Little Red Wagon

Like I’ve said before, when I was a little girl, I used to spend quite a bit of time by myself. It’s not a bad thing. Although at times in my youth I would get quite lonely. Every once in a while my mom would suggest that I go on a picnic. She would pack me a lunch and I would ride our little red wagon down to the bottom of the hill that our house was on.

I would sit in the wagon next to the little creek at the bottom of the hill and eat my lunch. I never felt alone then. I would sing and eat and watch the water trickling down the stream.  I would spend quite a bit of time there at the bottom of the hill. Noone ever came by, but it was almost as if the wagon became my friend. I would sit in the wagon in the sun until I got too hot, then I would move to the side of the creek in the shade. Every once in a while, a breeze would come by, adding to the experience. Finally, I would pull the wagon back up the hill to our home. It always felt so peaceful there in the little red wagon by the creek.  I remember another time using the wagon as a sort of wading pool, plugging up the holes that were there for drainage, filling it with water, and sitting in it on a hot summer day. Awww, refreshing!! I loved our little red wagon. It’s too bad I got too big.

Nerdfest 2010!!

Flexy had his 19th birthday
last week on the March 4.
 We decided to celebrate by having a Heroscape party!
You can learn about Heroscape here!
Heroscape is Alex’s favorite game to play.
He and his friends play for hours and hours. It’s what you call good clean fun!! I think everyone had a great time at Alex’s party (AKA -Nerdfest 2010)!

Family History Friday (FHF): She had 16 Kids! Part 2

Part 1 –here!
Charity said
she had 15 children.
She told us on the census.  My mom found 14 children by looking at the census records.  We knew for sure that 4 children had been born, and had died as children (I kept wondering if maybe she lost count). My mom and dad went on a trip to the place where Charity lived after she came to America. She lived  in Colorado, in a mining town.

We knew that Samson had died about a year or so after Charity and their children came to America. My mom and dad took the trip because they wanted to see the area and town and hopefully find out something new. It was mostly a ghost town with only a few people living there, in what they called their summer homes. They went to the cemetery to see Samson’s grave and  found it. It was a large beautiful head stone. Charity’s grave was a few rows over, she died much later that Samson. The miracle is…that next to Samson’s grave was a small grave stone with a lamb on top of it. The inscription said, Katie, daughter of Samson and Charity. There she was, the 15th child!! She was only about 2 when she died. She only lived long enough not to show up on a census record. We would still be wondering where the 15th child was, if mom and dad hadn’t taken that trip. I am so glad they did. Remember, I was telling you a while back…use your vacations to travel places your family came from. You may find out something that you didn’t know about them. And you may just have a great time. I love my roots.
Happy Family History Friday!! Love, Joy

Family History Friday (FHF): I love to sew!

I have always loved to sew! In fact, I would say I’m not half bad at it. I took a sewing class in high school and passed with no problem. I just seemed to be a natural. I have made oodles of clothes for my darling little girls (who are now grown up). In fact, it wasn’t until I became an adult that I really understood that I might be pretty good at sewing, because my grandmas were both good at it. Maybe it is in the DNA. My dad’s mom was actually a seamstress. My grandpa owned a taylor shop in Pullman, Washington, and grandma would sew the suits. My mom’s mom use to sew dresses for my mom and her sister. Many pictures of my mom and my aunt growing up, are taken of them wearing outfits my grandma made for them. Knowing that I have a talent that was so much a part of both of my grandma’s lives means so much to me. Sometimes when I’m sitting at the sewing machine I think about them and my heart is full. Full of love and appreciation for them and their lives and talents. See what talents you have that you may share with your ancestors. Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

5 Faves on the 5th

1- Four leaf clovers!
I found one once…I’ve been lucky ever since!!! 😉
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2-19 year olds!
What a fun guy!!
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3-Having a MOM!!
I’ve had a Mom for 48 years. I think I’ll keep her.
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4-Spring
A time of new beginnings!
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5-the color green
I love it!!!

Happy Birthday!!! My Flexy is 19!!!

Well his name isn’t really Flexy. He just asked me to call him that when he was about 5 years old. It has been 19 years today, since he was born. When I had Alex, and they handed him to me, they said, Here is your baby“. I was quite overwhelmed, because I had a 19 month old baby at home. The first thought I had was…”What was I thinking?” Well, I must have been thinking…”This will be fun!! Let’s have another baby!!” I remember going to the grocery store with Riley in the front of the cart (you know, where I probably shouldn’t have put him), Kelsey in the baby seat and Alex hanging off the front of me in an infant carrier. GOOD TIMES! I only left the house to go somewhere, if I could take my time. People would pass by and say, “You look like a busy, mom.” Honestly, it has been fun. Alex has been such a fun little boy, teenager and young man. He is getting ready to go on an LDS mission and is soooo excited. We’ll let you know where he gets his call when it comes!!
I love this darling boy!!!
Happy Birthday, Alex!!

True Love!

Love
is not a life spent with someone you can live with, it’s a life spent with someone you cannot live without.
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When I first started dating my sweetheart,I knew he was the one for me. I actually had known him for about seven years before we dated. I knew him all through high school and always thought he was a great guy. He was very shy; not so much now. It was quite a effort to get him to ask me out in the first place. We would talk after church for hours and sometimes save each other a seat during church (we went to the same ward). Then we had our first date and then many, many more. Somewhere in the dating, an old friend called. Someone I really cared about before I started to date my darlinest. He wanted to see me again…yup, it was a kink. I didn’t really want to date him, but my sweetheart told me he wanted me to go out with him so I would know for sure that I wanted to be with him and not with “old guy”. I agreed and went on several dates with my other friend until I knew that I wanted to be with my sweetheart, for sure!! I had spent time without “old guy” and survived! And the thought of living without Mr. Wonderful just about broke my heart. I KNEW I COULD LIVE WITHOUT MY OLD FRIEND, I ALREADY HAD, BUT I ALSO KNEW THAT I COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT MY DARLIN. Remember…”Love is not a life spent with someone you can live with, it is a life spent with someone you cannot live without.”