Antique Silverware - Identified at Last

Years ago, Craig brought this set of silverplate home from his grandfather's things. I loved the "old" look of it, and have used it for special times over the years.

 But I could never identify it outside of the fact that it had "Wm A Rogers silverplate A+" in tiny letters on the spoon and fork handles.

I began with a search of Replacements.com, but their search function does not work well and I could not find it. (I did later, after I had the name for the set.) Finally, a general Google search brought me to a link with photos of silver-plate, and there it was!

 It's called Nuart and was made in 1932! 

I took a photo of the web address so I could find it again - after all that hard work, I didn't want to repeat the search in the future.

Centennial Antiques had several pieces from the pattern for sale and at prices that I thought were reasonable.

I have my mother's sterling plus another set of silverplate that was Craig's grandfather's so I doubt I will buy more. Still, it was fun to finally have a name and a date for the set.

The Ghosts of Horses Past

Since our kids are coming for Christmas and were not here for Thanksgiving, I found myself with some quiet time Friday. Normally on the day after Thanksgiving, I would have a houseful of people and a full day planned; today, not so much.

So, I decided to do something that I'd planned to do over the summer but had not gotten done since both our moms passed away and I had had a spinal fusion. I cleaned out the family history closet - a closet where I store all our photos, journals, and other family memorabilia.

And in doing so, I came across some photos I had not seen in a long, long time. Including some of horses I have owned and loved in the past.

I kept this one in a frame on my desk for years.

That's Amy on the left (see how much she looks like Abby?) and Cee Hunt on the right. Amy was my very first horse and will ALWAYS be my favorite. I was twelve when I got her, and she found her forever home with us. She died in 1991 at 25.  This photo was take in 1978.

Here's another picture of Cee. He was a registered Quarter Horse and my show horse. He was experienced and very mild mannered.

Get him around a body of water, and he was a happy boy. He loved to swim and would leap off banks into the water. This is me swimming with him in the mid 1970s. We're in Burnett Creek in Battleground, Indiana. I also used to swim him in the Wabash River off the beach in front of our home.

Indy (Indabab's Image) was a registered half-Arab that I owned when we lived in Illinois. I never, ever wore that horse out - like a typical Arab, he always had energy to spare. But he was still a gentle, kind boy and we enjoyed many fun times together. I brought him back to Lafayette, Indiana and sold him to a friend when I was pregnant with my sixth child. I knew I would simply not have time for him after Cole's birth and wanted to see him through to a good home so I would not worry about what happened to him.

Finding photos of these wonderful horses today, those "ghosts of horses past," made me smile. And, feel very, very grateful to have had them in my life.

Mila Jingles All the Way!

I love my sleigh bells. They are real ones, not the fake kind made for the holidays, and as such, have a beautiful, silvery tone.

I like them so much, I keep them hanging on my player piano, ready to be used should anyone break into a rendition of Jingle Bells. 

And sometimes I just hand them to the grandchildren for fun!

I tried to get Mila to shake them for the camera after dinner on Thanksgiving.

She shook all right, only she shook herself instead of the bells!

Thanksgiving Day - New Beginnings

I often feel nostalgic on Thanksgiving Day, thinking back to past happy times associated with this day. But this year, with the loss of our moms, it was a bit harder.

But while I had some moments of sadness, having family around was a great comfort. We had a smaller group than usual, but it really doesn't matter how many are with you, it matters that you are together.

 I invited people to arrive any time during the morning, and said that appetizers would be set out at 10:00.

 We had our usual cheese ball... 

 ... and an assortment of olives, nuts, and spiced apple rings.

Ian had a private dining alcove on the stairs!

 We were all able to sit around one table this year. Ten were in attendance, two of them children.

 I love getting out my fine china, crystal, and silverware.

These pilgrim candles go way back to my children's childhood. I think I got them at Kmart.

I thought these napkins were beautiful and understated.

 Aunt Lisa and Mila.

 Mila was a little under the weather, but she still could smile for the camera.

The main spread for the feast. Yummy!

 Here we all are! Ian, Curt, Lisa, Vanessa, Mila, Craig, Rick, Leslie, and Jenny.

After dinner (and a break of an hour or so) came pie! In addition to the four here, we had two more pumpkin, another cherry, and another apple!

 We play games late into the night during the holidays. Here, Aunt Jenny introduces Ian to Scrabble.

I had feared that the day might be hard, but in the end, it turned out to be a wonderful day. And although we were missing our mothers, we still found we had much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Representing a Breakthrough

I have a girl in my class with some significant struggles going on in her life. She has broken down in tears a few times when talking to me, and I have been trying to help her as much as I can, although the issues are at home and all I can do is try to make the hours she is at school safe and secure ones, and hope that she feels loved and cared for while in my room.

