Happy May Day!!

I think I say the same thing every year about May Day!! And post the same Northridge Jr. High picture of the 9th grade girls dancing around the Maypole.

So this year it will be some archival footage from Wikipedia!!

And when I went to find stuff for my students, there were no activities about the flowers and Maypole dancing of May Day - just the labor, working man stuff.

Oh well, it will be new to them either way - I've never found a student yet who knew about either version of May Day!!

Take some flowers to your neighbor!!

After some pressure

I was waiting for Mom to finish the Anniversary Posts before I started posting on the Connection again, but since it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon...

I wanted you to meet my soccer team, The Left Overs. This is a great group of women that I enjoy kicking the ball around with once a week. You are all welcome to come to my game tonight. I'll be playing Goal Keeper for the first half and would appreciate any cheering that might be deemed acceptable (no heckling). Since I never played organized sports as a child I thought I would give it a whirl as an adult and I have found that I really enjoy it. Up next, joining the Girl Scouts.

The Lone Poster strikes again! (Hi, Ho, Silver, and away! Say que mo sabe, who was that masked man??) (pardon my Spanglish!!)

So, let's just say that I'm a little - make that a lot - behind in my Anniversary Posts!!

It doesn't look real good for me to be wrapping them up anytime soon either.

But here's a little teaser for the summer of 1997, which is next on the agenda.

And speaking of Monrovia High - which we weren't, but Hannah and Eliza did basketball there in the summer of '97 - Coach Higgins is retiring, as is Mr. VanOrden. And Coach Garrison is no longer the football coach - and they didn't hire Fil Lujan to fill the post - he went out for it - but they hired someone from West Covina. And Jean Young and Marney Davidson are retiring too. And Mr. Dagne is retiring from Clifton. As is Mr. Wenzelberg. But some other old names from Clifton are not retiring!

And I do feel like the Lone Poster - if Eliza hadn't covered Boston I would have had an exclusive byline. (Which I do not aspire to!!)

It's a tough job - someone has to do it!

Happy Birthday Frances!!

I posted on Alice's birthday about the joy of sisters. And now I'm here to say that the same thing can be said for sisters -in-law - they are the real deal!!

From the get- go, Frances and I hit it off. I first "met" her at Ry Nebeker's missionary farewell. Alice and I had driven all the way to Covina to attend it - Harry was on his mission then and he'd written me and told me to go. I'd never met Frances, but when she trundled up the aisle of the chapel - as true Claytons, Alice and I were sitting on the back row - with a toddler Scott in tow, I knew I was looking at Harry's sister! There is a family resemblance, that's for sure!

This is a picture taken just after Karen was born I think. Anyway, I think it's interesting that the first two photos I found of Frances were of the two of us in a camping setting! The above shot is a camping trip in 1971 somewhere in Utah. (the black and white photo that is!)

And this is from a camping trip to Ashland in 1992 - Helen and Frances went with us to the Shakespeare Festival - I know the van will bring back a flood of good memories to all of you out there in bloggerland!

Enjoy your day Frances - we do indeed have a history together! Sisterhood is an eternal principle - one I am grateful for!

(and if I tell the same stories every year - and post the same pictures every year - don't bother to tell me - I'd just forget anyway!!)

Same old, same old!!

It was a quiet day in the neighborhood until about 1:40 - when a wildfire broke out up Santa Anita Canyon!

You can see the flames when you are on Foothill - apparently no structures are at risk.

Seems a mite early for the fire season to begin!!

Just want to keep you updated!

Happy Birthday Alice!

I have 5 sisters - and I love them all dearly. Growing up, Alice and I were close in age, so my relationship with her is a little different than the other relationships. And it is a relationship I treasure - one that makes me glad that families are indeed forever!

So, that said, Happy Day today to my dear sister Alice!! Here we are below - the kidlets with Alice and me are Mary, Charles and Richard. (Parenthetically, my Grandma Stevens, whose birthday was yesterday, used to say, whenever we mentioned that Alice was born on the day after her birthday, "Might as well have been a week, she missed it, that's all!")

We certainly go "way back" in our relationship. It would take a book to tell you about all the experiences that Alice and I have shared. All I have to say to Alice is things like, "Paperdolls, Mr. By Lo, Judy Vergine, tree house, you set in my sleeves and I'll do your dishes, Eugenia Hinkle, Ruby's Dept Store, Pops Willow Lake, Mr. Tosettis, bookmobile" and she knows just what I'm talking about.

