The Joys of Summer

Growing up in our little brown house in Twin Falls included enduring the heat of summer. Cherie recently visited us in Austin and one evening when we were driving back to the house I had a clear and sensual memory of being in the back seat of the car on a summer evening in Twin Falls, windows down, licking a soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone. It was a wonderful memory. It got me thinking of other particularly salient memories I have of summer time as a child. My favorite memories of summer include sleeping outside in the back yard, roasting and eating hot dogs, delicious picnics on Grandma and Papa's back yard, finally when Aunt Jean's corn-on-the-cob 'came on', the chlorinated water of the Harmon Park pool, the smelly mineral water of Nat-Su-Pa, going camping, riding bikes, sparklers on the 4th, homemade ice cream (I only remember us making it once or twice but it was so yummy and runny), having to sell the produce from our garden down on the street by going door to door in our neighborhood, going to the basement for relief from the heat (no AC in our house!), having cousins come and visit, being stung by a bee when I was running in the grass barefoot, black snake-like fireworks (left messy sidewalks), a delicious cold pop, beautiful roses and other flowers in Grandma's garden, using paper fans at church, thinking Popsicles were such an awesome treat, and always getting watermelon when the adults got to eat cantaloupe! I'm sure there are MANY more things I'm not thinking of. What comes to your mind when asked, what is a memory you have of summer?

Happy Birthday Mother!

Betty Ruth Luke Armga was born on Friday, March 13, 1923 in Driggs, Teton County, Idaho. She was the 4th child and 2nd daughter of Clinton Lemar and Emma Smith Luke. She was a sweet baby who was greatly loved by her family. She had a round face and cheery disposition. Dearest Mother, I will be thinking of you today as I do so often. Happy 90th birthday! I hope you know that you are loved.

How Well Do You Know Your Dad?

These are the questions and answers to the magazine quiz I mentioned in the previous post. While I'm tempted to just post the questions for now and let you guess the answers, I'm actually going to do the questions and answers. For the cousins, I'd encourage you to think about asking your dad these same questions. You might be surprised with some of his answers. 1. How did your father usually get to school as a kid? He walked. 2. How does your father sign his name? (nickname? Middle initial? Full name? ) Full or middle name (Larry H Armga) 3. Does your father remember where he took your mother on their first date together? He doesn't. 4. Can your father stand on his head? No. 5. Has your father ever written a letter to a Congressman or the President? Yes. It was about the trout business. 6. Does your father have any photograph of his own father and mother? Yes. Of his grandparents? Yes. 7. Has your father ever forgotten his (and your mother's) anniversary? He hasn't. 8. Is your father a morning person or a night person? A morning person. He likes to get up and go! 9. What section of the newspaper does your father read first? The front page. 10. If you said to your father, "Give me a five!" What would he do? (Ask why you need the money, ask "Five what?", or slap your hands?) Dad would have asked, why do you need the money? 11. Roughly how often does your father get a haircut? Every month. 12. What party has your father voted for in the most recent Presidential election? Republican. 13. Has your father ever had a beard? No. 14. Has your father ever owned a convertible car? No. 15. Does your father snore? Yes, frequently. 16. Does your father have any scars? Yes, on his thumb, left leg, right thigh (this one was from a barbed wire fence). 17. Some married men wear wedding bands, and some do not. Dad did not have one. 18. Can your father name at least three current rock music groups? Dad said 'yes'. (Dang, I didn't ask him to name them. I wish I would have.) 19. Where is your father most ticklish? On his ribs. 20. Does your father have any shoes that aren't black or brown? Yes. (Who could forget those white shoes. He loved them!) 21. Has your father ever driven a motorcycle? Yes. (I think Dad was pretty pleased about this answer.) Were you surprised at any of his answers? Next installment -- the four questions that Dad suggested. I learned something new.

Where Was Dad When You Were Born?

