Flashback Friday... In the Beginning

I was born on a Friday, the 13th of May.  I am the 4th child of 6, but the first girl.  My mom has said she had my name picked out since she was pregnant with my oldest brother.  My parents were thrilled to finally have a girl.  They posted a huge pink poster in the window that read "IT'S A GIRL!" and had pink balloons by the front door.  :)  I'm not exactly sure how my brothers felt about having a little sister (feel free to fill me in on that, brothers) but I remember in my younger years I was just as rough and tumble as my brothers.  

My earliest memory is living in Orem, UT in the home my parents had built (I believe that's right).  The only clear-ish memory is of my Papa hobbling up and down the stairs on crutches.  Papa had gone to a batting cage on my Mommy's birthday and blown out his knee.  Mommy jokes that he learned his lesson.  

When I was 3 years old my family moved to Bangkok, Thailand.  That's where my next clear-ish memory is from.  We lived in a large apartment (condo?).  My first memory from there is driving home at night and looking out the window of the van at the lights on all the tall buildings.  I remember when we got dropped off that night I was soooo tired.  I thought it was pure torture that I had to walk to the elevator.  Ha!  The mind of a kid.  :)

I cherish my childhood memories from Thailand.  :)  When I was 6 years old, my one and only sister was born.  Since ultrasounds were not routine in those days my parents went to the hospital not knowing the baby's gender.  My parents had bought 2 movies for us kids to watch while they were in the hospital.  We got to watch one movie if it was a girl and a different movie if it was a boy.  I can't remember what the boy movie was, but my 4 brothers were rooting for it.  The movie we got to watch if it was a girl was The Little Mermaid.  When the phone rang that day we all clamored to get it, but my brother Adam was the one who got to it first.  I remember him listening for a minute and then saying "Oh" and hanging up the phone.  He walked away in a sulk and mumbled something about the Little Mermaid.  Whoo hoo!  I had a sister!  :)  I've always had a mothering personality and my parents would often tell me I was "Not the Mama!"  So when I finally had a baby sister I was sure that she was my baby to take care of.  :)

I only remember a handful of friends from Thailand, but one of those friends was Lucas.  Don't ask me his last name because I can't remember.  We had lots of fun and got into lots of mischief together.  I loved playing sports and although I don't think we were ever on the same team, our recesses were full of soccer, kick ball and tether-ball.  I played t-ball and soccer and LOVED it.  I played a variety of positions in t-ball but I earned the nick name of Flower when I played left field.  Not many 6 year olds can hit a ball that far, so I kept myself busy picking flowers.  :)

One memory of Lucas happened when we were over at his house.  After we had played with his fancy smancy toys we went to the kitchen for a snack.  We quickly drank our Yoohoos and then went to the pantry in search of something else.  Lucas found a jar of green olives with pimento in the center.  He said it was expensive.  Then he closed the door to the walk in pantry and we sat down and ate the whole jar right then and there.  I remember feeling so sneaky. I'm not sure why I ate them because I don't even like green olives. Ha!  :)  

Here's a picture of myself with Lucas: