Matrilineal Monday - My Grandma's

Today I have been thinking a lot of my Grandmother's and their Mother's....I spent the day in the kitchen canning 17 jars of chicken for our food storage.  Well what does canning have to do with your Grandmother's you ask?!?!  Good question :)  I keep wondering if my Grandmother's canned at all.  It may seem like a silly thing to you but it goes back to what I have been talking about in some of my older posts about putting ourselves in the same footsteps as our ancestors.

I know that my Grandma Wavel Adamson canned, as I can remember eating her canned pears and peaches.  Did she learn about canning from her Mother, Bertie Pattee? I think I will call my Dad tomorrow and ask that very question.

In today's world, some women would be offended at the thought of spending their day in the kitchen with an older family member.  Why that is positively medieval...right? To do such a domestic chore as canning and spending the day learning such a chore from someone so much older. Young people sometimes find spending time with the older members of their families a dull and dreary day.  How sad that way of thinking makes me.  I quite look forward to the times I have teaching my own daughter and someday hopefully my granddaughters (WAY...way in the future) the things I have learned and spending time talking together.

I am currently teaching myself how to can.  I have resources such as books, internet and the occasional advice from friends.  And while I find this new education very satisfying.  How much more special it would have been to have a Grandmother around to teach me. 

I know that my Grandma Adamson canned...but what about my Grandma Timbrel, Helen (Burrows) Timbrel.  And if so did she learn from her mother Elma... Chances are that they probably did do a little canning but to what extent? As I work around the kitchen I always wonder these things.  Oh to be older and have more memories.  I wish I could have learned at the knees of these beautiful ladies.  So please if you have these types of memories treasure them and think of them often, they live on inside you. :) And if your of the older generations, share your knowledge (even if it's not in the kitchen) with the younger generations...no matter how much they resist...someday they will treasure those memories.

So thankful I still have the chance to make memories with my own Mother...last fall she helped me when I was learning how to make freezer jam.  And she is always up for learning when it comes to canning.  I think she spent most of her time with her Grandma Elma at the sewing machine. When she was very young, she would make all her own clothing. They did a lot of sewing together.  What precious memories she has of those times.

Now go make memories either with your grandchildren or with your grandmother...depending on where you are in your life... :) And treasure each and every moment...because life is beautiful and so very short.

The only picture I have of both my Grandmother's together Wavel G. Adamson, Helen M. Timbrel

Do my kids know "What kids should know about their family's history?"

Last night we had parent invite night at my kids school, where you go and meet the teachers, see their rooms and the school, and they also had a silent auction as a fundraiser.  I love going to these things with my kids.  While in Maddie's room, I noticed hanging on the wall a story she wrote titled "How I got my name.".  It was beautiful and well written...the problem was that it was a mix of how she got her name and how her brother got his name.  As I walked away, I thought I really need to tell her how she got her name.  Intentions right....

I spend a lot of time working on my family history and that of my husband's, but this morning it occurred to me that very rarely do I share those stories with my children.  I share with my husband especially if I am needing feedback or find something really cool.  But very rarely do I share with my kids.

One of the things that frustrates me to no end, is the fact that my Grandma & Grandpa Adamson didn't talk to my Dad and his brothers about well hardly anything relating to the family.  Case in point, my Dad and Uncle's had no clue that my Grandpa had an older brother named Elmer Adamson that died when he was just 11.  It is possible that my Grandpa didn't know about his brother as he was young when he passed BUT his older brother's and sister had to remember him as they were all so close in age.  Why didn't my family talk about these things?!?!  Could be a sign of the times or could be that it was painful to talk about...the point is they didn't talk.  Sad?...why yes! very sad to me. 

So why if I am constantly frustrated by the lack of story telling in my family am I NOT telling my kids about their family history.  I am just keeping that circle of non communication going.  I know somewhere in the back of my mind I think "oh when they are older I will tell them".  The thing is that life is not guaranteed.  I could be sent back to my Heavenly Father at any time and any place.  And all those stories will be stuck in my very unorganized research and in my mind.  I should not be waiting to tell these stories.

Well this morning I read a blog post on the Lifehacker blog about "What kids should know about their family's history?".  This post talks about how important it is for children to know about their family history and how it affects their self esteem, depression and anxiety levels and how they interact with their family members.  There is a set of 20 questions that make up the "Do You Know scale" created by Emory University and University of North Carolina researchers.  Here is a link to the 20 questions on The House Mustardseed blog.  As I was reading through this list of questions, I realized I am not sure just how many my kids could answer.  What!?!? How can that be!! How can such a big family history person have children that can't answer 20 pretty simple questions!!

I can tell you that I am going to be a lot better about sharing all this wonderful knowledge with my kids...and no I won't wait till they are older! Now is the time to talk with my kids.  Life is short...love your family enough to talk about them.  Find them and share them.  And not just with the older member's but the younger generation.  Someday we will be the older generation...don't wait.... 

They are going to know who these people were before they were "Mom & Dad"!

                                             Theron & Mindy Oct 2002

Treasure Chest Thursday - Grandpa Burrows wagon

I absolutely love talking with my family about my family, especially when I can get them to talk about family members I wasn't lucky enough to meet.  If I ever met my Great Grandparents Jess & Elma Burrows, then I don't remember.  But I feel like I knew them through the stories I hear from my Mom and her brother & sisters.  I love that! It brings me closer to them and gives me the connection I have been looking for.

