Story #24

Once upon a time there was a nice young man who grew up in a family of all brothers except for one sister. Ironically, when he became a father he raised a family of all daughters except for one son. But what fun he had with that one son! Right away they started a unique birthday tradition. Because the son was born on one of Utah's flag-flying holidays--every year on July 24 Tommy and His Dad had their picture taken together with a flag.

Another thing they liked to do together was play basketball.
At first it was just with a small plastic indoor hoop and ball. But later the father felt it was necessary to have a real court with a real hoop and a real basketball. So with the help of a lot of neighbors and a lot of trips with the wheelbarrow full of cement, a concrete court was poured in the backyard.

More excitement followed a few years later when the father and son were able to go to the Jazz basketball game where John Stockton set the NBA Assists record. The basketball-loving boy kept notebooks full of newspaper clippings and statistics and managed to make many school reports be about the Jazz. However, one of Tom's and his Dad's favorite basketball memories happened one Christmas afternoon when they were bored, went to an after-Christmas sale and bought a fisher Price basketball hoop. After all, by then they practically had a half court for playing in Tom's basement bedroom!

Tom also had a mother, but she wasn't nearly as fun.
How fun are good meals and clean clothes compared to playing basketball? The mother did come in handy when it was time to celebrate holidays, though--especially birthdays. She knew how to buy and wrap presents. She knew how to make favorite meals for the birthday person. And she knew how to make birthday banners and signs. One year she decided to write a "Top Ten" list for each person in the family on their birthday. Once upon a time, when Tom turned 12 years old, this was his list:

Happy Birthday to:
10. Orchard 8th Ward's newest deacon
9. Dad's favorite basketball playing partner
8. Mom's best kitchen cleaning helper
7. Grandma Hawkes' favorite grandson to share a birthday with
6. Grandpa Chambers' favorite grandson to give "take apart" gadgets
5. Emily's favorite brother to take to Buzz games and Bryant's barbershop
4. Shelly's most stylin' brother (who never hogs the bathroom)
3. Betsy's favorite brother to tease and argue with
2. Hayley's favorite brother to walk to school with . . . and bug!
1. The number one boy in our family!

Not long after this list was written the number one boy grew up and got  job at  Dicks' Market just like his Dad did back in the day. Now he is the same age his Dad was when he was born! . . . and just like him, he has a nice wife and a lovely little family and the same plan to live happily ever after!

 

Happy Birthday Uncle Tom!
Love, your Mom
(also known as Grandma)

Story #23

Once upon a time it was the best of times and it was the
 worst of times. A handsome, hardworking father had reached his five-year work anniversary at First Security Bank and was now entitled to three weeks of paid vacation each year. That was good news! But one day when he was driving to a business appointment on the freeway in his suit, he got a flat tire. Bad news . . . except a highway patrolman pulled up behind him and changed the tire for him. Not such bad news anymore!

His sweet, but very shy wife was called to be a Relief Society President. Bad news because she mostly worried and cried for the next six months. She was released (good news) just after her Dad (Great-Grandpa Hawkes) died (sad news).


Their first daughter, Emily became their first official
teenage daughter (scary news) and saved enough money to buy her very own black mountain bike (good news except when she used the same bike to go too far away). Their next daughter, Shelly performed 11 memorized piano pieces at her very own piano recital (good news) and was asked by a sixth- grade classmate to go steady (not good news). Their 8-year-old daughter, Betsy had read 100 books by summer and had started taking piano lessons which she was just as passionate about (good news) . . . and she had gone a whole year without stitches, too (very good news).

Their "teenage mutant ninja turtle" loving son, Tommy
 learned how to read and write in first grade (good news) and got to spend one night sleeping out in his favorite ugly green truck before the neighbor who owned it sold it (sad news for Tom). And the 2-year-old baby girl of the family, Hayley was kind of spoiled and very loved (good news) until she infected the whole family with
chicken pox (not such good news).

 
However, during the best of times and the worst of times this family still managed to live happily ever after.

