Family

Amo Minha Família (I Love My Family) and Story@Home Conference Giveaway

21 Comments

Cherish Bound and RootsTech have teamed up for The Story@Home Conference, held March 21-23, 2013 at the Salt Lake Convention Center.  At the conference, there will be speakers, story-tellers, performers and 30+ classes focused on telling your story.  (Tickets are still available!)  Leave a comment below to win a full conference pass.

Over the summer we had plenty of opportunities to spend time with my husband’s Brazilian relatives.  Some live here in the States and one was here visiting for a few months.  I absolutely love getting together with our Brazilian cousins.  My husband’s cousins are more like siblings to him, and he has always been very close with them, and I love them just as much.

When we get together there are always entertaining stories–especially those told by my father-in-law, who remembers everything and has a real gift for telling a great story.

My father-in-law and my husband laughing and telling stories.

Telling stories about the past, including the time my husband spent in Brazil as a child, bring us closer as a family.  We laugh together over shared meals that include American, German and Brazilian foods. 

My husband’s German grandmother is lovingly remembered and honored by my mother-in-law through stories about the delicious sweets she made and the German traditions she integrated with the new-to-her Brazilian culture.
my mother-in-law shows me some cookies her mother used to make
German-inspired cakes for my husband and youngest daughter who share a birthday.

All of the women in the family are skilled cooks.  I used to feel a little jealous when my husband would rave about his cousins’ cooking, and then I tasted it.  All jealousy was replaced with praise.  My mother-in-law makes fabulous German cakes, just as her mother did.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law

My mother-in-law spends a lot of time translating historical documents for Family History purposes.  There have been many times when she’s found something interesting out about an ancestor and gives us a call to tell us about it.  Her mother’s family left Brazil to go back to Germany shortly before WWII, and she remained by herself in a foreign land.  My mother-in-law is still in contact with her German relatives.  It’s fun to hear the stories about them.

I sure love my family and I am glad they are a part of my life story.


Three generations of Johnson men.  My son is wearing a shirt my father-in-law’s mom made for my husband when he was a little boy in Brazil.  My son looks a lot like my husband did as a boy.

This blog and the others I’ve written hold my story.  Blogging is important because it allows me to connect with you and other bloggers–to share our stories.  Mine might be through food and the memories associated with it.  Your stories might be told differently through the quilts you make, pictures you take, music you play, songs you sing, or the written word.  All are important and worth recording.

I’m giving away a full conference pass (meals not included) for the 2013 Story@Home Conference.  Leave a comment on this post.  The winner will be chosen at random and announced at the top of this post on January 14th and notified by e-mail.  (Make sure I can find you if you win, or I’ll have to choose another winner!)  Good luck!

To follow and learn more about Story@Home, follow on Twitter and Facebook.

You may also like

21 Comments

  2. Such a cool post Linds. There is something really special about cooking with those you love and passing down those recipes. Those sights, tastes and smells seriously tie you to people and places. I hope I can create those memories with my kids as well. I know some of your recipes will make it into their memories for sure! Speaking of which, bless you/curse you for introducing me to that caramel apple popcorn! I made it for neighbor gifts and have probably eaten my weight in it. AMAZING!

    Reply

  5. What a beautifully written post about family love. With our family living hours and hours (and hours) away from us, we are lucky to have online social sites and blogs to keep up with each others stories. A post I saw recently online inspires me to want to create a yearbook of sorts of our family’s journey. Instead of leaving all those photos and blog posts on the computer, organize them into a printed book (make copies for each child, including a master copy for the home). I’d love to attend the Story@Home Conference to learn more about how I can document not only my personal stories, but my family stories. (fingers crossed)

    Reply

  7. It’s so fun to learn about your family, Lindsey! Both of my mother’s parents are from Germany and I have three dear cousins who were born during the war. My aunt went over, married a German who was forced to serve in the German army. She wrote her memoirs that may be made into a miniseries. Germans definitely know how to eat! :)

    Reply

  9. What a cool post! I love the pictures and the words, you are amazing. I love family stories as you could imagine. You are great and I’m so glad we have run into each other after high school :)

    Reply

  10. This summer my cousin visited from Belgium – it’s so amazing when you finally get to spend time with family from so far away. I’m glad you had this chance. It sounds like you had a wonderful time!

    Reply

  12. Hi Lindsey,

    I found you through Jenny Hansen! What a lovely blog. My family is Czech and there really is something about proper European baking!

    Story at Home sounds like a wonderful conference. You can reach me at whitney [at] gumplist [dot] org if I win!

    Looking forward to following your local food adventures!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.