Tough

I write a lot of posts about mistakes and strange decisions my dad has made in his life, but he happens to be one of the most resilient, self sacrificing and tough men I have ever known.
Dad began to loose his eye sight when he was about 20 when he first noticed a line in his vision. Over 40 years the line has grown in size to where he has lost all color and central vision. When you see him "looking" at you, it is usually with his peripheral vision, giving the distinct impression he is looking past you. Dad drove until he couldn't pass the eye exam at the DMV then forged Dr's notes until he felt he was unsafe to drive. Never to be held back he has ridden a bike to work, DI, and home depot whenever he needs something. He has bus schedules memorized and is on a first name basis with every worker at DI, Checker, Auto zone, Home depot, Lowes, Johnstone Supply and every wrecking yard from Santiquin to North Lehi. It is very rare when he asks for help and when he does it is because he has tried and just couldn't get it right. I often visit the wood shop to find he has used almost all of my tools including my table saw and chop saw,where he measures something and sets up the saw by "feel". Dad never gives up even if it takes him hours to complete a task.
Dad took an aptitude test in high school and they told him he should become and Engineer. To which he stated, to me, one day " I could look at anything and figure out how to make it better" but later relented and said "I couldn't take the math". Dad found mom and dropped out of BYU 1 semester shy of his bachelors degree... he never went back. I laugh about my childhood because of all the crazy things we went through because we were poor but dad was always working some angle to try to earn more money for our family. I think part of the reason he was so grumpy when we were younger was every time he earned any money we would add another mouth to feed, which would require another scheme to earn more money. Dad sacrificed his 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's to us, trying to get us a decent start in life.
recently I was working with Dad on a railroad tie wall were we were drilling holes through the ties and driving re-bar into the holes. I was trying to work fast because sometimes dad will slow you down trying to help. I was busy drilling holes when I heard the Tap... Tap... of the 5 pound sledge hammer driving a piece of re-bar into the tie. Dad would place his thumb over the top of the re-bar and then tap the hammer on the top to find the center. Dad would then take a bigger swing and about 50% of the time would hit the re-bar and the other 50% would hit his hand. I always let him do what ever he wants to try so I went back to my drilling, when I heard a tap of the hammer then dad say "Crap!" then he pulled his arm into his chest and began to make his customary farting noise with his mouth. I have heard the farting noise a hundred times and I think it usually takes the place of him cussing. I asked "you OK?'. He gathered himself together and said "yes". He picked up the 5 pound sledge and started to hammer again when I saw the blood streaming down the re-bar and pooling on the wooden tie. "I don't think you are OK, let me see your hand" I said. Dad presented his hamburgered Dad had pinched his thumb between the top of the re-bar and the 5# hammer causing a through and through gash that needed stitches. "You probably need to go to the hospital to get that fixed" I said. "No" he said "lets get to work."
I wrapped his thumb and he went back to trying to driving re-bar into the railroad ties.
No excuses, hard work and resiliency= tough.

Radar

Cody Bought Radar from Stuart Gray. He was a German Short hair pointer with a dark brown head and a white body with brown speckles, he had a huge abdominal hernia that never healed over and it took away the sleek look of usual pointers, and the fact that he was lazy.

Cody originally let Radar sleep in his bed, we shared a room and I secretly envied Cody because it was a cool looking dog. Each night radar would jump into Codys bed and snuggle up. radar slept in Codys bed until one morning when Cody woke up with a giant pile of dog pooh sitting next to his body and Radar sleeping at the bottom of the bed. One of the few times I've ever seen Cody loose his temper, Cody let loose a tirade of Mormon swear words, like "stupid dog" and "crapped" at Radar while slapping Radars backside. Cured of any bowel and urinary incontinence in one night Radar tried to get on Codys bed the next night and was met with a slap on his back side. Radar dejected turned to my bed and slept with me for the rest of his life.

Contrary to the temperament of most short haired pointers, Radar spent his life laying around under a desk, eating and farting. His farts had a very distinct smell and could quickly clear a room. At the first smell someone would yell "RADAR!!!" to which everyone would cover their nose to avoid even the first smell.

Dyke had a girl friend, Kristy, who made him a plate of cookies and had put them in his room on his dresser. radar went in and ate the whole plate. Dyke was mad but Kristy was madder, forever after anytime Radar crossed Kristi's path he was always followed by a "Stupid dog"

About a year into having the dog Cody and I began to wrestle on the ground when we felt Radar gently nipping at our heals, the longer we wrestled the more aggressive his nips became. We often wrestled in front of Radar to see who's side he thought he was on. one day while wrestling in the front yard Bill Marek came running across the street and grabbed Cody around the shoulders, then let out a loud yelp, radar had bitten Bill on the butt. Luckily Bill didn't sue us but simply stated "No, No, your dog was doing what he's supposed to... he was protecting you".

At about 1 year old Radar was through puberty and had started to carouse a little so we had talked about having him "fixed".

One day I arrived home from school only to find Radar walking with a limp, he held his back legs as far apart as he could while walking like he had saddle sores. He would walk a few steps, sit down and begin to bite at his testicles. Cody and I held him down to find Radar testicles were twice the size of normal and discolored in swirls of fire engine red and purple. Near the base of his testicles we discovered a rubber band wrapped tightly around cutting off most of the circulation. Cody and I tried to get to his testicles but when we began to try to cut the bands Radar began to growl and snip, so we waited for dad, all the time infuriated for the hate crime someone had committed on our dog.

When dad came home we went to him "Dad, we need your help"

"what for"

Exasperated and disgusted "some one wrapped a rubber band around radars nuts!"

Dad (silence)

We lay radar on my bed and turned him on his back, Dad held Radars mouth closed and held his front paws and Cody and I took turns holding back legs and trying to cut the rubber band with out cutting the engorged tissue that had surrounded the bands.

still infuriated Cody said "who would do this to our dog!"

"... I did" said Dad

Dad being the from a farm had done to Radar what he had done to hundreds of cattle, slap a rubber band on the testicles and watch them shrivel up and fall off, only this time all of the blood supply was not cut off so the tissue continued to swell and engorge. Not only were the testis's not salvageable but the vet had to piece together the surrounding tissue after the necrotic tissue was cut out. It cost us double the amount for the neuter $120 dollars, a monumental amount to me. Radar came out unscathed and within a week was back to his old lazy self.

Plywood rider

Along the side of our house runs and old cement irrigation ditch. A solid 2 feet in diameter with a port that allowed access to control when we could set water on our lawn, and when we could send it down the line to Johnson's farm. we made several attempts at crawling up the cement pipe to see where it led to , but we always turned back when we couldn't see any more, and fear of being attacked by some unseen sewer monster usually turned us around.

We shared the irrigation port with 3 families, The Chamberlains, us and the Bowns. When the Bowns got irrigation we also got irrigation because to get to the Bowns yard the irrigation would have to travel down our irrigation port, across our lawn and through 3 cinder block ports under the fence.

Back then our back yard was lined with a brick and mortar fence on 3 sides that would trap the irrigation water in so that near the back of the yard in between the 2 cherry trees the water would sometimes stand 4-6 inches deep, as close to a swimming pool as we got back then. It was deep enough you could go in the back and lie in the grass and completely submerge your body and float but still easily keep your head above the water. The rest of the yard would be an inch or two deep and was the perfect depth for running and splashing. Friends would come from around the neighborhood to play in our own temporary swamp.

Real activities were in short supply until the summer Dyke made a sled; a piece of ply wood with a rope tied through a hole. The plywood, would easily skim across the water carrying a small rider. A smaller kid would jump on, knees down, and hold onto the rope while a bigger kid would try to spin and throw them off. Once thrown off, your turn was over until all the kids had had their own turn.

