Fun at the L.A. County Fair with the Family

We love the Los Angeles County Fair!....we had most the whole family together this year (except our son in law, Ned this time.) We always see the cows and other farm animals in the Big Red Barn, buy ice cold chocolate milk from the cows there, eat corn dogs, barbecue something and ALWAYS share a strawberry & whipped cream funnel cake.

We take at least one run down the huge slide and visit the flower exhibit building, and will usually stay for the free entertainment at the end of the day.


Demolition Derby -- True White Trash Fun!!
For the last 2 or 3 years, we've timed our fair visits to be on Demolition Derby night. Its always been my dream to be in one. Maybe for an upcoming family activity, we can all get a beater and just go at each other....then I could die a happy woman (and get buried in a Dodger casket)....scroll on down.



Ryan and Carter, my sweet little pets.



Wes and April (my daughter)



My "corny" grandson, Asher

Carter, Ryan and Ella playing in the Dog Park

John and Me at the end of the night.

We call Asher, "Bubba" so we took this photo of him in front of Big Bubba's BBQ.

I really do like the Dodgers, but I think I'll pass on this themed casket idea.....

Yosemite 2009

• Half Dome Hike, Annette, Danny, April and Wes -- We made it to to the top of the world!
  
  

• The Cookie Jar Song, “Who stole the cookie….”

• Bagel Sandwiches, Bagel Sandwiches, Bagel Sandwiches

• “That’s what she said….”

• N n n n n n n n, NO!

• The Indian Village at the Visitor's Center

• Sandwiches at Dengen's Deli

• Riding the Yosemite Shuttle -- Usually at the back of the bus
  
  

• Taking photos at the Ahwahnee

• The Brobergs’ fancy new Nikon

• Rafting and Tubing down the Merced River – (sneaking the rented raft to camp and trying to lose the ranger on horseback to get a longer & more exciting ride)

• Moving campsites (218 great base most of the time)

• Claire ditching her shoes

• Swimming in the Merced near camp

• Baby Ducks and Mama Ducks
  
  

• Ned chasing a bear in the middle of the night (the one that stole and shredded Heidi’s pack)

Shopping at the General Stores in Curry and Yosemite Villages

• The Brave (or crazy ones) Jumping off the top of Swinging Bridge into the Merced
  
  

• Ned and Danny snorkeling to find change (and a label for someone’s scattered ashes)

• John and Annette seeing a bear along the North Road

• Lower Yosemite Falls, enjoying a walk at dusk and posing for pictures

• Ice Cream in Curry Village (3 Todd scoops plopping to the ground the first night)

• Lots of soda fountain refills

• Eating pizza while our family entertained those who sat near us (nice widow and guy who fainted)

• The girls sneaking into the Camp Curry showers

• Mirror Lake, Carter (and Danny) catching a Trout

• Playing in the Indian Caves

• The Ranger Ned show and other kids camp programs

• Mosquito bites, April’s forehead and many others

• Watching rock climbers on the face of the high cliffs

• John’s art class and beautiful Half Dome painting

• Walking through the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, bronco riding and surfing on the huge fallen tree

• New & clever ways to avoid going to the bathroom at night –some worked

• Smores with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

• Hot Dogs and hamburgers at 10:00 p.m.

• Riding Danny’s & Sarah’s bikes around camp

• Playing Pool with sketchy rules

• Finding giant pinecones

• Claire’s funny phrase, “Run away”

• Ella singing and dancing

• Stagecoach Ride and Learning at The Pioneer History Center

• John’s chimichangas (we’ll go for a do-over on these)

• The Brobergs hike to Vernal Falls

• John and I stopping at Manzanzar and Mono Lake on our way up Hwy 395

Old Family Photos

I'm still unpacking boxes from our recent move, and while doing so, ran across some old photos from the couple of times that we purchased a packages from Olan Mills. This one must be from about 1981, Annette, John, Heidi and Danny. Heidi didn't get any hair till she was almost 3 so I used Karo syrup to stick little bows on her head. (Back then, if you'd put a big ribbon around a baby's head, it would have looked crazy like something from the 1920's...that trend just hadn't resurfaced yet.) Danny's face looks a LOT like his little daughter, Claire's in this photo.

