Two milestones met this week

Searching for the road I traveled on each day to Seminary my Senior Year at Conestoga High school through Valley Forge Park

Sister Loretta finished off the BIG books on the Brown and Green collection.

Finding the damaged books that completes our scanning assignment at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania with Family Search.

Always looking for records with my WOOLLEY family name. And being successful in Chester county.

As we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend , I am joyful for the example my family set to be Patriotic. None of my brothers served in the service. I dont have any close friends who served in Vietnam except the Featherstone young man I dated when attending BYU. ( I remember his name because he gave me his jacket with his name on it.)

My dad served in the Navy in WW11. The biggest memory I have of war and sacrifice is driving through Valley Forge Park each time we went to church. It was here that George Washington camped with the troops during the Revolutionary war that long, very cold winter.  In my senior year in high school I was voted Seminary  President so I drove the car pool through the park every day.

 We tried to find the roads that we took through the park, but like so many things from the past, the roads have been blocked, turned into one way streets. But most  all ,the little short cut we took on the dirt road over the creek, no longer exists, at least,  we could not find it on our hike through the park.

The sacrifices that were made for the gospel to be restored in America started with the settling in America. So many have come and continue to come for a better life. It is my prayer that we will continue to have a country where we can worship and pray and live together with people from all walks of life in peace and harmony. To leave this nation to our children and grandchildren, a place of LOVE and Charity to ALL.

Off to see the Wizard

Wow, I am blessed! My granddaughter Victoria was chosen as one of the Dorthys  and  grandson Austin as a singer  in the school's presentation of the Wizard of Oz. Erik came to pick me up at the airport which meant extra time to play and visit with grandma.

Erik is great at all the physical challenges at the playground. He gets his agility and strength from his fabulous family that have marked the path before him. 

After the show we celebrated with treats.

Karissa loves hugs, 

Victoria loves doing hair,

Erik and Austin love being fun,

I love being with Valerie and her family. It was just what the Doctor ordered.

So as you can see, the Wizard gave me just what I needed to finish the work that I am  needed to do in Philadelphia.

my sister Terry

Terry spent this passed week with Jim and I .  I loved sharing our memories of family, fun, and adventure. Growing up with a beautiful sister was hard for me. Terry had thick hair that my mom would take much more time to comb up into the high, tight pony tails that were so popular in our day. She had beautiful eyes with long eyelashes and knew how to put on makeup. I spent most of my time running around outside with my little brothers and play fort out at the creek.

When we moved to Devon, I started middle school at TE (Tredyffrin Easttown Township) and Terry went to Strafford elementary with our brothers,Mark and Craig. We all loved music and took piano lessons but Terry kept on taking lessons. I continued on specializing in dance while Terry picked up line dancing later in life. And we all loved the popular music of the times. When the Beatles came on Ed Sullivan show that Sunday Night in the early 1960's mom called us in to watch. I liked the Beach Boys and Little Stevie Wonder. Terry liked all the 50's groups ( and still does).

We had a beautiful pool and all loved to swim. One summer  that we didnt go to Utah  our parents rented a beach house at Ocean Side, NJ. We loved going to the Shore. 

After I went to BYU Terry lived with me in the dorms at Rivera  and then again after for a few years when I had Karina and Valerie. Once she got married we never really spent that much time together until this week.

I remember Terry once said, DO you think we would be friends if we werent sisters?

I remember saying NO! 

Now I know that we have much more in common, We love our family, love exercising. eating healthy. cute clothes, music, dance, reading, but most important, we love the gospel of Jesus Christ and serving Him.

I love you Terry.

Down Memorylane in Devon, Pa.

Many years ago, our father built his dream house at 709 N Valley Forge Rd, in Devon, Pennsylvania. We had 2  1/2 acres, enough land to never loose our view of Valley Forge Park. This weekend my sister Terry came for our brother Craig's youngest son's wedding ( which will be another blog) and the next evening we went to visit our neighbors, the Jaegers.

And what a reunion we had!! 

Jim, Loraine, and Bunker Jaeger still live in the area that we grew up. Their parents, much like ours, were very social. The kids, much like us, were high energy, smart, creative, full of fun and mischief, much like us. Since I was 3 years older I was the weekly babysitter. A few highlights from those teenage years are: baking cakes and having food fights, they hypnotised me, I often slept over because the parents came in so late so the boys would roll my hair my hair in pink rollers, the mean pet monkey, Ice skating on Narrigans pond, the Redcoats (the band that went on to win battle of the bands), wrestling, ping pong, pool table, basketball, sledding down Timber Lane. I have since learned that my High school, Conestoga High continues to be highly ranked. These were the days of cutting through the neighbors yard to get home. And so we did. We left the Jaegers and went to our home. The owners were kind enough to let us into our HOME, the one our father designed and built. Too many more memories! We had many Mutual parties, birthday parties and friends over. It was the party home. 

Here is Jim and Jim visiting in the Jaeger home.

Swimming in our back yard. Recently I heard that the memory of one of Bishop Chudleigh's son, of me, is laying out in the sun, working on my tan. We had the best back yard for fun in the sun.

Bunker told me a story that I have never heard before that really touches my heart. My father was President of the Little League. Bunker was only playing 1/2 an inning. Most of the coaches put their sons and best players in all the games. Our father changed the rules which made mandatory for each athlete to play in half the game. Bunkers team went on to the play offs. 

I love that our father  made this change, even though Mark and Craig, my brothers went on to be star athletes in many different sports! 

I am indeed very thankful that my parents raised me in a home where friends felt loved, where we felt safe and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was taught.

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa.

For those interested in the history of Longwood Gardens, the following is a brief but delightful summary of how my relatives, the Quaker Woolley family, is connected to this beautiful 1,000 acres of garden and forest.

Five  very well to do Quaker families, including Edward Hunter, David Brinton, John Dilworth and the Woolley's along with Peirce joined the Church after living in Chester county. When the call came each of these families sold everything and took their fortunes to Nauvoo. Peirce was approached by Eleuthere du Pont de Nemours who had made a fortune in gun powder mills. He purchased the land and preserved the arboretum and gardens. Peirce, along with the combined fortunes of the Woolley, Dilworths, Brinton, and Hunters helped build the city of Nauvoo. And the fortunes of Dupont grew and grew to this beautiful garden. 

Our Senior Couple field trip was great fun for all.

These Seniors really likes the construction

Jim, of course, loved the drafting table.

We all loved the dogwoods. And we didnt have any rain that day. After our great visit we shared more fun with and at  Hanks Homestyle cooking.