Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and an Orange Bus story finished.

The rest of the story...
We started back to Texas from Vernal, UT.  The Hero was stressed because it had taken so long to get the bus running that he was 2 days late starting back.  His decision was to not stop.  That he would drive as far as he could then I would drive and vice versa.  I figured sure why not. 
As we dropped down to moved off the mountain roads to Interstate 70 in Colorado,  the Hero advised me to lie down with the baby.  He would drive as long as he could.  This was not unusual, so I went to sleep with the baby.

Eisenhower Tunnel Colorado

I am not sure how long I slept, but I was a wakened by the sound of big trucks, and motorcycles, and flashing lights.  I sat up and saw what I heard flying by our VW bus.  I was overwhelmed. "What is happening? I feel like I am in a Start Trek movie at warp speed." I called to the Hero in the front. 
He started laughing.  "We are in the Eisenhower Tunnel.  I am gearing down to keep from going too fast." 
I felt like I had just entered panic mode.  (I will digress here and explain an old VW bus's brakes.  Not so hot.  We did not have power disc brakes.  This was a do it yourself-er. I tried to find an explanation on the internet, but failed.  Suffice it to say, our main holding brake system was the emergency brake.  Oh that is another story... shifting on a hill.)
I was now wide awake and shifted up to sit by the Hero in front.  Panic set in that our baby was in the back asleep on the bed and we were plummeting down this tunnel.  I could not see an opening ahead.  The 18 wheelers were petrifying me.  I was amazed at how in control the Hero was.  He concentrated on the keeping the speed within manageable range by downshifting.  He did not ride the brakes as I would have.  I do have to say, he had driven big Mack trucks for their cement company, so he was familiar with using gears.  On the other hand, he had not driven in the mountains in a truck. 
Finally after what seemed forever, we came out of the tunnel.  The road evened out and I could breath.  Now I am thankful for the tunnel it makes travel easier, at that time I was not so sure.  I thought it was insanity.
When we arrived at Denver, the Hero was exhausted.  I was not well rested (no duh), so we found a rest stop to pull over at and slept for the rest of the night.

It was fine, and he was my Hero.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero another Orange Bus story

Hummer's Orange Bus Scrapbook page.

Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has a program called home teaching.  The men of the church are assigned families to visit and assist in spiritual teaching as well as any other needs their assigned families stand in need of.  The Hero felt very privileged to be a home teacher and took his assignment very seriously.  One of his assignments was a young man in his twenties who joined the church, but no one else in his family was a member.  The Hero liked the young man's family and made friends with them while visiting.  The young man went off on a mission for 2 years, but the Hero kept writing him and visiting his family to support them.  At the end of 2 years the young man came back and soon he was getting married.  The young girl's family was from Salt Lake so they decided to be married at the Salt Lake Temple.  The Hero and I were invited.  We were broke, had 3 children, worked, but the Hero said we are needed because the young man's family will need a familiar face and support since they will not be able to go into the Temple. 
We farmed our 2 oldest children in Oklahoma at my parents, and took our little son with us.  We were clueless how we would  find a babysitter.  Just after we passed Colorado, we heard a funny noise from the back of the bus.  The Hero investigated, and came back with the news that one of our bearings was going out.  If we drove carefully, we should make the trip to Salt Lake, but would have to repair it before starting back.
We made it to Salt Lake.  The wedding was beautiful and the family was lovely. I can not tell you more about that because the week after stands out more in my mind. 
When the wedding was over, the Hero called the repair shops in Salt Lake... Saturday afternoon, everything was closed.  He called the young man who had taught us about the church and now lived in Vernal.  Wayne knew a shop in Vernal who could fix the car and we could stay with his family until it was fixed.  That excited us both. What a fun thing to do.  I loved it because I learned how to dry apples on a screen out in the sun, and met the loveliest people. 
Monday came, the Hero went to the foreign auto shop and came back disgruntled.  They did not have the bearings and did not work on VW's.  On the other hand they were nice enough to order the bearing for him.  He would have to put them on himself.  This was tricky for two reasons.  Our trip had just been extended another two days... his employer was trying to be nice, and he had never put on bearings by himself ever.
They arrived the next day, he jacked up the rear of the car and proceeded to remove the wheel and the old bearing, keeping in mind all the steps so he could put it back together. 
Things went well with the first wheel...(he said you need to replace both sides at the same time) then a disaster happened on the second one.  First, he dropped the bearing in the sand (we were at a logging company area) and second he had hit it wrong slightly bending the rim knocking it into the sand.  Wayne's brother got him a bowl of gasoline to clean the bearing with.  When I got the baby down to sleep, I took a diamond deb fingernail file and began to slowly smooth out the rim, and sat visiting with him to calm him down.  Yep, he was upset.  At about 1am, I had the rim smoothed to where the ball bearings moved correctly.  The Hero was able to apply the bearing, and was able to fall on the bed in a relaxed sleep.
He said I was his peace and calming force.  Next week I will share with you the trip home.

