Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are thankful for our wonderful family, and extended family!! We love you!

More Pictures from the Temple Outing

These are the pictures I took at Lynn and Barbara's after we went to the temple. If you didn't get to watch the DVD Lynn made, you should, if just for the fabulous fashion blast from the past! Can you say mullet, Brent in plaid, and poufy bangs, not to forget the stretch pants?

Brian, Lori and Bryce

Brittany and Andrew

Cheryl, Ann's Head, Darin

Brent, not in plaid--not even the tie!

Thomas Bullock was a cool guy, but . . . . .

Thomas Bullock was a cool guy. He gets mentioned in the early history of the church often, and there are quite a few things we know in church history because he wrote it down. But, we are not related to him. I am guessing that they possibly knew each other since they were in many of the same places at the same time.

Our first Bullock ancestor to join the church was James Bullock. His wife was Mary Hill. They emigrated from Scotland to Canada and joined the church in 1840. They moved to Nauvoo in 1841. They had interesting things happen to them but didn't keep journals nearly as well as Thomas (maybe it's genetic and that's why we're not so good at it either--except for my mom and maybe Aunt Georgia).

Thomas and Mary came across the plains in 1848 bringing their family. At that time they had three children--Alexander Hill Bullock (known as Sandy--our Great-great Grandfather), Elizabeth, and Mary. Their oldest child, Thomas, died when he was just a few months old in 1837. They lost two another children, Janet (age 8) and Isabella (age 2 1/2), in 1847 while they were at Winter Quarters. Their last child, James Orson, was born in 1849 after they reached the Salt Lake Valley.

Besides taking their own children across the plains they took on the responsibility of bringing the six motherless children of their friend Orson Spencer, who was on a mission to England. They had two teams and wagons and Alexander who was ten at the time drove one and his father drove the other. Aurelia Spencer grew up to become the first Primary President. James Bullock died in 1850 and he is buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery.

There are no pictures of James, but here's one of Alexander:




I found all this information in the Kenneth Bullock Book A Genealogy of James Bullock and Mary Hill, Latter Day Saint Pioneers It's a big blue book that was published in 1964. There are some fun pictures (I am even in one--since I am the oldest cousin/grandchild. I think that everyone in the family (i.e. Harold and Lola and their kids) bought a copy. You can probably find one to look at in a family bookcase somewhere!


Here's a later picture of Alexander and his first wife Emily Caroline Harris:

An unexpected find...

I was up at the Salt Lake City cemetery wandering around while Robyn was doing hair for a wedding. I have always loved this cemetery. It has such a variety of headstones and so much history. I was walking through an area and came upon this headstone out of nowhere:

I have always felt some sense of pride for my pioneer "ancestor". I have always heard the stories of Thomas Bullock growing up. Some of you may know some more. Heck, the guy put up with three wives! (Just kidding Robyn, you are a beautiful angel). But seeing his headstone caused me to search the Internet for more  information about him. Wikipedia had this. I also found a great picture of him here. Pretty handsome guy, but his spelling was no good...(Kanyon?); OK, I guess he was a pioneer..

There are  a lot of great stories from this great recorder of early Mormon history. It reminds me of the journals that grandpa Bullock had, and all of the interesting and important things he documented. Aunt Joyce, and Aunt Georgia were also very good at it. 

I know that I don't nearly write things down as much as I should. I suck at keeping a journal, even on my mission. I know that years from now, my kid's, kids will wonder what problems or excitement I had in my life. And yes, We have been told by prophets for a long time about the importance of journals.  I think I am going to dust off my journal and catch up on, like, 10 years worth of stuff. You are all welcome to repent with me if you like! Grandma Bullock would say that would be "precious".

Bullock Family Temple Outing

We had a very nice evening going to the temple and then going to Lynn & Barbara's for dinner. Being in the temple together was a wonderful way to remember Harold & Lola and the legacy they left us. These pictures were taken while we were watching the DVD. Sorry we didn't get more of you and better pictures. Thanks to all who brought food and were able to come to make this a memorable night.