She had a pretty tough break down last week, and she finally, finally let me give her a hug. That sort of opened the gates, and now she will allow me to hug her at the end of the day when she is leaving -  something she would not allow prior to that.

Today, she shyly approached my desk and gave a gift to me that she'd made over the weekend.

A horse with flowers (and maybe roller skates, too!!) and the letter "I" for my last name.

To say I was touched would be an understatement. And I am delighted for the breakthrough that it represents - I hope that she will continue to let me help her with her struggles while she is with me at school.

Our 40th Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday, Craig and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. Such a milestone! We both felt incredulous that that much time had passed, but we have the children, in-loves, grandchildren, and experiences to prove it.

We'd hoped to get together with all our children in Nauvoo or someplace, but could not get schedules to mesh. Plus, both our mothers died over the summer and I had back surgery, so things just did not work out. I was disappointed, but by the same token I understand busy-ness.

Here is a montage of pictures in celebration.

Where it all began on November 20, 1976. It was just the two of us in the largest sealing room of the temple with the sealer, Joe Earl and his father as witnesses, and JoAnn Earl. (She and Joe were being sealed that day.)

 July, 2009. One of my favorite pictures of us.

A favorite picture of our kids in our back yard before the neighborhood grew around us. Emily took this picture.

 All of us at Jessica and Andrew's wedding. I was about to fall over and was hanging on for dear life!

 An anniversary picture taken by Vanessa at the Battlefield.

 Sarah, JC, Todd and Trinity.

 Jessica, Andrew, Cambria, and Titan.

 Kyle, Ashley, Braden, Addie, Corinne, and Whitney.

 Lisa.

 Curt, Vanessa, Ian, and Mila.

 Cole, Emily, Julie, and Kate.

Braden holding Whitney. Trinity holding Cambria, Addie holding Julie, JC, holding Ian, and Corinne. Another fabulous photo taken by Vanessa.

 Craig and me with our children in 1989.

 Curt, Cole, Jessica, Sarah, Kyle, and Lisa, 4th of July, 2016.

 Craig and Mila.

 Me with Kate. (I made her dress and Aunt Kathy knitted the flower in her headband.)

 Isaac visiting Sarah and her family.

 Goofing off at Curt and Vanessa's wedding reception.

Craig and me as ordinance workers the very first day the Indianapolis Temple opened (August 25, 2015.)

 A family portrait taken by Vanessa in 2014. Everyone was home to celebrate Craig's retirement.

Craig and me at the Washington DC temple in 2010 or so. We were with Kyle and Ashley, and the temple workers let us take them to the sealing room where we had been married. Kyle looked at it and solemnly said, "This is where our family began."

Yes, it did. Our eternal marriage and our eternal family. And I am grateful. Forty years down, eternity to go.

I Love Christmas, But...

I love Christmas, but this year I am struggling. That has caught me quite off guard - I thought I had handled my mother's death well and, while I knew I might have occasional bouts of sadness, I had no idea that I would burst into tears in the middle of a store while Christmas shopping!

I was in Tuesday Morning buying some things for my Hershey Secret Santa, and as I looked at the Christmas items for sale, the thought that my mom would not be with us to open gifts and share in the spirit of the holidays made me tear up and feel incredibly sad. I did my best to get ahold of myself and hurriedly finished my shopping.

Holiday music has the same effect. I put on some Bing Crosby/Rosemary Clooney music while driving in my car and the tears flowed.

 I have mementos from my mother from past holidays. She kept with her in her apartment the very last Christmas gift I gave her and I have it now.

An annual tradition for nearly a decade, I would give her a gift bag on Christmas morning full of twelve envelopes, each one with a letter inside that detailed something we would do together that month or that I would get her.

She loved it, and it gave her something to look forward to all year long. Dinner out, dinner in, new books, a drive around town... we both enjoyed this tradition, and I will miss doing it very much.

She also kept by her side the holiday coasters that I made her a few years ago. I decoupaged a photo of her childhood book, The Night Before Christmas, onto two 4 inch square tiles and she set her iced tea on one of them every day. I don't know if I will be able to use them without tears, but I do have them in my Christmas things.

Thanksgiving is a week away - my favorite holiday of all. I am hosting as usual, and my sisters are coming as are Curt, his family, and Lisa. I keep fervently thanking the Lord that I will have two of my children with me - I anticipate it, along with Christmas, being a tough day.

I'll just take a deep breath and work on focusing on my blessings instead of my recent loss.