January 31 - Tell what you used to go sledding in the snow.

When I was little we used a wooden sled....you would sit on top, hold a rope, put your feet on a wooden slat and push with one foot or the other to turn the runners. Another kind was a toboggan, but we usually used the wood sled. As we got older, we used plastic sleds and car tire inner tubes. We tried to get the biggest tubes because you could bounce high off it when you hit a jump. We loved to go up the canyon and find the biggest hill to go down. We usually went to a place up Big Cottonwood Canyon. We always made trains or would see how many people we could pile on one tube and who could stay on the longest. I loved going sledding/tubing up the canyon. I remember that my dad would sometimes pull us on the tubes down the street, behind the car. The streets were rarely cleared in our neighborhood so you could pull tubes behind the car, around the block. We loved sledding/tubing and playing in the snow.

January 30 - Tell about the worst winter storm you can remember as a child.

When I was a child, it snowed hard a lot! It seemed that we always got good storms with lots of snow. I remember being able to pull each other up and down the street on sleds because the streets never got cleared. We always had enough snow to build big snow forts so that we could have snowball wars or we had enough snow to build big snowmen. I don't ever remember it snowing enough to get out of school, though. But, we do live in Utah and they don't cancel very often for snow storms.
I would have to say that the winter of 1982-83 were probably the year we got the most snow because we had major flooding in the spring that year. We were able to get out of school to go help sandbag around rivers and houses. We also had a river going down the middle of State Street (downtown)....literally. They had built up walls to hold the water in and people could canoe down State Street. It was crazy!

January 29 - What was the dumbest stunt pulled by you and a brother or sister?

January 28 - What did you and your brothers or sisters fight about the most?

I am sure that we fought over toys. I only have brothers (3 of them) and so I don't think it was always the toys. We fought over who was the boss when mom and dad were gone. Usually my brother Joel was the boss and then when our parents would leave, I would have to do everything.

January 27 - Did your mother work outside of the home?

My mom worked outside of the home, but I don't remember her being gone a lot. She helped my dad sell camping trailers; she worked at Grand Central, which is like a Shopko or Target store; she worked in the special needs classroom at Brighton High School; and when I was in high school she started driving a school bus for Jordan District in Sandy. She retired from driving just a few years ago. That is one job I will never have! I couldn't drive something that big and long!

January 26 - Relate an experience or memory of a cousin.

When I was in high school and college, I used to go and watch my younger cousins while their parents went on a trip. I loved being with my cousins and I loved watching over my younger cousins. When my uncle Kim and aunt Lisa decided to move, they were moving to Las Vegas. Their youngest child, Randy, asked his mom, "When we move to Las Vegas is my skin going to turn black like the other kids?" In his mind, he was going to turn into a little black boy because it was so hot down there. He was so cute!

January 25 - When caught being naughty, describe the consequences.

The consequences of being naughty, were telling the other person "sorry"; getting a punishment such as being "grounded"; and getting a nice long lecture. The disappointment in my parents probably was the biggest consequence or punishment for me!

January 24 - What's the naughtiest thing you ever did?

The naughtiest thing I ever did was take a pack of gum from the store. I wanted it so bad and my mom wouldn't buy it for me. I am pretty sure she made me take it back, and that was completely humiliating! I am sure that I cried for a good long time.....not only because I had to take it back, but because I couldn't have it! After that I remember being afraid of being arrested for shoplifting....my dad was a policeman and he always told us that we would be arrested if we ever shoplifted. I thought for sure they would come and get me and arrest me. Oh, the mind of a young child!

January 23 - What type of punishment did you receive?

I don't really remember the punishments that I received too much. It is probably a good thing that we don't remember the punishments as long as we learned from them. I know that I got spankings and go scolded for punishments. I also would get "grounded"....meaning I had to stay home and not play with friends or watch T.V., etc. Usually when that was handed out, my mom would forget a day or so later....so "grounding" never lasted too long at our house.

January 22 - When you needed punishment as a child, which parent corrected you?

The parent that usually correct me or gave me punishment was my mom. Only because she was the one that was home with us. For the most part, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. As I got older she went back to work. My dad worked a lot of jobs and so was gone a lot. Mom was the "heavy". :0)

January 21 - Did you ever have an imaginary friend?

I don't think that I had an imaginary friend, but I always wished I had a horse. And if I ever got that horse it would have been a "painted pinto" and his name would have been Storm Cloud. The wish of a horse was as close to an imaginary friend I ever got.

January 20 - Did any relatives ever live with you?

When I was growing up I don't remeber any relatives living with us. When Mark and I got married, my younger brother Jeff lived with us for about 6 months(?). Other than that, no.

January 19 - Tell about a favorite uncle

It is hard to pick a favorite uncle, but it would probably be uncle Joel. He is married to Aunt Joan. His name is Joel Martinez and he is Hispanic. I think that his family is from Mexico. He loved to tease me and I loved it when he teased me. He coached little league football and had me be a cheerleader for his team. I can't say that I loved doing that, but the fact that he got me on the squad was enough for me. I loved to just hang out with him and my cousins. He was funny and light hearted. I remeber one time that he came over to our house for something and when he was going home I went with him without telling my parents. Boy, did I get into trouble for not telling them where I was going! He was a witness for me at my wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. I love him very much.

