One of my memories of growing up was having a big birthday party every year. My cousins about my age and the kids from the neighborhood were invited. When I was about five, we all played a game of Red Rover on the big lawn in our backyard. I had slumber parties of girls. One year, we took turns dancing to the song “Footloose.” That was a lot of fun. Another time, my friends and I went roller-skating at a rink.
Large family parties were held at my aunt Marilyn’s large house. It was great getting to know everyone there.
I remember my brother Noel and sister Julie coming to visit. That was fun. I remember my brother Lance living with us. He was a patient and gentle brother.
Mom sewed dresses, nightgowns, and soft flannel blankets for my sister Suzy and me. She made a fancy layered dress for my clogging performances. The next year she made some shiny black pants for clogging. She was home a lot when I was little, which was a support to me. We used to go to the library every week. I would check out as many children’s books on tape as they allowed.
Suzy and I used blankets to sled down the carpeted stairs in the house. I used my bedroom furniture and blankets to make huts to play with my stuffed animals in.
I babysat my niece Andrea when she was a toddler. She was a happy baby who laughed a lot. After Katelyn was born, Suzy and I babysat them both, each of us being in charge of one.
Mom, Dad, Suzy, and I went camping and boating at Bear Lake. It was my favorite vacation spot. The water was so clean, you could see the bottom clearly through six feet of water. In some places there were no rocks. I loved to swim there, and dive underwater. Waterskiing was exciting. I rode on a tube behind our boat. Later, I had a ski-bob for two. That was challenging and breath-taking. We also vacationed at Yellowstone National Forest, Arches National Monument, Lake Powell, Yuba Lake, and Willard Bay. I went snowskiing once when I was about eight years old. I especially enjoyed going to Star Valley, Wyoming to Grandpa Harrison’s house and the huge family reunions.
Mom took me to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Center, where she worked in the accounting department. I had fun drawing pictures and making long chains of paper clips.
Dad took me to his fire station. I loved the pole that the firefighters slid down, and the giant city map that was painted on the wall.
In our large backyard, we grew some corn, watermelon, raspberries, strawberries, potatoes, carrots, peaches, apples, pears, cherries, and more. When I was little, Mom marked off spots for Suzy and me to grow our own gardens. I remember being delighted when I picked and ate my own carrots.
We had a large lawn where we played volleyball. Sunny, our golden retriever, had five puppies, and we kept Max, one of the cutest ones. We had some ducks, and later, quail. There was a fragrant lilac bush outside my bedroom window. Its beauty inspired me to grow plants in my room. There were roses, pine trees, and other lovely flowers and trees in our front yard.
I imagined I was on an exciting adventure when I was out in our yard. I had a secret cottage in the lilac bushes. I made mud pies with various seeds and plants I found. I played with Max a lot, throwing or hiding tennis balls for him.
Suzy and I put on cooking demonstrations for each other with Mom’s homemade play dough. Later, Mom taught our 4-H classes in cooking and sewing. I made shakes in the blender, and made a heart-shaped fried egg in the center of a piece of toast.
Dad built a playhouse in the back, and a basketball hoop in the front driveway. Lance taught me how to ride my bicycle. I explored the neighborhood on my bike, and rode to school. There was a tall dirt hill at the top of our street that I rolled down every day on my way home. I roller-skated in our driveway and up and down the street. I also rolled down the street on the sidewalk sitting on our red wagon.
I visited my friends Shana and Shellie Woodall, Danielle Cole, Shauna Freeman, and Melissa Dean. We played and had sleepovers. We had a friendly neighborhood. Most people there came to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where I got to know them.
We played card games as a family. My favorites were Pit and Authors. We also played Canasta, Pinochle, and Poker. Clue became a family tradition. We had computers and a lot of games. They were entertaining. I remember playing Lancer with Lance. Tetris, Micro Machines, and Super Mario Kart were my favorite games on Nintendo. I played with stuffed animals, dominoes, and Legos.
I took a couple years of clogging lessons from Corky Milne and the Salt City Cloggers. I met some friends there, and had fun dancing and synchronizing. We performed at several places. I took a couple years of piano lessons from Sister Ellis and Ann Haertel. They were kind teachers. I played on my own after that. The piano became a wonderful way to express myself.
We went to St. Louis, Missouri, for Noel and Suzi’s wedding. We got to ride in a very long limousine with Suzi to the wedding. We went to Logan for Lance and Mary’s wedding reception.
