A Memory or Two From Kimberly

Mom here--Kimberly asked me to add her 'memories' to the blog that Dad started:

“For memories, there's always the wonderful Christmas memories and all that implies. I've probably said before that when I was little, that bedroom in the Florida house always looked like a football field to me. I remember that huge, vine-covered tree near the grove. Always made me think of a jungle. Theater will always be some of my best memories as a child. I miss doing that so much. Utah just doesn't have it the same, really. I remember my first ever swear word (the "H" word, too) happened while we were watching "Willow" in the den in L'ton. Keith, you freaked me out so bad when you said I wasn't supposed to say that. XD Sent me into the hallway to tell Mom and Dad, as I recall. Anyone remember "The Game" with that multi-colored ball? Playing that out in the front yard was cool. And didn't we have a dinosaur dictionary that we'd pick species out of to pretend to be?

That's all I can really think of or have time for right now. But I also want to say that everyone else's posts had my DYING of laughter! Poor Sister R didn't know if I was laughing or crying! Both, actually.

I love you all so very much! The Church is true and there's so much good that comes from it! I'll never be distracted by your posts, it only makes me love you and the Lord for giving you to me! Lovelovelovelovelove!!”

Sister Kimberly Anderson!

hey...ah-mem-bah me?

i think one of my earliest memories is starting pre-school with taylor.  i remember playing ninja turtles with my friends on the playground and depending on what color shirt you were wearing, that's the ninja turtle you were.  i remember trying my new bow and arrow outback against the "barn".  i remember the crazy dog.  i remember finding rolly pollies outside of church and putting them in my shirt pocket.  what about the snails on the posts of the platforms in the middle of lake ariana.  i loved playing with my brothers, sisters, and cousins.  like "play dead, it's a vulture" or "DRAGONFLY!!!!" or whirlpool.  i love just getting together and laughing my face off.  or at least laughing til i cry.  i can't wait to see you guys again.  much love...peeth out.

Letter and pics from Kimberly

Dad here at the request of Mom. We got a good long handwritten letter from Kimberly the other day and thought we'd share it with you. Mom edited it down to the important bits and typed it up, and I scanned the pictures and am posting it. Jennfer told me how to caption the pictures, and I'll try and see if I can get it right. If not, you'll have to figure out what I meant to do instead of what really comes out. :)

Excerpts from a letter from Kimberly:

Monday, March 2nd

Hey everyone!

In the time between last Thursday (not the 27th, but the one before that, the 20th), which was the last time I was able to write you, a LOT has happened, as you would imagine. So I’ll try to give you a brief rundown of everything.
The 20th was my last P-Day, so I won’t bother with that much. I flew out the 24th and the days leading up to that were kinduv hectic with packing and what not. Poor Sister Ehlers had a bit of a panic attack as she was packing. I felt fine and everything, so I’m glad. Came well within the weight limit.
Leaving Salt Lake on the plane, I watched the mountains for as long as I could, since I knew I’ll miss them. Took a lot of pictures from the air, too. Flying into St. Louis I had hoped to get a picture of the Arch from the air, but no go. Random thought: did you know that suburbs look like amoebas from the air? They do and it’s very strange.
The first visit we made on Wednesday was to this woman who’s been a member two years now (about), but she’s really sick with cancer, so they were trying to get her to the temple before it closed on Saturday for cleaning, so she was able to go to the 7 pm session of Friday! I was so lucky to be able to attend that with her. I didn’t think I’d be going through the temple here so soon!
Our branch building is the smallest I’ve ever seen, including the branch in Las Vegas, NM! There really aren’t many Church members here, but their goal is to “Grow the Branch into a Ward!”
Our dinner calendar for March is so full (and we occasionally get fed lunch besides) that we may not have a chance at eating our own food, besides breakfast. Really, the branch is tiny, but it seems that everyone signed up to feed us! Someone commented that they hadn’t ever seen the Elder’s calendar as fullJ But then Sister Ruefenacht told me that Sister missionaries were prayed into this area. Apparently the Elders had been taken out of this area and it was closed, but now we’ve opened it with Sisters again at the behest of members. Kinda cool to know how much we’re wanted here.
Our regular service work here in Waterloo is at a thrift store called Nice Twice. Kinda neat! I got a couple shirts and a sweater there. After we had finished working, of course. But it’s a neat little clean place and they like to see us there.
Sister R and I are going with the branch mission leader and his wife to clean the temple on Wednesday! This is going to be so cool! And one of our members (recently less-active but she’s doing great now) a middle-aged lady is going to come with us! She’s such a great woman and we love to visit with her (she’s actually offered to let us move in with her, since with certain stipulations we can live with members. I’d really like to, but her grandsons visit and stay with her and that would conflict.)
Oops! Time’s up! I think I got in everything on my notes! Anyway, lots and lots of love! Mine and the Lord’s! The Church is true!