One Saturday there must have been 15 kids in our back yard and we were all taking turns. Chad Dyke and Jon Chamberlain were all giving rides to the neighborhood kids when Cody ponied up. Cody for some reason had built himself a little reputation as being particularly hard to throw. This day Cody would not be thrown. First Dyke took his turn spinning and jerking hoping for Cody to flip or let go , but Cody held tight leaning hard on the turns to stop the usually inevitable tumble, Cody didn't fall. Chad then took his turn and couldn't shake Cody. Then Jon Chamberlain, generally thought of as the strongest, took his turn to try and throw Cody off. Jon turned hard whipping Cody around harder than most rides and jerked hoping his hands would jar loose. Finally getting tired Jon sent Cody on a few break neck, clock wise, spins each time getting closer to the pine tree that stood near the back of the yard... and let go... sending Cody sliding underneath the over hanging branches and square into the trunk of the tree. Cody buckled over in pain. The neighborhood kids were in shock as we stood speechless. Jon stood and justified the means to Cody's end. Cody buckled over in pain and cried a little, but as far as I remember never snitched out Jon for running him into the tree.

Cody still retained the title as the best of the plywood riders. Most of the time Cody's turns would end in the puller finally giving up and saying "it's somebody Else's turn, I am tired"

leather shoes

About 4th grade I discovered the shower, a comb and began to see girls in a new light. that was the year the Smiths across the street found "locker room" clothes, which were cheap enough for mom to buy us a few shirts. Payless shoes were still the standard shoes, made with a plastic upper and a hard rubber sole they didn't scream style, in fact because of my new awakening for style I began to be slightly embarrassed about my shoes.

My Payless shoes were worn out and if we were shoe shopping it was because my current shoes had large holes in them. I remember being at the mall and we walked into a shoe store that wasn't Payless. My eyes were opened, They had shoes that were leather and didn't look like a single piece of molded plastic but looked like they would bend and fold with your foot when you walked. Mom had given us a $10 limit for the shoes. I spotted a pair that were the coolest I had ever seen and they looked like they were leather. They were white with red and blue stripes running parallel to the sole and the rubber gripped the ground when I tried to run in them.

$20 was too much to pay for shoes but I had seen the light so I begged which was usually fruitless but I still persisted. Mom being a better negotiator offered this "well your birthday is next month, you could choose to have these for your birthday... if you pay half".

I remember thinking this was a crappy deal but I had begged and didn't feel like I could back down now, so I gave in, "OK" I said. I had money from my paper route and present my $10 cash and we bought the shoes. Cody also liked the shoes and asked if mom would buy him the shoes if he paid half too, mom said "well you do need new shoes" , this is when I realized I had gotten a raw deal and probably where I first realized being a busness man was not for me. Cody got the same deal that I had, but his birthday was one month prior and he had already gotten his presents.

Lawn mower

Chad and Dyke always complained about having to do the hardest work with dad. They were the ones who learned body work on wrecked cars and helped straighten car frames. One job they got out of fairly early in life, though, was mowing the lawn. I may be be exaggerating but I seem to remember being thrust into the lawn mowing spot light at the ripe age of 6 years old. Dad took me out to the front lawn and placed me in front of the BYU reject lawn mower that he had repaired for the millionth time and taught me about keeping the far wheel just this side of the line, so you wouldn't leave any patches of grass unmowed. He then pulled the starter and I stood behind the bar. The upper bar was about shoulder height, and I remember trying to push the top bar but I could only accomplish movement if I was on a down hill slope once I hit level ground or a uphill slope I had to drop my hands to the lower bar and lean with all 45 pounds of muscle, bone and fury to get it to move. The front lawn took what seemed like hours to finish that day. From that day forward Cody and I slowly took over the lawn duties You would think that with Cody and I being the middle children we would have lawn mowing relief only a few years behind, but when Laura asked to mow the lawn, she took her turn and shined!
I think I remember saying something to the effect of "stupid Laura, she can't even mow in a straight line!", thinking dad was going to give her a "whipp'in". Laura took the mower and maneuvered it in a criss cross pattern around the yard. Laura then abandoned her efforts leaving huge patches of uneven lawn. Dad seeing the lawn yelled at me and made me go finish the job.
I now see the genius of Laura's plan, I being the people pleaser that I am tried to make perfect lines and no patches, thus increasing the amount of work required of me. Laura, following little girl Wimsey and fun, had a good time and decreased her work load.

Milk- By Wade

when I was in the 9th grade I played a lot of basketball. Every day after school we would play 2 on 2 basketball with Adam and Abel Smith and Ryan Chappell. Adam told me once that If I drank a lot of milk I would grow taller, having no information to combat this I began drinking a 32oz cup of milk 2 times a day, once in the morning and once at night.
Mom was buying about 10 gallons of milk per week at the time for all 9 of us kids and with me drinking a half gallon per day and the older boys probably drinking as much there always seemed to be a shortage of milk. After several months of a milk shortage Milk suddenly began to appear, which was great because I was going to be 7 feet tall and play in the NBA. I did notice an occasional change in the smell, a kind of a baby formula smell, but taste wasn't affected so I continued my routine. I would drink my 32 oz of milk in the morning and when I came home that night the milk jug would be full again. I would drink my 32 oz of milk at night and the jug would be full by morning, oblivious to this magic jug, I continued to drink out of the jug until the taste began to change and I would abandon my efforts to grow another foot tall until the other kids in the house finished off the old jug and a new one would emerge.
It was years later the older boys let me in on Moms secret; when the milk jug would reach half way, she would fill the rest back up with powdered milk, repeating the process several times with the same jug of milk. This was in an effort to save money as powdered milk was cheaper than real milk. After being cut so many times All the children instinctively knew not to drink it and it would sit...the same jug would stay in the refrigerator until some one would just dump it down the sink when Mom wasn't looking, allowing the process to repeat itself when money got tight again.

My "new" bike - by Tia

I can't remember how old I was excatly but I think I was about 7 or 8. I had saved up my paper route money and finally had enough to buy a new bike at DI. I think I spent $5.00 on it. I remember driving it home so excited that I finally had my own bike! As my dad unloaded it from the back of the car, Beth came running out to see it. She insisted on riding it and though I protested (aka - threw a fit) my Mom told her that she could. She hopped on the bike and pedaled toward the street. As soon as she hit the end of the driveway and rode onto the sharp gravel between it and the street there was a loud "POP" and the tire went flat. Even though she apologized, I was so angry and the tears could not be held back. I remember it took me a few more months to save enough money to buy a new tube and tire.

Surprise party - by Tia

Cody's story reminded me of my own experience with a surprise party. When I was a freshman in high school I decided that I wouldn't have a traditional birthday party - I was in High School and thought I was too cool for it now. However, as my birthday approached I changed my mind. Two days before the fateful day I began calling all of my friends to invite them to come to my house that Friday at 6:00 pm for a party. I don't remember what I was going to do with all of them once they got there, but I invited anyway. Some accepted, some had something else to do and I understood - it was only two days away. Friday came and my best friend Breeanne came over at about 5:30 to help me set up for the party. 6:00 came and went and noone showed up. By 6:20 I started to feel sad and couldn't figure out why not even one person had come. As I sat on my bed in my room feeling sorry for myself Beth came in and told me that she had planned me a surprise birthday party but that it wasn't supposed to start until 7:00 pm and that was the reason everyone was "late". I couldn't believe it! She had gone to all of the work to plan me a party! At 7:00 everyone showed up and we went ice-skating and had a great time. It turned out to be a really great night - thanks Beth.

Tijuana with Grandma & Grandpa Greengo: By Cody

I believe that I was either in the fifth or sixth grade, when Grandpa and Grandma Greengo invited me and Wade to join them on a trip to California. While there, we camped at Dohinni Beach. One day, grandpa and grandma decided that they wanted to go to Tijuana so that grandpa could try to find a saddle for one of his horses, a new purse for grandma, and a stiletto knife for Uncle Gary. Wade and I were excited because we would get to spend some of our hard earned paper route money on something cool. After crossing the border, Grandpa Greengo gave me and Wade some sound advice about negotiating. He told us not to pay attention to the price tag on anything in Tijuana. He also said that we needed to decide how much we were willing to pay for something and then offer the seller less. “Be willing to walk away, if the seller won’t give you the right price,” grandpa counseled.

