tell me something you love about your dad.

I love that my dad is funny. His sense of humor is something that I've always enjoyed...as I've gotten older I've realized that he's a bit corny...but still funny.

I love that my dad has always loved me. Despite the fact that there have been times when we have differences of opinion, I always know that he loves me.

I love that my dad raised me in the Church. I always thought he was "smart" about the gospel because he was called to be the Gospel Doctrine teacher at one point...

I love that my friends always liked my dad.

I love that he cooked Sunday dinner for us. That is a tradition I wish we had in our family.

I love that he can recall strange details about my life that I can't recall. Tonight, for example, he described in detail an apartment we lived in when I was about a year old. It was an old church and we lived in the basement.

I love that he brought us souvenirs (even if it was airline silverware and a bag of peanuts) when he traveled for work. It meant that he was thinking about us even though he wasn't with us.

freeze-dried love

When I was in 8th grade (Sacajawea Jr. High ~ Spokane, WA) I was able to take a Class Trip to Washington, D.C. I have no idea how my parents managed to pay for it, but I went. None of my friends went, so I roomed with 3 other girls who were best friends. I spent a lot of time with one of the Mom Chaperones (whose name I no longer remember, and whose daughter was not my friend).

There are lots of things about that trip that are very vivid in my memory. But I have already done a whole scrapbook on it, so I won't tell you about that stuff now. This is what I will tell you...

My parents gave me $40 to buy things for myself like postcards and souvenirs and treats. At every gift shop I thought long and hard about what I wanted to buy. I finally decided that I really wanted to take something home for my 5 sisters (Victoria wasn't born yet) and for my little brother.

I remember buying Cyndie a penny in a bottle (a little, teensy, tiny bottle ~ just the kind of thing Aubrey would love now). I may have given Karen the same thing. I bought my mom a Spoon for her Spoon Collection. At the Air & Space Museum I bought some freeze-dried ice cream to share with them. I can't remember all of the other things...but I was eventually able to find something for everyone in my family.

At one of the stores (the gift shop at the base of the Washington Monument) I gave the cashier a $20 (for the penny in a bottle). He gave me change for a $10, but I didn't realize it until I was almost to the front door. I went back and explained what happened and he told me I was wrong. I knew I wasn't wrong...I was very careful with my money and I knew that the $20 I gave him was the last of it. I felt myself starting to cry and I didn't want to cry in front of my classmates (even though I didn't really know any of them), so I went back and sat on the bus. When my Chaperone friend saw me she asked what was wrong, and as I explained, I started to cry. She marched me off the bus and took me back up to the cashier, but he gave her the same answer and refused to give me the correct change. She gave him our hotel phone number (and her home number) so he could call if his till came up wrong ~ but he never did.

Because of that error, I only had a few dollars to get something for myself. Which made me very sad because I had wanted to buy a charm, a t-shirt and some other things that I thought were cool. I ended up with enough money to buy a small bag of shredded money at the US Mint...and probably a soda and a few treats for the return airplane ride.

I was very happy to give everyone a souvenir when I got home. It made me feel very grown-up. My dad always brought us something (even if it was the airline knife, fork and spoon he stole from first class) when he came home from a trip, and I wanted to do the same thing.

I wasn't sure if any of my sisters remembered that trip (I knew Scott didn't because he was too young). But Sheila took a business trip to Washington, D.C. this week, and when she got home she said she had a surprise for me. I asked if it was shredded money...not thinking she'd remember. She said it was better, and this is what she gave me (I think technically it was for the kids):

I don't think Sheila knows how much this little bag of freeze-dried love meant to me. She remembered that I was nice to her! And hopefully that means that she knows that I have always loved her.

what did you watch on TV when you were my age?