Do you know where Dad was when you were born? The younger generation may assume that he was in the delivery room holding mother's hand. He wasn't. Dads couldn't be in the delivery room until the 1980s. Prior to that, doctors felt it was risky to have non-medical personnel in with them. Now, how many dads really want to be in the delivery room, I'm not sure. I don't think our dad would have welcomed the idea at all, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I did a fun little 'interview' with dad in the early 80s. I had some questions from a magazine article titled "How Well Do You Know Your Dad?" I think Dad enjoyed filling me in on some of the questions. He even added a couple of extra ones he thought I should know about. I will do another post or two and give you all the other questions and his answers. But we'll start with this post and the title's question. It was one of the questions in the questionnaire. But now the low-down on where Dad was when each of us were born: LuAnn -- in Las Vegas (He was employed as the time keeper at a construction site. He didn't see LuAnn until September when she was 2 months old.); Lawrence -- admitting mother (so he was in another part of the hospital); Charles -- in the hallway (I do believe this was the birth where Dad had to run to get a taxi and the memory was that they barely made it to the hospital in time. I also remember that mother sent him to get the taxi with her first labor pain. Her labors were really fast.); Cherie -- waiting room; Carol -- waiting room; Pat -- picking up the doctor's clothes (I wish I could remember more detail on this one. I believe mother's doctor would have been her cousin -- Dr. Harvard Luke and perhaps for that reason they sent Dad to fetch the doctor's clothes from his house. Why he wouldn't have had clothes with him is anyone's guess. Dad didn't say he was somewhere in the hospital, like picking up the doctor's clothes off the floor so I do believe he wasn't at the hospital but was doing an errand.); Mike -- fishing on the Salmon River; Bruce -- waiting room; So, how did you do? Did you know any of these? Belated Happy Father's Day to all your dads out there. I always miss my Dad on Father's Day.

Happy Birthday Dad.

Happy birthday my sweet dad on what would be your 91st birthday. I still miss you Dad. Even though it has been almost 20 years since you died, the hole hasn't been filled and the missing doesn't go away. I think of things I really need to ask you and I think of things you really need or would like to know. You'd be so pleased to know that Pat and I both drive with an eagle eye scanning the posted gas prices all around town so we can stay apprised of the best prices in the area. Of course, you just wouldn't believe that gas has been almost $4 all this year. It costs me over $60 to fill my gas tank. I know that would really get to you. You also wouldn't believe that a can of soup costs almost a dollar. Campbell soup! Isn't that incredible? See, when I think about these things, and notice how I react I realize I am definitely your daughter. You would have been scandalized by these high prices too. While you were pretty skeptical of technology Dad, it now totally pervades our life. I was a long-time hold out about getting a cell phone but pretty much everyone has them. And they are small. And really convenient. You can call someone while grocery shopping and have them remind you what you are suppose to get. And rendezvous are so much easier because you can call and coordinate by phone no matter where you are. We talk on the phone while traveling in the car -- no problem. When I am in Idaho I still easily receive phone calls from Texas on my little cell phone in my purse. And you would be dumbfounded to know that long distance rates don't really exist anymore. Wow, wouldn't that have saved you some money! For $50 a month, my phone bill, I can call and talk to LuAnn and Cherie for hours at a time and it doesn't cost me a penny more. It is so great to be able to stay in close contact with my family and not have to worry about what it is costing me. I am still behind the times with my phone because I can't afford a "smart phone". Those plans cost a $100 a month but wow, they can do incredible things. You can access information through something called the internet and it is like being able to quickly find information from a thousand HUGE libraries all at once. You can find maps, you can read the scriptures, you can listen to great music and it is all on the telephone. Who would have guessed! I think and I hope that you and mother are well aware of what is happening with your family. We have been so blessed. We have had the most beautiful spirits join our family -- we seem to have more boys than girls. Katie had triplets! I think you must know that. It is so incredible to see 3 beautiful babies. Lindsey has 3 boys that are so precious to me. I feel blessed to have been able to interact with them and get to know them. Not what I would have predicted but Michael is the one with the most grandchildren. He has 9 with a new one on the way just announced (I hope I have those numbers right). And it is like each one is cuter than the last. There was just a big family gathering at LuAnn's house. Did you get to visit or at least peek in on what was happening? Pat and I couldn't go but it sounds like it was so wonderful. And best of all, the cousins, your grandchildren, all really like each other and like to spend time together. I love love love hearing that they enjoy sitting and talking to one another and have really great relationships. You would be so sad Dad about what is happening with our government. I just get so discouraged. The different political parties have become more divided and working together for the good of the country just doesn't seem to happen. The abuse of power has always existed, I know, but it is such a problem with individuals becoming insanely wealthy while serving in elected positions. Corruption within both government and corporations is always in the news and no longer shocking. It seems that everyone is doing it and it is accepted until you get caught. We are trying as a family to honor what you taught us. We are all patriotic Americans and for the most part law-abiding citizens (sorry, I inherited my mother's lead foot, but Pat is a very safe and cautious driver just like you would want). We always include the American flag in our celebrations and love the fact that you taught us to cherish what it stands for. Thank you for being such a wonderful father to us, for all your sacrifices and for your desire to give us the best. We love you!! Carol

The Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny surely did come to the Armga household every year. We had a core group of sturdy blond-colored baskets that must have represented an investment one year. They endured well and I still have one. Those baskets were supplemented with flimsier, more colorful baskets that didn't last as long.
We did have the plastic grass that today forms the cushion of the basket. I don't remember us having colors of grass to choose from. Perhaps they were available but we had green grass that I remember.
I've been trying to remember where we stored the baskets. Anyone remember? It could have been in the attic where the Christmas decorations were stored but I think I'd remember someone getting up there if that were true. Each bedroom (all 3) had a built-in closet with four pull-out draws underneath and four doors above that opened to reveal a deep storage space with one shelf. I've wondered if that is where they were stored.
The variety of Easter candies was nothing compared to what is available today. I remember jelly beans (very generic in flavor), marshmallow peeps (only yellow ones) and yucky marshmallow filled hard candy on the outside big (thumb sized) Easter eggs. I didn't like those. I do think we had the hollow chocolate bunnies that are still popular today but I don't think it was a high quality chocolate.
Snickers, Hershey's etc. were still candy bars and never included special papers or sizes to be included in Easter baskets. I don't think peanut M&Ms were marketed until the late 60s. The plain M&Ms only came in the primary-like colors. So none of these were considered Easter candy.
Plastic eggs to be filled with goodies also appeared in the 60s but I only remember jelly beans going in them.
I remember one year visiting with Peggy Kelker during the week after Easter. They lived on our block. Her dad was the professional photographer and newspaper man. Peggy still had lots of lovely candies and decorations in her basket. She explained to me how she only ate one or two candies a day. I was dumbfounded. That was totally foreign to my experience. I'm pretty sure it was always a candy fest at our house with me eating every last little candy I could get my grubby hands on the day OF the event and nothing lasted longer than that day unless it was yucky candy that I didn't really like and would only eat when there was no other candy to eat. Pacing myself was not a concept I had been introduced too. Eating TOO much candy was not possible. To eat as much candy as possible was the true meaning of the holiday (also true of Christmas and Halloween).
Yes, I do remember dying Easter eggs. I wasn't a fan of hard boiled eggs then (but I am now and LOVE egg salad sands) so was always confused about the excitement over eggs. My memory of dying the eggs was that it was a messy process involving a strong vinegar smell. We always had to buy the little kit that had pastel colored pellets for the dye and it included one wire egg holder. That didn't work well with four or more little kids wanting to help with the process.
While I don't personally remember going on an Easter Egg hunt, I remember helping my younger siblings at a hunt held at City Park across from the Junior High, near the Catholic church and where the band shell was.
At home the baskets were always hid and hard to find when we woke up Easter morning. I think they must have been labeled so we would know which one was prepared for us. I also think the baskets for the younger kids had to be easier to find while those hiding the baskets of the older kids worked harder at hiding them. But then, there was the ever changing line as to whether you were a younger or an older and at some point you got to be the basket preparer and hider. Mother and Dad seemed very willing to turn all that over to us which I remember being DELIGHTED to do.
The really big thing for Easter was the new clothes. And it was always the whole outfit: new dress, hat, purse, GLOVES, socks and shoes. Whoo! We would get so spiffed up! And taking a photo to document our gorgeousness was a big part of the thing. Many (most?) years we also had a little corsage. Doesn't seem like anyone wears a corsage today.
Since the date of Easter varies, some Easter were blustery and cold and some were warmer and balmy. We had a big dinner. I don't remember particulars. Probably a ham since that seems traditional in my mind. Plus Dad LOVED ham.
Going to church was important and that way we had a reason to dress up. The only significant year I remember in that regard would have been 1966. We were poor. So poor we couldn't get new Easter clothes. Somehow it was an embarrassment to not have those new clothes so we simply didn't go to church that Easter. That would never stop me now, but I think it was so expected that everyone -- at least the kids -- show up in new fancy clothes that it was feared that it would be a difficult visit at church and so staying home was the option to prevent pain.
Happy Easter Fam Damily!!! Please help me sort out these memories if I've got something wrong.