One thing all my aunts & uncle remember about my Grandpa Burrows was that he loved to be out in his wood shed.  And loved to work with his hands.  Grandpa Burrows worked for the railroad most of his life and was a good, hard worker.  But once he retired he was not one much for sitting around being lazy.  So he got a wood shed and set out to work.  He was always tinkering in his wood shed.

One day while visiting with my Uncle Lance, he honored me with one of the wagon's my Grandpa worked on.  I proudly display it in my kitchen.  Every time I look up and see it sitting there, I think of my Grandpa Burrows and how much I would have loved to have an hour or two with him in his shed.  Some day I will get that time with him....but till then I have this beautiful work of art of his to treasure...and I do.

 

Wordless Wednesday- George and Bertie Pattee

Love this photo of my Great Grandparents George & Bertie (Duel) Pattee.  We believe this is a photo taken shortly after they were married. 

George Lindsay Pattee married Bertie Free Duel on Aug 11, 1891 in Medicine Lodge, Barber, Kansas, USA.

Wedding Wednesday- Mom & Dad Adamson

I have recently been asking a lot of family members for pictures of their wedding day.  I realized that even though I have interviewed them and gotten photo's from some of my closer relatives, I forgot to ask for pictures of themselves.  Sometimes I get stuck farther back in the timeline of my family, and I forget to make sure I have stuff for the people I get to talk to on a regular basis. 

So all my wonderful family...if you would love (admit it you all would love to) to contribute to my collection...I would so LOVE (yes capitalized...I mean it) to have photo's of all the weddings in my family.  To me it doesn't matter if you headed on down to the local courthouse or had a big deal day, with the white dress and church. 

And while I am in an asking mood ;) if you are so inclined, a copy of your marriage license would be superb too. :)

In the mean time...here is the only pictures I have of my parents wedding day.  Enjoy....I know I do. :D

 
P.S. I know I have posted them before but aren't they just all so beautiful!! Love my family.

This one is new...maid of honor my Mom's best friend and best man Lyle Adamson 24 Jul 1965

Tombstone Tuesday- Eli Van Voorhis

Theron had a friend that passed away while they were all still in high school.  And since we were near where he was buried, while in Kelseyville, we stopped so Theron could say hi.  Such a hard thing when life ends young.  It was good for us as a family to stop.  My kids have spent no short amount of time in cemeteries but it is rare when we go to visit our own family.  So seeing that the headstones we visit all the time, were real people that lived and loved and had people that loved them was a special time for them.  And because it was someone that their Dad knew and loved made it all the more special. 

Eli, you will always be missed....

"Four Weddings and a Funeral"...ok well maybe not

Where have you been you ask?!?!.... Well, it may not have been "Four Weddings and a Funeral" for me but it was two weddings, a birth and a sick uncle.  So I may not have been out finding our family history, instead I have been living it. :D Best way to spend your time I think.

On Sept 7th my nephew Zach Adamson married the love of his life, Mabry Kemp.  I drove down for the day and came home later that evening.  Beautiful ceremony and beautiful love.  What a blessing and an honor it was for me to be a part of their wonderful day! :D Love you both and wish you a long and happy life together.

We left the following Tuesday, the 10th, for California.  Where Theron's sister was set to get married on the 14th.  We went a few days early to spend time with her and her new groom before the rest of the family came. And we took a day to take our kids to the Redwood forest, made it to one of the drive thru trees.  Amazing time with our family and amazing sites.

Theron grew up in Kelseyville, CA, where the wedding was held, and we went around and seen all the house's he lived in as a kid.  And all the sites which are so important to him.  While this Nevada girl got a little claustrophobic in all those trees, it was very beautiful.  He grew up next to Clear Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake that is fully in California.

Before we left for California my Uncle Lyle got sick and ended up in the hospital.  When we made it to Reno on our way to California, we stopped to see  him.  Love visiting with him and his family.  We talked a little of family history and I got a few good stories out of him.  I asked him if he ever heard any stories of Ray Coen or knew anything about him.  Sadly he didn't...but I am still going with my theory that he is wherever my Grandfather Ralph Adamson is.  Someday I will solve that mystery.  Love seeing my family there.  After visiting for a few hours we continued our long journey and made it all the way to Kelseyville that night. Spent a lot of time praying for his health.  Prayers answered and they admitted him to the ICU and gave him antibiotics on Thursday night.  He is home now and doing well.  Love that man.

My nephew that got married last November and his wife were expecting their baby on Sept 11th but the 11th came and went and no baby.  He was being stubborn just like his Daddy.  But on the 14th at 4:21 pm we welcomed the newest addition to our family.

Within two hours that day I welcomed two new members into my family...just absolutely wonderful.  Such exciting times in my family.  So welcome to Gary and baby Ryker.  I honestly couldn't be happier. :D

7 Sept 2013 Zach & Mabry Adamson

The Wahl Family Chandelier Tree Leggett, CA 12 Sep 2013

Kelseyville, CA Theron's hometown

Lyle Adamson Jul 2010

14 Sept 2013 Gary & Trista Judd

 I hear all the time people say that family historians, like myself, have a tendency to ignore living family for the dead.  But as you can see, for me that is not the case.  I so love being with my family.  Yes, they can be stressful and sometimes hard to deal with but really our relatives from long ago probably were also.  So if your stuck in your history, take the time to look up and see all the history that is being made.  It may have been a busy month for me (and it's not even half over) I have loved every minute...even the hard ones.  And just think I have so many entries to put in my database...that I was a part of. Miracles...every one of them. :D

Oh yeah and today is my birthday...so even better. ;)