Childhood

Birth

I really remember nothing about when I was born!  However, my mom has written a letter with some of her thoughts and memories on the event.

Amy's holding me!  I love my red pajamas

At home we have a video of when I took my first steps, my mom was very impressed, and loves telling the story of how rather than taking a step I started dancing.  My sister Natalie was dancing around the living room to some music, and was pulling me around.  Then she let go and I started dancing! Eventually falling on my butt, but it's fun to watch.

I made a great centerpiece

As a toddler I assume that I did what most little babies do, which would be crawl around, eat, sleep, make funny noises (which I still do) and have people change my diaper.  However, I really don't remember much about this period of my life.

Grandma and Grandpa Gray, my cousin Cherrie and I

Ages 3-5



When I was three years old my baby brother Christopher was born.  He was born three months premature and weighed about three pounds.  Because he was born so early I remember that my mom and he were in the hospital for some time.  Chris was born in the Oakland Kaiser Permanente hospital, which was at least an hour from our house.  One day my dad took all of us kids to see my baby brother; however, I remember that we weren't allowed in the room to see my little brother because we were so young.  There was a staircase that we took on the outside of the hospital that went up several stories where we could look in the window.  I remember climbing the stairs and looking into the window and seeing my little brother in an incubator.  I believe that I remember this event so vividly, because it kind of frightened me to see a little baby with tons of tubes and cords attached to them inside of a glass box.

At age three I also attended a Pre-School where I participated in many arts and crafts.  I still remember one project that I thought was so cool!  We made a paper sailboat out of construction paper and then put Elmer's glue and glitter on top.  In Pre-School I also learned how to use a swing, I still remember being taught to put my legs out straight when going forward and to tuck them back when going backwards to gain momentum.  It was so much fun!

After Pre-School I went to Kindergarten at Salvador Elementary School and my teacher was Mrs. Crossland.  My mom would come and help out in the classroom many times as an aid.  I remember that I was good friends with a boy named Alan. 

Every morning that my dad drove me to school he would have me look out the window and count all of the hot air balloons that I could find.  Growing up in the Napa Valley the mornings would always be foggy, and tourists would go on hot air balloon rides.  My dad and I would also play a game called "slug bug" however, rather than hitting each other we would play based on a point system basis.

Age 6

I have a few vague memories from when I was six years old.  I particularly remember my first grade teacher Mrs. Grafton; she seemed to be incredibly tall from my perspective.  I remember that she wore huge, thick glasses and had curly gray hair.  Her disposition was normally gruff, and I was afraid that if I missed a spot on my paper when coloring with crayons that she'd get angry!  She had a huge key ring with at least 20 keys on it that would hang out of her pocket...I often wondered what all of those keys were for.

I always enjoyed playing kickball and I remember how I wanted to be able to kick that red ball really high like some of the bigger kids, but somehow I always kicked grounders during recess.  In addition, I vaguely remember one day when I was wearing overalls and needed to use the restroom during class.  I finally received permission to leave the classroom and ran to the bathroom, but had an accident because I couldn't unbuckle my overalls fast enough.  My mom came to pick me up from school, and being a very shy child I believe this is when I developed an intense fear of my first grade teacher.

 When I was in the first grade I also recall that my mom would always help me pack my lunch in the morning; making a very healthy sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes, meat, cheese, etc.  Even though I didn't like mustard she would always just put a little bit on my sandwich...to help me develop a taste for things that I didn't appreciate.  I was only ever allowed three Oreo cookies as a treat in my lunch, and when I saw all of the other kids’ lunches with Cheetos, Doritos, cookies, and lunch ables I became envious.  So as a small child I would climb under the picnic tables after everyone else was done eating and pick up the delicious scraps!  (Moral of the story is to give your kids a few more treats in their lunch or else they might become scavengers like I was).

