Hannah Dustin

When we arrived at my parents house over Christmas break I found this statue/liquor bottle sitting on my parents countertop. My dad told me that she was was the first women in the United States to have a statue erected in her honor. And she is my great great great great ..... grandmother (10 generations). This is the story (very condensed):

Six days after Hannah delivered their twelfth child (Martha), a band of Indians kidnapped her, her nurse (Mrs. Neff), and the baby. Then they killed her baby right in front of her eyes. (I can only imagine the emotions she must have felt). Over the next few days they marched approximately 100 miles, and were lead to an island (now named Dustin Island).

A young boy, Samuel, who had been living with the Indians for about 18 months was also with them. At Hannah's request, Samuel asked the Indians how they killed their captives and then relayed the information to Hannah. With the stories of what happened to Indian captives, and her desire for revenging the death of her baby and the cruel treatment of their captors while on the march, Hannah resolved to escape in any way that she could. After reaching the island, the Indians had become careless and no longer kept watch at night. Shortly after midnight Hannah awoke Samuel and Mrs. Neff and together they killed ten of the twelve Indians and took their scalps. They then escaped off the island and after several days of travel returned safely home to Haverill.

When I first heard that she helped kill 10 Indians I was totally shocked and wondered how she could bring herself to do it. But, after finding out that they killed her baby in front of her very eyes and knowing that she had family back at home that she desperately needed to be with, I understood her a little bit better.



My parents were able to visit Haverill, MA in October and see the statue. (They were back east because my Dad was awarded a Silver Medal by the US Dept. of Commerce!).

(For a more accurate and detailed history go to www.hannahdustin.com)

Tagged!

What's his name? Aaron McBride
How long have you been together? 6 years (we had a three month break in that time as we were dating)
How old is he? 27 (his favorite number)
Who eats more? Aaron
Who said "I love you" first? I think he did
Who is taller? Aaron
Who sings better? Aaron
Who is smarter? Depends on the subject
Whose temper is worse? Mine
Who does the laundry? Me (with two little helpers usually)
Who does the dishes? Mostly me lately
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me
Who pays the bills? Me
Who mows the lawn? The maintenance guy at Hillside Apts. (but if we had our own yard, he would do the mowing)
Who cooks dinner? Me - by choice
Who drives when you are together? Mostly Aaron
Whose parents do you see the most? It's a toss up - depending on where we are living at the time.
WHo kissed whom first? He kissed me
Who asked whom out? He asked me out (one of the most creative/fun dates I have ever been on - we call it "The Coffin Date")
Who proposed? Aaron
Who has more friends? Probably equal
Who is more sensitive? Me
Who has more siblings? Aaron
Who wears the pants in the family? Ummm....Aaron is sitting next to me as I answer these questions and we can't agree on this answer. Who do you guys think?
Where did you meet each other? Emily and Shawna's apartment in Rexburg
What was the first thing you said to your husband? "You can definitely tell that you are related to Heidi's husband (Brett)!" (or something like that).
Where was your first date? Near Kelly's Canyon
Where was your first kiss? Thanksgiving Point Gardens (Lehi, UT)
Where did you get engaged? La Jolla apt. parking lot - after which we went to the location of our first date and I carved my initials into a tree where Aaron had already carved his initials a few years before.
Where were you married? Idaho Falls Temple
How was the honeymoon? We got married in the middle of the semester and so we only had two days before we had to get back to school. So, we didn't go anywhere or spend any money (at the time we thought we were being so smart and frugal, but I wish now that we would have gone somewhere and done something really fun) We did go to Jackson Hole 3 months later (after morning sickness) and went on a horse drawn sleigh ride to a cabin on the mountain and had a candle light dinner - that was fun!

(I am going to tag Angela and Lacey)

Ellie after pigtails

Carly's Carol

This is Carly doing one of her favorite things (singing). Instead of saying "Good Tidings to you..." she sings "Exciting for you..." It makes more sense anyway!

Ellie

This is Ellie doing one of her favorite things (playdough) with one of her favorite people (Graham).


By the way, we are so proud of Ellie. Yesterday she told me "My tummy hurts. I want go potty" So, I set her on the potty and she did it! This is the first time she has told us before she actually did the poopy.

Blogging again...finally!

Aaron is done for the semester...Yay!!! So, he is home finally and I have access to the computer and internet. One thing that I have found to be grateful for is that Aaron gets 25 days of Christmas vacation - I doubt we'll get that when we're in the work force.

Carly and Ellie love to help do the laundry


The girls and I have had a lot of fun sledding a couple of times.


Carly and I made some really yummy rolls today. Carly is such a good helper...but about half way through the rolling process she told me she wanted to be a clown. I guess that's better than being a baker.


