Merry Christmas

Christmas 2010 will be remembered by:

Christmas blankets: I made fleece blankets for all the kids and grandkids. This stack is only half - the Utah half. I had them done and sent them home with Gene when he came up for Thanksgiving. (Thanks Gene) I forgot to take a picture of the second stack, but it was bigger than the first one. Then we had to wrap them all - wow! that was a BIG job. But from the "Thank yous" we received, they are nice to wrap up in and stay warm.


The 12 days of Christmas for the grandkids: We enjoyed finding family history this year and so a couple of the days of Christmas were family history oriented. We also included activities to feel the spirit of the season and others to keep little hands busy while waiting for Santa.



We did manage to set up the Nativity and read the Christmas story. We enjoyed the spirit of the season and the love that always abound this time of year. We received cards and newsletters and enjoyed visits with siblings, children, grandchildren, and friends.

Puzzles: Our family has always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles so when Roseann stayed with us for three weeks, she brought things to keep herself busy. She brought puzzles and we did some of my puzzles, but our favorite was a puzzle of the Nativity. We probably put together 10 puzzles while she was here.



Snowflakes on Christmas Eve. We had Christmas eve dinner at Chris' place and enjoyed a very nice ham dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, veggies, and pie. Afterwards, we all made snow flakes and played the signs game. Had a great time - the Baldwin's are fun to be with!

Family, Family, and more Family

Aren't families great? We have the best of the best!

1. Family get togethers are always great and when they are in the temple doing baptisms together, it is wonderful - thanks to all who helped with the 130 names we did last week.

2. Family spending the night is always fun. Ken and Roseann (Vic's brother and his wife) spent the night this week and we had a great visit with them.

3. Family birthdays are always fun. I like the look of surprise when they open that special gift you picked out just for them. And having cake and ice cream while we visit is great.

4. Family talents are wonderful. Kyle used is talent recently to help us redo the ceiling in our downstairs bathroom. He also helped us hang a blind in the family room. Thanks Kyle. And I always love to hear Kyle or Missy play the piano.

5. Family cookouts speak for themselves. Steaks cooked outside on the grill and the weather being warm enough to eat on the deck are the BEST!

6. Family emails and text messages and phone calls are the best ever. My heart always beats a little faster when I see the caller I-D says the call is from a family member. Tracking blogs is always great fun and a great way to keep up with pictures - I sometimes get teary-eyed when I read those.

7. Family support and encouragement - being there for each other even if it means having to travel to be there.

Genealogy / Anniversary trip

We just got back from Utah where we enjoyed a genealogy finding trip. We planned to meet Yvonne in Oxford, but their car overheated and they turned back - maybe another time. Meanwhile, dad and I turned off on the wrong road and were headed back to Oxford the long way. When we got the phone call from Yvonne, we were in Preston (south of Oxford) getting ready to head back North. After the disappointing news that they wouldn't be joining us, we decided to head to Richmond instead of going north to Oxford. We found the museum (which was closed, but they let us in anyway) and we found a beautiful table that Cornelius Traveller made. You can see the top of it in the picture above. It is in a pie shape. (Gene - it really needs to be refinished) We also met Lee Ann Traveller who took us around town and showed us the places that the Traveller's had lived. We tried to find the Olsen home, and took pictures of a few of them, but we aren't sure if they are the correct home. Guess we will have to do a bit more homework. Then we went to the cemetery and took pictures of headstones. Christopher John and Mildred Traveller Olsen (my grandparents), Christopher Marinus and Caroline Olsen, Cornelius Traveller and Francis Hobbs Traveller are all buried there.

Then we went on to Hyrum, Utah (originally Camp Hollow) where Cornelius Traveller and his family came with other settlers in 1860. They built dugouts in the hillside and then Ezra T. Benson (Pres. Benson's father) told them to move 1 mile west for better water and they built a fort to provide protection from the Indians. The fort was 2 1/2 city blocks long - had 38 cabins in it. The back wall of the houses were the fort wall. The creek ran through it to provice water for the gardens, and homes. The fort was on both sides of Main street in Hyrum (which runs East-West and I guess that is unusual as most Main Streets run North and South). We tried to find this monument by going to the museum. We had directions to the museum, but we were on the wrong side of the street and ended up in the City building. We went in to ask for directions and a very nice man told us the museum was across the street. I asked him if he knew where the Camp Hollow monument was and he said he did. He marked it on my map and then said they were going to move it to the original site of the dugouts. Then he said he was on his way that direction and he would show us the way. As we were leaving the building, someone said hello to this kind man "Hello Mayor". So, the Mayor showed us to the monument and then showed us the original site of the dugouts. Wow! what a great man. Then we came back and visited the museum and found out that the immigrants had planted 100 acres of crops for the winter and then dug a canal 21 miles long in 9 days. The interesting thing - the canal was built 4 feet deep, 4 feet wide at the bottom and 9 feet wide at the top. It has just the right amount of drop - meaning it will flow very well and all they had was a spirit level (the old levels with the bubble in them). When they turn the water out of the canal in the fall, it all drains and not even a puddle remains. They built the cabins and the fort at the same time and were ready for winter. The only problem was that the canal didn't provide the water in time to save the crops.

