The Temple my place of refuge

I had a Saturday off a couple of weeks ago and my husband and I went to the Mount Timpanogos Temple.  It is a beautiful Temple, but I still love the Draper Temple the best.  It has been so nice to go to the Temple with my husband and have quiet time away from the world together.

As I have thought about going to the Temple lately there are many reasons I have found why I love to go.  One reason is that when I enter the doors of the Temple I leave the world and all it's problems outside.  I have a few hours of just being close to God and to feel of his Spirit.  I also like to go and just see all the paintings of the Savior.  I go to work on being more spiritually connected to God, and I go to help bless my ancestors.

I never realized that there were people of other faiths that were against my churches Temples.  Or perhaps I realized it, but never realized how much people might be offended by the work we do.  In my church we believe that this life is just a small part of an eternal life.  This is a test period.  We believe that each person here is a Daughter or Son of Heavenly Father.  We believe that we will be resurrected and have immortal bodies.  With that belief we also believe that there are things that must take place here on earth so that you can reach the highest degree of glory in the eternities.  Which is to live in the presence of God.  So as I do family history work, I look for ancestors who may not have had the chance to hear the Gospel, and then I do work for them in the Temple.  It is my ancestors choice even beyond the veil as to whether they will choose to accept this work. 
What I don't understand is why anyone outside my church would care whether I do this work or not.  If you don't believe what I believe then does it matter if I do the work?  In your eyes it really isn't true and so it has no affect on anything.  So why get so annoyed and upset?  Well that is how I feel.  I believe it is necessary and I spend my time doing this work.  Any ways with the all the political races my church has been being talked about.  Some good, some bad.  But I know this, in the Temple every where you look you see paintings of the Savior.  All that is taught leads you to God and Jesus Christ.  We believe in God, and in his Son Jesus Christ.  And the Temple is one place that I can go to and be close to them both.  I love to go to the Temple.  It is a refuge for me from the world.   And a place where I can feel great peace and hope. 
Here is a link to a recent news article about other religion's views on our Temples.
G.G.

Jacob Bartholomew how my son got his name...

In my church after your child is born they have a ceremony where the child is given a name and a blessing.  This is a photo of my son on his "Blessing" day.  His name is Jacob Bartholomew.  That's quiet the name isn't it.  The story behind it is actually interesting too.  My husband is a kid at heart.  Not many people are blessed to actually know his serious side.  I think many people actually miss the great person because they don't get to see all his sides.  Any ways the kid at heart when he heard we were having a little boy wanted to name him "Bartholomew"  after Bart Simpson.  Thankfully for my son I would not allow this.  I wanted to name my son "James" after his father.  But my husband did not want him to have his same name.  As I began looking at names for baby boys I made a very interesting find.  James is the English name for the Hebrew name Jacob.  And so that is why I named my son Jacob.  Because it is as close to being James as I could get.

This was one of our first family photos.  I love this photo.   Jacob was such an easy baby.  I think that must have spent hours just holding him and enjoying this little person.  Here is a link to the meaning of the name Jacob.  I like one meaning "May God Protect."  I think Jacob has needed this in his life.  He has had a lot of people pick on him since he was very young.

Doesn't he look so serious in this photo?  He is only 4 years old.  Jacob is one of those kids that thinks out side the box.  He loves to build with Lego's, when he was young he created large Thomas the tank engine track layouts.  He would spend hours in his room singing and building.  He has lots of artistic abilities.  He loves to draw comics and make flip note movies.

Here is a Lego train he built. He had a whole Lego town in his room at our house in New Jersey.  He hopes when we get a new house we will have a finished basement where he can set up some train tracks.

He loves Poke Mon monsters too.  He drew this picture two years ago.  He has a note pad that he carries around with him at school to draw.  I often wonder how this boy gets straight "A's" and fills up books with drawings each week too.  He also sings and plays the violin.  This past month he did a Klondike derby with his scout troop and they did karaoke and one of the boys there told my daughter he thought Jacob was so cool because he sang so well.  Jacob is having a hard time with being a teenager because his voice is changing and he can't hit the high note anymore.  Poor kid.

Here he is almost 14.  Future Architect, Artist, Archaeologist, or Animator...  The world holds such great possibilities for this young man.  I'm so proud of him.  We talk often of the times when he was picked on, and he says's it was good for him because it made him strong and proud to be different.  I always ask him if people are treating him kindly.  Right now they are.  It is one of the big blessings of moving here.  He has made some really good friends and feels like he fits in.   He is a great kid with such potential.  I hope I'm able to help him reach it. 
We did find another Jacob Bowlby in our family line.  One day I'm going to challenge Jacob to find out about this man and what he did. 
Our house is in attorney review.  I'm hopeful that by the end of March it will be sold.  I have to say that I'm very stressed by the whole sale.  It will be nice to not pay rent, mortgage, and bills for two places.  It will be nice to breath. I go often to the temple just to get away from the world and the stress.  There are so many good blessings to hear at the temple.  The people who work there are starting to recognize me.  One lady today was so nice to say she was glad to see me and hoped to see me again next week. 
Well I hope you enjoyed learning about my son and how he got his name. 
G.G.

