Finished!

Grandson Colby's quilt is finally finished (most of the time was spent in waiting for the parts to come in for my broken sewing machine, which Grandpa fixed). Courtney got the material for it, and decided on the quilt pattern. (I got the striped border and pale green inner border). Courtney has already made the matching bumper pad for the crib and pillows. She got the cute animal print online. The animal print also used for the backing of the quilt.

I love this quilt pattern because it makes up exceptionally fast. (It looks uneven in this photo because I was shooting the picture, standing above it and at an angle.)

little Easter bunnies

Lauren makes the bunny cake every year. This year, she's added her own little bunny, Evan.

I've enjoyed my girls' Easter posts so much, I've delayed posting my own. Before we know, it'll be Christmas again, so I'd better get on it. The mommies and daddies do such a great job organizing the annual the Easter egg hunt. Grammy and Grandpa sure do enjoy watching the little ones fill up their baskets, and are amazed at how the number of bunnies hopping around in our backyard keeps growing.

bunnies and bonnets

Happy Easter to everyone! These two little granddaughters are so excited for Easter to arrive.

Back in 1956, I too was excited about Easter bunnies (I made this one out of construction paper). Wearing the Easter bonnet my grandmother gave me, was also something I looked forward to on Easter morning.

spring break happenings

We had fun doing little things . I took Avery and Kyla to the library where we enjoyed the magic show with Maisy the clown. Then we enjoyed the lovely spring weather with a picnic at Stevenson park. A little squirrel joined us for lunch, sitting 2 feet away, intently watching us.

When Elayna had her spring break a week later, she got to have her day with Grammy. After she made this Coroline doll (with a little help from Grammy), we saw the movie, "Race to Witch Mountain", a fun action flick.

Mark had his spring break from his final semester at dental school, so we all gathered for Colby's blessing. (Colby's getting just a little bored with all the picture taking!)

belated birthday post!

My wonderful husband turned 63(!!!) on March 27. Our Texas kids and grand kids came for the weekend to celebrate and to attend Colby's blessing. Grandpa is a native Texan, born and raised in the Houston area. Carl is so smart! He can fix just about anything, and recently surprised me by fixing and servicing my sewing machine. But most of the time, when he's fixing something, it's in our driveway or garage. Remember this car Lauren?

Well, I could go on and on and on about my sweetheart. We're going to be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary next week. We can't believe how fast these years have flown by. The best is yet to come!

I love you!

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.