Activities We Enjoyed as a Family
When the children were really young, about 1960, we became interested in rallies. We had a VW bus (van). We would load the kids up; take some snacks, games, color books, and some pillows. Some of the rallies were just fun, but others took some brain work. There would be a car club sponsoring the event. Those wanting to participate were given a set of instructions. The participants left a minute apart. Then the fun began! The instructions were written in a way that could cause confusion. You needed to be alert. The kids helped by looking for signs or roads that were part of the instructions. We soon got to know the members of the car clubs. Since Larry was interested in anything to do with cars, we found a club that we seemed to have the most in common with. We became members of the Orange County Sports Car Club. It wasn’t long until Larry was elected as the Activities Chairman. This club was mostly married couples and families. We fit into the club easily. The activities included things like: rallies, slaloms and tours. In about 1961 we bought a ’59 Porsche coupe and began to compete in slaloms. We both enjoyed the sport. It seemed as though there was always something that we needed to make the car more competitive. We began collecting 1st and 2ndplace trophies. Soon, the class had Cobras and Lotus Super 7’s. The Porsche was no longer as competitive as it once was. So in 1963 we sold the Porsche and bought a Lotus Super 7. We continued to complete for another 3 years. And then Larry said we need to change our activities to something the kids could participate in and not just watch from the sidelines. So, motorcycles became the family sport. We went desert riding. About this same time was when we became reactivated in the LDS church. We no longer participated in anything on Sunday. The kids were introduced to motocross that had races on Saturdays. Everyone raced: boys and girls. This gave different roles for Larry and me: Larry the mechanic and me the score keeper and sandwich maker. I think Randy was about 15, Lori 14, Debbie 12 and Steve 11 years old. We stayed with this activity until Steve left for his mission in 1979.
By this time marriages were begun and children were born. We kept all the motorcycles from racing and added a few mini quads for the little guys and gals. We began to all go to different locations to spend a weekend or a holiday and camp out. We found other families in the ward that also enjoyed this activity. We called ourselves the Saturday Warriors. Sometimes we would go out for an entire weekend, but never started a motorcycle on Sunday. We had testimony meetings and short talks were given in the spirit of the Sabbath.
We often got together in our back yard where we had a pool and a nice big patio. There was one scary incident in the summer of 1988 when Sarah (she wasn’t even 2 yet) got in the pool without any floaties or a ring around her. Everyone was busy talking or helping. No one had noticed her in the pool. Lori saw her….jumped in, very pregnant with Adam, and got her out. Lori gave Sarah to Larry who was standing by and he quickly bent her little body over his arm and gave her some taps on the back and a few breaths of air. We all breathed a sigh of relief. We felt the burden of guilt resting on all of us. Why didn’t we notice? We decided then and there that someone would always be assigned to watch the pool. This is especially important when there is a large gathering. The whole family was really supportive of each other when baptisms and confirmations came around. Talks were given and priesthood ordinances performed. They all came together to show support to Lori when things started getting rough in her marriage to Bobby. Bobby had left. Everyone went over to her house and kidnapped her and took her to the beach. They had organized a beach party with food and a bon fire. Hopefully they wanted her to feel how much we loved her.
After my dad passed away Christmas Eve of 1976, my mom decided to move down to Orange, CA to be close to us. It was important for her to maintain her independence as long as possible. She was able to have her own apartment until 1983. By this time she had several strokes that affected her speech quite severely. She worked really hard to get her speech back. But, after the 3rd stroke brought her back to where she was originally, she just gave up. The speech therapist said she had aphasia. This condition made speech, reading and writing very difficult for her. It was getting harder and harder for me to get over to help. We finally convinced her it was time to move in with us. Our master bedroom was down stairs with its own bathroom. It was just a short walk down the hall to the kitchen. We took a bedroom upstairs for ourselves. It was good that she was there because she was in on more interaction with the rest of the family.
There were times she felt like she was a huge burden to us. She couldn’t understand why the Lord wouldn’t bring her “home”. I tried to explain to her that she was with us because we needed to learn more about service. Little by little, she became weaker. Finally, during Christmas of 1988 she fell. At the time, I was really busy at the flower shop and she wouldn’t let me take her to the doctor. I made her promise that she would let me take her to the doctor and have an x-ray after the holiday. I made an appointment Jan. 3. She passed away in the early morning hours. January 3, 1989. She finally was free from this life’s trials.