At the beginning of our shopping spree, I watched grandpa talk to the sellers of various goods. We walked into one shop, and grandpa asked to see the stiletto knives. The merchant asked grandpa if he wanted to see a particular knife, and then grandpa pointed to a knife under the glass counter. The merchant pulled out the stiletto (a stiletto knife has a button on the side that if pushed causes the blade to pop out of the top of the handle) and handed it to grandpa. As grandpa examined the knife, he decided to push the button and the blade only came part way out of the knife. The merchant looked embarrassed as grandpa lowered his eyebrows and said, “This knife is broken”. The merchant took the knife from grandpa’s hand and said, “I’m so sorry, I thought we fix this one. Here try dis one,” and he tried to give grandpa a different knife. To this grandpa replied, “No thanks!” and walked out of the store.

As we went thru the various shops, I had decided that I really wanted a bull whip. Grandpa asked me how much I wanted to pay for one. I said, “I don’t know…$15.” To this grandpa replied, “You don’t want to pay $15. A bull whip is only worth $5. Find someone that will sell you one for $5.” Sounded great to me, so when we went into the next store, I started looking at the bullwhips that were hanging on a rack. I asked the merchant how much he wanted for the bullwhip, and he said, “Twenty fi dollars.” I rolled my eyes, and kind of looked around with an expression of disbelief. I then said, “I can’t pay you twenty five dollars, I only have five dollars.” This time the merchant looked at me in disbelief and said, “I no sell to you for fi dollars. Dis is a great whip of fine ledder.” The merchant then looked at Grandpa Greengo and said, “Granpa why don’t you buy whip for liddle boy. He no have enough muney.” To this grandpa replied, “Oh no, he wants to buys this whip all by himself. To this the merchant replied, “OK I sell you the whip for fiteen dollars.” I again looked up at the merchant and said, “I only have five.” The merchant then said, “OK I sell to you for ten dollar.” To this grandpa looked disgusted and said, “Come one Cody lets go. We will buy you a whip from someone else.” We then started to walk out of the store. Just before we got out of the store, the merchant yelled, “OK, OK I sell to you for fi dollar.” I was so excited that I quickly walked back into the store with grandpa ready to buy my whip. Suddenly I realized that in order to pay the merchant, I would have to pull the stack of paper route money out of my pocket, and I was afraid that he (the merchant) would see that I had a lot more than five dollars. So, I quickly turned my back on him, pulled the money out of my pocket, and retrieved a five dollar bill (I’m sure that the merchant knew what I was doing). I paid for my bull whip and excitedly continued my shopping, knowing that I had just negotiated a great deal.

Later on, grandpa was trying to buy a leather purse for grandma, and he was not going to pay more than $9. I remember at one point, the merchant got so upset with grandpa that he turned to grandma and said, “Grama, why don’t you take gringo home and come back and do some shopping wit da liddle boys.” At hearing this, my jaw must have dropped to the floor. I wondered to myself, “How does he know Grandpa Greengo’s name?”

Last but not least, Wade decided that he wanted to by a cool spoon. We all went into a shop, and Wade picked out a sterling silver spoon. He asked the merchant how much the spoon was, and the man replied, “Twenty fi”. To this Wade replied, “Nope, I will only give you ten.” The man then looked at him and said, “OK I sell for twenty.” To this Wade offered fifteen. Finally the merchant said, “OK fiteen”. Wade reached down in his pocket and pulled out fifteen cents, and put it on the counter. The merchant looked disgusted and pushed the money away, and again said, “No fiteen”. Wade pushed the money back towards the merchants and said, “That is fifteen. See a nickel and a dime.” When grandma saw what was going on, she explained to Wade that the merchant wanted fifteen dollars not fifteen cents. To this Wade said something like, “Fifteen dollars? I’m not paying fifteen dollars for a little spoon!” and we all walked out of the store.

The trip to California was awesome, but my favorite part was shopping in Tijuana.

Surprise B-day Party: By Cody

When I was in the fifth grade, I was very excited about my upcoming b-day party. I had talked to mom about having the party on Friday afternoon after school (the day of my birthday). A few days before my birthday, I was walking with Josh Smith to school and asked him if he could come to my party. Josh gave me a really funny look. He paused like he wasn’t sure what to say, and then he said, “No, I can’t.” Devastated, I looked at him and said, “Why, what are you doing Friday after school?” Josh again paused and said something like, “I don’t know. I just can’t come.” Hearing Josh’s response, I demanded that he tell me why he couldn’t come. Josh squirmed a bit and then said, “Do you promise not to tell anyone? To this I replied, “Yea, I won’t tell anyone.” Josh then said, “Well, your sister Heather is planning a surprise b-day party for you on that same day, but she made me promise not to tell you. Don’t tell her that I told you, or she will get mad at me.” Josh then proceeded to tell me the entire plan for the surprise b-day party, and he made me promise to act surprised at the party. I was so excited! I could not believe that someone had actually planned a surprise b-day party for me. I thanked Josh and then dreamed about my surprised b-day party for the next few days. Finally, Friday afternoon came. Mom told me that she and dad were taking me to Fred Meyers to pick out my b-day gift. Thanks to Josh, I knew this was all part of the plan to get me out of the house, so I gladly went to Fred Meyers and picked out a wide skateboard that had the words “Thriller” written on it. For those of you who don’t remember, “Thriller” was the name of Michael Jackson’s hit song at the time. I knew my friends were going to think that my skateboard was so cool. Sean Smith later stole the skate board from me and then left it at his friend’s house. I insisted on carrying the skateboard out of the store. I was so proud. As we drove home from the store, I could hardly contain my excitement, but I knew that I had to act surprised. When I walked in the front door and then into the family room, all my friends and family yelled, “Surprise!” Once my friends saw my skateboard, they all wanted to go outside and try it. We had a great time watching a movie and riding my skateboard. Thanks to Heather, my fifth b-day will always stand as one of my favorites.

Track Meet: By Cody

As I mentioned before, I often went to watch Laura at her sporting events. I wrote in a different blog entry about the time Laura dedicated a foul line basket to me, and then proceeded to miss the shot. When I mentioned the story to Laura, she reminded me that during the same game, she stole the ball from a member of the opposing team and then did a lay up at the wrong basket. Luckily, she missed that basket, too. Well, on a different occasion, I was watching Laura run a cross country race at Kiwanis Park. Laura was really running well at this particular race. During the race, I stationed myself at different places in the park and cheered for her as she went by. As she came down the home stretch, I cheered her on. As Laura ran passed me, I heard her say, “I’m peeing my pants!” Perplexed, I thought to myself, “Did she really just say that she was peeing her pants?” As Laura crossed the finish line, I watched mom congratulate her. I also watched mom and Laura walk straight to the bathroom. Sure enough, Laura ran so hard during the race that she wet her pants. After that experience, I decided that I would be a really good coach because I knew how to push athletes to their physical limits. Yea right!

Picture Time - by Tia

At the beginning of each new school year my sisters and I would ride our bikes to Pic N Save and use our paper route earnings to purchase a few new outfits for the coming year. The beginning of 3rd grade was no different and with a fresh perm given to me by Trina - I was ready to start!

During the first or second week of school I wore one of my new looks - black stirrup pants, a large red t-shirt gathered by an elastic hair band at the waist and my hair in a half-side-ponytail secured by a sequined elastic arm band (thank's to a recent dance recital costume). I remember going to school and everyone complimenting me on how cute the outfit was. I thought,

"Man, I am really in style!"

So, the next day I wore it again - except this time I didn't get as many compliments. I was a little confused. That afternoon the teacher reminded us that the following day was our class picture day and that we should bring or wear to school the outfit we wanted to be photographed in.

What outfit do you think I wanted to be photographed in?!

The one that had elicited so many compliments of course!

