because he has never met a stranger. I did not love this quality at first. I felt embarrassed when he spoke to the waiter, sales clerk, teller, etc., as if they were his long lost friends. Now it doesn't bother me a bit. In fact, I try to emulate his ease with others, although I'm never quite so at ease as he.


You may be wondering why I am posting this picture of our house soon after we purchased it in 1991. I wanted you to see a before and after. It will soon all tie together. Glen had a vision for his home, much like he has a vision for most things he attempts. Those piles of dirt came from the backyard when the pool was dug.


This is our home today. He spent time mowing his grass and watering the many colorful plants before he left for work this morning. He looks forward to these tasks because he talks to EVERY early morning walker. Sometimes he talks them into following him into the backyard.

This is how it looked in 1991 when we first moved in. That's indoor/outdoor carpeting covering the dirt, not really share-worthy. Notice how the palm trees are only as tall as the fence.

This is how it looks today. He loves sharing our garden. Recently he noticed that two women, apparently a daughter and her elderly mother, were stopping to look as they passed by each morning. He invited them into his backyard. He sat with them at the table and had a good long conversation. When they left, he told them they were welcome to rest on the benches out front anytime.

There you have it. My short tale of the extrovert. And you will be pleased to know that the introvert has become more extro.

11th Day of Love

I love Glen because he has become a caring, loving, and fun grandpa. He is delighted to once again have unconditional love from the little people in his life. His grandchildren are his joy.

There he is lining up his favorite people by age so that they can take a whack at the pinata on his last birthday. He is still making things fun.

Once again there are little ones willing to help him blow out his birthday candles.

He is a very blest man and I am so fortunate to be enjoying the blessings with him.

Dearest Janae, Thank you for the use of your beautiful pictures!

10th Day of Love

I love Glen because he has been such a "fun" parent. I've often thought how it would have been for my children to not have had their father in their life - boring and quiet. Glen has been the recreation director in our marriage and family (just like his mother was for her family.) Glen makes the good times roll!

If I had been present for this rolling good time it would NOT HAVE HAPPENED! I birthed these five beautiful children and their safety has always been my up most priority. Did they love riding on top of the car? Yes indeed, and they sometimes still talk of it.


Glen is trying to blow up the rubber raft which he brought to fathers/sons outing on top of his little blue Volkswagen. The "bug" was also packed with a tent, all camping gear, folding chairs, and three boys. It was a traveling circus and they had a very good time, especially enjoying the wide eyes as they rolled into camp.

There would have been no underwater pictures without Glen in their life. They would never have known how they looked in a watery world.

It was a family tradition for Glen to pack up the kids early on a Saturday morning in late December after a snowstorm up north. They would load the pickup with snow and head home to engage in a traveling snowball fight. Friends and neighbors learned that it was dangerous to open their door on a December Saturday.

Glen's philosophy has always been "the more the merrier." This van is packed with the family plus some Ostler cousins. I think that's Brittany standing outside looking in. We were on our way to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth.

Glen always thought that a family activity was the best kind of activity. This may have been the only time all the bikes had tires with air. It was a very delightful evening.

Glen has also provided the "fun" for many ward activities. He and the kids were always filling an ice chest full of water balloons for the water balloon launcher. He was also the kind of dad who took kids and their friends teepeeing. When visiting Utah in July, a trip to Wyoming for fireworks was usually a given. Most of my children's fondest memories were orchestrated by their father. That's my Glen!

Please comment if you want to add any "fun" memories of your own.

9th Day of Love

I love Glen because he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his children. They have been his main delight - might we even say his hobby. He loves them:

Even when he has to share his snow cone.

Especially when they "heart" him.

Even when they blow out his birthday candles.

Even though coaching t-ball is hot in Arizona.

Even when they teepee his bed.
(Especially when they teepee his bed.
He's just sorry he missed the actual activity.)

Even when the field trip chaperone is expected to get wet, too.

Even when the baby in the stroller becomes taller than he is
(all his sons are taller, this one is just much taller.)

Even when he drives an older station wagon instead of a flashy sports car.

But mostly because they jump for joy because he's right in the middle of the fun.

Glen always made a point of taking a child with him on errands whenever possible. (I looked forward to him being at home so that I didn't have to take anyone with me!) He knew that one on one attention was a great way to make a child feel special.