Apple Cake

Here's the recipe for the dessert we had the other night!

Apple Cake
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
2 eggs
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
4 large apples, peeled and grated or 2 cups applesauce

Cream together sugar, butter and eggs till very fluffy. Add spices, soda and salt. Mix well. Add flour and mix well. Fold in apples or applesauce. Bake in a greased 9 x 13 pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold with warm sauce below.

Sauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp. vanilla
speck of nutmeg

Combine all ingredients and cook over low heat till sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Allow to simmer briefly to thicken slightly. Serve over cake.

We are very excited to get together this Saturday to honor Harold and Lola. At the family reunion we had talked about possibly visiting at Grandma and Grandpa's home in PG. We would love to have anyone over anytime, however our family is involved in a Stake Primary activity on Saturday and will not be home until late afternoon. We just wanted to let you all know in case anyone was planning to stop by. We would hate to miss you. Please know we are planning a Easter bon-fire and hope to carry on the tradition. See you Soon.

Darin and Cheryl

Bullock Family temple outing for Grandpa's birthday

We will be attending the temple on Saturday November 8th. Please be at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple by 4:30 to meet in the chapel by 4:45 for the 5:00 session. You are all invited to come back to Lynn & Barbs house for dinner. If you can't make it to the temple please know that you are invited to come for dinner and conversation. We should be back to the house by 7:00. We think this is a wonderful way to honor our parents for the lives they lived and the way they taught us. Please plan to help us celebrate Grandpa's birthday. Could you please RSVP me at lbullock121@yahoo.com by Nov. 1st so that I can get a count for food and give out food assignments. Looking forward to seeing you on Nov. 8th.
Barbara

We Miss You Grandma!!

Today has been a sad day for me becuse it is the 2nd anniversary of my Grandma's death. I'm been thinking about her all day- missing her and loving her. What a great lady! I miss her so much, but I am glad that she is happy and cancer-free!! We love you Grandma!

This Week's Recipe--Oatmeal Cake

I had a hard time deciding which of the many to start with, but something sweet seemed most appropriate. So here's a great cake for fall--it even has oatmeal in it so we can all pretend it's healthy! (Oatmeal!--that must mean it's for breakfast!) It's a recipe mom got from our neighbor Margaret Jeppsen. I don't know if Grandma used it or not, but it seems like something she would make (and make sure we ate if we happened to come over while she even a crumb of it left!)

Oatmeal Cake

Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over 1 cup of oatmeal and let stand for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cream together till fluffy:

1/4 cup milk
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs

Add to above and mix well:

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour

Add oatmeal and mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes in a greased and floured 9 x 13 (Grandma would have called it a Dripper) pan.

Frosting

Bring to a boil and pour over hot cake:

1/2 to 1 cup nuts (walnuts of course)
6 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup coconut (the recipe says optional, but I think it's not)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Place cake under broiler and broil till topping bubbles and begins to turn golden. Watch closely so it doesn't burn.

Note and random memory: before you preheat your oven make sure there isn't another cake (like a chocolate sheet cake) in the oven, with a split-open store-bought bread bag on top of it (to keep the cake fresh.) Why store things in the oven you may ask? It wasn't to hide them, because we all knew that's where mom kept left-over cake. It's one of the mysteries of my childhood I guess. Did anyone else do this? Anyway, if you forgot to check the oven, and there was a cake in there, soon you would smell the "plastic-is-melting-to-the-cake-and-pan" odor wafting from the oven. Then that melted mess would have to be cleaned up (usually by me). Plus, melted-plastic coverd frosting is not at all yummy! Scrubbing melted colored plastic bag off of aluminum baking pans takes elbow grease! So, remember to check inside the oven before you turn it on!! One more thing. Does anyone know why it's called a "Dripper" Pan?