When I put this question in the jar, I thought it would be really easy to answer. But when Malcolm read it last night, I was stumped. The big difference between kids' programming then and now, is that when I was growing up, there were just a couple of times a day when kids had shows just for them. Now, with Cable & satellite, kids' programming is on 24 hours a day. I really don't remember watching a lot of TV when I was growing up...although I'm sure my parents would disagree. But these are the shows that I do remember:

sesame street...I liked watching this show. I still feel like Big Bird and his friends are MY friends. When I was all growed up, I had the opportunity to GO to Sesame Street. We had a friend who was doing a Summer Internship for the show. It surprised me that I got emotional on the set. I touched the "brick" wall where Grover sits with and talks to kids. I took my picture under the Sesame Street sign. I sat on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street. I gave Big Birds' nest a hug. I sat in Mr. Hoopers' store and I almost cried; I remember how sad I was when he died. And I saw Snuffy ~ hanging in the rafters. He is such a large muppet, that they hoist him up into the rafters so that he doesn't take up valuable floor space. I was happy that I didn't see anymore "dead" muppets on my visit...our friend warned me that sometimes on the set you see a head on a chair, and a body flopped on the floor next to it. I think that would have been pretty upsetting ~ even as an adult.

mister rogers...As a child I liked watching Mr. Rogers, although if you asked me about it later, I would have told you that I didn't like him. I liked the routine he followed, the songs he sang, and I loved it when Speedy Delivery would show up with a special delivery. I liked it when he fed his fish. And, of course, I loved the Trolley. ding-ding.


tom & jerry...we watched this show in the mornings. The show I remember the most is the one where jerry lets the sink overflow and then rigs the freezer to freeze the water so he can ice-skate (its' called MICE FOLLIES). I like that my own kids think the show is fun enough to watch.




road runner & wile E coyote...meep meep! Need I say more? This show was classic. But I never figured out why the coyote was so D-U-M-B!!!

gilligans island...I loved this show. I thought it was great. The characters where funny, and I always had fun watching it. I was actually sad when they finally got rescued...and somewhat relieved when they were shipwrecked yet again.

brady bunch...This is another classic show. I liked that they had a clean house (even with 6 kids) and that they could afford to have a housekeeper/cook/babysitter.
love boat & fantasty island...I wasn't actually supposed to watch these shows. But if I brushed my mom's hair I could stay up late. The Love Boat was funny...for a while I wanted to be "Julie" when I grew up. Then I developed an intense phobia of big boats. Fantasy Island turned into a dark show (at least in mind as a kid) and it scared me more often than not.

saturday morning cartoons...we loved our cartoons. Our parents couldn't drag us out of bed for school in the mornings, but on Saturdays we were up well before dawn so we could watch them all before sports came on. Popeye, Smurfs, Super Friends, Underdog, Speedracer, Fat Albert, the Jetsons, the Flinstones, Scooby-doo, etc. Some of them were on after school for a bit.

what's the most amazing thing that's happened to you? (take 2)

I was asked to think of another amazing thing that has happened to me...and this morning as I drove home from dropping Laurel off for her Clay Class, it came to me.

9 months pregnant. Madison Square Garden ~ April 26, 1998. President Gordon B. Hinckley. Rosa Jones.

My first baby was due on the 24th of April, 1998. So when it was announced that President Hinckley would be speaking at Madison Square Garden, I had mixed emotions. I thought it would be such an amazing experience to be in the same room as the Prophet and hear him speak...but I had no idea when the baby would be born. I circled the date on my calendar and explained (many times) to my co-workers that the opportunity to see President Hinckley at Madison Square Garden would be the same as if they had the opportunity to hear the Pope speak to them.

I couldn't believe it when the baby hadn't been born and we were able to go! We took Rosa Jones, a member of our Yonkers 1st Branch. Rosa was a convert ~ a true, modern Pioneer. She suffered from diabetes and had lost much weight and was almost completely blind. But her spirit was strong.

Doug dropped Rosa and me off at the front of the Garden, and then used his Press Pass to park just a block away ~ for FREE! We were later than we should have been and worried about seats. As we entered the arena, an Usher came to us and asked if we needed Handicapped seating. My first thought was, "No...I'm just pregnant." And then I remembered Rosa ~ who was gripping Doug's arm as he guided her down the aisles (we were quite high in the seating). The Usher guided us down, Down, DOWN. And we realized we weren't stopping until we hit the FLOOR level! Rosa got us GREAT seats.

I do not remember a single word that President Hinckley spoke to us. But I remember the feeling that flooded my body from head to toe as the Prophet walked in and the entire congregation of Madison Square Garden rose to its feet and sang, "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet."

