family history

Easter Traditions

In England, we had a multiple week break around Easter. Many of those Easter holidays were spent in California where we created traditions that will continue with this next generation -- Easter clothes, See's Candies and colored eggs!

We received a box of See's goodies from my mom this year, so Baby H. has already tasted its first See's chocolates, jellybeans and lollypops. As you can see from the photo below, See's chocolate bunnies haven't changed much since 1988...

Easter morning at Grandma's with our See's chocolate bunnies.

Easter morning at Grandma's with our See's chocolate bunnies.

My goofy facial expressions haven't changed either...

easter1
Easter dresses from the neighborhood kids shop. I loved those horrible white shoes because they didn't have straps. That bunny has already made itself at home in our baby's nursery.

Easter dresses from the neighborhood kids shop. I loved those horrible white shoes because they didn't have straps. That bunny has already made itself at home in our baby's nursery.

Jonathan and I don't dye eggs very often, but we are excited about doing this with Baby H. in a few years. My favorites were (and still are) the sparkly eggs.

Coloring Easter eggs. 

Coloring Easter eggs. 

Messy but so much fun.

Messy but so much fun.

Our handiwork. Check out mom's LA Gear hightop sneakers with purple laces!

Our handiwork. Check out mom's LA Gear hightop sneakers with purple laces!

Another Easter tradition was an indoor chocolate egg hunt. We continued this tradition after we moved to Mississippi. I remember finding random chocolate eggs for the rest of the year because my mom hid them so well.

I can't wait to continue these fun memories with Baby H!

joan's piano

We recently inherited Joan's piano. If there is such a thing as a family heirloom, this piano would be near the top of our list. Joan received the piano from her dad for her 12th birthday on September 10, 1945. It was her most prized possession. When the family relocated from Ohio to Southern California in 1960, the piano moved into my great-grandmother's living room because it wouldn't fit in Joan's apartment. Here's a photo of my mom playing the piano before her junior prom in 1973:

piano3.jpg

After my great-grandmother passed away the following year and Joan moved into her new house in the nearby suburb of Cerritos, the piano moved into a corner of her living room. You can see it in the background along with the chandelier that now hangs in our foyer:

piano1.jpg

For the thirty years she lived in the house, the piano occupied that space. When my sister and I were kids, we loved playing the piano. It was one of our favorite pastimes as children. After we sold Joan's house in October 2011, the piano moved across the country to my mom's house in Oxford, where it stayed until this spring when my mom decided to downsize. It now lives in our living room: 

piano3

We still have some work to do in this room, but we are excited to have Joan's piano in our home. Jonathan is already practicing his piano-playing skills. Porter sings along!

summer memories

Happy Friday, everyone. I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend and a good week. We've had some family concerns around here the past few weeks, and they have forced blogging to take a back seat. If you are the praying kind, please keep our family in your prayers. 

Today I wanted to continue the summer vacation series by sharing some photos of my grandparents, Joan and Sid, that were taken in the late 1970s. Sadly Sid lost his battle to liver cancer in 1984 at age 50. Ironically Joan would pass away from the same disease 19 years later. Despite their blissful life being cut short, they were the perfect example of a couple who loved a lifetime. They lived each day to the fullest and made every moment count. Their home was a happy place, and they enjoyed traveling, camping and boating. They knew how to have fun. 

Their story can teach the rest of us a great lesson -- have adventures, enjoy every day, stop and smell the roses and laugh....You get the picture. 

joanandsid.jpg
joan
motorhome
motorhome2
motorhome3.jpg
sid.jpg
yard.jpg

You'll notice their dog Pookie on the left side of the above photo. I will always remember my grandma and their yard like this. I often wonder what would we do without photos to remind us of special people and places. They continue to keep them in our hearts and minds decades after they're gone. I am so grateful for these precious memories.