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and an Orange Bus story

The first experience the Hero and I had of desert like weather was when we went to Arizona to visit.  It was mid to late May.  In Texas it was already very warm to hot.  We packed accordingly.  It was before the days of internet checking weather. 

While we were there, we visited the Grand Canyon with his sister, and a some ghost towns. It was cold at the Grand Canyon and we had to borrow coats to when we explored.

The Hero with daughter #2, a niece, daughter #1, nephew and moi.

Our time visiting the Hero's sister was wonderful. The time in Mesa was wonderful. Then, it was time to go back home. We made our plans to go through the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest on the way back.  We wanted to see as much as we could because a trip was a premium item for us.  After fond good byes, we headed back toward Texas.  The trip through the Painted Desert was hot and dry.  I look back now and think why didn't I take pictures of the family with the landscape.  Books with pictures of the Painted Desert landscape are readily available in stores and on the internet. My family at the Painted Desert is not there and won't be, because I took a picture of what the desert looked like. Take a lesson from me and make memories that count. 

The trip through the Painted Desert took longer than we anticipated.  We looked at the map and recognized that it was too far to make it to a camping ground that evening.  At the end of the Park gates was a large parking area, we pulled over, ate supper, and read stories until the girls fell asleep.  The Hero, sat his table outside on the ground next to the van so we could make the girls bed on the floor and we could sleep in the back.  It got chilly and we ended up with all of us snuggled on the bed.  The Hero woke up first, and began to clean up the sleeping gear so I could make breakfast.  He discovered it was COLD (a note here, it was cold but not freezing, however the Hero thought anything below 70 was freezing, lol).  He opened the door, then closed it quickly.  His decision was that we were driving on to find a place to go to the bathroom and eat breakfast.  I started dressing the girls as he drove.  From the front of the van about a half an hour down the road I heard.... "Oh no!"  I responded with "What is wrong?"   (Head slap) "I forgot to pick up the table.  It is sitting on the side of  the road."   Deep sigh from the Hero, "I guess, I'll have to make another."
Another lesson.  Don't rush off from your camp, you will always forget something. 

Wordless Wednesday, Wondering Where and When.

William Steve Sackley B1867 in Chicago.  I think this is a theme photograph taken in Chicago. There isn't any marks on the side or back to prove this.  I am guessing this is in the early 1900's maybe 20's.  Terrible at identifying clothing times. This isn't the first time a Sackley Photograph has stumped me. Click here to see the post.

FamilySearch Indexing Update

I received an email from Paul Nauta of FamilySearch Indexing on the update of the new Indexing projects.  Oh wow, we are going to need some help!  By joining us the research material can become available to you sooner.  We will need some with language skills too! 

It was such a long list I decided to share with you on here.  If you are not an indexer yet,  click here to join us at  IndexingFamilySearch

Created by Hummer with County Family Tree

New Projects Added

·      Argentina, Córdoba, Bell Ville—Registros Parroquiales, 1759–1946
(Argentina, Cordoba, Bell Ville—Parish Registers, 1759–1946)

·      Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Part C]
(Brazil, Rio de Janeiro—Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 [Part C])

·      Brasil, Rio de Janeiro—Cartões de Imigração, 1900–1965 [Parte D]
(Brazil, Rio de Janeiro—Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 [Part D])

·      Canada, Ontario—Births, 1869–1912 [Part B]

·      Chile, Concepción—Registros Civiles, 1885–1920 [Parte 3]
(Chile, Concepción—Civil Registration, 1885–1920 [Part 3])

·      Deutschland, Baden-Württemberg, Emmendingen—Kirchenbücher, 1810–1869
(Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Emmendingen—Church Books, 1810–1869)

