a bit of March madness (in my kitchen)

Here's Lorna (my visiting teaching companion) stirring not one, but two, pots of potatoe soup for a Relief Society dinner for 40 ladies that we were in charge of (not the ladies, but the dinner). While she was frantically stirring, I was throwing food in coolers and loading the truck. Remind me never to go into the catering business !

look who Dad found!

Kids-- meet your 10th great grandmother, Mary Chilton, who is depicted in this well-known 1877 Henry Bacon oil painting. She is the girl being helped ashore. According to Chilton family tradition, first recorded in 1744, she was perhaps the first pilgrim to step ashore at what would become Plymouth. She arrived on the Mayflower as young teen (age 15),whose parents died on board. She was taken in by other pilgrims and later married John Winslow. Young Mary Chilton, one of eleven under-age girls on the voyage, was among the nine that survived. By contrast, only four of the fourteen adult women on the Mayflower survived the first winter. So your great grandmother was at the first Thanksgiving feast!

Mary received three shares in the 1623 land division—one for each of her parents and one for herself. Her land was between that of Myles Standish and John Howland. Later, her sister Isabella came from England.
Mary Chilton married John Winslow, who arrived on the Fortune in 1621. John and Mary had 10 children: John, Susanna, Mary, Edward, Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Isaac, an unnamed child who died young, and Benjamin. Sometime after Benjamin’s 1653 birth, the Winslows moved to Boston, eventually purchasing in 1671 “the Mansion or dwelling-house of the Late Antipas Voice with the gardens wood-yard and Backside as it is scituate lying and being in Boston aforesaid as it is nowe fenced in And is fronting & Facing to the Lane going to mr John Jolliffes” The house no longer exists but a plaque marks its place on today’s Spring Lane. John Winslow, a prosperous Boston merchant, died in 1674.
Mary (Chilton) Winslow died in 1679. Her will conveys numerous silver cups, tankards and spoons to children and grandchildren, as well as linens and furniture that would only have been found in a well-to-do family. The inventory of Mary’s estate equally bespeaks of a wealthy household containing perhaps as many as six bedrooms and at least nine leather chairs.
The Winslows are believed to be buried in the old Winslow tomb at King’s Chapel Burying Ground in Boston.

You kids and grandkids are directly related to her through Dad's mother (Granny)'s father's line.

Another March birthday!

Happy Birthday to Lauren who turned 31 (!!!) this week. Her best present is baby Evan who was born 2 weeks before her birthday. Lauren was a delightful baby and little girl, who loved doing everything big sister Emily did, including drawing, going to the library to get books, playing in the sandbox and on the swing set. She grew up into a young lady who enjoyed playing piano, getting good grades in school, singing in school choirs, drawing, and helping entertain all the babies who came along (shown here holding youngest brother, Carl). After high school, she attended BYU where she met husband Dan, and, while married and expecting her first baby, managed to graduate with high grades just a few weeks before Elayna's birth. Today she is a busy mother to 3 little girls and a boy. Her hobbies include reading, decorating, and photography.

Happy Birthday to Carl !

Our "baby", Carl turned 17 on Mar 2, sharing same birthday as niece Avery. He is a sweet son and a fun uncle(Uncle Ta-Ta) who's always willing to entertain his 5 nieces and 4 nephews. He's living life in the fast lane now, as an only child (his 7 siblings have left the nest) with old grandpa and grammy. You'd think that after raising a bunch of kids, that we'd be able to keep track of only one. Last summer, when we dragged him along on a vacation trip, we left him behind at a gas station. I didn't notice he'd left the car to use the restroom. We drove on, not realizing he wasn't with us, since he was so quiet the whole trip, sleeping on the back seat. Luckily, he had our cell number memorized. Just as we were about to pull up at our destination, we get a call,"Mom, you left me!" Everyone in the gas station was laughing, watching him run after our van as it was pulling out. Carl's birthday post is a bit late, since I've been very busy taking care of these two sweet granddaughters and picking older sister up from school. Their mommy, Lauren, is even busier, taking care of newborn Evan.

Kyla was so cute, helping me clean up the kitchen by washing down the benches.