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma

Story #22

Once upon a time there was a happy little family that went on a grand adventure in a brand new green Grand Van. The fine father mapped out the whole adventure that would take his happy little family clear back East to visit his brother's family in Pennsylvania. The nice mother packed road trip treats and surprises to last the long journey to also visit her brother's family in Illinois. One Sunday evening in spring the fine father, the nice mother, and all but one of their excited children headed off on their grand adventure. They had decided one baby sister (also known as Hayley) was too little for a big trip so she stayed behind with Aunt Kelly's family.

The fine father drove almost all night all across the state of Wyoming. The nice mother took turns driving, too. They went all across the state of Nebraska . . . all across the rolling corn fields of Iowa . . . and felt like they had rubber legs by the time they could finally get out of the car and spend a night at Uncle Dennis' home in Urbana, Illinois.

But the driving wasn't done yet! Early the next morning they hit the road again and drove through Indiana and Ohio to finally reach Uncle Wayne's home in York, Pennsylvania. Then the real fun began. Both fine families visited the Hershey Candy Factory, toured Gettysburg, and spent a day in Philadelphia along with some of their former neighbors--the Tomlinsons. One day they also drove through Amish country, which was not the funnest day for one family member who did not like being "weighed" for her meal. But all the rest of the time the three sisters (also known as Emily, Shelly and Betsy) and the one brother (also known as Tom) had lots of fun visiting their cousins (also known as Rebecca, Elizabeth, Joseph, Brittany and Keren).

After time in Pennsylvania, the happy little family drove up to New York and visited the Joseph Smith home, the Sacred Grove, Palmyra, the Hill Cumorah and Niagara Falls. These were the days the sick little family learned to never again bring licorice for a road trip treat. But everyone was feeling better once they reached Urbana, Illinois again and spent a couple days visiting Uncle Dennis' family.

Then it was time to begin the long trip home. Once again the nice little family decided to leave in the evening. The fine father soon tired of driving, so he decided to take a little nap while the nice mother drove a little while. Unfortunately, a little while turned into all night when fog became so thick the nice mother had to just keep driving. Fortunately, the smart little sister Betsy kept the nice mother awake by not only chattering to her all night long, but also by reading all the road signs! After one more whole day of driving and one overnight stay in a Wyoming hotel, the tired little family finally made it back to their home sweet home where they lived happily ever after.

Happy Wednesday!
Love, the all-night driver
(also known as your Grandma)

Story #21

Once upon a time on January something of 1989 there was a handsome, hardworking father hardly working one day at the bank. He was just playing around with numbers when he discovered something amazing by adding up a few important numbers. His youngest baby girl (also known as Hayley) had just been born a few months before so she was 0 years old. His one and only son (also known as Tommy) was a 4-year-old preschooler. His cute, busy little first-grade daughter (also known as Betsy) was 6 years old. His smart little fourth-grade daughter (also known as Shelly) was 10 years old. And his sixth grade daughter who was no longer a "little girl" (also known as Emily) was 11 years old. His lovely wife was a lucky 33 years old and her handsome, usually hardworking husband was 36 years old. This fine family was 100 years old!

That was a cause for celebration.

So the handsome, hardworking father made a banner, hung some streamers and surprised his family with the great news. They not only celebrated that day . . . but all through the year with all kinds of new things. The handsome,  hardworking father with the help of some friends installed a sprinkler system in their yard. His handy, dandy Dad (also known as Great Grandpa Chambers) built a big fancy redwood deck in their backyard. His lovely preschool teacher wife used some of her earnings to buy a big jungle gym swing set for the backyard. And best of all, they started a new tradition of "dates". Once a month each child got to go on a date with either their handsome, hardworking father or their kind, sweet mother.

The 100-year-old birthday celebration only came

 once upon a time, long, long ago . . . but the fine little family is still living happily ever after even after the handsome father went truly nuts one day at work about a year later and figured out the fine little family was one million hours old!

Happy Wednesday!
Love, Grandma