Sister Penny Belton

 It is my great good fortune to have been married to your bishop for the past twelve years.  In the year 2000 I had the desire to “reinvent” myself and I also had the feeling that something big would happen in my life after my daughter's wedding.  She got married on a Friday and on Sunday I met Garry.  We were engaged in 3 weeks and married in 10 weeks in the Bountiful Temple.   I had prayed for a “righteous man to walk with” and God sent his very best!  We combined my 6 children with his 4 and at the time had we had 6 grandchildren.  We now have 27 grandchildren (8 boys and 19 little girls!)  We love to gather them in once a month at our home for Family Home Evening. Our home is the one I grew up in.....my dad built it when I was five years old.   We had been living in inner city Ogden and one day my mom came to North Ogden to buy fruit.  Eunice Hadley, formerly from our ward, sold it to her.  And my mom said:  “If people like that live in North Ogden then that is where I want to raise my family.”  Indeed it has been and still is a wonderful place to live. When I was single mom I spent seven years going to Weber State to get a degree in Early Childhood, which I achieved at the age of 50.  (If I can do it anyone can!) I teach for Head Start, teaching 34 preschool-disadvantaged children.  It is a very challenging but rewarding job.  Garry has had a military career (he flew helicopters in Vietnam) and a career as a hospital administrator and has recently started another business venture.  Thirty seven years ago I started a candy business “Penny Candy – Hand dipped Chocolates” so that I could be a stay-at-home mom.  Garry built me a beautiful candy kitchen in the basement of our home and since we want to serve on missions when we retire, my three daughters have learned how to do it and are open on a part time basis during the holiday seasons. I love serving in the church as a counselor to Gayle Harris in the stake primary.  We get to visit all of the wonderful primaries in the stake.  I have been blessed with amazing blessings in my life and I can trace every one of them to my membership in this great church.  We love all of you, pray for you and appreciate your love and support.