In June 1963, we loaded up a moving van which Leon drove and I drove our station wagon. He had a couple of the kids with him while I had the rest with me. It seemed like a very long trip and I was so happy to finally get to our house. The address was 15692 Starboard, Garden Grove, CA. It was a nice four-bedroom home, two bath with living room and a dining room off the kitchen. It also had a two-car garage which never housed our car! In later years we converted it into a bedroom plus storage.
My sister Nancy and her husband Jerry bought a home just a block away and we did many things together. Now that she was married, the 11 years difference in our ages didn’t matter at all. We took our kids to the beach every summer, either going to the beach at Huntington Beach or to Newport Bay. The bay had calm waters and the kids learned to swim there. It was also very nice to be about 45 minutes away from my folks, who lived in Downey.
We belonged to the Westminster 4th Ward and Leon was 1st Counselor to Bishop Persons, who was the Marine Adjutant at El Toro Marine Base. His wife was a lovely Hawaiian lady named Anna. One evening the whole bishopric and wives were having a get-together and it turned out that every wife was a year older than her husband. The Bishop’s wife hadn’t wanted to admit she was older until the rest of us admitted our ages.
We enjoyed taking our kids on trips to the different canyons in the summer and up to Lake Arrowhead in the winter so they could play in the snow. The trouble was that all the benefit of being in the mountains was ruined by the long drives and traffic on the freeways on the way home.
We had six children but I never felt that our family was complete. We decided to try for number 7. While pregnant, Leon did some shopping on his own and bought a very firm mattress. Being pregnant, it was a very uncomfortable bed. He also bought a living room set, on his own, and it was ORANGE. Very comfortable, but horrible color.
For Christmas, 1967, we decided to drive to Colorado Springs to spend it with Leon’s parents. Trying to drive up the Cajon Pass our gutless wonder of a car, a VW bus, just wouldn’t make it. We went back home and turned the bus in for a pickup. We had a shell and benches in the back for the kids to sit on. Leon did some more work and made it so we could all sleep in the back. He rigged up beds, like hammocks, that went from side to side of the back. With the benches and the front seat, we had room for everyone. We also had our dog Tchai (Tchaikovsky) with us, a beautiful white Samoyed mix. He was a gift from the band kids to Leon.
We had a very nice visit with the Honeys. There was lots of snow that the kids enjoyed. Mom Honey had a little dog Cindy and no one could come near her. She was a mean little dog and barked a lot but Tchai didn’t let her bother him! The folks took us to movies and sightseeing. I don’t remember if it was this trip or another one that they took us for a ride on a cog railroad up to the top of Pike’s Peak. a beautiful mountain.
I told my doctor that I had had four nine-pound-plus babies but he said this one would only be about eight pounds. Surprise, surprise. Mark Richard Honey, born July 25, 1968 was 10 pounds even! He was 22 ½ inches and was born at 8:22 p.m. We were thrilled to have another
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4 comments:
I thought that couch was ugly too! I am glad he only got to choose one set of furniture, the tasteful, rest of your furniture since, you choose.
How funny, Is that where the ugly chairs that were in your basement came from? I still have scars from that chair. It seems the rule, never let grandpa go and buy anything alone started early. Was the california ward the same ward my dad and family were in also?
Jen
That is big baby!!!!
My grandpa got my parents a living room set that was also orange, not my moms favorite.
I am so impressed that you were able to fit everyone and the dog in the pickup and have sleeping arrangements as well. I can't picture it in my head.
And a 10 pound baby...phew!
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