Good Taste - Old Town/Chinatown Portland - David

I remember the first time we went to downtown Portland for some Chinese food. We had just come from the Portland temple and were looking forward to a good dinner. Unfortunately  the restaurant I had decided to go to was closed so we ended up walking through the darkened streets of Portland looking for another place to eat. I'll be honest, some of those streets can be pretty scary, especially after the sun goes down.

Finally we found the Good Taste restaurant in Old Town/Chinatown. The roasted ducks hanging from the windows and the primarily Asian customers were a sign to us that the food would be good. Our waitress, Michelle, was cheerful and the food was wonderful. The General Tso's Chicken, Egg Rolls, BBQ Pork (char siu) were instantly some of our favorite dishes.  It has become somewhat of a tradition to return when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit.

Hair cut - Sarah

I remember when I was a teenager and decided to cut my hair short for the first time. I was so scared that Dad would be sad about it. He was always telling me how much he loved my long hair and I loved those compliments. I was always so proud of my long hair, but I just wanted a change. Mom kept telling me it would be okay and he would love it. And then she cut it. ;) She was amazing and I loved it (and now that I have girls whose hair I have tried to cut, I realize how amazing it was that mom could do this and make it turn out so cute)! I remember trying to be gone when Dad got home. When I came in I was so scared and close to tears. I don't know if mom said anything to him in advance but he walked right up to me, gave me a big hug and kiss, and told me he loved my hair and that it suited me perfectly. I was the happiest little camper ever. It is still such a gift to hear my Dad tell me he is proud of me.

To: Grandma From: Saint Nick

Grandma,

You are such an amazing person. You are the most loving person I know. I remember when we all lived in North Phoenix and I would come over every Sunday and during the mornings when I was in Kindergarten. I always loved coming to you house and seeing you. And I still remember the time when you took me in your van and I said "Grandma, my feet smell like *sniff sniff* chicken." And you always told us to "Buckle up buttercup." You were always concerned about others and you were always there to help. When I was in Oregon I had a bully problem and I remember you telling me that the boy was probably from a broken home and needed help himself. You always have a Christlike attitude. My greatest memories with you is when I would spend the night at your house and we would wake up early and go walking with Maggie. Then when we got home we would make breakfast and just talk and it was great. I also remember when Grandma Boomer was struggling you were always there to help her. I never heard you complain one time. Omaha was such a fun time. You and Grandpa were just exuberant about life and passed that down to us. I love you Grandma and thank you for everything you have done for me.

Nick

P.S. You make the best pies.

To: Grandpa From: Saint Nick

Grandpa,

You have been such an influence in my life and I think the biggest thing you have done for me is to help me appreciate life. You have always told me that I have an amazing family and an even better mother and father. Though it is hard to believe at times you have really helped me come to love the ones that are closest to me which is hard sometimes. Also you help me just forget about my struggles and have fun. You always poke fun at me in clever ways and I am learning how to get you back slowly but surely. At least I always got a one up on you in good looks. I remember when we first moved to Oregon and we had to take the U-Haul truck back with my dad. I realized how much of a crazy but good driver you were. You were predicting that the next slow driver was a morana or an old fart. It made me so happy. But the greatest memory I have of you is when we went to the Gila Valley Temple open house. We were walking through and I was always looking at you because I know you have a great knowledge of the gospel. I was waiting to see if you had anything good that day. But the one thing I will always remember is when we were in the celestial room and you told me when we looked in the mirrors together "You see that Nick, we are stuck together for eternity whether you like it or not," and then you gave me a big hug. I can't wait till we get to perform all our celestial science experiments together. I love you Grandpa.

Nick

A Mother's Love

This story is very tender to me. When I think of the perfect love of a Mother I think of this memory! I was about 10 years old and going through a really rough time. Mom was pregnant with Julie and I am sure tired. I remember one night having such a hard time sleeping and feeling the need to be by My Mom. I was scared to go into their room in fear of waking up Dad, but finally the fear overcame me and in I went. I gently woke up Mom who so lovingly and patiently took my had and walked me to my bed. Instead of just kissing me and telling me to go back to sleep, she crawled in bed with me and held me. I remember her placing her had on my heart to make me feel safe and secure. Within no time I was asleep. I have always known Mom is there for her family with all her heart and soul. What a beautiful example of Mother!
Wendy

On the Bitteroot River with My DAD

Have you ever had an experience so perfect that is seems like a dream? That is how I feel about this one. I was in 9th/10th grade and had a project due where I had to gather local insects and pin them to a board to display them. The more insects, the higher the grade. Of course I wanted an A, so I had worked hard on gathering but was just a few short of what I needed. Dad had the brilliant idea of going down to the river to gather insects. This is where it becomes perfect. The day was absolutely stunning! It was mid afternoon and the sun made the bank and the water just magnificent. It had such a warm glow and you could see insects flying in the air near the water. My Dad and I gathered insect after insect as we talked along the banks of the beautiful Bitteroot. I too want to reiterate how much I appreciated the one on one time with you Dad. I love this memory because of the beauty of the place and the beauty of the person I was with that day. I hope that eternity is filled with love and beauty like that!

Wendy

Strawberries and Chickens and Deer-- Oh My!

Okay thinking of the Raspberry story reminded me of the strawberry story! :) This memory reflects how much I love my Mom's outlook on life. We were at the grocery store in Stevensville, MT. Mom would take one of us kids each Saturday to the store with her to have some one-on-one time and to get a treat. Well this Saturday I got my treat, a dough -nut and didn't realize I was in store for  another kind of treat! I don't know how we came to find out that the store had dumped a whole bunch of strawberries in the dumpster behind the store, but we did! The next thing I know we were in the dumpster grabbing cases of strawberries. To me Mom has the personality and focus of Polyanna! She saw that there were more good strawberries than bad. I remember taking those strawberries home and doing a thorough washing. Mom cut and froze the strawberries which we enjoyed in many different ways!It is still one of my fondest memories. I love you MOM. :0)

Now onto the chickens! I don't know why all these stories revolve around Montana but they do. I guess that is in part why I love "Little House on the Prarie" so much. So Mom was able to obtain chickens at a very inexpensive price. Mind you they were dead and headless but that was pretty much it! I do remember some plucking and then the worst part was getting the eggs out of the chickens themselves. You can imagine how gross this must have been. We were doing this in our bathroom in Bozeman, because we had more counter space than our tiny kitchen. Mom was pregnant with John and trying to hold it together. I remember thinking to myself that if Mom can do it - I can do it! To this day I don't know how she didn't throw-up over all those chickens. I don't know how she ate them either! I do know our Mom is one tough Pioneer Woman! I love her for that!

The last story is that of our famous deer experience! I have to admit I am very proud of this accomplishment and have had several occasions to share it with others! Thanks for taking me along Mom. If my memory is correct we were given a deer from Emmet Hanchett in Stevensville. Meat was always appreciated in MT in the winter. We went over to Emmet's house to get our meat and to my surprise it hadn't been prepared or cut yet. The deer was lying dead on the snow covered ground waiting to be skinned and butchered. To my amazement Emmet turned to me and told me it was my turn! Whoa! Cool, exciting and weird all at the same time. With Mom's encouraging smile, I took the knife and skinned away! I felt so empowered. It was a great feeling that to this day I know if things got bad and we had to, I could do it again. This may be a little grotesque but it is also one of my sweetest memories!

Wendy