Lary and Marianne were very excited to be moving to Texas for Law School. What an adventure for a little farm family from Idaho. We were not rich in worldly things, but were very rich to have three daughters, love for one another and strong testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our move to Texas was not without challenges, for the first thing, our car got hot one time while Marianne was driving back from Springville, when we were still at BYU. Therefore, we had to take a 5 gallon bucket of oil with us to add oil more often than we had to fill with gasoline. When we stopped at a stop sign, black smoke would curl up around us. It is amazing we actually made it to Houston! We got a trailer from Harry Thomas that was made from a pickup bed with wooden side boards. We did not have much to take, just beds, clothing and kitchen item, a stroller and a few toys. We remember of having a hard time understanding the service station attendant when we got into northern Texas, because of the thick Southern accent. After a few weeks, we were able to listen carefully and catch what they were saying.
Because LaReesa seemed to have a bad cold for such a little baby of about six month, we stopped in one of the towns along the way and got some antibiotic for her. She improved, but never was as well as we wanted her to be. Sometimes, the change in location introduces a lot of different illnesses that are easy to catch, especially for little ones.
Our first job was to find a rental for six months. After some phone calls and searching, we finally found a house on Greensboro Street. It was located near the Nabisco Company and a rail road track. The house was unfurnished and did not even have curtains. But, it was the best we could do with limited finances and being so new in the area. Fortunately, our next door neighbors were members of the church and were able to help us learn where to go to church and were a great help in getting settled in our new location.
When we arrived at the rental house, we had quite a new experience. Houston was having their normal rainy weather and stepping on the grass felt like stepping on a sponge soaked with water. Although it was about 65 degrees, because of the humidity, we felt cold. Needless to say, our first night trying to sleep in a new location did not give us much rest. One thing we learned quickly was that we were not in a quiet neighborhood. The railroad track bordered our back yard and the night shift loaded rail cars in the middle of the night. We thought the “Russians” were coming when a load speaker came on followed by the banging of heavy rail cars together. Laralyn was
