I remember trying to camp in New York (I think near the Sacred Grove) one year when we were all very little. All I remember was that it was raining really hard, and it was dark. I think Dad put up all the gear in the rain and dark. I wrote a letter to Prsident Kimball after we went to New York and told him about our trip, and he wrote back!
I also remember the Grand Canyon. I remember we got badges or became little rangers or something. Grandpa & Grandma Melville, Mark and Keith were with us as well. I'm sure at one point Dad probably pretended to "push" us over the edge, but caught us before we could fall. Oh! Remember the song me and Rachel made up during that trip (to the tune of Chestnuts Roasting...), "Chipmunks roasting on an open fire, wildcats leaping off a cliff"... then something about going to the biff. The lyrics were truly inspired.
I remember the day we bought our sleeping bags, and Mom or Dad wrote our names across the bottom with a marker. If I remember right, Rachel got the red one--don't nobody fight with Rachel when she knows what she wants. Another memory about those bags was whe we thought we lost Shelley in the red Orem house (was it Shelley?). She had fallen asleep in the downstairs blanket closet, on the sleeping bags, and wasn't lost after all, Happy day!
I remember having a sleepover at Annie and Johnny's house in boston, and we were sleeping in a tent in their yard. But I was too scared, so I made Dad drive out to get me in the middle of the night.
Our family used to go to a ward camp in Vermont in the summer. I was upset because you had to be 8 to play pool, and I was only 7. We would swim in the little roped off swimming area, and if you caught a fish in the lake, you had to eat it for dinner. Dad helped me catch a fish, but I did not eat it. There was a play house for putting on shows, and a pizza place where I think we had our first hawaiian pizza ever. They brought out the big pizza on one of those pizza stands. The latrines at the camp were labeled, "Ma" and "Pop", but it didn't go over very well one day when we were there and I decided to call Dad, "Pop". I think that was the same summer we moved to Arizona.
Of course, the best camping trip was when Dad sat on the riverbank in his lawn chair, tied a long rope around our waists (one at a time), and we tried to see who could cross the river without getting swept away. And I think I still have rope burns under my armpits from getting pulled upriver and back to shore when I did not make it across.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Camping with the Hite Family
I loved going camping with our family. We probably went so often because it was the easiest on the family budget but it was wonderful for us!
My favorite part of camping was the food. Mom often made stew and biscuits in the dutch oven. We got hot chocolate at breakfast and all the yummy treats we didn't get other times (like oreos and twizzlers). I loved waking up to the cold morning and having a warm hot breakfast that mom cooked.
Dad always took us fishing and it seemed like we always had good luck. We would catch a million fish and then dad and mom would have to eat them all. We even made dad do all the yucky parts of fishing like tying knots, hooking works, and gutting fish. Yet we always said that we "loved fishing". We just loved reeling in the fish, I think.
We all had sleeping bags with our names on the bottom. I think they were a christmas gift from Grandpa Melville one year.
My favorite part of camping was the food. Mom often made stew and biscuits in the dutch oven. We got hot chocolate at breakfast and all the yummy treats we didn't get other times (like oreos and twizzlers). I loved waking up to the cold morning and having a warm hot breakfast that mom cooked.
Dad always took us fishing and it seemed like we always had good luck. We would catch a million fish and then dad and mom would have to eat them all. We even made dad do all the yucky parts of fishing like tying knots, hooking works, and gutting fish. Yet we always said that we "loved fishing". We just loved reeling in the fish, I think.
We all had sleeping bags with our names on the bottom. I think they were a christmas gift from Grandpa Melville one year.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Dad and Woodworking
I have SO many memories of dad in the woodshop. In the old house he used the garage for his woodshop. In the winter he had a woodburning stove he used to keep it warm. If you had a quick question you could poke your head through the small window from the back porch.
One year he bought me a wood-burning set and I spend hours making pictures and creations from his scraps. He built the shed in the back yard at the old house and remember hoping they would let me use it as a bedroom. Then he built us the treehouse that we played with for years! He build a laundy folding table, a music holder, a picture frame, valentine for mom, a scout display board for david, all of our physics projects (mine was called the Wimbledon Wacker!) and many other small items that he just whipped up in no time!
One thing that makes dad's woodworking unique is that no matter how small the project is, it is his best work. Once Melissa asked him to make some simple doll furniture and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY! He could have sold it for hundreds of dollars.
I always wanted to help him in the shop, but because so much of it was dangerous, my job was always to clean up the shop. I got to use the HUGE vacuum which was almost cooler than the powertools. We always had to yell to get dad's attention over the noise of the machines and because we was wearing ear protecters (looked like giant headphones). He would turn around abruptly wearing a face mask, ear covers, a jean apron, and covered in sawdust. Usually holding some of powertool like a saw or a hammer. It would have been intimidating if we didn't know him!
One year he bought me a wood-burning set and I spend hours making pictures and creations from his scraps. He built the shed in the back yard at the old house and remember hoping they would let me use it as a bedroom. Then he built us the treehouse that we played with for years! He build a laundy folding table, a music holder, a picture frame, valentine for mom, a scout display board for david, all of our physics projects (mine was called the Wimbledon Wacker!) and many other small items that he just whipped up in no time!
One thing that makes dad's woodworking unique is that no matter how small the project is, it is his best work. Once Melissa asked him to make some simple doll furniture and it turned out BEAUTIFULLY! He could have sold it for hundreds of dollars.
