A Little Childhood History

When I was Isaacs age, I lived in Bicknell Utah located in Wayne County. It was a small farming community with about 300 residents about an hour south of Fish Lake. It was a wonderful existence. Ideal in every conceivable way. Our family moved from Logan, Utah when I was 2 years old- I know that we lived only an acre or two away from my my Grandma Ruth & Grandpa Loy. When we moved to Bicknell we moved into a small home that my parents called the "little house on the prairie." We watched Smurfs on Saturday mornings and we always had chores- we listened to Kenny Rodgers album while we cleaned- I know all the words to The Gambler. My mom was an excellent cook and was very ambitious. She especially was great at making braided bread. We went fishing quite a bit and I remember one time going late at night looking for night crawlers (worms) I remember it because I had fallen into a ditch of water and I was so scared that as I recall it- Rick carried me back to the house. Every once in a while we would go to the show on Saturday night. In the summer we would drive to Grover to watch a play at the Hale Theater. Ruth Hale was a beautiful lady. I remember one paticular night walking back in the pitch black night after watching Gremlins with my older Brother- he kept scaring me all the way home telling me there was something behind me. Other than that- he was a good older brother:) In the summer we participated in 4H, moved the sprinkler pipes, toke drives up to Jacksonville where my grandfather kept his livestock and horses. We played in the haystacks and would often find pink baby mice. We had 5 horses that I remember most. Jasper (grandpas horse) Ginger (my moms horse) Honey (Ricks horse) and Socks (I don't know who rode her) Foxy (of course my horse). Foxy was true to her name and was as wild as they come. I remember going up on the mountain to gather cattle and she would not get in the truck. We had to shock her- it took several hours to finally get her into the truck to take her home. My grandma LaWanna would always pack home made bread, chocolate cake, apples, cheddar cheese and jam sandwiches. My grandpa always had a big milk jug filled with water that he never washed out- it was the epitome of filth-and off we would go-in the bright red worn out cattle truck, full of horses & leathered saddles -up the Boulder Mountain for the long day of riding, loping, and running our horses up to the head of the herd to lead them to water. Those were the days. I can't believe it has been about 3 years since I have been up on top Boulder Mountain- the time sure does fly.

I took Piano lessons from Monte Laing along with my brother Rick- we both got pretty good, but I do remember him especially playing quite well. Lisa knew how to play and would often play a song from the movie Man From Snowy River- Jessica's theme. Something like that.We would walk to her house in Loa after school. My grandma would always go over lessons with me- help me practice. As I got older I took lessons from Mrs. Kay Durfee- she also taught music at Loa Elementary where I attended School. My Kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Taft- she was a classy lady. I remember having to write my name on the board with a check next to it for talking & laughing too much. I had to learn to be quiet and pay attention. That was pretty traumatizing to a 5 year old. The first book I learned to read was titled: A Garden for Miss Mouse.

My dad built our home on a few acres just North of town across from the Church house. That came in handy because my parents always served faithfully in their callings- we spent a lot of time at the church- especially my dad when he served in the Bicknell Ward Bishopric. Our home was nothing short of a palace to me. It had 4 giant picture windows that had a grand view of the Boulder Mountain. It had a peach colored formal sitting room, and blue Berber carpet. I remember watching Matlock on Saturday mornings while we folded clothes in that great room upstairs. All three of us children shared the basement which held the piano and party room. I remember my sister having movie parties when she was a teenager. It had a cute fireplace and a fake old fashioned telephone that opened up. It had a sign in it that read "why the hell you looking in here for." It was funny. The basement also had a coal room directly across from my room. Sometimes there would be a calf in there warming up on those cold, drafty winter nights. We had a few calves my dad & grandpa would buy at the auction- we would take care of them, feed them with bottles, and watch them grow- some of them died. Mickey was one of the calves that I helped to raise- it had a black spots in the shape of Mickey Mouse. I remember going to the auction quite a bit- there were few women there, but I remember always getting a piece of peppered jerky. I thought it was so amazing how fast those auctioneers could talk! My mom used to sing a song called the auctioneer- she was an excellent singer and often sang at cousins wedding receptions.

Our home was beautiful- it was especially really clean. My mother was and still is meticulous. I remember being so proud of my room, kept it very clean, and was thrilled with my new bedroom set that I got- it was white with gold accents and I had a baby blue comforter with lace accents. I used to want to show my friends when I changed my furniture around. I know that sounds strange- but as a kid- I really took pride in my room. I had a built in closet and the clothes were organized by color and type. The clothes were from Christensen's Department Store in Richfield- they had a huge toy section upstairs which my grandma always took us up to get a new toy or a doll. We would always stop by Aunt Mabel's- she made amazing chocolates and sold them. Her home had a miniature golf green and a new trampoline and huge stairs- it was a beautiful yard and home. And she was so lively- my grandma was best friends with her sister Mabel- she was a happy and wonderful person to be around- always full of compliments- and she looked almost exactly like my grandma LaWanna. My mom & grandma would take us school shopping in the fall and we would buy beautiful clothes. My mother always made me dresses and a few outfits- she was an excellent seamstress. I loved growing up in a small town- everyone knew everybody and usually was a member of the church. As a child it was nothing short of heaven on earth. We owned motorcycles and would ride them in the hills just above our house. I had a Honda 80- I remember walking it home several times when it had run out of gas. I remember getting really good (and brave) practicing over the dirt jumps.

My dearest friends were my cousins Allyson & Collette. They were my age and I would go there quite a bit, help with chores- just as Allyson was expected to help with chores at my house. We would go on hikes- and ride their 4 wheeler. We watched Anne of Green Gables together. We would go biking. I remember specifically when we rode from Loa to Bicknell then from Bicknell to Teasdale- I think we were only 9 or 10. We thought we were quite amazing. I also remember sleeping out under the stars and telling jokes and mostly us begging Collette the oldest of us to recite the HIGHWAYMAN- and we would SQUEAL and giggle when she would recite it... "and the Highway man came riding... riding... riding.. up to the old inn door!" She had it memorized and I had GUNGA DIN memorized and we had a grand old time! There were so many stars- too many to count- and there was always a breeze. They had a giant weeping willow tree that would sway in the night- it was beautiful. I had so many memories up on the Pace's Hill Top! Summer we would go swimming in Bicknell and when we returned to Grandmas she would always fix us a thick slice of white home made bread with thick butter and plum jam from her plum trees. Then she would always comment with a laugh "you girls look like drown rats." She was the nicest grandma- she would boil the water to mix with the hose water for her slip and slide- so the water wouldn't be too icy cold. She always took a long order from the Schwann man- and it was all goodies for the grandkids. Her buttermilk pancakes were amazing. Grandpa Meeks would always mention that the beef we were eating was "the old sick one out in the pasture last week" as he would wink at grandma! Grandma hardly sat down at the meal- always getting something from the kitchen. I have so many good memories from childhood... We would set up tents in the summer and play war, slap jack, and other card games with the cousins when they came to visit. We had Walkmans (todays equivalent of the ipod) We would listen to Wilson Phillips, Roxette, Led Zeppelin, Poison, Paula Abdul along with George Strait, Alabama & Alan Jackson. We were sooo cool. I especially remember that we would sit underneath the purple lilac trees and just inhale the beautiful aroma! There is nothing that can rival the scent of fresh lilacs in full bloom. At night we would open the windows and would hear the sprinklers chic, chic, chic....shhhh- that watered the fields at night. We spent a lot of time at Grandma's house and would often sleep over. She read us bedtime stories from a big yellow book titled Tell Me A Story. She would always tuck us in and say long thoughtful prayers by our bedside. Those were the days...