Sister Anderson

The laundry room on P-day - everyone writing letters!
My MTC companion Sister Ehlers outside our room. #307 - funny, right?

Sisters Thacker, Cahoon, Anderson and Ehlers.

Trying to Remember

Some of you may or may not know this, but I have been thinking about old memories a lot lately. I feel like so many of my early memories have been lost and it makes me sad to think that I don't remember as many as other people do. So in order to write this post, I spent the better part of the day trying to remember as many of the good ol' memories as I could. The memories that came were not the cuddly kind. Actually, they were upsetting. That's when I realized the good ol' memories aren't that good. In fact, the only memories I can recall with any clarity are in some way associated with pain and the fear of imminent death. I'm not making this up, these are some of my earliest memories.

- Older brother pukes in back seat of station wagon. Trash can lids. More puke. Snow.
- Fracture younger brother's leg. Learn what the word "fracture" means.
- Running down Illinois Ave. in the dark. Convinced headlights drawing near are oncoming drive by.
- Discover Canadian flag flying in grove behind house. Hostile Canadian takeover only a matter of time.
- Enjoy delicious bowl of flavorful clown-shaped cereal. Green poop. Very green. Death only a matter of time.
- Tiny the pet turtle. Mother gives bad news. Mother carries cooked Tiny past doorway towards the toilet.
- Family reunion in Ohio. Middle of the night. Small blue tent. Dog barking outside. Need to pee. Dog wants blood. Not worth certain death. Writhing in agony for hours. Dog still barking. Desperation. Unzip tent two inches. Pee frantically in defensive sweeping pattern to ward off beast that might be just outside.
- Pool table in Grandfather's house. Ball flies through sliding door. Door shatters. Death only a matter of time.
- Older brother makes toothbrush for younger brother. Suds. Moment of clarity. This is poison. Older brother wants younger brother dead. Younger brother's life flashes before his eyes. Flash very short. Interrupted by screams and the sound of spanking. Younger brother decides shampoo not so bad after all.

There are plenty of really good memories as well. I think the things I remember the most are the little things. I remember getting together with the extended family for pool parties and holidays. I remember all of us cramming into the small den to watch a movie with popcorn and peanut clusters. I remember swimming lessons, camping trips, walking home from school, frozen chocolate milk, "don't sit down at all", baseball, the library, road shows, dad coming home from work, something having to do with me dressed as a rabbit and Bryce as the magician, Nert's, matching buzz cuts, and Norwegian pancakes. I love the simple things. That's what I remember. I have to say, after writing all of this, I feel better about my memories. Maybe they are all still in tact, I just have to sit down and try to list them. Love you all. I'm going to go run around in nothing but an enormous t-shirt and some shammy underwear.

Remembering

Yes, the block-hurling incident will always be a fond memory for me, as well as the shampoo-on-the-toothbrush and cannibalistic-hamsters ones. Seriously though, I sometimes wonder how much of my childhood I actually remember, and it always helps when we all get together and start the "remember when" conversations. It's so much fun. So I hope everybody contributes to this. Some events may be more significant than others, or some may just seem that way. But I'm excited to see what you guys look back on fondly.

I have really vivid memories of our Montoya family camping trips to Highland's Hammock and Long Pond in Florida. I always liked having our extended family nearby growing up and doing things like that was always a treat to me. Building campfires, going on hikes, eating at those plywood tables under the big blue tarp, having Sacrament meeting all by ourselves, canoeing and swimming in scary, weedy water, seeing my aunts without make-up-- all very memorable. :) Maybe someday when our kids are a little older Aaron and I will muster the courage to help them make memories like that, too.

1984

One trip I remember with the Anderson clan is kind of sketchy, but the part I remember most is being loaded into someone's vehicle with a bunch of garbage can lids and such, with the intention of going sledding somewhere. Somebody (I think it was Bryce) got carsick and threw up, which triggered Keith's severe gag reflex and he threw up. Did we even end up sledding after that?