I always wanted to help him in the shop, but because so much of it was dangerous, my job was always to clean up the shop. I got to use the HUGE vacuum which was almost cooler than the powertools. We always had to yell to get dad's attention over the noise of the machines and because we was wearing ear protecters (looked like giant headphones). He would turn around abruptly wearing a face mask, ear covers, a jean apron, and covered in sawdust. Usually holding some of powertool like a saw or a hammer. It would have been intimidating if we didn't know him!
Dad and Woodworking
I dont have a specific memory, but I always remember hearing the sound of the table saw going. Or when someone needed Dad for something you had to go out to the old garage (or new one), and there he would be with his blue apron, red ear covers, and his plastic glasses on.I remember brushing my socks off countless times, becuase you didnt want to put on your shoes...but afterwards you realized it would have been easier to put your shoes on. Ok, heres a memory. Not really a memory because I wasn't there...but I saw it when I was transposing the old family movies to DVD. It was when Dad and rachel were doing her...I dont know what to call it, crazy multi event project i.e. pulleys, ramps, levers... But in the video Dad is (as usual) getting really into the project and designing and cutting a wooden model that would make NASA designers tear up at the sight of it. Rachel is involved as much as she can, but a similar image is conjured in my mind of Molly wanting to help Shelley vacuum so Shelley puts Molly's hand onto the handle and while Shelley does the majority exclaims "Look Molly, you vacuumed really well!" ITs funny, the problem was we couldn't really do much, because there was so much technology involved that could maim us as children, so looking back I appreciate the involvement he could give us and doing the rest that we couldn't. Oh, and Dad supercharging Rachel's mousetrap racer into the Rat-trap bohemoth that could go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds flat.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Dad and Woodworking. Rachel.
Wow. So many memories that I don't know where to start.....
When Melissa and I were little we wanted Barbie furniture so Dad let us have a bunch of his old pieces of wood and we found some red fabric. We glued the wooden pieces together and covered the couches, chairs, etc. with the fabric to make a box full of Barbie furniture.
When we lived in Boston I remember Dad and Kerry Duke outside in the driveway with the power tools....I don't remember what they were building but I remember watching them cut wood and work on the house. I also remember his renovating the Newmanway house - mostly the attic. I always wanted to help and I'll never forget when he was telling me that the pink panther insulation would make my entire body itch so badly that I would cry if I played in it. Note taken - I'm still scared to death to get close to insulation.
In eighth grade I came home excited to tell Dad about my "mouse trap car" assignment. We spent days building a massive mouse trap car. Actually, we cheated a little by using a rat trap because it had more power. When I brought the car to class everyone was amazed with it.
Another project in ninth grade was a "pulley and lever" assignment. Dad and I spent days building a huge contraption that had many pulleys, levers, etc. and in the end it poured a box of cheerios into a bowl. Once again, my class {and especially my teacher} was amazed with the end result.
I used to love to sneak out to the wood shop and watch Dad work. It was one of the best times that I could get some one-on-one time with him, talk to him about things and spend time with him. I loved when he was really excited about the project he was working on and how he would explain everything that he was doing. He always let me help hold wood, put nails and screws in, stain the wood, etc.
I was always so nervous seeing Dad use the big table saws. I never wanted to say anything but I would hold my breath and say inside my head, "Don't cut your hand off....don't cut your hand off.....don't cut your hand off...."
In recent years, since moving from Utah, I have found myself several times a year saying to someone, "Darn! If only I could get to my dads wood shop I could make the coolest {fill in the blank}" Now that I have three boys they always talk about things they want to build with Grandpa. Especially Jordan and Joshua who are builders at heart love to talk about when they will get to work in the wood shop with Grandpa Hite again.
When Melissa and I were little we wanted Barbie furniture so Dad let us have a bunch of his old pieces of wood and we found some red fabric. We glued the wooden pieces together and covered the couches, chairs, etc. with the fabric to make a box full of Barbie furniture.
When we lived in Boston I remember Dad and Kerry Duke outside in the driveway with the power tools....I don't remember what they were building but I remember watching them cut wood and work on the house. I also remember his renovating the Newmanway house - mostly the attic. I always wanted to help and I'll never forget when he was telling me that the pink panther insulation would make my entire body itch so badly that I would cry if I played in it. Note taken - I'm still scared to death to get close to insulation.
In eighth grade I came home excited to tell Dad about my "mouse trap car" assignment. We spent days building a massive mouse trap car. Actually, we cheated a little by using a rat trap because it had more power. When I brought the car to class everyone was amazed with it.
Another project in ninth grade was a "pulley and lever" assignment. Dad and I spent days building a huge contraption that had many pulleys, levers, etc. and in the end it poured a box of cheerios into a bowl. Once again, my class {and especially my teacher} was amazed with the end result.
I used to love to sneak out to the wood shop and watch Dad work. It was one of the best times that I could get some one-on-one time with him, talk to him about things and spend time with him. I loved when he was really excited about the project he was working on and how he would explain everything that he was doing. He always let me help hold wood, put nails and screws in, stain the wood, etc.
I was always so nervous seeing Dad use the big table saws. I never wanted to say anything but I would hold my breath and say inside my head, "Don't cut your hand off....don't cut your hand off.....don't cut your hand off...."
In recent years, since moving from Utah, I have found myself several times a year saying to someone, "Darn! If only I could get to my dads wood shop I could make the coolest {fill in the blank}" Now that I have three boys they always talk about things they want to build with Grandpa. Especially Jordan and Joshua who are builders at heart love to talk about when they will get to work in the wood shop with Grandpa Hite again.
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