Overdue Update

Hello all,  my dear uncle reminded me last week that it has been ages since anyone has posted to our family blog.  Thank you, Daryl!  I'll try to remedy the situation a bit.  And thank you to Cheryl, who is so diligent in keeping her blog going and letting us know what is going on in Alaska!

To catch up a bit, the family continues to grow.  Congratulations to Angela and Mike Lees, who are expecting number 3 this spring.   We have also lost a few.  Since I'm lacking in many of the details, I hope you'll be willing to share any information you have, so that our extended family can be aware.

I'm also aware that there are many members of our extended family who do not yet know of this site.  If you receive updates for the site and know of other family members who do not receive them (because I have not had contact information), please let me (and them) know.  I'll be happy to reach out to share access information with anyone we can find.

On the newsy side, it was great catching up with Uncle Daryl (Thompson) and Maggie (Thompson-Taylor) last week.  A few years had gone by since I'd seen Daryl, and even more since talking with Maggie.  Circumstances for our get together could have been better (Maggie having surgery), but the good news is that she came through the surgery great and was making great progress afterwards.  We'll hope and pray that she continues to heal and see a quick renewal of health!   

The other news, which most of you probably know, is that I'm starting up a brand new business.  It's incredibly exciting and scary (risky) too.  I'm having some pretty wild ups and downs.  Mostly ups, I'm very happy to say.  Some friends asked me today if I would start a private Facebook group to record and share information about the business and my progress with them. I've thought maybe I should keep a journal of some sort about my journey, so I think that's a pretty good idea.  If not Facebook, then maybe a private blog specific to that subject.  Stay tuned and I'll let you know what I come up with, in case you want to follow my on my "Filamental Journey".  Goodnight for now....Love you all,  C.

Remembering "Aunt" Mattie

Mattie A. Davis
Enterprise

1918-2011

Mattie A. Davis, 92, of Enterprise, died Oct. 19 at her home. A celebration of life will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at Enterprise Christian Church. Burial will follow at Enterprise Cemetery.
Mattie was born Dec. 27, 1918, to Joseph H. Taylor and Gleana G. Merrit Taylor at Minam. She married Roy O. Davis July 9, 1936. He preceded her in death in 1971.
Roy and Mattie had a little farm on Chico out of Enterprise. In 1955, the couple moved to town so their daughter, Loretta, could go to high school. Mattie worked at the dairy and turned it into Davis Cafe. It was in the family for 42 years until Mattie retired to devote herself to her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her religion.
She is survived by sons, LeRoy and his wife, Becky Davis, and Dan and his wife, Nancy Davis; daughters, Loretta Croghan and Elaine and her husband, Jim Joyner; 10 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; and a few great-great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by two brothers, three sisters and one granddaughter.
Memorial contributions may be made to any charity in care of Bollman Funeral Home, P.O. Box 547, Enterprise, OR 97828.

Counting My Blessings . . .

I heard recently about a study that shows that those that say give thanks live longer lives. I don't know about that, but I thought about it, and I think that even if a person doesn't live longer, perhaps being concious of the good things in life would make a persons quality of life better, maybe a bit more fulfilling. All too often, I come across people that can only think of the hardships in their lives, and are blind to the blessings, and it makes me sad. With that in mind, I decided to keep a journal of the blessings in my life. I was going to just keep a notebook, but then I decided that blogging it could be a good idea, so I'm going to give it a whirl.

I have several constant and wonderful blessings in my life. I have a awesome mate and father for my children, and I have six wonderful children.

Today Gene and I took the kids to the zoo, and we had a great day. Autumn and Adam went by max and met us there, since our van will no longer holds the whole family. The day was slightly overcast, so it wasn't to hot, and not to cool, though it did start to sprinkle for just a bit. Aislynn wasn't scared of the animals like she was the last time we went, except for the fish, which she was able to get used to with a little gentle coddling and nudging. Every time we stopped and looked at an animal, she was willing to try saying the animals name, and did so pretty well. She also only escaped once, and we found her quickly. Aislynn running away may not seem like much of a blessing, but as a child with autism, she has a compulsion to wander more than the average child, so we watch her extremely closely, hold her hand constantly, and are thankful when we don't have any panic attacks due to a disappearing act. We saw fish, bears, eagles, otters, and finally (in Aspen's opinion) got to the eating area where Aspen's long awaited elephant ears are sold. She had money, so she got an elephant ear, and the rest of us sat down and enjoyed our sandwiches. Then we headed back, and on the way, discovered what Aislynn's favorite part of the zoo was: The monkeys! She loved them immediately, and especially when one of them went swinging up to munch on some lettuce.

Over all, it was a wonderful day with my family, and I am grateful.

A Winning Week!

Time is flying by, it seems....and so did Josh's little wooden car that he made for his first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race! It started out as a humpbacked whale design, but he called a halt to the rough cuts early and turned it into a pretty decent looking little race car!

Not only did it turn out to be a bit stylish, it also turned out to be pretty quick! His first heat (1 run on each of 4 tracks) brought him in 3rd each time. By the 2nd heat however, it was warmed up and started winning! When they tallied up the final results, he came in 1st in the Tiger Cub category, and took 2nd place for the whole pack! Needless to say, we were very pleasantly surprised. Now he's saving his car for the district derby race, to take place in April

I plan on taking a good photo of him and his car, which I'll post as soon as I can. I tried to capture a few with him and his friends on the iPhone, but we need to get a better shot of him with his car.

