Monday, October 4, 2010

Monday Memories—Thaine and Isabelle

 

  
Such a poor picture for such beautiful apples.  Sorry.  I had it on the wrong setting.

Cali, Grace, and I made fancy caramel apples this weekend and it reminded me of . . .

When we lived next to my sister, Lynn, and her family, Lynn and I took the kids trick-or-treating and left Calvin and Fred home to pass out the treats. We went to a dozen neighbors or so, but because there were miles and miles between our homes trick-or-treating still took a good couple of hours.

One home we visited was Thaine and Isabelle’s. They lived at the end of a gravel road about ten miles from us. Behind them were hills of sagebrush. For as long as I’ve known, and I’ve known them my whole life, Thaine and Isabelle were 65 years old. They never looked older or younger. They just always looked 65.

One Halloween our kids were all mobile and independent, so Lynn and I visited in the car while the kids ran up to the door by themselves. Thaine greeted them. He dumped lots of candy in their bags and then handed them two caramel apples and said, “These are for the drivers.”

Lynn and I were surprised at such a thoughtful gesture, especially something so labor intensive as caramel apples. Isabelle made wonderful caramel apples – smooth, silky, browned just right, and the caramel stayed stuck to the apple, too. Only Isabelle would think to give a treat to the drivers, we thought. We thought sweet things about her for several miles.

A few weeks later Thaine told us at church that he got a good chewing when Isabelle got home later that night. He’d misunderstood. Isabelle hadn’t made the apples for the drivers, but for someone else. Oh ho. Poor Thaine. He’d handed them all out.

Passing through hometown last year, I squealed when I saw Isabelle in the temple and gave her a great big hug. She still looks 65. I’ll bet she still makes good caramel apples. Only Thaine would think to give them all away.

As long as I’m thinking about Isabelle, I’ll tell you a joke. I’m terrible at jokes. I can never remember the punch line. Except this one. Isabelle told it to me one summer when we were camping when I was a little girl. I still remember it.

“On top of a hill, there is a school. In the school, there is a bell. What is the teacher’s name?”

“I give up” I told Isabelle.

She smiled and told me to think harder.

I told her I still gave up.

She said, “The school teacher’s name is Isabelle. Get it?”  And then with great emphasis, “In the school there is-a-bell. That is the teacher’s name.”

Isabelle, Thaine, caramel apples, punch-lines. Sweet memories indeed.

12 comments:

Carolyn said...

Hahaha, that joke is funny. I told it to Brent and he got it right away. Darn him. :) Those apples look beautiful! Good work, ladies.

Cassidy said...

Those apples look YUMMY!!!

Jill said...

Those apples look amazing, what a great gift!

Rachel said...

I'm so sad I missed out! Those apples are beauties! Remember the cherry braids we made? Mine looked awful!!! Luckily it tasted almost as perfect as Cali's looked!

Kim Sue said...

You tell the most wonderful stories.

Julie said...

Your apples are BEAUTIFUL! I taught a caramel apple class 2 years ago here in Norway. I was all excited because fall is the perfect time for caramel apples right? I thought the sister's would love it. I had lots of women come but mostly because they had never NEVER had a caramel apple and wanted to try it. And here I was thinking that caramel apples=fall. Now I want to make some. Can I have your caramel recipe?

Derek-Jenny-Kaitlynd-Ethan-Dylan said...

YUMMY!
My mouth is salivating! If only I lived closer...I would have been up to my elbows in caramel....and I would not be giving it away!
LOL

Marie said...

Those apples are beautiful! Wow! I've never seen a caramel apple all 'dressed-up' before!

I'll bet you twenty bucks I copy this before the month is over.

melanie said...

Yum, yum your apples look so good! I always want to copy this but only after the kids aren't around. Can you imagine them with the caramel and me smiling next to them? Yeah, me neither!

What apples are your favorite to use?

Lucy said...

Can I come hang out with you? Please?

Chelsea Roylance said...

Not only are the apples beautiful, but they taste delicious too! Martin and I shared the one that Grace brought us yesterday for dessert and it was scrumptious :) Thanks for sharing with us!

michelle said...

I don't know if Thaine would be the only one to think about giving away the caramel apples... I can see you doing that, too. Lovely.