Thankful Thursday: Memories of Griswolds

While recently searching on-line for a large family gathering that I, in a VERY weak moment, volunteered to organize I found a picture (postcard) of a place that brings back many memories.  Griswold's is was located in Claremont, California.

Griswold's was the place of many of our family gatherings, both large and small, over the years and I thought WOW this would be great for get-together - but alas it's not to be - like all good things it's gone the way of the years and closed down in 1998.  They had a charming little pastry shop as you walked in the front door. They had regular dining as well as banquet rooms.

Griswold's is was located in Claremont, in southern California.  Not far from Route 66 it was a quick stop for truckers and also a favorite stop for tourist and/or locals for many years.

A little history behind it is that George Griswold and his family arrived in Claremont about 1915.  Here they began cultivating the land and using the already abundant fruit trees to make candid fruit and preserves.  Starting with a small gift shop they sold these to travelers who then sent them home.  The legacy of Griswold's continued even through several owners and their expanding the business.  Griswold's finally went Smorgasbord with a dinner theater.

In 1998, after years of scaling down the restaurant eventually was sold in a trustee's sale.  The building was leveled and Griswold's was left a memory for many after 80+ years.

Now after an afternoon trip down memory lane I'm still at a loss as where to hold our holiday get-together. So I'm back to work!



Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - Simple Pleasures - Flowers

I was thinking the other day about flowers from my childhood.  My mother loved flowers and would often take an afternoon off from raising five teens to go to the Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in Arcadia, California to just walk around and 'calm her frazzled nerves' as she used to say.  In Phoenix we have the 'Desert Botanical Gardens'.  I've never been there, or any Arboretum for that matter, that I can remember.  One of these cool fall evenings I'd like to do so...seems like a wonderful place to just 'chill out' after a long hot day.

Roses on Southridge

I remember mom used to grow flowers at our homes in both Los Angeles and Pomona, California.  Snapdragons, Sweet Peas, and Roses were the ones I specifically remember but I'm sure there must have been many more.  When my husband and I lived in Long Beach, CA and in Las Vegas, NV we had Roses, that were planted by previous owners, that bloomed every year.  It amazed me that I didn't have to do a thing. They'd look so nasty during the winter and I'd want to pull them out, but come early spring they popped right out again and would last until it got cold again.  We also had Impatiens in Long Beach.


Southridge Flowers

  
Another flower that adorned our back yard in Las Vegas were the ones on the right.  I'm not even sure what kind of flower they are - maybe Irises?  I loved having them and the roses above with no hassle!

Zucchini Plant

We tried to use our little garden in back of our condo here in Phoenix, Arizona to grow some vegetables this year...we got beautiful plants but no veggies off them....rather disappointing.  It was my first attempt at gardening so maybe next year it will work.

My very favorite flowers are Impatiens, Sunflowers, and Daisy's.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - Ceasar and Hannah

Ceasar and Hannah

This picture was taken several years ago...Ceasar is now about 15 years and has lost most of his hair and teeth.  He's not as lively as he used to be and we fear his time with us may be short.  Ceasar lays by hubby's feet or on in his lap all the time.  Hannah is a pistol, anyone comes to the door she's like a 'bat outta hell' charging to the other room to go into hiding.  The first day we got her she disappeared on us.  We searched high and low for hours but no Hannah, we thought we'd lost her and we hadn't even had her an hour.  We finally found her under the car in the garage...how she got there we're not sure.  Now we don't let her out of sight unless we know she's in the house with us.  She loves to have her tummy rubbed and then spends most of her time hiding in the closet or under the bed.

We got Ceasar at a Petsmart in 1997....Petsmart works with the animal shelter to place pets that have been put up for adoption.  I can't believe anyone would have taken such a beautiful dog to the pound...but it was our gain.  Hannah was given to us by a breeder friend after she had her first liter.  We got her in 2004. I used to wonder how much she missed those babies she had carried and nursed.  As a mother I just cannot imagine.

