Heritage Layouts

I was looking at a friend's blog this morning & was inspired by all her heritage layouts.....and since I had been pulling pages to put together in a book for Uncle Skippy's 80th birthday party....I decided to pull these layouts too & include them. After all, we will be having our family reunion on Saturday & I figured folks might enjoy taking a look at some of these. Several years ago I had sent out questionaires to some of my aunts/uncles/cousins in hopes of using some of their memories as journaling to go along with some of these older photos. The journaling on these pages below was either done by me or my Aunt Vada or one of her two daughters, Wendy & Kristi. I'm so thankful to have these pages & memories & hopefully will be able to gather some more from them soon so I can add to my heritage pages. Would also love to gather info like this from Clay's side of the family for a heritage album! Pictures taken here around the kitchen & dining room tables. Who would've thought way back then, that I would be raising MY kids in this very house around that very same kitchen table. Photos taken about 1971.

Our house & my two cousins on the swing out front... Annette Ward & Kristi Ralph. Journaling by Wendy Ralph....talking about loving the home-made swing & counting the number of cars on the trains when they went by.

Email I saved from Aunt Vada....thanking us for the Valentines we sent them & telling me about how much she loved the little red heart stickers on the cards....how they used to collect money for the March of Dimes at church & for each donation of .10 they got to put a little red heart sticker on their chart & see who could get theirs filled the most.

In the journaling here by Wendy, she talked about the old farmhouse kitchen as being 'The Center of the Universe' for them back then. She told about how Mema always cooked on the old wood stove....which still sits in my kitchen today by the way....even when it was 90 degrees outside.....which would make it about 110 degrees in the kitchen. LOL! She also told about Mema's first attempt at cooking them a frozen pizza.....topping side DOWN & the cardboard still on top! What memories!!

Wendy's dog, Tippy.....so named because of his white-tipped tail & feet. Uncle Skippy found him out in the field & brought him to Wendy.

Kristi on Chritsmas morning 1977....with that cute little Pianosaurus in the background. I don't know how long the Pianosaurus lasted, but it seemed like forever!! I know tons of cousins on down the line played with that little piano whenever they visited at Mema's house. In the journaling here, Wendy talks about loving the stairs in this old two-story house. About sliding down the banister...which was NOT an appoved activity. LOL! Not to mention the game they played of seeing how many stairs they could jump over to get to the bottom.....their own version of an Evil Knievel stunt. And how they LOVED coming down the stairs on Christmas morning to see what all Santa had brought. She said for years Kristi begged to come back....just so they could walk down the stairs on Christmas morning.

This a photo of Mema & Papa in 1970. Aunt Vada tells how she remembers daddy coming in from the fields for the noon meal & dancing with Mema around the kitchen & kissing her on the neck & calling her Honey Bug. She said Mema was always so stiff & self-concious because the kids were sitting there giggling at them.

Just another layout with more photos taken here around the kitchen & dining room table or outside. Journaling is again about me remembering & thinking how awesome it is to be living here NOW with my own family. What special memories & such a rich heritage to share!

The top picture here is of Alli sitting with Uncle Skippy on the tractor. When I got the picture printed, it immediately reminded me of an older photo.....of ME sitting on the tractor with Papa.....in almost the exact same spot in the yard. Both pictures were taken in the spring & we were both just bout the same age....I was 3 & Alli was 4.