Family History for Kids

I mentioned that I've been working hard on an assignment for a Family Discovery Day hosted by our local Family History Center. The point of a Family Discovery Day is to help people learn how to research and build a family tree and to discover, document and share family stories. My assignment was to make a display about involving children in family history. I came up with 9 different activities to share family history with children. Over this next week, I'm going to post one each day. This was a lot of work at a really busy time of year, but I'm so glad to have these games and activities ready to share with my own children and grandchildren. And I now have several items to add to Miss Abigail's hope chest. What does family history have to do with a hope chest?

Well, I think family records and stories are a vital part of a hope chest. If your family is or was Christian, a family Bible was probably part of someone's hope chest. Other religions have similar items, relics and documents. Most families had at least a box with old pictures and documents in an attic or basement. The box got passed along from generation to generation.

I want Miss Abigail to know who she is and where she came from. I want her to know the stories that were told to me when I was young and to be able to share those stories with her children. So, as I mentioned in this post, I've made scrapbooks for her early childhood and she has learned to do that for herself now. I've worked hard to collect pictures and stories of our ancestors and have them in computer files and hopefully will find the time to create a book someday. My goal in this area has been to create some activities for my young grandchildren that will help them learn about our family. Young mothers don't often have the time to create these kinds of activities and my daughters-in-law are as busy as most. Abigail will have the same challenge. If I can create these books and games to include in her hope chest, it will make her life easier when she has young children. My plan through the upcoming year is to multiply these activities by four, include one in the hope chest and send the others in the mail for our sons to use in a family home evening. No preparation for them, all they have to do is follow the instructions. I've sent one so far and it was a success. I'm excited to send these others.

The first of the activities is pretty easy - family photo coloring pages. Just choose family pictures that feature subjects that are interesting to children. The first example above is a picture of my mom as a child in front of her school in Wells, Nevada. She was a bluebird in a school play. My grandmother spent quite a lot of time making the costume out of crepe paper and poster board, including a little hat with a beak. Miss Abigail looks a lot like my mom in this picture. The picture below is of my father and his brother sawing a log for their winter woodpile. Anyway...pictures with interesting subjects work best. Scan the picture with a high "dpi." Then use photo editing software to create a "pencil sketch" of the photo. Print it out and you have a great coloring page. Then you can visit with your children or grandchildren as you color together, telling the story of the picture.

I mentioned that my grandchildren were visiting. I had printed several coloring pages for the display and my little 4-yr old grandson colored them all. He listened to the stories and wanted to take them home to Arizona and put them on the wall in his bedroom. His interest in the pictures was piqued - mission accomplished! (BTW - for the pictures that I put in the hope chest and the pictures that get sent in the mail to our daughters-in-law, I will have to write the story and include it on the back of the photo to remind Abigail after some years, in case she doesn't remember the details of the picture.

You may never have thought of your own family's history. I hope these upcoming posts will inspire you to put together a project for your children or grandchildren. Learn about and then share your family history! If you need help, just contact a local Family History Center at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will be in the yellow pages and the help and instruction is always free.

Heirloom Cameo Pin

This is a cameo pin that belonged to my grandmother Aurora Kathinka Burke Bunnell. It is beautiful and I'm so glad that it came down to me. Heirlooms are wonderful aren't they? I think it is lovely that I have a few heirlooms to put in Miss Abigail's hope chest.

Aurora Kathinka Burke Bunnell 1903-1989

Heirloom Crocheted Bookmark

In honor of Family History Month I wanted to show you this crocheted filet style bookmark. My grandmother, Minnie Irene Anderson Clements, made this for me when I was young. She made these bookmarks in different colors, for all of her grandchildren and many of her great grandchildren. It measures about 7.5 inches long and is about 2 inches wide. The thread size is probably 30 and the hook size was probably a 12 or 14. Very tiny and hard to work. This is a treasure to me.

Minnie Irene Anderson Clements 1886-1978

October - Family History Month

October is national "Family History Month" and I am chin-deep in organizing and working on our family history. I have created two scrapbooks for Miss Abigail of her baby and toddler years and am working on other projects related to genealogy. One project will eventually be a scrapbook called "The Women You Come From" with stories to go along with these pictures. I love these women. Each of them are strong, beautiful and inspirational. I want to tell their stories to my children and grandchildren.

Great Grandma's Embroidered Lace

This is a picture of my Great Grandma. Her name was Marian Bell Anderson. She was born on January 17, 1864. The eyelet lace pictured at the bottom of the post was made by Great Grandma as part of her trousseau. In 1885 she was 21 years old, living on the frontier of Idaho and preparing to get married to Olaf Anderson in November. Marian and Olaf lived in the area of Rexburg, Idaho for the rest of their lives. I am just amazed at the skill that went into this embroidery and the amount of time it must have taken Grandma. I'm certainly glad some of her talent passed into my own hands.

My grandmother, Irene Anderson Clements was a devoted genealogist and wrote a history of  her own life and the lives of her parents and other ancestors. It is a blessing to me to know so much about my father's family. Grandma wrote this about her mother, Marian and the lace:

"Mother liked all kinds of hand work. It is hard to say what she liked best. She enjoyed making quilts. She made many, from heavy camp quilts, to fancy embroidered and silk quilts. The Relief Society does a lot of quilting and she was anxious to help. She soon became known as one of the most skillful quilters, and was made head of this department on work day at Relief Society. Then as she was particular and liked to have things just right, she became an almost perfect marker especially for the most complicated patterns. Her fame spread all over town and some expensive quilts were brought to her to be marked by well-to-do people, some she scarcely knew. They were glad to have her mark the quilts, even though it was impossible for her to help with the quilting. It would be hard to estimate the number of quilts that she helped quilt and also quilted alone.