I truly am grateful for a Prophet. I know that my Heavenly Father has given us a Prophet to lead us and guide us through this troubled world. I know that I am a child of God. He knows me and loves me and will never leave me alone.

Laurel was born on May 3, a little less than week later. I'm so happy that she waited to join us until I had this amazing experience!

read about Rosa Jones:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E2D81F30F932A1575BC0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

read details about that day:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E2D6113FF934A15757C0A96E958260

what was your favorite childhood toy?

I've always said that "I never played with dolls." And my parents told me that my favorite toy when I was a really little girl was a football. But the few toys that I really remember were D-O-L-L-S!

The first is Jenny. She was a pretty doll with a dark blue "pioneer" kind of dress (at least in my mind). She had brown hair like me and freckles across her nose ~ just like me.

I don't remember the other doll's name, but she was blond, had a kind of fancy white dress. I don't know if she was a favorite, but I remember her.

The other doll I remember was my Baby Beans. I am fairly certain that she was a talking Beans, but I'm not sure. I vaguely remember that she was lost for a period of time...maybe at my Cousins' apartment...? I think one of my sisters got a Beans Baby ~ except it was the "Bare Bottom Beans" doll...it made us giggle!

tell me about a pet you had when you were growing up...

The fist pet I remember was Russell. He adopted our family when I was 5. We lived in YView Trailer Park at BYU Student Housing in Provo. I was outside and looked up the street and thought I saw a little black bear. As it got closer to me, I realized it was a cute little doggy. We tried to find his owners, but couldn't. As we packed the house and started loading the U-Haul, he got more and more nervous. He must have been relieved when we took him with us to Missoula. I named him Russell after my cousin (Russell White) whose family had come to visit us either earlier that summer, or the summer before.


Russell was a mutt. He wasn't very big, and was most likely a mix of a poodle and a few other breeds. He was happy and loved to play. I don't remember his bark...but that doesn't mean that he didn't bark...I just don't remember it.


Russell was hit by a car when I was in 3rd grade (Sandy, UT). The person who hit him called to let us know. My mom told me and my sister Cyndie to take the red wagon and a shovel and get him. I remember it being dark and kind of cold. It took us quite a while because we were nervous on the busy road (9400 South?), and because we were so terrified of our little, dead doggy. Later that night I took a walk (to the grocery store at the end of our street?) and in my mind I could see my dog running along with me...very happy and very much alive. I knew that I would see him again some day.


We got Tarbeaux when I was in 5th grade (Orem, UT). Beaux was a purebred CockerSpaniel that had never been trained or neutered. He was very excitable and we all loved him. Especially the next door neighbor's Cockapoo...they managed to get together and have a litter of puppies. I got to choose the first one to keep. I named her Annasette. She looked just like her Daddy...jet black everywhere except for the white tuft on their chests. She slept in a cardboard box in my bedroom. I took her on a Walk-a-thon and got a goody bag. After serious consideration, I decided it would be OK for me to eat the Puppy-jerky that came in the goody bag. It didn't make me sick, but I wouldn't choose to do it again! We gave both dogs away when we moved from Orem, UT to Spokane, WA in 1982.

Over the years we also had a miriad of fish and a handful of birds. The same year that Russell was hit by a car, we had 2 parakeets fly away, and a huge tankful of fish that died at the same time (something about the chemicals we used to clean the tank). We went a long time without having pets...it just seemed too hard.

When I turned 15 a boy named Rich gave me a puppy for my birthday. I named him Chip...he was a complete spaz (the dog AND the boy), and barked and jumped and peed and pooed everywhere. He didn't last long with our family (neither did the boy).

That was the last pet I had before our family adopted Henry in 2003.

did your family have any Christmas traditions? tell me about them...

We got to choose one present (any present for us under the tree) to open on Christmas Eve before we went to bed. I loved it...it seemed to make Christmas morning come so much faster!


We usually got a pair of pajamas for Christmas. They weren't necessarily Christmas pajamas, and we didn't always open them on Christmas Eve (although I think that was the intent), but I looked forward to new pajamas at Christmas.


