Meal Time!

This year for Thanksgiving we had dinner at my mom's parent's house. When we have Thanksgiving there, we gather at the same place in the house every time. My grandparents set up a little card table just to the side of the bigger dining table. The grandchildren and adults know exactly where they sit each time because it is always the same. My place in the family for the grandchildren is in the middle with three other cousins. We sit at the card table. We are not allowed at the adult table or the kid table. It's just how it is. No matter how old we get we will be at the card table. The adults take the dining table, and the kids take the bar. The kitchen where the tables are located is open and welcoming. It is big enough for all of the family to fit and small enough that it still feels cozy with everyone in the same room. My grandma loves red so she puts red tablecloths on each table.

Chips and Salsa before every meal is tradition!

I talked to my cousin while eating our Thanksgiving meal and he told me about a couple of his memories and experiences while eating at Grandma's. He talked about how every time we visit we have an ice cream sandwich, no matter what the occasion. It wouldn't be the same if we didn't have one. We laugh because it's always original and never any other flavor. I asked if he liked the routine that happens when we gather at my grandparents. He liked it because it makes it the way it is. It wouldn't feel right if all of a sudden we did things differently. It's interesting how I feel the same way. I asked him why he thought we had the same routine. He answered by saying that it's been like that since before he was born and why would it change now? He said that we have a way of doing things and that defines who are as a family and how we like to do things.

Part of my family :)

I love my family very much, and I am grateful for the routine that we have each time. It doesn't seem repetitive to me because my cousin is right in the sense that it makes our family who we are. This goes along with how I think of family because we all gather together and we know exactly where our spot is in the family. We know how we like things and it brings us together.

Passed Down

Growing up my mom would sing, what my family calls, "The Sailor Song". I didn't think twice about the significance of the song when I was young and just went with it. I learned the words quickly because my family sings it all the time as well as my extended family so it was easy for me to pick it up. 

As I got older I wanted to know the meaning of "The Sailor Song". It turns out that my great grandpa learned the song from his mom. The song explains the memory that she and my great great grandpa had. The people involved in the song were my great great grandparents, and now the song is still being sung today. The song goes as follows.

Around the corner and under the tree

A Yankee sailor said he loved me

He kissed me once

He kissed me twice

It really wasn't the thing to do

But gee it was nice!

The song was a part of the family ever since it was sung for the first time. It's fun because it is something that my family shares. When I have a family, I plan on singing it to my kids to carry on the history. We sing the song because if my great great grandparents didn't meet than I wouldn't be here today as well as the rest of my family. From stories that I hear, they loved each other very much and fought for their love. It is just an example to me of how cute they were. All my family members know the song and to this day have shared it with new members of the family and continue to do so, so that the memory and story never fades.

Sharing a Story

The cabin in the picture below means so much to me and my extended family. I have had so many memories here. My grandma, Judy, told me the story of why the cabin was built. It all started with my great grandpa. He is from Montana and has lived there for many years. His first wife died when he was in his forties. He only had one girl as a child. He remarried to a girl who had four other kids. My great grandpa built this cabin so the family could use and enjoy it. He wanted to do something for his children so that they could go there and have fun and be able to want to go there. My great grandpa wanted to connect to his new children as well as create closer relationships with his new family.

As you can see in the picture, there is a tree house in the back corner of the picture, so you can expect that young children played here. There is a swing that connects to the top of the tree house. He built it that way so that even when the young children grew up, they could still swing on the swing when they became older. Looking at the picture you can see that the cabin is in the middle of a lot of trees. This cabin is deep in the mountains of Montana. There is a lot of wildlife there and if you notice the cabin isn't very fancy. My great grandpa loves everything about nature, mountains, hard labor, and making it family friendly. Although, the workmanship on the cabin is neat and organized. That's because my grandpa has built many things in his life so he has had experience building cabins and homes. The driveway is long so there is room for a large group of people to stay.

It was so fun to listen to my grandma tell this story and I feel very blessed to be able to use the cabin. I hope that the traditions continue of going to the cabin twice a year with as much of my family possible. There is so much history there that goes back to when my great grandpa build it this beautiful place.

Unconditional Love!

