Latest Happenings – Trip to KC – Missouri Quilts
Posted By drsao on June 24, 2008
A lot has happened since my last post. If you aren’t family, you may want to scroll down quickly – past all of the family events – to see the beautiful MISSOURI QUILTS that I saw on my trip!
TRIP TO MISSOURI
If you are family – then you might like to see some highlights of my recent trip to MISSOURI. I got a new camera and lived up to my name of CRAZY PICTURE LADY……enjoy.
My cousin died and I went back to the Midwest to be with my family. While it was a sad occasion, it was also a time to make beautiful new memories and renew my connection with my familial roots.
MY BROTHER, FRED, AND FAMILY – AND AN UP AND COMING PRIEST
I stayed with my brother, Fred, and sister-in-law, Elaine, and my two nephews Eric and Joey. Here they are outside The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in KC where mass was said for nephew, Adam Johnson. It is a beautiful cathedral – with a gold dome – located in downtown K.C. This is a picture of it from a distance – love that dome! Inside the cathedral it is truly breathtakingly beautiful…….I have never seen such wonderful stain glass windows. I wanted to take a picture, but wasn’t sure if that was an acceptable behavior!
This is Adam, with his sister, Lisa, and mom, Diane. Adam left for Italy where he will be studying in the Vatacan to become a priest (over the next five to six years.)
You are seeing this correctly, the FUTURE PRIEST is taking his sister’s PINK SUITCASE with him on a trip to CA to visit the missions there!
FATHER’S DAY
I had the unexpected pleasure of spending Father’s Day with my parents! We celebrated a late Mother’s Day too!
SONY FAMILY PICNIC
And I went to Lake Jacomo for a SONY FAMILY PICNIC….I hadn’t been to this lake since I was a senior in high school celebrating prom night! Elaine and I are enjoying the festivities and good food (Missouri style corn on the cob and fried chicken.)
I will never forget this day because my brother, Fred, accidentally went into the ladies room and when we ran into each other in there he thought that HIS SISTER HAD GONE INTO THE MEN’S ROOM!
Well, as FRED EXPLAINED, at a certain angle and with sun in your eyes, a WOMEN’S sign looks a lot like a MEN’S sign! After this, my brother wore a hat and sun glasses to hide his identity! Why? Because ANOTHER WOMAN ran into Fred in there too and SHE THOUGHT that SHE was in the men’s room and my brother PROMISED not to tell (in sign language.) We laughed a lot about this.
GREEN CITY, MISSOURI
We drove to Green City, MO…..and enjoyed the lucious rolling green pastures along the way to my cousin, Janie’s house. The third picture below of the yard with the DINNER BELL in the foreground is my cousin Janie’s backyard….and the next one is of my cousin Betty’s backyard! These country YARDS go on forever and ever! Quite impressive for a city slicker like me!
And this is my grandma’s old house – it used to be SO BIG!!! 🙂
And this is the old family GREEN CITY METHODIST CHURCH right outside the TOWN SQUARE! I imagine that not too many people have heard of Green City, MO, but it is a charming town that holds many wonderful childhood memories for me – population 668.
This is my cousin Janie standing in front of pictures of her grandangels. We are five months apart in age and she and I used to ride horseback around Green City when we were little. I thought that was so neat! (Our fathers are brothers.)
She is a lot of fun to be with and I discovered that we have a lot in common – for one thing, we both LOVE ankle bracelets!
Betty is Archie’s wife – and he died only two months after being diagnosed with cancer. She is holding a cast of their clapsed hands that they had made at the county fair last summer – what a treasure that is.
MY WILD HORSEBACK RIDE WITH ARCHIE
I have included a picture of Archie in his younger years – I remember VIVIDLY his taking me on a horseback ride through the pastures to round up the cattle (they lived on a farm and the cows had to be milked.) I – a city girl – was on the horse (bare back) behind Archie – clutching tightly and screaming as we galloped through the fields.
Archie had so much fun making me scream that he added a bit of excitement to the adventure and rather than go through the gates to proceed from one pasture to the next, he simply directed the horse to JUMP THE FENCES. I will never forget this as long as I live – the wind blowing my long blonde hair, the screams never ending, and Archie’s laughter – what fun he was having!
MY AUNTS
I have two aunts in long term care facilities and while they didn’t know me anymore – I knew them, and it was nice for me to get to see them again.
Aunt Lillian….with Fred and me……
and Aunt Madeline…..our family elementary teacher who must have taught most of the cousins and everyone in Green City for their first three grades! Even though she does not recognize us, she is very pleasant and social. Here we are with cousin Ronnie – we celebrated his birthday while I was in town.
VANILLA HOME MADE ICE CREAM
Yes, I really took a picture of my dish of HOME MADE VANILLA ICE CREAM. It is near the top of my list of FAVORITE THINGS. We always ate homemade ice cream when the family got together – in the olden days – and I often DREAM about having it again. It was such fun, as a child, to watch my uncles crank that handle while we waited with anxious anticipation for that ice cream to be ready! It was YUMMY DELICIOUS – then and now!
What a sweet sight, cousin Randy with the ice cream freezer!
KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI QUILT SHOW
This was a real unexpected treat. I got to see some of my grandmother’s and my aunt’s quilts. I never knew that my aunt made quilts – so this was a lot of fun.
