Flashback Friday::Moss, Curnisack and Irish

The Moss'
This house was down the street in the only culdesac on our street. It was at the opposite end of the park as ours and therefore had as big of a backyard as we did. I kept Stan in business with all my broken bones. He was my doctor. I broke each arm, both ankles, right knee with surgery needed, several fingers, plus sprains and on and on. I was a wild child with very few fears. Surprisingly I never hurt myself on the trampoline, other then getting the wind knocked out of me a number of times when I'd fall off and land on my back or stomach. I pretty much lived on that thing and fell off of several times with all my stunts. But I never got seriously hurt. Anyway, back to the Moss'. The guest bathroom on their main floor was so cool. It had an old fashion toilet. The tank that is usually on the back was up on the ceiling. You pulled a big long chain that hung from that to flush it. It was so fun! :) I used to babysit the three younger kids once in awhile. I graduated with the oldest. The first time I ever went to McCall was with their family to their condo. Stan and Diane were great friends with my parents and I remember them going on vacations together. Stan had a really cool old convertible car that he'd give us rides in as well as a dune buggy.
The Curnisac's
Jessica graduated two years before me and now works at Qwest where KG has talked with her a few times. Annie was a year or two younger then me. I was never into barbies or girlie things because was I was a tomboy. But for some reason I loved playing at their house with their HUGE doll houses and barbies. Maybe it's because it was safe there...none of my boy friends would find out and make fun of me. :) Mind you this was all during elementary school. I don't remember hanging out with them past that. My sister and I would go over there and play for hours. Annie also had a really cool bike. So cool in fact that one night I sneaked in their back yard and stole it. Oops. I think I was 11. Unfortunately I was caught red handed. The neighbor, Tammy Camas, saw me taking it as she was looking out her bedroom window. When Annie's parents came to my parents and then proceeded to ask me, I lied. But they already knew because there was a witness. Dang! :-D
The Irish's
I used to go swimming at their house. It was the first pool in the neighborhood that I swam in. Jill was a hair stylist. Everyone got their hair cut there. Except me. She was very popular and very funny. I went once and all I listened to was her gossip about everyone under the sun. I learned a lot about people that I didn't need to know. Keep in mind that I was a teen. I think there must have been someone older there getting their nails done because I can't imagine her telling me the stuff I heard. I was disgusted. I also was quite sure that if I told her anything, the next person in the door would know about it. Yikes. That was my last time there. Oh wait, except for the time she did my nails for my brothers wedding when I was 15. My mom and sister were there as well. Last time I ever had nails too. Hate them. There was also some huge conflicts between her, her daughter and one of my most favorite people in the world, Sheri. It tore me apart to see how mean they were to my friend after all she had done for her daughter. I wish I had better memories but unfortunately it was never ending, clear until I graduated high school and beyond. I was constantly hearing about people she was hurting with her words. It was so bad in fact that at one point the Stake President had to get involved because of all the rumors that were being spread from her shop. So sad. She was a great Sunday school teacher although I think the reason she was so popular with the kids was that she was loud, funny and brought candy. Speaking of the candy...I was eating one of the Brach's butterscotch candies she brought. I choked on it. She panicked and started jumping up and down screaming. It was so bad in fact that I was turning colors as she freaked out. Nathan Boden, a kid in my class(I think we were all 15) came to my rescue and gave me the Heimlich. (Thank heavens for Scouts!) The candy shot across the room and I cried and she cried and Nathan was a hero. :) I choked on that same kind of candy 3 or 4 years before that when I was in Senior primary singing time. We stood up to sing and when I breathed in, it shot to the back of my throat and down. Since everyone was standing up and singing wildly I couldn't get anyones attention. I freaked out and ran to the water fountain thinking I could wash it down. When I bent over at the fountain it popped out. I have not eaten one of those candies since. They scare the crap out of me. I really don't need 'third times a charm' to come true and have it take my life. :)
Good times.

