Who were your aunts and uncles? Write about any of your aunts or uncles who really stand out in your mind. Give some details about them (names, personalities, events that you remember doing with them, and so on).

On my Mom's side there were:
Uncle CHIEF and Aunt Effie Muffenbier
Uncle PHIL and Aunt Thelma Muffenbier
Uncle Emerson and Aunt ISABELLE White
Uncle John and Aunt TEKLA Bush
Uncle LAWRENCE and Aunt Dean Muffenbier
Uncle PAUL and Aunt???????

On my Dad's side:

Aunt KATE and Dan Dieringer
Uncle FIRMAN and Aunt Ladene Feuerborn
Aunt THERESA and Uncle Bert
Uncle ERNIE and Aunt Maxine Feuerborn
Aunt LOIS and Uncle Phil Barbour
Uncle GLEN and Aunt Barbara Feuerborn
Aunt PATTY and Uncle Kenny Millard    Patty became a Lesbian later in life and married (?????)
Uncle Pete and Aunt WILMA Todish
Aunt MARYANN Feuerborn

Blood is in all caps.

Saw Mom's family only occasionally when we visited.  Don't remember any of them coming to visit.  Went and stayed for a week with Carol White when I was about 13.  Had lots of fun remember drying the dishes and singing the hit song from the hot band, The Monkeys.  Hey Hey, were the Monkeys, people say we monkey around.  Were to busy singing to put anybody down.............

Also Phil and Thelma took me with them to Cannon Beach one year.  We stayed in a little cabin.  Their kids Judy and Billy took me to a store and made me stand watch while Billy stole a myrtle wood chest! I was terrified and can still remember running for my life.  The only time I  was ever involved with stealing something.

Did your grandparents live close by? If so, describe how they were involved in your life. If they lived far away share some memories of visiting them or of them traveling to visit you.

Grandma and Grandpa Feuerborn lived about 40 yards from our house.  You would go out the back fence, across the open field and into their back yard.  Us kids would go to their house regularly to say hi and get a cookie if we were lucky.  Joe played hundreds or thousands of games of checkers with grandpa Feuerborn.  Grandma would always bake an extra pumpkin pie for Joe if she was making pies cuz she knew Joe loved them and he was special because he played checkers with grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa Muffenbier lived in an area of Portland called West Moreland.  I don't remember them ever traveling to see us.  They didn't drive and didn't own a car.

Share Some Memories of your Grandparents

Grandma and Grandpa always lived across the field from us in my memory.  Grandma was a kind person that was stoic.  Grandpa was a little grumpy and didn't talk much to the kids.  Grandma made cookies a lot and usually had a peanut butter or sugar cookie for us when we went to her house.  She and grandpa always made peanut butter candy on Christmas and shared it with us.  Grandma was usually home that I remember and most of her time was spent cleaning, cooking, visiting with people and going to church.  She also did sewing, making quilts occasionally.  Her biggest enjoyment that I could tell was visiting with her children and grandchildren when they visited.

Grandpa was a serious person that worked a lot as a pipefitter and when he retired he spent a lot of time watching the two tv's he had in the living room.

They had a raspberry bush in the backyard, along with peach and apple trees.  We were always welcome to come over and pick and eat all we could.

My grandparents took Ed and I out to "N" Reactor when I was about 10 and we saw President Kennedy make a speech.

Grandpa and Grandma Muffenbier were always in Portland on 42nd Street, living in the same house Mom grew up in.  We visited maybe once a year for a weekend.  My memory is of Mom and Dad visiting in the living room with Mom's sisters, brothers, and parents.  The kids could walk up to the local store, "Piggily Wiggily" to buy an ice cream or candy.  My aunt Tekla worked at the Piggily Wiggily.
The kids slept upstairs in an old iron bed. When you walked upstairs you had to push the curtain aside to walk up.  The curtain kept the heat from going upstairs in the winter I guess.  There was an old iron tube set up upstairs.  If you wanted a toilet, you had to walk outside the back kitchen door because it was built on the back porch.  Mom talked about how she would sit on the toilet and wrinkle up pages from the Sears catalogue to soften it up because she had to use it for wiping!

The "Oaks" amusement park is a short walk from Grandparents house.  We went down there a few times.  It is still there, next to the river.

Did Your Family have specific ways to Celebrate Holidays

My previous post described Christmas.  We always went to Church Christmas morning.

Thanksgiving was a turkey dinner that Mom prepared.  I don't remember ever having a guest or going to someone else's house.

Easter was usually getting up early to hunt eggs in the back yard, which we had colored on Saturday.  The Easter bunny always brought a special basket of candy for each child.  Then off to church.  A ham dinner in the afternoon.

We bought local fireworks on 4th of July and lit them in the yard.  A barbeque in the back yard was usually the dinner fare.  Sometimes grandma and grandpa Feuerborn would come over.  Grandma and Grandpa usually had holiday dinner with Wilma and Pete Todish.  I guess it was because Wilma was the daughter and wanted her mom and dad.  Wilma and Pete came to Grandma Feuerborns a lot for Sunday dinner.  I don't remember every sitting at their dinner table for a meal.  Sometimes I ate in the kitchen.

What are some of your family traditions that you remember?

Our family growing up did not have any traditions that I remember.  Our family had "routine", which was necessary for a large family.  At Christmas we hung our stockings by the chimney with care.  Santa always came and put a small something in it.  We always got something from Santa and had a wrapped present under the tree.  Usually clothing.  We spent all holidays at home because our family was too big to go anywhere or be hosted.  We did go down to Portland on Easter occasionally and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Muffenbier.