I look back on my time at home in The Rock House with very fond memories. Life in Heber at that time was slower paced and there weren’t as many distractions as there are today. For example, there was not a single TV in the whole town. There weren’t even telephones until I was partway through school. We had lots of family time and those were pleasant times for me.
Dad usually got home from work about 5:30PM. Some nights he had church responsibilities that took him away from home but many nights we had time to spend together as a family. Family Home Evening was not as formal a program then as it is now but we used to have “Family Night” on Wednesdays. We would play games or perform skits or do charades or make some type of refreshments. Mostly we just spent time together.
It was common, especially during the winter months when it was cold outside and it got dark earlier, for Dad to settle down in the “Big Chair” after supper to read out loud to us. Those were special hours. One of us would perch on the arm of the big chair and others would be arranged around the front room. The stove was in the front room so that is where it was nice and warm. Dad would read aloud to us books like “Little Britches”, “Man of the Family”, “Black Stallion”, “White Fang” and others. Dad had a loud voice so it was easy to hear no matter where we were in the house but most of the time we were in the front room. It was the responsibility of the person sitting on the arm of Dad’s chair to keep him awake. Sometimes he would doze off while reading. We never could understand how he could do that just as we got to the most exciting part of the story. The person on the arm of the chair would shake him and wake him up so he would keep reading.
Sometimes we would just talk. Dad liked to crack nuts and we usually had a big bowl with nuts in it beside the stove and the big chair. We would sit around and talk and Dad would crack nuts and pass them out to us like feeding a bunch of hungry little birds. He got some himself, too. Sometimes Mom would peel apples and cut them into sections and pass them out to us also. We would sit and munch and talk or listen to Dad read. Besides reading the books we especially liked as boys, Dad also read church books, church magazines or lesson manuals. We got to hear lots of the gospel even if we didn’t have lots of formal gospel lessons. He also told us stories which we enjoyed.
Mom liked to have us play music. It was not uncommon for everyone to have to perform something. It could be a piano piece, a song on the trumpet, lead a game, recite a poem or whatever. Dad used to sing us songs sometimes. One of our favorites was the “Stuttering Song”. Another of our favorites was the “Bible Sunday School” and “I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago”. Sometimes he would sing us old cowboy songs. We also sang as a family. Sometimes it was the hymns and sometimes other songs or rounds.
We played lots of games. Some of the ones I remember are “I challenge,” spin the bottle, and charades. We also played card games like ROOK and SCRATCH as well as board games like MONOPOLY, SORRY and others.
The day always began and ended with family prayers. Sometimes we were up in time to have prayers with Dad before he went to work. If not, Mom always had prayers with us before we left for school. We had evening prayers before going to bed. Life was good! All was well in The Rock House!