Susan mentioned my love for making quilts on her blog. So today I'll tell you the story of why I love Quilt making.
I was 10 months old when Pearl Harbor was bombed and the United States entered World War II. While there was no fighting or bombing in the US where we lived, I knew that other places were being bombed because some of my first memories are of blackouts. When the sirens sounded we practiced closing all curtains and turning off all lights so that if an airplane with a bomb was flying over they couldn't see where the towns and cities were. They didn't have all the radar and equipment to find targets that we have now. When I was about 18 months old my brother, Bill, was baby sitting my sister and me while our parents made a quick run to the grocery store. While they were gone the lights went out and the sirens sounded. Since the lights went out without us turning them off and the sirens were blaring Bill was sure that an airplane with bombs really was coming. So he opened the blanket compartment under the sofa bed and had Naty and me crawl into the foot high storage place so that if a bomb fell the sofa would protect us.
As we were crawling into the sofa Mom and Dad came home and said everything was all right--the power plant had caught fire and the electricity was off and the sirens were calling the fire department. By the time the war was over when I was 4 and a half I had seen many newspaper pictures and newsreels of the devastation caused by the bombing in Europe.
After the war Ezra Taft Benson toured Europe and documented the terrible condition of the Latter Day Saints and the rest of the people. The Church sent out letters to the wards and branches asking for donations of food, clothing and blankets for the people in Germany especially. Our small branch of the church decided to make baby layettes to send. I remember playing at the little old building behind the City Cafe where we met for church while the ladies in Relief Society crocheted around receiving blankets and tied quilts and made nighties for the babies. Each layette had 2 quilts, two receiving blankets, two nighties, two saques (shorter nighties) and 4 dozen diapers and some booties. Naty and I got to go to the 5 and 10 cent store to buy Diaper Pins and baby bottles to go with the layettes.
And so the layettes were finished and sent to Salt Lake so they could be taken to Germany.
And I was there when the thank you letter came from somewhere in Germany telling us about how happy the people were to have them. They had made each layette do for 4 babies. They wrote, "you have made our babies so pretty and so warm. We were wrapping them in old newspapers and rags or anything we could find. Thank you so much."
I have never forgotten that letter and cannot even think about babies being wrapped in anything but nice warm baby quilts and that is why I love to make quilts.

Let It Snow

We've had so much snow this year that some of you grandkids will remember it as a stand out year. You know--"Remember the year we had so much snow for Christmas and there were big piles of snow along the streets for so long?"

Ask Aunt Susan, Aunt Laura and Aunt Carolyn if they remember The snowy winter when we couldn't get up the last part of our driveway out in Oregon, even with Their Mom-me- riding on the back bumper of our VW bug to give the car more traction. So we all hopped out and everyone carried some of the groceries (Your Grandpa, Stan, put the ham inside his coat) and we hiked up the last little hill to our house in the woods.

Little Mike and Courtney may remember the snowy winter when they lived down the block from us. Snow piles were taller than they were.

My mom, your great grandma Ray, can remember the snow being so deep in Orderville that they could sled right over the fences and go for long sled rides.

What will you remember about this winter with lots of snow?

Bulletin Board

Item #1 Little Mike is returning from his mission the first part of March. His homecoming will be March 15, 2009 at 9:00 am. If you want to go we will need to coordinate--Laura can't sleep all 72 of us.

Item #2 Obviously our family picture needs updated. It's down only 18 people with 2 more on the way. What if we each took a family picture within the next 6 months and then modge-podged them together for a complete picture. That way maybe Carolyn and Darren could get one before Nathan leaves on a mission, But Steph and Daniel and Amy and Rob could include their new additions in their pictures. What do you think?

72 Hour kits

ERIN, AMY, AND TRACEY GOT TOGETHER YESTERDAY TO START THE BALL ROLLING FOR THE KITS. THESE ARE THE ITEMS THAT WILL GO IN ALL OF THE BACK PACKS......

