Meadow Drive

From Harrison Boulevard, we moved to a house that was down 32nd. At the end of the hill, you'd go another block and turn right. That was Chatlain Avenue. Down another block or two was Meadow Drive, and we lived right there on the corner of Meadow and Chatlain, at 3242 Meadow Drive. This is the house where Shannon was born. Also while living in this house, my mom ran an in home day care. There was a carport on the left--huge step up from a parking lot, right? There was a porch that had stairs from the carport, and also from the front where the sidewalk met the porch. The porch was concrete, and had wrought iron rails. The front door was on the right side of the porch, and on the left was the big living room window. It was one big window at the top, with three smaller windows in a row underneath it, at foot level. The front door led into the living room, and the kitchen was behind the living room. The hallway to the bedrooms was on the right side of the living room. I believe there was a linen closet on the left side of the hallway, followed by the bathroom. Across from the bathroom, with a door on the right side of the hallway, was Sam's bedroom. At the end of the hall, the girls' bedroom was on the left and my parents room on the right. We also had a nice fenced back yard, with a concrete patio just outside the kitchen door. the patio had a gate that led to the carport. On the left side of the back yeard there was a fenced area that had a few rows of grape vines. (Now that I think about it, how cool is that??) We also kept a rabbit hutch back there for a little while. I still remember brand new baby rabbits. Outside that fenced area, we had a big grassy area, with lilac trees at the back of the fence. Up against the house we had a sand box, and I remember hours of fun with that.

Here is a picture of Sam and his bike in front of the house.

Pictures taken inside the house...

I realize I look very silly sucking my thumb. It's funny because I never was a thumb sucker. LOL

Here is a glimpse of the kitchen.

We lived in Utah, which put s in a great spot to have uncles and aunts who were in college to come for visits. In this next picture, my mom is sitting on a chair. You can't tell this in the picture because there is a lamp shade in the way, but my mom is sitting in front of a high chair feeding a baby. On the floor are Tom, Nancy and Sam. I think this is Thanksgiving.

Here is Nancy, holding Celeste and Dawn. (And Dawn really was a thumb sucker). 

There is Mom, feeding Shannon. Her Grandma Shipp (who raised her) is in the chair in the corner, and then Tom is there on the floor.

Here are Celeste, me and Dawn, eating a picnic on the floor. There is a big pillow behind me, and behind that is the front door.

This may have been that same Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure. This is my Aunt Sheryl and my mom, and Tom is handing something over to my Aunt Tammy. I'm pretty sure they are loading up to go back to school.

One Christmas In California

One year we went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house in California for Christmas...

On the couch is Dad, Mom holding Celeste, Grandma and Grandpa. In the front are Nancy, Tom, Me, Sam, Lloyd and Marianne.

Harrison Boulevard

When I was five, we moved to Ogden, Utah. Our first place was an apartment at the intersection of Harrison Blvd and 32nd street. It was a basement apartment. This is the apartment where Dawn was born. Going down the stairs, the door to our apartment was on the left. Once inside the door, the living room was on the left, kitchen on the right, and the hallway to the bedrooms was straight ahead. I'm not sure, but I think we had three bedrooms. The first bedroom on the left was my parents' room, and there was a bathroom across the hall on the right. At the end of the hall there were two more bedrooms, one on each side.

There are a few things I remember from our time here. 1) There was a lady who lived upstairs, who would come out onto her balcony and sing her heart out for everyone to hear. I remember her singing Copa Cabana. 2) There was a Chuck E. Cheese's across the street, and I thought that was so cool. I was pretty little, so I don't know how this came about, but somehow I was with another kid who thought it would be awesome to cross the street and sneak in to CEC's. So we did. We weren't there too long before I, hunched over some game, felt someone grab my arm. I was about to turn around and yell at whoever it was, but it was my Dad, and I was in big trouble. I don't remember my consequence or anything else, just going and getting caught. I'm sure my poor parents were worried sick, and now that I think about it--I wonder how they knew where to find me. 3) I have this picture in my mind of my sister, Celeste, sitting on the counter in the bathroom covered in blood. She had big smiles on her face and was joyfully singing and playing with something. My parents rushed in, and freaked out, because it was a razor she was playing with. !!! Don't ask me how she wasn't screaming, I've had razor cuts before and they are no joke. 4) One day someone knocked on the door, and when we opened it this complete stranger was standing there, acting like we had been expecting him, and like he expected to be let in. It was a bit unnerving. I'm not sure how long the charade went on before my grandparents followed him down the stairs to our door. The joke was on us, it was Reggie, who we had never met. He was engaged to my aunt Nancy, and it turns out we were expecting him after all. It was (obviously) the first time we met him.

I'm pretty sure this picture of me was taken in that apartment.

Up the Slide

I only went to Kindergarten for a few months in Missouri, but this happened at Rissler Elementary School in Trenton.

One day at recess, I climbed up the slide. I have no idea why. I was probably chasing someone, I’m sure I had a reason. Maybe it was just another kid setting the example, and me thinking it looked like fun to go up the slide. The rule about only going up the ladder, and not up the slide, was the furthest thing from my mind.

Up I went! About halfway up, I felt someone grab my arm. I turned around to yell at whoever it was to leave me alone, and found myself face to face with the teacher. And I was just confused. She made me get down. I have no recollection at all of anything after that, but I’m sure there was a consequence involved. I do not remember anything else about Kindergarten in Missouri…no memory of the classroom, or the school, or anything else.

