Cloud History - Part 1

Some of the Cloud Clan.

Aunt Maude & Uncle Willard KendallJoe, Billy Kendall (Maude & Willard's son), & Nancy Bill & Lorraine's WeddingAunt Mazie & MomAunt Mazie & Uncle CarlUncle Willie & Aunt Lorene

Paulene (Willie & Lorene's daughter), Nancy, & Joe

It's a rainy day and a good time to do some office cleaning - but of course I've been sidetracked by finding some old pictures. It's kinda strange that I know very few of my Cloud relatives and yet, because some of them lived in St. Louis, they are the ones I remember best from when I was a child.
The first picture is from when many of them were much younger (and still living) and I wasn't around yet. To be honest, I can't pick out most of who's who - but I can find Aunt Maude, Dad, & Mom.
My cousin Bill is probably the only cousin I ever really had a chance to know well
and he has done a lot of genealogy research and I spent most of the morning rereading his family tree booklet & watching Cloud History Part I (Part II ready yet??) He put in a lot of work and has done a wonderful job.
In a nutshell - he traced back to 1575 with a Thomas Cloude of Calne, Wilshire, England. William Cloud, note the e has been dropped to > William Cloud Jr. (b. 1621) who was known to be a member of the Friends Society (Quakers) and bought land in America from friend and fellow Quaker, William Penn. His son Joseph Cloud (b. 1651) preceded him to America by a year and in 1705 had Joseph Jr. - then Isaac Cloud - then Isaac Cloud Jr. who was born in 1785. He had Benjamin F. Cloud born in 1828 and my grandfather, John Franklin Cloud was born in 1868. He married Emma McBride and they had 8 children: Bess, Ruth, Claud, William, Mazie, Carl, Maude, & Laverne.
I met Bess, Ruth, & Claud a few times but never knew any of their children.
Carl (St. Louis) never married, Maude & Willard (St. Louis) are the parents of Bill. Willie (William) (Tennessee) had 3 daughters - I knew fairly well and Aunt Mazie (St. Louis) had 4 daughters I only knew slightly. You would think out of of 8 kids I'd have more cousins but since mom was the youngest I came along too late to really know any of them well. I could probably do a whole blog just on Aunt Mazie - she was a fun character. But during my 'cleaning' I also came across a letter from my Aunt Ruth about my great-grandparents McBride- but I think that will be Part 2. Class Dismissed -

December 31st

Daddy & Mama
40th Anniversary
50th Anniversary picture of them and their living grandchildren

Sherri, Dad, Mom, Edward, Terri, Kelly

David, Stevie, Becky, & Jenny (Meredith was not yet born and Susie was deceased)"Shot Gun" Wedding
I know December 31st is New Year's Eve - but I was never much of a party girl. I'd rather have a pizza, watch a movie at home, and be in bed by 11:00. But December 31st is also the anniversary date of my parent's marriage. They were married in 1937 by a Judge in Hickman, Kentucky. Money was scarce at that time so eloping was fairly common. Grandma McCoy told mom that she knew the night they were going to run off and get married because she saw that daddy had tucked a tie in his back pocket as he left the house. They never made much of a fuss on their anniversaries but the last 3 pictures are when others made a fuss for them. The first picture is just the oldest picture I have of them except for their high school pictures. The second is the 40th anniversary party we threw for them. The third is the 50th anniversary - and the last picture is the 50th "shot gun" wedding that the McCoy clan staged for them at our family reunion that year. I do hope that everyone has a safe and Happy New Year and that 2007 is a very blessed year for us all.

Merry Christmas

Stevie, Becky , & Jenny - with Santa of course.Millie, Nancy, Mom, Sherri
Me, Edward & Terri
Carl, Uncle Ed, Steve, Jimmy
Paul, and Edward
Spencer & Santa
Becky, Stevie, & Jenny - in one of their famous silly poses - I always loved those stripe pjs.
The fam
Jimmy & I with Santa
Roger (childhood friend) & me
The tree is up and the decorations are all out. The gifts are all bought and almost all wrapped - (still waiting for a few deliveries.) The cards have all been sent out and most of the Christmas dinner shopping is done - (there is always one more trip to Schnucks to be made!!) However, I have not made one single cookie or candy - unless I can count the batch Jenny & Spencer made while they were staying here. I have cut back every year on my Christmas baking - mostly because I'm the one that ends up eating most of it. I should be in there baking away right now but instead I decided to put it off a little longer and copy Uncle Ed by posting some old Christmas pictures - not very many as old as his but I hope you enjoy them anyway. I wonder if anyone would really notice if I didn't bake at all this year - hmmmm. Merry Christmas everyone - have a wonderful holiday weekend!!

