The Importance of Being Lauren

 My dad's grandmother and her sister lived during the Mexican Revolution. (1910) Their father owned a larger ranch. During the war the Revolutionary Men would steal women and take them as wives, and help them with things while they were fighting. They would also steal whatever they need from the people. The girls father built secret rooms in the basement to hide his daughters in so they would not be taken. The Revolutionary Men would at times stay for weeks. Because of this the girls would have to stay underground in total silence, and the ranch hands would sneak food to them. My dad's dad's mother was the only daughter of her parents because her twin brother died at birth. Her parents died when she was very young. All the land and animals they left her was stolen by her relatives, and then they sent her off to live with her Godparents. She never got anything back, even when she was an adult. Emilio Brachetti is my fathers 3rd great grandfather. He came to Mexico from Italy

  This is the video interview with my Great Grandma Dee: Questions For My Interview with Grandma: What year were you born?  "1931" Where did you live when you were little? "I was born in South Bend In where I lived until I was 5 years old then I moved with my Grandparents to Kewanna, In. where I lived until I graduated from high school at age 17." What was your life like growing up "Kewanna was a very small town and we played outside games such as hide and seek, tag, roller skating. My grandparents were very active in church so I did many things that church related ." What did your parents do for a living? " My father had a car agency and my mother worked in a garment factory for some time. But since I spent most of my time with my grandparents my Grandfather was a mail carrier and my Grandmother was an old fashioned housewife." What was something you loved doing when you were a child? "I love riding bike that my father bought for me when I

 Making fires fascinates me! I love setting it up and making sure it doesn't go out. I've learned to make the Tepee Fire, the Crisscross Fire, and the Star Fire. This Summer I actually made a fire with flint. It was the first time I had made a fire without matches! I now know how to set up a safe fire, start a fire, and extinguish a fire. Some may say I'm a fire-bug but I'm certainly not the only one! Go to fullsize image This Summer tragedy struck my family. Our kitchen sink broke. It would not drain so it was flooded with gross water and it stunk. My dad thought he could fix it so for a week we went without a sink or a dishwasher. Instead we washed out dishes outside. This was our process: Me: Scrub the dishes in a bucket and then pass it on to mom Mom: Quality control and rewashing the dishes, pass it on to Stef Stef: Rinse the dishes off with a hose (and spray me every single time) and then hand it to Josh. Josh: Dry the dishes and put it away This process happened

Mom's Interview  My mother's grandfather on her fathers side is, James Edward Battjes. My mother's grandmother on her fathers side is, Mary Jane Hybel. My mother's grandmother is Delores Forche. Her history is listed on this Blog. She was one of the first women executives as Head of Computer Security (in the 70s-80s). My mother's grandfather on her mother's side is Billy Cook. He owned "Cook Brothers Dairy" which had been in the family for generations. He also was a police officer. My mother's father James Edward Battjes, was born Denis Ray Case, in Kalamazo Michigan. He was adopted by the Battjes Family when he was a toddler. The records of his birth mother are blocked. The Battjes family has books written on them because they were part of a big immigration in the 1800s from Holland. He had two sisters and a brother. He owned a car repair shop in Texas. My mother is his only child. He had six grandchildren. My mom's mother Jacqueline Cook, dau

  I admit it! I'm a spoiled camper. I've only had to sleep in a tent three times in my life. When I go "camping" it's usually to an air conditioned cabin in the middle of nowhere, with a pool and cafeteria. This Summer though that all changed. I went "real" camping with a group of 15 year old girls from my Church. We went to a river about two hours away and canoed for 5 miles! After the canoeing we drove another hour to our camping grounds. It was beautiful because it was next to a huge lake. This is what it looked like at night. I didn't bring my camera to the camping trip because I didn't want to ruin it.                  I had to help put up three tents when I got to the camp grounds . And because I'm not an experienced camper, it took a while. After an hour of attempting to put up the last tent, which kept falling, we finally figured out that we had put the stakes in wrong. Yeah, like I said, I am  not  an experienced camper or tent setti

Life has been crazy busy these past couple months!!!! I'm eargerly awaiting and at the same time dreading the end of the semester. I can't wait for it to end, but I'm worried about Finals. *sigh* I never feel like I get enough sleep. Not only that I'm sad to say that I've had to work really hard and my brain is on overload!! I'm not even making fantastic grades like other semesters. One good thing about my life right now is that I'm finally making friends in my new ward!!! So yeah. Just a quick update before I have to go and do MORE homework! *bleh* Have a nice two months! See you at Christmas!!!

I was so happy to be able to go to the Renaissance Festival this year! I got to go last year with my whole family, including my uncle and grandmother on my mom's side of the family. But this year I went solo, well with only  one  of my siblings. Josh and I had a lot of fun together, and we bonded over this amazing experience. I never expected that to happen! We could not find half the people on the list because they were either not at the Faire that day, or escorting other school children to and from events. I was very sad about it, but I was able to have a great day of learning and fun anyway! My mother fixed my hair into a "crown braid" and I felt like a fairy princesses". What I learned about Queen Juana of Spain. She is the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella who funded Columbus’s explorations. She has 6 children with her husband King Felipe of Spain. She calls him “Phillip the Handsome”. Her sister is Catherine Argon who was married King Henry the 8 th