It's a good thing there was a backup!!

I lost my camera somehow - I'm not sure where. The last time I saw it was when I took a picture on the bus coming back from New York.

But I called Megabus Lost and Found - it wasn't there.

I called Hannah and Robbie - it wasn't in their house or their car or the trunk of their car.

And it wasn't anywhere in Eliza's house.

I think someone took it when they found it on the bus. But I'm not sure why - it was kind of beat up.

Or maybe it will show up like the pair of good sewing scissors I once "lost." I accused - in my mind at least - a number of possible culprits.

Three years later it turned out to be folded into some fabric I had put away in a drawer!

I will let you know if it ever materializes.

Meanwhile, go to Hannah's blog to see her pictures of our trip. They are probably better than mine would have been anyway!!

Remembering a good friend -

Today marks the anniversary of the passing of a really good friend. It seems amazing that it's been 8 years since Charlie Graham died - sometimes it seems like it's just been a little while - maybe that's because we still feel his influence in our lives.

When I visited Jonah's grave one day, I walked around a bit to see if I could still locate Charlie's grave - and I found it - not far from Jonah's. I stood there and thought about what a fine man Charlie was - and how much we all still miss him. Maybe he and Jonah work together sometimes!! (I like to think so!)

It is wonderful to feel the influence of his great family. We are all grateful that he left such a powerful legacy!!

Happy Birthday to the lovely Miss Isla!!

Well, I appear to have lost my camera!! So even if I knew how to load my pictures on to Eliza's computer I wouldn't be able to!!

But I can still wish the lovely Miss Isla a very happy 2nd birthday!! We were here in Virginia two years ago at this time. We were staying at Hannah and Robbie's place in Arlington. And we were all in bed, but Harry kept sending text messages and the little "ding" would find us all jumping up to see how things were progressing!! It was pretty exciting.

The fun hasn't stopped either - Miss Isla still lends a lot of light and sparkle to wherever she is!! She is a delightful little girl - and we want her to have the best birthday ever - and a great year ahead too!

Happy Birthday Harry W.!!

I am not at my computer, so I can't pull up photos. But even without a photo, I can wish a happy day to Harry W.!!

Harry is 5 today!! Seems amazing - I can picture in my mind's eye standing in our living room talking to Margaret M., who had stopped by for some reason. And a phone call came that Harry had been born - and it was a BOY!! (We had not known ahead of time!!)

Of course the memorable story from this time was the hunt for his name - I think I have a photo of the list of names we put on the white board while the decision was being made!! We Terrills like to get just the right name - and sometimes that takes time!

Harry, Dawn, and family were living with us at the time, so we got in on a good chunk of Harry's infancy. My favorite story is when Dawn was out, Harry F. had to go somewhere, and he asked me to watch the baby so he could go do what he had to do. He was fussy, and I had several things that needed doing, so I whipped out a table cloth and wrapped Harry W. to my body - a la women all over the world! - and lo and behold, he calmed right down as I bustled about the house washing dishes, doing laundry, picking up, etc.

Harry F. came home, rolled his eyes heavenward, and chuckled at what he thought was my silliness. He took Harry from me and I went on with my chores. It wasn't much later that he came and found me and asked me how I had tied the cloth around to secure Harry to me!!

And the next day he went and bought a baby sling that became standard operating procedure in the household!! You know, sometimes Mom does know best!!

Have a great day Harry W. - and a wonderful year ahead - we love you - and I'm looking forward to our Grandma's Birthday Weekend!!

Wrapping up a weekend in New York!!

The photos will have to wait until we get home. But I wanted to give a big shout out to Hannah and Robbie for the very fun weekend in New York. And kudos to Matt, Eliza, and kids for coming along for the ride as they say!! Everyone else had the same idea we did - it was very crowded - but no one lost their temper or their wallet!

We took the Megabus to New York - traveled through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey - I love watching the eastern scenery go by - maybe because it's so different from western scenery - and maybe because I haven't traveled that way before!

I dozed off and on. Heard the girl behind me say, "Oh, I'll be there in about 40 minutes - I can see the Empire State Building." I jerked my head up and took in the New York skyline - it's pretty impressive coming on it that way. Maybe the LA skyline does that to first time eastern visitors!!

Robbie asked me last night what was the most memorable part of the trip. I really couldn't come up with one moment or memory. But I do recall thinking that it's really nice to see lots of the places you've heard about or seen on T.V. or in movies or in books or magazines. There are certainly lots of things we didn't do or places we didn't see - but we did see a lot. I call it a "drive by kind of trip." We sort of took an overview - mostly for my benefit - but we did see:

The Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island

Staten Island

Lincoln Center - and the Chagall murals there

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - did spend time in there

42nd Street of Yankee Doodle Dandy fame

Harold's Square

Times Square - 3 minutes was enough there!!

