Funny Memories of Everyone by Shelley

Dad
I remember helping dad barbeque something at the old house. He was singing "You can tell by the way I use my walk i'm a woman's man, no time to talk" while doing his moonwalk and dancing.

Mom
Whenever mom got really stressed working on the computer her chin would lower, her glasses were pushed lower onto her nose and her hair stood straight up because she kept running her fingers through it.

Melissa
Melissa and Rachel used to fight alot when they shared their rooms. Sometimes, at night, I would hear melissa knocking on the wall into our bedroom (where Laurie and I were sleeping) as a call for help. I would run in, a flattered 7-8 year old, to the rescue.
Melissa always had a hard time keeping her bedroom clean and would offer me the change I could find on her floor to help her clean it.

Craig
Craig loved spec so much and would always ask about her and play with her before most anything when he came to visit. He would always joke and say things like "I wonder what spec is doing..."

Rachel
Rachel used to make cookies all the time and was very possesive of the cookie dough. Once someone stole some and she found a fingerprint where the dough had been scooped out (it was probably me that's why I remember this) She was so angry that she made everyone come and put their finger there to determine the "match". I don't remember the conclusion of the story- only that she was upset enough about it to make us ALL put our fingers in the cookie dough.

Albert
I remember at Rachel and Albert's wedding shower at Grandma Hite's house, sitting next to Albert and he pretended to put his arm around me. Being only about 14 years old I thought this was the most hilarious thing that had ever happened to me.

David
Once David was very sick and was spinning in the office chair. He was yelling at someone but was cut off when he started to feel very nauseous. He threw up while spinning in the chair and so it got all over everything in the office.

Rach
Although I have done alot with Rach I just can't think of a "funny" memory. I remember realizing one day that I was going to really enjoy having her for a sister in law because she could get giddy. It is a prerequisite to be a hite sister to be able to get giddy-especially late at night.
OH! The day before Rach and David got married, Rach stopped by our hotel room and was so tired and needed a nap. Being 8 monthes pregnant- I also needed a nap and so we shared a bed in one of the rooms. I was very surprised to hear Rach snore! For some reason, hearing her snore made me like her even more. David, does Rach still snore?

Shelley
I know I shouldn't post about myself. But I thought i'd remind everyone of all the things you tease me of just so you can have another laugh:
"But I thought you were going to cananda!" (Dad went to alberta or something)
Electricity being grounded 5 floors up in Paris
Almost being swept away by the wave in Ireland
And being attacked by Tzitzi flies. Although I don't think this is funny- it was very serious to me.

Devin
Devin can drink an amazing amount of water without taking a break to breath. I am still amazed to watch him drink what seems like a quart of water without stopping. Where does it all go? The most amazing part about this process is that he refills his huge cup 3-4 times. That's alot of water. Devin also sweats alot. If it is above 65 degrees and Devin does anything physical (unloading dishwasher, hanging a picture) he begins to sweat all down his face. Maybe that's where the water goes... His mission companions would use this strange sweating feat to get into doors while tracting. Devin would be dehydrated and hot and his companion would say at a door: Do you want to see a cool trick? Give Elder Higgins a drink of water and watch him very closely. As soon as Devin put the glass down- he would start sweating. People loved it. I never knew sweating could be such an effective missionary tool.

Laurie
I was holding a basket of laundry while fighting with Laurie (we must have been about 7 or 8) and I was so angry that I threw a pair of underwear at her. She was upset because she thought they were dirty although I insisted they were clean. To this day this very important detail is debated. I guess we'll never know.

Funny Memories of Everyone. Rach.

Melissa: I've only spent a little bit of time with Melissa, but one memory that I love about her is that everytime I see her she has a smile on her face, even with crazy kids all over the place. The time that I've spent with her, I don't think I've ever heard her raise her voice to anyone, and seems to be very loving and motherly. How can you not love Melissa??

Rachel: My favorite memory about Rachel comes from Feb. 13th, 2009 right after the wedding. We were outside taking pictures in the bitter cold of Denver, and Rachel was still very excited and happy to be there like she always is. But the funniest part was when we went behind the temple, and during one of the photos, Rachel exclaimed, "David I've never seen you kiss anyone so much!". I think David would have blushed if if weren't so cold outside.

