Last weekend my husband Scott took our daughter Mindy on a trip to Louisiana to visit our son David and his family.  I'm really glad they were able to go. While they were there, David and a friend from work launched a balloon into the upper reaches of the atmosphere.  This was a special balloon that they ordered online which was about 5' in diameter when it was inflated with helium.  They attached a foam cooler with an old camera inside along with a GPS to help them track the balloon.  The theory was that the helium would freeze at a certain point in the atmosphere and then the balloon would pop, the payload would gently descend to earth with its parachute.  I have to admit, when I first heard about this, I was highly skeptical that it would work. But it did!  On Friday morning they drove 2.5 hours to the east, nearly to the Texas border, to launch the balloon so that it would land close to where David lives.  There were all kinds of things t...

I have always known a lot about my mother's grandparents.  Their lives are well-documented in books that I own and I am grateful to have them. Sadly, I have known almost nothing about my father's grandparents. But this year, I have been working on a personal history of my grandmother and I have learned more about my paternal great-grandparents.  What little I have learned tells me they were amazing. Here is a picture of my great-grandmother, Valera Hawkins Hansen, far upper right, with her birth family.  Her parents were William and Drusilla Fillmore Hawkins, seated in front. The picture was taken when Valera was nearly 30.  What you can't tell from the picture is that Drusilla gave birth to 11 children but only 6 survived to adulthood.  Something else you can't tell from the picture unless you look at her hands is that Drusilla had severe rheumatoid arthritis and was crippled for much of her adult life. Now here's an amazing story as told by my grandfat...

Thanksgiving was at our house this year.  We had a really big group of 44 people.  That's what happens when you come from a really big family and most of them live around here.  7 of my 10 siblings came with their children. I gave out food assignments and everybody helped.  I roasted two turkeys and made stuffing and gravy and a couple of pies, my mom made lots of rolls, my sister made salads and Southern cornbread stuffing. There were also mashed potatoes, fruit salads, olives, drinks, vegetables, and more pies. It was tricky to figure out where to put everyone even with our large room.  But it worked out and I'm glad I have the space to make it work.  One thing I did which I will do again is I made place cards for all the kids under 18 so the adults could sit together more. I forgot to take pictures until after the meal was over so this is the post-eating socializing. Scott was the champion dishes doer. Mindy loves it when her a...