I am in charge of putting together activities for our women’s organization at our church and we are finally able to get back together in person this next week (with some restrictions of course) and I wanted to do something to celebrate Moms! One of the sisters in our ward mentioned she had heard of an activity where the women got together and shared something from one of the mothers on their family tree. What a great idea!
There is a program on the internet at www.familysearch.org that can show you your family tree. You just need information about one or more of your ‘deceased’ ancestors – like their full name, their birth date and city if possible. It also helps to have things like their death date and city and perhaps the information on their spouse just to make sure you have found the ‘right’ ancestor. You’d be surprised how many people have exactly the same name out there.
I went all the way back to my grandmas great, great grandma to find Karen Marie Nielson Mortensen. From the stories posted out there – I found out that she was born in 1815 in Denmark.
She married in 1837 and had 12 children – three boys and nine girls. She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1853 then immigrated to the US in 1862 with eight of her children. They traveled on a steamer to Hamburg and set sail for America on the ship Franklin on April 8. The journey took 48 days but only a week after their departure from Hamburg, her youngest child Carl died. They then took a train to Quincy, Illinois where they crossed the Mississippi River by steamboat to Hannibal, Missouri. Next came a train to St. Joseph, Missouri which was followed by a steamboat to Florence, Nebraska – where three of her young daughters died from cholera. They left Florence and started across the plains by handcart on July 14, 1862. They passed by Chimney Rock on August 13, Independence Rock on August 31, and on September 3rd saw their first snow on the mountains in the west. They arrived in Great Salt Lake City on September 23rd.
Their journey took 168 days and was filled with so many trials. I take so much for granted and this sure helps me put things in perspective. I am so thankful for the strong women in my past who pushed through their hardships and inspire me to endure to the end. I also owe a big thank you to the person that posted the story about her. By the way – you are able to post stories and images of your ancestors out there as well. Stories like these are so valuable and I encourage you to start making a record of your own life and experiences. You have no idea who they may touch and inspire in the future.
There is also this really cool thing on the website called a fan chart – it can display your ancestors going back seven generations – and there is a version that is color coded for which country they came from – here’s mine!
Just wanted to let you know that you can do research on the site for free! Would love to hear what you learn about your ancestors! Check it out. www.familysearch.org
When I think of my mother, I often think of flowers. She LOVED all kinds of flowers but she especially loved roses and she always had beautiful roses bushes in her garden. A while back, we designed an appliqué pattern of a rose for a blanket. The idea was to make the blanket look a bit like stained glass.
In honor of my mothers everywhere – we are offering $50% off the kit that includes all the applique fabrics for the flower and the pattern! (this offer is ‘while supplies last’). The appliqué design comes in three sizes: one is printed large-scale on paper that is the size of blueprints and it works great for a throw that is roughly 48” wide and 60” tall. There is also a pattern that is 8” x 10” and one that is 11” x 17” so you can use it on lots of different projects. Just use the coupon code RoseIrisSave50 in the promo box when you check out. Click here to go to the kit in our shop.
One of my favorite flowers is an Iris so we also created a stained-glass effect appliqué for an Iris. We also have an Iris blanket Kit. This Kit also has the pattern in three different sizes and all the applique fabrics that you will need to create the flower. You can use the same coupon – RoseIrisSave50 in the promo box to take 50% off when you check out. Click here to go to the kit in our shop.
I find that the older I get, the more I treasure memories and gifts made with ‘love’ and now that I have a bit more time – I find that I LOVE to give gifts that I made.
I just took a class from a local artist here in Woodland Park, CO, so I could remember how to do stained glass – I had taken classes before in downtown Portland but I was a bit rusty – My first project was a hummingbird – the real ones are such a delight to watch and this one now makes me smile when the real ones aren’t around.
Since my own mom is not around – I miss her so much – I thought it would be fun to make something for my daughters who are now moms. My oldest daughter LOVES foxes – and still has a burrow (or den) under her front porch – and they just rescued a little kit yesterday – so I made her a fox.
And my youngest daughter is the crazy cat lady – so I made a pair of cats for her.
The stained glass was fun but it was also a labor of love and I hope my daughters remember how much I love them when they see the sun sparkling through their fox and kitties. Speaking of labor of love, my daughter and my husband did a Master Bedroom makeover for me which I consider an amazing Mother’s Day Gift! It started out as just an idea in Kira’s creative brain – then turned into a drawing. A board and batten wall with a shelf for pictures and memorabilia.
Which turned into a trip to the hardware store – or in reality – multiple trips to the hardware store – good thing we had lots of cute helpers!
Which turned into a woodworking project – so my awesome spouse got involved – Kira and Pat added the board and batten wall and the shelf above the wall.
And in addition to all her mad design and carpentry skills – she also repainted the room for me.
Her husband Zac came down too and between the three of them – they replaced the ceiling fan with one that had a light – and replaced a couple lights in our master bathroom – A HUGE thank you to Kira, Zac and Pat for an amazing new night time sanctuary.
Our free printables this week are photos from the Red Hills Desert Garden in St George UT. The garden was so incredibly colorful – and the flowers on the cactus reminded me that mothers can make our sometimes prickly environment much more beautiful. I remember making a cross stitch with this quote on it for my mother many years ago – and since those little squares are way to small for my eyes to see now – I added the quote to my photograph.
I couldn’t pick between the coral flower and the pink flower so I did two!
On this special weekend – just remember TIME is another four letter word for LOVE – it is the most precious resource we have – choose how you use it!
Happy Mothers Day!
Sheila
Beautiful nighttime retreat! I like the moose wall art! And your stained glass critters are beautiful. I hope your family treasures them.
I’ve been using Ancestry.com. I’ll have to check out familysearch. Learning about the hardships of our ancestors helps put some of our challenges in perspective.
I always enjoy your posts.
Thanks so much for commenting – I often wonder what people think of my posts – I also found out that she walked from SLC to Logan with a couple of her kids – I grew up in Logan and can’t even imagine walking to SLC – but they I guess they pushed a hardcart across the plains and the mountains so maybe that wasn’t quite as hard. I also found out she became a midwife and delivered over 500 babies in Cache Valley – Would love to hear what you find out about your ancestors!
Sheila