So, now somewhat embarassingly, I wore the SAME OUFIT FOR A THIRD DAY IN A ROW!! Who let me out of the house? Apparently noone in my family noticed and my poor teacher didn't dare say anything. I saw nothing wrong with it (which in and of itself is a problem).

Grandma Greengo - by Tia

I've always remembered Grandma Greengo as being so glamorous and classy. She wore rollers in her hair each day so it would curl perfectly, she dressed well and carried herself with an aire of elegance. I thought she was so beautiful. Looking back, I believe that beauty was especially remarkable considering the great hardships she faced in her life.

I remember when she would come to visit she would offer me all of the change in her coin purse if I would brush her hair. I learned quickly to ask her if I could as soon as she would walk in the door.

There were a couple of times that Laura, Beth and I went up to her house to stay for a few days while off-track. It was so fun (even if I was scared to sleep in the rooms in the basement) and I think it was so great of her to allow us to come and have special attention by her.

When I was in 6th grade I went for a whole week by myself. I had the time of my life - she spent all day paying attention to me and I loved it. We read magazines together, cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped and even went to her dialasis together. As you can imagine, when she died later that same school year, I was heart broken. I remember it was the same time that we were practicing for the school patriotic music program and our class was singing "The Rose" by Bette Midler and during practice I began sobbing and had to be taken to the office to find Mom. When her funeral came I saved one of the dozens of pink carnations that decorated her casket. I hope someday to grow into as beautiful of a woman as she was.

Summer job - by Tia

When I was in 5th grade I went away for a week to Camp Big Springs for 5th grade camp. When I came home construction had begun on our home. My dad had decided to expand by adding an entire floor to our home. I remember for the next 3 years every person in the family - particularly my brothers - had a job to do in relation to the giant project. During the summer one year Laura, Beth and I were commissioned to make cardboard inserts before the addition could be insulated. We took huge pieces of cardboard and cut them into strips that fit inside each spacing and we measured, and cut each one to pop out from the ceiling, then we installed them. It took us 6 minutes to do each one and we got paid $.50 for each one we installed - netting us approximately $5.00 per hour for the three of us to share. Not exactly lucrative, but it kept us out of trouble.

Toilet Paper - by Tia

I struggled with the 4th grade. I didn't like my teacher and didn't like my class very much. I had been on the C track up until that point and then in 4th grade we switched me to the A track so I never got to be off-track with my friends and for the first time wasn't in the same class with them. Eventually I made new friends and things turned out okay, but the first half was pretty rough. I skipped school as often as I could. I would just leave a note on the teachers desk that said, "My sister needed me to babysit so I am leaving. See you tomorrow." Then I would go home and hide in the snow fort or the tree house until it was time to come home.

One day I must have been feeling especially rebellious. They had made an announcement on the intercom that someone had toilet papered the bathrooms in the public bathrooms at Rotary park just next door to the school. I thought that was a pretty good idea.

That day at lunch I went inside to use the bathroom. At that time you had to wait in line and the hall monitor would only allow one person at a time into the bathroom to minimize playing around. I went in and used the bathroom and then I went wild on the bathroom stall I was in. I strung toilet paper across the top, made spit wads and threw them at the door and filled the toilet tank with as much toilet paper as I could. Once I was satisfied with my work I went out the hall monitor and in my best tattle-tail voice said, "Somebody toilet papered the bathroom in there real bad!" That hall monitor sprang up out of her chair with a gasp and ran toward the bathroom and I just marched back out to the playground. I was never suspected and I never got in trouble.

A day of mischief- By Wade

Marty's dad had a giant apple orchard that set next to the Westridge Elementary baseball fields. it was bordered with a 6" chain link fence. Sometimes we would climb over the fence, go to Marty's house for lunch and take our time going back to school. We would walk down the rows of apple tree's and gorge our selves on any apple low enough to the ground to pick. there was one particular tree next to the base ball diamond that tasted different from all the rest, and I would usually take at least 1 apple from that tree each day I visited the orchard.

Marty's family had 4 wheelers and we spent many of our days riding around the great expanse of trees. Fuel was free because they had a gas pump on property so when we were low we would fill back up. On one edge of the orchard was a canal that was wider than I was tall and we would go and "ditch jump" which consisted of running as fast as you could on one side of the ditch and then jumping to the other all while staying above the flowing water. Many times, depending on how bad you didn't want to get wet, you would end up on the wrong side of the canal.

One day Marty took us to a new portion of the canal and as we were ditch jumping. I ended up on the wrong side. Marty told me I needed to come back because there was a 'mean dog" on that side. We all stood and stared looking at the dog house, there was no dog, intrigued Marty crossed the canal too and we began to walk quietly through the long grass bordering the canal. As we neared the dog house a black head pounced from behind the tree and began to bark, we scattered... I remember looking behind me and seeing the giant black barking head full of teeth and slobber, bounding behind, on top of an unseen body. we jumped across the canal and boarded the 4 wheeler, which was all very dramatic but the dog had stopped chasing at the canal.

We sped off down the dirt trail. Over the top of a ridge we came to another portion of the canal where we heard splashing. Over the bank were several of the migrant worker kids skinny dipping in the canal, their clothes laying just over the bank. Marty jumped off of the 4 wheeler grabbed their clothes and jumped onto the 4 wheeler and sped off down the dirt road as I sat on back holding all the clothes. After 20 minutes of holding the clothes we decided to return the clothes to the canal bank. back on top of the ridge Marty jumped off of the 4 wheeler and threw the clothes back on the ground. As he began to return to the 4 wheeler, we looked back to see a band of migrant workers running up the lane towards us along with a some of the kids who's clothes we had taken, although they were fully dressed this time. Marty Jumped back on the 4 wheeler and pushed the gas , which stalled the machine. He frantically pulled on the lawn mower type pull string in a futile attempt to get away from the Frankenstein like mob that was quickly approaching. As the angry mob got nearer Marty Yelled "RUN!" We bailed off of the 4 wheeler and down a path the mob would not follow... Strait off of the hill through a pile of bushes, old tree branches and briar's. We fought our way through, as the tree branches whipped us on our bare legs and the briar's clung every piece of clothing. We reached the bottom of the hill and ran for our lives, not stopping until we reached Marty's house on the other side of the orchard. We hid ourselves in his tree house and waited for punishment.

A short time later we a 4 wheeler engine was heard, which came to a stop in front of the farm house. The back door opened and Marty's dad come out of the house with a red faced and I think I remember steam coming out of his ears. He yelled at us, dispensed a threat or two then went back inside. We were banned from ridding the 4 wheeler for a while but the orchard was still a giant play land where you didn't have to go home for lunch cause there was always plenty to eat.

I hate you Russell!

I remember going to veteran's pool one afternoon with my friends Emily, Rachel, and Annette. We were probably in 5th grade. There were two boys from our school there that were bugging us. One was named Russell and for some reason he thought I wanted his attention. He was messing around and got a hold of me. He held me under water for 1 second too long and I was furious. When I was able to get my feet under me I stood up and without really thinking I smacked him across the face and said "don't you ever do that to me again!" I whipped myself around to walk away and saw my friends all together watching this with their jaws dropped. They all started to laugh and I did too when I realized what I had just done. That darn Russel never touched me again, I'll tell you. Not with the evil eye I always gave him whenever I saw him.

Mr Wilson By Wade

Through out elementary school I messed around so much so that I was sent to the principles office several times, some times for a fight with Gus ( I hated Gus!), or just being a giggly little boy. Mrs Parrish twice grabbed my arm, pulling me up in the air and spanked me in front of the class. Abel Smith and Chris Kapp were usually the ones who were my cohorts and they were spanked as many times as me. The messing around didn't stop through the sixth grade.

Sixth grade was one of the years mom had started baby sitting Mr Jackman's kids and also brought my new teacher MR Wilson, well known for his fiery temper. I had heard of his many yelling fits, and heard of his red "bomb bat", an over sized red plastic bat made for little kids, always placed next to his desk. Mr Wilson would often take his "bomb bat" and slam it on the desk to get the classes attention, and he had a loud booming voice that was a little frightening.