My mom made Drinking Custard (see the post titled what was your favorite food?) every Christmas. I loved it and was always excited to see the double boiler on the stove. It seemed like it would take forever to cook. I liked it warm, and I liked it cold. I especially liked it with a leftover turkey sandwich (wheat bread, white and dark meat, mayonnaise, cranberry jelly, salt & pepper). YUMMY!


For a long time (but not always) after all the present-opening-festivities were over, my dad would have us gather all of our presents and go to a living room chair. He'd arrange the gifts all around us and then take a picture.


Let's see what I remember about this year...I was in 6-1/2 years old in 1st grade (1976). Jenny is the doll I'm holding; she had straight brown hair and freckles arcoss her nose ~ just like me. I got a real, "glass-plastic" punch set ~ it had a little punch bowl and tiny little punch glasses and a cute little ladel. Tights. a t-shirt that said, "I'm a star." A cookie/baking set (the cookie press never worked right). A color-by-number coloring book and another coloring book. Tights, socks and new underwear must have been a "tradition" in our family, because I got those every year, too. I remember those slippers, but can't recall if they were a Christmas gift.

This is not a Christmas Tradition memory, but wanted to write about it. I remember that I loved this chair. It was a completely solid piece of furniture. You didn't sink into the cushion, but it wasn't so hard that it hurt to sit on, either. The fabric was marooni'sh in color and it was kind of prickly. Not so that you got poked, but kind of scratchy. It was one of my favorite places to sit in our houses.

who was your favorite teacher?

My favorite teacher was Mr. Craig Knight ~ 5th grade at Bonneville Elementary in Orem, UT (I was in 5th grade, but it was a combined 5th/6th grade classroom.

He was funny, sympathetic, and very enthusiastic about teaching...I doubt he'd been teaching long when he got my class. His wife had long, straight brown hair and they had a little girl. He served a mission somewhere in Asia, and he taught us about humidity.

We had "Current Events" in our classroom. If we clipped a headline story from the newspaper and brought it in and then told the class about the story, we would get extra points for our "table" (4 or 6 desks pushed together to form a table). In his class we made sandpaintings on chipboard (or something like chipboard). We laughed a lot.

I was talking to him when our Principal ran in to tell us that Ronald Reagan (President) had just been shot...I'd heard my Mom talk about Kennedy being shot, and I thought for sure that the world must be coming to an end at that moment. Mr. Milne (the Principal) wheeled in a TV so we could watch the news reports...I left after a while and walked home alone...very frightened, but happy that President Reagan hadn't died.

There was a boy in our class. We were awful to him. I still remember his name, but I'm not going to tell you what it is...maybe he'd find this and he'd fell bad all over again. But one time we were lining up for recess. It had been a bit rainy and cold in the morning, but the skies had cleared and the sun was shining. The rest of us just got in line...but not this boy. He pulled on his big coat, his knitted ski hat (complete with a pompom), his rubber galoshes, a scarf (maybe I'm making that part up), and his big gloves. Mr. Knight said, "[insert boy's name here], don't you think it's a little warm to being wearing all that?" and the boy answered, "No, Mr. Knight. My mom told me to wear these things." And we all laughed and thought he was kind of stupid for not realizing that she probably would have understood...Looking back on it, though, I think this boy must have had a lot of respect for his Mom, and that's why he chose to obey her.

As a teacher, Mr. Knight got to chaperone us at Clear Creek during 6th grade. I think by then I had a full-blown school-girl crush on him. He made me feel good about myself, and that made me very happy.

what do you remember about your grandparents or great grand parents?

Grandma Norah (Ann Norah Victoria Shaw Maggio ~ and some other names, too, I think) ~ my mom's grandmother

Grandma Norah had beautiful white hair. I want white hair when I get OLD, too. She grew up in England and kept her beautiful accent. I always thought she smelled good, andl ooked beautiful. She had a very crowded apartment (an old-style "assisted-living" apartment) in Lacey. Her furniture was very fancy, I thought, because it was white and pretty. She had lots of crocheted poodles, pillows, afghans and dolls. I remember her being elegant. Her hands and arms and cheeks were always soft.

