When I was 9 years old, my parents bought 6 acres just outside the city limits of Caldwell and built a sweet brick home with a small appliance store attached. When it was completed, Dad quit his job managing McCluskies appliance in downtown Caldwell and started OT Sanders Appliance and Refrigeration on the fringe of town.
The house had 4 bedrooms, two on the main floor for Mom and Dad and Nancy and two in the basement, one for Jerry and Tom and I shared one. Also, down stairs there was a large family room, bathroom, laundry room and pantry where we also stored Mom’s wonderful jars of canned fruits, vegetables, jams, and pickles. There was also a furnace room with a coal bin. At first we had a coal fired furnace and had to fill the coal feeder bin daily. The coal was stored in a large bin next to the furnace. When dad later changed to gas, that coal storage bin became more storage for food and canned goods. There was a large trunk in that area with Dad’s old Marine uniforms. We kids loved to get them out to look at them.
When Dad was out on a service call or delivery, or there were two sets of customers in the store, Mom would dry her hands, turn off the stove or vacuum or whatever she was doing and go out to sell appliances. She was very good at it.
Our home phone was also the business phone, so we all learned how to answer and take a message.
Dad was acknowledged as an expert in refrigeration. He contracted to install large refrigerated coolers and freezers in Idaho and Oregon, big refrigerated trucks stopped for service and the railroad contracted with him to fix their refrigerated cars, even flying him by light airplane at times. We sold Norge and Westinghouse appliances. When television emerged, Dad was very blessed to get the Motorola and other brand dealerships, took classes and really prospered.
My dear little sister, Nancy Carol, was born July 22, 1952. She joined all of us kids as very blond. She was darling and spoiled by everyone. Mom dressed her up in very cute clothes, mostly made by Mom, an excellent seamstress.
As soon as we moved in, we build a small calf pen and bought some baby heifers. We bucket fed them until they could graze and they became our friends. Tommy and I had saved money we had earned mowing and weeding Mr. McCluskie’s yard.
With that and some help from Dad, Tom bought Daisy, a short horn that gave very little milk but made great hamburger. I bought Beauty, a black Holstein. She was amazing, giving 10 gallons of milk per day with good butterfat content, at peak freshness. But she was a goofball as I shall later explain.
Dad bought Boss, a brown and white Guernsey. Boss was bossy and gave only a little milk though creamy. She was a grump.
On 1 ½ acres we had our house, store, barn and corral. We had 2 acres of alfalfa hay that produced so well that we needed little extra hay to winter our cows, up to 5, a steer we kept for meat, and Dad’s horse, Ginger. We normally got 4 cuttings.
We also had 2 ½ acres of pasture that was cross fenced so that we could rotate the cows from one pasture to the other to allow the pastures to recover.
Dad built a three stanchion milking barn and bought a Surge milking machine to help Tom and me with the milking. By the time I was 10, we were milking 3 cows and raising a very large garden with all the wonderful fresh veggies we could eat or give away, plus raspberries, apples of various varieties, pears and gooseberries. Lots of work. Tommy and I split a fourth of the milk money for clothes, activities, savings for school and missions and of course, tithing. Dad and Mom had a plan, and used the remainder to pay for the costs of the milking business and saved the balance to pay for our missions and college.
From very young, it was “when we go to college and on our missions”, not “if”.
When the Prophet advised us to have Family Home Evening, scripture study and family prayer, we did.
When Tom and I got in from milking we sat down as a family to a big, delicious breakfast, usually either sour dough biscuits or pancakes or waffles, with homemade butter, jam or syrup, eggs and with ham, lamb chops, bacon or sausage and plenty or fresh, ice cold of milk or hot creamed postum,(a warm drink made from roasted barley of Cocoa. Dad got up when we did to work in the shop, repairing appliances and Tom and I got up at 5:00 to milk. So by breakfast, we were very hungry and ate tons.
We always had scripture reading and family prayer at the table before we ate, and did lots of visiting as we ate. It was a very happy family and all pitched in and worked. There was never a question or conflict about working; it was just what we did.
Then off to school on the bus, then we practiced sports, came home and milked the cows, ate, family night or scouts or a little TV with a pint of ice cream or fresh bread with butter and jam and milk or a huge bowl of popcorn and off to bed.