David: My most favorite memory of David has to do with revenge. Like Steve/Dad, David is ALWAYS catching me off guard and scaring me, and I always fall for it. Well, one day when he was coming home from work and I was already home waiting for him, I saw an opportunity present itself. I watched from the window, and when I saw him pulling into the driveway I went and stood behind the front door. I made sure to lock it so he would think I wasn't home (he didn't know I was), and right as he was opening the door I jumped out and screamed very loudly. Well, if you think I screamed loud, you should have heard him...and the little dance he did. Priceless.

Shelley: My favorite memory of Shelley was one night up at the house, and Shelley and I were talking about making desserts. She proceeded to tell me that she and Devin always have a hard time deciding which to make: lemon bars or pumpkin (I think that's what it was). It seemed very obvious to me that the solution was to make both! When I told her this, Shelley's eyes lit up like a little kid in the candy store and said, "Rachel that's why I like you, because you like desserts as much as I do!"

Laurie: I think my favorite memory of Laurie was when we were roommates, and she, Chloe (our other roomie), and I had had an ongoing game of "Your Mom" jokes. Just some background, Laurie really likes to take long baths with a movie playing on the toilet, or a book to read, with a floating bowl of cereal. Anyway, one night we were spouting off "your mom" jokes, when all of a sudden Laurie shouted, "Your mom floats in water!"...maybe you had to be there.

Mom: My favorite memory of Mom was when David and I were still dating, but we weren't engaged yet, or really even talking about marriage. There had been this Uganda Reunion that David wanted me to go to with him, and Mom and Dad were there too with the whole group. Up to that point, I was still "the girlfriend", and so I still wasn't sure if I was approved by the parentals officially yet. Towards the end of the party, David and I got up to leave and as we were saying goodbye to Mom and Dad, Mom got up and gave me a great big hug, the first one she ever gave me. I couldn't believe it! I was accepted by the Mama Bear! I don't know if she knows how much that meant to me, but I definitely did not soon forget that hug! :)

Dad: I have a very distinct memory of Dad, ever since I met him, of always whistling, humming, singing, or making some musical tune no matter what he was doing in the house or where he was at, or what time of day. The Hite family is a singing family due to the patriarchal musical influence from Dad.

Albert: I've never met Albert, so I don't really have any memories of him. So this entry to be continued for when I do!

Craig: The couple of times I've been around Craig, he's been about to leave for the airport, so that's not very good is it? This will also be a "to be continued" entry

Devin: Before Shelley and Devin moved to Iowa, Devin was working night shifts at his job, and the memory I have of him is kinda funny. Every night, as everyone was getting ready to go to bed and to settle down for the night, Devin would come upstairs all dressed and awake from him nap leaving for work. But in the mornings he didn't look quite so perky since he was up all night. But he was always trying to be part of what was going on no matter how tired he was, and he never failed to help Shelley with the girls even though he was probably super dead beat tired. Poor guy, what a trooper!

Funny Memories of Everyone. Rachel.

Melissa: One of my favorite memories of Melissa is when we were teenagers in the Orem House. We were in the basement family room and we were having some sort of get together because there were aunts, uncles and cousins around. Melissa was sitting in one of those blue banana chairs and she fell backwards and as she toppled over she laughed and exclaimed, "It's just because I'm so top heavy!"

David: Hopefully this is okay to tell.....it was when David came home from his mission and he was starting to dabble in the dating world. David and I were at Dad's computer one night watching clips from the BYU comedy show when Grandma Hite came into the room. She asked David if he was dating anyone and he said that he was interested in a few people. Grandma looked at him and said, "Girls or Boys?" David laughed and said, "Don't worry Grandma, I'm interested in girls." Grandma breathed a sigh of relief and stated very seriously, "Oh good. I had to ask though....you never know these days." David was so funny to watch as he had a very serious conversation with Grandma Hite about the fact the his, in fact, interested only in women.

Shelley: When we were first married and then after Jordan was first born Shelley used to come and stay at our apartment all the time. We had many sleepovers and spent a ton of time together. One time when Jordan was about seven months old Shelley was at our apartment and she was having some allergies or something. She was sneezing a LOT and every time she would sneeze Jordan would bust up laughing so hard he would fall over and had tears coming down his cheeks. I'm not sure why he thought Shelley was so darn funny sneezing but by the end of the afternoon we were all laughing so hard.

Laurie: One day when Laurie was three or so we were all eating dinner and Laurie got up from the table and announced that she had a trick to show us. She went into the doorway between the dining room and living room and proceeded to do a full split. We all busted up laughing so hard - she made it look so easy. All the other kids tried to do it also but none of us came even close. For the next little while Laurie would randomly do the splits and we would all start shrieking and laughing - I think she did it to rile us all up.