January 18 - Tell about a favorite aunt

I had a couple of favorite aunts, but the one that I did the most with was Aunt Joan. She is my mom's younger sister. They lived about 10 minutes away from us and so I remember spending a lot of time over there playing with the cousins. The times I spent there were always fun. As I got older, and into college, she got me a job in her office as a secretary. I worked there for several years and then become an administrative assistant to a client of theirs. In this office we typed up documents for other people. It was a great job! I was able to spend a lot of time with my aunt....talking, laughing, working, etc. She was one of many that I looked up to in the church. She was a very strong church member until after I got married....she then became anti-mormon. But I loved spending time with her through my growing up years. She is short, about 4'10" tall, blonde, pettit gal. She is a great singer and a hard worker.

January 17 - Tell a fond memory of your grandma

My grandma Pettit used to work for ZCMI and every year for my birthday....I can't remember what age she started this at.....we would go to lunch and shopping. I loved to go with her and my grandpa. My favorite place to eat was "Leatherby's" because they had cream cheese and olive sandwiches and I could get a giant shake....usually praline's and cream. We would then go over to ZCMI and go clothes shopping. She made me feel so special on my birthday and I loved to spend the time with her. I can remember several dresses I got while shopping with my grandma. I loved those dresses! One was a maroon "Gunni Sax" dress. Gunni Sax was a popular name brand for dresses back then. It was fun!

My grandma Johnson would take us downtown every Christmas season to go find an ornament. Every year, my grandma would get us an ornament for the tree. When we were old enough to go shopping, she would take us down and we got to pick out our ornaments. I used to love that because I there were so many to choose from and I loved choosing for myself. I still have them in my Christmas decorations. I wish I could remember the store she would take us to. It was like a real "downtown" experience!

January 16 - Tell a fond memory of your grandpa.

My grandpa Pettit was very fond of horses. He had several when he was growing up and so he had the gear to go on a horse. I, too, am very fond of horses. When I was young, and I would go over to visit my Grandparents, I would look through the many horse magazines that he would get. He always gave me the old ones so that I could cut out my favorite pictures of the horses. Each time I would go and visit, I would go out to his garage and gaze at the saddle hanging on the wall. I know that I asked him many times if I could have that saddle. I knew that it would be the closest I would ever get to owning a horse. After I got married, on my 24th birthday, I got a great surprise! My grandpa Pettit gave me one of his prize possessions....he gave me his saddle that I dreamed of having for many years. I was so excited! My mom made me a sawhorse to put the saddle on. I have sat on that saddle/sawhorse many times dreaming of my horse being under it. I still dream of having a horse some day, and with my saddle I am one step closer!

My grandpa Johnson worked for P.I.E. trucking company. I used to go to work with him and look at all the trucks that he had there. He used to have little trucks in his office and I would love play with them. I didn't go that often, but loved when he would take me. It made me feel special. I obviously wasn't a girly girl. I was a true "tomboy"! My grandma Johnson didn't like that about me, but what can I say...I loved doing things that my brothers did. So going to work with my grandpa was fun to me.

January 15 - Name the childhood addresses you remember

I only lived in one home/place and that was 5099 Lori Way, Holladay, Utah. When I was in college, I lived on campus for one quarter in a place called "The Sill Center" and I had to take a class in the FACS department to go along with it. There were 12 of us girls living there. It was lots of fun.

January 14 - Name the towns/cities you lived in before you were 20

I was born and raised in Holladay/Murray, Utah. I lived in the same home until I got married at age 22. When I was growing up our area was considered Holladay, but that area has since incorporated into Murray. The address is 5099 Lori Way.

January 13 - What did/does your father do for a living?

My dad is retired now, but had many jobs/careers throughout his life. He was a police officer, security guard for Jordan School Dist., road construction worker (held the signs), had own security alarm business, own snowplow business, started with Western Airlines in baggage claim then Delta Airlines bought them and he retired from Delta (not sure which department), he was a volunteer search and rescue on the Salt Lake County team, and right now has a little online business selling security and self-defense items. He sold camping trailers, motorcycles, alarms, model airplanes, and the list goes on and on. He is someone that works hard and is brave enough to start new things/try new things.

January 12th - Tell about other nicknames in your family.

The only other nicknames I can think of are: my dad called the boys "slick" and my grandma Johnson called my dad "tinker". I don't know where the "tinker" nickname came from, but it's a name he was called all his life.

January 11 - How did you get your nickname?

My dad always called me "Jilly". No one else seem to call me that, so i guess it was his own special name for me. My great-grandpa Lingard called me "Halfpint" because according to him that is what halfpint meant in England where he was from. I always wanted to be called J.J. because those are my initials and I have no middle name. I'm a J.J. wanna be!

A Year of Memories!

Jan. 1 - What was your day and date of birth?
I was born on November 11, 1965.

Jan. 2 - Where were you born?
I was born at Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah

Jan. 3 - Do you know any other circumstances of your birth? (who was present, who delivered, etc.?)
I don't know too much or who delivered me. I do know that at that time they didn't let the fathers into the delivery room while a baby was being delivered. So I am guessing that it was my mom and the doctor and nurses in the room.

Jan. 4 - If you have a childhood picture of yourself, place it here. Then tell why you picked that picture.

Jan. 5 - Name your brothers and sisters and their years of birth.
Joel Lee Johnson - July 4, 1963
Jeffery Lane Johnson - August 7, 1967
Jaron Leslie Johnson - September 23, 1972
I don't have any sisters.

Jan. 6 - What was your mother's full name?
Launie Rae Pettit Johnson

Jan. 7 - What was your father's full name?
Lee Holdren Johnson

Jan. 8 - What was your mother's date and place of birth?
December 17, 1942 - Salt Lake City, Utah

Jan. 9 - What was your father's date and place of birth?
July 30, 1943 - Salt Lake City, Utah

Jan. 10 - Tell a family nickname that you had.
Jilly, Halfpint, and J.J. wanna be!