My grandparents are very dear to me. They are one of the greatest examples in my life. Not only are they wonderful people, but I want my marriage to be just like theirs. They have set the bar with what I want in a relationship. The way they look at each other and live each day shows me that they love each other unconditionally. When I am with them, I can feel of their love for not only each other, but for me as well. 

My younger sister took the photograph below. My Mom's side of the family and I were in North Carolina three months ago when the picture was taken. After a long day at the beach, my sister and I were walking back to the cars and bikes slowly behind my grandparents with towels, boogie boards, our iPhones, and tootsie rolls in hand. I was talking back and forth with  my sister about our favorite parts of the day, when I looked ahead of me to see my grandparents holding hands. My grandma's feet were hurting her that day so she was walking extra slow with pain in each step she took. My grandpa stood by her side and was her support all the way to the car. I thought to myself that their love was true and always will be. In that moment I felt warm and wanted to remember this memory forever. I whispered to my sister to grab her iPhone and take a picture before they get to the car! She took a few pictures without them knowing and sent them to my phone a couple hours later.

I love my grandparents!

I want my posterity to see this picture and feel of the love my grandparents had for each other. I have downloaded it onto computer so that I can print it later and put it in a photo album. As of now I keep it in my photos on my phone and in a file on my computer. I sent the picture to my grandparents and told them how much I enjoy them. I love that this picture was taken spontaneously and has not been edited, but is still one of my favorite pictures. Instead of looking at the scenery and what was going on in the picture, the first thing that my eyes focus on is my grandparents holding hands. Their aging figures still there for each other through the wrinkles, pain, and long hours of each day. You can tell from the picture that it is warm outside. My grandma is wearing her sun hat she bought just days before the trip, and her pants that are her favorite color red. My grandpa holding my grandma's beach bag, wearing his swimsuit still wet from swimming in the ocean with his grand kids. They are incredible!

A Favorite!

I think that it is safe to say that food is a big thing in my family. We love it! I created this blog for my English class, and today I get to share a recipe :) This blog also focuses on the large topic of family. There will be more upcoming posts required for this class, so get excited!

It's REALLY hard choosing one recipe to share. There are SO many that my family and I enjoy. One of our favorite things to make are classic Chocolate Chip Cookies. Can I just say Yum?! I hope that you know, that we usually don't give out the recipe because it's so dear to us, but I'm going to make this an exception.

Start by putting one cup of butter into a small bowl to put in the microwave to melt. Pour the melted butter into a large bowl where you will be putting the remaining ingredients. Add three-fourths of a cup of white sugar into the bowl as well as three-fourths of brown sugar. Next, crack one egg and put in a half of a teaspoon of salt. No more than that! You don't want to be tasting salt in your cookies...at least I don't. Pour in one tablespoon of vanilla, followed by one teaspoon of baking soda. Finally, mix all the ingredients. After the ingredients are all the way mixed, add four and a half cups of flour and mix. The final ingredient can be whatever you'd like really. We usually add one regular size bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes we get creative though, and we put M&M's instead. Mix those in and take a cookie scooper to put the cookie dough in balls on a cookie sheet. Put them in the oven and cook at three hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit for about thirteen minutes and then Yahoo! You have warm delicious cookies!!!!

Delicious with a cup of milk!

My cookie baking crew :)!

My family loves spending time in the kitchen and it's one place that creates happiness. We all enjoy it! It's a way to bring all of us together.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe! Stay tuned for my next post :)

Just a Taste!

Hello :) My name is Kambria! There are SO many things that are important to me, but the foremost is my family and what family means to me. There are a lot of different views and definitions of family, but to me family has value. Sometimes we can take family for granted and not realize how meaningful it is and the impact it has on our lives. We all have different experiences that make our families, ours :)

For example, my family LOVES food!!!! A lot of recipes have been passed down from generation to generation and has, in some cases, bonded us. My great grandpa Goodsell was best friends with my great grandpa Taylor growing up. When they grew older, my great grandpa Goodsell moved to Washington to work for the government in the department of Agriculture and my great grandpa Taylor moved to Montana to be a Rancher. Little did they know, that they sent their kids to the same University for college.

My Grandma and Grandpa fell in love, and found out years later, that they shared the same love for Milk Toast. It's a recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation. As kids and grandchildren, we love it as well!

Yum!!

Food is one thing that ties my family together :)