Here's one of the Todd kids in 1989. Danny, Heidi, April and Hayley. Oh, I loved them all so much then, and love them all still. These were fun and sweet days.

Nobody else wanted or needed their photos taken and I had one more "free" photo on our plan so, not wanting to waste it, I took this photo. I was just getting ready to go back to college in 1988 and used this for my college admittance papers.






This last "flashback" photo is from 1992. Danny and Heidi attended Grace Yokley Middle School, April was in 1st grade at Mtn. View Elementary and Hayley was in pre-school at La Petite Academy.

I've Been There!!!

I love to travel. Its what motivates me to go to work every day and now my daughters are as travel-addicted as I am. I decided to make a list of the places I've been...you know, like the Dr. Seuss book...and here's the places I've been.....(with just a few photos):

Grand Canyon
Old Faithful & Yellowstone
The Grand Tetons & Jenny Lake
Whitewater Rafting down the Snake River
The Antler Arch in Jackson Hole
Devil’s Tower, Wyoming

Mount Rushmore

Steamboating down the Mississippi River

The Continental Divide

Little Bighorn Battle Site

The Space Needle

The Golden Gate Bridge

Anzo Borrego State Park, Wildflowers, Palm Canyon Oasis Trail

Sequoia National Park – General Sherman Tree

Yosemite National Park (Half Dome – pending)

The Empire State Building

Statue of Liberty

Gettysburg Battlefield and Town

Battle of Yorkshire Site

Colonial Williamsburg

Monticello

Boston, The Freedom Trail; Paul Revere’s Home; The Old North Church; sailing ship, TheConstitution, etc.

Joseph Smith’s Birthplace in Vermont

Navuoo

Four Corners (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico & Arizona all at once)

Mesa Verde Ancient Indian Cliff Dwellings

Mountain Steam Train to Silverado, Colorado

Heaber Creeper Steam Train, Utah

Antelope Island

Promentory Point (Site of the meeting of the rails in 1869)

Timpanogos Cave

Zion National Park, The Narrow and the top of Angels Landing

Rainbow Arch

Lake Powell

The Eiffle Tower

Arch Di Triumph

Boat Cruise down the Seine

The Mona Lisa

Versailles

The Collessium

The Circus Maximus

The Trevi Fountain

The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica

The old part of Rome?

Statue of David

Venus Emerging

Climbed up to the top of Brunellici’s Duomo in Florence

The Ponte Veccio

Venice

Big Ben

Tower of London

Buckingham Palace

Picadilly Circus

Trafalgar Square

Cruise down the Thames

Prague

Catalina Island

Our Practical Jokes

Imagine hearing your doorbell ring at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning to find a stranger asking, in broken English, "Will you take 10 bucks for the washer?" You stare blankly at the stranger wondering what on earth he's talking about! But, as you gaze beyond this little man and his family, you see that your lawn is covered in old appliances, lamps, clothes, shoes, and lawn tools. There's a "For Sale, CHEAP" sign on your family van and there are several other people milling about your front yard looking at "stuff" placed all over the lawn and driveway. "What the heck?" You're a victim of a Guerrilla Garage Sale

The Eighties were great years for practical jokes. John and I were in our 20s, had four very good and pretty easy going little kids, had great fun friends and a great neighbor and babysitter in Gina (Michelle) Mosteller, just across the street. Our friends, the Abrahamsons and Stefans, both now living in Utah, helped us enjoy our evenings and weekends. Both of these couples have been great influences for fun and an easier going lifestyle on us.

One Friday night, we decided to make the best of some items getting ready for a Desert Industries (DI) charity pick-up and decided to set up a yard sale on the front yard of some unsuspecting friends of ours, the Stosich Family. The Abrahamson's had a lot of items left over from a garage sale at their house the prior weekend and, you know us, we always have a lot of "junk" that I never mind getting rid of. Our first step was to make flashy posters announcing the Great Garage Sale starting at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. We posted them all over South Ontario. South Ontario on a Saturday morning, is teeming with lots of early risers who make it a habit to visit the sale house before the sale begins to find the best stuff before the rank and file shoppers show up at the sated time. Anyway, the Stositch Family got a good laugh at the joke as well as a nice early start to their weekend. They actually earned a little bit of money, and the D.I. came to pick up all the leftover items later on in the week.