Stonehenge and my great, great grandfather my find of the week...

Here is a photo of my great, great grandfather Isaac Farr.  I just found this photo on ancestry.com this week. He was born in 1852 in Wiltshire, England.  He died in 1945. The things that I learned about him this week are that he had 12 children.  Wow.  He lived his life in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, and he was a grocer. This photo was taken on his 90th birthday and he wanted to have both the British and American flag in it.  Some of his children, my great grandfather being one, moved to America.

Here is a photo of him in front of his corn field.  After finding information about him and his family online I googled his home town.  I like to see and learn about the places where my ancestors lived.  What I found was so cool.  He lived right near Stonehenge.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

I have so many questions I could ask him.  What was it like to live near a place that people flock to?

Did his family go there? Were there stories passed down from family members about this site? Did he and his family think people were foolish to travel to this spot? I would also like to ask him if it was hard to have family members move to a different country.  I would love to travel someday to all the interesting places my ancestors lived by.  This by far would be a great place to visit. 

Here is a photo of his wife, Susannah Harman.  What I find interesting when I research a family line is that most people only search after the family that they attach their surname to.  I have lots of information on Isaac and very little about his wife's family.  I'm sure as I continue to work on this line in the next few weeks I  will find someone who has studied her line more.  I've already found more information than I had hoped to find.  It keeps me very busy.
One interesting thing is that I found this information on them this week, found that they lived near Stonehenge and then today there is an article about Stonehenge on the Internet.  I've included the link for you.  I think I'll go to the library and see if I can find some books on Stonehenge.  I can learn about it and also see where my ancestors lived.
We are moving slowly forward on getting the electric updated in the house.  Should happen in the next two weeks.  Then hopefully the interested buyer will come back to the table and sign the contract.  Because it is a duplex the bill will be split in half with our neighbor so it won't be as bad as it could.  I continue to go to the Temple weekly as I need a quiet place away from the stress of life.
Work is going well for both myself and my husband.  He got huge overtime again this week, yesterday they had a lunch to tell all the employees their plan for the company up to 2020 I like the idea of my husband having a stable job for a long time.  Tomorrow we are going to the temple as our Valentines day date.  I'm not sure which one we will go to yet.  He wants to go to the one over the mountains.  I'll have to bring my camera.
A few weeks ago we had stake conference and they talked about the name of our Stake "The Midvalley stake."  The interesting point made was that we are in the middle of a bunch of temples.  We are so many blocks from the Salt Lake Temple, we are so many blocks from the Jordan River Temple, we are so many blocks from the Draper Temple(my favorite) and so many blocks from some other temple that I can't remember the name of.  So we are surrounded by Temples.  Since moving to Utah my joke has been that my husband and I live where we are because he was frustrated with the grid system out here.  So after going to three apartment complexes, he decided on this one, so he would not have to drive around any longer.  But perhaps it was God putting us here so I could be in the middle of all the Temples.     Hope you enjoyed learning a little about Isaac and Stonehenge.  I have had a great week of family history sleuthing.
G.G.
P.S.  I also learned while talking to my mother this week that this is the side of the family that my lovely red hair comes from.  Although I would rather it turned back to blonde like when I was young.  I have grown used to my red hair and curls over the past few years.  I just hope I don't go grey quiet as fast as my mom did.

The Mystery of Martha Bowlby

Here is a portrait of Martha Barker Bowlby.  She is the Wife of Thomas Bowlby.  He was the first Bowlby ancestor to come over to America.  He was born in 1665 in Mansfield, Woodhouse, Nottingham England.  At the age of 62 Thomas and three of his sons sailed to America, leaving his wife and other children in England.