Mom: I will always remember one day when Mom got REALLY mad. I remember this moment because it was a rarity to see Mom super mad. She was sitting in her chair at the computer desk and then she lost it. She scrunched up her face and started pounding her feet on the ground {while still sitting in her chair}. I remember we all looked at each other and had to try not to laugh because we knew she was so angry but it was so funny seeing her mad that we couldn't help it.

Dad: Of course there are so many to choose from but the one that stands out in my head is not necessarily one moment in time but a common theme from our childhood. Every chance that Dad would get he would try to scare us, I really think that he found a pure joy in making us scream, drop to the ground and wait for our imminent death. He would hid anywhere he could fit: behind doors, in closets, in beds, in bathrooms - there was no where that was off limits. I remember as a child walking very cautiously through the house and doorways because I expected him to be somewhere waiting for me to pass so he could jump out and scare me. I now do the same thing to my boys. I figure it's a family tradition that should be passed on.

Craig: I always think of Craig as my mom's personal assistant. For the first little while he was dating Melissa I remember my mom would always be so excited to see Craig walk through the door because she could have him do some manual labor. It was like she was waiting for him to come because he would be in the house for less than a minute before she would say, "Oh, while you're here....." and then say something like: I need the book boxes upstairs, I need the table carried outside, I need someone to change the high light bulbs. And good 'ol Craig would always do all the chores willingly. Luckily there are other guys to help out with the labor now.

Albert: My funniest memory of Albert is when we were dating. We went to his sister Kathleen's house for dinner where I would meet his siblings and their spouses for the first time. The whole family was there and it was going smoothly UNTIL the doorbell rang and a beautiful girl walked in. Albert immediately went over to her and hugged her, was laughing and being all cutsie with her. At dinner he sat with his arm around her chair! I was mortified. Why would he bring TWO girls to a family dinner? After we left he asked what was wrong {I was apparently not happy.} and I told him that he was dumb to bring both of us to a family dinner. He laughed and said, "That's my cousin!" Oh. I really, really wish that someone had mentioned that to me four hours earlier!

Devin: My funny memory of Devin is more embarrassing for me....even though Devin has been in our family for several years now I still worry about spelling his name wrong and offending him. I always stare at his name and wonder is it spelled "Devin" or "Devon" or "Deven" or HOW? The more I stare at it the more weird the name becomes and I start wondering if I'm just crazy of if Devin is just a really hard name to spell. Another memory of Devin is his laugh. I don't know why but I think Devin's laugh is hilarious. He crinkles up his nose, squints his eyes and laughs so hard that he may think I'm laughing with him but sometimes I'm laughing at him laughing. Not in a man way, it's just so funny to watch him laugh so darn hard.

Rach: While I have only met Rachel twice I already have an embarrassing moment. {Sigh. She doesn't know this story yet....} When I flew out to Denver for David and Rachel's wedding I got off the plane and since my plane was delayed everyone was waiting for me to arrive. As I walked up the area where everyone was waiting I scanned the crowd and recognized everyone....except for one girl I had never seen. I thought it was one of Laurie's friends. Oh, Rachel, I'm sorry! I am so embarrassed that I didn't recognize you! I have never admitted this to anyone until now - I didn't realize you were my new sister-in-law until David came up and held your hand! I was taken back for a moment - why would David hold another girls hand? Oh my gosh! That's Rachel! How did I not recognize you?

Meal Time. Shelley.

There is so much to remember. Maybe it was just because I had a particular problem with this but I remember Dad always telling us not to wipe our mouths on our sleeves. I remember requesting spaghetti sauce with 100 meatballs for one of my birthday dinners. Every birthday we got to choose whatever dinner we wanted. I always chose spaghetti or mom's roast. Mom made the best biscuits ever. That was the one thing that always came out and that will never be beat. On very special occasions she would make them for breakfast and I would pack them for a snack to eat on the way to school and to eat at lunchtime.

There were very particular rules about how the table was set, what you ate, etc. Such as: Your egg yolks should be slightly runny and if otherwise than it was raw or "cement". Zucchini was of the devil. Whoever accidently set a smaller forks than normal at the table was always notified of the mishap. One must never eat ice chips, only ice cubes. And only strange people drank skim milk because its "gray water".