Food , water, whistle, paper/pen, giant bag for clothes/shoes, poncho, mylar blanket,

flash light, batteries, lighters, pocket knife, rope/cording, duct tape, first aid kit,

toilet paper/baggy, toothbrush/toothpaste/baggy, brush, shampoo, soap/baggy,

small entertainment items to help with stress (coloring book/crayon; word search; cards; etc...),

hand warmers, candy/jerky/gum


AND THESE ARE THE ITEMS THAT WILL BE ONE PER FAMILY.......

First Aid (really nice), Crank & battery radio, shovel that folds, hatchet, tarps, flares,

Hunting knife and sheath, bug spray, BofM and Bible(small travel kind), leather gloves,

water filter, iodine/purification tablets/filters, back packing stove/fuel


If you have any items that are critical we've just over looked please leave a comment and let us
know. We arn't able to include everything obviously we have our limitations of what we can do.


Please if you have anything to add or change let us know by the end of January. We will be posting again with more info. on everything as we get together and get the next step done, Hopefully we will be dividing and explain full detail by the end of February. Call Erin, Amy, or Tracey with any Questions or if you just can't wait until then to know more. (: Love ya:) Amy, Erin, and Tracey

Happy Birthday! Jasper. Jasper likes to try new things--sometimes they work well, like learning to play soccer last summer and making big goals for his team; and sometimes they don't. Sigh. Now Grandma is trying new things--Blogging. I hope it works well. Today is Jasper's birthday and he is beginning a new year of life and Grandma is also beginning something new. So Jasper gets the first HAPPY BIRTHDAY blog from Grandma. I hope you have a fantastic day! I love you Jasper.


Grandma's Sports Story
When Grandma was a little girl , about 6 I think, My Mom enrolled my sister and me in a Recreation program run by our small town. We had to walk about a mile to the high school and we played games like Mother May I, and played on the swings and slides and other equipment at the elementary school on the same block. The older kids knew how to play tennis and badminton and basketball but Naty and I just had to watch because we were too little and didn't know how to play. But one day a week we would get on a school bus and go to the swimming pool in Redmond and play in the water--I didn't really learn to swim but it was fun. It was a fun program. I remember learning to do cart wheels and summer saults on the mats. ( I learned a lot of the crazy songs I know on those bus rides back and forth from the swimming pool.

But one day at Recreation, Naty and I were watching the older kids play Badminton in the gym and when they left, they didn't put the rackets and birdies away. So Naty and I tried hitting the birdies over the net. Of course we didn't know how so we soon tired of it. We had no idea where the equipment went or how to check it out and return it, so we found a place between the bleachers that were folded up against the wall (we were little enough to squeeze in between two sets of them) and put the rackets on a shelf made by the bleachers. Another day that week the older kids left a volley ball out when they finished playing so we added it to our stash. I don't remember how much equipment we actually ended up with but for a few days we had fun playing with it. We didn't learn how to play the games.

Then one morning the leaders of the program--mostly High School kids--called us all together and told us that some of the sports equipment was missing and that if they didn't find it we might not get to have the recreation program. When everyone went to activities Naty and I showed them where our stash was and told them we just found the things laying out and didn't want them to get lost. The teachers were happy to have the equipment back but they never did teach us how to play the games. They did set up a check out program for equipment so there was some responsibility for returning it.

I'm glad that there are programs for little kids now where they really do learn how to play the games.

$2.99 5 gallon buckets

Hey everybody, Great deal at Macey's on their buckets and lids for food storage. $2.99 I'm not sure how long it will last.

Hi, everyone!

Well, I'm hoping to create this for 3 reasons. So our family can have a place to communicate deals they find(with the idea of preparedness in mind) Also, dates that every one might want to know about. (homecomings, reunions, baptisms, blessings, etc...) And last, In hopes that momma might write often and tell us and our kids stories of childhood. Funny and spiritual. Some of her own, daddies, grandparents, genealogy, and maybe even her kids. Just memories she has. So those of you who are bloggers, or just enjoy a good blog, encourage momma. I think it will be lots of fun. She has enough stories we could probably get one a day for the rest of her life and she'd still be rollin' in her grave with more to share.:) Love ya.