Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

I remember there being some old cards amongst my Grandma Eleanore’s things. I think that my mom still has them. I will have to ask. I sure wish that I lived close to “home” so that it was easier to visit!

My Grandma Eleanore (or Grammy Eleanore as we called her) was a card person. I remember going to her house when I was a kid. She only lived about 20 minutes away from us, so we saw her often. She’d always have drawers and closets full of cards and wrapping paper. She loved the “Current” catalog and was constantly ordering things from it.

My mom usually sent cards out every year. I know that once I was old enough, I was recruited in Christmas card duty and would sit and write addressed out for her.

Even though things have changed dramatically in the past 30 years, I can’t bring myself to send nothing but an emailed Christmas card. I like them and they’re free, but there is something special about getting a REAL card in the REAL mail.

I mean really, who gets REAL mail anymore?

I have always tried to get cards out. Sometimes I procrastinate. Okay, I usually procrastinate. I send them though and I think that they make it before Christmas. 🙂

This year, I decided to make a photo card with our family on it. I took the picture myself. Gotta love digital cameras. I had it clicking ever 3 seconds and somehow managed to get everyone to look the same direction at least once!

Here is what is gracing the front of this year’s card:

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I have always wanted all of my hard work displayed on the wall for all to see.

Someday, when my husband finally retires from the Army (at this point in time, I’m starting to think that they’re going to have to kick him out!) we are going to build our own home.  A big one.  And we’re going to decorate it however we want.  And I’m going to have a huge wall mural of our family tree in the living room.

My sister is pretty talented.  When we lived in Monterey, CA, she turned our kids’ bathroom into an aquarium.  Too bad that it was post housing and we had to paint over it with white when we moved.  That was tough to see all of her hard work erased – especially since we only lived there for 2 years.  The shark eating the toilet paper roll was my favorite part…

I think that I will bribe her into painting our wall for us, because I draw stick people.  She obviously hogged all of the artistic genes and I got stuck with none. Life is just not fair.

In the meantime, I would love one of these framed family trees from Geneartology.  I saw them mentioned in a recent Legacy newsletter and loved browsing their site.  They have a number of different templates available, some of them without pictures for the 4th generation, in case you don’t happen to have them.  I think that you can put your kids on the trunk also.  I wonder if my 5 would fit without making the trunk completely disappear.

They’re gorgeous.  Yes, it’s a bit pricey,  but you get what you pay for.  It’s not a paper chart printed from your computer.  It’s art – on canvas and framed if you want.

Wouldn’t you love one of these on your wall?

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I broke down and got a month-long subscription to Footnote.  I wanted to see what they have to offer.  I didn’t find much of what I was looking for, but one of the things that I found very helpful was the Civil War Pension Cards.

Ancestry.com also has these records, but they are indexed differently.

I had the hardest time finding John Edwards’ pension card on Ancestry.  Do you know how many John Edwards served in the Civil War?  A lot.  Those common names get you every time.

I knew what unit he served in, because it was on his gravestone. 

The Footnote search was so easy, because I could choose his company (G) and then his regiment (9) and voila, there he was!

Now to finally get a hold of his pension record….

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December 3 – Christmas Tree Ornaments
Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments? Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries? Did your family or ancestors make Christmas ornaments?

When I was growing up, I don’t believe that we had any ornaments that were “heirlooms”.  But I consider those same ornaments (which my mom gifted to me a few years ago) heirlooms now.

We bought a lot of the collectible ornaments from Hallmark on the day after Christmas.  I like them, but the ones I cherish are the homemade ones.

We never strung popcorn or cranberries, but that sounds very quaint.  Like it belongs in a Land’s End or Pottery Barn catalog.  Do people still do that?  Don’t the cranberries get old?  I think that my kids would eat the popcorn. 🙂

The ornament I love the most is this pair of mittens that was always hanging on our tree.  Yes, 1981 wasn’t THAT long ago, but I was only 5 then, so it seems like ages. 🙂  I honestly don’t know who made these.  They are knitted though, so it must have been my Great Aunt Elvy.  Aren’t they pretty??

My mom (and her mom) went through this needlepointing phase in the 1980’s.  Was it a fad or something?  I’m not sure.  Anyway, I have a few gallon ziploc bags full of needlepointed ornaments which I consider heirlooms.  I have enough to pass down to all 5 of my kids!

Along with the handmade heirlooms, our current tree is covered in ornaments from the various places we have lived and traveled.  I have been buying ornaments as my souvenir when we visit a new place.

Here are some from when we lived in North Pole, Alaska:

Monterey, California:

I picked this one up earlier this year when we were in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.  It matches the quilt I bought for my bed!

When we lived in San Antonio, Texas:

And from Washington State:

The mixture of souvenirs, handmade heirlooms, and paper ornaments made by my kiddos makes for a very eclectic mixture on the tree.  No, it’s not picture-perfect gorgeous.  Nothing “matches”.  And I let my kids hang the ornaments themselves, so they aren’t always places perfectly.  I think that’s what makes it special though. 🙂  It’s a mixture of memories past and memories that we’re making now.

I wish that I had some heirloom ornaments from beyond my parents’ generation.

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This is my grandmother, Eleanore Sonia Bergman (Sanchez, Thompson), when she was a child. The picture is very stained, but I am thankful that her face is nice and clear.  What chubby little cheeks she had! 🙂

I think that maybe I should read into how to use Photoshop a little better and maybe I can clean it up a bit.

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