8th Day of Love

On Grandma Baker's Love seat, early 1975

I love Glen because he does little, tender things that show me that he really cares. I missed one of my weekly tender moments today. We took separate cars to church because I had to do stake business right after our meetings. I was also a bit slower getting ready, so by the time I arrived, Janae and Raymond had surprised us with a visit to our ward and were already seated on our bench. (It's the third from the front on the right side and really, it's pretty much ours!) This meant that I was seated on the aisle, not next to Glen. After the sacrament, he always reaches over and takes my hand. Today I missed that warm gentle squeeze that lets me know he cares.

7th Day of Love

I love Glen because he doesn't let the little things bug him. In fact, he often finds humor in what I find annoying or in need of fixing.

6th Day of Love

I love Glen because he ALWAYS sees the glass as half full. I married a true optimist. He married someone who, while fairly cheerful, often saw the glass as half empty. I often thought it was my duty to play devil's advocate and while there is a need for discussion and for looking at all sides of an issue, this is what I have learned during my 34 years with Glen. A glass half full is always the better option and the best way to live your life. Worry and despair will get you no where!

5th Day of Love

Laurel and Glen, Mesa Arizona Temple, December 1974

I love Glen because he always supports me in my personal growth. He became my temple prep tutor during our engagement. He helped instill a great love for the temple as we journeyed through those first months together as a committed couple preparing for a temple marriage.

Glen and Laurel exit the Mesa Arizona Temple, April 1975

While on our honeymoon in Central California, we traveled early one morning north to San Francisco. Our first stop was the Oakland Temple. It was a beautiful and memorable experience. Twenty-five years later we went to San Francisco again on an anniversary trip. Once again we ventured out early in the morning to attend the Oakland Temple.

Glen and Laurel, Oakland Temple, April 1975

Glen has and continues to support me in every church calling. He has encouraged me as I learned to do new things and tried new hobbies. He was my champion when I returned to school. He hung in there with me as we shifted roles a bit when I began to teach full-time. He discusses books, movies, current events, and gospel related topics with me. He is my best friend and cheerleader.

4th Day of Love

Glen, Palos Verdes, California, 1974

Laurel, Deck of Queen Mary, Long Beach, California, 1974

I love Glen because he loves to share with me. I don't believe he truly enjoys an experience until he can share it with me. If he travels without me, he begins to plan how he can take me there some day. After 9/11, he was so sad that he could never take me to the top of the Twin Towers. When we did make it to New York City in Dec. 0f 2001, this was his lament. It doesn't have to be big things that he is compelled to share. In the early morn, he might come inside, take me by the hand, and lead me outside to see a plant that finally bloomed or a lizard doing push ups on a sunny wall. I think that is why we spend so much time together. He needs to share with me.

It was after Christmas 1974 that we first met each other's immediate family. He couldn't wait to take this "desert rat" to see his ocean and beach. He wanted to share his past life and the things that he loved. He had come to Arizona not only to fetch me but to watch BYU play Oklahoma in a bowl game (it became the Fiesta Bowl, but was then called something else which I can't remember) and to meet my family. My mom threw an engagement party complete with homemade doughnuts, BYU lost the game, and I introduced the "beach boy" to the desert. The night we left for California, I cried and cried until the other side of Buckeye when I finally fell asleep. I think I was mourning my relationship with my family which was now going to be altered as I married and "grew up." Glen was more than patient with me. Once in California, Grandpa J greeted me with a giant bear hug. It was not until later that I learned how out of character that was for him, and I felt honored.

Glen at Canyon Lake in Arizona, 1974

Last night we went on a little date to Barnes & Noble. We don't stay connected at the hip in bookstores. I headed for the children's section and then biographies. Glen disappeared into the self-help books including positive thinking. We soon reconnected and checked out. Before the night was over, Glen was sharing excerpts from a book about things to experience or think about before you die and I was reading him delightful passages from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." We were very happy!

3rd Day of Love

Christus Statue at the Tempe Square Visitors Center

I love Glen because he has a strong testimony of the validity of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. At the top of my list for reasons why I should marry Glen was his testimony of Jesus Christ and His mission. I felt that he would always lead his family in spiritual matters and that he would remain spiritually strong if and when things were hard. I knew that he would be my "rock" and that I could depend on him to help me "Choose the Right."