Happy Birthday Mother

I can't let this March 13 pass without remembering my mother on what would be her 89th birthday. Your family misses you mother. We are grateful for all you taught us and sacrificed for us.

The Help

I've had the chance to see the movie 'The Help' twice; once in Utah with LuAnn and Cherie and then back home with Pat. It is a gorgeous look at America's history with relationships. While provocative, it doesn't upset you or cause anguish. It actually has some great humor while also conveying a very serious storyline. It has given me much to think about. Cherie has read the book and said it is even better than the movie and I will also read it in a couple of months for Book Group. I look forward to it.
One scene in the movie has aerial views of one of the homes in Mississippi where a main character in the movie lives. What you hear though is a descriptive dialogue of something happening. This goes on for several minutes until it becomes clear that it is the TV broadcast of John F. Kennedy's funeral.
Hearing that description and then seeing the black and white images of Mrs. Kennedy and family bring back very vivid memories of the actual event. It was a scary, heart-stopping time in American history. What I most remember about the funeral, and why I wanted to blog about it, is seeing my Dad silently sit in his chair in the living room, watching the funeral on TV (everything shut down for a national day of mourning so Dad was home from work). He was not relaxed but literally sitting on the edge of his chair and he had tears streaming down his cheeks. He was never comfortable crying and letting others see his tears but I was so touched by his emotion. It communicated volumes about his feelings about America and this tragic event.

Childhood has many fears

These are the fears that haunted me:
Spiders -- that I'd find one that was bigger than me. This seemed to be a distinct possibility in the closet under the stairs off the laundry area.
That I would break the front window. No one could do that and then live to tell about it.
Getting spanked. It hurt. I didn't like getting spanked.
The dark; someone or something would reach out and grab me.
The Twilight Zone. I never actually watched this TV show. But my older siblings would tell me the stories in detail. This usually happened while we were sleeping outside in the back yard. I was scared 'spitless' -- whatever that is.

Happy Memorial Day

I have fond memories of how Memorial Day was commemorated by the family as I was growing up. And today, thinking about it, I just wanted to thank my Dad for:
teaching me to honor and reverence the American flag,
always acknowledging in his prayers his gratitude for living in a land of freedom and
teaching me respect for our country's leaders and those who serve in the military.
This is part of the legacy you left your family, dearest Dad. And we love you for it.
I recognize and want to acknowledge Dad's justified pride for the military service of Charles and his son John. And I know he is/would be proud of Jacob's love of serving his country. Dick Roth also served in the Army and Lawrence in the National Guard.

The Beloved Rituals

Saturday night watching Lawrence Welk
Taking turns grocery shopping with Mother and Dad -- at the Safeways downtown by Sears -- one child at a time and getting to pick out the candy bars, enough for everyone to have just one
Fried hamburgers
Potato pancakes from leftover mashed potatoes
Driving around to see Christmas lights on Christmas Eve
Going sledding with the sled pulled behind the car
Visits to Aunt Jean and Uncle Walker
Chili and donuts on Halloween
Going swimming at Nat-Su-Pa

Happy Birthday Mother

Happy 88th birthday mother. We love you.

Learning About New Years Eve

Pat and I watched a groovy movie over the holidays. The title: Bachelor Mother. It is from the late 30s early 40s. The stars were David Niven and Betty Grable. It is a sweet little movie. Whenever I see a movie from this time period I imagine mother and dad seeing the movie and I wonder what they thought about it and how it influenced them.
This particular movie included bringing in the New Year at Times Square in New York City. We probably can all relate to what that looks like because we've seen it more than a few times on TV. Well, as I was thinking about it, I realized that mother and dad never would have seen it on TV because TV didn't exist -- at least it wasn't available to them. They probably knew about the celebrating in Times Square from radio and newspaper and possibly magazine reports but TV's visual experience of seeing the ball fall and seeing the crowds celebrating would have existed only in their imagination. So seeing the celebration documented in a film would have been pretty captivating and truly informative. Can't you just see them, young things that they were, watching and enjoying a movie together?