·      Deutschland, Brandenburg, Posen—Kirchenbücher, 1794–1874
(Germany, Brandenburg, Posen—Church Books, 1794–1874)

·      Deutschland, Mecklenburg, Schwerin—1867 Volkszählung
(Germany, Mecklenburg, Schwerin—1867 Census)

·      España, Sevilla—Nacimientos Civiles, 1844–1874
(Spain, Sevilla—Civil Births, 1844–1874)
In partnership with GenSevilla

·      Estonia—Lutheran Church Books, 1603–1940 [Part B]

·      France, Coutances—Registres Paroissiaux, 1802–1907 [Part 2]
(France, Coutances—Parish Registers, 1802–1907 [Part 2])

·      France, Quimper et Leon, Brest, Notre Dame des Carmes—RegistresParoissiaux, 1771– 1909
(France, Quimper et Leon, Brest, Notre Dame des Carmes—Parish Registers, 1771–1909)
In partnership with Cercle Généalogique du Finistere

·      Guatemala—Registros Civiles, 1800–1900 [Parte B]
(Guatemala—Civil Registration, 1800–1900 [Part B])

·      Honduras, Tegucigalpa—Registros Parroquiales, 1684–1930
(Honduras, Tegucigalpa—Parish Registers, 1684–1930)

·      Italia, Mantova—Registri Civili, 1806-1815
(Italy, Mantova—Civil Registration, 1806–1815)

·      Italia, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Atti di Nascita, 1809–1885 [Part 1]
(Italy, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Birth Records, 1809–1885 [Part 1])

·      Italia, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Atti di Morte, 1889–1924 [Part 2]
(Italy, Napoli, Castellammare di Stabia—Death Records, 1809–1885 [Part 2])

·      Italia, Torino, Torre Pellice—Atti di sepoltura, 1692–1969
(Italy, Torina, Torre Pellice—Burial records, 1692–1969)

·      Italie, Turin, Torre Pellice—Registres paroissiaux 1692–1969 [Partie1A]
(Italy, Turin, Torre Pellice—Parish Registers, 1692–1969 [Part 1A])
In partnership with Cercle Généalogique du Finistere

·      Mexico, Aguascalientes—Nacimientos 1860-1921
(Mexico, Aguascalientes—Birth Records, 1860–1921)

·      Philippines, Lingayen-Dagupanâ—Registros Parroquiales, 1615–1982 [Part 2]
(Philippines, Lingayen-Dagupanâ—Parish Registers, 1615–1982 [Part 2])

·      Polska, Diecezja Lublin—Księgi Metrykalne, 1864–1948 [Część 2]
(Poland, Diocese of Lublin—Church Books, 1864–1948 [Część 2])
In partnership with Lubelskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne

·      Sverige, Södermanland—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2]
(Sweden, Sodermanland—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])

·      Sverige, Uppsala—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2]
(Sweden, Uppsala—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])

·      Sverige, Örebro—Kyrkoböcker, till 1860 [Del 2]
(Sweden, Örebro—Church Records, to 1860 [Part 2])

·      U.S., Alabama—County Marriages, 1809–1950 [Part B]

·      U.S., Alaska—1930 Federal Census

·      U.S., American Samoa and Guam—1930 Federal Census

·      US, Illinois—Northern District Naturalization Index Cards, 1840–1950

·      U.S., Indiana, Fountain County—Marriages, 1811–1959
In partnership with Indiana Genealogical Society

·      U.S., Indiana, Fulton County—Marriages 1811–1959
In partnership with Indiana Genealogical Society

·      U.S., Iowa—County Marriages, 1838–1992 [Part B]

·      U.S., Nevada—1930 Federal Census

·      U.S., North Carolina—County Marriages, 1762–1959 [Part C]

·      U.S., Ohio, Franklin County—Marriage Records, 1929–1951

·      U.S., Oregon—County Marriages, 1851–1975 [Part A]

·      U.S., Vermont—Vital Records, 1760–1954 [Part C]

·      U.S., Virgin Islands—1930 Federal Census

·      U.S., West Virginia—Naturalization Records, 1814–1991
In partnership with West Virginia State Archives

·      U.S.—Registers of Enlistment in the U.S. Army, 1798–1913

·      Česká Republika (Tschechien), Litoměřice—Matriky, 1552–1905 [část 1C]
(Czech Republic, Litomerice—Church Books, 1552–1905 [Part 1C])

·      Österreich, Oberösterreich, Steyr—Kirchenbücher, 1601–1906
(Austria, Upper Austria, Steyr—Church Books, 1601–1906)

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and a Spider Bite

Grandchildren, I will digress from our orange bus stories to tell you a story of our spider bite anniversary.  The story came to mind when we were talking about spiders in the T's room.  I was telling her about her mom's spider bite... that will be for another story.  Discussing it with Em, brought to mind the story of the Hero not telling me about a spider bite. 

