52 Questions in 52 Weeks: 2 of 52

Question 2:

When and where were you born? Describe your home, your neighborhood, and the town you grew up in.

Eric - I was born on December 18 at the Orem Community Hospital in Orem, Utah. Doctor Carn delivered me. I was born at 2:20pm. I weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces at a length of 20 1/2 inches. My mom was attending BYU when I was born. I imagine that must have been a little stressful. She also carried me when she walked at graduation. 

The first home I remember was in Sandy, Utah. We lived right at the end of a circle in an old white house. I often remember my mom saying it the house was over a hundred years old. This meant there were a lot of projects that my parents were always working on. I remember that the back part of the house, behind the kitchen, was in a perpetual state of construction. My mom was really committed to improving our house. She worked hard to repair and decorate many rooms. It was a really cool unique design. I also remember we had one really big room near my parent's room that I shared with my sister, Charly, and eventually also my brother, Jonathan. I don't remember too much about this room. I do remember that we had a metal bunk bed and I slept on the top bunk. I also remember that my mom painted letters on the walls. I also remember we had this little old TV in the front room that we would watch everything on. Many of the memories I have been reinforced by some old family home videos my mom made. They are a real treasure and I am grateful my mom captured those early moments of my childhood. I spent the very early years of my life in that home.

We had a pretty good-sized yard. In the front yard, we had a large apricot tree. It was so tall. We hung a swing from one of the branches. In the backyard, there was plenty of space to play. I remember I loved to dig holes in the backyard. When I was 5 or 6 I dug a hole that seemed at least as big as me. I thought I was going to dig all the way to China. I have fond memories of that yard. I remember we had a couple of cats while I lived there. They were always outdoor cats and most of them didn't really last. We had one cat, George, who stuck around. I chose to name him George I think because it was the name of a character in a show I watched.  He was a black cat. He was only allowed into the back part of the house and he often hung around the yard. I loved George. One vivid memory I have is a time George went missing. As I remember it was around Christmas time and he was gone for around two weeks. We were really worried and I remember praying fervently that he would come home. One night we were sitting in the living room when we heard meowing. We went into the back of the house and found George crawling through some insulation. He had a nasty cut on his face. We brought him into the house, got him cleaned up, and gave him some food. He had a scar, but other than that he wasn't much worse for wear. Unfortunately, when we moved we had to leave him with the house. It was really tough for me to let him go.

I was lucky to live next door to Zachary Little. He was my best friend. We were the same age and would hang out all the time. We walked to school together in kindergarten and first grade. I remember once I tried to climb the chain-link fence to go over to his house and I ripped a hole in my favorite shirt. We played liked to play Super Nintendo, watch movies, play basketball and baseball, watch the Jazz, and ride bikes. I vividly remember one of the first times I tried to ride a bike without training wheels. The street we lived on had a pretty good grade. I remember taking off down the hill and running right into a big bush. I actually didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 12. I taught myself because we were having a scout biking activity and I didn't want to be the only kid who didn't know how to ride.

I have a couple of other random memories of our home in Sandy. I remember I was really into knights and dragons. As I kid I had a really vivid imagination. I remember once I got a hold of a big kitchen knife and I ran down the street "chasing a dragon."  I got into trouble for that one. I had some great adventures in Sandy.

One winter the gas and water lines to our house in Sandy froze and we moved in with my grandparents. We ended up back in that house for a little bit, but after that my mom sold it and we moved out. After we sold it we moved back into my grandpa's house in South Jordan. I lived in that house from the time I was 7 until I was in 9th grade. Moving when I was 7 was difficult, but I quickly made new friends. I went to Welby Elementary School for 2nd grade. On the bus to and from my new school, I met my new best friend, Francisco Martinez. We were friends for many years. We enjoyed playing Super Smash Bros - he would always beat me. We also would hang out in his treehouse. We were in the same ward until we were about 10. We used to race each other to see who would bear their testimony first on fast Sunday. When were 10 they split the ward and we ended up on opposite sides of the boundaries. I was so mad. Francisco also went to an advanced placement school and I went onto the brand new Elk Meadows elementary. For a while, we still hung out and stayed close, but we didn't see each other as much, and eventually, we drifted apart.

That neighborhood in South Jordan really became my home. It was where I was baptized and spent a lot of my formative years. We lived in the old part of the neighborhood. It was great because we lived on a full acre of land. We had dogs (first two of my grandpa's dogs and then our own dog, Chip). We also had a big garden, grapevines, and lots of fruit trees. We spent a lot of time as a family weeding our garden, picking fruit, and canning grape juice. We lived in the basement and just like in Sandy my mom spent a lot of time decorating and making it our home. We had one big room that was a playroom. To decorate it my mom filled small water guns with paint and splattered the walls. It was a really fun room. It was a small space, but we made it our space and had many happy memories growing up in that home.