One day while in class we were especially disruptive, Chris Kapp had farted, which smelled like fruit cake at first, causing me to exclaim "who brought the fruit cake?" Chris and Abel began to laugh, then I began to laugh. Mr Wilson told us to stop but we were to far gone, each time we tried to stop laughing, it caused us to laugh even harder. 3 little kids in the front corner of the room laughing so hard we were doubled over while Mr Wilson sat at the front of the room, face getting redder by the second.

We heard a crash at the back of the room and we turned in time to see Mr Wilson's keys fall from the back chalk board and Mr Wilson finishing up his throwing motion. Mr Wilson walked over to get his 'bomb Bat and he started to slam the bat over and over on the desk at the front of the room, his booming voice echoing through the room. Mr Wilson yelled at Me, Chris and Abel in succession pointing out flaws we didn't know were important. He made a special point of telling me I wasn't special because my mom baby sat a teachers kid. He walked over to the ball box turning it over, then yelling at kids to "MOVE!" he walked through a row of desks tipping and throwing as he went. Mr Wilson then set to throwing chairs to the back of the room and only stopped when he threw one chair and hit his stereo, sending plastic pieces ricocheting off desks and the wall. He then stomped out of the room yelling as he went "CLEAN THAT UP!"

Dumbfounded no one spoke. Everyone in the class started to silently pick up chairs and the over turned desks. After 15 minutes or so Mrs Gibbs poked her head in, looking like she were breaking a rule, and said " you guys OK?". We all nodded in agreement as if we didn't have a choice. She said "OK" and left as quickly as she had come. After the room was cleaned we all sat in silence and waited... and waited... after what seemed like an hour Mr Wilson Came back in and with out a word picked up a book and read to us the rest of the day.

Get in the car! By Wade

Dad walked in "boy's get in the car".
Cody and I looked at each other "where we Go'in?"
'I gotta go down to the shop and borrow some tools".
Dads eye sight had gotten worse and shouldn't have been driving anymore , mom wasn't home, and Cody was not yet 15. I asked hesitantly "Is Cody going to drive?" Dad apparently irritated by the question said disgustedly "no, I am, get in!"
I was a little freaked out but I climbed in the back and Cody sat in the front, which I thought was appropriate because he would be driving himself in the next year or so.
Dad put the car in reverse and backed out of the drive way. We pulled around the corner when dad said "I need you boy's to tell me if I am in the middle of the road" suddenly completely alert we both sat up strait. Dad started to drift to the right and Cody and I panicked and both of us began to yell "GO LEFT, GO LEFT, GO LEFT!" the pitch and volume of our voices rising with each word. A jogger running past gave a start when she noticed an over correction to the middle of the road. Cody deciding more frequent direction was needed began to give more gentle commands as we made it down grand view hill and just past DI when dad said "I need you to tell me what color the light is" the light had just turned yellow and we, again in a panic, began to yell "IT'S YELLOW, IT'S YELLOW!" Dad stepped on the gas and sped through the intersection.
We made it to his shop and some how made it home but I was frightened, and vowed never to get in the car when he was driving again, luckily that was the last time I ever saw dad drive a car further than his own driveway.

Knock at the back door: by Cody

For some crazy reason, Chad, Dyke, Wade, and I were all going to sleep in the boys’ basement bedroom that had an outside entrance. Chad was telling us a hunting story, as was often the case. Suddenly we heard a knock at the backdoor. Chad went near the door and asked, “Who is it?” When there was no reply, Chad asked a second time, “Who is it?” When no one responded the second time, we all got very nervous and decided to arm ourselves. I remember that Chad gave both me and Wade a pocket knife. Dyke grabbed his carp spear (a broom handle with a small metal three pronged pitchfork on top) and I believe that Chad grabbed a bow and arrow (not sure). In an effort to sneak up on the robber, we decided to go through Trina’s and Heather’s bedroom and then out the washroom door. Scared and armed, we made our way down the hall and into Trina’s and Heather’s room. Suddenly, Trina came walking out of the washroom. When Trina saw us, she started to laugh and then quickly ran up the stairs. We didn’t know what was so funny. Then it dawned on us that there was no robber, and Trina had gotten the best of us.

Many years later, after Trina was married, Dyke decided to get Trina back for her spoof. While Brian was out of town on a hunting trip, Dyke paid a late night visit to Trina’s little home in Orem, Utah. Dyke climbed up on the roof and started jumping up and down above Trina’s bedroom. Fearless, Trina got up and ran out into the front yard yelling something like, “Get off my roof! I have a gun, and I am going to shoot you.” To this, Dyke poked his head over the edge of the roof laughing. Trina didn’t think it was very funny.

Tuff skins By Wade

The first day of school was always a good day we got to wear one of the two pair of jeans we would get each year. Mom would take us to a store across the street from Provo high called Christiensens. Christiensens didn't have a store front, you had to drive around the building to the back and follow a path, down the stairs to a door that opened into a warehouse with racks of clothes randomly placed, and 1 cash register. The store was a little better than DI because the stuff was new... but irregular. mom wouldn't let us by irregular levi's or wrangler, we bought Tuff skins. Tuff skins were not the soft cotton jeans we have today they were made of a blue canvas that was stiff and rough. On the back side of each knee there was a reinforcement that extended from mid thigh to mid shin, the reinforcement out line was easily seen from the out side, giving Tuff Skins their very own special look. When buying we would try to find what was irregular about the jeans, some would have a hole in the pocket, a pocket sewn shut or a back pocket that didn't exactly line up with the other one. We would take the 2 best in our size.

About mid year we would wear through the thick canvas and the reinforcement on the knees. The hole would get bigger and bigger, mom would take an iron on patch to hold it but soon it would fall off, the tear would start again, and our pants would be ripped from seam to seam. Mom would then get out a scrap piece of jean material and sew the knee back together. the seam was always zig zag and if you were lucky the thread and backing material would match. I remember many times getting a red patch and red thread in blue pants or a black patch with green thread. Mom would then zig zag back and forth so that even if the bottom cloth did not match it wouldn't matter because it was over whelmed with the stitching on top . After the sew job our pants never seemed to hang the same, the front would be a little higher than the back giving off the distinct impression they were floods. When I was young I used to hate my jeans after the patch job but now I realize it just made my decisions to wear something different, a little easier.

One Long Sleepover!: Cody

When we were kids, we didn’t get to have many sleepovers, so I was really excited when I was told that I could sleep over at grandpa and grandma Roskelley’s house. I remember being dropped off on a beautiful summer evening after dinner. Dad told me that he would pick me up the next day on his way home from work.

Well, that night was not so fun after all. Grandma Roskelley sent me to bed around 7:30. I was very upset because it was still light outside. I remember crying myself to sleep. In the morning, grandpa fixed me a very big bowl of cereal, and then made me sit at the table until I finished it. I swear I sat at his table all morning long trying to finish that soggy cereal. When I did finally finish, grandma gave me some carrots and told me that I could feed Babe (Babe was the little black pony in the pasture behind grandpa’s house).

While I was feeding Babe, Ruthanne (the single woman who lived in the one bed-room shack behind grandpa’s house), saw me and started to talk to me. She was very kind, and asked me if I liked Jello. I told her that I loved Jello, so she invited me into her house to have some. After a while, I heard grandpa calling for me, so I told Ruthanne that I better go.

When grandpa saw me walking from Ruthanne’s little shack, he was very upset with me and told me that he could not find me, so as punishment he gave me a five gallon bucket of peas (still in their pods) that he had picked from his garden, and told me that I had to open all the pods, and dump the peas in a separate bowl. I spent the rest of the day sitting in a lawn chair in grandpa’s backyard getting peas out of their pods. I thought that dad was never going to come. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity, dad picked me up and took me home. After my wonderful experience, I never asked to sleep at grandpa and grandma Roskelley’s house again.

