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Show Family makes fun without TV set ,th 7th' t " f iJP .... tel'JiP ML . Afe ;! J Bike riding is one of the many activities the Thurgoods do together. By JERRI SCHWARTZ What would you do if you had nine ildren ranging from one to 15 'flow do Dave and Marilyn iwgood answer that question? S i do what you have to do," states Marilyn. And that's what they do ! The Thurgood's day starts at 5:30 m when the entire family (except r the two youngest) meet together nd listen to a scriptural tape for a yf hour. Currently they are studying Church History. They Le their study with family Lyer, and then they each have one . four, from 6 to 7 a.m. to get ready or school. Breakfast is served and eaten together as a family at 7 a.m. Then, the kids each have one family job to do before they leave for school at ' 7 30, 8:00 or 8:30 a.m. depending on which grade they're in. At home ,rith the remaining three, Marilyn then continues on with her day. hen evening comes, dinner is served at 5:30 p.m. and the evening jj Spent with Dave and Marilyn making sure their children complete com-plete their homework assignments. The Thurgoods do things together as a family and love it! In fact, that's one of their goals - doing' ' things, anything, together. Some of I the activities the Thurgoods enjoy doing together are: working in the garden, cooking outside, camping (Marilyn especially enjoys camping ,: because Dave does all the cooking), singing together and bicycling. Marilyn adds, "Anything is fun when we're .doing it together!" Even when being together involves a catastrophe. Once, seven pigs were running loose in the neighborhood, neigh-borhood, each time as Marilyn would try to leave, another phone ;tF call would come in from a neighbor or friend informing her that her i ; pigs were loose. jjl When Murphy's Law comes into H play at the Thurgood house, it doesn't take long before their sense , t ofhumor chases it away. e When I asked her what were some time when there were eight of them living in the trailer, she was used to it and didn't know any different. Besides living in the trailer, Dave and Marilyn have had the misfortune of children with ear trouble. Five out of their nine have had tubes put in their ears, and all of them have been prone to ear infections. As mothers and fathers everywhere know, sick children mean sleepless nights. That's probably why, when I asked what Marilyn was looking forward to in the future, she laughed, then said, "Sleep!" Besides looking forward to getting a full nights sleep, Dave and Marilyn look forward to seeing their kids in college, and Dave added, "I look forward to coming home at night and not having anything to work on." But that will never . happen, Dave loves projects! Dave and Marilyn met while planning a BYU ward party. A Leadership training in the area and has also attended Woodbadge. David often says with a smile that the reason he's in Scouting is to make sure there's enough good boys for all their girls. Marilyn Thurgood (formerly Anderson) was born in Idaho Falls, and raised in Bountiful. She attended at-tended BYU for two years, and now enjoys sewing, playing the piano, swimming and bike riding. The children are from oldest to youngest, Tami, age 15, who enjoys dancing, sewing, and modeling; Becky, 14, whose hobbies include sports and animals; Valerie, 12, enjoys sports, piano, and violin; 10-year 10-year old Darren likes scouting, playing soccer and the piano; Laura, 8 enjoys sports, piano, and dancing; Amy 6, likes soccer and dancing; 5 year old Tracilyn likes preschool and dancing; Mark 3, would like to do all the above; and Todd. 1. is haDDV iust watchine. favorite saying and the girls pick out material and they go home and sew. Both Marilyn and her oldest daughter are excellent seamstresses. seam-stresses. Dave's favorite saying came from his father, "You don't have to make all the mistakes yourself, you can learn from others." Discipline isn't a real problem in the Thurgood household. Dave and Marilyn try hard to be consistent and fair with their children, and the hard work pays off. Marilyn comments, "If there is something good or important to teach your child it usually takes a lot of time and effort." Dave and Marilyn have put in that time and effort with their children. Whether it's working or playing together, it's plain to see that they all enjoy each other's company, and love being in a family with eleven times more fun ! of the challenges involved in raising nine children, Marilyn chuckled, "Trying to locate shoes and find socks that match, especially on Sunday morning." Actually, a bigger challenge than that came before Dave and Marilyn built their present home. From the time they had Tami, their oldest, through their sixth child, Amy, they lived in a trailer on their property. It took Dave and his father a little over a year to build their home in Lindon. Marilyn states that at the quick courtship was followed by a wedding on June 5, 1969 in the Salt Lake Temple. Dave Thurgood was born in Northern California, and raised in Clearfield. He is a graduate of BYU in engineering and currently owns his own engineering consulting firm. In his spare time, Dave enjoys working with wood, playing golf and all sports. He also has worked in scouting for the past six years, being involved in the Scout All the children enjoy music and reading. "All the kids just love going to the library," adds Marilyn. And they have plenty of time to read. They Thurgoods don't have a T.V. to take up evenings and Saturday mornings. In fact, reading often is one of the goals the Thurgoods have set as a family. -4 Everyone has a favorite saying, and Marilyn's is "Ah, we can make it". Whenever her girls go shopping for clothes, Marilyn chimes in her |
