Family History

I have discovered indexing. It's so much fun.
People have scanned hundreds of thousands of old census records, marriage records, etc. and the goal is to digitize all of the info...so you log on (new.familysearch.org)
And you pull up an old record (sometimes hand written, sometimes typed) & you fill in the info in a chart at the bottom (names, birthdays, birth place, occupations, etc.)
It's fun (but sometimes challenging) trying to read some of these old handwriting styles.

My Dad told me that my Aunt Peggy was the #1 indexer in the world at one time & she received a Thank You letter from President Thomas S. Monson!
How awesome is that?

I don't know if I'll have time to reach the #1 status at this stage in my life, but I enjoy doing it as much as I can.

I am taking a Family History class at church right now. I think it's like 8 weeks long. The teacher (Sister Pankau) is so passionate about it that I have been inspired to get started.
I want to start by copying all of the info, photos, and journals my parents have acquired over the years. They are major genealogists!!
I'd love to take a branch of the family tree & run with it, searching out the limbs...
Then there's Josh's family which we have barely begun.

I am learning that genealogy isn't just a fun hobby. It's not just a meticulous research project or a cool thing to do if you feel like it.
It's a sacred obligation to search out my kindred dead & make sure they receive their ordinances in the temple of the Lord.
The Spirit has touched me as I have begun this journey, and I am learning that it will increase my testimony and draw the Spirit closer to me.

What is new

Julian plays piano now! And he's in Talented Music at school. 9th grade. High school. Great grades! Seminary class every morning before school. (They are studying the Old Testament this year) ROTC... He is such a sweet person.

Emily is in Talented Theater. 5th grade. Just started playing soccer. Today was her first game. She loves singing & has a beautiful voice! She writes really good stories & draws too!

Joshua still works for Boh Bros. He is a counselor in our ward Bishopric. He & I started the RAVE diet 3 months ago (no foods that came from an animal). Josh lost 20 pounds!
I was so happy that he was willing to make this change with me & we feel great!

I have 2 jobs now. I take care of an elderly lady named Ms. Do-Rae. She's sweet! And I clean my Dad's office building.

Annie is doing great too. I walk her every single day. Josh usually joins us. She's such a sweet dog.

William

2012

My blog is like my journals. Big gaps of time unaccounted for...so much has happened but I'll just start from here.
Here's a family photo my Mom took recently. :)

My poor pitiful neglected blog

I have been a bad blogger.
And I have slacked off on taking pictures too!
This blog was what motivated me to take pictures! See the above picture of me? I had that mole removed back in November 2009.
I haven't loaded any newer pictures of me onto my computer.
I blame it all on my IPhone. I can load pictures onto Facebook from the phone so it's easy!!!
I guess I figured there weren't many people actually reading this thing anyhow!
But so what! I need to journal better. I shall improve

Nauvoo

ONe more Nauvoo post!

So yeah....
I took a million pictures on this trip...so get ready! Here are some of my favorites

My sweet niece Morgan!!
My big sis Keli. LOVEY
Randy got this shirt for Josh!!! LOL
My Dad must love ham sammiches.
Carrie is the bomb. Thumbs up for her big time!

Family trip to old nauvoo....

The kids got to swim in the hotel pool. FUN!

Nauvoo is awesome

We went on the Trail of hope walk...
And visited the Visitor's Center...
My Mom and Dad made the whole trip possible for all of us. They're so wonderful.
My hat says "Katie the great"...yeah, I amde it myself. We went to this "Sunset on the Mississippi" musical performance. It rocked.
Here we are at the end of the Trail of Hope. There's a memorial for all the pioneers who left Nauvoo but didn't make it to Utah.

More Nauvoo

Aren't we the coolest group of people you ever saw? Yep.
Look at my Dad sitting in the back seat of that 15-passenger van with all of the kids!!!! He is a glutton for punishment.
Madie and Julian
Stick pull!!! Julian is strong!!! He can beat me. Here he is with Hunter!
Roadside picnic!

Trip to nauvoo

I have over 300 pictures of this trip...how do I pick just a few???
Well, my Dad treated our family to a trip to nauvoo!! He rented a 15-passenger van for all of us...and we still had to bring my mom's SUV too. there were 17 of us on the trip. It was so AWESOME!!!!!
We went to the temple. It was so beautiful.

I love my sweet husband!!!
Me and my Mom. She's the best.
We went to Carthage jail, where the prophet Joseph Smith was killed.