34th Street - you know, the miracle one - and Macy's too

The Empire State Building

The corner where Deborah Kerr steps out of the taxi on her way to the Empire State Building - and gets hit by a car - and you know the rest of the story - at least I hope you do!

The Manhattan Temple

The Federal House where Washington took the first oath of office

The New York Stock Exchange

Wall Street

Brooklyn Bridge - we walked part way across it

Battery Park

Central Park

St. Paul's Church

St. Patrick's Cathedral

FAO Schwartz - and the $25,000 Barbie Fusbol Game!! Also the Big Piano

Tiffany's - didn't have breakfast though

Bergdorf Goodman - love the windows!!

Rockefeller Center - the tree was not lit, but we did see the skaters and sensed the aura of Sonja Heinie!! (I am dating myself bigtime here!!)

We stayed in Brooklyn

And we visited Ground Zero - very impressive - even covered by buildings and fences.

It has been great to be here visiting and gadding about. We got in to DC around noon and changed and headed back to Virginia to find a late Sacrament meeting - and it turned out to be the ward where Tom's brother David lives!! Only in the church is it such a small world. (Although Hannah had a "tweet up" in Manhattan!!)

We return on Tuesday night - I think I will focus on staying off my feet!!

Crystal Ballroom

I was able to spend Thanksgiving Eve with a few of our favorite people. A Blind Pilot concert is always a great excuse to hang out with the Nebekars!

The show was incredible- as expected. Israel (and band) did a very cool "unplugged" finale. It was powerful. He said they did it in LA, too. I'm glad they could pull it off in the Crystal Ballroom with so many people there.
Some of the fun of this show was that the band was back home for the first time in 2 months so they had a ton of family and friends in the audience. Next time you should come, too!

Exciting to see the big blue bus parked in front again.

Thanksgiving 2011

I am indeed thankful today for so many blessings. If I tried to "count my many blessings" and "name them one by one" I would not know where to start - or end for that matter.

But I could start with my wonderful family - words are not adequate to express the great blessing that Harry is in my life. I cannot even imagine what my life would be like if our paths had not crossed!

As a result of this propitious union, I have six wonderful children to count as great blessings in my life. And those six wonderful children have added 5 spouses and 16 grandchildren to make the best family ever!

A friend did a Thanksgiving post and assigned a key adjective or quality to each of her children. I was wondering if I could do that.

So I am going to try!

I am thankful that Bonny is so intent on keeping our family close and connected. She is the premier oldest child, bar none!

I am thankful that Harry has taken the quality of single-mindedness and applied it to every phase of his life. He can be counted on to give his all to the task at hand.

I am thankful that Phoebe, whose name means light, has such a "joie de vivre" that lights up any room she enters. I often think she's saying - in her mind - "I'm here - the party can begin!" (and it does!)

I am thankful that Eliza is so careful and earnest. She does everything so completely and so well - and cares about the feelings of others at the same time.

I am thankful that Hannah is spunky and hard-working. She takes on every task and challenge with her whole being - and shares it willingly and with great skill with all of us too!

I am thankful that Noah loves each one of us so completely. To paraphrase Dickens, it is no small thing when a youngest child in a large family can see past all the day-to-day to the real people.

The recent experience of the birth, life, and death of our sweet baby Jonah showed in great detail just exactly how great our kids are. To see them rally around Harry and Dawn and their children was heartening and moving. I have noted often that this whole experience was life-changing for me. One of the life-changes that brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart is the clear awareness that we are an eternal family in embryo - and going forward together to meet the challenges that come our way!

I hope that your season of thanksgiving is joyous too!

Thanksgiving

We are thankful for all of the help, love and support during the last few months.

Most of all we are thankful for Jonah.

Love,

Harry, Dawn, Eve, Porter, Harry William, Isla and Jonah

Happy Birthday Donna!!

I think I use this photo every year - but you must admit it's a great photo - and it fills the bill!!

They don't come any better than Donna - not a better sister, daughter, aunt, or friend.

Have a great day - and a great year ahead too!!

El Rey

Friday night Bruce, Bonny and Noah went to see Blind Pilot. It was great to see Israel and the band sounded fantastic as always. I highly recommend the new album and if you get a chance, see them live.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Birthday to You!!

This was the first photo of Matt that I came across when I sat down to write this!! Seems long ago, doesn't it??

