These two layouts are family oriented and all of the pictures were taken in Humboldt County, CA. The layout ‘We Lived In The Woods’ shows pictures taken in the mid-1940s of our parents, me and five of my brothers when we were little. The layout with the family reunion is approximately 30 years later. We were all gathered on a huge old redwood stump. We camped there and we’d go swimming in the Eel River, just like my siblings and I did 30 years prior to the reunion. We had a great opportunity to show our children where we lived in the woods. There were 38 of us in the family reunion picture, which included my brothers, their families, my sister and her family and me with my family. No one missed our first reunion. That was in 1978, and now in 2008 the 38 members have grown to 87 family members.
 | We Lived in the Woods Beginner Project Zoom in to view this project closer Make this project: |
Journaling:
“From 1944 until 1948 we lived in Myers Flat, California in Humboldt County. This was in the very northern part of the state among the beautiful giant redwood trees. When my dad and brothers built our house it was at the end of WW II and there wasn’t enough wood to finish the inside walls or even the outside of the house. We didn’t have any running water and the electricity wasn’t installed for almost two years. Once we got electricity at night we would sit and listen to programs on our big Philco console radio. There weren’t any TV’s back then, so we had to drive for miles to see a movie and when we wanted to go swimming we would walk to the Eel River...we lived in the woods.
Mom and dad had eight children and six were boys, so Mom would cut their hair instead of going to a barbershop. There was a spring not far from the house and since we didn’t have running water the family would carry buckets of water for baths, cooking and washing dishes. My brothers took a 50-gallon metal drum to the spring and made an outside standup bathtub. We didn’t have a toilet but we had a three-hole outhouse and at nighttime we used a special ceramic bowl as a “pee-pot” to go to the bathroom. As little kids we didn’t want to go out at night, so we didn’t mind using the pot...we lived in the woods.
These are some special pictures taken in 1948. My mom is sitting in our car and my 2-year-old brother and I (5 years old) are standing outside. Two pictures show mom & dad with me, my younger brother and my 7-year-old brother. My little brother was making funny faces in both pictures. The picture with the three of us with mom and dad shows how cute we looked dressed alike with our hands in our pockets. On the tree stump it shows me with five of my brothers ranging in age from 2 to 15 years old. We really did live in the woods.”
 | Family Memories Intermediate Project Zoom in to view this project closer Make this project: |
Journaling:
“Our first family reunion was in July 1978 in the Redwoods in Humboldt County, CA. We called our reunions Doo Dah and we had so much fun. These are my brothers and their families and sister and her family plus my husband and our family. I had 6 brothers and one sister and we were all having so much fun. There were so many cousins running around from 9 months to 26 years old. At the time, there were 38 family members and everyone was able to attend. We celebrated my oldest brother’s 50th birthday and in the picture he’s holding the youngest cousin. We went to the Redwoods because that’s where my family built a house and we all had such great memories back then and we had fun playing in the Eel River too. I’m at the top right in the red top and my son is above me. My daughter is in the center wearing a yellow shirt with a red Maple Leaf on it. My husband is in the blue jacket at the bottom right. He took the picture using his tri-pod. What a wonderful reunion with lots of great memories.”
Here are a few more family reunion layouts we thought you’d enjoy.
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 | Rogers' Reunion Beginner Project Zoom in to view this project closer Make this project: |
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