Holiday Time

Jenny , Karl, & Spencer at Breakfast With SantaMaking cookies with Mommy
Spencer with Popo & Nana's tree
Mr. Steve playing for Breakfast with Santa and talking to Tony, Parker, & Jan
Spencer showing Popo what was in his prize bag from Santa
Spencer showing Mommy what was in his prize bag from Santa
Jenny & Spencer with cousins Donovan & Kayleigh at Breakfast with Santa
Stone family (with a very unhappy James) getting picture with Santa
Daddy & Spencer at Breakfast with Santa
Spencer telling Mr. & Mrs. Claus what a good boy he has been and all that he wants for Christmas

From baking Christmas cookies to Breakfast with Santa - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Powered Up Again

This is a picture of a long ago ice storm - 1979. Anyone who has seen my concrete backyard might be surprised to know that this was once my backyard. I was happy to lose the 'gazing' ball and birdbath but I was sad to lose the river birch tree the next summer to some insect that killed a number of those trees in St. Louis that year. I didn't take any pictures of this ice storm - I was just too cold. We finally got our power back on last night and Jenny now has the house up to about 80* - just kidding. We owe Nancy & Paul a big thank you for letting Steve & I sleep at their nice warm house and Millie kept Jen, Karl, Spencer, & Oscar. It was an 'interesting' weekend but not one we would like to repeat if possible. The Reijgers power came back today but they are still stuck here until the contractors get done - they are hoping to be back home by next week.
November kinda snuck by and December is already going quickly. Happy Belated Birthday to nephew Todd and sister-in-law Denise - and wishing Sandi (sister-in-law) and Sherri (niece) a Happy Birthday coming up this month. Hope everyone is warm and in the holiday spirit!

Thanksgiving Memories

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. As a child I remember we had dinner at Aunt Maude & Uncle Willard's house (Kendall's) with their son Bill, Uncle Carl, and usually Aunt Mazie. I think Mom did Christmas dinner. Of course, I was just a kid so who knows if I remember any of this right. I do remember the men eating first and dishes washed for the women - I guess paper plates were out of the question or maybe they didn't even exist?? I think the kids were fed somewhere in between there. After the Kendalls moved to Florida/Piedmont, we either had Thanksgiving at Mama & Dad's or maybe Nancy was doing it by then? Sometime after I was married and settled down I took Thanksgiving off Nancy's hands and she did Christmas. I've been doing Thanksgiving for about 30 years now - except this year, Jessie & Stevie are giving us a break. (Thank you guys) This is a good year for a break but I'm looking forward to having it at my house again next year - I guess I'm just not ready to give it up yet.
In the 30 or so years I've hosted Thanksgiving we have sometimes had as many as 45-50 people but that has become a little overwhelming - age does have it's drawbacks. I realize I haven't taken many 'Thanksgiving' pictures - but here are a few to rekindle some of those memories. Anybody have any special Thanksgiving memories?? I'm very thankful for all of you family & friends and I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!

Spencer Time

I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately - but that's ok because I really don't have much to say lately. Stevie & Jessie had a nightmare honeymoon but they say she is doing much bettter now. This picture is Spencer in his Halloween outfit - he's "Old McDonald" - we figure he will either be a Zoologist or a vet - he really loves his animals! Halloween night Spencer, Jenny, Karl, & Oscar all moved in with us while they have work done on their kitchen & bathroom. It's been fun and takes me back to my 'motherhood' days. Spencer has been very good at mealtime and goes to bed easily and since we are in a different part of the house we never hear him during the night. He has also learned how to turn all our doorknobs so he likes to open & shut doors, hide in the closets and has even visited me once when I was in the shower - I learned to lock the door. The best part of them being here is I have the perfect excuse not to clean - I have to play with Spencer. I know they look forward to going home to their 'new' kitchen & bath but it will be awful quiet around here when they go. 

The Wedding

I'm sure these pictures look familiar to some of you - yes, I stole them from Jenny's blog - thanks Jenny. The wedding was very nice - Eric did a great job. Jessie was a beautiful bride and Stevie was her handsome prince. For more pictures check out Jenny's blog and I'm sure Becky will have some up later this week. I opted not to take my camera for the event so I could just relax and enjoy the evening - but I'd love copies of any pictures anyone has - please!!!!
Stevie & Jessie are on their way to some island resort in Mexico for some much needed down time together - love you kids - we'll take good care of Charlee while you're gone.

Rehearsal

Jessie & Stevie getting their 'instructions' from Eric

Nate - just enjoying the evening.

Stevie - with David, Greg, & Mark

Stevie & his groomsmen - David, Mark, Sam, Ben, & Bo - Greg must be hiding somewhere.

Eric convering with Tom & Beth - parents of Jessie

Stevie & his best man David

Jennie, Karl, and Spencer

Spencer just hanging out until his turn to walk down the aisle.

Jessie's bridesmaids - Cat, Becky, Jenny, Sarah and her two sisters - Claire & Carrie

Spencer & Aunt Becky

I think the rehearsal went well - we have yet to see if Spencer will really walk down the aisle by himself as ringbearer - but that's ok if he doesn't. Del Pietro's was very accomadating and the food was pretty good for the most part. Tonight is the wedding. The boys are out playing golf and I'm sure the bride and her mother are busy with last minute details. Except for going to get my hair done this afternoon I've got free time - I even have time to do my treadmill and blog - being mother of the groom seems almost too easy.

Becky & Nate's Anniversary

October 26, 2002 - hard to believe that it was a whole 4 years ago that these 2 'middle children' were married. Although they still don't look much older than this picture they have grown up a lot in these 4 years. They have dealt with all the things newly weds deal with - getting to know each other better, being considerate of each others families, finances - and as an added stress they moved twice and had to deal with a very sick cat - but they always come up with a smile because they always depend on God to get them through. I love you Becky & Nate and hope you have a very Happy 4th Anniversary!!

Out Of Order Blogs

Check out "More Halloween Fun" below "Spencer Weekend" - I managed to mess up the order of things.