It's My Life

it's that time again!

if your new to it's my life (a family history project) go here for the details.

if not, welcome back!

here's the list of this week's questions.

1. Was yours a religious family? we weren't a religious family but we were raised Catholic as young children. After my parents were divorced we didn't attend church anymore. It wasn't until my mid to late 20's that I started going back to church. Were Sunday's spent together with family? not for religious purposes, however, the weekends were often spent with family and friends.

2. Did your family take vacations? As young children, we spent many family vacations with my grandparents. We would go camping in Grandma & Grandpa's camper and go fishing. We (my sister and I) would always get to ride on the top bed of the camper while driving (something we would NEVER do now!) Did you go to the same place every year? We often went to the desert (almost every other week through my teenage years) my granparents, uncle and many friends spent these weekends with us. There were many wonderful memories made. Many years after my parents divorced, my mom remarried Tom and we all continued camping in the desert. Halloween and New Years Weekends were my favorite. Poker runs, spending all day in the pool, lounge chairs with sprinklers, driving my dad's truck, racing the boys and beating them, Blow Sand, Bomb fires, warming our buns with coals under our chair, the Bone Yard. I could go on and on, what wonderful memories. I remember hoping that we would be able to create those memories with our children. About 5 years ago, we bought our first trailer and began creating them. The desert has changed, the people are different and my children don't wait in anticipation to see the Hell's Angels like we did, but the memories will be there and that's what matters.

3. Do you remember any special stories your grandparents told you? Did you sit on a lap when you heard these stories or did you hear them when you and your granparent would walk hand-in-hand, taking a stroll? Do you tell any of these same stories to your children? I don't remeber any particular story, but I do remember walking Oscar (grandma & grandpa's dog) around the block every day while we stayed with them. We would pick up pinecones, talk about the gardens, talk about the neighbors. My grandparents were always very interested in what we had to say and always listened. They taught us many things. Grandpa loved his garden and Grandma taught us the right way to clean a house. If we didn't dust well enough, we did it again. The same went for vaccuming and making the beds. Grandma, to this day, has her morning routine. Coffee, breakfast for Grandpa and then making the beds. I particulary remember Uncle Chris's bed. It would smell so bad in the morning when we had to go make the bed. I hated it! One time for April's Fools Day, Grandma let Suz and I put snail shells in his bed. (I kind of got off subject, sorry...)

4. Did your grandparents live nearby? They live in Encinitas. How often did you visit their omes? It was a second home to us for much of our childhood. Did the house have any special smells? I don't remember any special smells, but Grandma is a great cook. Tacos were a family favorite and my Dad stills talks about Grandma's lasagna. My all time favorite is the chocolate pie she'd bake for my birthday and baking Christmas cookies a tradition now shared with my kids. What did their couch feel like? Oh, the couch! We slept on it a lot. It was a rough tweed I think. Grandma always put a sheet down for us. We would all gather in the living room to watch The Lawrence Welk Show. We would eat our ice cream (Grandpa's favorite was mint & chip, Grandma's was praline's & cream and I loved Burgandy Cherry. All from 31 Flavors of course. I would lay on the couch and Grandpa would tickle my feet until I went to sleep. Great memories!How big was their kitchen? The kitchen wasn't to big but it was big enough for us all to gather in and that we did often!

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i enjoy reading your answers and getting to know you.