Happy New Year Tradition

How did you usher in the New Year? It was pretty quiet at our house. I don't think either Pat nor I stayed up for the official bringing in of the new year. Now, our neighbors couldn't miss the chance to sound off a whole lot of fireworks and, of course, we are happy to allow them this indulgence.
What traditions did we have as a family for the New Year? The only thing I remember doing with some consistency on New Year's Eve was eating a shrimp dip that mother made. It was pretty exotic for little ole Idaho and the possible ingredients that we could get in our grocery store. I'm not sure where she got the recipe but I think she started making it sometime about the mid 60s. Maybe someone else will remember the origins of this little speciality. I LOVED it! We'd eat it with rippled potato chips -- another NeW and pretty amazing treat. Recipe for dip is as follows:
1 8oz. package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/3 cup cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon onion juice (mother used to buy this in a little jar, I'd just grate some yellow onion and collect the juice)
dash of Worcestershire sauce
mix until well blended. Add 3/4 cup canned shrimp, chopped. (This was the exotic part to me and they were the tiny little shrimp -- maybe that is the only size you can buy canned).
Enjoy!

Sorry for the very long hiatus with the blog. I've had lots of stuff going on in my head and heart and processing it has zapped me. I hope to be back up and writing and get lots more family stuff onto the blog in 2011. I WeLcOmE your comments, suggestions, input, etc.
Most of all, please know that I LOVE you!

Happy Birthday my sweet Dad

Happy 89th birthday Dad. It is interesting to imagine what life would be like for you if you were still with us. It would only be acceptable to have you still be alive if your health were good. It was really hard to have you be so sick right before you died and to know that the quality of your life would have been so different from what you were use to.
I think of you often. Not as often as right after you died. It is hard to believe that it has been 18 years! I know for a long time I thought of you each and every day. But as always, I have questions I want to ask you. It is always, "Oh, I wish I could ask my dad about that." You were always so good to answer my questions and help me understand.
I especially wish I could just get your advice. I need your advice!
I love you so much! I miss you! I am so grateful for what you taught me. I recognize more and more the sacrifices that you and mother made for me. I am sorry I wasn't more appreciative. I am grateful that Heavenly Father gave me you as my earthly father. I so look forward to the day that I can once again hug you and mother and be with you.

Happy Birthday Mother

Today is mother's birthday. She would be 87 years old.
It is hard to believe that she has been gone for 14 years. Time travels far too swiftly.
Much has changed since mother died. I often think how she would have enjoyed her great-grandchildren. She loved babies so much. She also would be so delighted in the growth, change, accomplishments, marriages, etc. of her grandchildren. She adored her grandchildren and had great joy in loving them.
We miss you mother.

Armga Cuisine

Pat and I have been challenging ourselves to try and remember our dinner menus growing up. It is interesting how much we DON'T remember! As we've talked, it seems there was a change in what the family ate when mother started outside employment in the 60s. I seem to remember more from before she started working than Pat does, which makes sense because I would have been older, had more years of experience and am just more likely to remember because of my age at the time.
Dad hated pasta (BAD experiences with it in the Army) so we really didn't have much. Salads were generally a wedge of lettuce with bottled dressing -- tossed/chopped salads didn't come into fashion until the 70s. Veggies accompanying the main dish came out of a can: corn, green beans, peas, or beets.

So, what do you remember we ate? I'm counting on the olders -- LuAnn, Charlie and Cherie to help fill in the blanks here.

Frequently ate -- like weekly:
fried hamburgers, Saturday nights during Lawrence Welk
hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes
toastwiches, cheese and/or tuna sands toasted in the frying pan
fried chicken (frequency fell off after mother started work)which started with a whole chicken cut into pieces so someone got the back, two individuals had to make it meal with a wing each, same with the legs. Breasts and thighs only came two to a chicken. I don't ever remember having baked or roasted chicken. Did we?
breakfast for dinner (I remember French toast but did we also have pancakes?)
Pork and beans with hot dogs, or weiners cut up and heated with the beans and served over a slice of white bread