The Abrahamsons were also the source of the Creekside Ward's Service Coupon Book. We tried to offer services from the wide variety of professionals in the ward. Our Bishop, Doyle McMullin was a Chino Police Officer at the time, so we made one of the pages in the book, a "Get Out of Jail Free" coupon, courtesy of Bishop McMullin. Even though the page was a joke, I happen to know that a few teens in the ward, actually took advantage of that connection when they suffered from a lack of judgement. John was a teacher so his page in the book said, Tutoring by Brother Todd, "I Can Teach Your Kids Real Good". I honestly can't remember the other pages, other than we mocked everything we knew about people and what they do (but, of course, in a fun, loving way. The fun part was delivering the books on a dark Friday night. We all dressed in black from top to bottom, dropped the books on the front doors of anybody mentioned in the book and then ding, dong ditched. John was the "Ninja Deliverer", with his black pants, turtleneck and ski mask, he jumped over shrubs and hid behind trees as he made his way back to the Abrahamson's sliding door van for a quick getaway.

Another year, back in the late 80's or possibly early 90's, one of our friends and neighbors, Larry Lees was running for the Mtn. View School Board. Gary and Sheereen Stefan and John and I thought we'd give him a hand in his campaign. We festooned the Stefan's old decrepit boat with a huge "Vote for Larry Lees!" sign as well as a few other decorations, sure to catch any passer by's eye and towed it to the front of, yup, Larry's house. That practical joke didn't go over quite so well. Gary got an early call from the Lees and quickly went over to the Lees' house to tow the piece of campaign art away . Good old Gary just towed the boat to West Riverside County, on the way to where Big League Dreams is now and just ditched the boat. We kept driving by the ditched boat for a few weeks,laughing hysterically every time we saw it, until one sad day, it just wasn't there any more. A lucky scavenger may have picked up a long term do it yourself project or some law enforcement body had it towed to the dump. Either way, all of these fun practical jokes have given us years of good laughs.

The Spoon That Started A Car

I grew up in a family headed up by a single mother who supported us with a rank & file job at the IRS and a child support check from my dad in the now meager sum of $150 a month ($50 for each of us three kids till we turned 18). Most of the locals around Ogden, Utah (our hometown, Roy, was about 8 miles south of Ogden) put in their time at the IRS. I worked the 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift there during the 1981 tax season when Heidi was a baby. John has great memories of rubber band battles with his coworkers while he worked his way through college in the old file room there.

My mother, Verda; brother, Kevin; sister, Jill and I didn't have money for much of anything beyond the most basic of necessities. We had just one family car, a 1972 Chevrolet Impala. Back then, you were either a Ford, Chevy or Chrysler family and we were definitely of the Chevy persuasion. We didn't go a lot of places like families do now. Most of our outings, like going grocery shopping, to the movies or library, or to visit aunts and cousins, we all did together. We went out to eat no more than every two weeks on Mom's paydays. We didn't go too fancy most of the time either. Our favorite eating establishments were places like Arctic Circle

in Roy or to Dee's on the corner of Washington and 36th street in Ogden. A bigger event called for Sizzler on Wall Avenue or to Utah Noodle Parlor on Washington Boulevard. Aside from our family outings, we all did our best to arrange for rides and carpools or we walked or rode our bike places.

Kevin and I were happy to share a thick-framed orange 10-speed bike through most of our childhoods. The two of us pretty much wore the thing out from years of heavy use. We were both pros at fixing or replacing leaky tubes and keeping the chain oiled, moving seats and handlebars up and down at very young ages. We'd get our tire repair supplies from the Western Auto store about a mile or so east on the main street leading to our house, 5600 South. We'd use a bucket of water to find the bubbles indicating the location of the punctures in our inner tubes and patch or replace them as needed.

Once Kevin turned 16, a neighbor of ours, Jack Higginson, who's wife carpooled with Mom, felt pity on us and gave Kevin a used, once white, Buick Skylark. I can't remember what year it was but it looked like it had already lost a demolition derby -- not half as nice as this one in this photo.