And maybe sometime I will!! We were roommates in college - after sharing a room for many years - although, for a time Alice was in a room with Mary and some baby and Joan and I were in a room with some toddler - but we lived in pretty close quarters! I lobbied for a long time to have a bed to myself in the room with Mary instead of sharing a bed with Joan - but to no avail. I was convinced Alice was the favored child!

We have shared lots - she's worn my "mother of the bride" dresses for her kid's weddings! And we discovered that more than one time we would both go out and buy the same pattern - unbeknownst (this is a word - and it's correctly spelled - in spite of the red line that keeps showing up under it - I looked it up in the OED!!) to one another. We have very similar tastes.

She and Dale have a beautiful family!! And it's been a real blessing in our lives to have a close relationship with them - in spite of great distances!!

She loves her grandkids - this is the Clayton Family Reunion in 2003 I think.

This is 1989 - Alice and I both love being with our sisters!! We are forever trying to figure out ways to get together. This one was for a BYU Women's Conference - or maybe Education Week.

Here's Alice with Erika's girls - and it looks like Amalia is wearing the blessing dress that Grandma Stevens made for Betsy.

Alice loves to walk - and we usually include walks in our get togethers - here is a retreat we had the year Donna graduated from CSUN - we hiked in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Alice with 3 of her girls - ladies, listen up, this is your wise old Aunt Barbara speaking - "Sisters, they rock!!"

And don't you forget it!


And speaking of sisters and birthdays - it's Maddy's birthday today too!! So happy day to you - what a lucky girl to share your birthday with your wonderful mom!

Happy Birthday to Grandma Stevens!!

April 25th is the birthday of my Grandma Stevens - Mima Lillian Wamsley was her maiden name.

She is 18 in this picture - and it was taken in 1913. Maybe I posted it last year - I don't remember and don't want to take the time to look.

I'm sure you've all heard the stories countless times that I tell about my grandma - the night Alice and I spent the night when my mom was having one of the babies and she said, "I wish your mother wouldn't keep having children. If she dies, I can't take care of all of you." And then when we were in bed, Alice whispered, "Is Mom going to die?"

Or the way she would go shopping for bargains and bring us random surprises - once it was a gold-colored corduroy jacket - which I wore out - I loved it that much.

And how we usually didn't have coats - California winters are, after all, pretty mild - but she knitted us wonderful bulky sweaters each year, that were sufficiently warm!

Or the way she always gave Alice and me the same birthday present but in different colors - and since my birthday came after Alice's, I only had a color surprise to look forward to!

Or how she taught me to play cards. And how she had a toy drawer in the hall that seemed wonderful - but I think it mostly had the cast off toys of my cousins Steve and Dottie Lee, who lived nearby.

And how I learned to love Quaker Puffed Rice from her - it was always in her cupboard. And how she let us eat white bread and drink 7-Up in shot glasses behind the bar they had in their "rumpus room!" (Those were the forerunners of family rooms I think!)

And how I thought she was the wealthiest person I knew because she had so many jewels!! And when I made the jeweled Christmas tree using those same "jewels" I realized that she really had a fine collection of costume jewelry!!

And how she lived in a tidy trailer house when they retired - and she'd say, "A place for everything and everything in its place."

And how she got active in the church after my grandpa died - and how she worked in the LA Temple - and took me around to meet all her friends when I went there to get married.

And how she made the "Joseph's Afghan of Many Colors" that is part of the Terrill family lore.

And how she lived long enough to crochet a blessing dress for Bonny that has clothed many a Terrill baby - and grandbaby.

And how we found the blessing dress she made for me that has clothed other Terrill babies - and Clayton grandbabies too.

And how she sent me letters when I was in college - and typed them on her Remington typewriter. She sent me recipes and news. Maybe my correspondence gene is a Wamsley gene!

I loved my Grandma Stevens - and wish to salute her on her day!!

The day after the race!!

Eliza had a great post - about Recovery Day - and so I thought I'd show you Dad's "recovery day."

I came home from school and there he was, sacked out in the guest room.

I fixed dinner, woke him up, fed him pasta.

And he's back asleep!!

Boston Party

Okay, I couldn't help it--I haven't unpacked yet, but I did upload this weekend's pictures.

It was a fun weekend and great to see Dad. I had a hard time remembering to take pictures, but to me, that just means we were having a good time! I did my best, since I knew Mom would want a lot. Granted, there are quite a few Theo pictures but I also tried to get lots of Dad.

Enjoy.