Meal Time. David.

Meals at the Hite house are unnspoken mandatory events. Now, that doesn't mean it was a bad thing, it's just that everyone knew that they were supposed to be home in time for dinner and to be awake and present for breakfast. The usual table conversation involved either proper eating etiquette or the correct use of "random" or "hap-hazard". Favorite meals included Indian Curry, Tatertot Caserole, and Grits.

Meal Time. Rachel

Breakfast. Growing up breakfast came very early. Dad was always an early riser and desperately wanted the rest of us to be as well. So he would DRAG us out of bed at the crack of dawn….or more often annoy us out of bed by singing his favorite morning tune of “It’s time to get up, it’s time to get up, it’s time to get up in the morning!” followed by a harsh stealing of the covers that left us awake but not always happy about it.

As we all sat down at the table for breakfast we all hoped for our favorites: grits, cream of wheat, pancakes, waffles, eggs, etc. We all dreaded the awful nine grain cereal, river cereal and other terrible healthy hot cereals that you had to gag to get down.

One of the reasons that the nine grain cereal was one that we all cringed about was because one morning we all sat down and after mom handed out our bowls of cereal David started to cry because he didn’t want to eat it. He said that his cereal was alive and all the little bugs were moving around. Dad got upset that David was being disrespectful to mom and told him to be quiet and eat his cereal. We all ate the cereal. Then dad looked down in his bowl, picked it up to examine it closer and said, “Ummmm….I think there are bugs moving around in there.” We had all already eaten our cereal! Full of bugs! After that we were all paranoid and the cereal we didn’t want was even more of a nightmare.

Every Saturday morning mom and dad would make either pancakes or waffles with fried eggs. It was the best breakfast of the week and we all looked forward to it. There was nothing better than waking up to the smell of waffles baking in the kitchen. Dad was pretty famous for his homemade waffles and pancakes – after eating his, the ones offered at restaurants don’t stand a chance. I’d prefer dad’s over IHOP any day.

One breakfast “no no” was to eat cold cereal. We were only allowed to eat cold cereal on Sunday mornings. However, with mom and dad being gone a lot of afternoons all the kids would sneak in bowls of contraband cereal. We would eat it near the car port so we could hear if the cars were pulling up. Mom, if you wondered why it seemed like we went through cereal faster than you had expected it’s because we ate it more often than you realized.

Dinner. I remember eating dinner together as a family most nights. The dinners that I remember eating the most often are spaghetti with dad’s homemade sauce, tater tot casserole and shephard’s pie. On holidays we would have lasagna and the coveted cook and serve chocolate pudding in the glass cups kept in the cupboard for special occasions.

An important part of growing up in the Hite household was learning to “call your spot” at the table. Of course everyone wanted to sit next to mom. There were two ways that you could call your place: say it aloud or turn a cup upside down on the plate of your choice. The best scenario was to call it aloud AS you placed the cup upside down on the plate. There were many fights over spots at the table.

Eating tomatoes at the dinner table was one of my worst memories of my entire childhood. How is it that I hated the one food that seemed to be included with every meal? I have too many memories of sitting at the kitchen table, plugging my nose and gagging as I tried to eat the disgusting tomatoes on my plate. One time I convinced Melissa to eat my tomatoes. Unfortunately dad figured it out and neither of us got dessert that night. I felt badly that Melissa didn’t get dessert, but I have always thought back on that night and knew that she was a great big sister willing to do anything for me – even eat my tomatoes. Just for the record: I still hate tomatoes and probably always will.

Dessert and Treats. Dad always had a stash of little treats, usually peanut M&M’s or licorice. He was always so self-disciplined as he ate a small bit every night and then tucked them away into the secret container in the side of his big blue arm chair. When we were really lucky dad would make his famous milkshakes, either with peppermint patties or peanut M&M’s. I liked the peppermint patties the best. Mom always had treats hidden around the house, but I always knew where they were and ate them. Sorry mom. I inherited my sweet tooth from you.

Meal Time. Melissa.

“Uppum table tooeeum!” -Dad

One mealtime I'll never forget was when we were in the red brick house in Orem. We were finishing dinner, and David was telling us all about how he had just read a book about a boy who was half tree and had grown roots and leaves. He was explaining about how he was going to only eat a special diet of "plant shakes" that would supposedly turn him into part tree and part boy. I said something like, "Daived, that the silliest thing I've ever heard, that's not going to work!" David dumped his drink on me and left the table very angry. I hate to think that I may have killed some big dream of his that day.

