Roses in May

Probably because of my pneumonia during the month of April, the roses weren't as glorious as they could be, but they've got pretty good color now that I'm taking a little better care of them. Back to front, we've got 12 rose bushes.  Best thing about them - very little care, just some feeding now and then.

Blue Angels

The Blue Angels are scheduled for an air show here in St. George Saturday and Sunday, March 17 and 18. Bill is on the security detail for both days so he'll get to see the show up close and personal. Right now the Blue Angels are "practicing" out of the new St. George Airport, and we can see and hear them going overhead here in SunRiver. Awesome!!

March Weather

It's been a mild winter. Looks like this may be the only snow we'll have this year. Rain when we went to bed last night was a light dusting of powdered sugar this morning. Since we can't see Pine Valley Mountain this morning, there may be more white stuff on the mountain top in a day or two.

My Park/Parks In-Laws

I’ve been working on my “cousin-in-law” ancestors for a couple weeks now. It’s been a fun hunt, but those ancestors know how to hide. Basically, I’m hunting for ancestors of James A. Armstrong and his wife, Mary Ann Wilson. There is quite a famous branch of Armstrongs in Pennsylvania, one of which had the military background to merit the naming of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. I haven’t been able to tie James and his wife into that line – yet – but I sure would like to learn who James and Mary Ann’s parents were.

James A. Armstrong appears to have been born about 1800 in Pennsylvania and spent most of his life in Fayette County, the last few years in the Springhill area. He died about 1852 or 1853 (supposedly in a sawmill accident) in Fayette County. Mary Ann Wilson Armstrong was born about 1812, according to the 1850 census in Maryland. Her death occurred in Upper Hillville, Clarion County, Pennsylvania according to Findagrave Memorial #13337192. This move was after the death of her husband.

The Armstrongs had six children that I know of:

Andrew “Jackson” Armstrong (1839-1926) (78th Reg. Penna. Inf., during the Civil War);

Robert A. Armstrong (1839-1907) (Civil War in Co. E, 168th Regiment of PA Volunteers);

Charles Martin Armstrong (1843-1915) (78th PA Volunteers);

Elizabeth Armstrong Cimmons (1846-1932) (tireless knitter for the Red Cross);

Esabelle Armstrong Jackson (1849-1933) (her obit claims she was a great great granddaughter of Colonel Armstrong); and

Ellen Jane Armstrong Fowzer (1851-1920) (died at the home of her daughter in Venango County).

I just need to tie James A. Armstrong and Mary Ann Wilson to their parents!
There is a possibility that John S. Wilson (1823-1900) who married Mary Ann Mossburg (1822-1889) is a brother to our Mary Ann Wilson. Sure would love to bust through this brick wall.

Wedding Scrapbook

A few pages of a wedding scrapbook for Pastor Rick's daughter:

Card Making

Card making isn't necessarily my favorite thing to do, but fun nonetheless. Here are some of past years' Christmas cards. I have several sets of Graphic45 papers, so I'll likely be making a bunch of cards to play with various ideas for other events.

Golf Card

Here's a fun stamp, especially now that we live in a golf community.

2011 SunRiver Scenery

2011 Thanksgiving

THE NORCAL SEVEN











L to R:
Ellis Toole
Claire Breckenridge
Jenna Ingram
Grammy
Grace Breckenridge
Carly Toole
Juliette Ingram
and in Front:
Aidan and "Boppa" Toole

Our early Thanksgiving this year began with a stop in the Salt Lake City area for the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball. After a stop in Winnemucca, Nevada, we arrived in Northern California for a week of visits and doctor appointments, sightseeing and client business visits for Bill. On the 19th, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner with our three children who live in NoCalifornia (Mark from Mill Valley, Jay from Alameda and Shannon from Auburn) at the Auburn house. Fun, fun, fun! Aren't the girls adorable here in the shirts Grammy and Boppa brought along. And Aidan (he holds his own with all those girls) with his Utah "Beehive" cap!

For more photos, visit Grammy's blog at: http://thanksgiving2881.shutterfly.com/

The Fessenden Connection

Another maternal line cousin that I’ve met while doing genealogy research is a descendant of my 3rd great grandparents, James E. and Emma (Elden Chase) Libby (who had 14 children, by the way!). My line descends from their son, Samuel Appleton Libby (1826-1901) who married Angeline Riley. Bill’s line descends from James and Emma's daughter, Harriet (1810-1904), who married Josiah Bacon (and had 11 children). One of those sons, Charles H., and his wife gave birth to Alice Eliza Bacon (pictured upper right) who married James Henry Fessenden. Two more generations produced Bill, who is my 4th cousin! Early Fessendens who came from England were located in Maine – same as the Libbys. Bill's line stayed on the east coast.

In May of 1853, my 2nd great grandparents migrated to Dubuque, Iowa where two brothers were involved in building houses throughout the Mid-west. Samuel (grand uncle of the woman pictured above) worked with those brothers, returned to Maine in June of 1856, married Angeline in October 1856, and then settled permanently in Iowa where he farmed and worked at his carpentry trade. Samuel and Angeline had nine children, one of them my great grandmother, Mabel Libby. Mabel married Adelbert Anson Phelps and their daughter, Bessie Mae, became my maternal grandmother.

Bill’s sense of humor is very endearing and I’ve enjoyed getting to know him. Bill’s retired Navy and my hubby is a retired Marine. With their proclivity to jokes and military background, I don’t know that we should ever put the two together!!! We also have similar philosophies as to housecleaning, we’ve discovered. His comment goes like this: “In this house, dusting is reserved for those people who visit for the first or second time. After that, they are expected to take the place for its “lived in” appearance. Family knows better than to expect extra cleaning on their behalf.” I’m there!!

I love a story that Bill tells about a family member: “My mother’s (older) sister was born at home and the duty of registering the birth at city hall was given to my grandfather. His wife wanted their daughter to be named Josephine, while he favored the name Hannah. Being the good husband, Michael agreed to the name Josephine and recorded it at city hall. My aunt went through life believing her name to be Josephine. Well, Aunt Jo never married, nor did she ever learn to drive, so she never had an occasion to procure a copy of her birth certificate, until the mid-1960’s, when long after her parents had died, she decided that she wanted to travel abroad, and as such, needed a passport. There was a problem though, when she tried to get a copy of her birth certificate, city hall couldn’t find one to give her. The clerk asked her if she perhaps had a twin sister, born on the same day, named Hannah, because that was the only Delaney on record having been born on that day. It seems my grandfather got his way, after all, and gave his daughter the name he wanted. In the end, my aunt had her name changed legally to Josephine Hannah; that way she could use the name she grew up with, and there would be attachment to the birth record.”

As my “family” expands, I am blessed with an array of really great cousins. It’s also great fun to touch base genealogically with these cousins, learning where the family has migrated and why. Bill lives on the New Hampshire seacoast, while my family’s ancestor braved the wilds of Iowa in the mid-1800’s. I migrated to California in the early 1960’s, so we’ve covered both coasts. Bill states that they do have a short summer – and the rest of the year is early winter, winter, and late winter. I’ll take California (and now Southern Utah), thank you!!