Her Aunt was a famous male impersonator on the London Stage. She told me once that Aunt Hetty would invite her over to play in her jewelry and she would put on the big rings and earrings and necklaces and prance around her home. It was only years later that she realized that Aunt Hetty didn't have "costume jewelry" ~ it was all real. Grandma Norah laughed and told me, "If I'd known that they were real, some of them might have ended up in my pockets, wouldn't they?!"

When I moved to New York to be a nanny, we exchanged letters for several months. I was surprised at how well she understood me and understood my late-teen angst. When she died she was 88 years old, and I cried because I wasn't there to say goodbye to her. But chances are, if I was there, I wouldn't have known her as well as I had come to know her through letters.

what do you remember about your grandparents or great grandparents?

Grandma and Grandpa Sackett (Lois Winifred Buchanan & Charles Walter Sackett) ~ my mom's parents



If I have the story correct, Grandma and Grandpa met in their early twenties. Grandma Norah (Grandma Sackett's mom) didn't like Grandpa and managed to somehow break them up. He moved to California and married a woman and had a daughter. Grandma stayed in Washington and married a man and had a son. Grandpa's wife died. He went to Washington and collected Grandma who lived with him as a "housekeeper" ~ they married and had 5 children together. Sounds like a love story come true, right? Wrong. They argued quite a bit, and I wasn't sure they actually liked each other.

They pulled together some fun Reunions when I was growing up. Grandma was always taking pictures...they had an instamatic camera (one that spits the pictures out right away). It was one of the originals where you pulled it out, watched the clock for a period of time, ripped off a layer, and then waited as the picture appeared. It was like magic!!


Grandma had great knick-knacks. My favorite were some ceramic buddha-looking men with bobble-heads (back before bobble-heads were cool). She liked 7-up ~ a lot! I can't see it or drink it without thinking of her.

Grandpa was a funny guy! He wore dentures for as long as I remembered. And if nobody was looking, he'd slip them down and make funny faces...as soon as we'd laugh and someone else would look, he'd slip them back up and act like nothing was happening. He always wore some awful baseball hat...silly words, ads, etc. He made seagulls that would "fly" in the wind. He was also a Champion Horseshoe Thrower. He also had narcolepsy and could/would fall asleep at some interesting times.


They loved to travel ~ not flying, but driving. They had a big duely truck and a 5th wheel trailer. I am pretty sure Grandma would pack her ENTIRE home into the 5th wheel when they came to visit. She was afraid not to have something she might "need." As Grandma's alzheimer's disease started becoming evident, the family worried about them traveling...Grandpa was forgetful, too, and we thought that maybe they would pull into a rest stop, Grandma would go use the restroom and forget where she was, Grandpa would get tired of waiting for her and drive off without her. It never happened, but it still made everyone worry about them.


Grandma and Grandpa went to Church...I think. Grandpa always struggled to stop smoking; sometimes he tried harder than others. I don't think he ever gave up drinking coffee.

When Doug and I got married, they came to the Temple with us. Actually, we all had to wait for them because they forgot to set the alarm and they were an hour late for the Sealing. I was the only grandchild whose sealing they attended. This is the only picture I have with them (it was taken with Grandma's 3-D camera) from the wedding.


On a sad/odd note: I was never comfortable when they came to our home to visit. I don't know why. My mom would get weird...I can't explain why or how, but even as a young child I could feel the tension in our home when they were there. When they visited after Scott was born (1982) I couldn't wait for them to leave. But once they did leave I cried. I stopped crying after a bit, but then started again when I saw a cigarette Grandpa put out on our front walkway. And then I stopped. And then I cried again when I found Grandpa's Folger's Instant Coffee jar (we kept it in the freezer even though we knew it would be ages before we saw them again). I am not sure what those emotions were all about...maybe it was just because I was 12.

what do you remember about your grandparents or great-grandparents?

Grandma May (Afton Leishman May) ~ my dad's mom


Grandma May lived in Silverdale, WA. The first house I remember was the "big white house" on Bayshore Drive NW. a dutch colonial style, I think. It was right across the very small street from Dyes Inlet. We would go and dig in the sand for clams and other shells. The yard had huge trees. One evergreen was so big that we could set up a table underneath the lowest branches. We played house under there for hours. Grandma had a big garden ~ I can't remember what she grew in the garden, but I do remember that it attracted slugs. We liked to pour salt on them. The Elementary School playground was just behind her garden. One time I was turning off the garden hose ~ it was just outside the back kitchen door (?) under the back dining room window. As I glanced down I saw a snake slither across my feet. I probably jumped 6 feet in the air and screamed bloody murder. It could be why snakes still make my skin crawl. The side yard had a laundry line. The driveway was dirt and the garage was at the back of the house...UNDER the house. The firehouse was next door and the alarm would sometimes wake me up at night.