I keep essential oil at all times. The spider picture came in an email, no person to attribute to, the bite is in keeping with what the hero's bite looked like when I first saw it, the map is from National Atlas

We had planned for several months on going to Oklahoma for  our anniversary.  I wanted to find my great grandfather B D Langley's grave in Frisco, OK and visit the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.  The first mission was accomplished and I will blog about it at another time.  We headed on to Tahlequah for the Heritage Center. 
When we arrived, the Hero said his leg hurt.  I thought he meant from tramping around the hilly graveyard.  No, I found out that evening (6PM of course on a Friday night) that he meant his leg HURT.  I looked at the area he was talking about and my head spun with "what do I do with this?"  I asked him if anything had bitten him.  He said that he had felt a bite two days before at the office.  He had looked under his desk and saw a small spider. The bite had not looked to be anymore than a small red dot, so he had forgotten about it.  Well, when I finally saw it, the color of the skin was purple reddish with a black necrotic (dead tissue ) area in the center, swollen and a red streak starting up his leg from the bite.  Big sigh.  It looked like a brown recluse spider bite. (I was a RN at the time).  It was too late to go to the pharmacy, actually everything was closed in the small town by that time. We did not have insurance to go to the hospital, which he wouldn't have done anyway.  I was his nurse, I should fix it.   I racked my brain for a home remedy I could use to stop the apparent infection that was starting.  Looking in my bag, I found 3 essential oils, lemon, clove, and lavender.   I had some alcohol, and band aids. I had a needle and tweezers.  Big sigh.  First, I put clove oil around the bite to reduce pain (it helped), then I scrubbed the area with warm soapy water.  After cleaning it, I took the needle and tweezers and began to debride (take off the dead tissue) the wound.  Yes, it was painful and he was awesome at handling it.  After I had removed most of the dead tissue, I cleansed it again, applied clove oil and then lavender oil followed by olive oil to the wound to protect it, the put on a band aid. I applied lemon oil diluted with olive oil to the red streak down towards the wound.  He took three asprin and fell asleep. 
The next day it looked better, but we repeated the steps above.  This continued for the rest of the trip.  It did not stop us from enjoying the Cherokee Heritage Center and exploring the surrounding areas.  We loved Eastern Oklahoma.We loved being together.
When we got home five days later, the area was scaring, but the red streak was gone.  I talked him into going to see our family doctor.  The doctor was a friend of mine and said "good job, but let's do one round of antibiotics just in case."  The scar never went away, but we had been able to prevent a horrible infection with awful consequences that I have seen with Brown Recluse Spider bites.  I found out later, if we had had raw garlic that that would have worked too. I used it with my children later and it worked like a charm.  Useful knowledge when you live in an area inundated with spiders.  (Funny note:  your uncles will use the garlic, they will not use the essential oils. )  : P  Hope you never have a problem like this, but it is good to have a bag of home remedies that you can fall back on just in case.

Follow Friday Great Missouri Treasure Hunt

Missouri State Archives is having a Great Missouri Treasure Hunt.  The Missouri Genealogy Research Community on Facebook suggested this would be fun to do and to share finds and methods to help others.  This sounds like my kind of fun. As the picture above shows, I have spent some time searching in Missouri, and it still holds some mysteries for me too.  Click here to find out about the prizes, categories, and dates of the Treasure Hunt. If you have someone or information to find in Missouri, what better time to do it.

