Summer Nights At The Scera Shell

By Lauren Hales

I remember helping Grandma pop all the popcorn and pack all the snacks. Grabbing our jackets and blankets and walking down to the Scera Shell. I don't remember many of the plays that we saw, but I remember being there and loving every second of it.

Spending nights at the Scera Shell watching plays or movies is one of the memories I cherish. The past two summers Crandall, and then both Crandall and Tate, got to experience the Scera Shell with Grandma Becky and Great Grandma Tate.

The summer of 2012 we saw The Wizard of Oz. To this day Crandall will tell you that is his favorite play. Every play we have seen since gets this review, "Well, it was good, but not as good as The Wizard of Oz."

The summer of 2013 we saw Tarzan, which I thought was adorable. Tate loved it too. Crandall liked it, but "it wasn't as good as The Wizard of Oz."

 I took the boys to pick a treat to share with everyone before we got to the play. Tate chose Reese's miniature's and Crandall chose black licorice. He had tasted a black licorice salt water taffy and was convinced he was going to love the real deal. Well he didn't (as I predicted). Luckily Grandma Tate was there and he could hand his treat over to her. I don't know why, but I always thought it was so strange how much Grandma liked black licorice.

These are just more of those moments that are priceless to me. When my children get to experience the things that I loved as a child, with the people that I created those memories with, my heart is so full. I am grateful that Grandma Tate was always willing to make special traditions with her grandchildren (Scera Shell, Lagoon, Seven Peaks, Christmas Eve, Dutch Christmas, Canyon Glen, Visiting BYU, Sunday Dinner, etc.) and I am even more grateful that my mom is carrying on that legacy with her grandchildren.

Saturday Skiing at Sundance

By Becky Ahlberg

Skiing at Sundance Ski Resort is a treasured memory I have of growing up as a Tate.  I will never forget Dad's first skis that he painted yellow and put baby food lids on for part of the bindings.  He was always making sacrifices so that his children could have this and many other wonderful opportunities.  I'm pretty sure that before dad became the director of the Wolfes Ski School, he taught night classes so that he and mom could buy our ski equipment.  After he became the director, he spent many hours and days working to make the ski school run smoothly and rarely got to enjoy a run down the hill.  Although, his ski equipment did improve over the years! 

Thanks, Dad, for making my ski memories some of the best of my life!

I remember in that first year of skiing, dad took us to a lot of different ski resorts: Park City, Snowbird, Alta, Solitude, Brighton, and Sundance.  I know that I didn't appreciate the chance to ski at all of these different resorts at the time, but I now know what a gift it was.  After all, it is the greatest snow on earth!

Pretty much all I could do that first year was snowplow.  I remember skiing at Snowbird just after a huge snowfall.  There I was, snowplowing down the hill, clearing a path through 2-3 feet of pristine Utah powder as I went down.  What a shame!  I also remember falling in that powder and getting stuck -  I seriously could not move! 

I'm not sure exactly when dad became the director of the Wolfes Ski School, but from there on out, Sundance Ski Resort became our home away from home on Saturdays during the winter months. 

My favorite skiing memories include:
*Riding in our good ole VW bug filled with people and ski gear up Provo Canyon each week
*Teaching for Wolfes Ski School
*Seeing "Charlie" (aka Grandpa Tate) at the base of the mountain with his ski hat sitting on his head just above his ears
*Many happy hours skiing with friends and cute boys (of course - I was a teenager for goodness sake)
*My K2 Cheeseburger skis that matched my orange ski jacket (A must, if you are skiing with cute boys.  I mean you've got to look good, right?)
*Cheese sandwiches, oranges, and mom's yummy raisin bread for lunch (everything always tasted so good on the mountain)
*Falling off the ski lift - really, it wasn't my fault!
*Seeing Robert Redford ("Bob") on occasion
*The delicious, thick bread and honey butter from the lodge
*Mom's heart and soul-warming chili for dinner when we got home

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for anything better!

We always tried to talk mom into going skiing with us.  But as I became a mother, myself, I realized she was no dummy.  She got an entire day to herself.  Being out in the cold all day long with all seven kids didn't even tempt her!

Thanks Mom and Dad for your love and sacrifice to give me and all of your kids this great opportunity that provided such rich experiences and a lifetime of wonderful memories!

Unfortunately, the only pictures we seem to have of our skiing days are Sundance Season Pass pictures. I would love if anyone else has any skiing pictures for them to share them with us all, because it was such huge and wonderful part of our lives.