Our gain on these two cuties - we are so thankful that they came into our lives and bless us in a big way.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - Unidentified Pictures

Several weeks ago I posted a picture from my collection that is heavily damaged.  I e-mailed it also to a 2nd cousin for his collection, as well as another damaged picture I have.  He played with them in PhotoShop and did an awesome job on restoring them.  Click on the link above to see the damaged picture.  Now take a look at this one!  Hard to believe that it's really damaged in 'real life'.

This is the other unidentified picture he 'played with' which I had not posted previously. 

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to my 2nd cousin Greg for his AWESOME work on these.  Now if someone could help us identify the people in these photos.  I suspect they may be Troyers or Schrocks (in which case Greg would not be related to them).

(a side note: Greg and I found each other on Ancestry.com).

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday

I haven't blogged much this past week mainly because I'm on a mad dash to finish up my #1 goal for 2010.  I know I've still got 8 1/2 months to finish up but, hey, I'm anal! Ask anyone who knows me!  When I start a project I work until it's finished.  And this goal was a HUGE goal in my eyes.  What is it you ask?  Well............

My #1 goal for 2010 was to scan and digitally organize 46 years of photos plus my childhood photos (another 20 years) plus my parents photos that I inherited.  So far I've scanned over 3500 photos....I've got about 1000 to go....at the rate I've been going I figure I should have this completed by the end of this month!

One thing that made it a little easier was the fact that all my pictures for the last 10-12 years were not paper but taken with a digital camera...thus subtracting a large amount from the last 46 years.

My parents photos are glued into the old photo books with pages similar to this ---------------

.....most pages can be scanned and then cropped and resized by photo.

I will finish off this job by burning all photos to CDs and then giving one to any member of the family that wants one.  I'm doing mine into a 'screen saver' and thus being able to view pictures anytime - from ancestors, to immediate family members, to extended family members - they all be on my 'computer screen'....and the best part about this is I'll be able to add photos as to the program as a new member joins our family.

So I am eternally THANKFUL that this chore did not take nearly as long as I thought it would and that it is almost done!

(P.S. any feedback on whether people would use a service like this to digitalize their photos would be appreciated....it's something I've been thinking about as I've scanned, and scanned, and scanned, and...........)

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - A Day Late

My Thankful Thursday posting is almost a day late - I did this on purpose as I had posted another blog this morning and did not want to make you, my reader, have to read two postings in one day.  Soooooo....this one should be up for your first thing when you get up in the morning!  And thus I have accomplished two things! One: I've given you my Thursday posting, and two: since you are reading this on Friday I've done my Friday posting and can center on scanning pictures and preparing postings for next week!

The other day my husband and I were in our yard...we looked up and there in the tree was this bird, just sitting at the top of the world, looking around...a half hour later I went out and he was still there....basking in the sun, enjoying the beautiful day God had given us.  If you look real close you will see the bird at the very top of this tree, kind of in the center/left...a sharp contrast against the blue sky.  I don't know how long he was there - quite a while - but I'm sure he was thinking how thankful he was for spring just as we are.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:21 KJV

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - Spring

After a very cold and wet winter in Phoenix, and for most other parts of the country, I am very thankful for spring, which is finally springing.  We've had awesome weather this past week with the temperatures in the mid 70's to mid 80's.  Technically spring is still a couple days away (officially Saturday, March 20) but I'm starting early this year!

Don't get me wrong, I love sitting by roaring fire in the fireplace having hot chocolate and popcorn, the winter holidays, and family all around.  Nothing beats spring though and I'm ready to sit on the patio, sipping ice tea while reading a good book; barbecue; and, watch the flowers bloom.

The flowers posted here are from our backyard when we lived in Nevada. My mother was the gardener in our family, my flowers in my yard were left over from the previous owners and just seemed to keep on blooming. I just may try to plant something this year.

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.  Psalm 104:24  KJV 

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - My Mother's 'Junk'

Today I'm feeling most thankful for my mother's junk!  Margaret Troyer was one of those who seemed to keep everything - I have scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about people I've never heard about (mostly from Goshen, Indiana).  I have pictures of long lost relatives, friends she went to high school with, and unidentified people (at least a couple hundred).  There were graduation cards, birthday cards and corsages.   As frustrating as it can be to identify some items I'm very grateful for my mother's keeping them all - they link me to a time before I was.

