A Marathon Drive

This post will probably only be interesting to my kids.
We left Provo this afternoon at 5:20 and got to our apartment in SLC at 8:14.  We didn't stop anywhere, just drove straight here.  It was 37 degrees and light rain when we left Provo.  By the time we got to the freeway there were light snow flurries.  It was snowing a lot harder at point of the mountain.  That was when traffic came to almost a standstill.  We crept along for at least 1 1/2 hours.  We finally found out that there had been a truck jackknifed on the road.  The snow came harder and faster while we were waiting.  We must have come to the accident about the time it was cleared because we suddenly started moving, but now the roads were snow covered and dangerous.  We drove at about 20 mph the rest of the way.  When we got to 600 S the sign said that it was too dangerous to exit so we continued on to 600 N, but when we got there we saw several cars stuck on the exit ramp so we still couldn't exit.  After that there really is no place to exit for SLC so we finally exited, turned around and got back on the freeway headed south.  We were able to exit at 600 N this time and fortunately got the light green or we probably couldn't have stopped and if we had we couldn't have started moving again.  After that it was slow going, but at least we were in the city and we finally made it home.  It was exhausting.  Frank is ready to move back to a warm climate.

The best presents I received as a kid.

I have thought a lot about some of the best presents I received as a kid.

The first would be the blue dog mentioned in my last blog.

Next would be my baby doll that I named Marianne.  

I loved the pink princess telephones that Beckie mentioned.  I particularly remember playing Cruella DaVille.  Beckie, were you Cruella or was I?

Another favorite present was one that Bob got.  It was called a Gorilla gun.  It was an air gun that you shot at a picture of a gorilla and the air made the gorilla move.  I don't know why I liked it so much, but it was fun. I have looked for it on ebay, but have never seen one.

And then there is Mystery Date.  It was the most popular toy that year.  I remember going to the store with Mom and Dad and hoping they would buy it for me but there was just one game left on the shelf.  They told me they wouldn't buy it because the box was broken.  Santa surprised me by bringing it anyway and it was the one with the broken box.  It really must have been the last one available that year.  We really played with that game a lot.

Perhaps one of the best gifts I ever received was from Aunt Norma.  She gave me a maroon leather bound, gold embossed copy of Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility.  That was my introduction to Jane Austen-decades before she became a fad. It is still one of my favorite possessions and I have read that copy many, many times.

Pictures of our houses.

I thought since Beckie is blogging about our houses I should post some pictures.

November 1957

Snow in San Antonio

Christmas 1957.  Beckie and I were so cute.  I am feeding my baby doll.

Poinsettia bush in front of our house on Infantry Post.  Beckie and I out front.  

First little house we lived in in Germany.  It was in Bad Vilbel.  It was a tiny house.  Bob in the front yard. 

Easter in the attic in Platenstrasse.  This is the small kitchen.  Notice the slanted roof, It is almost touching both Bob and Beckie;s heads.  The blue dog on the table was mine.  I got him as a present when I got my tonsils out in San Antonio.  I loved him and probably put him on the table so he could watch us decorate Easter eggs.  I was heartbroken when our dog, Dolly, chewed him up in Silver Spring.

Christmas in the Attic.

Our playroom in the attic.  Our household goods were shipped over in large wooden crates and Mom stacked them to make a doll house.  Beckie and I got our first Barbie dolls that Christmas in the attic.  I wonder why I am not wearing my glasses.  I got them when I was 3.

Bobby and Grandpa Brugger outside of our apartment building in Platenstrasse.  Bob always wore his cowboy hat and cowboy boots-even with his lederhosen (leather german shorts).

Bobby and I.  We had a little dutch car called a Daffodil.  

Silver Spring, Maryland.  Bob in front yard.

Our new home in Denver.  1967.   It was a beautiful house, just not a beautiful situation.

The polygamy house in Ephraim.  1968.  That is the Lind family.  He was the "mormon austronaut."

My bed in Ephraim.  That was probably the ONLY time my bed was ever made.  When Beckie and I shared a room I was always convinced that she was the messy one.  Then she left to go to Snow College and I found out I was the messy one.

Our cat, Ming, outside the Ephraim house.  MIng had no front claws, but that didn't stop her.  She terrorized the great dane, "Twiggy", who lived in the neighborhood.  When we moved we gave her to Twiggy's family.  She made friends with Twiggy and rode around on her back.  

The kitchen in the Ephraim house.  The floor sloped badly.   Love those glasses, Beckie.

Our duplex in Bad Vilbel when we returned to Germany.  1969

What kind of house did you grow up in?

What kind of house did you grow up in and what was the old neighborhood like?

If Beckie blogs about questions I will try to blog about them, too.
When I read the question about what kind of house I grew up in, interestingly I immediately thought about our house in Silver Spring, Maryland-so I will blog about it.
I was in third grade that year.  We lived in a two story house, with a basement.  We had a fenced back yard and we got a beagle named Dolly.  Dolly barked constantly and would escape from the back yard, so we gave her away to some people who lived on a farm.  We also had a cat named Kitty.
The house had a small kitchen, but we did have our first dishwasher.  It was round and opened from the top.  You took the top rack out to load the bottom rack.  Beckie and I also got our first electric blankets.  I remember the day we got them we were told NOT to get them wet.  Of course, I spilled a glass of water on mine that very first day, so I couldn't use it, but had to sleep in a wet bed.  
I loved the basement in the house where we had a play area.  I got my Easy Bake Oven that year and it was one of my favorite toys ever.  I baked lots of little cakes in that oven.  
That was the year we had so much snow that school was cancelled for days-so much fun.  There was a little hill separating our house from the neighbors and we would sled down the little hill.  (It really was a little hill, maybe 2 feet high, about like a baby slide.)  The neighbors had a little girl named Mary Hornbeck.  We played with her a lot, but she was kind of mean.
That was also the year I got Mystery Date for Christmas.  Beckie and Mary Hornbeck and I played it a lot.  
Popi's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Brugger lived with us a lot during our time in that house.  They had a suite off of the living room.
I could write a lot more just about that house, and as Beckie said we lived in a lot of houses.  Maybe I will write more another day.

Frank's 40th Birthday

Christmas 1985

Annemarie's first Christmas

(There is actually a picture of Carianne and Heather at the end of this post.)

We had the Christmas tree on top of the piano that year.

In Austin.

The wrapping paper was the most fun.

With Granny, Grandpa, Uncle Ray and Aunt Cindy.

This is a good picture of Granny and Grandpa.

Garfield always made Annie laugh.
 I got the Baby Big Bird doll free for sending in enough proof of purchases from Pampers
I also got a free Baby Cookie Monster.


Finally, a picture with Baileys in it.
Breakfast of Aebelskivers at Grandma Brugger's house.

Christmas in Austin 1993

I think these pictures speak for themselves.