Flashback Friday::Kimmi and Kristen

Kimmi Maas
The tragedy of her life is something I will never forget. When we were in the third grade, during Christmas break, her family went sledding somewhere in the hills. I believe it was by some family property. They went down a dirt road that was never traveled on. She was with her uncle and her brother Jimmi who was two years older then her. Just as they rounded a corner they came head on with a truck, which ran over them before they could even process what happened. Her brother's head was completely smashed and he died on impact. I don't recall what happened to the uncle. Kimmi's head was ran over as well but only half. She spent months at Elk's Rehab and we'd go visit and see her in a state that we wouldn't understand for a long time. She was basically a baby again, having to relearn everything. She was left mentally and physically impaired. I think as kids in the neighborhood we always took care of her at school. We'd never let anyone make fun of her! It was so hard to see someone in that state that just months prior was a vibrant young kid just like you. I believe she still lives at that house with her parents but she's been able to have jobs and so forth through different state assistants programs. I still see her on occasion and it always beings a smile to my face. She ALWAYS had a smile on her face! She always had jokes to tell. Usually the same ones but we always listened as though it was the first time hearing it. She is truly amazing.
Petersen's
Mel, Sandra, Doug, Curt, Brandon and Kristen.
Kristen moved into that house when we were in first grade. We are still friends to this day. She can make me laugh more than anyone else in my life. I'm not sure what it is but we are guaranteed to wet our pants every time we're together. Her three older brothers loved to tease us and make fun of us. Once Doug had kids, when I was a junior in high school, we'd bring them over to swim and play. I babysat her nieces and nephews for years when Jen and Doug would go on vacation. It wasn't really Kristen's thing. Plus her niece Paige is severely autistic and that was hard for her. I on the other hand adored Paige.
Back to Kristen.
When we were in third grade she moved to this house:I will have lots more to write about this house on another Friday. But they moved out because the Jensen's, who were previously my next door neighbors, bought it.
When we were in 5th grade she moved to this house.
When we were in 8th grade she moved to this house, which is right next door to the above one.

That house holds so many memories. Her parents both taught piano lessons. This house was set up perfectly for it. They had a cool set up. There was a gal, Joanna, that would teach theory when the students arrived, then they'd go with Sandra for the lessons and then in with Mel for more practicing. I loved sitting downstairs talking with all the students while they did theory. And we'd get in trouble because we were preventing them from doing their work. We would sit on the stoop in the front and talk about our high school boyfriends, Kelly and Bart. We would have sleep overs often and even sometimes on school nights. We were in the same class at school a few years. I destincly remember 4th and 5th grade, Mrs. Yerazable and Mrs. Hutchinson. So fun. New kids would always move in and then we'd have the triangle when they were better friends with one of us then the other but that would never last and we'd always have each other. She is really the only girl friend that I ever had, always preferring the company of boys just for that reason. Hated the girly crap. Her dad was diagnosed with cancer when we were juniors in high school. He died two days before our graduation. He was so ill and weak for two years and that was so hard on her. That made her turn to Kelly that much more and she somewhat disconnected from her family to avoid the hard times. The death was so hard on her and she and Kelly broke up right after graduation. Bart and I had also broken up a month earlier so we really leaned on each that summer. We swam every day starting at 10:00 until we couldn't take it anymore. We put a tv in my mom's Jeep Cherokee, parked in the garage, and slept in there more nights then I could count. So uncomfortable but so fun. I was the first person she told that she was getting married, and to a guy I couldn't stand. I wouldn't be in the wedding because I felt so strongly against him and thought he was replacing her dad. sure enough they divorced a short time later and I was right there for her and got her through that. I went to her to talk about KG and how much I looked forward to our future. And typically, even when life sucked, we laughed all the way through it. I really have never met ANYONE that has such an affect on me. Our relationship has always sort of cycled. We go a year where we are together EVERYDAY for every moment possible and then a year where we talk a couple of times. Not sure why but since we entered high school that's how it's been. We are kind of in that point right now. But we're always there for each other and when we get back together there is never a gap. I love her dearly and always will.

Flashback Friday::Denny

I've been talking to Denny this week so I figure it's appropriate to finally get this posted. I've had this as well as a few other's docked for months because Friday's have been so busy.
