Childhood Pictures Age 5 to 11–Chris

My first journal entries

1978 Johnson Family Reunion at Timpanogas Lodge.  The cousin picture on the right includes Lori, Jennifer, Me, Genene, Shane, Tami, Nikole, and Jason.

1980, 7 years old

1980 Johnson family reunion at Timpanogas Lodge.  All the cousins in the first picture.  Grandma with many of the girl cousins in the second picture.  Night time inside the lodge in the third picture.

May 1979 in St. George with Dad, Nikole, and baby Ashlyn

1980, Chris 7 years old, Nikole 5 years old, Ashlyn 2 years old

August 1, 1981; My baptism with my Dad, Uncle Dale, Grandpa Polson, Uncle Bill, Uncle Garth, Br. Harris, and Br. Garner

Swimming in the pool in St. George, 1979

1983, 10 years old

October 1982, Cub Scouts with Justin Burrup, Darren Burrup, David Utley, and Chad Utley

My first time playing baseball.  I played second base.

July 1980, Bear Lake with Ashlyn and Nikole and Uncle Matt.

1982 with Grandma and Grandpa Polson at our house on Carrington Street

1983 Piano Recital with my cousin Jennifer, 9 years old             Playing the piano with my favorite school teacher, Mr. Peay

Piano Recitals with Jennifer February 1, 1983 and February 11, 1983

Nikole and I with baby Lindsey, March 1983, 9 years old

1979 5 years old

1980 6 years old

1981 7 years old

1982 8 years old

1983 9 years old

Today was my birthday.  It was really fun.  I got a radio which I’m listening to now.  It’s neat.  I got 3 tapes.  One is Neil Sedaka.  Another one is Andy Gibb.  The third is Michael Jackson Thriller.  I am listening to it now.  I also got this note pad I am writing in now.  Chris’ Notebook Journal July 19,1983

1983 List for Bear lake

Christopher - 3 pairs pajamas, 1 swimming suit, 3 extra shirts, 3 extra pair of shorts, 2 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of socks, 5 pairs of underwear, mitt and balls and bat, football, sleeping bag, pillow, webelos book, jacket, suitcase, road map, thongs, white shoes, blue shoes, toothbrush, towel, toys, book, coloring book, pocketknife

Nikole - 2 nightgowns, 1 swimming suit, 5 pairs of underwear, 4

Today I’m trading in my broken radio that I got for my birthday but I’m glad cause I give them 40 dollars and my radio and I get a Geto Blaster.  Chris’ Notebook Journal December 21,1983

Dear Santa Claus,

“My name is Christopher. I am ten years old. My birthday is July 19, 1973. I am in the fifth grade. I want something that I’ll like for Christmas. I hope that I’ll see you at my Grandmas house this year. I promise that I won’t peek when you come to my house. I hope you get everything you need to get this Christmas. By the way last year I was still awake when you got to our house. I first heard someone upstairs then I heard Jingle Bells and I sat up in my bed and I heard you say ho…ho…ho… One of the things I want for Christmas is a camera and a watch and a desk with a little light and some drawers and a seat to go with it. And make sure you fill my stocking with goodies. I also want a set of paints and some paper. I like toys too. Like a remote control Airplane and a Intellivision cartridge. And I want some new slippers. And I want a few albums and tapes. Thank you for the nice presents you gave us last year.” Chris’ Journal December 1983

                               From my Notebook Journal, 1984

My Birthday

Today is Sunday. My birthday is in eleven days. I can’t wait. I want an alarm clock and two pairs of Levi Strauss and a polo shirt and a Ipod shirt and an oxford and some money. I hope I have a good time.  Chris’ Journal July 8, 1984

1984 How to make money

-sell punch, 3 cents a cup

-haunted house, 1 penny a person

-yard sale, make things for yard sale

-make things out of popsicle sticks

-sell ceramics

-sell cookies and treats, cookies 3 cents, cake 5 cents

-make in Nikole’s mixer and see

-coupons for what we sell

-magic shows and other shows, 2 cents

-mow lawns, shovel sidewalks

-have our own band, 5 cents

1984 Purposes of making money

-taking Daddy to Super Bowl

-going and seeing something else with girls and Mommy

1984 Important days of the year

Disneyland, Lagoon, Bear Lake, St. George

From 4-11-85 to 5-23-85, My spreadsheet revealed that I earned $101 for mowing Pauls lawn ($7), Schneiders lawn ($4), Our lawn ($1), Harrises lawn ($3), Howells lawn ($5), and tending for the Cherringtons and the Howells. 50% went to savings, 10% tithing, 40% spending

1984 Things I want to buy

Tapes - Footloose, Hard to hold, Lionel Richie, Midnight Star, Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Michael Jackson, Rick Springfield, Duran Duran, Journey Scorpions, Journey, Survivor, Night Ranger, Cars, Loverly, Nazareth, Huey Lewis and the News, A-ha, Thompson Twins, Depeche Mode, INXS, Tears for Fears, Wham, Simple Minds

Other things I want to buy - Sony Walkman, Alarm Clock, Posters of groups, Camera, Golf Clubs, Record player, Shelf thingy

