Category: Extended family

She did it!

 

DSC_9584 My mom graduated from BYU this week.

DSC_9590It was such a happy occasion.

DSC_9599This is the family who came to cheer for her.

DSC_9604The Sanchez girls are all BYU graduates now.DSC_9611 DSC_9618Here are a few of the grandchildren. I asked Matthew to move his hair so at least one eye was visible for the photo. Anna thought that I was talking to everyone, so she’s doing her best to just show only one eye. Oh, that girl makes me smile.DSC_9622 DSC_9623 We drove down to Spring Lake and had a big party. Susan decorated the yard with flags and the interior with all things BYU. It was so festive!

DSC_9628 As Richard drove the cake from the bakery, Sparky decided to jump on top of the plastic cover, destroying the decorations. The bakery was kind enough to redecorate it.

DSC_9630I am so thankful for my mom’s example of sacrifice and unselfishness, her persistence and flexibility. I have seen that her decision to focus on her family before her own college dreams has blessed our lives. She always said with confidence that she made the decision to leave school because it was the right thing for her to do. She didn’t complain about it to us. I always felt that she chose me and the other children and she was happy about it. She embraced being a mother and helped my dad to build his business. She shared herself. She was present. She was involved in our education. She prepared our meals and volunteered at the schools. She read to us. She disciplined us. She was always reading and she filled our home with books. Her consistent presence at home was an anchor and a shield against trouble in my life.

She went back to school in 2006 and set plans for a graduation date. She and my dad were called to be missionaries from 2007-2010, and her college books went back on the shelf during those years. She learned Spanish on her mission and when she came back she worked hard to receive college credit for her language skills. The things that she has learned in literature, cooking, family relations and child development courses will continue to be a blessing to our family. The narrative biography she wrote about her parents for a family history course is a treasure.

I am so happy for her because she completed her degree. She is the best woman that I know. Her choices have blessed our family and hundreds of youth, missionaries, investigators, teachers, and neighbors. It was good to celebrate her life.

A smiling Alli

One day when I was in California visiting my grandmother, I arrived at her home to find her waiting for me at the door, holding a photograph.

“You’ll never guess what I found while you were gone,” she said.

It was a photograph of her mother, Alli, which she had never seen before. The only picture we had of Alli as an adult is a very serious passport photo. The newly discovered photo was taken at a children’s birthday party in October 1925. She is sitting among the young children, beaming.

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It was a sweet moment for us to see a smiling Alli. I keep a copy of this new photograph on my desk. Lovely.
DSC_9391-001During this past decade of research I haven’t found all of the family information I had hoped to find, but it’s small discoveries such as this photo that fuel my enthusiasm and love for the effort. In my journal I have begun a list of the “coincidences” that have occurred during this project that have brought new information, direction, and a sense that there are angels helping. I don’t feel peace, but an infusion of energy; I feel compelled to keep working, and even with the dead ends, the work is deeply satisfying.

My book grew after I visited California, but April 30th is my deadline.

I found an interesting article about the value of family stories for children. It seems that the time we take at meals and other family gatherings to share family histories can arm our children with a capacity to face difficulties in their lives. Knowledge of family (and the quality time spent with family to learn it) is “the best single predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness.” The stories give the children a sense of place and reminds them of the strength that others have shown. The New York Times article is here. A researcher commented in the article, “The [children] who know a lot about their families tend tend to do better when they face challenges.”

I love this thought. Sharing my family history research can help my children today. They can see that their grandparents faced challenges, succeeded in some things, failed in others, but they were REAL and they were strong.

This article clarifies that the value is not just in knowing facts, but the time spent weaving that family narrative into children’s lives that makes a difference.

General Priesthood Meeting and a New Suit

Our traditional pictures at the front door just before General Priesthood and General Young Women meetings may need to find a new location. It’s too sunny!

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We bought Daniel a new suit. The salesman asked him where he was going on his mission. Daniel is compiling a list of things that he’s heard lately that you would only hear in Utah.DSC_9570 DSC_9572On Sunday we went to Spring Lake to watch General Conference. There were a lot more flowers than we found last week. We roasted marshmallows outdoors. Grandpa let the boys use hatchets. It was a good time.

