Off to Color Country!!

In this family, when you say St. George, all kinds of memories are conjured up.

Posing with the finisher!!

Laughing at the signs on the Mayor's Walk.

Cheering at the finish line.

But, then again, you might think of hanging out in the condos with family.

Or diving at the pool.

St. George is still part of the Terrill lore - wish Dad luck as he heads out to qualify once more for Boston!!

Happy 12th Birthday to Ella!!

So, can we believe that this little munchkin is on her way to Young Women now?? Holy Hawkeye, where did the last dozen years go??

A birthday queen in the making - with Granny Babs - such a sober little girl!! (Ella that is!)


With her Grandpa Bob - always a good listener!! (That goes both ways!!)

With her mom - hmm - see some family resemblance?? (Not just visual resemblances either - she is indeed her mother's daughter!)


With her sisters - the indomitable Little Women!! (The scary time from the fires a few years ago!! These girls are a great team!)


Of course, a shot with Dad - Ella also has lots of his good qualities that become more apparent as she grows older.

Ella loves the babies - and has that "touch" too!

A Terrill Family Party year - Ella gets right into the spirit of things wherever she goes.

A fave photo of mine - the lovely Miss Ella - watch out world, here she comes!

And we don't want to miss out on sending felicitations to her "Birthday Buddy" Sue Cornwall, every Terrill's favorite Seminary Teacher and friend!

Happy Birthday today - and best wishes for a great year ahead!!

"I'm melting . . ."

It's over 110 degrees in Monrovia. Apparently at one point today, it was 113 in Los Angeles - since LA is always a few degrees cooler than we are, that means that it was even hotter at some point today.

This is when I'm glad I'm not a P.E. teacher!!

In Memory......

The flags were back at Pepperdine to commemorate 9/11. It is a very nice tradition and I appreciate seeing it every year.

"Cheerio, pip, pip!!"

So we trekked out to GH tonight to say our goodbyes to Kylie, who is heading off to the London South Mission in a short time - like next week I think.

Lots of friends and family were there to wish her the best.

We will look forward to hearing about her experiences!!

Breaking news!!

Go to Axel's Facebook page for his good news on the missionary front!!

How I spend my evenings sometimes!

It's Back to School Night this week in Monrovia. Harry was working, so Dawn brought the kids over. They are getting pretty progressive these days, and the Back to School Nights are divided up by grade levels at the elementary schools. (K-2 one night, 3-5 the next night.)

So we hung out together for two nights. We watched Princess Bride - sometimes that is - I think kids just want some "background noise" or something. Or maybe they've seen Princess Bride enough that they just stop for the fave parts!

I took some pics and then showed Harry W. how he looked as an alien!! The above was his solution to redeye in photos!

Pretty effective you might say!

My Back to School Night is Thursday. Any bets on how few parents will show for my classes?? (One year no parents showed up at all!!)

Let the good times roll!!

Hmm, looks like someone is trying to get out of the picture!!

Or maybe not!

Marjorie and Eve enjoying Harry F's b-day cake!

Dad and Harry F. enjoying Harry F's b-day cake!!

There are always helpers when you need to blow out candles - especially 38 of them all at once!!

The lovely Miss Isla - who gets lovelier all the time!

Forever sweethearts! The best thing Harry ever did was find Dawn!!

A fine birthday repast - filet mignon, fresh corn on the cob, baked potatoes, green beans wrapped in bacon - I can feel my arteries hardening now - but it was delicious - and the birthday boy was happy - in spite of the look on his face!!

Bill and Marjorie left on Friday - we had some fun times - especially our nighttime card games - mostly Golf and Mormon Poker!!

It was an exclamation point kind of day for Harry - and the rest of us had a good time too!!

Have a great year!

Don't we?

Matt has been reminding the kids of the "Family motto" for the past few months. In the 9 years that I have known him I have never once heard him whine. So it's really just for the other 3 of us that live in the house.

Something fun

These concept blogs by zefrank are pretty fun if you haven't seen them yet; I especially thought of Mom since she has so many old photos.

Like Mom Like Dad: Recreating pictures of your parents

Young Me Now Me: Recreating pictures of yourself

I have thought of some old pics I've wanted to do this with (both the Young Me Now Me and Like Mom Like Dad). Maybe someday I will! If you remember, the 6 of us actually did this already with the pyramid photo in the living room. I don't have a copy of that handy or I would post it here.

