Merry Christmas - 1939

 To a young and starry eyed 14 year old Leona, Lou's Christmas gift of a cameo bracelet was thrilling.

 

But even more exciting was the accompanying card which gave her real status as his "girlfriend."

 

70 years of Christmas memories

. . . so many wonderful memories

A request to the Davis grandchildren for Christmas memories brought several responses.  These are from Alice Bell Higgs.

I have so many wonderful memories of Grandma and Grandpa Davis I hardly know where to start.  

Early style Cracker Jack box

One Christmas I remember we went to Haswell and to the ranch and Grandma Davis had made a bushel basket of Cracker Jacks.  I have tried to make some for my kids and I end up with a whole bunch of very soggy popcorn not even the birds would eat!

 She also had saved a lot of spools and made whistles for all of us.  

I've never been able to make those either.

 One time she was making taffy for us to help pull, and Hubert was just tall enough to reach up and put his fingers into that hot candy.  Grandma grabbed him up and sent one of the boys to the shop for a small can of kerosene.  She sat and rocked that baby with his fingers in that kerosene until he went to sleep.  Grandma always knew what to do.  I guess when you raise 14 kids you have to!  I don't remember if we made the taffy.

'Tis the Season

. . . for some great memories!

Christmas 1977

Leona - Lou

Jim - Don - Tom

Leona - Lou

(Lou and his family must have been home in Utah)

Lynn - Tesi - Carol

Leona - Lou

Butler Grandchildren

Beth (niece) -Kristie - Kari - Emily - Tommy - Chuckie

Nathan - Jamie - Jeremy

Enjoy the Christmas Season!

O Christmas Tree

In December of 1958 we decided that we would get a permit and go to the mountains to get our own Christmas tree like we had read in so many stories about people doing.  We would have sloppy-joes to eat (because we could take it up and keep it hot) and hot chocolate and wouldn’t need to have a fire.

Five men on a mission!
Lou, Jr - Don - Tom - Jim - Lou, Sr
blurry picture, but it documents the infamous day

We had our tree hunting expedition in the mountains near San Isabel, above Rye, Colorado.  It was a cool, crisp day with snow on the ground and a lot of sunshine.  It was a great day for a Christmas tree hunting party!

Leona has always been very particular about her Christmas tree.  It had to be of excellent shape with well filled out limbs in the right places, etc.  So as soon as we got out of the car, the four boys went in four directions - each going to find the perfect tree that would suit Mom.  As they each would find one, they would call for her to come see it.  Since they didn’t stay together, she was having to run all over the mountainside to inspect the finds of each boy.

Naturally the boys never found the same tree, nor were their trees together, so she had a long walk between them.  They were not finding very good trees that were satisfactory to her.  As time went by, and after many trips across the little valley between the two ridges that the boys were on, she became less critical and finally said, “Just take any one; I’m tired!”  Jim and Don carried a tree in from the forest, and we tied it on top of our station wagon.  Leona got the lunch ready for us; we were all starving.

Christmas tree lunch
Jim - Don (front)
Lou, Jr - Tom - Leona (back

We had a good time, and the tree was satisfactory, but for some reason we never went back to the mountains for another Christmas tree!

Same old story

You've probably realized by now that present life sometimes gets in the way of preserving the past - and I've reached one of those sometimes this week.  As a result, I'm taking a Christmas break from blogging and will be back in 2012 with more stories, pictures and memories to share. 

For the remainder of this month, I'll re-post some memories from previous Decembers.  Because really, our memories just get better with time!

Enjoying Junior High

The Carpenter family moved to Pueblo, Colorado where Leona finished her years in elementary school and received this certificate of completion on 2 June 1939.

Certificate issued 2 June 1939

She was in the 8th grade in 1938-39

and the 9th grade in 1939.

She obviously took part in Western Days at Risley Junior High!

Leona Carpenter - 2nd row, far left

I love this picture of Leona and her dad.

Leona with her father, Ream Carpenter
14 years old - 1939

Elementary School Days

Although she was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Leona's family moved to and from Colorado several times during her elementary school years, as her father followed work.

In March, 1934 while living in Cañon City, Colorado, Leona was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Arthur Chapman, a missionary from Heber City, Utah.

Elder Arthur Chapman

 She spent some of her early school years at Washington Elementary School in  Cañon City.

E. Leona Carpenter - front row, center
Fifth grade

She looks a little older in this picture - probably 6th grade.

Leona Carpenter - middle row, 3rd from right

Leona was obviously a good student in Edna Wheeler's 6th grade class, as evidenced by this report card.  Not only did she have straight A's, but Mrs. Wheeler consistently gave her check marks for "Excellent attitude and progress".  A model student! 

6th grade report card - Washington School

1937 - 11 years old