I love the old photo's.....when doing family history share your old photo's

I love old family photo's.  Through the years I have been able to collect many from all my different family lines.  This is Lou Bowlby.  I love how back in the day young boys were dressed in dresses for photo's.  I'm not sure why this was done, but the photo's are so precious.

I look at these photo's of ancestors and wonder what their lives were like.  Why were they getting their photo taken.  This is John Brutcher.  I also like to look at them to see if my children have any of their features.

This is of my great great grandfather. Luther Boyd.  I was so excited they day I found this photo on line. As we did not have much information on my Boyd family.

look at this old wheel chair.  The woman in this photo is suffering from something, you can see how deformed one of her hands is.  I wonder what her life was like.

I've been trying to put my photo's on line to share with others.  Someone commented the other week..." I love the old photo's."  

I love them too.

G.G.

I Am Grateful..... my new Friday blog posts

I have decided that every Friday my blog focus is going to be on being grateful.  I have been studying about gratitude for the past few months and have been trying hard to write ten things I am grateful for in a journal everyday. I kind of dropped the ball with back to school and the change of schedules and feel that I once again need to focus on this important virtue.

The past few years have been hard for me.  And a few month ago at work I was asking why I could not have more magic in my life and less negativity.  And at that moment a little bit of magic happened. That weekend while at the library with my children I found a book called "The Magic".  It looked interesting and so I took it home.  The book ended up being about how having gratitude brings magic in your life.  And I have been studying and testing out this concept ever since.  I have since stepped out of a very negative time in my life and started to see a lot of positive things occur.  So every Friday I hope to share with you ten things I'm thankful for and some related sites on having an attitude of gratitude.  I believe it can really change your life for the best.
Today I am grateful for
1. Microwave chicken pot pie. ( which I'm indulging in right now. Yum)
2.My digital camera.  There are not too many days that go by that I do not take it out and snap a photo of something.
3. I am able to pay all my bills. ( I met someone the other day who had to go a couple of weeks with out their phone, TV, and Internet, because when it came time to pay the bills there was not enough to cover everything.  I quickly gave out a little more gratitude in my mind for the fact that I could pay all my bills)
4. I am so thankful for my  new home.  And you know I'm finally feeling like it is a home and not a house.
5. I am grateful for the beautiful sun rises that I see out my window each morning.

6. I grateful for my cat, she is a furry little angel.

7. I'm grateful for computer technology.  I spend much of my time on computers doing work for others and I find great joy in it.
8. I am grateful for my job.  I love to be able to help people,and I really enjoy the friendships I've made where I work.
9. I am grateful for my family.  My greatest treasure is my family, each one of them is a precious jewel.
10. I am grateful for a two day weekend.  I don't get many and so it will be a nice break for me.

Gratitude quote : " Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." Marcus Tillius Cicero Roman statesman, writer, orator.

Have a wonderful weekend.
G.G.

Butterflies In My Garden......

I have been going through  my hundreds of photo's to organize and prepare them to be printed and made into cards and framed for the new house.  I found all these photo's of butterflies. It is not easy to get a good photo of Butterflies, it takes a lot of time waiting quietly for the butterfly to settle down on the flower and not have it fly away.

I like to get them with their wings open so you can see all the patterns on their wings.  I took this photo up in Maine one summer.

This is another one from Maine.  It is on one of my favorite wild flowers the "Indian Paint Brush"  at least that is what we call them in Vermont.

Here is the Monarch Butterfly that I chased for three days.  It loved my Mum plants.  I have not seen many Butterflies in Utah yet.  I hope to see some.  I'm going to start doing some research to see what Butterflies might live in the area.

A perfect photo in my opinion.  I just finished reading a book that had a lot of reference to Butterflies.  "The Rose Garden"  By Susanna Kearsley.  I love her books as many take place in England and have to do with time travel, or past lives.  I love reading about places my ancestors came from and most came from England.

A favorite quote from the book is " The Butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." By Rabindranath Tagore.  Some of what I have been trying to do in my life lately is focus on the moment I'm in and not worry over the past or the future.  I am also studying gratitude and trying to find 10 new things to be thankful for each day.

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
to bring you luck, happiness and riches
today, tomorrow and beyond
- Irish Blessing.
I hope you have enjoyed these Butterfly photos.  I have a few of them already framed and in my living room.  I love to look at them.

Related Sites:
Butterfly Quotes
Susanna Kearsley (I love her books hope she writes another one soon as right  now I'm reading all of the ones I have again.)
The Rose Garden
Invitation to the Butterfly Ball ( this a a beautiful children's book by Jane Yolen. That I always think of when I see a butter fly.  I read it as a child and loved it.)
I spy a butterfly (interesting website if you have young kids)
Butterflies and moths of North America(Great website to learn about Butterflies)

- If nothing changed, there would be no butterflies.(Unknown author.)

G.G.