Happy Fourth of July! Sharing a Slice of Life: Patriotism

United States Flag in Texas taken by Hummer

The Fourth of July has always been a favorite holiday of our family, both past and present.  We love the beauty of the fireworks in the sky.  And the national anthem always comes to our lips and mind as we hear the cannon sounds along with the bursts of color flying through the air.
Texasblu of Sharing a Slice of Life put up the prompt for Patriotism. 
The Hero and I spent a year studying the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. One of his favorite books, well all of ours, was 'The Proper Role of Government' by Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture in the 50's and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The Hero was a staunch defender of the Declaration and Constitution.  He had strong feelings about the way our country was going.  I always expected him to get up in arms or call for the Militia... but his feeling was we would do better to teach true principles of how man should treat man and how the Bible taught the principles of governing ourselves.  He thought if people knew truth and true principles they would not be deceived by men with desires of power.  I am probably not explaining well, he was the articulate one in the family.  What he did do, was instill in his children not only a love for their country, but the feeling they should be involved in having a say about their country.  They fly the flag, have read the all the above books, are registered voters, keep up on current events, and stand for truth. I had a part in this, but he was the zealous one. 

My wonderful family, picture taken by Hummer

Today, my daughter dressed her small daughters in Red, White, and Blue dresses.  She and her husband wore red, white, and, blue.  The surprising thing was no one else in her church wore any of the countries colors. 
Tomorrow, the Fourth, we will have the standard watermelon, blueberries and whipped cream and watch the fireworks after a barbeque.  I hope your Fourth of July is filled with flag waving, fireworks, family and maybe even some local speeches. : )

Sentimental Sunday... The Hero and Our First Orange Bus Trip

We were on a trip to Louisiana for the company.  The meetings were over late.  We did not relish driving back to Houston late at night, but it was needful.

Off we started, I was in the shot gun seat reading to the Hero.  This was our usual method of traveling.  He drove and I read.  Reason, he was auditory and I was visual.  We were traveling down a two lane road.  It became slow because we came upon a couple of trucks. We had a CB going and he began listening to their chatter.  Finally, he became tired watching their lights and decided to pass.  As he pulled out, the trucks started parting on the road, he slowed down wondering what was going on. Luckily he did, because he saw two glowing eyes ahead. The truckers started whooping and hollering "Did you see that? Black as night and huge!"  The Hero joined in with "thought it was going to be hamburgers tonight".  They all joked back and forth for a little.  A herd of Angus cattle were strewn across the road. Somehow the truckers and the Hero had managed to wind through them and none were hit, a miracle with them traveling down the road at 55+ mph.   We were shaken, but grateful that we came through unscathed.  This was a memorable night for the Hero. A story he told several times. 

Lesson grandchildren... Pay attention when you are driving, you never know what may be ahead especially late at night when you can not see well.  If you feel you should slow down, listen and do so, it could save your life and others.

COG 107 - The Seasons Of Genealogy: Not What I Thought I Would Be

Created by FootnoteMaven

As I read the topic for the 107th Carnival of Genealogy, I immediately began to contemplate what season I was most active in doing my genealogy.

This was not hard.  I do genealogy pretty much 24/7 and all year round.  I have a quote on my emails "Genealogy is not just a pastime; it's a passion."-Mary Harrell-Sesniak-.  My children would say, "yep, pretty much". 

 

In the spring time of my life, I would steal any time I could to go to the library.  I have to say that the Hero was helpful as much as he could be. I loved the books and films.   There is just something invigorating about seeing shelves of books and possibilities.

 

As I moved into the summer of my life, research became more difficult.  I worked, the Hero became ill, and children decided to get married. (really!; rolling eyes)  I still was able to surf the internet, index, and compile my family tree in my spare hours. I thought, not so bad, when I reach the fall of my life I will go to the library all day long, travel to family sites, research to my hearts content.

Now that I am in the fall of my life, I am discovering that it is not as I had thought.  I have children who seem to need me more as adults than when they were teenagers.  There are the grandchildren that need family stories told to.  Finances are definitely not wonderful, so trips have been for family not research. Am I stopped from working? Not at all.  When I arrive at a child's house, they realize that wifi internet is an essential part of my visit, and mom will be up a bit late working because the day was spent making memories.  I still steal moments at the library, and play on the internet. Genealogy life is pretty good.

I wonder now what the winter of my life will be. Crossing my fingers and toes that the search will go on, and I will be able to break down the brick walls and find the wives parents that have eluded me.

I love genealogy and accept that it is not a pure science nor is it easily pursued.  It does give one a thrill in the pursuit of finding a factual source of ancestors.

It is definitely a passion for me that does not have "seasonal bounds".