David get the gun!: By Cody

One summer night Devon Call and I were invited to sleep over at Josh Smith’s house. Around 10 o’clock, we got bored and decided to wonder around the nearby orchards. As we walked to the edge of the Lunsford’s orchard, we could see into the Juskie’s backyard. David Juskie, Mike Juskie, and a Russian exchange student were camping in the backyard, and had a small fire burning.

In an effort to be funny, Devon, Josh, and I decided to throw pebbles into the Juskie’s backyard to see if we could scare the campers. We did a pretty good job, because after about 2 minutes, David Juskie said, “What was that? I heard something over by our tent.” Abruptly, the campers started to whisper, and then all three of them went inside the house.

Devon Call decided to sneak over by their tent so that he could really scare them, when they came out of the house. As Devon walked into their backyard, Art Juskie (the father) swung the backdoor open and jumped off the back porch screaming, “David get the gun.” Devon took off running with Art Juskie right behind him. The Russian exchange student ran behind Art, and then he stopped, looked at me, and then yelled, “I found one over here.” Like a frightened rabbit, I jumped up and started running through the orchard with the Russian hot on my heels. Suddenly, the Russian tripped me from behind. I rolled a few times, picked up a large stick, and smacked the Russian across the leg with the stick. The Russian yelled something out, and grabbed his leg. I got back up and ran to Josh Smith's house. When I got there, Josh was already waiting for me in the front yard. We waited 30 minutes or more for Devon, and then we decided that we had better go and find him. As we walked in the direction of the Juskie’s house, we found Devon walking along the road. We asked him what happened, and he told us that Brother Juskie had taken him in the house and asked him a bunch of questions. Devon told us that he just made up a bunch of fake answers so that we wouldn’t get into trouble. After Brother Juskie decided that Devon was not a true threat, he let him go with the promise that he would never return.

I learned two lessons from this experience. First, if you want to scare a robber, simply yell, “Get the gun!” Second, if you are ever being chased by a Russian exchange student, hit him in the leg with a stick, and he will probably let you go.

The grand canyon By Wade

When I was 7 or 8 Mom and Dad took the 5 youngest kids on a trip to the grand canyon. The trip was cramped to say the least, 2 adults and 5 kids in a 1929 ford coup built to carry 5 at the most. Our gear was carried by a large, early 50's, 2 ton truck with boards on the sides and a tarp on the top. at one stop we all piled out and had lunch.

When we were to get back on the road the driver of the 2 ton truck offered to let some of the kids ride in the back of his truck. Grateful to get out of the back of the 29 Ford Cody, Me, Jason Thomas and several others piled into the back of the 2 ton truck and lounged out on the piles of sleeping bags and luggage. The tarp flapped above us as we drove down the road. After what felt like hours the excitement of a change of surroundings had wained and it grew slightly cold and I remember wishing for the next stop. A light sprinkle started and at 55 miles an hour it felt like a down pour. The front of the tarp had come loose and was flapping in the wind.

Cody Jason and I all grabbed the tarp and a conscious decision was made to try to keep the luggage and us dry. We pulled the tarp down and rolled ourselves up near the front of the truck bed. In my mind I thought we would be hero's for saving the luggage from getting wet. After what felt like an eternity the truck pulled over. Jason Thomas was one of the first to go, taken by an unknown Old car club member. Slowly all the kids were farmed out to other cars, until it seemed like Cody and I were the only ones left. I was farmed out to the Thomas car who took me because Jason was gone. I was dripping wet so they pulled towels out and covered the seat before they let me sit down. They bought me a cup of hot chocolate at the gas station, which I promptly spilled on their towels.

We arrived at the camp and I remember listening, in the background, as the adults talked about how the kids in the back of the truck got all their stuff wet. I was appalled, I couldn't believe they couldn't see how we had saved their luggage. Mom came and told us all the adults were mad at us. Privately Cody and I complained but publicly we sheepishly accepted the blame.

40 Rolls of Toilet Paper: By Cody

I had just finished the sixth grade. Josh Smith and I were walking home from our last day of school, when he invited me to sleep over at his house. He told me that his mom was letting several friends sleep over, and we would have a big party. He also told me to bring some toilet paper because we were going to have some fun decorating houses.

Later that evening, all the boys got together, and we reviewed our toilet papering supplies. We had 40 rolls of toilet paper, a package of Oreo cookies, and some shaving cream. We were so excited; we knew that some unsuspecting house was going to get the best toilet papering job on the planet earth. Around 1 in the morning, we snuck out the back door (Sean, Adam, Josh, and Able all got to invite friends, so I believe there were 8 to 10 boys in total). We walked around nearby neighborhoods, and decided to plaster the home of the Vanburen’s. I didn’t know the Vanburen family, so it sounded great to me.

We started out with the trees making sure that we got toilet paper clear up in the branches. Josh Smith filled the mail box with shaving cream, and we put open face Oreo cookies all over the driveway. We even threw the rolls of toilet paper over the roof, so that there would be streaks of toilet paper over the entire house. To put the finishing touches on the job, Josh walked up to the door and was going to put an Oreo cookie on the handle, when Mr. Vanburen came busting out the front door yelling at us.

Filled with adrenalin I sprinted all the way back to the backyard of the Smith’s house. After a few minutes, we (the boys that made it back) noticed that we were missing Josh Smith, John Pack, and Ryan Savage. Suddenly the phone started to ring inside the house, so we decided that we better get back into the house and into our sleeping bags. Just after we got back into our sleeping bags, Suzie Smith walked up the stairs mad as a hornet. She flipped on the light and said, “I just got a phone call. At first, I thought it was the police, but then I discovered that it was Mr. Vanburen. He said that some boys toilet papered his house. In fact, he has Josh at his house now. Do you boys know anything about it?” Adam Smith looked his mother right in the face and said, “No, we have just been telling scary stories.” Suzie looked at us and said, “Who is missing?” Adam then replied, “Josh, John, and Ryan.” Suzie seemed to believe the story and saw that Sean Smith sleeping. Before walking out of the room, Suzie walked over to Sean to give him a kiss on the forehead. As she kissed him, he broke out laughing.

With fire in her eyes, Suzie said, “You little liars get in the van - everyone of you.” As we drove up to the Vanburen’s house, I was amazed by the wonderful job that we had done, I was also saddened that we were going to have to clean it all up. We spent the next two hours cleaning up our mess (Oreo cookies are hard to get off of the driveway). When we finally got home, Suzie let us go back to sleep. In the morning, Suzie called mom and let her know what we had done. I didn’t get to go to another sleepover for at least a year. I also got grounded for a week. Despite being punished, I did gain pleasure from the thought that the Vanburen’s mail box was still filled with shaving cream, and hence our efforts were not all in vain.

Ooops!: By Cody

I was 15 years old and it was a warm Saturday. Dad decided that he wanted to wash our gently used mini-van, so he asked me to pull it onto the lawn. Since I didn’t have a license to drive, I was very eager for the chance to drive the van. I started it up, backed out of the driveway, and then successfully drove to the opening in the fence of the front yard. Not being used to driving a van (short nose and a long back) I under estimated the turn. After I pulled the nose of the van through the opening in the fence, I scraped the back-side panel along the fence post. I backed up and corrected my mistake, but when I got out of the van, I could see the scrapes in the paint. Knowing that if I told dad about the scrapes, he would never let me drive again. I decided to keep quiet.
Minutes later, dad came over with his bucket full of soapy water and wash rag. As I helped dad wash the van, I was horrified when he noticed the scrapes in the paint. Suddenly, dad paused as he ran his hands over the scrapes and muttered to himself, “Linda!” I was filled with both relief and guilt. Dad thought that mom had scraped the van. Eventually my conscious got the best of me and I confessed to dad. He handled the situation well, and I didn’t get in much trouble. But, I always laugh when I think of him muttering to himself, “Linda!”

