Photos and Memories - Part 2

Time to post a few more slides and thoughts to go with them. It is fun to look back at our memories of our family. As one of my daughters said yesterday, “I’m so glad you took photos when we were young.” That’s the whole point of taking photos.

Following World War II my dad got out of the Marine Corps and we moved back to Des Moines and built a house on property owned by my grandfather. It was a basement home which were fairly common in those days, especially if you couldn’t afford a full house. Dennis and I were 2 and 3 (I’m the older and with the dog) in this photo. Within 2 years my dad was called back up for the Korean war and we moved to North Carolina, but for a few years we lived in this wonderful basement home out in the country just north of town.

Skipping forward 23 years our little family left California so I could pursue a masters degree. We moved to BYU with our two daughters, Donna & Jeni. We moved from Ventura, CA to Lawton, OK, where I completed the Artillery Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill. Then we moved into Wymount Terrace, married student housing at BYU. Part of the beauty of living in Provo, UT was the closeness of the mountains. Going up to Cascade Spring and walking in the spring and summer was one of our favorite things to do. In the first photo Donna is holding her hair back while she gets that good mountain water. In the second you can see JoAnn keeping an eye on Jeni. This had to be close to 1974 just before we moved to Manhattan, Kansas. How do I know? Jeni is looks about 2-years old and JoAnn is pregnant with Suzanne. We moved in July when JoAnn was 8 months pregnant. I know, what were we thinking?

Our three little girls are having a peanut butter sandwich with Suzanne in the middle, and obviously not old enough to have a peanut butter sandwich. Suzanne was 4 or 5 months old and it was winter, 1974. Please note that the wonderful couch the kids were sitting on was purchased in California when Donna was born and survived moved to Utah, Kansas, and 2 moves in Iowa before it got so old it was given away. It was an 8 foot long couch and we could put all of us on it. It had a great charm and I still miss it.

Just 13.5 months after Suzanne, little Tim showed up. Our first boy and I was excited. There is nothing better than laying on the couch and playing with my son. In fact, this photo, taken in 1977, just before we left for Iowa, looks a little bit like his almost 2-year old, Joshua.

Finally, Christmas, 1981 in Ames, Iowa, Sally is experiencing her first Christmas. That teddy-bear is the most exciting thing in her life. When I showed JoAnn the photo, she said, “She is just stinking cute!” Clearly JoAnn’s choice of phrases has been impacted by her daughters. I think it was a good influence, but sometimes I wonder. Not really!