One of Jack's own teenage daughters, didn't like wearing her glasses and had been in numerous wrecks while driving it. She nor any of his other stylishly cool daughters wanted to be seen driving a car with rusted dents on both sides as well as the front and rear ends. They called it a bucket. We didn't care what it looked like. It ran.

Toward the end of the1974-75 school year at Roy High School, I was a 15 years old sophomore and Kevin was a senior. My friend, Cheryl Smith and I didn't want to attend the senior award assembly, so instead we went to sit in the Skylark and just visit. While sitting there, I happened to pick up one of our kitchen spoons I had left in the car that morning when I finished a yogurt I was eating on the drive to school. (I still eat yogurt on my way to work now -- but with plastic spoons…the yogurt tastes better now too.) Without really thinking, I put the handle of the spoon into the ignition and gave it a turn. To my dismay, the engine started. Cheryl and I were amazed and not quite sure what to do. The car starting like that with the handle of a spoon had to be seen as sort of sign or gift to us. We felt like we had to take advantage of this great and unexpected opportunity. So, without really thinking the situation through, I put the car in reverse and just started driving.

First of all, we found, as usual, the car was empty. We knew we needed gas; but, of course, we had always been told that you needed to turn a car off before you started pumping gas. That proved to a dilemma. What if the spoon wouldn't work again? Well, we risked our life and pumped all 2 gallons, at a total of less than 70 cents, with the engine running. Soon after we left the gas station however, wouldn't you know it, we spotted a police cruiser. I realize now in my old age that every small town police department always keeps at least one cruiser close to high schools looking for truants (which I suppose we were at that time). I quickly improvised a technique that, since that time, has proven handy each time, so far, with success. I made a few turns in a subdivision, keeping just far enough ahead of the cop, so he couldn't see my quick and random turns and then parked in a driveway deep within the neighborhood. Cheryl and I both ducked and stayed down for several minutes. We figure even if the cop made all the same turns we did, he might not notice the car in the driveway or, even if he did, he might think that I was just someone just who had just happened to have been very casually driving home a few minutes earlier -- not the truth, that we were 15 year old truants out on a joy ride. It worked. But at this point, being the good kids we were, we decided to get back to the school as quickly as possible. I remember feeling great relief when we finally made it back to the gymnasium and watched the last of the senior awards being given out. It was lessons learned from little experiences like this, flirting on the edges of minor rebellion that, by and large, kept me on a pretty straight path through my teenage years. And, with this lesson learned, at least Kevin got two or three more days worth of gas in his car.

Raising our Children to be Kind, Good, Responsible and Happy Young Adults

The thing of which I’m most proud is the fact the four kids we’ve been blessed to raise, have turned out to be well adjusted, kind, happy, and just good people.

This isn’t to say that we haven’t had some dire worries, issues and concerns over the years.
Those crazy early years – most of the 80’s is just a a blur of sleepless nights, changing diapers, cleaning up poop and vomit messes at all hours of the day and night in cars, beds and cribs, and if we’re lucky, outside somewhere. (We used to have a dog that would lick up vomit with relish the moment it hit the ground. I’m not really fond of dogs, but they do serve some useful purposes. They're really good at cleaning the floors under the table too.)

John was often a teacher at the same school the kids attended, but that didn’t mean they got any favors or special treatment – at least by him. The worst of this is that, any time any of the kids acted up or did anything slightly naughty, John usually found out before the time school was out.

We didn’t get to skate through the teenage years at all either. I won’t go into too many details her, to protect the repentant. With every teenage issue with which we had to cope and get through, I can only say that the Holy Spirit, dear Bishops and dear friends help us get through with our family more firmly committed to each other and we all grew in understanding empathy for other families who may find themselves in similar situations.

Some constants,

• Chores -- We set up a pretty strict regime of chores as soon as the kids could reach the silverware drawer and table top. We always had a chore chart and the kids all started washing their own clothes and putting together their own lunches at a very young age. They’ll tell you they started doing these things in kindergarten or first grade, but I’ll hold firm it was more like 3^rd or 4^th grade. I remember once hearing a talk by Wayne Dyer that said, if your kids are old enough to play video games, they’re old enough to start doing their own laundry….made sense to me. I always tried to make it fun though too. Many times, we'd do a quick "Pick up 10 or 20 items" each and you'd be surprised at the difference that could make. I'd also rally the forces, put on some fun upbeat CD really loud and we'd set the timer for 15 or 20 minutes in each room and just blitz the house together -- mostly on Saturday mornings.
  