As we drove home, Mark exclaimed, “I love spring!” I do, too. I have poppies & irises from Spring Lake to introduce into my flower garden today once the April morning shower ceases. Hooray!

Easter Eggs in the Secret Garden

DSC_9529 DSC_9531 DSC_9532 DSC_9533-001 DSC_9539 DSC_9545 DSC_9551-001 DSC_9552-001 DSC_9553-001 DSC_9554-001The kids had their first Easter egg hunt in the Secret Garden at my parents’ cabin on Saturday. The annual Easter egg hunt is something we have heard about with a twinge of pain because we have never had the opportunity to be there. Well, this year we were THERE. And we loved it. Almost all of the cousins were there from my side of the family. I loved watching the dads hiding the eggs almost as much as I enjoyed watching the kids finding them.

Daniel took the photos of the spring flowers emerging on the property. At our house the bulbs are beginning to bloom in our front yard and it was a happy surprise to find a row of crocuses in our new flower beds. We planted some tulips, but the the beds are full of more varieties of tulip leaves than we planted. The daffodils arrived just in time for Easter. I miss my Arizona irises which are probably blooming right now, but living in Utah was worth every sacrifice.

Girls’ Weekend Year 2

the groupgirl'sweekend13Photo by Sarah Hainsworth via fancy remote

We celebrated a second annual Girls Weekend with the Sanchez women this month at Spring Lake. Activities included shopping at outlet stores, going out to eat, eating snacks, eating delicious soups and enchiladas that my mom prepared beforehand, yoga and essential oils with Becky, facials, a Victorian era chick flick, and a special morning choral reading of my mom’s book about her parents. I couldn’t be there the whole time, but we captured this moment with all of us together, promising we’d edit out the lower half of everyone’s ensemble. (wink!)

I have a few things to say about this photograph.

  • My little sister Susan is NOT that much taller than I am.
  • Paige is, however, that much taller than I am.
  • I did not get the memo about purple and blue. Even if I had, I don’t think I could have found something those colors in my closet.
  • This is a very happy picture. I smile when I see it.
  • These ladies are great company.

Great-grandmothers

It’s been quite a special time for me, learning about my great-grandmothers. I only have memories of one of these women, and she didn’t look like her photo when I knew her. The effort is deeply satisfying. I’m so involved in the project that I have given up cleaning the house or reading, and sometimes I forget to eat. My book is growing, and to use a phrase that I hear from my middle school son, “It’s epic!”

A Wonderful Story

family treeI’m at 9,300 words in my grandmother’s history. This week I have written about forbidden marriages, ocean voyages, WWII valor, sacrifice, family traditions, family recipes, and a lullaby. I’ve gazed at baby pictures of people I only knew after they had wrinkles. I have laughed, I have cried. I have seen how my great-grandfather looked in Paris and smiled at his beret. My source materials include letters written in the 1990’s to me, copious notes from Grandma’s stories, photographs that Paige took of photo albums and objects, my great-grandmother’s collection of newspaper clippings and photos, slides that I have painstakingly scanned over the years, and previous histories and careful genealogy work by my dad and aunt. I have had a Finnish letter translated. I have hoarded and identified every photo I can get my hands on. We have done some of my family’s temple work. Whenever I revisit family history, it fills my life.

My mom just finished her parents’ history and shared it with us on Sunday. It is a treasure and I came to love my grandparents even more through the reading of it.

The more I learn, the more I see that Norman Rockwell was painting OUR STORY! That little redhead on the top could be my Mark.

My projects are his projects

1954-04-14 David
My dad, two days before my mom was born

 I am so glad that Richard assumes the role of technician and editor so I can write and create. He makes my ideas become something more than dreams. I’m so grateful that he knows computer languages, English grammar, and is so unselfish about time.

 When I was studying Greek philosophy a year or two ago, Richard came home with a book called A Pheonominally Phrank History of Philosophy (Without the Poncy Bits) so he could have conversations with me. This was an incredibly endearing gesture.

This week he knew that I had some photos to edit, so he sat down to preview some programs to help me do it. He worked on this picture of my dad which was covered in black dust spots. Thank you!