Kindergarten

Mrs. Sperley was my kindergarten teacher. She was such a sweet, kind woman; the kind of person that was just made for teaching kindergarten. Regardless of how nice my teacher was, kindergarten was a rough transition! I was in the afternoon class. The buss picked me up at my house and took me into school after lunch.

I was a little nervous for my first day of class, but with my favorite dress on I felt more confident. Some time in the 3 hours of class I had to use the bathroom. Since I remembered it being right down the hallway, I slid out of the room to go. When I got back to class Mrs. Sperley was frantic! She didn't know where I had gone and sternly told me I had to ask permission before I went to the bathroom. I was extremely upset, but got over it before I had to go home. Upon arriving home I was so exhausted I laid down on the couch and took a nap.

Mrs. Sperley was also Mike and Sheila's kindergarten teacher. By the time Mom was pregnant with Daniel, she was so close to our family she took us to a magic show, fed us pizza for dinner, and bought us Monopoly to play at her house after the show. She just wanted to give my parents a break! Talk about going on and beyond your duty as a teacher.

I loved painting time, playing house in the dress up corner, and learning my letters from the letter people videos Mrs. Sperley would show us. She would also hide a stuffed letter person somewhere in the house that one of my class mates would randomly find one day a week as we got to work. I had issues confusing my lower case d and b, but it wasn't something that hindered my advancing to first grade.

Show and Tell was an exciting part of the day! 2 or 3 students would be asked to bring in something to share with the class. People brought in their pets, their favorite toys, or a souvenir from a vacation they went on. The most exciting thing I brought in was my youngest sister Heather Lynn Brown. She was born on Thanksgiving day November 26th, 1986.

We had only moved into the ward a few months prior to Heather's birth, so my parents didn't know who they would get to watch Michael, Sheila and I while they went to the hospital to deliver Heather. Fortunately my Mom's visiting teacher, Farah Jensen, invited us to her house. This meant her family didn't get the quiet Thanksgiving holiday they were used to, but it also meant the world to my parents not to have to worry about us. In December Sister Jensen also gave us lime green Rice Krispy treats in the shape of a wreath with red hots embedded in the gooey treat. She continued this tradition until my parents moved away.

Heather was born with some health problems that kept her in the hospital longer than usual. They sent her to another hospital for testing, but eventually everything worked out fine. She came home a week or so later than usual, but was no worse for the ware. She moved into the bedroom with Mike, Sheila and I shared a room, and Dad had the last bedroom for his office to do his school work.