Greetings from Susan!!

Here it is really close to Thanksgiving--and my usual tearfulness already had started in about a week ago. I generally keep that to myself--waiting until the kids are asleep or at school. I still nurse the wounds of a seventeen year old--though with time, it’s just one of those things I’ve come to accept. We all do. Except now. I remember--and in remembering, I allow my feelings to overwhelm me.

I was reading the Bible awhile ago and found a passage in Isaiah 65:24, “Before they call, I will answer.” It stuck out to me, so I kept note of it--never imagining that it could ever have any pertinence to the here and now. Well this last week, I cried--tried to pray, but the words just wouldn’t form. I suppose that my tears said enough because before I called--He answered. One by one, I’ve found my extended family. Today, on this very day on November 23, 1985 my mother passed away. It’s at this time that I really feel most keenly lonesome. It’s selfish of me to feel this way to say the least--but still, I stand amazed that there is a God who loves us enough to meet those kinds of needs. For this, I am utterly thankful.

I am very proud and thankful for my small family--Michael, aged 14 is a freshman in high school; Andrew is in his first year of middle school and Jillian is a energetic 3-year-old. Being a single-parent with three children is never dull--there is always something happening. To make life easier, I have a great parenting relationship with the boys’ father and a pretty good one with Jill’s dad too.



My Michael likes to pride himself in that he was named after a warrior angel. In a way, I like to see him in that light too. He has fought many battles to get where he is today. This child was struggling in school--and it was not for lack of trying or participation. He was right there, involved in everything that was going on in class--but, it just took him longer than the other students. Still, it seemed that he couldn’t get a passing grade. He had special help in school, we had tutors--and we worked with him after school. Still, it was a struggle. He fought and didn’t give up. He’s getting A’s and B’s now. That’s my warrior.

Andrew is the Thompson namesake of the family--a famous one at that. His father and I gave him the middle name of “Thompson”, but gave him the popular name of Andrew. That drew the attention of the news media--the Walla Walla Union Bulletin at first, then the Seattle Times. I was asked why I named my child “Andrew” at first because at the time, so many boys had been named “Andrew” in the state, they were asking parents if they would consider renaming their child. Then, they honed in on the middle name “Thompson”--so I told them that it was a family name--and it would look great on a business card. Unfortunately, they quoted me. We didn’t opt to change our son’s name--instead, we call him “Drew”. If push came to shove, we planned on calling him Tom or Tommy.



Jillian was my unexpected blessing. Jillian = Judith + Billy + Susan. Not really, I was on bed rest with my feet stuck up in the air watching TV and ended up watching an old episode of X-files--the lead actress’s name was Gillian Anderson. I was at a loss for a girl’s name and I liked hers--so I went with it. I only had a few weeks left to go. I really wanted to name her Chloe, but her dad strongly objected. Jill had a “broken crown” last year… like the nursery rhyme. She was born with a tumor growing in the soft spot of her skull. It didn’t quite reach the surface of the brain, but it sure did create a bump on the top of her noggin. We chose to have it removed before it tickled her brain and caused seizures. The tumor was a dermoid type tumor--a tumor in which there is an excess of dermal tissue growing. Whew--not cancerous. The bonus of having this surgery done when we had it done was so that she would not remember it being done. At least, that was what we thought. However, she remembers--and she has not forgiven us for it. Yet. Heaven forbid we try to cut, comb or wash the child’s hair!

I am currently a trauma nurse working in a step-down intensive care unit called the TRACU at Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. I’ve been there 6 ½ years--but who is counting? I work 12-hour night shift, generally 6 day stretches with 8 days off in between. I really miss working with my little old people--I loved them so. What I am doing now is such a stark contrast… I am grateful for the steady employment in this point in time, it is certainly a blessing.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Could this be traction?

Woot! Is it possible...just possible that this site could be getting some traction, and that that could possibly lead to...momentum? I'm very pleased that Richard Galloway has jumped in and helped update some of the calendar dates. And how great to hear from cousin Sue too!

I've been trying to make sure all family members have authoring rights, so please don't be shy about writing your own post. We really want to hear where, you are and what you've been doing! Thanks to this site..I've now managed to find out that Lynn and Richard moved to Alaska!!! Who knew??? And when did that happen??? Since I know I can't be the only one who periodically loses touch...your posts to this site will help us avoid those big suprises!

To add your post, create a google login (if you don't already have one) for the email address I've been given. You should have received an invitation from the blog when I added your email to confirm. Once you're logged in..you should see the option to post in the upper right corner. A screen with a title field and a text block should be available for you to write in. I'd love to see photos or videos posted (there's an "Add Image" button to insert your pics). And if you have a link to a personal blog, photo sharing site, or the like...please add it. Or...feel free to send me an email and I'll add it to one of the gadgets if you prefer.

New Additions

Hi all! I'm collecting emails of family members and sending new invitations to read & post to this blog. I hope that you are enjoying reading the (somewhat intermittent) posts, and will find occassion to post an update of your own. Which of course, will only make this forum all the more interesting!

Happy blogging!

p.s. Please pass on the link to this site to any other family members you wish. Or, share their email addresses with me, so that I can forward an invitation. If you have a personal website or blog you'd like linked from here, I'd be happy to manage that for you. If you notice, we have a calendar for family events....birthdays, anniversaries and the like (reunion, anyone?). The calendar too could benefit from the addition of a multitude of missing entries.