Spencer's 3rd Birthday

Aunt Becky and the Birthday Boy.

Mommy helping with the presents.

Daddy showing Spencer his new bike while GG & Aunt Jessie look on.

Uncle Stevie giving batting instructions.

Uncle Nate wants to ride Spencer's bike??

The Birthday Boy

3 Candles this year!

Look at all these presents!

Uncle Stevie giving bike riding instructions.

Waiting for the "Birthday Song" to end.

We celebrated Spencer's 3rd Birthday tonight. His mommy & daddy bought him a 2 wheeler bike and he had "The Little Engine That Could" party theme. Nana, Popo, Aunt Becky, Uncle Nate, Uncle Stevie, Aunt Jessie, & GG (Millie) were all there to help him celebrate. We all had a good time watching him get all excited. Can't believe he's 3 already!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER - I LOVE YOU!!!!

Happy Birthday Jessie

Jessie turns 25 on Saturday! She very graciously let us celebrate her birthday last night because there were so many conflicts on Saturday - including her going to Decatur to celebrate with her family. Jessie continues to suffer from "morning sickness" all day long so she opted for a pizza and apple pie celebration at our house. The Reijgers, Kelleys, and Millie were all there to celebrate with us. For those who don't already know - Stevie & Jessie are expecting their first child on Stevie's birthday - August 17. We love you Jessie - hope you have a wonderful "sick-free" birthday!!!

Favortite Family Vacation

Riding the tram after an all-day Disney Day.
Above, Jen, Steve, & Stevie

Below - Becky

Evening walk on the beach - my favorite part.

Stevie, Becky, & Jen

Getting ready for their 1st airplane trip.

Stevie, Steve, Jen, & Becky

The "water spurts"

Steve said something about Disney World the other day and Becky & Nate just returned from their trip - made me think of my favorite family vacation. 1987 - Our 1st trip to Disney World. It was a lot of 1st's for the kids. 1st time on a real "tourist" type trip, 1st airplane ride, and 1st time to a beach. We did the whole thing - stayed at Disney World and saw all there was to see, saw Sea World, Busch Gardens, and of course, went to the beach. I think it was my favorite because I was young enough then that the kids wore out before me and the kids were young enough that Steve & I still made all the decisions about what we were doing. Of course the kids got crabby sometimes and tears were shed now and then - but mostly they were just amazed and excited at all there was to see and I just loved watching their faces. I hate to tell you how many times we went through "It's A Small World" - but one of their favorite things to do was try to catch the "water spurts". One thing they were not fond of was stopping for the "memory moment" picture - as these pictures sometimes show - but my heart remembers the laughs and fun we had.

Cloud History - Part 2

Cloud Card Game
Grandpa Cloud (John Franklin) , Aunt Ruth, Mom, Aunt Lorene, Allene, Uncle Ray Titus Grandpa & Grandma Cloud

Aunt Ruth

Grandma Cloud (Emma McBride)

Joe & Grandpa Cloud

I never really had a chance to know my Mom's parents. I was born in 1951 and according to the tombstone in Tiptonville, TN: Emma McBride Cloud died in 1952 and John Franklin Cloud died in 1953. But Mama would tell stories from time to time. The comment I remember most is "Your Grandpa would roll over in his grave if he... saw how you're behaving or..could see you wearing that outfit" - you get the idea. I always had the impression he was probably very strict. In fact, seeing the card game picture puzzles me because I thought mama said they weren't allowed to play cards. I do remember her saying they weren't allowed to go swimming so when Grandpa would go off for a day, her mom would let them all go to the pond and swim. Mom use to tell us the story about how a bull gored grandma and made grandpa so mad he killed it. Mom or Nancy told me that Grandpa's father died when he was just a child and at 19 he was expected to take care of himself. I know there were a lot of other stories but these are the ones I most often heard repeated.
When I first had an interest in genealogy, my mom told me to write my Aunt Ruth since she was older and see if she could fill in any details for me. She didn't tell me much about her parents, John & Emma (McBride) Cloud, but she lived some with her grandparents on her mother's side and had a few interesting stories. Their names are Thomas McBride & Elvira (Ward) - they would be my great grandparents. Here is an edited version of her letter:

Grandma Ward married Tom McBride just before the civil war. They were homesteading a farm when the war broke out. Of course, Grandfather had to go. Most of Illinois then was a wilderness around in that part of the state. She and grandfather with the help of neighbors built his log cabin. All the wood came from the trees that were cut down on his farm. It was not a small cabin - it had four bedrooms, living room with a fire place, the kitchen and a dining room were one large room with a large fireplace. They had plenty to eat by growing it themselves and there were no insect to eat it up. Then the Civil War broke out and their troubles started. Grandma used to tell me of how the soldiers used to run away from camp and officers would find them and take them back. Grandfather was left on the field to die when the army moved on to the front. The two soldiers that were left with him in a rail fence corner died. Grandfather got better and returned home. The soldiers tried to find him but he hid out in the woods. Grandmother would take food out to him. She told me about some of the boys that had run away from camp but had been found and were chained and were being taken back. She said the officers used to come to her house at any time of the night and make her get up and cook them some food. She said they usually had a prisoner or two that they were taking back to camp. But they never caught Grandfather.
He recovered and lived to be an old man.

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!