Tidbits about Me

What are some of the things your father was especially good at? His special talents and abilities.

     I have been blessed with two fathers. My dad was great at making people laugh and he had a quick wit about him. He would welcome our friends and make them feel comfortable.

He was good at doing things for others. He was a good friend to many. I loved to make my dad laugh and I miss him terribly. He was one to always laugh at my jokes and wit. He didn’t let us talk back to our mother and even though he struggled with being kind to her on occasion, he made sure that we knew we were supposed to be kind to her.

What my father lacked in financial responsibility, he would try to make up with recreation fun. He would take us camping and fishing and riding ATV’s. I remember one time we went up to Hyrum Dam and we had a few friends with us (after I was married) and he would pull us around on a weenie float tube behind his boat. He exceeded the recommended speed and would dump us.


My dad was all about fun.

     After my mom married Stan, we inherited another wonderful dad!

He has been so good for the family. He has brought stability to our lives. He was always so good at putting family first and has worried for years about fitting in. He has been such a great addition to the family and we don’t know what we would do without him! Krampa is such a great supporter for everyone. He encourages people and he is very complimentary to everyone.

He has a wonderful talent for service work and working in the yard. He, along with my mom, has made their yard so beautiful. He has struggled through lots of illnesses since joining our family and a few of them have been life-threatening, but he always seems to have a positive attitude.

What a wonderful, kind and patient man and we love him.

Tidbits of my life

If you had to pinpoint three main values that your parents lived by and tried to instill in you, what would they be?

There are many things that my parents taught by example, good and bad. The first thing is, when I was growing up, “Little House on the Prairie” was a popular TV series. I remember feeling like Laura Ingalls and my father being Charles Ingalls. My dad was not perfect but I do remember how he liked and accepted everyone the same way Charles Ingalls did. He and my mother seemed to welcome all my friends and my brother's friends. They had their favorites and saw through some of the friends that were “fake friends” and not very kind to us as well.

My mother tried to teach us how important it was to save money and not spend frivolously. Even though I watched her try to make up for my dad’s financial weaknesses and temptations, I didn’t understand that much until I got married and had to pay attention to my own finances. Finances should be a joint effort in a marriage and MUST be discussed and agreed upon. I also learned that a budget and living by a budget is crucial in a marriage and in life in general.

The third thing was to support one another as a family. I remember going to each other’s ball games, practices and whatever else we were involved in. We may not have sat and watched everything, but we did go to the parks with each other. I remember one time that my brother played little league football and I was a cheerleader. My mom made my cheer leading outfit, that I still have. Other times my mother helped coach my softball team and taught me how to pitch. Even though my dad couldn't run very well with his half foot, he always encouraged us to get involved and he cheered us on! He even cheered my mother on when she played softball.

Tidbits of my life

By Jody

I gave a challenge to my parents to answer a question a day and said that I would do the same. So it begins…

What did you love to do as a kid, before high school?

One of my most favorite things to do was play night games with the neighborhood kids. Within 2-3 blocks we had a bunch of kids, mostly grade school age. Each summer we would congregate in one area of the neighborhood and play all sorts of night games. We would play until dark or until we heard our parents yell for us to come home. Most of these neighborhood friends lived in the same area until about the time I moved, just before Jr. High. We moved several blocks north of my original childhood home and after I was married, we moved back a few blocks south. Some of the families are still there but many have moved on or passed away.