With some reluctance I accept the challenge of a tag. I’m kind of an all-or-nothing-person. I think if I take one tag then I will be morally obligated to participate in all tags for the rest of my blogging career. I can’t commit to that, especially in a timely manner. I really liked this one and so after two months of slowly putting this together, here it is... (Thanks for waiting for me Brenda!)
20 Years Ago...
In 1988, I was 11-years-old and living in the beautiful mountain paradise known as “The Air Force Academy.” Our home sat on the edge of base housing in Douglas Valley and in our back yard we had acres and acres of pines trees and trails. It was an ideal childhood, roaming through the trees with friends and siblings making forts and playing night games in our blissful cul-de-sac. The forest extended for what seemed like miles in three directions. Even after five years of roaming those trees I am certain that I left behind unexplored places.
I was blessed with good friends that were kind enough to put up with me. We had just finished elementary school, and in August I was anxiously waiting for my sixth grade team assignment. (The middle school divided each grade into three teams, that basically determined who you would be taking all your classes with.) I was hoping that I would have at least a friend to brave the big middle school with me. When my letter finally came in the mail I was thrilled to learn that Kim Ward and Sandy Wilson were also on the “Blue Team” and so sad that Lynn Wetzler wasn’t.
15 Years Ago...In 1993 I was a high school junior in Texas. That fall an average day went like this;
1. Early morning seminary (6:00 am)
2. Cross country practice (7:00 am)
3. Theater Arts (That's what the schedule in my scrapbook says but I have no memories of this class. Is it possible that I slept through every single class?)
4. Physics
5. Pre-Calculus
6. Study Hall
7. Lunch
8. AP English
9. Government/Economics
10. Athletics (weight training/endurance)
Photo: A portion of the girls cross-country team.
I was the President of the Interact Club (the high school branch of Rotary International) and Laurels President in our ward, which meant by default I was on the Stake Youth Committee that helped plan firesides, stake dances and youth conference. Like most teenagers I was busy, but it was never too overwhelming and there was always time for friends, dating and goofing off. Even our late night cram sessions for Mrs. Caddie's tests were fun--well, kind of.
It was a toss-up between me and Cable Rose as to who had the best car at our school. It's hard to compete with a sky blue Ford Fairmont, but this 1980 Ford Fiesta was one unforgettable little machine. (I thought I could find a picture of my competitor online, but it seems that nobody wants to show off their Fairmonts, at least in sky blue!) There were other great vehicles in the school parking lot, including
three convertible '65 Mustangs, but who could want for more with this beauty?
Fifteen years ago was a happy carefree time with great friends, a good school, just the right amount of challenge and a wonderful balance of growing intellectually, physically and spiritually.
10 Years Ago...Ten years ago I was a missionary in the Philippines. I had just transferred from the island of Negros to Cebu City where Sara Clemons was my companion. She was an angel to me and to the people we served. Sister Clemons worked hard and loved deeply. I can’t help but cry when I think about her. On one occasion we were had just gotten off a jeepney (Filipino public transit) and we saw a woman Sister Clemons knew from her previous area. They ran to each other, embraced and tears literally flowed down both of their faces.
I was quite surprised by the level of emotion they displayed, but in the months that followed I learned how two people who had only known each other for such a short time could feel such love for each other. Sister Clemons has a big and welcoming heart and this Filipina, like many others, was innately warm and willing to bond on a level that our culture rarely sees between fast friends.
Together we served in a community known as Lahug. It included part of a hillside that housed many squatters and a comparatively affluent area in the valley. The stench of the squatters is something not easily forgotten. I had seen some poverty previously, but not until the summer of 1998 did I get my first full helping of it.
What did I learn from my experience? I learned that money does not equal happiness. Simple enough. Middle class Americans generally accept this with the comparison to their wealthier counterparts, but do we know that you can be completely destitute and still have a genuine smile on your face?
This is a picture of young girl (maybe eight or nine years old) preparing food in the "kitchen" while simultaneously caring for her sister.
We worked closely with Nilor Mojado, Randy Mayol, Philmore Oteda, Arnel Bardoquillo the Rodriguez family, and the Tolado family. I miss them. We also spent time serving in a community immunization clinic. Our primary responsibility was to keep track of the documentation. All of the papers were "filed" in overflowing, ripping folders which were then stacked on top of each other on wicker shelves, any available desk space, and in an assortment of boxes. Somehow their strange system worked. At the time I couldn't help but think there were better ways to do this.
In October Sister Clemons was transferred and I began training a brand new missionary. Sister Roque was from Olongopo, a city on the main island of Luzon. Thankfully her English was great since she didn't know the mission language of Cebuano and I couldn't speak in her native Ilocano or the national language Tagolog.
I was the "trainer" but I learned more from her than she ever learned from me. Sister Roque was always kind and thoughtful and it was very easy for her to understand people and feelings. She had tremendous faith and great work ethic. Her laughter still ripples in my memory. She sang like an angel and her countenance was consistently peaceful and soft.
Here's a picture of the semi-annual Sister's Conference.
Here's a picture of me and three of my companions. (L-R Clemons, Shearer, Roque, Badidoy)
5 Years Ago2003 - We were living in our first home in Provo, going on 16 months. Camen was 2 1/2 and Naomi almost 8 months old. Camen was pretty cute and Naomi was just coming out of the irritable mood she had that lasted almost 8 months. In October of 2003 we took a trip to Disneyland. We spent some time with my parents in Mesa, Arizona and then we caravanned to Anaheim, California.
On the way there we stopped in
Eagle Mountain, California. At its prime Eagle Mountain was a busy mining community. My grandfather took his first job there as a new immigrant from Zimbabwe. That very small mining community was where my dad gave up his British accent and learned to play American football.