(And by the way, if you want any of these pictures, let me know. I am going to e-mail some to Mom anyway.)

This is so last year!!

But I wasn't there this year!! Thanks to Eliza, Matt and Theo for driving to Boston to be Dad's support crew!!

I'm looking forward to photos, recaps, vignettes - Dad sounded great - felt good about his time - 3:49 - had been getting calls from lots of people - felt loved and supported!

I felt bad about missing all the action - next year for sure - Spring Break or not, I'm going!

Happy Birthday Bruce!!

Seems like Bruce has a way with the ladies!!

Of all ages!

Hope you enjoy your day!!

Another racer in the family

Harry the Younger - as opposed to Harry the elder and Baby Harry - is also running a race this weekend - he's representing his department at the Baker to Vegas Relay - usually held to conflict with the Boston Marathon so we don't get to go be in the cheering squad!

We'll let you know the results when we do - and maybe have some photos??!!

Happy Day to Eliza!!

"The happiest days are the days babies are born."*

This is actually Hannah's birthday in 2005, but it is at least a festive shot of Matt and today's birthday girl, our own Miss Eliza, who is celebrating a quarter century of life by flying to Boston with Matt and Theo to form the cheering squad for Dad!

It was late - or should I say early - today that Dad was packing for the somewhat long and arduous flight to Boston and the Marathon. It was the first Marathon for Dad in 2003 - and that year Eliza's birthday was on a Saturday too! I remember because Dad and I called Eliza from the park in front of our bed and breakfast .

I can't go this year - my spring break was way early - enabling me to visit with Hannah, but not enabling me to spend hundreds of dollars to fly to Boston for 3 short days. And Dad said he can't remember why it worked out this way - probably a dollars and cents (sense??) issue - but his flight left Long Beach at 8 a.m. - and he has a 3 hour layover in New York, so he doesn't get to Boston until 9 o'clock tonight and Matt, Eliza and Theo will pick him up. They will at least get a couple of days together - and Dad won't be alone in the big city. (ha, ha!!)

I know Dad appreciates Eliza's efforts in his behalf - and I'm jealous he gets to see them and I don't!!

I know Theo enjoyed the trip last year - hope he enjoys this year too!!

Dad's hoping to have a good time - as in hours and minutes - his "dream" times in Boston haven't materialized as yet - it's either way hot, way cold, he's had a minor injury or something else goes wrong.

The above shot is of us after the first Boston - for Dad anyway - in 2003. That year he said he was glad to finish!

So, enjoy your day Eliza!! How can you go wrong - a trip to Boston, being with your favorite guys? And you don't have to cook dinner!

And hopefully Eliza will record the events for all of us in Blogdom! Perhaps even on a virtual basis.

You can follow Dad on the Boston Marathon Website on Monday.

*Melanie Wilkes, talking to Rhett Butler on the birth of Bonnie Blue Butler in Gone With the Wind.

Terrill Reunion - 1997

July of 199y found Frances and Dee in charge of the family reunion. And we certainly didn't have to travel far - we went to a park in Orange County!! There are 25+ pictures that follow - with little or no commentary - click on them for a better view. If you were there, you probably remember it. If you weren't we missed you!!

The ever-smiling Tiare - a champion camper!

Shot of males congregating usually signaled horseshoes!

And camp chairs provided a great place to read.

It wouldn't be a Terrill camp out with out food!

The little tent village!

Part of the event was a service project we did in conjunction with a singles ward in the area. I think we cleared brush.

And of course there was a baseball game or two.

More diligent laborers.

And more camp chair reading!

A group shot in the green tee shirts!

What is Dee cooking up?

Ah, the camp bath tub for babies!

"Hey, batter, batter, hey, batter!"

A family photo op!

The laborers convene to celebrate their efforts.

Hangin' in the tent!

Some mother/daughter bonding time.

The ever-smiling Scott came - late, but there nonetheless!

Grandma and her bag of tricks?? (More likely some family genealogy!)

Horseshoes!!

American Gothic

American Gothic II

"When the family gets together after evening work is done. . . "

The Campfire!!

It's all about snoozing!

And fetching water!!

More hangin' in the tent!

Everyone wasn't there, and we missed those who weren't, but it was a nice time - I have fond memories. Especially the memories of a relatively short car ride to get there!!

Stay tuned for Youth Conference 1997, Girls' Camp 1997, Beach House Time 1997, Fall 1997 and Christmas 1997 - this is getting ridiculous.

Stay tuned anyway!!