I was going to make phone calls this morning to pass on this fun email, and then I was going to find the picture of Mary Coucum and post it, but this is a quick way to share and then everyone can chime in. With a houseful of young people from the BYU 197th coming for FHE tonight (Costco cookies are sounding like a great refreshment), and with bedroom furniture still scattered around the house, there is much to do - even if it is just moving a layer of dust. I found the information about Mary Coucum to be very interesting, and had never heard that before.
Anyway[s] (for Dwight), this email came yesterday as a result of the blog. I will follow up with the sender - we can all learn from each other - the more we share the more we learn. It is a happy thought to hear the author of the email talk about being 35 - I think this is a sign of the times. Dwight's Jim and Louise's Cheryl have expressed alot of interest, Judy's Shannon is busy doing research and finding great information, and others are beginning to poke around - How thankful I am for the younger, sharper minds pitching in.
Following is the content of the email:
"Maybe you are already familiar with the Gehring family (my great-aunts Dixie Edwards and Dana Openshaw have done a lot of genealogy work on our family). We are a large family based primarily in Utah (especially the Orem/Provo area). I was looking at some genealogy work on my family and I know my great-grandmother, Belva Erickson Gehring was a daughter of Erick and Eliza Belle Wasden Erickson; I also know that Eliza was the daughter of John Brooks Wasden and Caroline Savage Wasden. As you know, John Brooks Wasden was the son Thomas Wasden and Mary Coucum Wasden. I found information that Mary Coucum Wasden was a cousin and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. As I did some research on Mary, I found your blog site.
Making things additionally interesting, and I'm not sure if you have any connection to Charles W. Penrose, but my great-grandmother Katherine Bopp Penrose was married for a short time to a son of Charles W. Penrose. No children were born to this short union however.
I don't know if you are familiar with our family, but I found your blog interesting and I recognize some of those photos posted. I am only 35 and haven't done the research on our family, but if your family and my family haven't met or contacted each other, there may be interest in doing so."
I do believe that Louise is correct in the fact that the little blue salt and pepper shakers were considered too small. I remember Dad at one meal shaking the blue one and saying forcefully that he couldn't get anything out of it and he wanted a "real" salt shaker.
Ron and I stopped in Thermopolis on a side street under a shady tree to make a sandwich and eat a bite before going on our way to Burlington. I happened to look over to the new grade school, and saw this name on the side. Check your first grade report cards, Louise and Dwight, and you'll see that Ralph Witter signed his name as our principal (before the days of Helen Hays). I forgot that he had gone to Thermopolis and stayed there for years. Just interesting.
This salt and pepper set was given to our parents for a wedding present. (I do not know who the giver was. ) While they were small and required frequent refilling, the pretty blue glass earned a place of honor in the white cupboard above the refrigerator. They were used on special occasions and whenever we could talk Mother into letting us use them for a tea party.
Because Louise was born in July, and the days tend to be very warm, I thought it would be appropriate to post a winter picture of her. Love this photo - I suspect we all know right where she was standing (approximately) when this was taken on South Church Street in Penrose.
I remember reading a book from a long time ago, called "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay", and this picture reflects Louise's youth and perhaps not quite "carefree" days, but I love this posed picture taken with the Baby Brownie that Dwight gave me. (Didn't we love kitties?)
This is the latest picture of my beloved older sister, taken when she came to Preston with Cheryl when Cheryl taught the mystery quilt at our quilt guild in June. Louise was still recovering from her knee surgery, but she enjoyed sitting and chatting with others, while working on some applique blocks, and it was great to have her here. She was always trying to guide my footsteps - sometimes in ways that I didn't appreciate. (Why did I have to keep my things in the cabinet from infringing on hers?) She kept a scrapbook, so I kept a scrapbook. She collected pictures from The Saturday Evening Post, and other magazines for a teaching file, so I did the same. We cut out paper dolls and played with them. We learned to cook together, and did the dishes together - Louise washing and me rinsing and drying. We told each other stories, and when I wasn't old enough to see some of the movies that she went to, she told me about them blow by blow. She taught me how to count to 15 in Spanish when she took it in high school. And on and on. It's wonderful to have sisters, and share interests, hopes and fears and faith with. So, Happy Birthday, Louise - and, as we like to sing the addendum - "And many more". May your day be very good. 
Be sure to click on the obituary so that you can read it.
This is one of the quilts that Mother made during her last year. That would be 28 years ago. Since then it has been on my bed. It has kept me warm on cold nights, during storms with no electricity, and flung all the way back on warm summer nights. But most of all it has brought sweet comfort when the nights got too long. 
