Fun Times Back In The Day...

Dad taught me to Double Dutch jump rope! Can you believe it!? He really did. We used to go on picnics out in the desert east of Mesa. I remember one Easter picnic when we found a nice gully out in the desert with a large mesquite tree for shade. We did the awesome picnic packed by Mom, hid and found some colored eggs, and then Dad went to the trunk of the car and pulled out two neatly bundled ropes. He proceeded to inform us that we would be jump roping - but not the way we were used to. This was going to be Double Dutch. I thought he was crazy. He was just going to tell us how and then laugh at us or something. Well, lo and behold, the next thing I knew we were turning the ropes and Dad was doing the jUmPinG!! He was really good. He taught us by example! I was so impressed, and all of us had a great time!

One of the other really good times with Dad was when he would take us to the river as a family and help us catch baby frogs, splash a lot, and hold onto me in the deeper water. It must have been the Salt River. It was such a fun way to cool off in the extreme Arizona summer heat. I remember how special it was to see Mom in a swim suit. Dad, on the other hand, would roll up his levis, take off his shirt and drop the top of his underwear down around his waist showing his farmer tan! We usually had watermelon (raised in a huge patch to the west of Grandad Cluff's) to further refresh us. We could get the juice all over us, and merely dip back in the water & the sticky was gone for a clean trip home!

Dad loved playing jokes on others when he had a big audience. We used to travel from Mesa to St. George, and then with Uncle Ordell's family head out to Black Rock on the Arizona Strip to camp. This particular time Grandpa Jones and Aunt Harriet came with us. Tarps were pitched against a stockade type fence and many quilts and bed rolls were spread in a row underneath for bedding down the whole clan later. There was always great dutch oven potatoes, fascinating stories, and singing. Dad was ready with the harmonica. I don't know how good he really was, but I loved listening to him. It had been dark for quite a while and Mom and Aunt Lorraine had gotten the little ones to sleep. Some of us lay there ready to doze off, and some were softly whispering to each other. All of a sudden there was this LOUD pounding thump-thump, thump-thump, and at the end of the long tunnel of tarp - dimly lit - you could barely see what looked like HUGE antlers! Aunt Harriet screamed, "It's a deer, it's a deer! O, lordy, lordy, it's a MAN!" Heads came up one at a time like backward dominoes along that wall of bedding! Dad had sneaked away, got a huge dead limb with antler-like branches on it's end and had stomped it across the ground with a heavy thump-thump, thump-thump, knowing all along that he would cause a comotion. And he surely did! No one there will ever forget - " ...lordy, lordy, it's a MAN!"

I sometimes forget with all Dad's stern discipline, that he loved a good time!

Games and songs!

Dad in his younger years liked to play checkers. He and Ray use to have quite the games until Ray got where he could always win. Mom on the other hand would take on any game and always held her own. I remember at a reunion her sister Glenda was trying to get mom to say, "Boots without spurs". Mom would say Boots without spurs and Glenda would say no! Say boots without spurs. I was surprised it took mom as long as it did. She would try to put the effaces on the same words as Glenda. Glenda was yelling no! Say boots without spurs. Mom finally said Boots. And the laughing started. That was what they did best. Laugh!

Mom always said I saw UP on a box car.Or Who is buried in Grants tomb.
And Dad would say Railroad crossing look out for the cars can you spell THAT without any R's.

I think Mom taught all of her kids all the nursery rhymes. Today most people don't even know what they are. Mom and Dad both knew a bit of verse and would tell stories like "Little Orphan Annie".

Dad and Mom both liked to sing and had some great songs."The Friskies" a proven favorite. "She's always chewing gum", "The whitie manie", and "I went to school" to name just a few. We always sang when we went anywhere in the car. Dad liked the Hymn "Love at Home" (I think it was because we were always fighting). Dad use to tell about a little bantam roster he raised and used in a play. I think it was Jack in the bean stalk. He would sing songs from that play. Now I wish I knew them. Mom took it a step farther. She was in a group called the Singing Mothers and went to Salt Lake to sing in general conference. I remember she sent a post card home of the Tabernacle choir with her seat circled so we could watch for her on TV. We didn't get to see her. Mom sang alto and I always liked to sit by her in church just to listen to her sing.

Mom always had Double mint gum in her pruse and after the sacrament you could have a half of a stick or something. I thought Double mint was the only kind of gum you could buy for years. I remember coming home from church to the farm when Starburst candies first came out. It must have been fast Sunday and mom had a bag of Starbursts. They tasted so good and Mom decided to write a letter to the company that made them and see if we could get a free bag of candy out of it. We waited for a long time to get a reply but we were all disappointed all they sent was a thank you letter.

I think it was after my mission mom made up her mind she was joining in a walk for a cure. I think it was for birth defects. Mom walked from Littlefield to Bunkerville park. She was the oldest walker and got a ribbon. What a heritage we have.

Games Games Games

Grandma Jones enjoyed playing card games and board games. She liked skip bo and uno and yahtzee. She had monopoly, life, scrabble, memory and many many more. We would play games all the time.

Here is a picture of Grandpa Jones after Scarlet had done his hair, complete with a bow. This picture was taken around April 1993. I remember Grandpa enjoying having his hair combed. He would sit and let us comb his hair. He was patient with us girls and let us put bows and ribbons in his hair while we were combing it. Of course, once we were done we had to take them out and comb his hair like it was supposed to be.

I really like this picture of Grandpa. When I think of Grandpa, this is how I remember him (without the bow, of course!), in his overalls and a work shirt.

MOM'S EXAMPLE OF CHARITY

In the mid to late fifties, there were many out-of-work men that we referred to as hobos. I think they must have been drawn to our grey home on 8th street in Mesa, AZ. Not only was it inviting with a neatly kept yard, lots of flowers and HUGE cottonwood trees that lined the ditch across the street, but I think they could feel the spirit of charity that MOM radiated. I recall a number of times that there would be a knock on our back door (they never came to the front) and a scruffy, disheveled, but kind-eyed, soft-spoken man would ask for something to eat and sometimes offer to do chores in exchange. MOM was always sincerely respectful and said if they would wash up at the garden hose or the utility sink she would fix them something. I loved watching her fearlessness and tenderness as she prepared a sandwich (probably leftover roast), some fruit, a mason jar of cold milk and a piece of cake or cookies, and placed them in a brown grocery bag. She only ever asked that they give back the mason jar. I would watch from the big picture window as they went across the street and sat on the wooden bridge over the ditch, dangling their feet just above the water, in the shade of those GIANT cottonwood trees. I wouldn't take my eyes off them. I was waiting for that transformation to happen that I had heard about in primary or Sunday school. I just knew that it was Jesus that came to our door as a beggar, and because of MOM's kindness and love he would reveal himself. Even though I never saw that transformation, I know that MOM passed that test with flying colors. She not only gave them food, but dignity. And, I did see the gratitude and joy that came over the washed and fed hobo!

Gathering Eggs

I remember going with Grandpa to feed the animals and do the other chores at their house when we would visit them in Littlefield. One particular experience stands out in my mind. I remember helping Grandpa gather eggs from the chicken coop. I was quite young at the time, probably 5 or so. I remember realizing that Grandpa was heading out the door. So I took my handful of eggs and started for the door. Of course, Grandpa closed the door behind him, probably to keep the chickens from escaping. When I got to the door, I couldn't open it. As I kept trying to open it, while exerting pressure on the door I also exerted pressure on the eggs, and they broke and got all over me. I remember I started crying, and Grandpa must have heard me, because he came to the rescue. He helped me out of the coop and helped me clean up with a hose.