Once Upon a Very Long Time Ago.....

So this morning before church, I was digging through my crawl space, searching for a particular photo album, which I happen to know contains a particular photo of me and Grandpa Doc circa 1981-ish. I was then going to subject you all to a very poignant post about my grandfathers and my father and what a great influence they've had on my life, etc. I never found that album.

Instead I opened a box and saw some photos I had completely forgotten about. It was a virtual treasure trove of bad snapshots from Jr. High & High School that I didn't even remember existed.

So instead of continuing my search for the pictures I wanted to find, I decided to spend the afternoon after church scanning in some of these hilarious and humiliating reminders of all the big hair and bad fashion. There's much too much here for one post, so I've properly categorized these and will do several posts.

These are by no means the only photos I have of my adolescent years. These were, however, some that I hadn't seen in about a decade, so looking at them has made me cringe and laugh at the same time.

So to all the friends I've known for at least a dozen years, beware. You'll probably pop up in here somewhere. To everyone else. Enjoy the trip back in time.

So you've all heard by now, I'm sure, that in 1995-96, our family lived in a trailer house and a little cabin in the back woods of Carbon, Indiana. It was 40 acres of trees, hills, creeks and streams. This picture was taken during the blizzard that hit us in January of 1996. That black furry shape in the corner is a very young Two-Socks. At first I thought it was embarrassing to be basically camping full time, but eventually the cabin became a sort of gathering place for all of our friends from church and school. Even when I was out, I'd come home sometimes and mom would say, "Oh, so-and-so stopped by. We played board games and made popcorn. They just left a little while ago." It was weird to have the "fun young" parents that your friends wanted to hang out with, but that was alright I guess. Besides, we had the best all night capture the flag parties ever!

I'm pretty sure that's Matt with Cami on the couch, and Cody lying on the floor next to it. Speaking of Matt, he just got married last week! I just remembered! Congrats Matt & Jillian, I'll get your present in the mail soon!

I have a lot of random photos of Cami. I don't really know why. I just do.

Yep, that's Cody. Weird to think he'll be a missionary in less than two months! BTW, we (his sisters) did not dress him up in this outfit. He did this to himself! (At least not this time anyway. I'm pretty sure this was while he was supposed to be getting ready for my high school graduation commencement ceremony.)

Okay, the guy in these two pictures is Jared Ratly, one of the coolest guys ever. I met him at a Tri-Stake Youth Conference in either 1993 or 94 (can't remember which right now, it's been too long ago.) He was from Illinois, so even though I really liked him, we were never a "couple" because all he could do was come over maybe once a month and spend a weekend with the family. He brought his friend Mick with him usually. They were so much fun! We had a great time.

Sidebar, notice in the picture, there is a large vase of pink roses. Those were actually from a different guy. There's a story behind them, I won't get into it now. There are 96 roses in that vase. And yes, if you're reading this, I still have the card in a box of mementos from high school.

That's just me & Jared again.

That's Cody on Matt's lap.

We had a lot of visitors out in Carbon. People just loved to come out and see this beautiful spot in the woods where we lived. On the left are Jim and Linda Garber. And tell me John, did you know this photo existed? That's John's mom and grandmother on the right. (You'll see John in photos in later posts.)

Daddy didn't intend for us to live in the trailer and cabin forever. He had started framing up a big log house back on the property. But then he got the job with Dome Technology that moved him to Idaho (and eventually all over the world.) This is as far as the work ever got on that house.

Daddy poured this bridge across the creek. This is the creek from whence we hauled most of the water.

In January 1997 the family moved to Idaho. Recently while back in Indiana for a weekend, Jesse drove her husband Kelly out to Carbon to look at the old property. The cabin looks so lovely and the entire scene is so picturesque. It's hard to believe we actually lived there with so many people once upon a very long time ago.