The mine shut down long ago and it has since turned into a ghost town. It’s was kind of eerie to drive through the quiet neighborhood streets. Windows and doors were boarded up, the lawns were all dead and the only sign of life was the high school that is still in use by residents from the nearest community. My dad wanted to take a look around, so we all got out of the car and approached the tall chain link fence and the courtyard of the school. Camen was a bit bewildered. With obvious disappointment he asked, “Is THIS Disneyland?”
3 Years Ago2005 - We were still living in Provo. Life’s pace picked up as we now had three kids, ages 4, 2 and our newest addition, Savannah, was almost 8 months old. They looked like this....
2005 was a good year that turned terrible yet somehow ended on a positive note. Savannah was born in February. She was the sweetest most perfect baby, our brother-in-law died in April, Roxanne lived with us for a few months following his death, my brother James married a wonderful girl named Jennifer, and my dad retired and moved to Utah.
1 Year AgoLast October Russ's parents took their married children on an amazing vacation to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. We visited many
Latter-day Saint history sites, including the Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, the Peter Whitmer Farm and Kirtland, Ohio. We also crossed the border into Canada to tour Niagara Falls. I was almost 37 weeks pregnant and feeling quite big. I wasn't at all concerned about going into labor, all three of my pregnancies went a full 40 weeks and I knew I would be fine.
It's hard to quickly summarize such a meaningful and enjoyable trip. Does it suffice it to say that I LOVED IT! We had a fabulous time and it was the perfect getaway before having our 4th baby.
2008
Yesterday, October 17:
The kids were home from school because of UEA weekend. Without the rush of our normal routine I considered either mowing the lawn or cutting the girls hair. It was kind of a slow morning and I had this nagging feeling that I should check the calendar, but I put it off thinking the I had the day's activities all lined up in my head. I put Mason down 30 minutes later than usual (10:00 a.m.) and finally checked the calendar. I had forgotten that I made plans to meet Charis at 10:30! I intended to pack a picnic lunch and showering is always a good idea before leaving the house, but I just had enough time to get everyone in the car, grab a bottle for Mason and Capri Suns for the kids. I then noticed the vibrant leaves on our maple so I ran outside and snapped a few pictures with my parent's camera that I've temporarily taken over. I'm so distractible sometimes! In my haste I also forgot to bring the box of granola bars I had in my hand before I saw the leaves.
We met Charis and her kids, Siena, Christian and Joseph at a park midway between our houses. It really was a beautiful morning. The kids played on the swings and ate all the good snacks Charis thankfully remembered to bring.
Around noon we left to buy a birthday present for Savannah's friend, then stopped at the grocery store for salad makings, but again I was distracted. A case lot sale! We recently took an inventory of our food storage and I had a good mental list of the items we needed.
Poor Camen, if it wasn't for all the great sales, I could have gotten in and out faster and he might have made it to his friend's Halloween party on time. On the way home the kids ate bagels and at 1:15 we ran in the door and Camen put on his new costume. I insisted on taking a picture, I knew that in sending him to hang with a group of rowdy 7-year-old boys hyped up on sugar it was very probable that the cheaply constructed costume might never look the same way again.
After eating a little more Savannah and Mason went down for naps while I worked on laundry, hoping to have my black shirt clean. I wrapped the birthday present and then woke Savannah from her nap. Her friend's birthday party started at 3:00, the same time Camen was finished with his party. Savannah was very excited but a little hesitant at the door. I'm very grateful it didn't take her too long to adjust since I still need to run home and take that long overdue shower. By 4:20 I was clean, had made a salad and very sad that my black shirt wasn't yet dry. We all got in the car and picked Savannah up on our way out of the neighborhood.
An old friend of mine from Colorado, Holli invited us over for dinner with her family. We lost touch with each until last year when Naomi and her son Jaxon were in the same preschool class. Naomi and Jaxon hit it off well, and Naomi gets a silly grin on her face whenever she hears his name and I think the feeling is reciprocated. Russ met us there after work where we enjoyed a delicious dinner and the kids had a great time playing together.
We couldn't stay too long as I made a commitment to listen to my friend from high school speak on campus. It was a very enlightening evening and I'm going to dedicate an entire post to her message because I loved it.
After Jenny's presentation, her little sister Audrey and her friend Michelle invited us to go out with them for something to eat. There's a new restaurant lounge in town called
Spark. Wow! You will not find another place like this on the planet. It has a bar that only serves non-alcoholic drinks, a fine menu with cool dishes like "Dueling Edamame" and desserts like "Pink Grapefruit Sorbet with Lavender Froth." It's very hip and the prices fit Provo.
Did I mention Jenny is dating Christian Bale? I had to get a picture of them together.
Today October 18th:
If you don't want to read anymore, my feelings won't be hurt, this is just a long post.
1. Put together shelf for more food storage
2. Take care of kids while Russ trims lawn
3. Mow lawn while Russ takes care of kids
4. Laundry and Lunch
5. We were in West Jordan by 3:00 pm to spend time with family.
6. Family watches Mason, Savannah and Naomi while Camen, Russ and I go to major league soccer game. Bryan (Russ's friend from way back) treated us to a REAL Salt Lake game. It was held in their new stadium and Real beat FC Dallas 3-1!
Have I mentioned to my single friends that Bryan is a super nice and single?
7. Russ drives us home. He did homework on the way there and I blogged on the way back.
8. Eat divine chocolate cake (Thanks Holli, it was sooo good!)
9. More laundry
9. Sleep
I started this post back in August. It took a number of writing sessions and I was easily distracted once I got into all my old photos. However, this was really fun to put together! I won't tag anyone but instead will encourage everyone to take a trip down memory lane and record it on a blog.
Mason - Needs to put on his game face! 
Mason - Needs to put on his game face! 
