The spooky Mitchell family

Halloween is here and the Inverness Mitchells are really celebrating! Things are finally beginning to settle down as the temperatures fall into comfortable ranges! My sister took this picture of us as we got home from the Trunk o Treat at church! The Daisy and Donald costumes were a hit, and the girls were the cutest little Tinkerbell's that I'd ever seen! I got some formal pictures taken in the Tinkerbell costumes, and those should be in the mail soon.

The other pictures are Campbell on Lover Boy, trying to learn how to ride horses--the goal is to have her doing some of the horse shows when she turns 5. She is working on getting Lover Boy to know her voice and to obey her commands. Campbell needs someone to boss around, and Annastyn appreciates when she takes that energy out on a horse, rather than on her!

I took my 2 girls and went and spent a week with my Grandmother last week--one of the days we went to an old lake house that I used to play at when I was a little girl. The two girls had fun collecting snails and minnows, and digging in the sand. When I was a kid, the Orlando FL temple did not exist, so it was really neat to see the Temple spires on the other side of the lake! How things change.


I hope the Brandon family is doing great--we have started the Christmas shopping! So if anyone has wish lists, this would be a fun place to post some stuff.

Recently there hasn't been much activity on the blog, but I'll keep writing!

Hope all is well,

Brittan

Dax is two!

Happy Birthday Dax! The big two. To celebrate this milestone--I made Dax his very own quilt, a Brittan original :) It was a lot of work--but I know it was worth it. Nanna says that Maddax LOVES blankets! I'm excited to make my next quilt--but we'll have to wait for another special occasion.

I hand-stitched his name into the quilt (so it's not perfect) and I picked patterns that I thought that any Mitchell boy would appreciate (trucks/trains and balls). I put a super soft fabric on the back. We hope he enjoys it. The other picture is Campbell and Annastyn at the Orlando Florida temple last week. Our ward had a temple trip. Brian went in and participated, and the 3 girls stayed outside and played in the grass. It was fun for the girls to be at the temple again.

Lots of love,

Brittan

Updated chart

Mom is sending me some of the research on for the previous generations--but until I get that through "snail mail" I am just plugging along without really knowing much of the background. See on my family--I grew up hearing stories of my grandparents/parents talking about cousins/aunts/uncles etc. so sometimes I have a pretty good sense when I make a proper connection. I don't have that (at least not yet) when it comes to Brian's side of the family--but I'll get there :)

If you actually go into my website--you can see the notes that I put on different people--rather than just the generation charts--some of these notes will say "I have No idea if this is a connection--but it's here just in case".

Mom told me of a few spelling errors--which I corrected online--and I started playing around with a few more names.


Here is a few generations with Andrew Campbell being generation (1). I made a giant leap when I connected Peter Campbell's parents--and since Campbell is a pretty common name--it was probably a bad link. But just shoot me an email (brittanmitchell@gmail.com) if you know of other names. The further back we go--the easier it is to connect with other websites.

On the maternal side if Duncan (b. 1863) had the following brothers/sisters--then I think it is a good connection: Ellen, Margarat, William, Ann. It fits with information from a British census. If This doesn't fit--then it's super easy to delete and put the proper stuff.

Until I get Mom's letter--this is the best I can do for today :)

Check out the updated generation chart.

http://www1.tribalpages.com/tmp/1160157632937.pdf (For Andrew Campbell)

A thought

From Sister Hinckley's book:

"The Trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead."

She then quotes Philippians 4:11 "Now that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

I think this is an important lesson! I tend to be someone who always hopes to get around the bend ahead--thinking that it will be a better place than where I am now. I have started to try to recognize this behavior and I try to convince myself that the grass in NOT greener on the other side of the fence.

I learned something in conference on Saturday which ties into this quote. Dallin H. Oaks spoke about topics related to healing, the Atonement, and heavy burdens. He said that the Atonement was not just about suffering for our sins, but that it was also about suffering from the mental, physical, and emotional burdens that we suffer during life.

Since I was a little girl, I have always combined two principles (1) God knows the end from the beginning and (2) Christ suffered for the sins of the world. Since my childhood, I have tried to avoid sins, the kind of sins that would have contributed pain to the Savior's suffering. But I have not always embraced trials and tribulations with joy, happiness, and peaceful contentment. I have, during different parts of life, found myself in dark moments of despair not knowing where to turn (or at least not wanting to turn to the place where I know I should). I always knew that I could turn to the Savior as a comforter and as a source of peace, but I haven't connected that comfort to the Atonement. I know that I am in charge of my emotions and that sometimes it feels good to be sad or mad or angry or depressed or whatever--because it connects me to humanity. But the realization that Christ suffered in the Garden for all of those negative emotions that I cycle through--means that it is time for me to step it up! It is time, as Sister Hinckley suggested, to learn to enjoy life at every crossroad. People are always commenting on President Hinckley's optimism and happiness--I am going to try and follow that example!

Brittan