Santa Claus is Coming to...Church

Every year around Christmas our church would have a dinner for all of the ward members. There was always a talent show to enjoy while we ate. The talent show was performed by some of the ward members and often was a family and/or someone singing or playing the piano.

At the end of the night all the children would gather around the base of the stage and wait for Santa Claus. I remember listening for the sound of his jingle bells as he ran into the church house and onto the stage.

All of the children would form a line on the stage and wait their turn to sit on Santa's lap. I remember being excited to sit on his lap, so I could tell him what I wanted for Christmas. Santa would then hand over a brown paper sack which contained peanuts (in their shells), an orange, and a candy cane.

As a child I looked forward to the ward Christmas dinner every year just so I could see Santa Claus. Now that I am older I find it strange the church would have Santa Claus visit. I feel Santa Claus is too commercialized and takes away the true meaning of Christmas and removes us from the spirituality. I feel he doesn't belong at a church event. I would rather have the church focus on Christ and his birth.

NOTE: The picture above is of me and my two older sisters (Rebecca is wearing a blue dress and Teresa is wearing a pink dress). I believe the picture was taken in 1969, when I was three years old.

Learning to Sew

A little girl and her creative mind at work. It appears I am making some kind of an outfit for my doll. I wonder what the outfit looked like when it was complete.

It is funny to see me with such big scissors. Now-a-days people would throw a fit if a child had sharp adult scissors.

My Mom taught me and my sisters (at least the older two) how to sew at a young age. When I was a teenager I took sewing lessons from a lady down the street and made all kinds of clothes for myself. I even made a wool skirt and vest and entered a "Make it Wool" contest. I loved sewing.

When I was in my twenties I bought an old sewing machine from my girl friend's mother. It was a good sewing machine and I made lots of fun things with it, including my son's quilt on his bed and the curtains in his window.

The only sewing I do now-a-days is on my scrapbook pages, but I am still happy I know how to sew.

Playing Barbie Dolls with Rebecca

This is such a cute picture of my sister Rebecca (back) and me (front). I am closer in age to her than any of my other sisters. If I think back to our childhood, and what we did together, the words "barbie dolls" comes to my mind. I don't remember playing barbie dolls with Teresa, but I do remember playing barbie dolls with Rebecca.

My barbie doll house was one level and it opened up and became three rooms. I only had four barbie dolls (Ken, Barbie, Skipper and Growing Skipper). I remember Rebecca's barbie doll house was two levels and it had an elevator on the side. I'm not sure how many Barbie's she had or what they looked like.

I remember we would pull all of our barbie doll stuff out and set it up in the front yard under the carport and we would play for hours together. I think setting everything up and dressing all the barbie dolls was the funnest thing to do. I loved playing barbie dolls with my sister Rebecca.

My mom made most of our barbie doll clothes and she even knitted some of them. I still have all my barbie dolls, their clothes, and some other things (like dishes). I found them the other day and had to laugh at how worn out they looked. I cut Barbie and Skipper's hair short, thinking it would grow again, and I pushed pins into their ears for earrings. I was saving my barbie dolls for my daughter. Looking at them I thought how silly of me, my daughter would never want to play with these ugly old barbie dolls. I still can't throw my old barbie dolls away because they brought back some fun memories for me.

Here is a picture of Teresa with Rebecca and I that was taken on the same day.

My Mom's comments: This picture was taken at Kmart. It was a promo for a camera. Rebecca or you fell off the back of the seat you were sitting on.

Aunt Mary and Aunt Kathy

I love this picture of My dad's youngest sister's, Mary (yellow shirt) and Kathy (plaid shirt) with my two older sisters (Rebecca front and Teresa back) and I (middle). I love how my sister's are wearing matching outfits.

We are sitting on my parent's car in our carport. When I was a teenager the carport was turned into another bedroom and a bigger shed (for my father). I believe my Grandpa Poulsen and our neighbor Mr. Norris and his son Stewart, helped my dad do the addition to our house.

My aunt Mary and aunt Kathy were not much older than us three older girls and they felt more like our cousins. They lived in Arizona and we lived in Utah, so we only seen each other once and/or twice a year (summer and sometimes Christmas).