Then we spent the night in Logan and went to the temple on Friday morning. August 3 is our 37th anniversary and we were so close to that day that we felt it would be a great way to celebrate an early anniversary. When we got married in Logan, the sessions had live actors and you went up lots of stairs from room to room. It was remodeled in 1977 and now you stay in one room the whole time. After the session, we walked around the temple and took lots of pictures. This is my favorite. It is taken close to the spot that we took pictures on our wedding day. On our wedding day, I think we took 4 or 5 pictures. I wish we had taken more.

Genealogy

As you may or may not know, dad and I are family history consultants. We work at it off and on and I am constantly drawn to David Baldwin, born in 1803 inChenango County, New York. I have found a book on the history of Chenango County and have found other Baldwins who lived in the area at the same time. I am looking for them to see if they tie in to David.
The High Councilman in our Stake, Brother Yerrington, came over this week to teach us more and get us excited about helping others in our ward. As he went through our pedigree, he was teaching us about the Danish customs (he has a degree in Danish and English customs) and it was very fun to learn more. But after he left, I couldn't find the line he was showing us. So last night I was just going through my family tree and trying to find that line. I was going through each name and seeing how far back it went. One line in the Robinson family goes back to the year 1000. That was exciting to find.
Well, then I started looking through dad's lines and one line kept going back farther and farther. It went back farther than 1000 and it was in a line of kings. I was excited as I kept pushing the button to see how far it would go. Well, I started recognizing names from the Bible, like Abraham and Isaac and jacob. And everyone knows that if the line goes that far, it can go all the way to the beginning.
I was amazed as the name Adam - 1st man appeared on my screen. Dad asked me which line I was looking at and I couldn't remember. So I pushed the back arrow a whole bunch of times and it brought me back to the line I started on.
Now is the test - I want to see if you can find this line. Let me know your results.

In-laws

We learned about Ruth and Naomi today in Sunday School - how Ruth went back to Jerusalem with Naomi and joined her church. What a tribute to Naomi. Her daughter-in-law gave up her traditions and being with her family to join Naomi's family. She not only went with her, but she gleaned the fields so she could care for Naomi. Then Boaz told her to stay with the maidens and have lunch with them. Ruth saved half of her lunch for Naomi. She worked hard to take care of Naomi and listened to Naomi as she gave her advice on marrying Boaz. The customs in those days were such that Boaz married Ruth and their children were actually part of Ruth's 1st husband's family. Ruth gave her firstborn son to Naomi because she didn't have any more sons - they had all died.
I loved my mother-in-law and only had priviledge of knowing her for 5 short years. She was good to me and I wish I could have learned more - hindsite is always better than foresite. She was happy that we had 3 sons before she left this earth. She was a great grandma to our sons. I often wonder about how happy she would have been with our 6 children. Missy often told me that she missed grandma Baldwin - she never knew her. I'm sure that Grandma and Missy were great friends in the heavens above.
I have some wonderful daughter-in-laws & a great son-in-law. I couldn't have chosen better mates for my children. They are the mothers to my grandchildren and are teaching them the right things to do. Briant is so good to Missy and I couldn't have asked for a better son-in-law. Yes, sometimes I am envious that I can't be around them more; but my time now is spent in spoiling my grandchildren. We take opportunities whenever possible to love our children and their families.
I hope is that I chose, as Ruth, to give mom and dad Baldwin the love they deserved. I only wish the same for my children - that I can be a mom to Kat, Chantelle, Julie, Cindy, Briant and Taylor (yes, Taylor is a daughter to me already and her boys are my grandsons). Life is precious and family is the most important thing to me.
I love you all!!!!!!!!!!

The Baldwin Bash

wow! What a fun week! We spent Thursday evening with Kyle, Kat, and family as they were finishing a bedroom in the basement for Ashley and Katie. The girls were so excited and we had a great visit

Then on Friday we met at our place for a Pot Luck supper. Everyone brought their own meat and a side dish. We had plenty to eat and lots of fun visiting. If we could have changed the weather to WARM, that would have changed the activities to outside fun, but the little girls had fun swinging and the boys had fun on their skateboards.

Anna wore a t-shirt that said "I have a secret, I am going to be a big sister". We are so excited for them.

Saturday, we drove to Jackson. I was very concerned about the snow on the pass; but it was OK. We felt we had gone back a few months to winter. The swim was great and I wished I could have had pictures there as well. We had birthday cake for Gene & Devin, who had birthdays on the 16th and 18th.

Our Utah Trip to see the Grandkids

This isn't a grandchild - but the picture turned out really good didn't it Gene?


Sydney is getting cuter every day - she is 12 now. She doesn't like to smile, but I did a fair job of insisting she smile.

Cole is 2 1/2 and doesn't want his picture taken - he was too busy playing.

Anna is on the go every minute - she is so fun to watch. She is learning so many new things that you could write a book a day on what she learns. Devin and Julie work hard to keep up with her.

Tulips are Blooming

It sure is fun to have tulips blooming in the house in February - thanks to Pam for "planting" them for me.

Cool sunrise!

As I was driving to Rexburg the first week of February, I saw a unique sunrise. The sun wasn't up yet and there ws a beam of light going straight up. Well, I wished I had a camera and later remembered that I did have one on my cell phone.

Well, on my birthday, I was given the gift of another beautiful sunrise and this time I did take pictures of it. The beam is going straight up again, but not quite as pronounced as the first one I saw. Wow! the beauties of nature. What a loving Heavenly Father we have to give us these beautiful things to see.