The Bowlby Family website is very proud of Martha for letting her husband leave England and come to America.  But I always have wondered about this.  I'm not to sure that Martha and her husband were on good terms.  I think it is because of the papers that I have read concerning this event.  The New Jersey Historical society has papers about this time and to me it seems as if Thomas was on the "BAD LIST" of Martha's family.  The land that ended up being Thomas Bowlby's was not his to begin with.  It all was really Martha's fathers land.  It was supposed to go to his name sake Samuel Bowlby.  But Samuel died before his grandfather.  The land was then supposed to be willed to Mary Ladlam, Samuel Barkers (Martha's Father) niece.   Thomas was only to receive no more than 5 shillings from is father- in- law.  I would think that says something about the relationship. 
There are letters that Mary Ladlam writes to the estate managers in America.   In the letters written by Mary Ladlam to Samuel Barkers administrators we find that Mary did not have a high opinion of Thomas Bowlby.  She writes of dealing with many years of Bowlby's "Wicked practices" and that Thomas owed Samuel Barker money.  She also writes that Samuel Barker took care of Bowlby's wife and children for many years.  That Bowlby had a bad reputation where she lived and that she wasn't surprised that he was in the Burlington common gaol (jail), as he lay in Nottingham gaol a long time and was bankrupt and her uncle Baker ransomed him out of it and was never repaid. 
So in reading these letters it leads one to believe that Thomas Bowlby was escaping a bad life in England and taking advantage of the situation of his Father in- laws death and the inability of a woman at the time to do much business.  Because no one seemed to listen to Mary Ladlam.  Her husband had passed away and she did not have much power to stop Bowlby from taking what was to be hers because she was a woman.
Martha Bowlby never went to America.  I think she may have been glad to not have to deal with her husband, perhaps she even helped just to get him far away from her.  I do remember reading somewhere that she forbade her portrait to ever be brought to America.  Anyways it's an interesting story.  I would love to find out what the truth is.  I like the idea though of them having some secrete issue. 
Here are some websites you can look at to find out more about these people.
http://filioagnostic.blogspot.com/2010/05/samuel-barker-gent-of-barlborough-co.html
This is a blog site that I found today.  I have to go back and read it myself because it has information on the Bowlby Family and Martha's family that I don't have.  What a great find!

http://www.jerseyhistory.org/findingaid.php?aid=0410 This is the link to the New Jersey Historical Society and the papers that they have on the Bowlby Family.  They also have Samuel Barkers will.  I've always wanted to order copies but never have.  It is so interesting to read these old papers.

http://www.barlboroughrc.btck.co.uk/InterestingFacts
Here is another website I found today.  I find it interesting because it shows photo's of where Martha's parents lived.  And about the area they came from.  I have not read a lot of it yet, so another website I have to read when I get the chance. 
I hope that these will we inspire you to search out your own ancestors and the places they lived you may be surprised by what you find.  I know I've enjoyed reading about their past and wondering.

News of our family.  We are doing well.  Busy.  We have a possible buyer for our house but before we can move forward it seems we have to upgrade our electric supply to the house.  I'm not sure how much this is going to cost and it is causing me some stress.  We live on such a tight budget with paying mortgage, rent, health insurance.  it's a paycheck to paycheck situation and I'm trying hard to make all work out.  My new goal is to not buy groceries for the next three weeks.  I've stocked up on all that we eat over the past few months and now I'm going to go three weeks with only buying bread, milk, eggs and fresh fruits and veggies.  Wish me luck.  I'm also into month two of not using credit cards, and not drinking soda and buying from the vending machine at work.  Every penny I can save is going to help as we move forward.  I'll be so glad when this house sells and I can breath and not worry so much about money.  I just take it one day at a time and not complain.
Hope you enjoyed this post.
G.G.

I feel like a detective when I do family history research

One of the reasons I love to do family history work is because I often feel like I am being a detective. I am uncovering the mysteries of those who went before me.  I'm finding out who I am related to and what their lives were like.  I find out about the world that they lived in, and the problems they faced.

I just finished a book that spans from England before the first world war all the way to our time.  The narrator of the book starts out as a maid for a wealthy family in her town at the age of 14 and lives to be in her 90's.  You get to learn about what life was like for people during the two world wars.  I believe this young man served in the 2nd world war.  I know my grandfather did too.  He lied about his age to go to war.  These men who fought for freedom were changed.  They came back having experienced horrors that one would hope we could keep from coming again.  But it seems our society does not learn well when it comes to wars.

I love to look at photo's and ask "Who are you?" "What was your life like?"  I wish that their spirits could speak back to me.  This is my Great Great Great Grandfather on my mothers fathers side.  His name is Samuel Kimball.  He lived in New Hampshire and Vermont.  I can't find who his parents are.  It frustrates me.  The odd thing about being here in Utah is there are famous Kimball's out here.  It's a common name.  I see it everywhere.  I often wonder if I could find more information if I'd find I'm related to some of them, if you went far enough back.

Here is his granddaughter Bessie Kimball Eastman.  Looks like I got my love of horses from her. She was my mothers grandmother.  My mother never got to meet her because she died of diabetes.  The book that I just finished is called " The House At Riverton." By Kate Morton.  She also wrote " The Forgotten Garden."  The book was really good, and made me think of family history and detective work.  In fact it has made me want to read a detective book next.  I've never read Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie.  These were mentioned in the book.  The great thing about owning a nook is that I can get these books for free.

