First Memories

Pretty sure this should be journaled else where, but after a lesson in church last week on family history and blogging I decided to blog a few of my memories from my early childhood.

The first memory I have is from when we lived in Portland, so I was around 4 or 5, my mom putting on the record player, putting our big holey pink blanket around her shoulders then scooping me up in her arms, wrapped in the blanket together and dancing around the living room with me. I also remember her waking me up, picking me up and throwing me playfully on the couch or chair and watching The Price is Right, or Sesame Street while she would make me cereal.

I remember watching her make a roller skate cake with silver beads on it for one of my brother's birthday's. I remember playing on the slip and slide with my brothers.

As a family we watched M.A.S.H a lot, and I remember getting in trouble for using my TV Dinner trays as a slide A very consistent memory is how my mom would sing and dance all the time when she was putting on her make-up, or driving around she was always singing and dancing. To this day I inherited my moms ability to listen to 1 song over and over again non-stop...even when it is no longer popular. =) Songs that stick out first is Body Parts and the Pointer Sisters which I remember listening to in Portland while we drove around in Mom's big green truck.

The song, Solid as a Rock will always remind me of my mom, we would sing that song to each other whenever it came on. Madonna's Dick Tracy soundtrack, dancing the Macarena with my friends in our van, Gloria Estefan and the Miami sound machine I remember that tape being played over and over on our way to the Inn at 7th Mountain. Tom's Diner and Always Forever from Donna Lewis are a few that will always remind me of my childhood, and my mom.

Speaking of road trips, I remember Mom making a huge bed of blankets in the back area of the van just for me when we would take long road trips.

I remember Adam had cute little fades he would go through with me. One time we had a cool handshake, that I think evolved into him poking my face and making noises, he would tap my cheeks, nose and forehead making booping noises. The funniest, that I like the most was when he talked to my feet, and had my feet talk to each other. I used to play with Adam's ear lobes all the time cause they weren't attached.



I remember Ryan telling me to spit in the wind on a ferry...and I did. =P I remember Ryan and I playing Rambo in my Grandma's backyard, with Toby (our dog) as Super dog.

I loved playing Lion's and Tiger's with the boys when I was 5-7 yo. The boys each had a lion and tiger notebook for school and we would play zoo where the boys were in their "cages" on the chair and couch and I was the lion tamer. We placed their notebooks out so we knew they were lions and tigers. Most of all I just remember my brother's being so very good and nice to me.

I vaguely remember somethings about my Dad. I remember a time when he bounced me on his knee, I seem to remember him trying to teach me how to tie my shoes. And I vividly remember a time when for whatever reason my mom was not able to do my hair one day so my Dad had to and I hated it. =) My mom always did my hair so tight my eyes would look Asian and my head would throb when I took it out, but my Dad did my pig tails so loose I remember being so sad. =)

I also remember when the whole family went to my Grandpa Powell's boat house. I remember being told not to get too close to the edge where the boat and dock was cause I could get stuck under the house. And going on the boat to the beach and playing in the sand. I remember my Dad being really good on the ski's and I think it's the only memory I have where I remember my mom bragging about how great my Dad was. I think my Mom really liked to watch my Dad on the ski's. I remember my Grandma & Grandpa Powell's house. They had a light, or something that had a naked woman in a cage and when you turned it on it looked like water trickling down. I loved that!

Those are some of my first memories. There are a few more that I may add later. I think it's good to reminisce and document the good memories. This is how my little head remembered life as a child. It was fun, but we worked too. I think my Mom did a great job raising us on her own. There is no doubt she put us first all the time and sacrificed constantly, looking back I know we brought her joy and we kept her going. I'm proud of her.