At this age I also spent a good deal of time outside after school...I would run around in bare feet in the dirt trying to catch wild cats and chickens or run through the mustard field that existed behind our property.  As siblings Steven, Natalie, Amy, Chris and I would make tunnels through the tall grass for hours at a time.  The great outdoors really were the great outdoors!

Besides running through the mustard field behind our house, across the street from our front yard lived an elderly couple named the Krings.  The Krings were such wonderful people, as kids we would often go over to their house and visit them.  We sold them everything from Girl Scout cookies to turkey raffle tickets, and they would always buy some.  They also had a little creek that ran through their yard which they would allow us to play in and catch tadpoles.  I spent hours kneeling over that creek and gazing into the glassy water to stare at squirming tadpoles, and water skeeters.

Age 7

At age seven I attended Mt. George Elementary School and Mrs. Hemming was my second grade teacher.  She is actually a member of The LDS faith, and is a very sweet lady.  I recall that one day in the Second Grade we were allowed to bring an object to class for show and tell.  So, I brought one of my pet chickens in a cage.  The chicken clucked quietly in the corner during the class period and I anxiously awaited my turn to show off what I had brought.  When my turn came I took the chicken out of the cage and showed the class.  I also remember that later on during the class period my chicken laid its' very first egg!

Age 8

When I turned eight years old I was baptized about a month later on the 7th of May.  I was baptized later because my best friend Ashley Alkema turned eight shortly after me and we shared a baptismal service.  I still remember that at our baptism Ashley, Amy (my sister), Stephanie (Ashley's sister) and I sung "Whenever I am baptized."  I remember dressing in a pretty white dress, and I remember how I felt after my Dad baptized me.  Ashley was baptized after me and our moms helped us to get ready and go back out into the baptismal service.  That same night I was given the gift of the Holy Ghost as many relatives stood in the circle.  Uncle Richard, Grandpa Elmo, Dad, and others participated.  I received a new Book of Mormon with pictures and a journal that my Grandma Croft gave to me.  After my baptism we had a huge family get together, which was very fun!

Ashley Alkema was a very good friend of mine from childhood.  Our family was members of the Napa First Ward, as well as, The Alkema Family.  Since we attended the same ward, and had siblings of similar ages we all became good friends.  Ashley and I would always play at her house or have sleepovers at my house.  We spent countless hours playing spoons, Uno, dancing around the room, rearranging furniture, playing house, and playing with dolls.

Ashley Alkema and I

Another good friend of mine at this time was Michelle Fullner who later moved across the street from my Aunt Pattie.  We would spend a lot of time playing outside, and I remember going to visit her before her family moved.  Her family lived in a motor home on several acres of land in the countryside, and we ate white chocolate chips and venison jerky when spending time at her house.  






Right after my Baptism



I remember that Michelle Fullner and I were in the same third grade class with Mrs. Rutland.  One time when we had to give presentations in front of the class Mrs. Rutland had Michelle stand up, who already had to go to the bathroom really bad, and she ended up having an accident.  I also randomly remember that Mrs. Rutland owned a guinea pig, which I was intrigued by.

Age 9 

When I was nine years old I remember going running a lot with my dad on three or four mile runs.  We would go up two huge hills that he named "Big Bertha" and "Little Bertha."  The reason that I went running with my Dad was to help prepare me for something that my school had called the turkey raffle.  For the turkey raffle I remember walking from house to house in an effort to sell raffle tickets so that I could raise money based on how many laps I was able to run.  

Chris and I at Boomtown



Many times as kids we would also go to St.Helena where my Uncle Richard and Aunt Clara lived.  We would often go there to visit, especially during the holidays.  When I was nine years old we went to their home for Easter.  We had a huge Easter egg hunt with our entire family and my cousins Orlin and Jonathan.  Most importantly some of the eggs contained money! This made the hunt even more interesting.  After the egg hunt my Aunt Clara had prepared supplies so that we could decorate cakes.  I decorated and put together a cake that looked like a bunny.

