Have you ever wondered what your ancestors had as a special treat?

I remember my Grandma Norma wrote in her history that a special treat for their family was sharing an apple, sitting around the kitchen table.

When I think of that image I smile. How simple and precious.

When I was a little girl I would get to go shopping with my mom. I remember it was always a special treat if she bought me a little box of animal crackers. You know the brand, it was Barnum’s Animals Crackers. I loved them! Still do. They came in a little box with a string handle, and different animal pictures all around the box. I always felt so special and they were so delicious.

It is National Animal Cracker Day today!

When my children were little they got them for a treat too. I was also thinking about how I still feed Animal Crackers to the daycare kids. It is a memory a lot of us share. I looked up what people ate in England for desserts and treats and found out that sweets have been around for a long time, I just don’t think they came in a little box with a string handle.

I’m so lucky!

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

I remember my great-grandfather Charles Elmer White. He was alive when I was young. He was a very kind grandpa. I remember being amazed he was my great-grandfather. He was 83, I think, when he died.

One of my favorite stories about Grandpa White was a story about when he was in charge of gathering the cows. This is the story in his words:

 “I grew up in St. Johns and went to school and as I got older I had many chores to do. My folks usually had a bunch of cows and we would turn them out on the hills in the daytime and as I got older it was my chore to go out in the evening, round them up and bring them home. I had a little pony named “Billy”. I’d saddle him up and take off into the rolling hills and hollers, find the cows and bring them home.

I remember well one night I went out and I looked and looked and I rode all over and I could see a bunch of cows here and there and I’d go to them and no cows. We always had a bell on one of them so we could hear it. I just couldn’t find them.

It was getting late and it was almost dark and I was worried and I remembered that I had been taught by my parents, by my Primary and Sunday School teachers to pray to our Heavenly Father when we needed help. So I didn’t know which way to turn, I got off my pony, I knelt down beside it and I prayed to Heavenly Father that He would help me and guide me to the cows. So I got through and got on my pony and was about to leave when all of a sudden I heard the cow bell. I rode over the ridge and down in the holler and there lay the cows. They had bedded down for the night, there was no movement so I didn’t hear the bell. I guess right at that moment the cow with the bell on throwed her head to scare the flies or something and I heard the bell. I was so filled. I got off my pony, knelt down and thanked the Lord for helping me and I went on home happy as could be.”

My favorite part of that story, is when his prayer was answered, he got off his pony and knelt down and thanked the Lord for helping him. What a sweet story. I am so glad we have that story. I am so grateful to Grandpa White for being faithful and full of gratitude.

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

This gorgeous hope chest was my Grandma Norma’s.

It is so beautiful.

It reminds me of her every time I see it. When my grandma and grandpa were alive, they worked hard. They didn’t have much, but they had some things that were very special and made to last. My mom inherited this hope chest from grandma, and mom gave it to me.

I love it so much.

Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy

I have decided to do a post once a month, about the things I have collected

though out my life. A lot of these things I consider heirlooms.

I looked up the word collectable and it said, “things considered to be worth collecting (not necessarily valuable or antique).” I thought that was a pretty good definition of the things I would like to talk about once a month, although some would be considered antique. Some of them are valuable, and some I consider worth collecting, because they remind me of someone I love who has gone on before. So along with telling you about the collectable, I will tell a story about the person that goes with that collectable. Clear as mud? Awesome!

#1Buttons!

I have a collection of buttons! I love buttons! Especially old buttons.

My collection of buttons started when I began sewing. I can’t get rid of buttons. Even if the project I sewed is complete, if there are buttons left, they go into my collection. I have said before, that both my grandma’s were amazing seamstresses. You can read more about it here, if you’d like. I inherited a tin full of buttons, from my maternal grandma, Norma. They are the buttons pictured. They are divine! What amazing creations! My grandma Norma was an excellent seamstress. She is the mother of two beautiful girls. My mom, and my aunt Dot (Dorothy). When my mom and her sister were born, it was during the depression. Times were tough. Many people were out of work. Not a lot different than today. My grandma would sew the most darling outfits for my mom and aunt. Back then it was cheaper to buy fabric and sew your clothes. They didn’t have Walmart, and Target, and the great deals you can get there. There are many pictures of my mom and her sis standing at the corner of the yard in the outfits that grandma had just created for them.

I have this collection of buttons in a glass container sitting a shelf that my darlin made for me. Every time I see the beautiful buttons, I think of grandma Norma. I think of her talent, her skill, at sewing and I am so glad she saved these buttons!