An Amazing 80 Years!

By Becky Ahlberg

Mom is 80 years-old!  You'd never know it to look at her.  You'd never know it to have a conversation with her.  You'd never know it when you see her swinging her grandkids and great-grandkids.  You'd never know it when you see her walking all over New York on a girls' weekend.  She really is AMAZING!

She truly is the most beautiful, kind, and loving woman I know!  And I am blessed to call her my mother!  I love you, mom!  Happy 80th Birthday!

Quite a tribute to a wonderful mom, grandma, and great-grandma!  We all love you so very much!

Happy 80th Birthday, Mom!

by Kim Brannon

So, I don't think many people will argue with me when I say that I was a total brat when I was younger.  And I mean a TOTAL brat!  So, it is no wonder that my siblings often got frustrated with me and told me what a brat I was.  But mom would always step in and defend me, telling everyone, "Kim is not a brat!  You guys be nice to her!"  Then when everyone else would leave, she would look at me and say,

"Please, Kim, don't make me a liar."

While I would like to think that I have grown out of my brattiness, at least for the most part, one thing that hasn't changed is my mom's constant love and support for me!  She has been there for me for 42 years, through thick and thin, good and bad... believing in me when I needed it the most.  I haven't made it easy, I know that.  But I try everyday to prove my mom was right about me and to make her proud!

Happy Birthday, Mom!  

And thank you for being the absolute best mom that I could ever hope for!

Love you!

Happy Birthday Grandma Dianne!

The Hales Family & THE Backyard

By Lauren Hales

I have so many memories in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. It was the gathering place when cousins would come to town. We would all converge onto the swing set to play kick ball or have contests to see who could jump out of the swings the farthest.  Brooke and Jamie always thought it as so funny to call me Lorenzo Snow and for some reason I only remember them doing that in the backyard at Grandma's. I also remember playing colored Easter eggs, hide and seek, and tag.

On one occasion Jamie, Emily and I turned the patio into a cat walk. Kim dressed us up in her clothes and did our hair and make up and then we paraded out onto the patio for everyone to see. That was one of the first memories that came to me as I thought about everything we had done as children in the backyard.

It really is surreal for me to look at that picture of those little girls and then to watch my own children enjoying Grandma and Grandpa's backyard in so many of the same ways I did. There is something wonderful about your children being able to experience the things you loved as a child.

This is one of the few pictures we have of Tate swinging. He strongly disliked the swings as a baby and still is not the biggest fan. Luckily, with the new rocket swing his feet touch the ground so he can control how fast he swings.

To me, this picture of all my kids on the swingset with Grandma in the background is priceless. 

I'm not going to lie, I also love the one on one time I get with Grandma when my kids are swinging too.  I tell Grandma and Grandpa all the time that my kids love to visit, and they do. But really, I just need my grandma sometimes.

All of my kids have a picture, or multiple pictures, of them swinging on Great Grandma Tate's lap. They make my heart happy. Never mind that she is 80 years old, she will still get on the swings with her great grandbabies. She really is something else. 

I don't have any pictures but Grandpa is no slouch. He has gotten out on multiple occasions to kick the soccer ball around with Tate or play duck-duck-goose with the kids.

The BBQ's, the parties, the Sunday dinners, and the random weekend gatherings where the kids are running all around while the adults sit on the green and white plastic chairs. I used to be one of the kids running around and now I'm one of the adults in the plastic chairs.  I think it is safe to say that not only the backyard, but Grandma and Grandpa's house, will always be in our minds and hearts as a place where we remember simple, genuine and lasting happiness.

The House that Love Built

By Becky Ahlberg

623 South 500 East, Orem, Utah

To most people that address is one of millions.  But to a select few, a blessed few, it means love, security, laughter, tears, faith, and family!

 

 

Mom and dad bought this house in 1960, the year that I was born, 53 years ago.  It is the house of my childhood.  It is the house where I know I am loved and welcomed.  It is the house that I would come home to everyday after school and call out, "mom," and always get an answer of, "I'm right here."  And that was all I needed.  It was and is my place of security and safety.  I know that I am blessed to still be able to go "home" and visit mom and dad.  And, although life has taken me on a roller coaster ride, this home and my loving parents and siblings have been my North Star through it all.

 

   

 

I think it's safe to say that I am not the only one who feels this way.  Has life in this house and the people in it been perfect?  No, but perfection does not create a family.  Love does - through good and bad.  And this house was built by love.