Getting to visit Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house in California was more than exciting for me. I loved exploring that room with the bi-fold doors and bunk beds. That's where they kept the old toys that belonged to Dad and our aunts and uncles. We'd play in the backyard, digging around in Grandma's flower beds looking for snails and marvelling that they could pick avocados in their very own backyard, or hang out in Grandpa's study and laugh at the "Be a lert" and "Ask me how smart I are" signs. It's fantastic that the sights and smells from my childhood are still there today, which make me recall those trips as a kid and bring the same giddiness when I walk through the door.

1986

I could probably list a dozen other memories without having to think too hard, but I don't want to make this too long.

What do you remember?

I was up on Cedar Mountain last night grooming snowmobile trails and got to wondering what kind of memories you guys have of your younger days. It's always fun for my brothers and sisters to get together and reminisce and I wondered what kind of things stand out in your minds of the years we were all living together. A couple of things that I remember really enjoying were that time we worked up a song for the talent show at church and sang 'This Island Earth' (Bryce missed out on that one - you were in school in Durham, I think - maybe Raleigh). And the Christmas in Florida when we had little or no power and all holed up in the living room with the wood burning stove.

Anyway, I was curious about which of all the events and activities of your lives made the biggest impression on your memories - was it the big spectacular things like Disney World, the RV vacation, trips out west, etc? Or was it things like baseball/soccer games, singing together, play practices, or getting big wooden blocks flung at your heads?

This may be of value for Sarah now, if she is trying to create some memories for her kids, but might be something all of us could use. The blog has been a little slow lately (maybe just not much going on in the winter) so this might give us some mental ammuntion for something to write. You can reply with comments or post a thought on your own - whatever works best. Maybe a couple of pictures will stir some memories as well. Hope you are all doing well and things are great for you all.

You younger ones - these pics of Bryce and Sarah just happened to be ones I have on my computer in the office where I'm doing this. No offense intended by not posting some of you. And if you do take offense, I may have to dig up pictures of you in the tub to post, so be warned! Love (really), Dad

Who Was That Masked Man?

Jennifer said I ‘got’ to be the one to blog about our Wednesday night trip to Las Vegas this week to see Phantom of the Opera, so here goes. The high school music department got a block of seats and we were both able to go. The trip itself was less than stellar – riding school buses to Mesquite, Nevada (couldn’t go farther for insurance reasons), 30-45 minute stops at a convenience store for a restroom break, switching to commercial buses in Mesquite and driving into Vegas just in time for rush hour, stopping at an outlet mall to eat at a Panda Express wannabe and finally going in to the Venetian for the show. Maybe all that made the show even better, I don’t know. It was pretty good, though. We had good seats – about halfway back in the hall. SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE SHOW OR THE MOVIE, WHAT FOLLOWS MAY EITHER RUIN IT FOR YOU OR NOT MAKE MUCH SENSE. Anyway, as we sat down and I started looking around, they had the chandelier hanging in the air above our heads in 4 separate pieces (on cables, of course) and the front third of the theater had the side walls draped in some old dusty looking cloths. I whispered to Jennifer that at the end of the auction scene I would bet that the cloths would go up and it would be pretty cool. She looked around and got so excited she started vibrating. Anyway, sure enough, I called it, because when the cloths were pulled up to the ceiling, behind them were old fashioned looking box seats with mannequins dressed in 1880’s type clothing. And the chandelier pieces started soaring around the ceiling and eventually came together as a chandelier above the center of the theater. The theater itself was built specifically for Phantom. The show was really great, with a good professional cast and pretty cool (although somewhat Vegasized) effects. We really enjoyed it. They have changed the show a bit from the Broadway version (with Webber’s help and blessing) and cut it down to an hour and a half with no intermission. I really couldn’t tell what they had cut.
Because we were there with a big group, we were able to stay in our seats till the theater emptied and the theater manager, the technical director, a couple of techs, and three of the cast (Raoul, Carlotta, and Christine) came out and talked to us and answered questions from the group. It was really interesting to listen to them and get their side of the show. All in all, a fun evening. Getting home at 3 am was less fun. Fortunately, the principal was along for the ride and excused the kids from their first two periods the next morning, so Jennifer got to sleep in a bit. Anyway we had a great time and would recommend it to anyone. The sad part is that I couldn’t/didn’t take any pictures so there aren’t any to post. Sorry about that.