Times have changed!: By Cody

Anyone who has spent an entire day working with dad should be familiar with the phrase, “Thanks for your help. I couldn’t have done it with out you.” If dad was feeling generous, he would then add, “Why don’t we go down to the “Minute Man” gas station and buy one of their hamburgers for a dollar.”
On one occasion, I was 17, dad surprised me by saying, “Thanks for your help. I couldn’t have done it with out you. Why don’t you get cleaned up and take one of your girl friends out for a root beer in the roadster.” I looked up at dad a little shocked. I really didn’t know what to say. I wanted to explain to dad that maybe times had changed because I didn’t know any girls that sat around on a Saturday night waiting for a guy to buy them a root beer. I thanked dad for the offer, but opted not to call any of my girl friends (As if I had any girl friends!)

Blue high back By Wade

In the spring and summer our daily ritual when dad came home was; he would find the boys and we would go to what ever project he had thought up to do, whether it was straitening a frame on a wrecked car, building a monstrous shed in the back yard, digging Chinese elm trees out of the garden, or weeding the garden that never seemed to produce much for our efforts. As we grew older we all started to have our own activities so finding help was getting harder for dad so when you were found you were often the only one helping.
One day Cody came to me and told me when dad came home, he had been sitting in the high back blue chair, in the far corner, and had held perfectly still. Cody was not discovered when dad walked through the room. I thought that was genius and decided to try the same.
A few day's later I happened to be sitting in the blue high back chair in the dark corner of the room when dad walked in from work. I stiffened and knew this was my chance to try out Cody's trick. I sat and watched him walk through the room when dad suddenly stopped. I tried to stop breathing but only managed to slow it down .He slowly inched toward me looking out of the corner of his eye. He came so close to me his left cheek was only a few inches from my nose and his left eye concentrating on my face.
"Is someone there?" he asked
A little embarrassed but still wondering, in the back of my mind, if I kept quiet if I could get away with my charade. I relented "yes, Its Wade."
"Well, come and be my eye's!" he said.
Knowing I was caught I trailed behind him.
Dad then asked "were you trying to hide from me?"
"No", I lied. I knew if I told him the truth I would be in more trouble.
"Wanted to get out of work huh." Dad continued to walk, chuckling to himself as he went.

The flood By Wade

When I was about 7 years old our family made a trip to Capitol Reef State park. in southern Utah. We thought it was famous because of a water fall that had a "water slide" in it, really just a groove in the rock worn smooth from a century of water pouring over it, we played in the pool at the bottom while the older boy's (Chad, Dyke and John Chamberlain) and the adults went down the slide. I hear there is more to the park but I don't remember more. After the day at the water slide we returned to the camp which was in an old apple orchard. our truck and camper was parked and the older boys had a tent set up close by. That night it began to rain and I remember being awoken because the older boys had pulled their tent inside the camper and had gone back outside. I got dressed and before walking out of the camper I looked out to see our truck standing in what appeared to be a river of water strolling by. The water felt knee high on my 7 year old body but was probably only a few inches deep. The excitement was intoxicating and Cody and I quickly caught up with the older boys running though the rain and water "helping people". Helping people consisted of chasing down a sleeping bag that was floating away or grabbing a tent floating lazily through the trees. One Tent we saw to save was floating toward a sink hole and was caught by John just as it started to sink into a vortex, a hole that seemed to be sucking the lazy water and twisting it into a torrent. The older boys Cody and I were standing around the vortex pulling with all of our might and losing. we finally let go and the tent shot out of the other side caught by the owner.
Mom says that the rain didn't stop until Chad and John went behind the camper and prayed the rain would stop, according to her as soon as Amen was said the rain stopped and the floods subsided. I don't remember that part but I do remember the fun of running through a river and saving the lives of a tent and a sleeping bag.

Photo's - by Tia

Here is the whole family. I couldn't be more than 1 which means that Trina is mabe 15. I think Trina and Heather have the best hair, buy far! Dad is sporting a nice polyester suit and the boys have some stylin' sweater vests with bicycles on them.

Beth (almost 2 1/2), Tia (less than 1 year), Laura (between 4 and 5)

Tia (wearing the tutu), Beth (in the slip), Laura (trying, unsuccessfully, to get out of the picture)

Tia (age 3), Beth (age 4 1/2)

Laura, Beth (doesn't she look just like Clara?!) and Tia

Tia, Beth, Laura and Mickey in Disney Land - 1985 (or was it '84?)

Laura, Beth and Tia - we used to sleep with rollers in our hair and looked like Richard Simmons in the morning, what were we thinking?!

Beth, Dad, Laura and Tia wearing the pj's Mom had made us for Christmas.

Look at those TAN legs! Laura, Tia and Beth - about 1993 or 1994

Tia and Beth - this was taken at the little rental house while Beth and Joel were living there just after they got married.

Tia, Heather, Beth, Trina and Laura - Rockin' to the 80's at Trina's surprise 40th B-day bash!

Grandpa Roskelley’s last days: by Cody

After grandpa’s stroke, he was not all there mentally. I remember three different occasions when grandpa’s mental state stood out to me.

One night mom fixed us some soup – Yum! Grandpa looked at the soup, took a bite and then said, “This tastes horrible,” and then pushed his bowl away. About two minutes later Grandpa looked at mom and said, “What ya eaten?” To this mom replied, “Soup, would you like some?” “Well sure,” grandpa replied. Mom pushed grandpa’s bowl back in front of him, and he thanked her. Again Grandpa took one bite and said, “This is the worst stuff I have ever eaten,” and then he pushed his bowl away. This scenario went on three or four more times before grandpa looked at dad and said, “Hey Larry can you pass me the salt?” Dad nudged me with his elbow, smiled, and then said to me, “Didn’t you hear him Larry? Pass him the salt.” I could tell that dad was trying really hard not to laugh.

On another occasion, grandpa was in the living room watching TV. Suddenly he started yelling, “Chester, I’ve got to go to the bathroom.” Quickly, dad ran into the family room and said, “OK, let’s go.” As Dad helped grandpa down the hall, grandpa was yelling, “It’s going down my leg, hurry up Chester!” When Dad and grandpa reached the bathroom grandpa said, “What are we doing in here?” “You said that you had to go to the bathroom,” dad replied. With an angry tone, grandpa said, “What are you talking about? I don’t need to go to the bathroom. Now take me back to the TV.” Frustrated, dad said, “You said it was running down your leg.” To this grandpa replied, “I don’t have nothing running down my leg. Now take me back to the TV!”

Three days before grandpa passed away, dad asked me to help him give grandpa a blessing. Saddened by the prospect of losing his father, dad asked me to give the blessing. In the middle of the blessing, grandpa started to move his head and he said, “What you doing? Get your damn hands off my head!” At the time, I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. I will say that I quickly ended the blessing.

Being Teased: Cody

While growing up, I seemed to get teased a lot by my older brothers. To prove this point, I have written a few examples below:

First, I remember getting a new golf style shirt that had “PB” on the front. I really thought that it was a cool shirt, until my older brothers started saying, “Cody, are you going to wear your poo-butt shirt today?”

Second, I remember being called “Bucky Beaver.” Yes, it is true that I have rather large teeth. In fact, one time a very idiotic dentist told me that I have horses teeth and that he had to stretch out his biggest clamps in order for them to fit over my teeth. (I never went back to that dentist). But that does not change the fact that I didn’t like being called Bucky Beaver.

Third, I had a crush on Brenda Birch from kindergarten thru the 4th grade. All those years, my older brothers would say, “Cody loves Bbbbbb Brenda, Bbbbbb Brenda.”

Fourth, while at the Wheeler Farm, Dyke told me to pet a big white goose that had an orange bump on its head. Why I actually listened to him, I will never know. But, I walked forward to pet the goose, and it pecked the heck out of my inner thigh. Stupid bird!

Last, I once fell down on the sidewalk and scrapped up my knee. Dyke saw what happened and told me that it would feel a lot better if I mixed some vinegar and salt together and then put the mixture over my scrapped knee. I hurried home, made the mixture, and then put it on my knee. I can’t tell you how badly my knee stung after I put the vinegar and salt on it.

