Meet My Great-Grandmas

I also have been blessed to know two of my great-grandmothers, so I thought I would write down a few memories that I have of them.

Grandma Taylor

Adelaide Collings Taylor was my Grandma Lois's mother. Here are some of my memories of her:

When we visited her in Wendell, Idaho, she had a bag with feather dusters and matchbox cars that we could play with. She had two large braided rugs on her floor that we used to drive the cars on like roads. It was fun to examine all the fabric that had been used to make the rugs. I remember a couple of cow clocks and a large old black stove. She had a black upright piano that was pretty out-of-tune. One time my mom and my siblings and I were visiting at the same time as Grandma Lois, and we sang hymns while my mom played the piano. It was a really nice experience and I remember Grandma Taylor really enjoyed it.

Grandma Taylor always encouraged us to be good to our mother and help her.

She always wore an apron, but they weren't like the aprons most people think of. They were kind of like a short sleeveless dress that buttoned down the front and had two pockets in the front. Now that I'm a mom and do most of the cooking I've often wished I had an apron or two like that because they have a lot better coverage and you wouldn't have to deal with the apron strings. Usually when I think of her I remember her sitting in the rocking chair wearing one of those aprons.

My mom's family lived in Wendell for several years, so there was a connection between my Grammy and Grandma Taylor. Apparently Grandma Taylor was my mom's brother Jay's Sunday School teacher for a few years, and she really loved my Uncle Jay. This isn't how my parents met, by the way--they met at an institute dance at the College of Southern Idaho.

My mom said that Grandma Taylor really welcomed her into the family when she married my dad, and she also helped Mom start to build a year's supply.

4-H was really important to her. I seem to recall Grandma Lois telling a story about how she ran back into a burning house to rescue all of the 4-H ribbons.

Grandma Velma

I remember that I really loved Grandma Velma. When she came to visit I always enjoyed talking to her, and she was a good listener.

One of my earliest memories is of going to her house in Kimberly and eating applesauce cake. Applesauce cake is basically sugar cookies stacked on top of each other with applesauce spread in between them, and it's best if you freeze it for about six months before eating it.

I remember she had an organ and a grand piano (which Grandma and Grandpa Glenn have now). She had a little bird that I always liked to look at. Her clothesline was the kind that spins, and I always thought it was pretty cool. I also remember an apple tree.

I think I was about eight years old when she died. The last time I saw her, she was at my grandparents' house and was pretty sick. I was really surprised because she didn't even smile at me, which was so out of character for her. I cried at her funeral because I was very sad. I also felt the Holy Ghost very strongly there and knew that someday she would be resurrected and I would see her again.

Ruby Snow

I never met Ruby Snow, but she did a lot of family history, so I've gotten to know her through the life histories she wrote of herself and many of her ancestors. She is my Grammy's mother. I'm really impressed by her. She and her first husband (Jesse Warren) moved to Idaho in the middle of nowhere and built their farm up from nothing. They pretty much worked all of the time. I have no idea how they did so much. Then Jesse died of appendicitis and she and her children moved back to her hometown of Mapleton. Later she married my great-grandfather, Hans Peter Jensen, and had more children. She loved her callings in church, sewing, and her family.