She enjoyed knitting very much. She knit hose for her father, brothers and sisters, husband, children and grandchildren. She knit many pairs of gloves and mittens, also a number of sweaters. She especially was good at making knitted lace. Every one who has some of her knitted lace prizes it very highly. In her early married life she knitted a full sized bed spread with no. 8 thread. She did crochet work. She was an expert at dressmaking, etc. Besides the sewing for family and friends that she mentions in her history, she did most of the sewing for her children and helped as long as she could with sewing for her grandchildren.

She enjoyed making fancy pillows, pin cushions, and any other knick knack that she saw. She made a variety of rugs. In fact, she was always interested in new patterns and ideas. She watched for ways to use material she had on hand to make her family more comfortable and her home more attractive.

At the time of her marriage, it was popular to do eyelet embroidery in lingerie, household linens, baby clothes, etc. Her skill with the needle is shown by the petticoat she made to wear when she was married. This petticoat was 37 inches long, 90 inches wide and gathered onto a band at the waist that was 26 inches long. It fastened with a button and button hole. She embroidered a scalloped flounce which was 9 inches wide at the scallop. Then she made five groups of tucks, two in each group, arranged above the flounce. This scallop is one of 18 cut from that petticoat. Mother wore this petticoat until it was worn out."

Because I know what it takes to embroider even the simplest eyelet, I am in awe that Grandma embroidered eighteen of these scallops on a garment that would never even be seen! She is my handwork hero!

A Peek Inside -- Scrapbooks and Family History

Genealogy and family histories are a traditional item to include in the hope chest, at least in Mormon families. Happily, I have managed to include some of these in Miss Abigail's hope chest. This is the first scrapbook I made for Abigail. It has her birth story, which was pretty harrowing, and pictures from the first year of her life. I've also been slowly working on a personal history of my own life to share with all of my children. I'm on my way home from Idaho with scanned pictures, genealogy and other memorabilia of my father's life. Plus, I have 10+ hours of recorded interviews with my mother about her life, which I hope to use in a family history.

Because I am a faithful Mormon woman, genealogy and family history is a responsibility in my life. But I also see it as an opportunity to become better acquainted with my ancestors and to pass their stories on to my children. I'm a link in a long chain and I certainly want Miss Abigail to feel the security of her strong family ties.

Do any of you have family records and stories to pass along? I hope so.

My Father

This is my father. I just returned from Idaho, where I attended his funeral. This just leaves such a hole in my heart and in my life. But it was a good thing for him. He was 88 years old and he died doing what he loved, tending the water in the irrigation canal. I will miss him in my life more than I can express. But he had a firm belief in the ministry of angels and that many of these angels are family members who have gone ahead of us. To the extent that he is able and allowed, I know he will work to influence my circumstances and bring me comfort. I am thankful to be his daughter. He was proud of me...for many reasons...I'll be back to post, just not immediately.

BTW, I treasure this photo and want to give credit to my daughter-in-law, Kate Mower. She is very talented.

Mom's Stenciled Linen Luncheon Cloth

In honor of Mother's Day I wanted to show you another treasure. This stenciled linen luncheon cloth was made by my mother for her own hope chest, many many years ago. She gave it to me because I loved those cheerful yellow daffodils. I've always been impressed with what my mother can do, she is talented and capable in so many different ways. In this case, mom simply frayed the edges of a length of linen and stenciled the pattern on each corner. Mom used a darker color to shade and add dimension to the large flowers. She also stenciled in the corner of the small napkins. There were four napkins at one time, but one must have been lost or ruined.

Ladies from my mother and grandmother's generation used to entertain their friends at luncheons, teas or card parties. These small luncheon cloths were made to fit a card table or another small table. The hostess would plan and serve a light luncheon or other light refreshments. The menu was simple, usually two courses. The hostess always laid a nice table with a beautiful luncheon cloth and cocktail-sized napkins.

Stenciling is an easy, lovely way to embellish fabric items for a hope chest. Miss Abigail posted a simple tutorial about stenciling on fabric. See this post if you would like to try.

A Treasure from My Hope Chest

I feel so blessed to live in an age when the daily work required to keep house is easier. The amount and difficulty of the work in past ages was staggering. My grandmothers labored endlessly in ordinary household tasks that take me mere minutes in comparable time.  In spite of the difficulty of keeping up with ordinary tasks, homemakers have always found time to work on special projects. These projects often involved adding beauty to a functional object used in the home, but sometimes a woman might create a truly unique item, one that would make some room in her home lovely and bring special pleasure to herself and others.

I can only assume that was the case when my grandmother made this little crocheted teacup. There is no other use than to bring a bit of beauty to a shelf and a certain satisfaction to her soul. Grandma Clements was an expert in thread crochet. She made many, many crocheted items, including these teacups, which she often gave as gifts. This one came to me several years before I was married. I enjoyed seeing it on my bedroom desk and later put it with other items in my hope chest. It now sits on a shelf in my sewing room, where it continually reminds me that I, too, can create beautiful things.