Oh how I loved me some Denny. :)
I had the biggest crush on him for most of my grade school years. The only problem, he liked Ashleigh. The fact that his mom and Ashleigh's mom were best friends was not helping my case. Well guess what, I prevailed and we have a fun friendship to this day.
My only memory in this house,which was around the corner on another street from mine, was that his mom died of cancer there. She was the first person I ever knew that died of cancer. I was in 6th or 7th grade. His mom was my Merry Miss leader. She did the best object lessons. I still have all of them in a little jewelry box that I keep locked. I really thought a lot of her.
That was so hard on him! He struggled for a long time. It didn't help that his dad married the evil stepmother. That's when they moved here, except when they lived there it was a putrid pink! :)
I'm sure she's not that bad but we, being loyal to our friend, HATED her. She never treated him and his 3 siblings very well. All of them ran away at one point or another and it was heartbreaking for us to watch. Her two daughters took priority and then they'd added a bazillion babies since then. Ok only 6 or 7 but on top of the 6 that already existed, that's a lot. So at one point he was banned from being with me because I was a bad influence. Little did his parents know that he taught me lots of things I didn't know, most of them not good like shop lifting! He is another guy that I loved to make out with. That lasted through junior and high school until I met Bart. We would walk home from church or firesides and stand in this one culdasac under the same light pole and make out while all our friends gawked. After I started driving I'd take a bunch of our buds home and then we'd go to the parking lot in front of the mini golf place on Fairview and make out and then I'd always have to drop him off a few blocks away so we wouldn't get caught together. When I babysat Ali, 1 to 2 years old, he would come over while she napped and we'd make out the entire time she was asleep. Then when Eva would get home he'd sneak out the back and ride home. She finally told me one day that we didn't have to sneak. She knew he was coming over every day and loved watched him 'sneak' off. She said she would never tell either of our parents and to have fun! She was so cool. She is the one who introduced me to Pink Floyd by giving me Dark Side of the Moon for my birthday. I have LOVED them every since. It became great make out music. ;) The Wall aided in my break up with Bart and became an awesome album to draw to.
Anyway, our huge group would sneak out and I believe he was the brains behind the first event. But anyhow, most of the kids were in our ward. My brother and I would wait until our parents were asleep and we'd sneak out to meet our gang. This took place one summer from Memorial Day to Labor day, every Friday and Saturday night! We'd walk around and just chill together. We'd walk in the middle of the road on Cloverdale and when we'd see a car coming we'd all dive into the ditch hoping they didn't see us and try not to land on each other. We'd laugh and laugh. The funny thing is, for about a month we'd meet in the foundation of this housewhich was right across the culdesac from his house. We'd play cards and talk. Those are some of the BEST memories. Eventually we started going to the Wright's every night. Linda decided that if we were going to be out, she'd rather have us in her basement then out causing problems. I'll write more about them later. We all got caught eventually. I remember the first time for my brother and I. We were sitting in that foundation and all of a sudden we see my dad drive by on Cloverdale. Busted. Then a few minutes later we see him drive right in front of us on the other street. Then a few minutes after that we see him drove on Cloverdale again going the opposite direction heading home. By then we were scared to even go home. Finally at 6:00 am we went home to find the doors locked. He locked us out. That way we'd have to wake them up in order to get inside. We were creamed! Eventually they figured out just how big of a group was sneaking out and that they were all from our ward. A few Sundays later they canceled Relief Society and Priesthood and had a big meeting in the chapel for all parents. They all decided they needed to work together and be aware and not let us in their homes at night but send us home and call our parents. All because of us. Oh yeah! Seriously, most of the time it was harmless and I can say those are some of my very best memories. The first few times we went out we would toilet paper houses and tip over Porta Johns(the one by the Yeggy's was hit a few times!:)) but after that novelty wore off it was innocent fun.
Denny was by far my favorite spin the bottle player. When we'd land on each other we'd cheat and stay behind the fence twice as long as we were supposed to and make everyone mad so they'd just continue without us.
