...so her mother's daughter...

Thought you would like to know that my daughter, Erin, mother of Paytan has started a blog. It's called 'Little Miss Adventures' and you can go here to see it. I'm so glad Erin decided to do this, especially the video part. I don't get to see her and Kris and Paytan nearly enough, so this blog is extra special to me. Thanks for humoring indulging me.....

...but then you already knew that...

Knitters are pretty awesome. I know, I know. If you know any knitters you know that this first statement is pretty obvious. Knitters are kind, clever, giving, smart, hard working, diligent, and knitters rise to the occasion, whatever it might be. Case in point.....

Remember these?

Made by an awesome knitter.

And these?

another awesome knitter...

Yup, another clever knitter.

These were all gifts for Paytan. As were these....

(side note: the crown was knit by Virginia, a sock camp friend for Paytan's first birthday celebration! and the last little hat was dyed and knit by my wonderful friend Marcy. She had called me while I was on my way down to Newport for Paytan's early arrival and said she just had to cast on something tiny and pink right then. It arrived at Erin and Kris's house the day they came home from the hospital!)

So you can see that knitters are all of the things I said before; clever, kind, giving, smart, etc. But there is something else that knitters are...they are sneaky. Yes, I said sneaky. They put their heads together and come up with some of the most wonderful surprises. And here is one of the best surprises ever. A group of talented and giving knitters got together, with the herding leadership of Jen and Lisa (two of my favorite people on the planet) and knitted up this beautiful heirloom for Paytan. It's made up of different blocks of STR! It's the most beautiful thing!

Not only did they knit one for Paytan, but they did the same thing for Dylan who is the grandson of Debra (head dyer extraordinaire for depraved dyer! Check this out for more!) I don't even have the words to tell you what this blanket means to me. I can only say Susan, Judy, RoAnn, Celia, Anne, Tracy, Carrie, Leslie, Marcy, Sam, Tece, Mya, Terry, Marison, Stormy, Cathy, Karen, Laura, KT, Naomi, Linda, Virginia, Laura, Paula, Leslie, Alice, Susan, Ayelet, Liz, Mary, Jen and Lisa you have my undying gratitude. I can't wait to share this beautiful blanket with Paytan and tell her just how special each and every one of you is.

...following the path...

So with the arrival of Paytan, I have been thinking about my family...a lot. Not just my immediate family but really my ancestors. I have a pretty extensive family on my father's side; many aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th).

I thought I had a pretty good handle on names and ages until a recent family gathering for my great-uncle, Joe's (90) and my uncle Dick's (80) birthday. I got to talking with some of my family members and realized that I almost needed to get out a piece of paper and a pencil to keep track of everyone! Enter Ancestry.com.

I went to the web site and signed on for a 14 day free trial membership. Then I started my search. Within 15 minutes I was hooked. I have successfully traced my mother's father's (my grandfather) side of the family back to 1522! Using census reports, birth, marriage and death certificates I have be able to start a family tree that now has 280 people on it! And this is just one side of the family!

My next step is to start tracing my mother's mother's (my grandmother) side of the family. I do have immigration records for my grandmother and great-grandmother from when they arrived in America. I found these records in with some pictures that my mother had. It's pretty exciting!

My mother was the keeper of all information when it came to our family. She could remember names, dates and places not for just her side of the family but for my father's as well. With her gone I realize that I need to step into that role or this vital information could be lost. And Paytan really needs to know about who these wonderful people were and where they came from. Afterall, it is her inheritance......