Not long before he asked me to marry him, he took me for a ride to the parking lot in front of the Provo Temple. He turned the car off then turned to me and asked, "What can you tell me about your relationship with the Savior?" I was a bit taken back at first, but then I paused and pondered. When I began to explain my thoughts and feelings about Jesus Christ and His influence in my life, Glen listened carefully and with great respect. I knew that he really wanted to know and understand how I felt. And then with humor he announced that I deserved a hot fudge brownie sundae, one of my favorites.

On December 17, 1974 he took me on a date to see the Salt Lake Temple Square Lights. As we entered the Visitor's Center, Glen led me up the circular ramp to the Christus Statue. We sat on the benches facing the Christus. He handed me a small gift. I carefully opened it. Much to his dismay, way to carefully. By the time I had opened the ring box, a tour group had appeared, so Glen asked me to marry him in front of a crowd. But most important, he wanted my memory of this event to be in front of this beautiful representation of the Savior.

2nd Day of Love

Glen, Provo Canyon, Fall 1974

I love Glen because he has always anticipated things I might need and serves me without being asked. My first memory of these little acts of kindness occurred while we were first dating in the Fall of 1974. I worked for Special Courses and Conferences (at that time just south of the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU, now in the newer building with the mirrored wall reflecting the mountains) as a registration secretary during the late afternoon and early evening. Those many years ago, all registration was by mail or in person. I manned the in-person counter until after dark. I had recently moved from the trailer park on the west side of Provo and into the basement of a home on the hill above the temple (this is what happens when you delay your decision to return to BYU and don't secure housing, especially in those very crowded Provo days, so I spent the first half of the semester sharing a bed with a night shift nurse and the second half sleeping on the floor.) If I missed my ride, it was a long, lonely walk home. Just before closing time, handsome Glen would come striding down the hall to my window. "I was just in the area and thought I should offer you a ride home." Wow, here was someone who was thinking of me and anticipating my needs. It felt really nice and it was a whole lot warmer.

Laurel, Provo Canyon, Later Fall 1974

Now, lest you think I am nominating him for sainthood, let me explain this picture. Those three children are not any of you. They belong to Laura, a woman Farrell helped baptize in Mexico City. She had moved to Provo after divorcing her husband as a result of joining the church. She had been an American studying voice in Mexico and later sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and at my father's funeral. ("Somewhere My Love" from Dr. Zhivago, the movie, was the song she sang. Listen to the lyrics carefully sometime and think about this being my mom's special song as she cared for an ailing husband.) Some of Glen's and my first dates were spent in service babysitting her children. As Glen became more serious about our relationship, he took and then sent this photo home to his mother in a letter which explained that he had forgotten to tell her one last thing about me, "Laurel is a single mom with three children."

I have not always loved his practical jokes!

1st Day of Love

by Ryan Jensen, January 1996

Years ago, possibly about 1986, a next door neighbor gave me the idea of "14 Days of Love" during the first 14 days of February ending with Valentine's Day. Each day I would prepare or set out some little surprise or treat or activity for family members. Empty nesting Glen and I are now the only family members and Glen is trying to be oh, so good in avoiding those high glycemic treats so I've decided to write 14 days of posts explaining why I love Glen. Perhaps these posts will give my children a better insight into their parents' relationship.

DAY ONE
I love Glen for praying for me before officially meeting me. After our marriage he shared with me that he would pray every day for his future spouse, for her safety and spiritual growth. I thanked him and told him that I needed and appreciated those prayers. Being a teenager is a difficult time of trying to figure out who you really are and what you really believe and value. I truly needed those prayers and I'm sure Glen's prayers joined those of my mom in earnestness.

Ryan took two photos of his teenage parents and combined them in the above drawing as a special gift for us when a teenager himself. It has special meaning for me as I think of a young Glen praying for me, his future wife.

Special Note: During our California open house, I heard the following story from more than one person. A very young Primary age girl in Glen's Hawthorne Ward, also named Laurel, always told everyone that she would some day marry Glen. It was one of those inside ward family jokes, so they were all commenting on how Glen really had married Laurel.