Wishing You a Blessed Christmas

About this time of year in the past, the Hero and I would be doing last minute shopping.  There wasn't a lot of money and so we would take the time to stop by the card aisle and choose a card we thought was just what we wanted to say to the other... We would then offer it to the other to read, then put back.  Then sentiments were held in our hearts.  I think of that as I walk down the aisles at the stores during holidays.
Christmas is not what you spend, rather what memories you make.
The late hours of sewing, assembling a toy, sitting and hold a little one and singing carols.  Hugs.
Making the most of each moment is so very important for a life time of memories.

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas from the Hero and me.

Blog Caroling -- I Love Christmas Carols All Year

Over the last few years I shared the Hero's favorite carol "O' Holy Night', and mine "I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day"

I love following Footnote Maven on the blog and on Facebook.  In spite of overwhelming challenges, she is always uplifting and showing how to overcome.  She has a regular 'Blog Caroling' theme every year.  This my support of her effort.  Not to mention, I really love Christmas music every day of the year. :)  This is a link to Footnote Maven's Blog Event. (Click on Blog Event)

 "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a favorite Hymn/Carol.  Our family knows the words to without a sheet of music. The text was written by Phillips Brooks. The words to this song paint such beautiful word pictures for me.  

Elements from LetmeScrapbook.blogspot.com  Finding Nativity elements is difficult. 

Merry Christmas Caroling to all. 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories No. 2: Holiday Foods

I have been avoiding posting, so much going on with family loss and challenges.  But I saw AnceStories post and decided I need to get a grip and enjoy the Holidays sharing memories.

Holiday Foods

In our family, there are many memories around Holiday Foods.

Two years ago, I shared GreatGrandmother Sackley Ellsworth's Rum Balls. Last year it was my mother's Date Roll.

This year it will be Great Aunt Mary Gadleman Ellsworth's Cheese Cake. 

When Holidays rolled around We would all gather at either the Hero's mom's house or his uncles. They are all gone now, but the memories live on.  

Mary's recipe from the Ellsworth Domestic Goddess Cookbook by
Aine Ellsworth Schulmire

Sentimental Sunday ...The Hero Back Seat Driving

The Hero was always on the alert for my safety while I was driving... or maybe safety of the car????
He would sit in the shotgun seat and give alerts like there's a red light ahead, or watch out for that car.  Annoying right.  I do have to say there was an alert he gave that always sent me into a fit of giggles.
The area had been plagued by pine bark beetles.  The forest had lost acres of trees.  Thus when he would bark out the alert "Watch out for that pine bark beetle, as I rounded one of our road's 90 degree corners.  I would just start laughing.  I could visualize a beetle on the side of the tree in a state of horror or shock at the "close call" he had just had.
To this day, as I turn the corner going home, I will chuckle and remember "watch out for that pine bark beetle!" and smile.

Love those memories.

Sentimental Sunday, The Hero Was a Mischievous Boy

A story the Hero would often tell to remind himself of how boys are not always angels, was one between his mother and himself at about age 6.
It was a beautiful day for being outside.  The Hero had been playing in the backyard, but soon ventured into the front yard. After a little, he wandered across the street to the neighbor's yard.  After a while, he heard his mother calling his name.  Did he respond?  No, he shimmied up the front live oak tree.  Climbing up as high as he could to keep from being seen.
Soon, he saw his mother come out into the front yard calling his name and looking for him.  He said, "I don't know why, but I scrunched down more into the branches and didn't say a word."  She then came across the street and knocked on the neighbor's door.  He heard her ask if the neighbor had seen him.  They walked out right under the tree where he was and started looking up and down the street.
At this point, he was thinking it was funny they didn't see him, and began to snicker.  He couldn't hold it back, one snicker turned into full blown giggle.  His mom looked up and there he was...   We are left in the dark at this point, because he said, he didn't remember what happened after she found him.
What do you think happened?

A Town Without a Library is like a Body Without a Brain.

I love Libraries. They are my number one resource when looking for what is available in a small town.  I always stop and visit when driving in an unknown area to me to see what they have.  I had the following experience when visiting the Fremont County Library in Landers, Wyoming.  I arrived with only 30 minutes to research in their genealogy department. They had a wonderful Wyoming collection.  Because of a small staff, they were unable to be with me, the books are locked in cases to protect the collection.  They would have to come pull a book, leave me in the room.  I would then have to go get them, and do the process over again.  It has to be an awful challenge to them, leaving what they are doing and helping in another area.  They were nice, and tried as best they could to be helpful.  It was evident time was not on my side, I told them what I was trying to accomplish regarding my great grandfather.  They immediately said you need to visit the new museum.  They called on the phone and found that it would be open another hour, so they gave me the directions. Their help ended up with my finding out where the burial records were sent for my great grandfather.
A Town without a Library is like a body without a brain.  
Now you know why I back the Support Your Local Library... Read on.

FIND A LIBRARY NEAR YOU

FIND YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY
INFORMATION INTEGRATED
WITH GOOGLE MAPS

DATA SOURCE:  IMLS

Sources:

• ALA Library Fact Sheet
• Bureau of Labor Statistics - Data
• Bureau of Economic Analysis
• Northwestern University Libraries information
• MIT Library Data
• Institute of Museum and Library Services
• Census.gov - Public Libraries in the U.S. 2009
• ALA - Funding Technology Access Study
• Volunteer Match - Engaging Volunteers
• Pew Internet - Libraries, patrons & ebooks

• ALA Quotable Facts - American Libraries
• Harrison County Library - Facts and Figures
• Stanford University - Library Facts
• Library of Congress - Fascinating Facts
• Libraries for Real Life
• Houston Library - Facts
• Library Journal - Annual Library Budgets Survey
• ALA - State of American Libraries Report - 2012
• NationalService.gov - Benefits of Volunteering
• ALA - Library Operating Expenditures

Thank you to StateStats.org

for providing this infographic and other free web guides and tools.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Wanted to Hunt

When we were first married, the Hero wanted to be like his brother-in-law and hunt. His father had never gone hunting to his knowledge.  The Hero was wanting to put duck on the table... I mean meat on the table.  He asked Tim if he could go with him the next time the guys went out.  A date was set, and the Hero's dad gave him a his old shot gun.  He sat and cleaned it several times making sure it was in perfect condition.
The day finally came.  The Hero dressed in a jacket and jeans.  It was a cold morning for coastal Texas.  He drove over and met 'the guys' to go out to the duck blind.  They had a cooler of beer.  He was hoping for hot chocolate.   Their first order of business was to set him up on one side of the pond and they went to the other, with the words 'wait for the duck to land'.
He sat there, lying on the ground, vigilantly looking at the sky and the pond where a decoy had been placed near some reeds.  It was quite a while before he finally heard a quacking sound.  He strained his eyes.  A duck was nearing the pond. It slowed and began to land on the water.  The Hero was excited. The duck was in front of him! He took aim, shot, and missed because he was shaking.  He shot a couple of more times, but the duck got away.
The other fellows came over in a foul mood.  "Why were you shooting?  That was the lead duck, a scout. You should have waited until the flock began to settle in.  Now they won't be back.  Might as well go on home."
He came back home 3 hours later, cold and unhappy.  "Why didn't they stay with me or instruct me.  Tim should have known, I didn't know anything about duck hunting."
It wasn't the best experience, and the Hero never got to go hunting duck again.
Later, he raised ducks for the freezer on the farm.  He said it was a much better experience.