October 27th…A date for good-bye and a date for remembering…

Heaven welcomed a new angel today.

My sister-in-law Connie’s earthly life ended this afternoon, October 27, 2013 after a short illness (although she lasted twice as long as the doctors first said she would).

She was pretty much perfect.

She knew her time was coming, and she had her life in complete order.

I’m pretty sure I would not be as prepared, or even half as courageous.

Here she is with Maddie, just a few months ago.

She will be missed a lot and we pray for her grieving family.

Thank goodness our faith gives us the comfort of eternal life with our loved ones.

Also…

Today, I dug out Grandma Palmer’s genealogy book (which I borrowed and need to return).

I re-typed a new copy of a little autobiography she had written that was quite faded and worn.

As I was typing, her birth date, October 27, 1902 jumped out at me.  I had forgotten that today was her birthday.

She was also an incredible woman.  She had a hard childhood with her mother passing away when Helen was just ten (her mother was the young age of 31).

She and her sister Lucille had to take turns keeping house for her father and brothers, while the other one would go live for a year with one of their aunts.  She learned at a young age how to cook, sew, iron, bottle fruit, darn socks, and keep a neat and tidy house.

The Lamoreaux girls:

Helen (left) and Lucille (right)

So you see, while October 27 may be just a normal day for you, it will always be a memorable day to me!

The comment below was written by the poet Carol Lynn Pearson, a friend of Connie’s, on Facebook today.  I think it is from one of her poems.

POINT OF VIEW...Sun and mountain meet. "Look," I say, "Sunset!" But I forget that far away an islander wipes morning from his eyes and watches the same sun rise. What's birth? And death? What's near or far? It all depends on where you are."

A little magic…

I’m hoping that I can get the Halloween magic going this year.

(Sometimes it is a lot of work.)

I have a big plan for my costume that involves some of this:

photo credit

Stay tuned.

JoAnn

P.S.  I may need some inspiration from all my elves. 

(Wrong holiday, I know!)

P.P.S.  I wish I could go to sleep-I know it’s late-but my mind is too busy tonight.

Fall Break

I’m looking forward to FOUR wonderful days off

from school (counting the weekend) for our fall

recess. 

(And the weather report is for sunny weather!)

What plans do I have, you ask?

(I’m sure you must be so curious.)

My wish list includes:

 

 

We’ll see how it goes.

JoAnn

P.S.  Maybe I need some more of this.

 

Enjoying Fall Leaves….a drive through the mountains

 

Warning….lots of photos coming up….

On Saturday we took advantage of the warm, sunny weather and took a little drive to see the last of fall’s parting colors.

The red maples in the valley were still stunning , but with two rainy weekends before, the crimson colors in the hills were mostly gone.

We went south to Provo.  I always love the rugged foothills above the BYU campus.

The snow covered peaks that you see in the background are Mt. Timpanogas.

We then traveled north and east, going up Provo Canyon,heading for the Alpine Loop Scenic Drive.

What’s a fall outing without a little picnic, even if it was a little chilly in the shade?

Our son Andrew, his wife Irene, and two kids went with us (actually, we went with them).

We turned off the main road and drove past the famous Sundance Ski Resort.  Don’t you love the yellow aspens?

This is the back side of Mt. Timpanogas.  Isn’t it stunning?

Some lucky folks have a mountain cabin tucked in this beautiful setting.  I’m jealous!

Utah has some amazing mountains.

Time for a little photo shoot.

The road wasn’t quite as bad as the Road of Death in Bolivia that  we saw on television, but I found myself holding my breath a few times.  The speed limit of thirty miles per hour was more than ample for my taste.

Lots of other people had the same idea of enjoying the leaves.

It was a fun day.

I hated to see it end!

 

“Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile.”

― William Cullen Bryant

JoAnn

Soup, conference, and someone we all admire….

 

It has been a wonderful weekend!

This weekend has been the semi-annual conference for our church,

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

(Click on link above to see more.)

We have enjoyed listening to wonderful messages given by church leaders and inspiring, beautiful  music by the Tabernacle Choir.

One of my favorite speakers was Elder Jeffery R. Holland.  His message of hope for those suffering with depression and other problems was inspiring and insightful.  (You can hear his talk by clicking on his name above.)

 

What a spiritual feast!

 

(Image taken from simplyjune.org)

Boy, did I need this advice!

And…

 I also enjoyed spending time with some really nice people,

my family.

We did some digging through the “memory” books and photo/scrapbook drawers and uncovered this family portrait drawn by Katie when she was in early grade school.

Have you ever seen such stylin’ people?  (And so attractive!)

Our family has grown since then (and our hair styles have improved a bit), and we consider ourselves really lucky and blessed to enjoy being together.

How about a little side-by-side comparison?

 

Everyone was going to have a lazy day today and stay home and relax (conference is broadcast on television), but the promise of home-made cauliflower soup,  chicken noodle soup (with home-made noodles), and hot rolls was enough to lure most of them all here.  We always miss those who can’t be here.

We all love soup!

We also found this little essay written by Heidi, probably around 1986, about Ken’s sister Connie.

Connie is one of those people everyone likes.  She has always served others and is a wonderful role model.

She has terminal cancer, but she continues to be an inspiration to all of us.

 

If we could bottle time, I’d certainly save some of today for later.

I hope you had a nice weekend, too!!

JoAnn

Temporary Favorite Color….orange

I’ve never been a big lover of the color orange.

It doesn’t compliment my skin tone.

I don’t own one single piece of orange clothing.

It clashes with our house colors.

It’s one of my least worn out crayons.

But…

I find myself drawn to it during this time of year.

I had fun looking back through several years worth of our pictures, finding some orange images that I love. 

 

Here are a few more images that I found on line. 

Source

Source

Source

So you see, I am guilty of under-appreciating the wonderful color

O r a n g e !

JoAnn

P.S.  Do you love the color orange?

Happy Birthday, Michelle! 

I love your pumpkins!

 

 

Capturing life’s memories….

I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty short memory when it comes to recalling events and daily happenings.

The sad thing is, I think I’ll remember, and yet I quite often forget important details.

I have never been patient enough to do cutesy scrapbooking.  While other people would  create fun and exciting pages, I would struggle to come up with anything even slightly interesting.

(Yes, I have a few years worth of heart or oval shaped scalloped edge photos in my attempts at trying to be creative.)

I was in the habit of writing my family a weekly newsletter, but during the last year it has suffered a lot.  I’m trying to get going on it again. (Knock on wood!)

My blog is a pretty good history of our family happenings, but I don’t share many things which are too personal or too private.

(Or too embarrassing!)

My parents are both gone now and how I would love to know more about their daily lives.  The “life histories” they left behind are both only several pages long.  I do have a lot of old letters my mother wrote to me during my college days, and it is fun to read about her time baby sitting my nephews, her visits taking home made bread to sick neighbors, and some of the daily frustrations and joys of being a farmer’s wife.  Don’t you love to hear about the little things that they did?

My in-laws have wonderful  history books they have written,but I treasure the weekly letters they sent us while on a mission in Ghana and Nigeria sharing their daily struggles to find enough food, or their humility as their prayers were answered for safety.

So, what is my point?

I think I’m writing this to give myself a little nudge in the personal history department, and if it helps someone else get motivated, too, then that is even better.

I thought I’d make a little list of some ideas that might help preserve memories.  Maybe some of them will help you, too.

1.  Write a daily journal (or at least one with several entries in it every  once-in-awhile!)

2.  Blog, Facebook, or email letters that you can print or save.

3.  Write family newsletters.

4.  Save hand written letters or cards you receive from family, or copy ones you send.

5.  Organize photos, making sure to print some and save copies of them in multiple places in case of computer crashing, fires, or other disasters.  Scan in old photos that pre-date digital cameras.

6.  Save old calendars or date books.  They contain small snippets of daily life.

7.  Organize photo albums or scrap books.  Take advantage of coupons and publish hard cover books on line.

8.  Ask relatives to share copies of histories or photos that they have. 

9.  Record, tape, or film relatives talking.

10.  Take lots of pictures.  Do some as yearly traditions to document and compare how things have changed.  Don’t forget to label who they are!

11.  Don’t think it has to be perfect!  You can always edit things later.

Go here for some other good ideas.

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as

long as we remember it.”
― L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl

JoAnn

P.S.  How do you preserve your history?

P.P.S.  Thanks for the photo, Liz!  Her friend Ashley Gammill took the photo.

We miss you Shane!  My nephew Shane  has been gone for three years.

I’m grateful for my memories of him! 

Thanks for sharing the photo, Travis!

My daughter, Liz, and I seem to be on the same wave length tonight.  Check out her blog post here.