They moved to this house while we were in high school and we were so sad to not have him in our ward anymore.
After high school I loved visiting him in Logan on the weekends with Michelle. I wrote him while he was in his mission. We went through so much together, both joy and sorrow and several deep loses. I will forever be grateful for his friendship.
I still love visiting with him and his cute wife and now they have two beautiful kids!
They are coming in a couple of weeks and I am sooo excited to see them!

Flashback Friday::Goroux's and Thueson's

The Goroux's
Skip and Phillis.
My cabbage patch doll's name was Phillis so I always thought that was so cool! :) They lived two houses down. They were an older couple and we all loved hanging out there. They let us get in their hot tub and hooked us up with popsicles. Every Christmas they had a HUGE holiday Bizzare. Phyllis and several other ladies made things all throughout the year and then sold them at Christmas. It took up every room in their home, except their bedroom, including the garage. I still have things I purchased there. I loved buying my mom's Christmas present their each year.
The Thueson'sTheir house was four houses down.
Greg, Sheri, Shayne, Nate, Colby.
Oh my. Where do I begin? This house kept me alive! Literally. Every time my dad and I would have a fight, which seemed like a lot, I'd finally scream my choice words at him and run out the door. I always ran to Sheri. They never came looking for me because they knew where I was. She got me through soooo much! Life is so hard when you're a teenager after all. ;) She is an amazing lady. There were also three pretty rad boys that lived there. And no, I didn't make out with them. That would have been weird based on my relationship with their mom! She was the person I always went to for everything. She helped me through so much! I could talk to her about anything. That extended way past high school. I told her about my knew relationship with KG. I cried to her when we were on a 'break'. I went back super excited that we were back together and engaged! She helped at my wedding and with the bridal shower. She went to the temple with us for our wedding as well as our sealing with Flower. She will always be an important part of my life!
At one point she was my Young Women's President. She is very delicate and dainty. The girliest girl I know. Her house was decorated as though a man had never stepped foot inside. Not my taste but I LOVED it because it was her. I love going to her house. Just walking in feels so warm. I used to love to sit at the counter and watch her do dishes or cook. She has such a gentle way about her.
I remember the first thing we did when we introduced ourselves to the boys was ask them if they wanted to jump on our trampoline! Shayne, a year younger then me, was part of the gang I was with all the time. He introduced me to the band 'A Tribe Called Quest' and our favorite song was Scenario. Good stuff. Shayne kept us laughing like nobodies business! He had an alter ego named Skippy. I tell ya, the day Shayne hit puberty was a sad day for us because Skippy died. I would kill to have him do that act again.
A not so good memory wrapped into some super fun times is when Greg and Sheri went on a cruise. I was 15 and my sister was 16. They had us stay with the boys knowing our parents were just down the street. It made it easy since we all just road to school together and stuff. We had so much fun! We even pierced Shayne's ear which he promptly took our the day before his parents came home. The rest of the gang basically hung out there the whole week with us. The not so good memory was a major tragedy that took place in my family during that week. I will forever associate the beginnings of my grieving with their house. I was so angry about what happened and punched a whole in Sheri's bathroom wall. They almost canceled their trip but instead sent Greg's parents over to take care of the boys. It was such an incredible thing on that scary, lonely night as I was crying and trying to make sense of things, that all my best guy buds wrapped their arms around me and we just sat on the floor and hugged while I cried. I will never forget Dan, Shayne, Denny, and both Nates for that.
Another memory of their house is during the summer, a bunch of us were swimming in our pool. We heard sirens and kept thinking they sounded closer and closer. Finally we decided to go take a look and that's when we saw it. Smoke coming from their house. We all ran down the road to see what happened. We sat in the street and watched it burn. It was so sad. Colby had been in his room with two other boys. They were playing with rubber cement. They had rolled it up into 100's of snot balls and flung them all over. Then one of the boys had the bright idea to see if it was really flammable like the bottle said. Because he had it on his hands, it caught his hand and shirt on fire and he threw it. All the little balls all over the room ignited in no time. Poor Colby sat holding his mom sobbing and repeating "I'm sorry, I'm sorry". The two other boys cried as well. Luckily they didn't lose everything. They did stay in an apartment for months while the whole top floor was gutted and redone. Wow was it an amazing transformation!