Maybe once a month:
roast with potatoes, carrots, onions and the resulting goulash (I think roast beef was the preferred Sunday dinner so we probably had it more than once a month but I don't think we had it EVERY Sunday.)
fried hamburger patties with tomato gravy
baked spaghetti with meat balls (Charlie's favorite)
scalloped potatoes with ham pieces cooked with them
meatloaf
Swedish meatballs (meatballs with rice incorporated, cooked in a mushroom soup sauce)
creamed tuna over toast
fried pork chops
Swiss Steak

Every once in a while:
pigs-in-a-blanket (cabbage leaves wrapped around little rolls of hamburger, cooked in a watery liquid)
corned beef and cabbage -- Dad loved this, but either mother didn't like to cook it, it was too expensive or kids wouldn't eat it (although I don't know if this is possible)

I definitely remember Chili for Halloween but how often did we have soup? And what kinds of soup did we have besides chili and chicken?
In the fall/winter we frequently had squash -- several different kinds but I most remember Hubbard, which we had to cut with the hatchet to prepare it for cooking.

I must be forgetting. This can't be all we ate!!! Please help -- what do you remember?

Remember when we would go sledding?

Significant snowfalls in Twin Falls were a special thing. They didn't happen often and Dad LOVED them. We have many photos of piled up snow. He loved to document how beautiful the world appeared after a heavy snowfall. One way the family celebrated snow was to go sledding. There really aren't any hills in Twin Falls so we grew up believing that a good sleigh ride involved an isolated country road, some rope and our trusty little family car.

I think we only had one sled or at least only pulled one sled at a time behind the car. I don't remember the preparation part where the rope had to be tied to the bumper or body of the car. I do remember that we usually did our sleigh rides on the rode that is near the canyon and now leads you to the mall. It is right by the new temple.

I remember being in the car while someone else had their turn on the sled. Oh, it was maddening how slowly Dad would drive. We barely moved and it seemed it would be such a very long time until my turn.

When my turn did come it was scary being on the sled. I always felt dangerously close to the road. And fast! Dad would go so fast that I was sure I would fly off the sled. I think I probably repeatedly screamed "slow down" while I was flying along behind the car. It was a thrilling ride but pretty much maxed out my need for a thrill. I would be so cold from the ride that it felt wonderful to get back into the steamy warm car and wait again while we crawled along for someone else to have their thrilling ride.

Oh, what memories!

Happy Birthday Charlie!

The big day was a Monday. It was December 16, 1946. Charles Richard joined the Armga family. Dad [Larry H.] was in the hallway while mother [Betty Ruth] gave birth. At home, (probably with Grandma and Papa, or perhaps Aunt Lu came to sit with the children) were LuAnn, age 4 and Lawrence, age 3. I don't know of any special connection to the name that he was given except I imagine this was the first "musical" name that mother prided herself on giving to her children (LuAnn's name was decided by Grandma [Emma] and Larry Jr. was simply named after Dad).

From the beginning this third child was unique. First of all, he was beautiful. He had a round cherubic face and startling blue eyes (think Paul Newman blue). LuAnn also remembers that his lashes were beautifully long and dark and framed his eyes in a way that made them especially striking. His hair grew in blond and with a soft curl. His complexion was perfect and he tanned beautifully when exposed to the sun.

Most unique about this child was his boundless energy and curiosity. And it was tinged with an impish mischievousness. He was always moving, always touching, always exploring and absolutely exhausting! One of mother's solutions to the challenge of having 3 children under the age of 4 -- with one who could perhaps have been labeled ADHD in today's diagnosis happy world -- was to tether toddler Charles Richard to a tree in the yard. When I first heard this I was absolutely shocked and scandilized! I could not believe that mother would have treated her child like a dog. And, apparently the harness and leash were also used whenever they had to go somewhere (this was pre-car years. Imagine that those of you with young children -- you had to WALK to go shopping, go to church, go to the doctor, etc.) Of course years later I met children who were so insensitive to risk that I totally understood how a parent would have to restrain the child just for the child's safety.

This child number 3 was called "Dick" through his growing up years. When he joined the Navy at a tender young age and married, he choose to become "Charles" or "Charlie". While it was so very very difficult to make that mental change in what to call my brother I never do now think of him as "Dick".

