cousins

I have lots of them & grew up around most of them. Roger, Diane & Terri belong to Uncle John & Aunt Orlene. I loved going to their house! They had horses & lived in a house Uncle John built himself. They sometimes rode their horses in the 4th of July parades and I thought that was very cool. I looked up to Terri & wanted to be just like her. I loved going to their house for the holidays - it was filled with yummy smells of delicious food. And all cooked on a pink stove & in a pink oven! Robert, Vickie & Brenda belong to Uncle Forest & Aunt Maxine. The best thing I remember about Robert was when he moved me home from BYU my last year there. Vickie got pregnant when she was 14 or 15. She married Larry & they are still together today - I dare say that happens much these days. They ended up with 4 children. Brenda was another one I looked up to. She tried her best to help me during those rebellious years & then again, on the other hand, she enabled me to stay in that rebellious stage. Ah well, she did her best with what she had...an alcoholic father & all that goes with it. Mike, Karen, Dennis & Sherri belong to Uncle Lyle & Aunt Marva. When I was around 5 or 6, their family moved to Riverside, California. They changed religions - from LDS to Jehovah Witnesses. When they came to Idaho to visit, Dennis & I would play "Disneyland", pulling my wagon around pretending to see all the rides at Disneyland. Good time! Uncle Lyle would go fishing. Mike would love it when grandma made him fudge. Sherri was the cutest girl; she was always smiling even when Dennis was torturing her with his teasing. Our little family went to California a couple times to visit them. Linda, Matt, Allen & Julie belong to Uncle Keith & Aunt Ruth. They were the family I would go stay with on weekends when my mom & grandparents needed a break. They gave me a look into what a family with more than 1 kid was like. Sometimes they scared the heck out of me - still have memories of Uncle Keith & Linda getting into fights when Linda was breaking the rules. I would go to church with them back when they went. Julie became my sister...sometimes people would think we were twins. We spent a lot of time together & at one point we had the same piano teacher & went to Skyline High School together. There were other things we did together that could have gotten us into major trouble. Grandma wanted me to be more like Julie in our teens, but I rebelled & took it out on Julie. Jealousy is a terrible thing. Thankfully we all grow up. Rick & Kim belong to Uncle Darrell & Aunt Pat. Rick was older, Kim was my age. There were times Kim would come to my house to play with me & Julie. Other than that, I don't think we did much together. Probably because they were boys. They were the cousins who followed their friends & went to church, even before their parents did. They stayed true to their faith & were a good example to me once I got past those ugly years. Rick & his wife, Liisa, went with Dale & I through the Temple when I took out my endowments. For that I will be forever grateful. Jim, Tim & Jeff belong to Uncle Stan & Aunt Carol. Like with Aunt Ruth, I spent weekends with Aunt Carol. Tim & Jim are twins & just younger than me. When I was younger & stayed at their place, I watched the twins beat up on & tease poor Jeff - this all happened while Aunt Carol was working at a deli. She would come home for lunch & get after the twins. To this day, I don't think the twins are very close to Jeff! It was kind of funny to watch because I had never witnessed such a thing! I would go snow mobiling & fishing with them. They were pretty fun to be around. Spent some holidays there too & usually played games with a lot of laughter! Easter was one time of the year, most of us would get together at Beaver Dick Park close to Rexburg & have a picnic. Sometimes baseball. Rick & Kim never came because it was Sunday & like I said, they stayed true to the faith. Seems like when grandma & grandpa passed, the family just never was the same as far as having family get-togethers. Remember...family reunions are important. So is just keeping in touch with one another. I should probably get a handle on that & do some re-connecting.