We used to play spin the bottle anytime we were swimming at my house and in the hot tub. Whenever Shayne and I landed on each other we'd just go behind the fence and giggle.
I loved hanging out with him and the laughs never ended!
We went through so much with them and they will always have a huge part of my heart.

Flashback Friday::The Next Door Neighbors

Or should I say The Boys of Next Door? What can I say? I loved to make out and you'll find that is a theme of all the boys I hung out with...most of them anyway. Just be forewarned.
So on to the memories.
Oh my. This is going to be a long one! I LOVE this house and all the memories it holds within those walls!
Wow, this house floods me with emotion. Joy and sadness. This house was right next to ours. When we moved in the Jensen's lived there.
THE JENSEN'SDave, Kathy, Julie, Denise, Amy, Eric, Davey, Marie and Steven. I was right in between the ages of Amy and Eric which, by the way, were born in the same year, just 11 months apart, one in January and one in December. Crazy! I really appreciated both of our mom's for what they instilled in us. We had so much fun with them. But we were kids so of course there was conflict. Our moms NEVER got involved. If we tried to tattle we were quickly sent outside to fight our own battles and resolve our own issues. I think this has helped me immensely in my life! It taught us to problem solve. And because both moms agreed on this, there was never one mom blaming the other kids for being trouble makers and so on. That happened a lot with other kids in the neighborhood.
I remember when they decided to put an above ground pool in. They decided to dig down two feet. We all helped. We spent at least a week digging. And when it was done and the pool was in, it was so rewarding! It wasn't huge and was only 5 feet deep but that didn't matter. Everybody would work together and run the same direction in a circle. That would create the best whirlpool to where we could eventually just lay on the water and glide. Then of course one of us would try to go the opposite way and get swallowed under. So fun.
One time we got into a big fight outside. I particularly remember Denise and I. They all went running into their house to get away. Denise was at the end of the pack. We tended to get physical with each other. I couldn't catch them so I grabbed the really long metal pole you use to turn on sprinklers in the ground. I chased them and right before they slammed their door closed and I was able to get that thing in the door and slam it down, hitting Denise right on the head. Hey I never said I was nice! That time, Dave was home and I got in trouble.
Whenever Eric and I would fight we'd gather our dad's tools and stand in our own backyards. We'd throw them over the fence and try to hit each other with them while we yelled our verbal attacks. Soon enough that was forgotten and were back in the front yard pulling the legs off spiders and pinning grasshoppers to the fence.
We all loved to ride our bikes together and play in the park. We'd spend hours in the tennis court trying to hit each other with tennis balls. None of us were actually very good at playing the game.
Under their stairs in the basement, normally used for storage, their dad cut a window and made it into a play room. We'd use it as a restaurant. We'd place our orders through the window. We'd use it as a kitchen, a house, a school room.
We'd have sleepovers on the trampoline almost every night of the summer.
So many memories.
They moved a few blocks away when I was in 5th grade.
That's when the Bateman's moved in!
THE BATEMAN'S
Rich, Deb, Ashleigh, Nate, Isaac, Jed and Mackenzie.Ashleigh was 1 year younger then me, my brother's age, and Nate was 3 years younger. But we all got along so well! And I had the biggest crush on Nate. He was way taller then me, which doesn't take much, but that made him seem older. We shared our first kiss two years after t hey moved in. And boy did we like to kiss! We all did everything together. We'd play basketball together, ride bikes, play in the park. Nate was the one that first taught me how to hit a baseball at Frontier Elementary. We still played in the room under the stairs. We'd jump on the trampoline. We'd put the sprinklers under the tramp in the summer and sleep under the stars. We spent almost all of our time outside. As we got older we caused trouble in the neighborhood. :) Deb would do my hair before school because she was so good at French Braids and doing them lots of different ways. Mackenzie became like a little sister to me since she was a baby when they moved in. I'd take her everywhere I could.