Who's in the picture?

I thought I'd share a few of these--can you name them all?

Recipes and Odds and Ends

Grandma rarely wrote down recipes, she just had them in her head, but I do have a few that some of you might like, that she copied for me. The same with Joyce and Georgia, I have a carrot cake (pudding) recipe from Joyce that I use every Christmas. If anyone would like to share some of those with everyone that would be great. Maybe you have one from Grandma, Joyce or Georgia that someone else has been looking for.
I have also sent packets to a designated person in each family, of all the scrapbook items that we have taken apart so far...you should be getting them this week. As we continue to find things I will send them on. We still need to go through a few books and we will post some of them on this blog.

Family Reunion

Not So Old?

This is a fabulous idea!!! I'm so excited to keep in touch with everyone. I have some awesome pictures that I will work on scanning (what that really means is that I have to have Adrianna--age 11--teach me how to use the scanner part of my printer) Since it's late I won't make her get up and do it now, but I'm almost that excited that I could do that, except I'm too good a mom, heh, heh, heh.

Looking at the picture at the top of the blog got me working some math. I had to pull out my copy of that picture to see that it was taken in 1961. That would have made Grandma 50 or 51 amd Grandpa 55 or 56--depending on when it was taken during the year. I always used to think that they looked so old. But I realized tonight that I am only a couple of years YOUNGER than Grandma was when that picture was taken and my husband is a couple of years OLDER than Grandpa was when it was taken. That is weird!! Maybe they don't look old after all. I of course realize that I am much older than some of you--especially Marnae :) but it kind of makes you think doesn't it!

Memories

I've been thinking alot about what I remember about Grandma and Grandpa. Thought I would share just a few that stand out to me.

*Many a gospel lesson (Gospel of the Clean Plate...that is) taught from the step stool with the fold up step. Can you remember the color of the seat?
*Picking raspberries from their HUGE patch, an empty paint can (clean of course) tied around my waist with a flour sack towel. Grandma always telling me to stop eating the berries "or there won't be enough to put up"
*Peonies...I purposely added some to my front flower bed just this year
*The smell of Grandpas closet as we played inside
*I always think of Grandma whenever I visit with someone and they rest their hand on my arm or leg. I swear she could not complete her thoughts without that physical connection.
*I always think of Grandpa whenever I see someone close their eyes when they are speaking, I loved the laugh/smile/excitement that came over his face right after he opened them back up after he made his point
*Dried apricots---nobody has ever made them better (harder...if you remember) Sorry mom
*Digging potatoes while listening to conference or a BYU game
*Buckets of rocks. Grandpa and Grandma didn't visit our house often (seemed we always congregated at their house) but I remember Grandpa bringing a couple buckets of rocks every time he visited and dumping them in the irrigation ditch
*I have wished from time to time that I had Grandpas money printing press that was stored in the cabinet above the couch in the TV room...who got that by the way?

Anyway that was more than a few.

I miss them.

Grandma & Grandpa

Private blogs

I think this blog is such a great idea! It will be fun to keep up with everyone (especially since we're in Ohio...).

I see a link to our blog on the side and since ours is private, just email us and we'll send you an invite...the more, the merrier.

marisab@yahoo.com

And if you want to cut out the middle man (or does that add a middle man) I can also get you an invite to all the Lynn Bullock clan's blogs when you email, if you'd like.

(new update) okay...wait! I'm retarded. I just realized that there aren't actually any links on the side but just contributors. Duh. But the invitation still stands if you want to see all of our individual blogs.

Welcome to the Bullock Family blog!

Welcome to the blog! Here we can hopefully stay in touch a lot better. Some of the best things about a blog are:

• It is quick and easy to keep up with
• Easy to post photos and video
• Automatically alerts you to new posts
• Everyone can contribute!

Take a minute to experiment with all of the features. We will try and add more features as time goes on. Enjoy!