My Birthday List from Mom and Dad

1st deal - They give me an alarm clock and a pair of Levi Strauss and also $20 to spend on clothes

2nd deal - They give me an alarm clock and a pair of Levi Strauss and a polo shirt and an Argile sweater

1984 Bear Lake List - Notebook, 3 tennis balls, mitt, book, flashlight, road map, pillow

1984 California list - Radio, tapes, suit, bag, thongs, glasses, sunglasses, wallet, book, 2 pair pajamas, robe, uno, sunday shoes, road map, 6 pair socks, squirt guns, piano music, hubby’s present, 5 pairs underwear, 4 pairs shorts, 5 shirts, swimming suit, Levi Strauss, belt.  Chris’ Notebook Journal, Summer 1984

We went on a family vacation to Southern California in 1984 for Hub and Leslie’s wedding.  We went to Disneyland and Knottsberry Farm and had a great time together.  The wedding was also a lot of fun to participate in.

Uncle Hub, Great Grandpa Polson, Grandpa Polson, Uncle Matt

Dancing with Nikole at Matt’s wedding                                                       With Greg and Brett at Matt’s wedding

Matt and Christy also got married at about this same time.  I was asked to play the organ for the wedding.  It was fun to learn how to play the wedding march and other songs for it.  Learning to play the organ was challenging, especially with the right hand and left hand on different levels, but I told my Mom “I don’t have confidence in the organ, but I do have confidence in me”. 

“I haven’t written in my journal for a long time. It’s been half a year. I’m eleven now. Today I got a new teacher in Sunday School. She’s nice. Our lesson was about reading the scriptures. By the way her name is sister Peirce. Her husband is our hometeacher. There both nice. In our lesson we got a calendar to mark off days that we read the scriptures, and a hand with a compass to remind us to always go the right way. It gave me an idea to start setting goals. 1 goal is to write in my journal. Another is to read the scriptures. Another thing that made me want to set goals is from family home evening. My mom read us a really good story. Family home evening helps me a lot. I’ll try to always have it. My mom got a new calling. She's the young women president. Last friday we started indoor soccer. I’ve got a good team. Before Christmas I played it too. My team came in fourth place but I made a lot of friends. It was fun. This time were doing better. We won the practice game last Friday 3-1. I scored 1 goal. Before Christmas I scored 13. I hope to exceed that. In school I’m doing good. I’m in sixth grade, junior high school. Last quarter I got 5 As, 1 A-, and 1 B+. My classes are 1st period gym - Mitchell, 2nd period English - Hinckle, 3rd period reading - Hinckle, 4th period social studies - Hinckle, 5th period math - Matthews, 6th period Science - Hebertson, 7th period Music - Webb. My favorite class is gym and my worst is reading. My favorite teacher is Coach Mitchell and my worst is Ms. Matthews because she is too slow for me. I think I’ll get good grades this quarter. I’m doing good in piano too. For Christmas I got really neat things. I got golf clubs, golf tees, golf balls, a golf towel, a golf glove. So I’m ready to golf. I got three games. Rubix race, conspiracy, and pick-up-sticks. Other things are underwear, socks, chords, shoes, oxford, and two sweaters, one argile and one plain, and slippers, and gloves, and books, and a book bag, and a speak and math. It was fun. My sisters got a cabbage patch kid. They also got clothes. My whole family got a video recorder. It was very fun. My new years resolution is to get my gospel in action award and learn to set more goals. One is to write in my journal.”  Chris’ Journal January 13, 1985

We went to Timpanogas Lodge multiple years with the Johnson family.  This was the only Johnson reunion we ever had, except for occasional visits to Grandma Johnson’s house in Smithfield.  We had access to Timpanogas Lodge through Garth Mather, who worked for BYU.  This vacation was a major highlight of my childhood.  The lodge had a mens wing and a womens wing upstairs with rows and rows of beds.  here was a slide that went from the upstairs mens wing all the way down to the ground.  I had such a fun time hanging out with all of my Johnson cousins while we were here.  The lodge and the grounds were so fun to play at.  Some memories I have of these vacations include: hunting for snipes (and getting scared by a loud noise and a glowing red dot that turned out to be Uncle Leroy smoking; having tennis table and pool tournaments (I was very proud that my Dad won the tennis table tournament); performing in a talent show; etc.

“So far I’ve set my goals really good. I haven’t missed yet. I finished the 1st book of Nephi yesterday. It was neat. I’ve been doing it for one week. School was pretty good last week. In soccer last Friday, I scored one more goal. We tied 2-2. I should have scored more though. This Friday mom and dad are going to Hawaii. Nikole is staying at the Utleys. Ashlyn is staying at the Wares. Lindsey is staying at the Barratts. I am staying at Vanca and Leroys. It’s gonna be fun. I can’t wait.”  Chris’ Journal January 21, 1985

Halloween 1984, 11 years old                                 1984, 10 years old, playing soccer in our backyard.  Notice our new fence.

6th grade class of advanced students.

Lists and journaling from my Notebook Journal, 1984 to 1986