That house was beautiful ~ at least it was in my mind. There were bedrooms (2, I think) upstairs with sloped ceilings. I can still feel the smell of that upstairs in my nose, and I can hear the floors creak, and feel the worn floors on my feet. The fireplace in the living room was beautiful. So was the picture window that looked over the water. I remember the smell of low tide ~ it still reminds me of her house. Between the living room and dining room were leaded glass doors; there was also a door between the dining room and kitchen. The bathroom was fairly standard for its age ~ and if you flushed the toilet, the person in the shower would get scalded with the hot water!



One of my most vivid memories (especially as my kids lose their teeth): I was watching Speed Racer (the TV was near the fireplace), sitting on the big braided rug that covered the wood floors. I kept pushing at a loose tooth and suddenly it just popped out! I was completely taken by surprise because it wasn't really loose enough to come out!



We lived with Grandma May when I started 1st grade. For my first day mom made me a pretty red and white ginham dress (big gingham like a picnic tablecloth). Grandma May bought me a pair of socks to match ~ they were red and white striped (like a candy cane). That was just the beginning of the crazy socks that Grandma May would give us. I mentioned it to her years later (when I was an adult) and she was insulted that I thought she gave us "crazy" socks. Apparently she liked them and thought they were pretty!!


That house is gone now...I think they built some apartments on the land. That makes me sad. The house was moved, but I haven't seen it in its "new" location.


Later Grandma moved to a "new house" at 7245 Chico Way NW. That home was also across the street from Dyes Inlet. She had a big wooden deck around the front and the side of the house, and a huge staircase to climb to get to the house. She had a merry-go-round with a hand crank. It was sooo much fun!


Grandma loved gardening and she loved her flowers ~ especially roses! She grew a Crocosmia Lucifer plant near her outside stairs. It was so striking that people would stop (Chico Way is a fast street) and ask what it was. I helped Uncle Alan clean her yard after she died in 2005. I brought home some bulbs (Iris) and as much Crocosmia as I could. I love it when it blooms in my backyard. And when my own roses bloom I think she must be proud of me. I know she is the reason I have a "green thumb."


Grandma May loved Girls' Camp...I remember visiting her there at least once. She had a big walking stick and a hat. She seemed very at peace outside.


When Doug and I got married, we used the cake topper from her wedding cake. She had re-pearled the bride's veil and repainted the faces of the bride and groom. I was sad when she took it home, but happy to have that part of her wedding as part of ours.

what was your favorite food when you were a kid?

When I was growing up, my mom would make us whatever we wanted for our birthday dinner. For 3 years in a row, I asked her to make homemade fried chicken... for some reason that really appealed to me. And for 3 years she made it for me.



And for 3 years I got S-I-C-K. I don't know if the fried chicken made me sick, or if I was already sick to begin with...to this day, the idea of fried chicken is better than the actual idea. But that doesn't stop me from eating it every once in a while...



At Thanksgiving and Christmas my mom always made Drinking Custard ~ a recipe your great-great-grandmother gave her. I still get cravings for it sometimes, but since I'm the only one in the family who likes it, I don't make it.

Drinking Custard

14 - 15 eggs, beaten lemon yellow 1 c. sugar (to taste)
1 gallon whole milk 1 t. vanilla or so

To beaten eggs, add sugar and beat in; gradually add to milk in a large double boiler (I use a 6-quart Dutch oven in a canning kettle). Water in bottom of double boiler should be hot, but not boiling. Cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally and keep a watch on the pan. Continue cooking until mixture coats a spoon. If it is stirred often enough, it will not form lumps with the eggs. When it coats a spoon, remove from heat and add vanilla when the custard cools some. Keep refrigerated. Great-Grandma Sackett

Other foods I loved: spaghetti and homemade spaghetti sauce with hot garlic bread; chili-mac; casseroles ~ just about any kind; Godfather's pizza; McDonald's french fries dipped in a McDonald's ice-cream cone; Taco Time Mexi-Fries; mexican food; stir-fry; etc., etc. I just loved to eat...and I still do.

tell me about a time you got in trouble...what was your punishment?