“I can’t do it” : By Cody

I learned a great lesson from dad many years ago while putting together that beautiful 8-car garage in the backyard. Dad asked me to hang the light fixtures that would later hold the fluorescent lights bulbs. I remember struggling to hang them. I was young, the fixtures were heavy, and I was standing on a wobbly ladder. After a while, I got frustrated and said, “I can’t do it.” To this dad sternly replied, “I want you to take the word ‘can’t’ out of your vocabulary! You can do anything you put your mind to! If you need help, ask for help, but don’t use the word can’t.” At the time, I was rather ticked off by dad’s response to me, but I have since learned that he is right. With dad’s help (he held the ladder) I was able to hang the tube holders.

I am often inspired when I think of my old man who builds hot rods, improves his house, and does many other things that most men would never attempt to do. In fact, while serving a mission in Nauvoo, dad memorized what he was supposed to say for his tours by having mom read the script into a tape recorder. Dad would then get up at 4:30 in the morning and listen to the script over and over until he had it memorized. Dad was so good at doing his tours that friends told me they didn’t know he was blind until they spoke with him after they had finished the tour. Yes I know, dad often needs help, but that does not stop him from trying or believing that he can do something.

Now when the words, “I can’t” enter my mind, I think of the lesson I learned a long time ago from dad. Today, I truly believe that with the Lord’s help, we can do anything that the Lord wants us to do.

Ordering Pizza - by Beth

While outwardly our mom was against staying home from school unnecessarily, I think by the time she got around to raising the last of her kids she’d lost a lot of willpower in enforcing it all. I can’t count the number of days in elementary school, junior high and high school that I spent away from school for no good reason.

Everyone appreciated our oldest sister, Trina, checking us out of Dixon Jr. High or Provo High whenever we called her because we were “sick.” We’d get to spend some quality time with a huge soda from the nearby gas station as well as with her cute babies. But you couldn’t call Trina from school everyday, and you could only coax Mom into letting you stay home from school once in a while, so at times we resorted to taking matters into our own hands by sluffing on the sly.

One of my favorite childhood memories is sluffing with Laura (2 ½ years older than me), Laura’s friend Emily Ann, and Tia (1 ½ years younger than me). Emily Ann lived down a dirt road among nearby farms, a bit behind our family’s home. Emily’s mom worked all day as a checker at Smith’s so it was easy to backtrack to her house in the morning and spend the day there instead of going to school.

One of our sluffing days was rather boring, and we remembered that there was a bookfair at school, which Emily had money to buy something from. So we tried to go back to school to the bookfair where we were caught by our teachers and were required to spend the remainder of the day in school.

We usually had spending money from our paper route and one day we decided to order pizza for lunch. We were just at that point in our youth where we were still silly, but also exploring the brashness that comes with adolescence. Here’s how it went down (according to my memory):

We called Little Caesar’s and placed our order. While Emily tells what toppings we want, Laura yells and screams from the background, making it sound like there’s a fight going on. (Both us Roskelley sisters and Emily came from homes were there was often a lot of fighting, so this didn’t seem at all inappropriate to us)

When it got pretty close to delivery time, one of us (me?) hid in the bushes that lay in front of Emily’s house with a handful of mini-marshmallows (or was it raisins?). When the delivery man came I tried to pelt him with marshmallows, stifling giggles all the while.

Laura then answered the door looking beat-up with our expertly applied rouge (to look like she’d been slapped in the face) and with tears in her eyes. She paid for the pizza and then Emily Ann came out, acting like she was handicapped.

The annoyed deliveryman left and then we hooted with laughter, imagining ourselves to be the best of actors who pulled off the most daring of stunts.

Weird, huh?

Ice Skating – by Tia

For a Primary activity one winter they took us all ice-skating at the Utah Lake ice rink. I was only 4 or 5 and was so happy with myself because I caught on instantly and didn’t fall down even one time. Beth however clung to the side rail most of the time. I felt a little pride puff up in my little body. At the end of the activity one of the Primary teachers, Sister Livingstone, offered to give Laura, Beth and me a ride home since she had a big van. We hurried out to her van and sat in the very back seat. We waited a few minutes for Sister Livingstone’s daughters to finish and get into the car. As soon as they got in, one of them asked Sister Livingstone if they could stop and get something to eat. Sister Livingstone said, “No, we need to take the Roskelley girls home and then we need to get home.” One of the daughters said in a disgusted/whiney voice, “Ugh, why do we have to take the Roskelley’s home?!” Just then, an embarrassed Sister Livingstone leaned around the driver seat and pointed back at us and said, “They are already in the car!” The girls turned around to see us sitting on the back bench of the van. That was the first time I ever felt like people looked down on us (okay, other than the Chamberlain boys calling us the Rottonsmelly’s).

The Greyhound Experience – by Tia

I don’t know all of the details of the story, but what I do know makes me laugh just thinking about it! About 2 years ago Dad took the Greyhound bus to go up to Chad’s in Boise. I don’t know why he didn’t fly – it would have cost like $49.99 more, and saved him 12 hours on a bus. Anyway, on the way home he sat down in his seat and as the bus filled up a man came to sit next to him. The man weighed more than he should have and needed two seats for himself. Therefore, he overlapped onto Dad’s right side for the entire ride home. About 2/3 of the way through the trip some men got in a fight on the bus and they had to stop while they called the police. They were finally able to re-load the bus and make it home early in the morning. I wouldn’t have known anything was wrong except that we had a family party and Dad was still limping around from being sat on for so long! Poor Dad, please let me buy you an airplane ticket next time!

John Olsen Fart – by Tia

The Saturday before Christmas our family would gather up at our Grandma and Grandpa Greengo’s house in Taylorsville for an extended family party. It always included a huge dinner and talent show complete with a rousing rendition of, “Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer” by Matt, Jake, TJ and Grandpa, a violin trio by the Olson’s and a very packed tight version of our latest Christmas dance routine by me, Laura and Beth. The children would get shuttled downstairs to play pool and board games. One year (I think it must have been about 1990), we were down stairs playing and us girls were being sneaky and were spying on John Olsen who was in a spare bedroom watching a baseball game. Suddenly he let out the longest, egg-iest fart. We were hiding behind the door giggling as quietly as we could. It became almost uncontrollable though when he stood up and using his entire body, started waving the fart around (apparently it was too much for him). We quickly called for the other cousins and soon there were about 10 of us peeking around the corner with our shirts covering our noses because the stench had wafted out into the hall. It was so hilarious!

Taking Grandpa Roskelley to the bathroom – by Tia

During the last few years of Grandpa Roskelley’s life (that lasted much longer than any of us would have guessed) he came to our house each Sunday for dinner. Melba would get to spend the afternoon with Owen and we’d take Grandpa to our house. He would “amuse”/gross out the very young Skyler and Haylie by taking his teeth out after lunch. One particular Sunday Dad went home teaching with Mom and left Grandpa sitting in the living room. Most went off to find a soft spot for a nap. Before long Grandpa got my attention and told me that he had to go to the bathroom. Dad had always had the “job” of taking him and I had no idea what to do. I knew that since he was so senile that he was in diapers, and while I changed the grandkids often, our 93 or 94 year old Grandpa Roskelley was a whole different story! I looked around for help and called around the house for anyone to come and help me, but mysteriously everyone was “asleep” (thanks a lot Laura!). So I helped Grandpa up and walked him to the bathroom. It was terrible. Being just 14 years old I had no idea what I was getting myself into, to say the least! I had to help him with his clothes and help him sit on the toilet. This is the part that gets really scary…so read at your own risk. Apparently, growing up during the depression had Melba being as frugal as she could be. Stuffed inside his visibly used-more-than-once diaper were dish towels! I was mortified! The worst was yet to come, he finished his business and then leaned forward in order to facilitate me cleaning him up. Oh, my. It was more than my full stomach could handle and I gagged my way through the ordeal. Poor Grandpa. Poor me! Thanks a lot Laura, I know you weren’t really sleeping!