THE HOUSE QUILT
Now this is really exciting. Here are my cousins Shirley and Ricky holding the HOUSE QUILT that my grandmother made Ricky when he graduated from high school! Shirley and Rick hosted the birthday party for Ronnie!
And my Aunt Gladys made several quilts – some of which my grandmother partially pieced. This is Aunt Gladys and the quilts that she made.
“EMBRACING OUR HERITAGE” 26th Annual NORTHLND NEEDLERS QUILT SHOW at the GASHLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Elaine (sister-in-law) and I went to a quilt show hosted by the Northland Quilters Guild and the Nitetime Needlers Quilt Guilds in Kansas City, MO.
Here are a few of my favorite quilts in the show!
Grandmother’s Flower Garden and Scrappy Bear Claws.
Cats and Dogs….
I am not remembering the names of these quilts – but I liked them! The second one is a LOG CABIN set in an interesting configuration. This very large quilt was edged with prairie points – very impressive!
I am participating in a BOW TIE online block exchange – so this BOW TIE QUILT made with 1930’s fabrics was intriguing. I had never seen this setting before.
And this one I want to make – it is my FUTURE QUILT INSPIRATION! I love stars, polka dots and plaid! Goodness, I hope it isn’t in bad taste to post pictures of other people’s quilts without giving them credit – I am new at this and didn’t even think to write down the quilt creators names!
MORE OF MY GRANDMOTHER’S QUILTS
Before I left Kansas City, Fred and Elaine showed me quilts made by our two grandmothers.
Grandma Reiter of Pueblo, COLORADO made what looks to me like a variation on a TRIP AROUND THE WORLD….sort of.
Fred’s Graduation Quilt from Grandma Alma Mary Bankus Albertson.
…..and the beautiful vintage blue and white quilt was made by Elaine’s Grandmother
Some Final Highlights of my Trip to the MIDWEST
I always enjoy seeing my sister-in-love, Chris……my brother, Fred, and I had lunch with Chris in the Crown Center area of KC. Chris and I are looking forward to going to the largest outdoor theatre in the world (I think) next month to see MUSIC MAN. I LOVE THE STARLIGHT THEATRE – definitely on my list of FAVORITE THINGS – and an annual traditional outing on my summer trips to Kansas City, Missouri.
51
We had a wonderful Italian dinner at BRAVO’s in ZONA ROSA in celebration of Fred’s 51st birthday. It was wonderful and I highly recommend the eggplant parmigiano!
Nephew Eric’s girlfirend, McKenna, works at BRAVO…..THANKS MCKENNA……you are the best!
Nephew, Joey, enjoyed the ice cream…..we all did!
In fact, I think we are an ICE CREAM FAMILY….look at Fred and Elaine…..at the DAIRY QUEEN (I don’t think we have any of these in Virginia!)
MY GRANDANGELS
My 13 year old grandangel, Harry, and my 10 year old grandangel, William, flew in from CA. It was WONDERFUL to see them! Here they are with their great grandparents – my parents. We caught my mother in rollers – I hope she doesn’t mind my sharing this picture…..if she does, OOOPS…too late!
Brother Jim and Family
Finally I had fun seeing my very dignified CEO brother, Jim (the one with the bag over his head) playing with his grandangel Tara Lynn. It is a good thing we have grandangels as an excuse for our “FUN” behavior!
Tara Lynn (one year old) is cute without the bag on her head too – here she is with her mom and my neice, Amanda!
And finally Tara Lynn’s brother, Preston (age 3), and his dad, Tyler!
I love my family – they are so much fun to be with….and I have to close with one of my favorite pictures from my trip…….Fred holding a baby mouse in a pet store. A little girl (not a family member) invited him to hold her pet mouse….too funny!
And FINALLY – my two brothers, Jim and Fred, always have to clown around for a picture – it is a tradition. PEACE BE WITH YOU!
Hi Shirley Anne,
I was searching for pictures of Green City when I came across your site. I sure enjoyed your notes and the pictures. I lived in Green City from 1959 to 1965. My Dad was the minister at the Green City Methodist Church at the time. Your Aunt, Mrs. Fetters, taught me in Grade One in 1959-60. I remember Janie and Tommy Albertson from school and church, though they were older.
Dad (Bob Belsey) passed away on August 6, 2009 after a wonderful and adventurous life. I am putting together a notebook for family members of some of the open letters he wrote to us, pictures of him and his beloved horses, and other odds and ends. If you know anyone who has any stories or remembrances of him, I’d love to hear from them.
Thanks again for writing about names and places I remember well too!
Best wishes,
Bonnie
Dear Shirley Anne-I stumbled across your site while surfing for info about Green City. I attended the Green City United Methodist Church one time-(sad to say-for a funeral) honoring one of our fallen; who also was a Green city native. This was back in 1981. His name was Thomas Patrick Meredith; a military buddy of mine, who was killed along with 3 other friends in a sudden tragic helicopter crash. I’m not sure if the Meredith family is still in the area, but some day I’ll get back there to the cemetery and pay respects once more. Enjoyed your pictures– It’s the Missouri I remember when I was stationed there ! Best Regards…
Shirley, like the note before mine I just stumbled across your site and there was the quilt that is currently on my bed! I made the teal star sampler that you snapped a pic of at the Kansas City quilt show. It really warmed my heart to know an “outsider” was impressed enough to take and post a picture. Thank you for making my day!