Christmas in Pacific Beach in 1964

In the spring of 1964 before Carole's June wedding Carole and I took a trip to Idaho Falls.  We stayed at Jeanne's on the way.  There was still snow in Utah and Jeanne tells this story.  She asked Johnny if he wanted to go play in the snow.  He was not familiar with it and he said, "No, it's too girty (dirty)."  However, there was still snow in Idaho, too, and they did eventually play in it though we really didn't have the proper clothing.  Richard flew up for the weekend and drove us home.

In the late summer we moved into a new two story house in Pacific Beach.  We couldn't afford to live there in 1962 but we made a good profit on our UC house and were happy to be back.  One of the first orders of business was teaching 8 month old Maria how to get up and down the stairs on her hands and knees.  She was a fast learner.

Richard's sister-in-law Miriam, her seven children and his mother all came to stay with us for Thanksgiving.  Besides all the good eating, we took everyone to Sea World, the Zoo, Cinerama, the  beach and pine cone hunting.  Although we had beds and chairs for all 14 of us, not much time was spent at home.  No pictures because most everything was being put on our movie camera!

Richard was now a Vice-President at Mansfield Mills, Inc and worked long hours.  He was also the General Aaronic Priesthood Secretary and in charge of the Elders fund raising dinners.   I was back to working with the youth in Mutual.

  Johnny was able to attend a nursery school one day a week and he loved doing his "work".  Linda had become the mischief maker and tried to keep up with John in all he did.  She was the errand girl and could always find the lost shoes, sweaters, etc.  Much too often she was mistaken for a rowdy little boy so we were encouraging her more feminine instincts which resulted in her spending a great deal of time combing her "pretty" (hair). 

Maria was a happy fun-loving baby who was pokey about walking but manuevered up and down the stairs like an expert.  Her honey blond hair was almost as long (or as short) as Linda's and they looked alike except she had green eyes instead of blue.  Maria was also beginning to voice her opinion by shaking her head and yelling when things did not please her.

My parents and the Fuquas were at our home for Christmas and we had a very lovely time except by now Carole was pregnant and not feeling her usual happy self. Dad must have been taking the pictures and Johnny must have been too busy playing with his toys to be interrupted.

Lots of friends welcomed us back to Pacific Beach and 7th Ward and had a Housewarming Party for us.  Margot presented us with a large picture.  I was flabbergasted and didn't know what to say.  It was a joke, she had picked it up at the thrift store and the joke was seeing how I would react, I thanked them, of course.  Anyway it was a fun laugh for everyone.

Richard would now have a short drive to work and this was especially happy for him.  We would also be within 5 minutes of the new Pacific Beach chapel and this would be especially helpful with our new callings in the ward.  It was a good move.

Yost Circle, Pacific Beach, CA

This is how the house looked in 1969 when we sold it for $45,000