One last thing I wanted to post. It's a poem from a book I've been browsing through "A House of Order" (because I have a hard time with this):

One morning I woke and began resolutely
To work till my taskes were done absolutely.
I decided I would not waste even a minute--
In the race against time, I determined to win it.

I started all right, first clearing the dishes,
Then saw it was time to clean the bowl for the fishes.
As I reached for the cleanser, I thought that I'd better
Grab soap flakes as well for washing a sweater.

As I went for the sweater, I saw that the bed
Needed staightening, so stopped to do that instead.
Just then the phone rang, and while I was answereing it,
I saw plants on the sill that needed watering a bit.

So went my day, and I worked till bone tired;
Then happy and proud, I sat back and admired.
But taking stock of my home, my joy soon diminished;
Everything was started, but nothing was finished.
-Donette V. Ockley

Ang requested to see a little bit of our home.

My sister, Angela, gave us this Christmas quilt last year. In each of the 25 pockets we put a scripture about Christ and a little treat. We want to try as much as possible to teach our girls that Christmas time is about Christ and his birth (although, they have definitely picked up on the whole Santa and presents thing too).


My very talented sisters-in-law, Franci and Holly, made these awesome stockings for us last year - I just LOVE them!


Franci introduced me to a new addiction a few years ago - toll painting Christmas village houses. (This is a not-so-good view of the window display by our front door.) Franci and Holly also decorated the glass ornaments hanging in the window.


This is displaying more talent by our family: "The Parson's" sign was made by my sister-in-law Nissa-Lyn. My sister Angela made the engagement plaque below the sign.


Sorry Ang, this isn't a whole lot of our home, but with my expertise in decorating, the rest isn't much to look at! Besides, I'm still hoping that you can come visit early next year.

Thanksgiving

The girls were sure happy to have Grandma and Grandpa at our home. Having them here made it feel more like Thanksgiving - I know I probably wouldn't have gone to all the trouble in making the Thanksgiving dinner by myself if it was just Aaron and I and the girls.

Our Thanksgiving Feast! Yummy!

Aaron and his Dad went hunting and Leon got a whitetail 5x4. Aaron and his parents did the butchering and I did the refereeing. (It took them 11 hours - straight - no joke!)

Carly asked Aaron to take pictures of her reading.

After church today...

the girls enjoyed the first snowfall of the season...without their coats



Aaron cooked us some delicious hotdogs on the grill (what a man!)



Ellie took a nap



Carly and Daddy made an awesome snowman (Carly named her Emery)



and Mommy went Blogging!

Our First Post!

We had our ward's primary program about a month ago and Ellie got to sing with the other kids. Well, after they got done with "I am a Child of God" Ellie burst out singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" - she didn't get too far into it, but boy was it cute!

Carly told me yesterday that she had a pretend puppy. It's name is Girlpit. (What a creative name!)

Carly's favorite friend up here is Emery (Jordan and Jenny's girl). They are the cutest little friends! They are only four months apart in age, and yet Emery is almost a full head taller. Whenever Emery comes over, Carly runs to her and gives her a huge hug and says (in a very grown up way) "Oh Emery, I'm so glad to see you! Let me kiss you!" They get along so well.

Emery is also Ellie's favorite scapegoat. One of Ellie's first two-word sentences was "No Emmy!" (very emphatically). If there is a page ripped out in a book Ellie will tell you"Emmy did it". The other day I found Ellie with a piece of gum in her mouth and I didn't know where she got it, so I asked her and she said "Emmy give it to me" (she hadn't seen Emery all day long). She really does like Emery, but I guess she's an easy scapegoat because she isn't around to defend herself.

Aaron was selected as a recipient for the 2007 Alumni Award for Excellence. He was one of only 12 graduate students awarded this year. Basically, . . . Aaron is talented . . . and I am lucky!!

Fridge Quotes

We were eating dinner at a friends house several months ago and I saw a scrap piece of paper on the fridge with quotes from her kids. What a great idea, huh?! So I adopted it. Here are some of Carly's "fridge quotes" from this year:

February 13, 2007
Carly: “Ellie’s not a Lamanite. She’s a baby sweetheart.”

April 19, 2007
Daddy says to Carly “Are you some sort of genius?”
Carly answers very seriously, “I’m not Jesus, I’m just Carly!"


April 3, 2007
Carly saw a teenage boy dressed all in black with a shiny trench coat. She asks, “What’s he bein’? A garbage can?”


August 31, 2007
When Carly saw the letter “C” she said, “Look! It begins to start with me!”


October  2007
Family Home Evening
Carly: “Faly Hone Eving”

Carly - age 3 (almost 4)

What a little cutie!