I found this hat amongst my dad's things (that my mom had refused to distribute) upon my mom's death. No one in my family has ever worn these hats but me and my dad - Dean and my kids wear them also so I gladly took the hats and added to my hord. When I was 13 I went to Girls Camp with the Young Women in my ward. They told my mom to give them something I would miss and think I'd just misplaced so they could present it to me at camp - lol - she gave them one of my dad's hats that I constantly wore. I simply thought my dad reclaimed it and took another.
The proof in the pudding...AHHH attack of the orange hair!! Ha ha ha ha ha - that was when my mother decided she missed my blonde hair (it has grown darker every year since puberty) and tried to change it back - erm...OOPS =P.
Anyways, Memorial Day.... my father had never planted a garden or grown anything until he met my mother. She taught him - and than she regretted it as did ALL of us children...he he. My father had one of the biggest green thumbs I've ever seen and unfortunately I have not inherited that. My mom said that after she taught him and he planted his first garden he would go check on the plants before even coming inside and saying hello - made her very grumpy, lol.
Therefore, growing up we always had animals and gardens and flowers. Not quite so extensively as when we moved to Nephi. My dad built a large greenhouse to the side of the house and we had flower beds INSIDE along the brick wall that spanned the property, along the sidewalks up to the house, from the front of the house around to the greenhouse, and roses and poppies all along the fence chainlink that seperated us from the empty lot (went along the driveway). He took excellent care of them and the lawn - needless to say, I LOVED that yard. Hated working in it but it was the absolute best place to lay out on the grass. The house was 100 yrs old so it had these HUGE tree's that surrounded the property - they made for great leaf piles in the fall >]. I know I always say I hated growing up in Nephi - but I never said that there weren't some good things about it =]. To continue...lol...Memorial Day for me each year meant PLANTING and weeding. My grandma was the only one deceased at the time and my dad was very private about visiting her grave. His fallen comrades I'm sure he kept in his heart as we had moved so many times, there were none anywhere around us. Therefore, every Memorial Day we took the plants OUT of the greenhouse and planted them in all those flower beds and every Labor Day we dug them up and put them back in the greenhouse. >.< Thankfully my mom and dad took care of the greenhouse - I only had to water or fertilize every now and than. My mom loved plants as well and they were hanging all over the living room and family room. So, to any of my pirate friends that have seen my multiple houses, you now know the reason of all the green in my homes. I unfortunately cannot keep anything alive except a Christmas Cactus and that green plant that grows and grows and would take over your house if you let it (not awake enough to name it ;]).
My tiny little 1300 sq ft home sits on .25 acre so I have a really decent sized back yard that the weeds and my dog love >.<. My dad died 6 months after we moved in...I had high hopes for his green thumb and jack of all trades abilities with my new little purchase. Alas, my hubby isn't a jack of all trades and even if he were - he doesn't have the time, he's rarely home as it is. However, I now have two strong teenage boys that will be doing ALOT of yard remodeling this summer =D..WAHOO. (well not for them >]) Maybe I should start stocking up on the natural muscle relaxants now. :D
I spent my day weeding....I figured I'd disgraced my parents and neighbors enough and since I couldn't get my kids out there (they don't weed like me anyways) I slapped on my hat, gloves, mp3 player, wand and headed to my front yard for 3 hrs. I only got 1 flower bed done >.< to ="]">.< lol, I figure I honored them the best I could. Arthritic achy fingers and a popped blister in the center of my palm later.....Happy Memorial Day Mom and Dad...I love you.
