I really worked hard to catch Ruby and Elmer up in school since they had to miss so much. Even the neighbor kids came around for help. Finally they caught up with the kids they’d started with with a lot of hard work and double promotion. In the 4th grade they wanted to pass Ruby to the 5th grade but she didn’t want to leave Elmer since he was older. Finally the teacher said if we ‘d help him with his reading, he could go to the 5th grade too. Needless to say we drilled and drilled him, Then 6 weeks into the 7th grade they wanted Ruby to go to the 8th grade. They both cried because she didn't want to go ahead of him. She wouldn’t go for a week or two until the teacher talked her into going ahead and Elmer could go to summer school to catch up. We really worked, with him that summer and all the kids helped with his work at home so he could study and go to summer school. He made the 8th grade OK.I used to work and work an their math problems and sometimes had to give up and go to bed thinking about them. I don’t know if I actually dreamed how to work them but next morning I could get up and work them before they went to school. After they got in high school I couldn’t help them much in math but luckily Ruby was good in it. The other kids stayed out of school and pulled boles and let Elmer go to school so he wouldn‘t get behind. He brought Ruby’s work home so she kept up too. In fact she did well enough to graduate Valedictorian of her class as did Iva. Marion was salutatorian.

Just before Christmas in 1924 we bought 10 acres of land south of Cement. We put our house on big sills and moved it out to the new place over the snow. The snow was so bad that it was 5 weeks before we got to level the house on any kind of foundation. We had been trying to get Verna to walk but never made it until day after we moved. Raymond still worked in the oilfield just across the creek. r this time he had 4 mules and doing farming at same time as working in oilfield. Said wanted to keep his kids busy so wouldn’t get in trouble. One day one of the mules got down with head under the manger. I couldn’t get him up so wrapped up the little ones, turned out the fires and told them to watch out the windows. I had to crawl down the bank of the creek and up on the other side to get to where Raymond was working. The kids were OK when we got back, Raymond built 2 footbridges across the creek or draws for the kids had to go to school that way since there was no school bus for them to ride. They never missed many days in all the years on account of the weather. It was soon known as the Robertson trail with so many kids going to school over it.

On May 5th in 1926 our daughter, Elizabeth Lenora (always called Betty) was born. We put out a grape vineyard across the canyon and later a big dewberry patch. People came out from town and some other towns to pick them on the halves. Finally both the vineyard and berry patch died out. We milked cows, separated the milk and sold cream to the cafes for a dollar a quart. The kids delivered it as they went to school. We had chickens to eat and to lay eggs. We had hogs that were always getting out, for meat, We always had a nice garden, so we didn’t do so bad during the depression as far as food went. When Raymond paid the grocery bill every 2 weeks, they gave him a sack of candy. After supper I sat down and emptied it in my lap and divided it out. They never complained for that’s all they knew. They didn’t know what a coke was and never went to the shows. They did go to parties and dances in people’s homes, also we had some. I believe any of them, though, will tell you they had a very happy childhood and growing up time.

In February of 1927 we had a baby that was stillborn. I had fallen