Seek ye not the great and spacious building.....Draper Temple makes me think of Lehi's vision of the tree of life.

My favorite Temple to attend is the Draper Utah Temple.  I think it is because of all the symbolism that I draw from it.  First it is up on a mountain which I love.  Many of the prophets went up to the top of the mountain to receive instruction from God.  I also love all the paintings in the Draper Temple.  I can go there and sit in a room and feel as if I am back in the mountains of Vermont.  I know that the art work is actually depicting places in Utah, but they are so similar to my mountain home of Vermont that I so love it.  Something else that I love is the symbolism I have found at the Draper Temple that reminds me of The Book of Mormon Prophet Lehi and his dream of the Tree of life.

In Lehi's dream he walks along a path that leads the tree of life.  The path is narrow and along the path it is dark and one could get lost easily.  I know there there is a scripture that says "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life."  As I walk towards the temple I often follow this path.  It is brightly marked with white paint, and leads straight to the temple.  There are no curves or twists.

In Lehi's dream there is an Iron rod that those going to the Tree of Life cling to.  Actually some people cling to it, others hold on loosely and others walk beside it.  On the way to the temple there are also Metal guard rails near the stairs to hold on to.  As I walk by I ask myself am I clinging to God's word? Or am I not doing so well this week.

So to get to this Temple, you walk on the narrow path, with guides to help and you enter in through a gate.  Once in the gate you find a beautiful garden.  Yesterday there was a humming bird among the flowers.  I often think on entering through the gate, that I never want to be locked out.

Here is a photo of one of the gates you enter to get to the temple.  There are such beautiful views from this temple.

When you enter the Temple, you leave the world and all it's cares behind.  You go to learn about God, and to pray, and feel peace.  The Tree of Life is a symbol of God's love.  In the Temple you find peace and feel the love of God.  You are strengthened.  I have read a wonderful book called " Lifestyles of the Great and Spacious, Finding Your Path in Lehi's Dream." By John Bytheway.  I loved what he said in the book.  "When you are in the Temple you are in "The Real World"  because the Temple pertains to Eternal things.  I often go now and think of how lucky I am to be able to spend time in the "Real World"  because sometime the world outside the temple is very hard to be in.

When I leave the Temple I see the other part of Lehi's dream.  I see the Great and Spacious building.  As I head along the path back to my car and look up I see the huge houses across the street.  Across from an eternal view of life, is the riches of a fallen world.

In Lehi's dream he saw a great and spacious building floating in the air as if it had no foundation.  This huge house seems to do that.  It is so big.  I can not comprehend why anyone needs a house so big, what the cost may be to have it, what a huge amount of money you must need to build, and furnish such a structure.  From with in the building in the dream are people who point to those across the way at the tree of Life.  You never learn what they are saying, but it causes some to leave the tree and be lost in mists of darkness.  I often wonder are the people who attend the Temple and upon leaving,  looking up to see this giant building and wondering, why after all the work I do, all that I give can I not be as blessed as those in the great building across the street.

I don't know who owns these great buildings, They probably don't realize that they have built a great example.  You walk out and look up and think am I clinging to God and his ways or am I heading off to the great and specious building.  Do I look to be more spiritual and closer to God, or do I look to be more worldly?

 Each day you have the choice to move along the path, you can move toward the Eternal, or you can move toward the spacious building.  To get to the spacious building at some point you have to get off the path and wander further and further away from the Temple.  But each day it is your choice to make.

I have to say that I like to leave and be reminded of Lehi's Dream.  It helps me to think to be more thoughtful of the choices I make.  I love attending the Temple.  I love that I have the time to go and learn each week.  I would not give that time up for a big house or more worldly things.  In the eternities I will  much rather feel good that I worked hard and had less in this life than to have gotten everything here and have missed my chance at an eternal life with God.

Have you thought lately of where you are on Lehi's path?

Related Sites:

Finding ourselves in Lehi's Dream

The Tree of Life 

Tour of The Draper Temple

Why Mormons Build Temples

A Casual readers blog review of the John Bytheway book

Lifestyles of the Great and Spacious

4 generations of Bowlby men ...They Were Never, Ever, Ever ........Going to get married (but they did and their marriages lasted the test of time)

This is Lewis Bowlby.  I don't know that he was never, ever, ever going to get married as the generations after him, but at one point he was not going to get married to the woman who ended up being his wife.  He had fallen in love with a woman of a different faith (I'll be blogging on this in the future).  And realizing the turmoil this would cause her, him and their parents they decided to end their relationship.

This is Minnie Dineen.  The love that he swore he would leave.  Her parents would not allow a marriage if Lewis ( a Presbyterian ) did not convert to the Catholic faith.  Or at least promise that all children born to the marriage would be raised catholic. Lewis and Minnie tried very hard to not get married, to find someone else, but in the end love won out.  Lewis promised Minnie that the children could be raised Catholic and that he would join the Catholic church after his father passed away.  The sad ending to this tale is that Lewis died before his father in a train accident.  As a final effort though to keep his promise to his wife he had a Catholic priest pronounce him Catholic on his death bed.