What do you think?  Is this a little girl or a little boy?  Was the family well off or poor.  You will be surprised to know this is a little boy.  I don't know why but they used to dress them up like girls for photo's.  I'll have to look into that.  I think most boys this day and age would die if their parents had a photo of them dressed as a little girl.  I wonder if this was taken out side or if it was in a studio.  One other thing I liked about the book I recently read was it talked of the changes in the generations, and moral decline.  I wonder what our ancestors would say about the world today?  Would they be shocked that women wear jeans and pants and not frilly dresses?  Would they be appalled that women work and vote?  I would love to know what they would think of all the technology.  I love looking at the old photo's and wondering about these people who came before me.
I have a gift for finding family names.  This past week I found over 20 new family members. I have found over 317 names since moving here.  I have been enjoying looking at their census records and learning about them.  Sometime I feel so happy for these people, and other times I feel their pain, and realize the hard lives some of them lived.  The loss of their children to sickness and wars.  They cause me to pause and be thankful for the ease of my life.  I wish I could speak to them, to hear their stories.  Perhaps in the eternities I'll have that chance.  Good luck on your search.
G.G.

Learning to be better from Nephi

The snow covered mountains are so beautiful here in Utah.  This past week I have been reflecting on the past few years.  In January of 2010 I learned that I was to lose my beloved library job.  I was heart broken.  I couldn't foresee what the Lord had in store for my family.  By July of 2010 not only had I lost my job, but my husband had lost his as well.  We were about to face some storms in our life.  I feel that we were pretty prepared for these storms.  I had always saved money for a stormy day, though I think now you should save for a stormy season.  I'm not sure we were prepared for the storm to last so long.  Both my husband and I found new jobs.  My husbands job though was very tough and paid very little.  It was a struggle to make ends meet, even with our savings and food storage.  By January 2011 things were looking bleak for us.  My husband was very beat up by his job, he was to me going through an emotional crisis.  We were running out of savings, we were seeking help where help could be given.  My husband was looking for a new job, but was not having good luck.  It's hard to look for a new job when you are working 50 hours a week.  And to top that at 50 hours a week he was still barely making any money. I had faith though that the Lord was there blessing us.  That we would eventually be through the trial and on to a better out look on life.
Little did I know what changes the Lord had planned.  I had felt since October of 2011 that my family might move.  It seemed that is what the Lord kept telling me.  But I had no clue as to where or when.

I love to look at the mountains with the clouds about them.  I am in love with these mountains.  My daughter says it's because it reminds me of Vermont.  I'm not sure if that is the truth but perhaps she is right.  Any ways  in February my husband was offered a chance to apply for a job in Utah.  And I told him to go.  He needed to get away.  And now here we are.  Right now we are in the process of negotiating a sale price with a buyer on our house.  I hope it all works out.  Pray for us please.  But to the topic.  Learning to be better from Nephi.  If you haven't figured it out.  I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints aka " A Mormon".  And this year we are to read the book of Mormon.  We have been challenged to read it as a family and on our own.  I'm typically not home for family reading as I work nights.  But I've been trying to read every day.  Its odd I've read this book multiple times.  But with each change in my life I learn new things from it.  I'm only in the first chapters but Nephi has already taught me some new things.
 1 Nephi 17: 3 " And thus we see that the commandment's of God must be fulfilled.   And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness."   Our last two years seem like a sojourn in the wilderness to me.  And as I look back I see the Hand of God in our lives.  He was there to provide for us both spiritually and physically.  Through our trials he nourished us and strengthened us.  I'm so grateful for that.

Next 1 Nephi 18: 3 " And I, Nephi did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed me great things."
As I attend the temple each week, I realize that I'm going to the mount of the Lord.  I have such peaceful experiences.  What I love is one room is painted as if you are actually up in a mountain.  I feel as if I'm up in the mountains of Vermont.  I have had such great inspiration come to me.  I desire continually to go more and more often.  So I'm now bribing my family to help clean so I have more days to attend.  I understand this passage so much more.

And the last 1 Nephi 18: 16 " Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions." Nephi is telling this because he has been bound hands and feet for many days on a boat by his brothers who want to kill him.  Yet he does not complain.  He praises the Lord and waits for him to help him.
This is what I've learned from our trials, just move forward, don't complain.  Continue to be faithful, continue to go to the Lord with your heart open and ready.  He will care for you. 
I'm so thankful for the blessings of my trials for they have made me strong.  I have also been moved to a place where I can become closer to God.  I have never felt so at peace.  We have trials still but I know that God is blessing us. 
Sorry to be so preachy to day but I can't contain this Joy I feel.
G.G.