what is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?

In 2002 we were invited to a summer birthday party at Rye Playland for a little girl. Aubrey was still nursing, so I found a quiet corner of the Picnic Pavillion to feed her. Laurel and Malcolm came with me...we sat and watched the Go-Carts ~ something that fascinated Malcolm. After a few minutes, he said he wanted to go see Daddy. I watched him walk toward Daddy, and then turned back around with Laurel to watch the cars some more. When Aubrey was done nursing, we walked back to Daddy...but Malcolm was not there.

The Picnic Pavillion was attached to an arcade, so we started the search there...after Park Security was called, the adults in the party spread out and started searching...we were all calling his name. I started to get frantic, thinking of all the horrible people that might want to hurt my boy.

We opened the swing-gate to the pavillion and headed back on the path toward the rides. We had to pass through 2 more gates. He wasn't at the food vendors we passed. He wasn't in the bathrooms. He was standing in line with complete strangers waiting to get on the go-carts. It turns out that the people he was standing with all thought he was with someone else, so nobody thought that he was "missing."

That weekend we bought Malcolm a leash. I had always thought they were cruel...until that summer. Playland was the 2nd time he had escaped from me in less than 2 weeks ~ and I didn't want to lose my adventerous boy!!

this is a picture of Holly "walking" Malcolm to get Laurel from her first day of Pre-K. He was calling out, "Hold on Laurel. I'm coming to get you!"

what was your favorite game when you were my age?

In 2nd grade (Adams Elementary ~ Spokane, WA) the movie STAR WARS was the coolest movie EVER. We all LOVED it. At recess we would gather en masse on The Big Toy (which at that date in time was fairly new playground equipment). My best friend, Kimberly Wheatbrook, had long beautiful hair like Princess Leia, so that was her role. A blond boy (name long forgotten) was Luke Skywalker, and a brunette played Han Solo...other kids filled in the rolls of Chewbaca, R2D2, C-3PO and the dreaded StormTroopers. Me? I was a Nurse. We ran around The Big Toy with pencils (our guns) and shot at the bad guys. When a good-guy got shot, my job was to go and fix them with my pencil. I always wished I had beautiful long, brown hair like Kimberly...

In 4th grade (Bonneville Elementary ~ Orem, UT) I loved to play 4-Square, tetherball and the "cherry drop" bars. 4-square was fun, but it was pretty popular, and I hated to stand in line and wait. Tetherball was soooo much fun! I would play it so much that my hands and arms would be bruised from hitting the ball so many times. We also liked to play on the "cherry drop" bars. I only remember doing one free-fall cherry drop in all my elementary school years. But I would spin and spin and spin until my hands were covered in blisters...

But if the question is referring strictly to card games or board games, then I would say that my favorite game as a kid was UNO! We learned how to play it right about the time I turned 8. We lived in Spokane (3139 E. 32nd Street) and my Grandma and Grandpa Sackett came to visit us. I don't know if they brought it and taught us, or if we had the cards and taught them, but I loved it! I still enjoy a fun game of Uno!

On rainy day recess my favorite games were: Sorry, Trouble, Hi-Q, and Mastermind.

what birthday do you remember the most?

You might think I'm going to say my 8th birthday ~ that was when I got baptized. And I do remember it. But the birthday I remember the most is my 9th birthday. 1979. Sandy, UT. We lived on Brighton View Drive...I think at Brighton View Drive and 9400 South ??

My parents let me have a Slumber Party and I invited 9 people...some of them were boys ~ they weren't going to stay later than 9pm, but as it turned out, none of them came. Just the girls. My friends and I put a big mattress on the floor of the basement family room (maybe there was more than one mattress) and we jumped on it with our sleeping bags and had pillow fights. For dinner we made French Bread Pizzas ~ to this day I think of that as being the ideal birthday party meal.

My friend LeighAnn Leonard gave me a Hi-Q game. I am not sure why it was my favorite gift, but it was. I also remember my dad teasing LeighAnn about being "lovely Ann" because she signed her card to me, "Love, LeighAnn" and, of course, when you say it, it sounds like Lovely Ann. He's always had an odd sense of humor.

Here is what I wrote in my journal about that day:

other odd memories about that house: black linoleum floors in the kitchen; the strangest toilet in the world in the basement (you had to climb 3 stairs to get to the toilet, and it was built up to look like a "throne"; and a 3-story treehouse in the backyard that overlooked the Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-thru window.

PS ~ looking through my scrapbook reminded me of my 6th birthday (1976). My birthday fell on Easter Sunday that year. My mom bought special Wilton cake pans that made a giant Easter Egg cake, and little, matching cupcakes. I remember that she spent hours decorating them, and I was so proud of how beautiful they were! I also felt very lucky that she took so much time to do something just for me.

what was your favorite vacation when you were a kid?