This is John Dineen Bowlby.  He was very sure that he would never,ever, ever  get married.  I'm not sure why but he was sure he would not get married. In fact he did not get married until he was almost 35 years old.

This is Mary Clare Brutcher.  The woman who made him change his mind about marriage.  I'm not sure of how they met, but when John met Mary he knew he found the right woman.  Mary was actually engaged to another man when they met.  John recounted that he knew that he had to "break that engagement up".  And he did.

Here is the beautiful bride.  I don't have any other wedding photo's, but I do have a news paper clipping on the wedding.  I'll have to get it scanned into the computer sometime soon.

The happy couple years later.  You can just tell that he still loves her, just the way he looks at her.

Here is their youngest son Richard Bowlby.  Another I'm never, ever, ever getting married man.  I think at some point they should advise others not to say that.  Seems that when you say it cupid uses extra potent arrows.

Here is the unsuspecting bride to be Miss Bettyanne Papcun.  She also was never, ever, ever going to get married.  In fact she was going to have her own singing career.  And was well on her way to that, when she was set up on a blind date.  And one blind date changed two lives forever.

Here they are on their wedding day. Richard got married a bit younger than his father and grandfather. 

Here they are fifty years later renewing their wedding vows. 

And here is the happy couple 57 years later.  Visiting their son and his family in Utah. The missionaries at the temple visitor center loved chatting with them and loved that they wore matching outfits, even though that was not planned.

Here is their youngest son James Bowlby.  James took after the generations before him and said he would never, ever, ever get married.  In fact after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints, and hearing that they believed marriage to be a very important part of life said " I would not get married unless the hand of God pointed down from the skies and said "Bowlby you do or die!" "  Some one in his family should have warned him not to say that.  It surely gets Bowlby men in to trouble.

His wife to be Kimberly.  She also was never,ever, ever going to get married.  She was going to work with horses and stay away from men.  But somehow these two met and cupid shot his arrow.

And they were married for all time and eternity!  

I hope you enjoyed this.  I love "love stories" and how people meet.  You don't often hear people say I was never going to get married.  Most of the time people are looking for that someone special.  So when I heard so many stories in my husbands family line of not intending to get married I knew I had to do a little blog about it.  My son seems to think he will get married some day.  He needs to make sure the Bowlby line continues. My daughter, on the other hand, well she says she is never, ever, ever getting married.  She would much rather live with cats.  I just smile.....She is so like me in some ways.

Related Sites:

How do I Love Thee.... 

And that we will call story number 39.....The stories of your ancestors lives bring the history into family history

My in-laws came to visit this past August.  And we had a great time visiting.  I think what I loved most was all the time we got to sit and visit and all the stories I got to here of my mother in law's life and those in the family that she shared.
As much as I love looking for new people to add to my family tree, my greatest happiness comes when I find a story, or a journal entry.  Something that makes the people in my family tree real, with trials, joys and everything that comes with life.

My mother in law has great stories to tell.  How her parents sacrificed and worked hard so she could go to a private singing school.  Her mother made many beautiful dresses for her.  How she was never going to get married but have a big music career.  She had her own radio show when she was young.

Here is a photo of her when she had her Carnegie Hall debut.  She talked of the letters she wrote to my father in-law when he was serving over seas, and told stories of being a young mother and the things that her kids did that drove her a little crazy.

She talked about her parents, and her in-laws.  My father in law said " Dear they don't want to hear your stories.  We can call that one story number 39...."  But you know I loved all those stories.  Every Sunday we used to go visit them and I would love hearing all the family stories.  

So anytime you can, sit down and listen to the stories, and make stories of your own.  Because each moment is precious, each story is about real people and makes family history books more rich and rewarding.

My mother in law has new stories to tell now.  She gets to tell everyone about her trip to Utah.  About the mountains that make you feel really small, about the beautiful house her children have that needs curtains, and about a great visit with lots of walking up hills.  These stories must be well up into the hundreds.  But I know she is telling them.  I miss our weekly visits.  But I have my own adventures and stories to make and in eternity we will sit and chat for a long time.  Laughing and reminiscing about how wonderful our lives were.

So remember as you go about doing your family history research to stop and listen to the stories of those who are a part of your life.  As I was writing this blog I received a letter from my mother about how she wished she knew more about her family.  How she did not know much about her grandparents because they passed away before she was born, and how she didn't know much about her parents lives before she was a child.  I think deep down we all long to know about those who came before us.  So as I search for those in my family tree I also spend a lot of time trying to find out their stories.  I hope someday my children will stop and listen and know that their parents and grandparents had lives with stories that are just as interesting as their own.

Related sites:

Bridges to the past 

Putting "Family" Back into Family History

The Last Leaf on the branch