My sister was here for a visit last weekend and we went through most of  mom's photos and scrapbooks.  We identified some pictures and items but the majority remain unidentified.

In our 'lookings' we came across this postcard which was mailed to my Grandmother Mary Motzko Troyer. The postmark looks like 1914 and Woodland California.  It's signed by Eloise, Eleanor, Elaine, or ?

Another thought - AMAZING the postage was only 1¢

On the picture side of the postcard I'm curious to know what the 2057 after the city means?  When I first looked at it I thought it was a year - but I told myself  'wait, that can't be a year it's only 2010!'  Then I thought a zip code but they didn't have zip codes in those days.

 

Col. 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - My Kids

Kids - they come in all sizes and shapes.  Each one a gift from God.  As I ponder my life and look back on the blessings God has given me I find my four children at the very top. God blessed me with healthy children, for that I am thankful....but He could have also given me a special needs child and for that I would be thankful.   All children are a gift from God...even the unborn

Jack is from Taiwan - he came to the United States when he was 13 and then to us when he was 15 and has been a part of our family ever since.  He has 4 children....all boys. 

Bill is our first born and he lives near the beach in southern California and does well at his work.

And then came Kimberly - married now with 2 cats and a  dog and a GREAT husband.  She works hard at two jobs and lives not too far from us.

And last but not least we have Robert.  Single, working hard at a job and a half, and living within 200 miles from us.   

Now just by looking at these cuties don't you think I have a lot to be thankful for?

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Psalm 127:3 KJV




Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - Cell Phones

I spent most of the week checking out cell phone plans.  What a pain in the tush!  Thank God it only comes but every two years!  I've been with the same company since 2003.  I wasn't unhappy with their service but I wasn't thrilled with it.  We'd lose our connection in the house and it could be frustrating (never happened if we weren't at home).  So after doing my research, mostly via internet, I made the decision on which one to change to and just DID it.  The kids are all on the carrier I chose so we'll be able to talk to them and not have to worry about daytime minutes....you know 'friends and family' is what it's all about!  

So my thankful Thursday thought is 'it's over' (for 2 more years).  Oh, and I'm thankful I get a Blackberry too....not the newest version but looks close to me!





Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2011, all rights reserved

2 Samuel 22:50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.

Thankful Thursday - Our Beautiful Country




Yosemite, California

 

New England in the Fall







Over the last 45+ years we've been blessed enough to do some traveling through this great country of ours - both by ourselves and with our children...each time we've gone to a different place I'm amazed at the world God has given us....truly from sea to shining sea the country I live in is the best.   



Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.



Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Thankful Thursday - Taking a Sentimental Journey

I've made a commitment with fellow blogger Karri from Maryland to write a post each week entitled Thankful Thursday. We all have tons to be thankful - even if you're in the worst of times.  If you'd like to join us please click on the link and let her know by commenting to her post. 

Hubs and oldest





Daughter and her hubs



Within the realm of what my blog has evolved to (a genealogy blog) I felt it  appropriate to start with my family.  Every day I thank God for the awesome family I have, starting with my husband of almost 46 years, down through my children (Kim and John, Robert, Bill, Jack).  I'm also thankful for the extended family I'm blessed to have - brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins. Some family I never knew I had until recent years (but that's another blog post!).  I praise God for the time I was allowed to have with family members who have gone before me - my mom, dad, my older brother. And I'm most thankful for my ancestors, for without them I would not be here.  



youngest son



Since the first of the year I've been scanning old family photos - most of what I'm doing now is 1964 to present.   It's been slow - mainly because I stop to look, remember, love each picture.  How long has it been since you've looked at past family photos?  We tend to snap photos and then put them away to seldom look at again - take a 'Sentimental Journey' (click on link) through your family pictures.



I have been left a glorious heritage by my ancestors - a heritage of family, values, love, faith.  A legacy that I hope to pass down to my children and others.



© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

 Mary Post Warren