Ann's Words

My Mom was a school teacher.  She kept ALL of my school work.  Every math test, every spelling test.  Every drawing.  Every project.  Every memorized poem.  Here are a few I photographed just for the memory of them.

As I read this poem, I realized the word are still in my memory!   That was a fun walk through some old memories!

In the 6th grade, my teacher, Mr. Emery Huebert introduced us to Mr. Scrooge.  It was the one and only time I was in a school play (other than playing Mary in a Windsor School Nativity when I was in 2nd grade).  This Scrooge was a serious production.  I was given the part of Mrs. Cratchet, Tiny Tim’s mother.  Below, underlined in red, are the lines I still remember.  “The founder of the feast indeed!”

After we performed Scrooge, we had 2 more plays.  For these, I was Mr. Huebert’s Student Director, helping with all of the rehearsals.  It wasn’t until then that I realized that “rehearsal” wasn’t pronounced “reversal.”

I always intended to make a scrap book of my South Africa Mission treasures and memories.  Instead, I kept things in a box, a box that I opened today.  Here’s what I found.  Above are all of my favorite South African foods and treats.

In Afrikaans, Popcorn is called jumping corn.  Below are my very favorite treats:  shortbread and white grape juice.

Another favorite were the cartons of fruit drinks.  My favorite was boysenberry.

We took malaria pills every week.

The last area I lived in was Vishoek, or Fish Hoek, in the Cape.  I purchased this beautiful woven wall hanging there before I left for home.  It beautifully captures my love for the African villages where I worked.

Here is the gallery where I bought it:

Here are some Zulu words I learned:

A fun Missionary Poem/Rap:

From Alan & Leigh, who were baptized 26 December 1982:

This was the first time our dear Black members from Kwa Mashu and Indian members from Chatsworth and Phoenix attended a Stake Conference in Durban.

I sent these pics from the Stake Conference to Khumbulani Desmond Mdletsche when I found this program.  He was a Deacon or Teacher when I served in Kwa Mashu.  He has since become a great leader in South Africa.

All these memories make me so happy!

Today I found my Mom’s scrapbook of our trip to Hawaii in 1975.  I was swimming for State Center Swim Club and a small group from our team went there to compete.  It was my first time visiting Hawaii, so it was a pretty big deal.

The night before we left, most of the other kids went to the theater in Fresno to see the newly released movie, JAWS.  The next day, after our arrival, we had an hour or so at Waikiki Beach.  Not one of my friends who had seen the movie touched the water.  I figured if that’s what that movie did to swimmers, I didn’t want to see it, and I never have!

Here is how my Mom captured the memories of this very fun trip:

My coach, Tom Tyner, is on the left in this photo.  I’m sad I don’t have his face in the photo.  Next to him are my best friend’s parents, the Sieberts.  I’m sitting on the ledge on the right.

Happy Memories!!

The closet in our basement guest room has been the holding tank of my childhood memories and treasures.   The shelves were packed full, floor to ceiling with all of my Journals (kept in binders from age 10 until the 1990s when I started saving them in computers); a box of all my school papers and artwork from Kindergarten on; all of my swimming awards and ribbons, a box of all the things that hung on my bedroom bulletin board from my childhood, my slides and photos and trinkets from living in Germany, years at BYU, living in Israel, South Africa and in Nigeria.

Today was the day to empty boxes and sort and re-pack things to take to the new house.  I had to say good bye to so many of these treasures, but before I did, I took these photos for the memories of my childhood;

These were things that hung on my bulletin board.  A lock of hair, a key ring from a trip to Salt Lake after visiting the BYU campus, trinkets from Germany, where I lived in 1976 as an exchange student, an Olympic pin from when my Uncle Wells was the team dentist in the 1970s,  an otter skin key ring from Aunt Marilyn, a matchbook from the Tagus Ranch Motel, where I spent the night after getting lost in the fog on the way home from a Stake dance, a Swim-a-thon patch from one of many I participated in during high school.

Below are Reedley High Homecoming ribbons and girls’ camp patches.

Disneyland Mormon Nite and Disneyland Grad Nite were exciting outings with friends.

The tag from my first typewriter:

Ticket stubs from concerts at BYU:

I was give then Golden Thimble Award for being the best seamstress at General Grant Jr. High.

One of my favorite little playthings.  This octopus would sit on my finger.

Knockers from Windsor elementary school.  Lavender was my favorite color.  We played with these at every recess.  They’re pretty dangerous, if you’re not careful!

The tags from every new swim suit.

Boxes of swimming awards–ribbons, medals, plaques and trophies.  Cassette tapes of recorded special events and music.

So many slides.  Boxes, trays, carousels, and my slide projector.  John’s too.

More treasures!

My key collection from elementary school.  We’d trade keys during recess.  The short flat symmetrical key on the right in the middle was the one we used to get into each others’ bedrooms when locked out.

Patches were fun to collect.  Elastics from when I wore braces on my teeth.  A box of my pulled teeth.  The Mixed Nuts can had a pop-out coiled snake in it that scared people.

An autograph book from Windsor School (grades 1-3).  My bead collection and some funny wreath earrings I wore on Ugly Day.  I knit the nose warmer with the orange tassel to wear on cold days.  I loved little tiny books.

My gum wrapper chain.  Mine was the longest in the school.  Wriggley’s Juicy Fruit, Spearmint and Doublemint, Clove, Fruitstripe, Black Jack, Fruit Punch and more.

A beaded comb case from Yosemite, CTR rings, my favorite yo-yo, jingle bells, wire for making rings and bracelets, and a little pill bottle with some costume jewelry that I picked the jewels out of to save.  The ring box has the wishbone of a quail that got in the way of Dad’s disc in the field.  My brother Paul tried to learn how to do taxidermy on the bird.  He gave me the wishbone.

My collection of Starburst wrappers and my prized bubble gum comics collection.

A lock of my hair, saved by my Mom from when I was little.

The glasses I wore in 3rd and 4th grade (the sparkly ones), then the new ones I got when I was in the 6th grade.  I didn’t’ wear glasses after that.

My baby teeth.

My jewels and “diamonds.”

A poem from my first true love:  “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”  A photo of my bulletin board in its early years.  It eventually overflowed, covering much of the wall.  My number from a track meet at General Grant Jr. High.   Student Council and BYU and other pins and pendants.

First place ribbons for being the Ugliest Girl in the school during homecoming week.  I took it seriously!

I know these are all just silly little trinkets.  Who has a prune key chain??  But each one makes me smile and remember friends and experiences and good times in my growing up years.  I’ve saved a few things, thinning it down to a shoebox of treasures that I can show my grandkids.  I definitely kept my gum wrapper chain!

I just found some photos of my bedroom taken in the 1970s: