Earthquake in Chile!!

I'm not sure how many of you are paying attention to the news, but there was an 8.8 earthquake in Chile, and the epicenter was Chillon.

That is the home of the Sierra family - we visited them in Chile when we went down in 2008. Dad came home from working on Jenny's house - and Jenny and Allen are on a cruise that is rounding Tierra del Fuego right now!! The plan was to spend a week in Concepcion - but I'm sure those plans have changed, since Concepcion has sustained significant damage.

At any rate, after a lot of trying many different websites, phone numbers and trying to send emails, Dad was able to make contact with the Sierra family. (Via Carlos' Blackberry!!)

They are safe - their kitchen was destroyed - it's at one end of a somewhat sprawling house - and they are sleeping in their cars!!

Keep them all in your prayers!

(The one word we got from Deseret News was that the missionaries in the Santiago East Mission were all safe and accounted for.)

"Eyes Wide Shut"

I love how I keep finding photos of Eliza with her eyes closed!!

I'm not sure it has any significance, but it's fun to look at!

I see some of Isla in these baby pics of Hannah!!

Clarity of Memory

What is it about poor-quality old snapshots that is so compelling? Is it a timelessness they give to a photo? Is is the clarity of the memories they revive? I'm in the continual process of sorting through old photos - and I think I ought to toss some of them. And some do deserve tossing. But some less-than-pristine shots really do have a lot to give us. And so they need to be kept.

I actually don't know the when, where and why of the above. I do know the who - Leslie, me, and Donna. And it was the early 80's - probably before Leslie's mission. What I do know is that it was fun to be back in SoCal with my sweet sisters - even if I had initially been opposed to moving from Utah. Maybe a series of well-identified, well-taken shots would give us more info. Instead, I just remember how great it is to have sisters you love!

I don't know the exact year on this shot either. It looks like Hester's birthday - and it looks like 4 candles on the cake. So that would make it 1987. I do remember one January when Alice, Dale and family came to visit. I just like seeing the two Hannah's in the bottom right corner and behind, in the kitchen. At first I thought the back shot was of Harry F., but I'm thinking it's Alice. And seeing Hester and Eliza - and thinking how they are still great friends and still sharing important moments in their lives.

Maybe not a Kodak moment. But a Memory - with a capital M!

Weekend Wrap-up on Tuesday night - when the weekend is almost here again!!

Lest some of you were worried that major changes had occurred in our "sprucing up" efforts, here's proof that some things never change!!

Remember this all started with me wanting Dad to paint the guest room. (It's not painted - with our weekends booked until April 24th, they won't get painted any time soon.)

In the midst of the fumes and the chaos and the doors and windows wide-open with fans going too, I hosted a little farewell dinner for Amy, my departing 2nd counselor. We had a fine time - lots of good food and good conversation - and we all know it doesn't get any better than that! And we will miss Amy - guess we will have to have more little dinners together! (Did you notice my new vintage apron??)

I wanted Dad to paint the guest room because we thought we were having guests this weekend - Saturday night at about 9 - after worrying if we'd somehow missed them, Dad figured out that they were coming March 20th!! The futon is made up - and I'm leaving it up for Esme's Grandma's Sleepover.

The floors do look lovely. So does the new rug. And it's a little soft and plush to boot!

Saturday night was a surprise 60th b-day party for MJC at Johnny Rocket's in Pasadena - a fun time - good food too!

Sunday was Esme's big day - and she carried it off in fine style. We did bring a crowd to "the one true ward" in Palisades!! Bruce's sister and family have moved to SoCal - we added 8 women to Relief Society alone! Primary and YM/YW were similarly impacted. And one of the speakers was the second to youngest daughter of a family I used to work for out in Saugus - back in the day!! There are always connections to be made in Malibu.

Her baptism was a sweet, spiritual event. Harry F. and I spoke, Ara played the flute, Ella led the singing, Michael McLean showed up and sang a song for Esme, and Bonny and Bruce shared their testimonies.

Queen for the Day - holding court!! (The Willis's have 7 daughters - it was Girls' Day at the hangout!)

The youngest girl enjoyed taking it all in.

It's always great to see Jinny.

Mom, Donna, and Mary made the trek too.

I do love all the wonderful grandkids we have. And we do wish you all could have been here!

Getting ready to blow out the candles!

Serenading the birthday girl.

The next-to-youngest Willis daughter was intrigued by Isla!

Esme had been sure that Michael and Lynn would come - and she was right! They had a harrowing tale to tell of flat tires in the middle of the night on the Nevada desert - and good Samaritans who rescued them! Maybe a song will come out of this!

Four generations.

Camera-shy Porter asked me to take his picture!

And Harry W. didn't want to be left out!

It was a great weekend - being with family is truly a blessing. I didn't get everyone's picture - Noah, Dave and Becky, half of Dave and Becky's kids - I'm not even sure I got in a shot of Annika! But it was a beautiful day - dawned rainy here in Monrovia - got sunny as we headed to the beach - clouded over midway through the day - but never got too cold. The blessings of family and the gospel are the bright spots in our days.

Happy Birthday Ry!!

Today is George Washington's actual birthday - and the actual b-day of the one and only Ry Nebeker - shown here in the long ago with his family and his brother.

And here he is in the "not so long ago" with Harry P., in front of the studio that sustained significant damage soon after this photo was taken.

We are getting together with the Heders and the Nebekers in April - it's fun looking forward to it.

Have a great year Ry!! We love you!!

Blogger can be maddening!!

Hope no one is confused by the order of this but I took matters into my own hands...Nebeker deserves to be at the TOP!
-ES
P.S. In case it's not clear...now to read the b-day post, scroll up. :)

Scroll down for the post honoring Ry Nebeker on his 65th b-day today. I'm not sure why Blogger wouldn't follow my instructions to post it today.

Ah, well, that's the way the old cookie crumbles I guess. It is Monday after all!

Esme'

We are in chaos at the moment - got the floors refinished - so everything is not only not where it belongs, but is blocking everything else! Hence I could only choose from what was already on my computer.

When we say Esme's name, it's often in conjuntion with Eve, since they are great pals - when Esme's in town, she wants to see Eve too!

Someone needs to help me out with the dates on these - from the looks of the Birthday Badge, I'd say it was February 21st some time!!

Ah, little girls and dress up - Esme loves a good dress up day!!

And we know this is Christmas time!! She seems to still be making up her mind about Santa!!

Esme really looks young here!! But the same great smile is in view - one of her hallmarks! (Haven't seen a "toothed" smile likek this in a while though!!)

This is Esme's special 8th birthday - and she is getting baptized on her very own birthday!!

We'll post some current photos of the big event on Monday!!

Growing a legacy -

This event was Jacob's blessing day. In the photo, are 6 of the Clayton grandkids. The significance is that the "back row" is the first three grandkids, in order too - Bonny, Chris, and Harry. (Front row is Betsy, Jennifer, and Erika.)


My parents have 86(?) grandchildren. (Joan will certainly correct me if I'm wrong!!) And we knew there would be a lot of grandkids, but I don't think we truly thought of the scope of the legacy that Mom and Dad would bring to the family story.

And here is the start of our very own legacy - the first five grandkids - in a kind of order!! Clockwise starting with Ara, holding Eve, Henry, Esme being held by Ella.

And who knows where it will go!

Happy Birthday David!

It was a few years ago - 1997 to be exact - and it was after Christmas. Phoebe was helping me decorate and set up for Jenny Dequer's wedding reception. She was home for Christmas from BYU and was talking about this young man. I wasn't listening really closely - there had been a number of young men that she talked about - but then she mentioned about maybe this young man coming to visit!!

It turned out that he didn't end up coming - but I noticed a few late night phone conversations occurring, with Phoebe tucked in a quiet corner somewhere. She headed back to Provo, and we didn't hear a whole lot. But I was not too surprised when she called us to report that she and David were engaged - this was in February I think.

Dad and I were experiencing a first - our daughter was engaged to someone we had never met! Harry said to me, "Well, we have to assume that we've taught her well - and so she will choose well." Still, we were anxious to meet this young man who had captured Phoebe's heart.

He and Phoebe soon came down for a visit. What I remember is that David was carrying a copy of Catcher in the Rye. I said, "Oh, you're reading Catcher in the Rye. That' s a family favorite around here." He said, "I know. Phoebe says I have to read it if I'm marrying into the Terrills!"

I'm not sure he really enjoyed it. I actually don't even know if he ever finished it. But that is quintessential David - always willing to learn new things and be a pretty good sport about it. Even staying in St. George in July!!

We love you David - and wish you a happy day - and a great year ahead!!

New Beginnings - circa 1999

Marcie mentioned to me today that she was speaking at New Beginnings tonight. (We were both trapped in a long, somewhat boring faculty meeting.) And I got to thinking that I haven't been involved in New Beginnings for a number of years - but before that, I was involved in them for many years - having 4 daughters can do that. And being a Young Women President and in various presidencies can do that too.

This is from one of those when I was YW President - March of 1999 to be exact. That's Kacy, me, Pam, and Tricia. All women I love. All women I loved working with. All women I don't get to see as much of as I'd like.

But I'm still in touch with all of them. And each one of them has had an influence on my life. It isn't just New Beginnings - it's working and growing together.

I love serving in the church. And I love sisterhood!!

Living in a construction zone!

You know, if you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk. And if you suggest to your dad that maybe we should paint the guest room, he'll say that we really need to refinish the floors.

So that is what we are doing.

They sanded today and put wood filler on the floor, so it doesn't look like much right now.

And there's nothing like an empty room to help you see all its flaws in glaring technicolor!! (Or black and white as the case may be!)

The hall closet - with its ancient pink walls!

An empty room looks large too.

Bet you wondered if you'd ever see these cupboard doors re-installed in your lifetime!

Of course, all the "stuff" is in the family room, my little office, the garage, and the patio.

Makes for a cozy lifestyle!

Actually makes me long for floor to ceiling cupboards in the laundry/sewing room.

Some purging and some painting and some purchasing will be the next order of the day.

We'll keep you posted.

Monday Night at the Movies

Dad and I "celebrated" the holiday by going to the movies. He and Noah saw Avatar last week - I had expressed no interest in going, so they went without me. Dad thinks I would have liked it. I'm not going to worry about it - I was having dinner with Norma - my memory of that will probably last longer than my memory of a movie. I sometimes rent a movie and start watching it and realize I've already seen it!! (Right now I can't remember the name of the movie about John Keats that we saw a few months ago - and I loved it!! But I can give you verbatim dialogue for Little Women, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, African Queen, The Philadelphia Story, and countless others. So maybe some of these movies I think I love are just not memorable!! On the other hand, I've seen the aforementioned movies a fair number of times, so maybe that is what makes them memorable.)

Young Victoria was well-done, informative, and entertaining. Made me want to read a bio of Victoria - so I settled for Wikipedia! (and learned that a key dramatic scene in the movie was just that - drama - and didn't actually happen.) Oh well, I was "willingly able to suspend disbelief!" This might be a movie I would rent to watch while I sew. The story is simple, but the acting is excellent. If you haven't seen it, you might enjoy it too. Dad liked it - said, "Good choice Barb."

I love learning history via novels, stories, and movies.

And you might want to stay tuned - some "home improvement" is going on here at Primrose Lane - I promise to post photos as the work progresses!!

Back to the grind tomorrow for me - February is a short month, is full of holidays - and it still seems to "take it out of me!!"

"How do I love thee?"

In my younger days, I was something of a "femme fatale" as you can tell from this shot of me emerging from the powder room back in January of 1969.

I'm not sure if that's what attracted Dad to me. It might have been my brownies.

Or maybe it's my rugged outdoorsyness.

It could be my literary acumen.


Whatever it was, he "had me from hello!"

And he still does! (And "no, je ne regrette rien!!)

The great blessing of my life is being loved so completely and so well!