My cat Slipper

Besides visiting Aunt Clara and Uncle Richard I also spent a lot of time helping my sister walk their sheep, which were raised for 4-H.  I never did end up raising any animals for 4-H, instead I would try to ride on the back of the sheep when my sister took them for walks.

 I also would visit an elderly neighbors house named Mr. Clark, and spent a lot of time helping him in his garden.  In reality, I probably wasn't much help, but I enjoyed him teaching me about plants and how to take care of them.  He owned a beautiful garden, and had an exquisite front yard.  I remember him showing me how to catch pincher bugs, which he made little wooden boxes for.  Also, I remember him showing me that you can suck on the end of a Vinca flower, because of pollination it will have a little bit of honey in it.

At age nine I also had a crush on a boy across the street named Daniel Dell who would often play with me at school.  He gave me a bunch of his pogs, which we would play during recess.

Age 10

Shortly after I turned ten years old our family moved from California to Alpine, Utah.  My dad worked at Napa Pipe, which was laying off several workers; he was expected to be one of them.  So my parents sold our house in California and we moved to Utah.  However, my dad continued to work at Napa Pipe for two years while the rest of our family lived in Utah.  He would come and visit every other month, and I remember him helping me with math homework over the telephone, especially long division problems.  

Age 11

I attended Alpine Elementary School during the fifth and sixth grade, which was located a few blocks from our home.  During the fifth grade I had a teacher named Mrs. Wiser who was a part of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  I would always point her out when they would sing during conference.

Although leaving all of my friends behind in California was very difficult for me, I believe that it helped me to open up a lot more and not be quite as shy as before.  I was taken out of my comfort zone and forced to make new friends.  A few of the friends I came to know during this time were Hailey Parker and Alexia Wallace.  Hailey and Alexia were in the same Sunday School class as I was.

Hailey and I would often spend time at her house, which was enormous.  We would also spend a lot of time at the park in the summer and would often make visits to a candy shop called The Peppermint Palace.  Alexia was from a family of seven children, which terrorized their home.  I would spend a lot of time helping her clean her bedroom so that we could then go outside and play.  I remember that we toilet papered a neighbor’s house when I was allowed to have a sleepover and were almost caught.

Age 12

In the sixth grade I had an amazing teacher named Mr. Brown, who I was initially scared to have as a teacher, because I had heard that he stressed mathematics.  However, I came to find that he taught math very well, and I became a lot better at math as a result.

Mr. Brown and I are still friends today and we have kept in contact through letters and telephone conversations over the years.  I participated in many fun events while in his class, I remember that we had a huge unit on Ancient Greece, which I went overboard on.  My Ancient Greece unit was hundreds of pages thick and I dedicated hours upon hours to my homework during the sixth grade.  I became one of the top students in his class and began to excel at school during this time.  

In the sixth grade I ran a mile in 6 minutes and 32 seconds, which sadly is one of the fastest times for the mile that I've ever had.  Our class had a really fun time playing softball, and being put through a strenuous military fitness program, which Mr. Brown created, because he had served in the Vietnam War.  

He also wrote a play which our class performed in front of the entire school.  The play was called School Bomb, and I still remember that I had to memorize a huge paragraph.  My role was that of the interviewer in the play.  We also had a Valentines Dance to which the boys asked the girls exclusively.  I remember that a boy named Ken asked me to the dance, and gave me a cute little teddy bear.  I still remember how embarrassed he was when he asked me, and all of my friends made a big deal out of it.

I was also good friends with Bryson Gregory and Casey Winters during the sixth grade.  I remember spending a lot of time at Casey's house where we would play video games with his little brothers.  We would also buy bags of lolly pops from The Peppermint Palace and suck on them.  We had a lot of fun playing with his boomerang in a field and trying to get it to come back to us.

One event that I remember, which was awesome was when we made wooden catapults which were spring loaded using large rubber bands and had an m&m war in the classroom.  I remember that we split up into two teams and turned all of the desks over in the classroom...we then commenced to shoot m&m's at each other having a wonderful time!  One m&m even went down a girl's shirt!