Grandma Ethel was raised in a small mining town Silver City Utah, Her Father died when she was very young.  Her mother took in Borders and did laundry to make a living for her family.  Ethel loved the opportunity to travel and see new places, but funds were very tight as she grew up and didn’t go many places.  She went to Tinic High School in Eureka, Utah, she played in the marching band, which she loved. While in High School she met Grandpa Sonny. Most of his life Sonny worked in the mines, and he swept Grandma Ethel off her feet and they were married while Ethel was still in High School 17 years old.

Grandma Ethel loved the outdoors, including hunting, fishing, hiking looking for and collecting rocks, and gardening.  They traveled a lot with Sonny’s work in the mines, building roads and other construction.  They settled in a little town Genola, UT. Where they purchased 7 acres, enough to keep a few animals and have a large garden and a large harvest.  Ethel and Sonny kept their yard beautiful with flowers of all kinds, trees, and grass. They had two sons, in which, they taught to love the outdoors. Ranching became their second son William Marion Nielson’s passion. Then came, 7 grandchildren, 46 great grandchildren and a tassel of great great  grandchildren.  Ethel and Sonny loved their family and spent a lot of time outdoors and working the land together.

Our family moved to Fredonia, AZ in 2004 where Grandpa and Grandma  Bill (Ethel’s son) and Cheri Nielson lived.  They ranched, having property from Randolph Utah to St George Utah to Fredonia AZ. They also had permits on the AZ strip, where they trucked cattle back and forth for warmth in the winter and cooler days in the summers for many years.  As a child I loved the ranching and farming life style (work, work work from sunup to sundown) and have tried to share that life style with my children. Working with the land and animals is much more than work, it’s fun and worth while.

In 2007 I married Kenneth Robinson who was born and raised in Kanab, UT.  Between the two of us we have several pioneer ancestors who came across the plains  and many  settled in southern Utah, including Levi Stewart who came to settle Kanab, Utah.