A funny memory about their house is one winter there was a pretty good snow pile in the bushes next to the walk way to the door next to the grass. Look in the above photo to see the window above the door and the teeny tiny roof. We all convinced my brother that he could ride a sled off the roof and actually land on the snow. Oh my. My poor brother. If we ever wanted to see if something worked we could talk him into it. He was forever the guinea pig. Well there was no way that sled was going to make enough speed to jump clear across the cement and land on the grass. No. It nose dived and landed right on the stoop. He landed on his butt and I'm sure his tail bone is still cursing him. Or maybe he landed on his knees. Perhaps that was the start to his knee problems. Either way, he was hurt and pissed! :0)
They moved away to Twin Falls falls when I was a Sophmore. The two days before they moved Nate and I skipped school. We hung out in Kyle Hudson's basement in his room and made out! We knew it would be our last time for likely ever! (Turns out there would be one more time, 5 years later when I went to his sister's wedding in Twin. And boy did we start right where we left of as far as our friendship. He even drove back to Boise with me so we could have more time together and had a friend pick him up. Fun kid.) On the second day we freaked out when we heard the garage door open! Kyle's dad came home from work. Crap. We were grabbing our stuff as fast as we could, got out the window and went running through the neighborhood! :) I missed him terribly and we wrote all throughout high school.
That's when the Allison's moved in.
THE ALLISON'S
Gregg, Kathy, Bryce, Brent, Bart, Briea, Brittny.
Bart was a year younger then me but in my same grade at school. He quickly became my pot smoking boyfriend for over a year, spanning my junior and senior years. My mom always knew that he smoked, unbeknownst to me, but she never told my dad because she knew me and she knew my dad. She knew I wouldn't smoke. She also knew that my dad would make me stop seeing him. That would just make me want to see him more and likely smoke with him. Smart lady! Everyone loved my mom! She was mom to all our friends.
Anyway he did stop smoking after 6 months when he was caught by his parents. I began to love this knew Bart even more. For our 6 month anniversary he gave me a ring. I still have it and where it on my toe. He also used to make me really cool stuff like wallets and necklaces.
Unfortunately his grandma died about a year into the relationship. He was so close to her! He went back to Oregon for the funeral and spent two weeks there. He was depressed and with his old buddies and started smoking again. This continued for about two months but he was lying to me and I just KNEW he was doing it. I finally resorted to checking out his old hiding spots in his car. Sure enough. So we talked and I told him I like him better not high and that's not what I really want in a guy. He said that's what he wanted to do for the remainder of our senior year so that was that. I said good-bye. That was so hard! He still wanted to take me to prom but two weeks before the dance I decided I just wasn't into it. I hated dresses anyway! What was the point?
And I did the unthinkable too. I was hurt that he chose pot over me. I gave my keys to his car to his sister, who had become a sister to me. She was so hurt that he was smoking again. She was stealing his stashes and then giving them to me to throw away. Yep, you guessed it. I kept one of the stashed as well as the pipe and I tried it because I wanted to know what the big deal was. They moved back to Oregon two weeks after we graduated. His whole family slept at my house the night before the move and all of our buds in the neighborhood came over. We had an ll night party. We swam all night long! Well, Nikki and I sneaked away from the party for a bit to the park to smoke some of the stash. And guess what, he came looking for us and caught me and was soooo hurt because he knew what my standards were! (little did he know it was his stuff---his sister and I denied it for a long time.) He felt totally responsible. He cried and it was so sad. We sat in his car for the rest of the night talking and laughing and he said, "If you were going to do it why didn't you just join me. It would have been so fun and we wouldn't have had to break up." Yeah right! Anyway, I loved our relationship while it lasted. Some teen relationships are so dramatic but we never fought. We went to dances together. We liked to make out. We had so much fun together. He worked at McDonald's for a portion of that time and me and the gang would go through the drive-up window and he'd give us free food and happy meal toys. I remember one week they had these mini plastic license plates that came with letter stickers to decorate them. I'd write a message on them and then go leave it on the visor of his car and then he'd write me a message and put it in my car for me to find later. This went back and forth for a couple of weeks. That's how he told me he loved me for the first time. Writing it with stickers on a license plate. We had keys to each others cars so we'd leave little notes and such. He called me his sugar booger. Our song was Smashing Pumpkins--Disarm. he chose it while I was at EFY the summer after my junior year. I loved it.