Family Pets. Shelley.

We used to think that when spec's nose was dry, that meant she was sick. So whenever we saw that her nose was dry we'd wrap her up in blankets and spoon-feed her all sorts of delicacies normally not allowed.

When Spec was neutered she had to wear a plastic cone around her neck. During the winter she would scoop up snow and fling it into the air.
Spec always wanted to be friends with snowball- who hated him. Spec thought that swatting meant you were friends! Whenever spec approached snowball in a playful mood she would begin "swatting" at snowball.

Snowball would catch mice and birds and then bring them inside the house. Once we nursed a wounded bird in an old birdcage until it was better. Well, actually i'm not sure if we really did that or if we always wanted to and I just dreamed in all the details. When I got snowball for my birthday they put him under an upside-down box. When I lifted up the box snowball immediately ran underneath the old hutch to hide.

Family Pets. David.

I remember one of my favorite activities with Snowball was to hold him in my arms and spin around really fast. I would set him down and he would run sideways until he hit a wall or couch. (All of you animal rights activists know that would actually be quite hilarious.)

I always thought it was funny when Spec would trap Snowball in a corner and then try and swat at Snowball the way he would swipe at her.

I think the funniest pet experience was with our hamsters. One day I went into Laurie's room looking for one of the hamsters....I could not find that cage anywhere! After looking I decided to move some of the clothes around, I found the poor thing underneath two feet of dirty clothes, who know how long that had been there!

Family Pets. Rachel.

Snoball. I remember going with mom to pick out a kitten for Shelley’s birthday. Melissa and I chose the cute little white kitten and we took care of him in the food storage room in the basement for a few days until it was time to give him to Shelley. We put little Snoball under a box and as Shelly lifted the box up off the ground the kitten ran and hid. She was super confused that she was given an empty box. Shelley loved Snoball, he was such a cute little guy. My favorite memory of Snoball was coming home from school to see him perched on top of the Volvo. He would jump down and come to greet us. Snoball was a great cat until he was banished to be an outdoor cat because he had some bladder issues. Once he realized that he was not allowed in the house anymore he became quite a bitter and resentful cat. When the family moved into the new Orem house he disappeared and we haven’t seen him since.

Spec. Mom and dad felt sorry for David because he was the only boy in the family, surrounded by emotional girls. So they decided to get David a dog. When we first got Spec she was a tiny little puppy. She couldn’t go up the stairs because her little legs were not long enough. David took her to play in the snow in the back yard and she disappeared into the snow and we had to find her by following her little yelps. David loved Spec {who was a girl by the way} and they became best buddies. However, Spec was an emotional and needy puppy…she loved to be pet, cuddled and paid attention to. I’m not sure that she was the rambunctious friend mom and dad had in mind, but David loved her none the less.

The Hampsters. The hamsters were mine. I convinced mom and dad to let me get two hamsters: a boy {Chestnut} and a girl {I don’t remember her name}. I wanted to become a hamster breeder and sell all the baby hamsters for a profit. Chestnut was a very nice hamster who I loved very much. The girl hamster, however, was a mean old girl who often bit me so hard that I would bleed. I did not like her, but I needed her to breed baby hamsters. We realized that the girl hamster was pregnant when she became very fat. She made a little nest and had a bunch of the cutest, tiniest little hamster babies. Then one by one the babies started disappearing. I think she was eating them. I was so angry that she was doing this! One baby survived and I sold it to Sarah Sargeant, we had named the baby Chewy because it was always eating. Then I had to take care of the mean mom hamster. I tried to kill her in a humane way….by starving her. But she wouldn’t die. Then Chestnut died. That was a really sad day, he was such a nice hamster. I took the mean mom hamster, put her in the toilet and watcher her swirl around as the she was sucked into the underground tunnels. It was the meanest thing I have ever done in my entire life and I am still haunted by her little face sticking up out of the water as her arms paddled, trying to swim. I do not like hamsters anymore and no longer want to breed them.

The Bunnies. Salt and Pepper lived in a little cage in the back yard when we lived in the Orem house. I think they were Shelley’s bunnies, I’m not sure. My favorite memory of the bunnies is when the bunnies would try to play with Snoball. Snoball was so afraid of the little bunnies that he would run away screeching, leaving the bunnies confused at why their friend was so scared.