South Jordan has really changed while I grew up. When I was little (6-8) I would take walks with my grandparents and my mom up 10000 S. from our house. As we neared 3425 W. there was a yard with a group of trees lining the sidewalk. I loved this area and would call it Nottingham. To me, it was a magical place, just like where Robin Hood and Maid Marian would have lived. Just past this area was a vast golden field. In this field, through the years, we would see foxes and pheasants. Around when I was 10 or 12 they developed the area. This development brought an influx of new friends. In its own way, the development of the neighborhood mirrored my growth from childhood to adolescence.

Alison - I was born in Provo Utah on April 25. My parents moved to South Jordan when I was just 2 months old, and that is the first home I remember.  Interestingly, it's just a few blocks away from where our first home is being built. Kristin and I shared a room in that house, we had daybeds with white bedspreads with red roses on them.  I remember really liking my bedroom. I had several friends in that neighborhood. I remember Robert Christensen and Courtney Searle. It seemed like we played a lot together and were in the same classes at Welby Elementary. 

When I was 7 my family moved to another home in South Jordan. It's the home where my parents still live. I was very sad to leave my friends, but my parents told me that I would make new friends near my new house. I also had my own room in the basement. I started second grade at Jordan Ridge Elementary, and sure enough, I made new friends. One of my best friends all the way through high school was Anne Terashima. We were in all the same classes in elementary school and did a lot together. We had a group of friends that included Olivia Pugmire, Anne Terashima, Chanell May, and Haley Olson. We used to hang out behind a bookcase in our sixth-grade class during reading time. Sheri Bronson was also my next-door neighbor. We weren't in a lot of the same classes, but we did a lot together while we were growing up, especially with the ward. 

My ward was really "young" when I was growing up. There were a lot of families in the same stage of life as my family, so there were a lot of kids. I remember that during the primary program we took up the entire stage and the first several rows of the pews. There were around 16 girls in my beehive class. It led to a lot of drama during girls' camps. I was always grateful for Sheri though because was always a peacemaker who avoided the drama. 

My parents put me in dance lessons and piano lessons when I was really young. I did ballet and jazz until I was high school-aged. I really enjoyed dancing. As I got older, I did solos and competed regularly. It was something fun that my mom, sister, and I did together. Kristin and I did a few duets as well. I also started piano lessons when I was 5 years old. I had a lot of piano teachers when I was really young. I really didn't like practicing the piano when I was younger and would get in fights with my Mom. Fortunately, I stuck through it and it's still something that I enjoy doing. My favorite song I ever learned was Sleigh Ride. I learned it when I was a senior in high school and I really love it. I also performed it at the Jerusalem Center and it's one of my favorite memories there. 

I was always really competitive growing up, something that has lessened as I've gotten older. I remember playing games with my Mom and it was really intense. Sometimes I think she let me win because I would get upset if I didn't. The reason I focused so hard in school was that I wanted to have the best grades possible, even better than my peers. Looking back now it seems silly, but I'm still very proud of my good grades and the opportunities and scholarships it awarded me during college. 

My family was fortunate enough to travel a lot when I was growing up. My dad traveled for work and so he always had SkyMiles and hotel points that made traveling affordable for our family of 6. When we were really little we went to Disneyland quite a lot. I remember my mom bought an autograph book and a pen and we would meet characters and have them sign our book. We also would watch the Electric Light Parade - my mom loved that parade! I remember really loving Disneyland as a child. We also went to New York quite a lot. When I was 9 my Dad was working in Syracuse so my family went to upstate New York for the week and to the city that weekend. It was so much fun. We saw the Church sites in Palmyra which left quite an impression on my 9-year-old self. I really loved the Sacred Grove. Our luggage got lost between Syracuse and NYC due to insane flight delays, so I didn't have any of my clothes. My parents bought tickets for me, Kristin, and my Dad to see Les Miserables and I was really upset that I didn't have my clothes and didn't want to go to the play. My parents made me, and I'm really glad they did. Les Mis is still my favorite musical show that I've seen on Broadway. We were in New York on Easter Sunday so we went to Mass at St. Patrick's. It was my first time going to Mass and I thought it was so interesting and confusing all at the same time. 

As we got older we went on cruises. My parents paid for the cruises and then provided us opportunities to earn money to pay for excursions. The cruises were a lot of fun and gave us practice managing money. My favorite thing we did was parasail in Mazatlan. Wow - that was so much fun. During my senior year of high school, we cruised Hawaii. I loved the islands so much! I got a really bad sunburn in Maui because I fell asleep on the beach. I woke up that night and was in a lot of pain and couldn't fall back asleep. I was sharing a room with Kristin and she woke up and put wet towels on my back and on my legs so I could sleep. I remember feeling so loved that she would do that in the middle of the night. My favorite activities in Hawaii were snorkeling on Maui and learning how to surf on Kauai. 

Kristin did a study abroad in London in 2007, so my Mom and I flew out to visit her. It was my first time crossing an ocean. I loved it! We saw the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and went to Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. Kristin took us to her favorite Belgium waffle place and I still dream about those waffles - they were so delicious. I will forever be grateful that my parents provided opportunities for my siblings and me to travel when we were young. It started the travel bug that's kept me wanting to travel into my adult years.