This one is pretty easy...it's actually the only "real" vacation I feel we took when I was growing up. It was the summer of 1982 ~ I was 12 and we lived in Orem, UT. My parents rented (or borrowed?) a motorhome. We drove from Orem into Idaho, then into Montana (to revisit our old stomping grounds), back over Idaho into Spokane (where we relived some of Dad's High School Memories ~ he lived there until his Senior year), and then over to the Puget Sound to visit Grandma May and Grandma & Grandpa Sackett. It could have even been a year for a Sackett Reunion, but I'm not sure.

When we left Washington, we drove down the Oregon Coast. I absolutely LOVED the Sea Lion Caves (near Florence, OR). It was so loud and it smelled awful! I remember that we got tin cups with pictures of the sea lions as souvenirs.




After the Sea Lions we stayed the night with friends of our parents...they had a home on a bluff that overlooked the ocean. We had to drive the motorhome up a very narrow, windy, bumpy dirt road to get to their home, and I was absolutely convinced that the motorhome was going to bounce right off the side and roll down an embankment into the ocean. I sat on the floor underneath the table and cried until we got there. I was absolutely relieved when we parked near their carport. My dad took a series of pictures that he and mom eventually enlarged to 8x10 size and framed them to make a panoramic view of the ocean and the horizon. I am pretty sure my dad still has it.


Then it was "California or Bust!" We drove down Hwy 101 (Pacific Coast Highway) for a long way, but realized it was taking a lot longer than my parents had intended...so we darted inland at some point. When we reached Southern California, we spent one glorious day at DisneyLand. I loved it!! I don't remember everything, but I remember being so excited I could hardly contain myself. After dark there was a concert on the island in the middle of the water ~ pretty sure (although I wouldn't bet money) that it was Kool and the Gang...I have a vague memory of hearing "Celebrate" ~ although as I'm typing this, I'm leaning more towards the fact that it was Sister Sledge singing "We are fam-i-ly!" I was too afraid to go on the Haunted House ride, so I stayed out and watched the concert and took care of my baby brother, Scott...and maybe Julie. I can't remember. I do remember feeling very silly and very baby'ish when everyone else came out and said how funny and un-scary the ride was.

Before we left the park our parents took us into a gift shop and we got to choose a souvenir. I must have driven my parents CRAZY because there were so many things I just couldn't live without and it was very difficult to make up my mind. I finally chose a DisneyLand sticker, a red address book (it had a "gold" embossed image of The Castle on the front, and alphabetical tabs), and a Mickey Mouse pencil (one that had the ears shaped into it) so I could write addresses in the book.


We also got to visit my Uncle Bob and his family...they lived somewhere in Southern California on the ocean. It was one of the few times our families got together. Only vague memories of that day ~ a pool table, the ocean, and maybe some snowcones...

front: Julie, Sheila, Lisa and Karen (yes ~ her shirt says" Flick my Bic") back: Missy holding Scott, Cyndie

Driving home to Utah, we drove past Las Vegas...I was very impressed with the lights of the Strip. But to this day, I have never BEEN to Las Vegas.




I'm sure my parents' memories would be different, but that's how my favorite vacation plays out in my mind.

what were your favorite subjects in school? which didn't you like?

my favorite subjects were always reading and spelling (aka english). In third grade [Sandy Elementary ~ Sandy, UT] I was 2nd runner-up in our 3rd grade spelling bee. In 5th grade I was in the school spelling bee; in 6th grade [Bonneville Elementary ~ Orem, UT] I wasn't, and it made me cry ~ for a loooooooonng time! I always remember liking to read...but in 7th grade [Sacajawea Jr. High ~ Spokane, WA] it became an obsession (or an escape) and every night I would read at least one entire book (think: Outsiders by SE Hinton; and Are you there God? It's me, Margaret by Judy Blume, etc.). My favorite book in 2nd grade [Adams Elementary ~ Spokane, WA] was Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel...I must have checked it out a dozen times that year. Somebody should buy that for me...

I never really "didn't like" a subject, but I have always struggled with math and science..and history because I can't remember dates to save my life. When I was learning how to count money in first grade [Cold Springs Elementary ~ Missoula, MT] it would make me cry because I would get so frustrated...my dad sat down with REAL money (not the drawings on paper) and try to help me. I don't know what happened, but it finally "clicked" and made sense to me. When I was a Junior in High School [Central Kitsap High School ~ Silverdale, WA] I got a "D" in Chemistry...I'm convinced that Mr. Bierman gave me the D as a gift, and not because I earned it...

what is the most amazing thing that has happened to you?

becoming a mother.

I know it sounds silly, but it truly is amazing. It is exciting and sometimes boring. It makes me so happy and so frustrated. Being a mom is so easy and so complicated. I can't think of another amazing thing that could be better than being a mom.