We loved hanging out with our gang. I was usually the only girl with 8 other boys from the neighborhood. We did everything together! We'd all hang out in my garage listening to music almost everyday when it was nice outside.Bart had beautiful long hair. After school we'd sit in front of my mom and she'd scratch our heads and play with our hair with her long nails.
He and the gang found out from my mom that she thought I was a boy while she was pregnant and I was supposed to be named Matthew David. (They didn't know till I came out that I was a girl and didn't have a name picked out. They heard the song Just Call Me 'Angel' of the 'Morning' on the radio on the way to the hospital and Angela Dawn it was. I love that I was named after a song.) Anyway, the gang all started calling me Matt and that last months and months. That's what they'd say when they called me too. They ask anyone in my family if Matt was home.
I used to sneak out at night and sneak in his window and we'd talk and talk for hours and watch movies until the sun came up and I'd sneak back home. His parents were my parents and vise versa. (expect my dad because he was the bishop and that was just weird for all my friends) We called his mom Momala. She loved it.
One of my scariest memories was the last day of school of our junior year. Nikki invited all of us, about 18, to go to Lucky Peak with her family and go boating and camping. The boys were going to sleep on one side of the lake with her dad and brother and the girls on the other side of the lake with her and her mom. Well for Keri(my very best cousin and friend) and I that would never do! We always had to be sneaky. She was seeing Ben at the time. Neither of our boys could be there for the boating. Besides we didn't want to have to be on opposite sides anyway! So we lied to Nikki's parents and said that we had to be home that night. They dropped us off at my truck and then we drove to a prearranged spot that we were supposed to meet our boys to camp for the night. They were supposed to meet us at 10:00 because they got off work at 9:00. 11:00 passed. Midnight passed. 1:00 am passed. We were so worried! We weren't supposed to be with them so we couldn't call our parents! Finally we decided to go looking for them at 2:00 am. Imagine our horror to be driving down the highway and see Bart's car on the back of a tow truck! We both started crying and freaking out and trying to get the drivers attention so he could tell us where the hell he got that car and where the guys were. He pulled over and we were so thrilled to see Ben and Bart jump out of the tow truck. We hugged and cried and were so happy they were ok. They had made a wrong turn and then tried to do a u-turn on this dark road and slid down and embankment. Being as dumb as we were, we still camped with them that night in the back of my truck since all the gear was in Bart's car.
That summer they had a tent trailer set up in between our houses. He and I and his two sisters spent so many nights in there playing card games all night and camping out! I'm pretty sure my brother was with us too.
I played the game Mall Madness for the first time with his sister's in there and we laughed so hard! It's the most hilarious game. But only the old school version. When they moved I thought I'd never see that game again. 5 years later I found it at Savers! Me and my two nieces love to play it and we laugh just like I did back then and at the exact same parts.
I love these memories!

Flashback Friday::My house and the park

I am going to use Friday as my childhood flashback for awhile. I had the best childhood. Don't get me wrong, we went through some pretty shitty stuff! But the good times far outweighed the tragedies and I want to make sure I always remember them. I have always been grateful to my parents for staying in the same house for so long for our benefit. We had so many great friends and still keep in contact with most of them to this day! I can hardly wait to reminisce about each one of them in these flashback blogs.
I went to the old neighborhood this week. Gosh it brought back so many memories. I could go on for days! And I will, just not all in one post. :) I remember some of the most bizarre things too. I'm going to try and be as candid as possible.
From the age of 5 to 19 I lived at 4171 Nystrom Way. My parents sold the house when I was 23.
