Family History Is Way Easier Than It Used to Be

I've been feeling guilty for a while. I'm sitting here looking at an envelope of family pictures Shauna asked me to scan. I love looking at old pictures but finding a quiet moment to scan them is kinda tough right now. Laura is teething and a big nasty molar is trying to work its way out. She's a grump puppy. Anyway, while on Shauna's Facebook the other day I noticed she had many old family photos posted and it dawned on me. What an easy way to do some family history by writing in detail about the picture sharing the story of the moment. So here we go:

This picture of Shauna, Mandy, and Ariel was taken in 2000 at Nate and Sarah's family photo session. Nate & Sarah had been sealed at the Mesa Arizona Temple. This picture was taken in Tucson at the hotel while we waited for the florist to arrive. Shauna was in 6th grade (She missed 6th grade Camp to come.), Mandy was in Kindergarten (Miss Covey's class!), and Ariel is our "wild & wacky" just turned 3 year old. A great story has to do with the girls' dresses. Sarah chose black and a purple-plum for her colors. I had a really hard time finding anything in black for the little girls. We went to three malls before finding a dress for Shauna. Luckily, it was "the dress". We loved the beautiful lines and I used part of the bustle to make sleeves. Mandy and Ariel's dresses I found online at the Disney Store. The bodices have little velvet mouse ear designs. What a lucky find! A funny story Sarah shared with me latter is when I called to say the dresses had a "Mickey Mouse design"she was really worried. I can imagine she pictured those garish holiday dresses with velvet skirts and Disney characters "iron-on" bodices. Yuck! I don't blame her for being worried! Sarah and I both love how tasteful and classic these little dresses are and love that Paige and Makayle can now wear them. I designed and hand-sewed all the head pieces for the little sisters including Jennifer and Nicole. It was nice to have all 5 of Nate's little sisters together in one place looking so cute together. I gotta scan a picture of all 5 cuties in their wedding duds.

I love Hawaii! In 2005, Mandy was able to fly with Aunty Hapa's family to attend Ho'omaka'ika'i at Kamehameha Schools. While Mandy attended Explorations, Hapa folks stayed at Aunty Kawehi's house and enjoyed the island. Here is Isaiah, Greg, Sariah, Hapa, and Kawehi's niece in front of the beautiful Laie Temple. I love Laie! In my Mutual (YMYW) days, we did baptisms for the dead at this temple. When we had Youth Conferences, we stayed at BYU-Hawaii dorms and visited the temple and Polynesian Cultural Center. My favorite place was the Maori village because they had the cutest hapa boys with Kiwi accents. I've always loved dark hair and blue eyed boys and especially love my Linwood!

Rex and his family used to make frequent visits to the islands. Here they are visiting our old Beretania Street Tabernacle. It is a beautiful building. This old banyan tree is one Rex and I played in frequently as little kids. Banyan trees expand outwards as roots grow from limbs to the ground. These form little tiny "rooms" just made for little people. I also remember that in high school, I was sometimes asked to substitute teach in Primary which was held on a week day. One of the lesson was on little things. The lesson had me prepare a little picnic and my Stars ate tiny homemade oatmeal cookies and apple slices under this tree. Rex and his friends also liked to swing from the hanging roots when the trees weren't trimmed up. Fun times!

Here are Rex, Sonny, Elle, Claire, Jodi, and Jayne.

Shauna has her fancy pink high tops from Aunty Jodi so I'm guessing she's about 18 months. Look at all that curly hair and beautiful smile. Lahapa still has all that lovely hair, so I know its a pre-mission to Italy picture. Shauna looked so much like Aunty Hapa that people assumed they were mother and daughter. My skinny face and baggy pants definitely say it's still the 80's.

Technology sure makes family history easier and fun. My mom just completed her personal history from birth to age 18. She started the picture portion of her book years ago and we were marveling at how everything she used to do by mail - making copies and blowing up little pictures - can all be done at home. No more trusting your originals to the mail, cutting, pasting, etc. Just scan, insert, label and print. Pretty cool!