• Church and church activities – Attendance was never optional for either -- we were just one of those families that was always there -- and always participating. Most of the dear friendships we've had over the years have been nurtured through church and related activies.

• Travel – Because of finances, most of our vacations were either with, to or from family. So, we had a lot of stops on our way to Utah, Minnesota, and

  

  Arizona. Luckily, there are some pretty fun places –National Parks, Las Vegas, Mt. Rushmore-- between our Southern California home and the relatives. We also visited a lot of museums, missions and visitor centers. One of the kids’ favorite trips was a few days up in San Francisco. The highlight they all seem to remember most fondly, was our day trip to Alcatraz. Luckily, it’s the only time any of them have been in prison – thank goodness!

• Learning -- One year I wanted to help the kids stay sharp over the summer so I devised a summer school program. Aside from some basic worksheets, writing and math problems, one thing I remembered is having Danny and Heidi start running around the block in different directions – knowing that they’d meet in the middle of the block to check on each other and do some encouraging razzing. It was then that I learned that Heidi had a killer competitive spirit and could really run far and fast – this (through soccer and track) would be something we’d be supporting her on for many years to come.

• Dancing – on many nights, instead of the usual watching T.V., we’d just put cassettes in the old boom boxes or stereo and have our own dances. We’d turn the lights off, and get flashlights that we’d shake around to make our own strobe light effects. (I was usually the one holding and shaking the flashlight. The girls would often prepare very elaborate lip-synching shows for us was well – complete with costumes, props and light effects. A couple of the songs I remember well from these activities is "Stay" and "I Would Walk 500 (or 1000) Miles"..fun times!

• Sports and Activies -- Bowling, Tennis, Volleyball with friends a the church, Danny played football in junior high and high school. All the girls played soccer, ran track, played volleyball and basketball. We loved watching Heidi play soccer at the junior college at Mt. SAC and at Cal State Bakersfield. I hope some of our grandkids are active in sports, music or other spectator activities.

• Eating Dinner together (We all had our regular seats at the dinner table). -- This didn't happen every single night, but at least 4 or 5 times a week.

• Eating Sunday night dessert in the family room. -- We almost always watched, "America's Funniest Home Videos" and, although we don't anymore, we used to watch the Simpsons as well. (The few times I've watched it in the last year or two, its gotten much worse than it used to be.) Some of our favorite deserts included tapioca pudding, strawberry shortcake, ice cream (over brownies or pie or banana splits or as root beer floats) and warm butterscotch pudding.
  

• Other good memories of the years with the kids at home include taking walks to the park, taking part in the old fashioned 4^th of July celebrations at the park and watching fireworks from our front yard in the evening, running through the paper on Christmas morning, and faking all sorts of physical calamities with crutches, slings and eye shadow black eyes for April Fools Day. One time John ordered a Whooper (yeah, that's not a typo) at the Burger King drive-through (with a crazy mid-eastern accent) which still has me laughing every time I think back on the order taker's inability to understand him. We enjoyed visiting cousins in Utah, and we often had some alternative birthday cakes such as a birthday jello for April one year when our oven was broken. We enjoyed picnics and catching pollywogs at Chino Hills State Park, camping at Doheney Beach, reading books out loud before bed, playing hide and seek in and outside the house and just being together.
  

We're still having a lot of fun together, now that the kids are all married and young adults. Its hard for me to believe that they are all adults. Yesterday, Heidi happened to drive by me while I waited at an intersection a few blocks away from my house and I didn't even recognize her. I was wondering, "Why his that pretty lady smiling and waving at me?" (She recently colored her hair a darker brown and in my mind, she'll always be a blonde). Where did those years go?

Anyway, I love them all so truly and deeply. They've turned into my best friends and they're giving me the best gift in the world....sweet little grandkids. We're starting the fun all over again!