Happy Day to You Harry-Boy!!

On my birthday calendar, there are no fewer than 7 entries for September 7th - but the most important one for our family is the birth of Harry Francis some 38 years ago!!

The best thing Harry ever did was find and marry Dawn!! And they have 4 great kids who we have the privilege of seeing often, since they live in Monrovia. It's pretty nice to hear your grandchild saying, in the row behind you, "I want to sit with Grandma!"

For a long time, Harry was the only boy in the family - a position I think he used to great advantage!! But he's been a good big brother to Noah, and happily welcomed him aboard.

This is Harry on his 5th birthday I think. He actually was a pretty quiet little kid - I know, I know, you find that hard to believe. I had 5 years with him before Phoebe was born, and after Bonny went off to school, we had some good times together, just the two of us, so I guess he didn't need to act out to get attention. Or it might just have been his personality.

As you can see, being quiet and docile didn't last forever! (He's 28 in this shot!)

There aren't lots of photos of Bonny or Harry as little kids - we just didn't take pictures. Trust me when I say he was one handsome little boy.

He's a runner at times.

A repairman and cyclist at times.

He can build things.

And he can be dramatic and funny and sing too.

He even knows how to play an instrument or two.

Harry's had a lot of birthdays under his belt since this one 34 years ago.

He was mighty happy with his lunchbox and hair brush - may he be happy still with whatever this birthday brings!! (Do you see Elizabeth in the background??)

8 is great - and 95 isn't too bad either!

The lovely Labor Day weekend started off with a trip to Urbane for the birthday manicure! To say Eve was pleased is an understatement!!

The baptism - like most baptisms - was a lovely affair. 2 other little girls in the stake were baptized, so there was a big crowd in the little Primary room at the Foothill Building!! We have certainly been to a lot of baptisms in that room though!!

Lot of friends and family came - a special attendee was Eve's Primary teacher, Shirley Heslop!! She is the best!

The Dodds came too - they are good friends - and Brooke is my Visiting Teacher and Bjorn is our Home Teacher.

It's always great to see Marjorie's smiling face!

Bruce, engaged in conversation with Grandma Helen - who was celebrating her 95th - in fine style too, as you will note!

Heather and family joined us - it's always great to see the Cieslas!

And it was especially nice that Frances was here too.

I'm not sure the garage door is the best backdrop - maybe it's slimming??

Donna, Mary, and Mom were there too - note Isla's very tired, droopy eyes - she was a trooper though.

Menloves and Guerreros were there with their families - how the years do fly by - and these school and church chums of Phoebe's are the backbone of the ward now!

Maybe the graffiti makes a better back drop? Mom seemed to enjoy being out also.

Mary hurt her elbow, so she was in a sling - it was kind of a "sling" night too - as you will see.

The always lovely Miss Ella with her dad.

Greg and his sling - apparently he got in a fight with a bungee cord - and the bungee cord won!

Brooke made some CTR cupcakes for the occasion!

The evening's meal featured a taco truck - good eating!!

Frances made Grandma a pineapple upside down birthday cake - so it was a true Terrill occasion!

Mary and Marjorie - the gals love to visit!

Porter with Kamryn Z. - another friend from the ward.

Eve's Mimi Cake!

Miss Isla, taking it all in.

Oh those silly little girls - you just gotta love 'em though!! (Even if they won't co-operate for a photo op!)

Bill and Noah - it's always good to have both of them there!

The Bolanders - contemplating another important b-day coming up soon maybe??

I was trying to get everyone in a picture - Drake said, "These are my cousins, so they are family. But they live far away." Gotta love that boy!!

Ara wanted a shot with Great-Grandma Terrill - they were enjoying some good conversation. It's pretty gratifying to see how Helen stays in touch with everyone. And gratifying that the great-grandchildren understand what a blessing it is to have a great-grandma you can know and converse with!

As the evening wound to a close, I realized I didn't have a picture of Madison - who was occupying herself happily in the upstairs playroom!

And a photo of Steve and Ember took care of everyone in the family anyway. There were about 50 people all told - and a wonderful time was had by all.

An evening like this makes me long for the old days when we saw one another often. But there were fewer of us then - it's great to watch the family grow - but the downside is less time together.

If you weren't there, we thought of you - and wished you were!