Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Trials

Now, for some serious stuff.

It seems lately that so many of our friends and family have had difficult things to deal with in their lives. I love this quote and want to share it with you, out there, who are trying to endure.


"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility.
All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our character, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of god.....and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father in Heaven. "( Orson F. Whitney )

Monday, March 16, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MELISSA

Somebody is having a birthday. (Melissa and Kacey)
Happy Birthday to Mom- these are Melissa's adorable kids. She has done a great job raising them. We do have the cutest grandkids!!!

Seems like yesterday these three were having fun on the tramp. Actually they still have fun on the tramp, everytime they are over. Emalie, Garrett and Scotty


This goes way back. Grandma Louise LeSueur holding Emalie (who is now a beautiful 15 yr old). This is the last picture we had of Grandma LeSueur.
Do you recognize these people?
Darren, Russ, Sandy, Grandpa Waldo, Chad, Melissa and Scott, Grandma and Emalie, Kristen and Melanie. 1993


How old do you think she is? I'm not telling but I will give you a hint- next year will be a "big" one.

Here is the family at Manti Utah reunion, minus a couple of girls. We really appreciate how Melissa has always been apart of our big family and supports all our family activities. She is a kind, loving and patient and supporting wife and mother. She always has a good attitude and is happy and pleasant.


How could Russ be so lucky to have such a great wife. We all love her and are grateful to have her in the family. I especially like the way she has always treated me. She is a daughter to me and a good friend, We used to have fun shopping and decorating together. She is too busy for those kinds of things now.Being a mother to teenagers, and and grade schools kids and working full time takes every minute of her day .
When we were in Manti she found this gravestone of a Susanna Chapman and know she must be a relative. Nearby is the stone of Welcome Chapman. I 'm sure her dad Terry Chapman can tell us who he is. We are grateful for the good heritage she has and especially her parents who have taught her so well. (Terry and Linda are serving a mission in Virginia)

Melissa and her oldest boy Scott. He definately has a lot of Chapman in him. Isn't he goodlooking? He is also a really nice, good boy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA, WE SURE DO LOVE YOU AND YOU HAVE MADE ALL OF OUR LIVES BETTER BY KNOWING YOU.









Friday, March 6, 2009

Happy Birthday to Lindsay


This is our daughter-in-law Lindsay. We just want to wish her a happy birthday and tell her how much we love her and love having her as a part of our family. She is a good wife to Darren and a great mom.

When Lindsay first came into our family I am sure she was unprepared for what lay ahead. She comes from a small family, one sister and no cousins. However she adapted very quickly to our family with tons of people on every side. I am sure she had a hard time understanding how our crazy boys acted but she never seemed to complain. Look at Darren, he has hair and I love it.




Some of the things that we admire about her is her willingness to be a part of everything we do. She is always happy and has a big smile and a good disposition. We appreciate how hard she works, and know it must be hard for her to leave her cute little Makenna with her grammas. She has given us two wonderful and gorgeous grandchildren, who are delightful. (I can sure see Makenna in this picture. )



Here is a picture of Lindsay with her sister, they are about the same age as Makenna and Addison are right now. I'm sure this brings back many memories to her mom and dad.





We appreciate Lindsay's wonderful parents who have raised her right

and taught to be a hard worker. Terry and Mike, you did a great job raising this baby.



We are happy to have her in our our family. All the grandkids love her and think she is so fun. She is always nice to everyone.



Happy Birthday!! Hope you have a great day.







Thursday, March 5, 2009

APRONS

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.


The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath,because she only had a few,it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ' old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.

Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs was on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.





My family knows that I have always used an apron. Could it be because I am so messy?

A friend sent this to me. The same friend who helped me choose the fabrics and patterns for these vintage aprons I made my girls for Christmas. I had fun making these for the girls (or Moms) I don't think they quite know what to do with them. Maybe they can get an idea or two from grandma.



The fabric and pattern for these aprons were bought from Trelva Greenhalgh a friend who sales all kind of cute fabrics on e-bay and out of her home.