Archive for the ‘my favorite things’ Category

We just got home last evening from a family vacation to Wyoming.

For some reason, a trip to the Tetons always makes me feel like I am going home….

As I drive into view of those distinctive mountains, I break into song….   John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High…  much to the dismay of my family I am sure!

Because of the cold, wet spring, the crops and wild flowers are weeks late in Idaho and Wyoming this year.

This meant that we were treated with a magnificent display of wild flowers.  It also meant there were no Huckleberries to be had.  I’m seriously contemplating a camping trip back there again in August, just to see if I can lay my hands on my favorite berry.

Everything was especially beautiful this year.  The days were warm (not hot) and the nights wonderfully cool.

Few things that can fill my soul like a trip to the Tetons…

This morning I feel ready to conquer the world…. or at the very least, my very dirty laundry pile.

Several years ago my mom spent a week in Pennsylvania visiting an Amish family.  They had no art or decorations on their walls save one thing: A family tree.

Photograph from Martha Stewart

Decorating your home with your family history is an amazing way to connect your family with the past.  I love the idea of connecting my children to their roots.

Like all families, we have a few skeletons in the closet… and we have some wonderful ancestors, who live admirable lives.

I have a few pictures of our ancestors in our home:

This photograph is of my great grandmother and her family.  She is the older girl in the picture.  I look at the pictures and can see family resemblances.

These photographs are of my ancestors, Louisa Kent Booth and her daughter Hannah Booth Morgan.  Louisa was born in Calcutta, India in 1836.  Her father was a British officer and her mother was Bengali.  I loved to hear stories about her when I was young.  She was quite an amazing woman.  She immigrated to the United States and left behind a life of servants and luxury for a life of hard work on the Utah frontier.

I want to have a framed family tree for our home, and have been looking for the right one.  I found a free template at Martha Stewart.com which could be printed and then copied onto a large sheet of paper.

I also found a wonderful website which sells family trees called Grill Your Granny.

I love the Celtic Rose tree, but they have many wonderful options ranging from 3 to 8 generations.

Surrounding my family with pieces of our history is a great way to remind us all that the lives we live now really do matter.