The Haggard Herald

Last weekend we met Melory and cousins at the Lamb and wool festival at Thanksgiving Point.  They had animals all around that you could pet (see the llama below) and a sheep sheering demonstration.  Madeleine and some of the other kids there seemed a little concerned for the well-being of the sheep being sheered.  I overheard one mom explaining to her little boy how it's like getting a hair cut and that the sheep are happier when they're sheered because they won't be so hot during the summer.  Good reasoning, huh?  There were also pony rides, a hay ride, and wool crafts (we went to the wool braclet-making activity) along with a sheep dog demonstration, wool spinning, and wool weaving/knitting going on.  One lady was knitting a beautiful little sweater and it made me really want to learn to knit.  It was a bit chilly but very fun!   Around "farm country" there were lots of farm animals to see and a mini western town with a danc...

Every morning Matt and Madeleine water our garden together.  This is something of what it looks like.  First, they fill up the watering can. They carry it out back... And they water... This one below makes me smile every time.  Madeleine's reaching down to touch the water.  Sometimes she succeeds and comes in wet, but only once in a while. After they finish watering and Matt leaves for work Madeleine and I play with toys, look at the pictures in the Friend magazine and try to read a page or two (or tear out a page or two as sometimes happens).  On nice mornings we go outside and watch the kids walk to school.  We walk around the house a lot all day long, and sometimes she eats breakfast with me although she still nurses a couple of times before her morning nap. ******************************************************************************** While someone takes her morning nap I sometimes work on sewing projects.  Here ...

To the right of this post is a link titled "random family history documents."  I put it there because I want some of the documents I've found while researching our family history to be accessible on the internet.  There are better ways of doing that, but for now this is my solution. So, for those who are interested I'd love help finding more information on Vesta Johnson's siblings.  Vesta Johnson was Papa's paternal grandmother.  She married David Morris Truitt and they had Papa's dad and several other children.  Vesta was widowed young (her husband died when he was 29) and she lived most of her life in Georgia although I think she was born in South Carolina.  She's a very interesting woman from what I've learned.  Anyways, Mom didn't know of any of Vesta's siblings but I found them on the 1860 US census in Carolina.  I want to find out more about them.  I'd love to have primary source records for any or all of them (birth records, ch...

Last weekend the three of us drove to St. George with Melory to visit Grandma Carbine.  When we got there we sat outside on the grass and enjoyed how warm it was (so warm that Matt went inside and changed into shorts and a t-shirt).  I shouldn't compare but the day after we got home it snowed again... ah, well, that's April for us. Anyways, Grandma got her taxes done that afternoon with Melory (the 13th--I think of Dad and just smile) and then we ate Thai food for dinner.  All five of us went on a walk that evening.  We were only going to walk one block but Grandma said, "lets go two!"  As we walked she told us about the last time she walked that way--it was right before one of her hip surgeries and she got stuck.  She couldn't keep walking so she rested on one of those power boxes, or at least I think it's some kind of power box.  You know, those really hard plastic things that are about the height of a chair and aren't very comfortable to sit on. ...

We went to Capitol Reef National Park a few weeks ago and did some hiking while we were there.  It was a short but pleasant trip.  I'd love to go back sometime when the orchards are ready to harvest and take some fruit home with us.  It'd be nice to do some more hiking there too. Can you tell where we went to school?  It seems like we end up with an inordinate amount of BYU clothing in our bags whenever we go on vacation. She kept reaching for my sun glasses and so I finally handed them to her.  She was very pleased. Playing in the hotel room.  Matt really wanted to do a hike in some narrows and so we did this one.  It was really wide here, at the beginning.  We went a mile or so in and the canyon walls were only about 15 or 20 feet apart from each other. An artistic looking rock collection, photographed by Matt (who had the camera most of the time). This is one tired baby.  We didn't have a pacifier with us so...