In my memories, Charlie is famous for practicing all his 'torture' techniques on me, being the one who Dad trusted to climb up into the attic to bring down the Christmas ornaments (I think he was the only one who ever went up into the attic), being gutsy and always taking risks, and being bright and curious and able to tinker to figure out how things work. In the summers he was brown as a nut with his hair bleached white. As an adult in was in his white Navy dress uniform and Dad was always so proud of him.

In the spirit of our recent survey questions of Mom and Dad I guess the following about Charlie:

favorite color: blue
favorite food: anything Satski makes
favorite place to live: Hawaii
favorite place to vacation: Japan
favorite movie: anything John Wayne
favorite sport: crawling around under houses
favorite vocation: moving irrigation pipe on farms as an adolescent
favorite memory: spending time on Jean and Walker's farm
biggest accomplishment: becoming a non-commissioned officer in the Navy

Okay Charlie, how did I do?
Have a Happy 63rd Birthday! We love you and are grateful to have you in our family!

Thanksgiving 2009

As I've been reminiscing about Thanksgiving the past few days I decided it would be fun to call and interview my siblings to get the details of how they were celebrating their holiday this year. Is this insight into Armga family traditions?

LuAnn
Where you had dinner: at our table
weather in Kaysville: cold but sun is out, no snow
Who cooked the turkey: Amy and Stephanie
Stuffing: made from scratch
Other menu items: onions with green beans (Stephanie wanted lots of onions),celery casserole, yams, cinnamon jello salad and pumpkin and one other kind of pie for dessert
Casual dress
Attending: Ivan, LuAnn, Stephanie, Blythe, Amy
What else are you doing today? Girls have already been shopping at Old Navy and Shopko. My girls are going to take me shopping later [they want to go to Park City which opens at midnight but I think it's too cold]

Charlie
Where you had dinner: my house
Weather in Lacy: rainy, 45 degrees
Who cooked the turkey: Charlie, using the recipe he's used for 35 years
Stuffing: made from scratch
Other menu items: turkey, stuffing, Mom's candied sweet potatoes (my wife doesn't like yams), green bean casserole, green salad, homemade croissants, gravy, macaroni corn salad, pumpkin pie
Casual dress
Attending: Charlie, Satski, Kouchi, Lexi (Kouchi's girlfriend) and maybe Charlie's co-worker Pat
What else are you doing today: just cooking, eating and doing the dishes

Cherie, Carol and Pat
Where you had dinner: at the Armgas in Austin
Weather in Austin: blue skies, 63 degrees -- beautiful!
Who cooked turkey: Carol (I brined it first. This is the second year I've done it. The turkey is so moist and flavorful as a result. I highly recommend the process.)
Stuffing: stovetop
Other menu items: Turkey, stuffing, gravy (Cherie made), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows (Lindsey made), green beans with tomatoes, onions and bacon (Pat made), corn, cranberry jelly, Rhoades Rolls, water to drink, homemade Pumpkin Pie with vanilla ice cream, store bought Pecan Pie, left-over 'Sting of the Bee' cake.
Casual dress
In attendance: Cherie, Carol, Pat, Lindsey, Micah, Brode, Graham
What else doing today: riding herd on two curious, energetic and funny little boys, with the girls going to New Moon tonight while Micah does daddy duty and watches football

Mike
Where you had dinner: at our house
Weather: sunny and nice, 58 degrees
Who cooked the turkey: it is smoked and Mike just had to heat it up
Stuffing: stovetop
Other menu items: mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with mushroom soup, canned yams, Rhoades rolls, pumpkin and lemon meringue pie
Casual dress
In attendance: Mike and Julie with company coming later to share dessert
What else you're doing today: nothing, just eating

Bruce
Where you had dinner: at the in-laws
Weather: rainy, rainy, rainy
Who cooked the turkey: one cooked by father in law, one cooked by Bruce -- deep fried [he cooked his first one 5 days ago and the second one today which was better than the first]
Stuffing: stovetop with additions
Other menu items: turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, beans, peas, corn, homemade rolls (m-i-l), green salads, cranberry salad, pumpkin and apple pies, blueberry cobbler
Casual attire
In attendance: all the in-laws with grandson-in-law with his parents and brother and future grandson-in-law
What else you are doing today: just prep for dinner, starting at 9, eating at 4 and doing the dishes