Meet the Parents

This is Mel & Kathi

Wedding Day 1971

They are my parents, you may now feel some sympathy for them! Okay, enough sympathy, I wasn't THAT bad!

My parents are two very different people. They don't have a lot of common interests, hobbies or activities. While my father loves hunting, my mom loves reading. Dad loves fishing, mom loves decorating. Mom loves movies, dad doesn't. But some how or another they work together and I love them. Everyone should know them a little bit better, so here you go!

Kathi -

• Raised 9 kids in rural British Columbia, Canada, no small task. We spent the majority of our childhood outside whilst mom was inside baking, cleaning, doing laundry and taking care of who ever the baby was at the time. Our outside recreation will need to be discussed further at another time.
• Mom loves movies, or is it the movie popcorn? Hard to tell, but I think she has seen almost every movie ever made. She often asks me, "have you seen...", to which my answer is almost always, not yet! We have often suggested that she start a movie review for the local paper, maybe she could start a blog?
• As children, mom used to sew all of our clothing and for years we would find fabric with patterns attached and all ready to be cut out and sewn into some kind of polyester wonder.
• My mom has a knack for floral arranging and decorating, although we are beginning to wonder if her taste has leaned more toward the grandmother side of things now...
• Mom loves history and anything to do with it, she is always reading some kind of history book and has begun taking history trips around the world - Jerusalem, Guatemala, Eastern US, etc. Mom and the girls took a trip to Pennsylvania this fall and we had a great time there.
• Mom reads just about anything, she can always be found with a book in her room, although more often we are finding her sleeping with her books than reading them, must be getting on in age. :)
• Mom takes a good joke pretty well - thank heavens or we would never be invited over!
• Teaching seminary - although I was not always appreciative of this (around 1992-94), my mom is a great seminary teacher and loved doing it. She also excels at Sunday school and just about any lesson she gives.
• Scriptures - my mom is a pretty darn good scriptorian!
• Goodies - mom has always had a goody that she gets hooked on. In the past it has been M&M's, coconut cookies, oreo's, screamers, Dr. Pepper...we always tease her about her current addictions.
• Creative - mom always helped us come up with some pretty great Halloween costumes, science fair projects and activities to keep us busy.
• Cook - mom is a great cook. As children we often came home to a pot of hot soup on the stove, home made rolls and cookies. To me that is the essence of winters in Canada, thanks to my mother. She can also make a casserole or soup out of anything!
• Shopping - I don't know anyone who shops like my mom. Good thing she hasn't figured out the internet quite yet!
• My mom doesn't like - mud, crowds, entertaining, camping, noise, riding three wheelers or horses. She also doesn't like her daughters to go through her closets and "organize", it's just a nice way of saying de-junk, and we are all great de-junkers!

Mel:

• Also raised 9 kids in rural British Columbia, Canada
• Raised thousands of pigs, chickens and cows over the years
• Loves to work! Nothing is fun if it doesn't involve work. Dad works more than anyone I know and enjoys it more than anyone I know. He is happiest when working on his ranch, driving equipment, clearing land, working the cows, stacking wood, etc. He has taught each of us kids the importance of hard work!
• Loves hunting and trapping. The guy can hunt! He has his own trophy room up at his shop, it is the biggest room in the office and contains everything from a muskox to a polar bear to some sort of sheep hunted in New Zealand. He has been all over the world hunting, Tajikistan, New Zealand, Alaska, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba (Northern), Alberta, Utah...probably more that I don't know. I imagine a safari will be next on his list.
• Loves fishing. Dad loves deep sea fishing, he has his own boat now and spends a lot of time out on the ocean during the summers. We don't complain though, who can when there is plenty of fresh salmon, crab, halibut and prawns? Thanks Dad!
• Trapping - ughhh! My poor mother has put up with trapping and all the glory that comes with it, especially when dad was teaching Jared how to skin the animals, a few too many scent glands were knicked during the process - YUCK!
• Card games - it is a good thing Dad doesn't live close to Vegas. He LOVES card games, Rook, Mennonite Rummy, etc. He is a great card player and very competitive, he has a hard time finding a Rook partner these days, now that all of us kids are grown and do not have to play with him! It's always fun to beat him though, all though rare!
• Games - he actually likes almost all games, Dominoes is a favorite though.
• Saturday Soup - Dad makes soup every Saturday, it is always the same soup. Over the years it has turned into Saturday thru Tuesday soup because there are fewer people to eat it and he hasn't decreased the quantity just yet.
• Farming - dad likes farming, not sure quite why?
• Logging - I have fond memories of riding in the log trucks with my dad and spending time out at camp with him. I would hate to do it now, but as a kid it was the best!
• Sports - like I said Dad is competitive and would cheer rather loudly at our games, then the tutorials in the kitchen afterward were always so embarrassing, but so fun to laugh at now!
• Journals - dad is pretty darn good at keeping his journal up to date.
• Scriptures - like Mom, Dad is very good with his scripture knowledge, he too taught seminary for several years. Jana and Jared were his students and he was able to teach Jana about many things, not really scripture related, in his class. You'll have to ask Jana about this!
• Sweet tooth - Dad has a sweet tooth for any home made treat, but his favorites are those his mother makes, sugar cookies (no frosting), snicker doodles, home made doughnuts, cinnamon rolls and blueberry pie. Us girls are trying to get those recipes down, but no one does it like Grandma!
• Bargain - loves a good bargain, if it isn't on sale, he dickers and gets a better deal
• Dad doesn't like - waste, anything can be re-used for something. Jana and I learned this just a few years ago when we cleaned out the basement at mom and dad's only to have dad go through our mountain of a garbage pile and re-claim half of it!

The years have been good to them. They are great parents who have managed to get all their boys out on missions, all their kids married in the temple, raised two class valedictorians, three amazing daughters (I had to put a plug in for us girls!), and taught us to love one another and that family is always number one! Love you Mom and Dad!