Clouds

We had a fluffy, white dog named Clouds. I loved Clouds. I adored Clouds. He was our pet and I loved him.

One day Clouds bit the mail man. My mom said the dog catcher was going to come and pick up Clouds and take him away, and we would not see him again.

I hung on to Clouds all morning, so sad that he had to go. And then the dog catcher came, and he was gone.

By the time a week had gone by, I knew Clouds was dead. I always thought of him when I looked up in the sky, and saw the fluffy, white clouds there.

A Tree For Halloween

One year, I was a tree for Halloween. I have to say, my mom was pretty dang smart! Some green fabric with a hole for my head, and real leaves pinned to it. 🎃

Church In A House

When we lived in Missouri, we were in a very small branch, and it was pretty spread out. It took us a long time to drive to church every Sunday, to Chillicothee, and we did not have a meetinghouse. We had church in a house…I believe it was a two story house. Sacrament Meeting was in the living room, and other classes were in other rooms of the house. My memory of the logistics is pretty fuzzy, but in my head I can still see the house and a couple of the rooms.

A Lesson In Modesty

One day someone gave me some hand-me-down clothes. This is another of my earliest memories. Included in the clothes was a swimming suit. A bikini. And I loved it from the first moment I saw it. At this point in my life, I had not learned anything about modesty. Probably because it just plain hadn’t been needed yet. But I remember being broken hearted when my mom told me I couldn’t wear the bikini because it wasn’t modest. So Mom took that bikini top and sewed a “skirt” all around it, so that it would cover me up. And then I got to wear that swimming suit.

I’m sure I was no older than 2 or 3, but I will never forget that. Most people don’t worry about children that tiny being modest. Bikinis, tank tops, super short dresses, etc.—little kids like that have “nothing to show,” so at that age those kinds of clothes are just “cute.” But that experience is something I remembered all growing up—that we don’t wear clothes that are not modest. That experience influenced the importance that I, as a mom, put on modesty for my children. It doesn’t matter what age you are or what kind of body you have. Respecting your body is good for everyone.

On the Banks of Crowder Lake

One day my parents took us to Crowder Lake. Actually, I’m pretty sure we went there several times. I remember my parents swimming across the lake and back a few times. One day when we were getting ready to go home from the lake, I was almost to the car when I heard someone screaming bloody murder behind me. I turned toward the lake, and there on the bank was Sam, screaming, and my dad hitting him on the head repeatedly with a towel. It was alarming! What was going on?

It turned out that Sam was being bitten by a horse fly, right on the crown of his head. Apparently those things bite, and they hold on, and it HURTS. My dad was using the towel to try and beat the horse fly off his head. Poor Sam! That’s all I remember, although I’m sure the horse fly eventually let go, and we made it home. I have no idea whether Sam had a big bite on his head for a while, or what the rest of that story is.

Jo and Tom

We were living in the small town of Trenton, Missouri, when Sam and I came home and happily told our mom we had met a very nice couple named Jo and Tom. I'm sure this sounded really weird to my mom. Looking back, it seems kind of weird to me that as young as we were (probably 6 and 4) we had been wandering the street meeting people. It was a much safer world back then! Mom was definitely relieved to learn that Jo and Tom were really "Joanne" and Tom. She came with us to meet them herself, and that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. Jo and Tom were retired, and were the perfect Grandma and Grandpa for us, since we were so far away from our own. They gave us graham crackers and milk, and other various snacks when we visited. They told us stories. They even let us taste test their tea when they made it. That is, they asked us to, but we told them we didn't drink tea, not even a taste. One day when it was time to go I didn't want to leave, and Jo told me that if I was good and went home when it was time, she would send me a "ring" over the phone. Now, of course she meant that when she called the phone would ring, but I thought long and hard about how a ring could come to me over the phone. I waited in such anticipation to witness that. I remember that in the afternoons they liked to nap, so they had a special sign they put on their door when they were napping so that we would know not to knock, but to come back later. One day when I saw the sign on the door I decided I'd sit on the porch and wait for them to wake up. The porch was hidden, more or less, so when I fell asleep there, waiting, no one could find me. To me, it is a funny kind of memory, because I was so young, and because I didn't know anything of it until I was found. I didn't understand why they had been so scared. That became a story we all laughed over whenever anyone brought it up.

I don't remember a whole lot about them, but I do remember them talking to my mom about their daughter, Shelby Ann, who had died when she was 16. It had been decades, but they still felt the loss so deeply. I think they moved to Saint Louis, but they still gave us a call once in a while. One day Tom called and talked to Mom, and he told her that Jo had died. I remember feeling sad, but I also remember Mom telling us that Jo was with Shelby Ann now, and how happy she must be to see her again.
About 2 years ago when we vacationed to Missouri and Nauvoo we looked on the map and drove to Trenton. We drove down that little street we lived on, so long ago, and seeing the houses brought back a wonderful feeling. I'm sure that Tom has since passed on, probably many many years ago. It's nice to think of Jo, Tom and Shelby Ann, happy, together again.

The Big Pillow

We had this really big pillow. We all loved and adored the big pillow. It was so great to sit on and lay on. I'm not sure what ever happened to it, or when we got rid of it, but it was awesome.