Nicknames and Speeding

Being the little sister, sadly, most of what I can remember about John when we were growing up is bad.
The first thing that came to my mind was the time I was forced to ride somewhere with him in his car when he was probably 16. He drove like a maniac and scared me to death. I remember being curled up in the back seat trying not to throw up.
I also can't think of John in his high school years without thinking about his friends (Wolf, Trent, Travis, Poon, Adam. Those are the ones I remember.) that were great friends to him, but not so nice to the rest of us at the time. They had nicknames for a few of us that weren't so nice and some lived on through R.Jay and his friends. The ones I remember were: Helm, Stinky, and Miss Pick Her Butt. I also remember them all teaching Nathan "The Face". That was pretty funny. It's a good thing those boys grew up to be much nicer men!
Happy Birthday John! (I hope you don't feel too bad that these were the memories I decided to share for your birthday!)

I remember when we moved into our first house in St. George that John helped the movers and I believe they gave him some money. He also was excited because they let him ride his Big Wheel down the ramp off of the moving truck.

He used to ride that bike down the hill in front of our house SO fast that it frightened me if I watched. I suppose he has done many things of the adventurous type over the years that I'm glad I haven't seen.

Does anyone remember the baby chick that we had at that house? I think it got sick and John ended up burying it in our yard.

John has always been a kind and sensitive person (despite his trying to act like he isn't) who is willing to help others.

John

In honor of John's birthday, let's all share a memory of him. Try to post your story before Saturday. Label: John

Roller Skates and Overhangs

The very first thing I thought of when I saw the picture was my fear of the little overhang over the garage door. When I was upstairs I used to be scared of walking right next to the windows that were above the garage. I thought that the floor was not supported because it hung over the driveway below instead of the garage. My house framing brothers must be laughing right now!

The second thing I thought of was the empty foundation across the street. I roller-skated over there all the time. I was so sad when someone finally bought it and built a house. I don't even remember the house so it must not have been very long after it was built that we ended up moving.

Red dirt and fake twins...

I thought of two things immediately. The first thing I thought about was this big red dirt hill that was in the back of our house. We had to level most of it to add the addition of the family room that we built on the back. And then the fence we (I keep saying we, like I did some of it!--mostly I watched, and maybe played with Nate and Emily so mom could help) put up in the backyard. I just remember how sad it was to level the hill. It was a fun place to ride bikes and run around on. I also vividly remember Nathan crawling around in the backyard construction in a white and yellow outfit that I loved. I was so sad that it had red dirt all over it, but somehow mom magically got it clean. I still don't know how it was possible that any of us had clean clothes in that red dirt.

I also immediately thought about a time when the Gunnells came to visit. Kelly and I decided to pretend that she was twins. We were trying to trick Dawn S. next door. Kelly and I had shirts that were the same but different colors, so she would put one on and pretend to be one "twin" and then run inside and change and talk out the window as the "other twin." We continued this for an entire day. We thought we were so clever to pull the wool over Dawn's eyes. And then, someone called all of us to the porch to take a picture while Dawn was watching. We, of course, had some odd reason why Kelly's "twin" didn't make it to the porch for the picture. I'm sure Dawn was so confused as to why we were trying to play this stupid trick. Poor girl. We sure had fun with it though. Who'd a thought that twenty years later I would have real twins that try to trick the boys on the bus saying they're the other twin. Funny!

There are so many other memories though. Remember the Phoenix Plaza contest, John?

Killer Dog

This picture brought a lot of things to mind. The first thing I thought was actually how different the house looks now. I now (since I have seen the house recently) picture it with a huge tree in front of it and ugly poop colored doors. (Why is it that as soon as we move out of a house somebody paints the front door some nasty color?) I remember a lot about this house. That may be surprising because I was so young when we lived there, but I have many fond memories of the place. We will have to revisit this subject sometime so that I can share more. The memory I will share this time is not so fond. We lived in this house when I had the recurring nightmares about the big black dog that lived down the street. I'm not sure if it was a rottweiler, but that is what I picture when I think of it. Anyway, I had a nightmare every night for about a week with this dog trying to "get" me. One night, I remember I was at a swimming pool (in my dream) and the dog showed up and chased me through the water and all around the pool deck. The dog never ate me, but in one of the dreams Dad and I were going to the mall and just as we got to the doors the dog ran up to us, ready to attack. Dad jumped to protect me and the dog bit his thumb off. This was a very traumatic time in my life, and I remember the dreams as if they really happened.

1356 W 360 N

Tell about the first thing you thought about when you saw this picture. (Dad, notice the cars in the photo, you must have something to say about those!)
Label: 360 N