This is the house I grew up in. I lived here til I left home at 19 years old. 2 years ago my Mom sold it and they tore it down :(

We had a swimmimg pool but usually we played in the pond. Mom would freeze bananas and all the neighbors would come to eat one and swim.

We anxiously awaited irrigation days when the water would come rushing down the canal and fill the pond.

I can't begin to count how many frogs and tadpoles we caught over the years. My favorites were the tiny baby frogs, (since I still have not learned how to can, that is what a mason jar will always be for in my mind; collecting tadpoles and frogs.)

In the winter Mom's cookie sheets worked miracles on that frozen pond.

My brother Lyman almost drowned in that pond when he was 2. I came home from school and my older brothers and sisters were already home, they told me that, 'Mom was in the hospital with Lyman." I didn't believe them until they showed me a pile of his wet clothes and diaper on the floor. I cried and cried, but it turnes out alright.

We had one huge pine tree in the backyard that the bottom branches had umbrella'd down and made a natural fort for us. To enter we would move the branches aside and we would fit perfectly under that umbrella. We hauled most of our house out to that fort at one point or another. The street behind our house backed up to that tree so our neighbor friends could easily enter the fort from their street. One time I climbed that tree and was too scared to come down, my Dad had to climb up after me and bring me safely to land. This part of our property was the only place that got used so much that we wore a path in the grass to that fort.

Kick the can was a favorite of ours, with such a huge yard and so many pine trees to hide in or to hide behind.

I can still remember the smell of our green house, an "herby mint" smell, we would retreat to the greenhouse after swimming lay our towels on the floor and warm ourselves from the cold water.

Mom had a full size basketball court put in next to the barn one year.

The brothers and in-laws playing ball.

When my Dad was around the barn and back half of the property were alive with all sorts of animals and vegetation. We had Cows, guines pigs, chickens and 2000 rabbits. We loved to get the rabbits out of their cages and bring them in the house to play. What we didn't love is when we had to eat them for dinner. We would always know when it was rabbit and not chicken when we would ask, "what's for dinner?" and Mom would reply, "eat and be quiet."

One year my dad got My sister Lena and I our own goats, we didn't have them very long before they were torn apart by some wild dogs! :(

I remember very vividly the day when a white butcher's truck pulled up to the barn. That was the day when our beloved Milkyway would become a memory. She was the first and only cow I ever milked in my life. I stayed in the garage that day and watched from a distance until the white van pulled out of our driveway. I could see what happened but I knew what was going on.

My dad cultivated a huge garden, with every fruit and vegetable available in Utah. I don't remember doing much of the work in the garden but I do remember walking the rows, looking for warm raspberries or grapes to pluck.

Us girls did however get to do a lot of the canning prep work. We would sit in the garage on upturned 5 gallon buckets shucking corn for hours, once again there was a mason jar present to collect all the caterpillars we found hiding in corn.

We used those 5 gallon buckets in the upright position also, with such a large piece of land the dandelions multiplied as fast as the bunnies. On weeding days we would each have to fill a bucket before we could quit. I think we outsmarted my Mom because I don't remember her ever catching on to the fact that we would fill the bottom of the buckets with newspaper and such and only layer the top with dandelions.

When my dad left so did the animals and garden. But we did find other uses for that barn, besides it being a great place to play, My sister Julie once had a huge barn dance there. She cleaned it and decorated it so cute and it was a blast. Of course I was younger and not invited but that didn't stop me from spying!

My brother Danny is so industrious. He handcrafted a clubhouse up in the rafters of the barn. You had to climb a ladder to get up there, but once you did it was like a little house, there were couches, and a T.V. and everything.

We had a huge flagstone patio and fire pit that rewarded us with many family camp-outs right in our own backyard.

Easter hunts were always fun. With as many kids as we had it was a good thing we had such a big yard to hide the eggs in.

I am so happy my kids got to make some memories in the house I grew up in before it got torn down.

Wow, my wrist hurt, I didn't know when I picked this question, "tell about your yard and yardwork growing up", that I would end up writing a novel.

Russell's birthday pinata hanging from one of Mom's pine trees.