In between 3rd (Sandy Elementary) and 4th grades (Bonneville Elementary), our family moved from Sandy, UT to Orem, UT. It was only about 30 minutes away, but it seemed like another world to me. I really missed my friends (especially Lori Adamson who lived across the street from our old house) and I was always asking if we could go visit her, and drive past our old house.

One day my mom told me to do the dishes, and some other chores so we could do something. Instead of obeying her, I found a million excuses not to do the dishes and the other chores. When my dad got home he saw that I hadn't done what I was supposed to do. So he and mom hired a babysitter to stay with me, Cyndie, Karen and Sheila. They took Lisa and Julie with them ~ to SANDY. I was crushed and I cried and screamed and told them how unfair it was. but they left me at home anyway.

I'd love to say that I learned my lesson and from then on I did everything I was asked WHEN I was asked, but that wouldn't be the truth.

when you were my age, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I don't remember what I wanted to be in Kindergarten. Aubrey thought that perhaps I wanted to be a Mommy. She might be right.

By 2nd grade, I had started to think about being on TV like my Dad. And in 4th grade, that was definitely my "life's ambition" ~ that desire lasted through most of High School.

After I was a nanny I decided that I would get a degree in Early Childhood Education so I could run a preschool from my home (work without being away from my kids).

I do have a lot of experience working with and teaching kids. But so far, I have no college degree. When I do finally go back to school, I think my major will be something other than early childhood education...maybe pottery or photography.

what was your favorite thing to do after school?

I actually don't have a lot of memories of "after school." I liked to ride my bike, read books, play games with my friends, and just be outside.

When I went to Bonneville Elementary, I remember walking home and talking to my friend Aimee. I don't know what we talked about, but it seems like there was always a lot to say. The 5 or 6 block walk would take me far too long ~ I'm sure my mom wondered where I was and what was taking me so long!

who was your best friend when you were my age? what did you like to do together?

sometimes I get jealous when I hear about people talk about friends they have had their whole lives. We moved around so much when I was growing up that I had to make new friends all the time. At the time it was really hard and I was always so sad when I moved. But looking back on it now, I feel like I was always blessed with good friends along the way...

in Kindergarten (Cold Springs Elementary ~ Missoula, MT) I had a friend named Jennifer. She had a horse collection and I loved going to her house to look at them. I moved away after Kindergarten, but moved back at the beginning of 1st grade; Jennifer invited me to her new house for a sleepover. I took my blue-flowered slumber party suitcase. We read Ranger Rick magazines, and danced to her big sister's Captain & Tennille records...we especially liked "Love will keep us together."

in 2nd grade (Adams Elementary ~ Spokane, WA) my best friend was Kimberly Wheatbrook. She had beautiful long brown hair. I really liked a pretty, green, long polyester dress she wore; it reminded me of the Pioneer dresses. During recess (as I mentioned before) we liked to play Star Wars on the big toy on the playground. At home we rode bikes. One weekend we spent a lot of time burying leaves that had fallen off a tree in our backyard...they had strange spots and we thought the tree was dying.

in 4th grade (Bonneville Elementary ~ Orem, UT) my best friend was Aimee Howlett. Kuipo (Ipo) Sing was also my very good friend (she had a friend named Hokulani Aikau who was her best friend, I think). Aimee and I both liked to read. She had a great poster collection on her bedroom walls. We liked to play SPOONS ~ a card game that I've forgotten how to play; it would make us laugh and laugh and laugh. We stayed best friends until I moved from Orem in 7th grade. In 6th grade we rented a movie (My Bodyguard) and sold tickets to kids in the neighborhood. While the movie was playing we also offered babysitting for younger children. We heard that we could get arrested for breaking copyright laws, but since her Dad was a cop and he knew what we were doing, we felt pretty safe. We each made about $7 that day.

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.