I loved spending time with my two aunts, who have been such great examples to me. When I was a teenager, I remember Aunt Mary always saying; "Beauty is as Beauty does." I even have a letter from Aunt Mary with that saying in it. It wasn't until I was much older and found out Grandma Poulsen used to always tell her children the same thing.

I always thought my Aunt Kathy was older than Aunt Mary, because she was taller. It just seemed right that the taller aunt was the older aunt. I'm sure other's assumed the same thing. Poor Mary, growing up and always having people think she was the baby. I bet now that she is older she doesn't mind people thinking she is the baby!

The Sister's I Remember the Most!

I have 5 sisters, but the sisters I remember the most in relation to my childhood are my two oldest sisters. Teresa (on my right) who is 5 years older and Rebecca (on my left) who is 3 years older than I.

I love this picture of us 3 girls sitting in our front room. I am holding 2 dolls. The small doll is mine, but I cannot remember her name, and the big doll is my sister Teresa's named Miss Beasley. We didn't have a lot of dolls, like girls now days have. And we didn't think anything about it. I think that was just how it was in those days. I know we had more toys than our parents, so it probably still seemed like a lot of toys to us!

I shared a room with my 2 older sisters, after our aunt Judy moved in. Rebecca and I shared a bunk bed. I slept on the bottom and Rebecca slept on the top of the bunk. Teresa's bed meet our bunk bed in the corner of the room, as if to make a letter L. I remember we use to tickle each other's backs at night. I would tickle Teresa's back or she would tickle mine and some how Rebecca and Teresa would work it out to tickle each others backs. They both must have gotten a sore arm from reaching either up or down! I think I had the better end of that deal, for sure!

My Mom's comments: The doll was Teresa's favorite. It was the only time she got excited over a present she got. She was a lot like dad, quiet over presents.

Another Baby Girl!

I was born in the Spring of 1966. I was the third child, another girl. I'm sure my parents were proud, but I'm sure their was a little disappointment when it was another girl! Eventually my parents would go on to have a total of six girls and no boys! Apparently God wanted my parents to have girls, lots of girls!

I was the first child to be born with dark hair. My two older sisters were born with blond hair. My dad's hair was black and my mom's hair was dark brown, however, my mom tells me that they both had blond hair when they were children. My hair was and always has been thick, which I am happy about.

Even though my parents would have three other babies after me, they always remind me of how I was the "baby" in the family for six years. Does that mean I was spoiled for six years?

One story from my birth, which sticks in my mind, is one my mother always tells me: My mother was giving birth and the nurse said, "Wow, look at all that hair!" Needless to say, my mom thought the nurse had forgotten to shave her down there, and had no idea it was the hair on her baby girl's head the nurse was talking about!

My parents named me Yvonne. My mom said she used to sell Avon and some people thought I was named after Avon or something crazy like that, which is totally incorrect. I love the name my parents choose for me, and couldn't think of any other name that would fit me!

My Mom's comments: You are named after a girl we knew, in Idaho with that name. I liked it. I had never heard of it before her. People just nick named you Avon because I sold it. It matched Yvonne. They called you big eyes more often.

They did not shave me! The nurses comment was because you had so much hair. I did try to sit up to see but couldn't. Your Dad almost missed seeing you born. I asked how would I know when you were coming? The nurse said oh you'll know. You will be pushing. I said I have been pushing for awhile . She checked & panicked. You were coming out. The Dr. said he'd go to lunch. That is why Dad almost missed it. We'll he had to go get clothes on to be with us to see you born. Not like now. You were born in Bountiful because it was the only one that Dad's could be there, at that time.

I did not have dark brown hair. I had sandy blond hair with lots of sun streaks. People pay good money for that now. I was blond as a child & growing up. But some of us blonds by our late teen years go dishwater blond. A name for dirty looking blond. I got darker with age.

Dad handled girls, it was Grandpa Poulsen that presured him on where was the boy for the family name & being his oldest son.

My Dad's comments: Your mother cried because you had so much hair all over your body. I told her not to worry because it would soon fall out, and it did.