Mom taught Suzy and me to drive her Monte Carlo Super Sport and my aunt Karla’s car. That was a lot of fun. I practiced at school and mall parking lots. When I was sixteen, I had my final driving lessons in Honolulu, Hawaii, winding around the volcano on neighborhood streets. My aunt NaDee had invited us there to her house for the summer. I enjoyed feeling the mist falling from the sky. I had fun shooting half-court shots at the basketball court behind her house and jumping on her trampoline. I ate breakfast in a hammock on the balcony, with the distant ocean in view. We visited Sea Life Park, and watched the talented dolphins perform.
I am grateful for our large family, and for good times.
I had a lot of good times growing up. I remember coming home from school one day when I was really little. Mom was sitting on the living room couch sewing. It seemed like the air was filled with joy. I felt safe and free, and I was happy at home. Mom sewed several baby blankets for me. One light blue one was my favorite because it was the softest one. Mom made a matching miniature one for my doll. We had lots of fun picture books with tapes and records.
I remember several Christmas celebrations. My favorite times were when a lot of family members came to visit. Noel brought Suzi over. Julie and Ed came. Lance lived with us until I was about five. Mom and Dad gave me a basketball and basketball hoop, a figure-eight track with motorized racecars, and a homemade cabbage patch doll that I named Cathy Lu to match Suzy’s doll Suzy Lu. I received new coats, clothes, furniture, a sleeping bag, quilts, stuffed animals, video games, board games, science experiment kits, Transformers, Stompers, Legos, softball and mitt, scriptures (which have inspired me and improved my life), novels, journals, and pictures of Jesus.
When Mom, Suzy, and I went to church, Mom always had gum for us to chew after we took the Sacrament. When I was really little, I made pencil rubbings of the organ pipes on the front of the hymnbook. In Sunday School, Jason Laxman always blew everyone away with his knowledge of the scriptures. He was a good influence on everyone.
I visited my friends’ homes and got to know their families. The Cole, Woodall, Freeman, Haertel, Laxman, Dean, Baer, and Richards families impressed me. They filled their homes with happiness and love. I wondered how they did everything.
I remember Shane Woodall coming over to play, and we played house with leaves, pine cones, pine needles, and other things we found outside. Shana and Shellie came over and we played school with the desks and chalkboard in the garage. I visited their home a lot, and especially loved the peanut butter and honey sandwiches their mom gave us on homemade bread.
I enjoyed riding my pink bike with the banana seat. I worked hard to learn to ride it. I explored the neighborhood and the new houses and streets.
We used to take our camper and go to the woods or Bear Lake for a week or two at a time. I remember playing with some invisible ink activity books and having a lot of fun. I had a gigantic book of connect-the-dots and a huge book of search-a-words that lasted over a decade. I remember walking through the woods once when I was about eight with Dad. He showed me several kinds of trees and told me what they were named. I really enjoyed having our golden retriever Sunny with us. Sunny was so peaceful and patient. She was a gentle and kind friend. She and later Maxamillian were comforting and calming to me.
I played in the playhouse in the back yard a lot. I found a spot in the backyard between the shed and fence where I could stand on a post and look over the fence. I played hide-and-seek with Max in the backyard and garage when he was about two years old. I remember one time hiding in the boat and he took a long time to sniff me out because I was so high off the ground. He was a lot of fun.
Our extended family celebrations were an important part of my life. I enjoyed getting to know my brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and uncles. When I met my Grandma Fay Cook for the first time I was surprised because I had assumed that my step-grandma Vena Swensen was my paternal grandmother. It was good to meet my extended family on the Cook side, and spend some time together. I am glad to have the family members that I do.
We watched a lot of good TV shows when I was growing up. I remember Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Family Ties, Growing Pains, Who’s the Boss?, Silver Spoons, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Bugs Bunny Cartoons, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Doogie Howser, M.D., Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Beverly Hills, 90210, and Christie. I remember going to movies as a family, and renting videos.
I remember Mom and sometimes Dad going to my parent-teacher conferences, school programs, music recitals, and clogging performances.
Several home teachers came to visit over the years. They were supportive and cheerful. Rob and Ann Haertel were very influential for me. I am glad they became our friends. When I was eight I was impressed with Rob’s faith, and he held the Priesthood, so I asked him to confirm me as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and confer the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Young Women program inspired me. I learned a lot about relationships after setting Personal Progress goals and working towards them. Mom wrote a supportive and encouraging letter to me when I was about twelve.
I met many kind people in Hawaii when we went there for the summer when I was sixteen.
I am grateful for the good community of people in the Church. It has been good for me to learn from so many happily married couples. I am glad for my family too, and for the happy times. I am grateful to have lived a good life.