I love the layout of this house. When you walk in the front door, there was a good size entry way with a little nook for a desk and a big chandelier over head. If you walked straight you'd go right up the stairs. But for now we'll go left to the living room with the piano and my mom's curio cabinets with her music box collections. Then on to the formal dining room with the hutch housing my mom's china. It was a beautiful set and I'd get so excited when we'd have a meal that called for the good china. I take great care in pulling out each piece starting with the big plates. They were always sandwiched between two paper towels for protection. Then the little plates, glasses and silverware. The silverware was in a special drawer lined with felt. I loved handling it all!
Next to that was the kitchen. Big and open. There was a good size laundry room/pantry attached. When we became teenagers and wanted to talk on the phone, we would go in there, shut the door and sit on the washer to have privacy when we had terribly 'important' things to talk about with our friends. :)
On the other side of the kitchen was the informal dining room. I still remember the things that adorned the wall the entire time I lived there! Behind where my dad sat there was a gigantic wooden fork and spoon. Behind where my mom sat there was a photo of Jesus with four kids sitting around him. Since there were four of us kids we each knew which one of those kids was us.
Next to the that dining room was the family room. That lead to a hallway with a bathroom and closet and back to the entryway. It was one big circle and we LOVED it! We would chase each around that thing to know end! I remember once my parents went out of town and my mom's parents came from Idaho Falls to watch us. We got my mild mannered grandpa to chase us around. It made our day. And obviously, I've never forgotten. We also had the best and only dog I've ever loved. It was a tiny little Pomeranian Poodle. Anyway, I had/have this blue blanket that my grandma made me and the dog, Buffy, loved it. We would run around it with the blanket trailing behind us and Buffy would chase us trying to get the blanket. If she actually bit it, she would just glide across the entry way or kitchen floors! :) It still makes me laugh. I also remember the time my grandpa was chasing us, he fell at the entry way and it cracked the old dry skin on the inside of his palm wide open. It made me so sad to see blood coming from my grandpa. I loved him.
So now up the stairs.
Just to the left of the stairs was the bedroom I inhabited with my younger brother from the age of 5 to 16. That's the window to the far right in the photo below.I loved sharing a room with him and we were by far the closest growing up. We'd stay up late sharing secrets and talking. We loved listening to music each night to go to sleep.
Next to that room was the bathroom, the window in the middle and next to that was my older sister's room, the window to the left. Next to her was my older brother's room. When I was 16 he went on his mission and my little brother took his room. That was the first time I had my own room. It was so fun to get all new furniture and decorate it my way. But I sure missed my brother. I don't know if he ever knew that.
The room he took was the fun room because it had roof access. We'd get up there and just hang out. Then we'd jump off onto the trampoline. The neighborhood hoodlums loved it too! :)
You can just barely see the window above that roof.
My parents bedroom spanned the whole front of the house. The three windows across the front in the first photo.
My parents put a pool in when my brother was on his mission. We named the vacuum that cleaned the pool after him so that he could feel like he was swimming with us while he was gone.
Once they put in the pool, my parents did all the landscaping stuff. They paved right under the roof where the trampoline used to sit. But if you look to the right on the house in the photo, that used to be all grass, and our trampoline was over in that corner. They now have a stupid dog run back there and from the diving board to the dog run is rocks instead of grass. I loved our backyard. I loved having all the kids in the neighborhood swimming everyday of the summer. Playing spin the bottle in the hot tub. Going skinny dipping. Or better yet, when the guys would go skinny dipping and we'd go steal their suits and hang them in trees and then watch them retrieve them as they tried so hard not to reveal their goods. So stinkin' funny!
It was located in:Behind our house we had a park. We had so many good times there. I was shocked to go there this week and see that it's completely different! The toys used to be right up next to the tan fence with was our fence. The fact that it has changed pissed me off because now I couldn't get the photos of the backyard that I wanted. Nice. It is a nice playset though.
The neighborhood also had these cool paths, two that went into the park and two in different blocks to get from one side of the block to the other without having to go all the way around.
I loved our neighborhood! It seemed everyone was always outside and for the most part we all got along.