There's the Helms!!! Randy and Carrie.
My Mom does this every time she sees a locust shell. LOL She cracks me up. Sometimes she hangs them from her ears, or wears them like a brooch.

In old Nauvoo, they have all of the old buildings, some are still functioning like the olden days!!
This was at the blacksmith shop. It was so cool- we all got rings made out of nails. very groovy.
Pioneer games!! Josh on stilts...
Emily in the "mini Nauvoo" village.
Handcart races!!!
The pageant was the best. It was phenomenal!!!!

Summer 2009

There's a new "spray park" by our local playground! The kids love going there and running through the water. It's hot as heck for me, but they're happy. I just find a shady spot under a tree and read a book...once I thought I'd just stick my foot in the water and a huge blast of water shot me in the backside.
There's a snow ball stand with a play area for LITTLE kids...but that doesn't stop Julian and Emily. LOL...We kept Madie and Hayden for a week while Keli went to Girls' Camp. She was the camp director or something. Our 4 kids got along for about 2 and 1/2 days...and I had them for 6 days....so that was interesting!!! But they love each other.

OH- see the dog in this picture? Poor thing. So this lady was giving him away on Craigslist. His name was Rosco and he was a dachsund mix. Well, we had him for like 2-3 weeks. He bit Annie in the face (our other dog- see how depressed she looks in the picture?) and then he bit my little 7-year-old cousin. I brought him to the pound as soon as that happened. It was sad.
Me and Carrie love taking our friend Patty out on "girls' days out"...but since school let out we haven't been able to. I'm pretty excited for school to start back up next week, but I am going to start subbing again too. HOWEVER, I will definitely take some days off...I love going to the temple and spending time with my sisters and my Mom during the school year.
That would be Julian and Hunter enjoying one of my Mom's AWESOME country meals out at the camp. All of the veggies came from the garden- potatoes, squash, purple hull peas, butter beans, okra...and then she made some fried chicken to top it off. We thought we'd died and gone to heaven.
Me, Madie, Ella, and Robyn picking peas. OH, and Annie...she's so sweet!
There we are shelling the peas. That's my favorite part. See that huge tub of peas? We filled at least 2-3 of those. Robyn and I stayed up til 2am shelling. Everyone else gave up and went to bed, but we weren't going to stop until every one of those peas was shelled!! Our thumbs were ACHING. LOL
Emily helped me wash my car in the driveway one day...I went inside and when I came back out I found that she had made a little "pool" for herself. LOL...I laughed so hard.
My Mom gave Emily a Haircut!!! She did a really good job too. I might ask her to give me one soon. My hair has gotten soooo long and heavy.

Soooooo.....one of my blog buddies (Kristina) emailed me and asked if I had died. LOL
Nope. I'm still kickin'.
This summer has flown by.
Let's see- what's new?
Well, I was called as our ward's Primary president which threw me for a loop!
It's a lot of fun, and I have been trying hard to be worthy of such a great responsibility.
I started an Ebay business and became practically obsessed with it...I have pretty much put that on the back burner though. It was taking over my life. I spent at least 50 hours a week doing it, probably more! I made about $1200 in 60 days too...so I was hooked.
We spent some time in Mississippi at the camp...
And we just went on a trip to Nauvoo, Illinois. My Dad treated our family to that vacation! It was so awesome. I am so happy that my children got to experience that. I have been so fortunate- that was my 4th visit to Nauvoo. And I'd love to go back! It's just wonderful.

Ten fun things to do at the camp

#1. Kick back on a hammock and read a book!!!
Or- hey,
#2. chew your toe nails:
Don't worry about the fact that you haven't showered in 2 or maybe 6 days...and you've been going barefoot....chew away!!! LOL

AWWWW- #3. bond with your cousins!!!! That's the best one of all....
#4. Harrass the poor dog! Yippee!!! What could be more fun? LOL
I love Ella!!!
#5. Play with bubbles! Thanks Aunt Keli!!!
#6. Ride a huge stuffed fish...... LOL
Alice is so adorable!!!

Or #7. throw an awesome Easter egg hunt:
#8. Sit on the side of a hill and watch a bunch of your crazy relatives purposely fall off a zip line into a huge mud hole! Top that!
#9. Load as many family members as possible onto one 4-wheeler so they don't have to walk 20 yards back to the camp. LOL
#10....and the best of all!!!! Be a REAL kid and do real kid stuff- like playing in a patch of dirt for hours on end!!! YAY!!!!
I can list at least a million more....I might just have to keep adding to this list. I haven't even scratched the surface yet!!!