We have enjoyed a lot of holidays with Matt - starting with the time he and Eliza came for Christmas just before their wedding!! (Welcome, Matt!!)

And they just keep getting better!! Kind of like Matt - a great addition to our family!!

Matt is a wonderful son, husband, brother, father, son-in-law, and friend.

We love you Matt - and wish you all the best!!

Saying good-bye to a good friend -

We headed out early Sunday a.m. to drive to El Paso for Bill Cardon's funeral service. The plan was to drive to Mesa and attend church with Marcia - my old college roomie. The problem was two-fold, however. First of all, we did not factor in the the fact that Arizona does not change their time. Like smart people, they keep the time the same always!! We might still have made it for the 11:30 a.m. Sacrament meeting, but Dad got pulled over for going too fast once we crossed the Arizona border. Fortunately he got off with a warning! So we went to a 1 p.m. Sacrament meeting that was pretty cool. Pres. and Sister Udall reported on their mission as temple presidents in Paraguay. Dad especially enjoyed hearing about the early work in the Paraguay mission when Pres. Udall had gone there in 1956. At that time the mission included Peru!

Afterwards we enjoyed a lovely lunch with Marcia, Dea, and Dea's cousin. It put us behind an hour, but it was worth it!! And Marcia sent us off with a bag full of homemade chocolate chip cookies that actually rival Donna's! (They will figure into the story later on!!)

We got to El Paso about 10:30 at night and stayed at Doug and V.J.'s house. They were out of town, but their two cats kept us company!!

The funeral service for Bill was very nice - a fitting tribute to such a fine man. The chapel was full to overflowing - many came to pay their respects. Joe, Marjorie's oldest son, spoke, as did Harry F. Joe went over a lot of history that I was not aware of, which was nice. Funerals are often very illuminating! Harry's talk was great too - he did a wonderful job of personalizing Bill's life and the lessons we can all learn from it.
Dawn's nephew Travis played a medley on the viola which was beautiful, and a cousin of Bill's sang beautifully too.

We went in a long cortege to Ft. Bliss National Cemetery. The service was lovely - the military does do some things very well. Taps was played, and Marjorie received the flag covering Bill's coffin. Many paid their respects to Marjorie after the dedication, and the little kids were kind of running around. Isla wanted her mom, but Dawn was trying to visit with some people, so I had Noah get the leftover chocolate chip cookies from the car - and Isla was content to stay with Noah. The power of a good homemade cookie!!

Dawn with her brothers Bill and Shon and her nephew Travis.

Of course the ward did a great luncheon afterwards - ham and funeral potatoes - but these funeral potatoes has a Southwestern flair that was yummy. And the dessert selection was impressive - mint brownies, sugar cookies, rice pudding, apple pie and Texas sheet cake, of course.

There were framed photos from Bill's life on each table, and Travis had done a great slideshow. I should have taken more photos, but I was busy eating!! (This trip has done nothing for my weight loss plan!!)

We enjoyed visiting with the many family members who were there after the luncheon. The Cardon family is a large one - I had things fairly straight at one point, but I think I've forgotten some faces and names by now!! It is obvious that Marjorie has lots of love and support as she faces the days ahead.

Before heading out to Tucson - where we planned to spend the night with the Hamills - we had dinner with Doug. V.J. was still in Utah, but we enjoyed playing "catch-up" with Doug. And I finally got to have some sopapillas!!

We got to Tucson close to 11 p.m. Dave, who has to get up early for work, was already in bed, but we had a nice visit with Diane.

And the next morning we had some more visiting. Dad and I were thinking that we could meander our way across the country, staying with friends, for quite a spell before we ran out of friends and family!!

We pulled into Monrovia around 5:30 p.m. after a stop at the job site Dad is working on in Claremont. We have spent the better part of the last 3 days in the car - it's a good thing we all like each other!! It was not so bad - we had food - only had to stop 3 times for gas - and lots of NPR podcasts to listen too. My fave was listening to and singing along with the Christmas carols.

There were lots of beautiful flowers at the funeral, and here is a photo of the ones we sent to Marjorie. She is enjoying them at home.

It's back to work and getting ready to leave on Saturday for DC!! The fun never stops around here does it??

We will certainly miss Bill and his kindly demeanor. Christmas just won't be the same without him. For one thing, who will help Harry finish his puzzle?? But we do have some wonderful memories to reflect on.

The world is shrinking!!

As Dad was tearing out these cabinets, he was thinking about how they had served for over 60 years - and he noted the craftsmanship in the way the nails were driven. Maybe only Dad would notice or think about that - I certainly hadn't. I was mostly intrigued with the layers of old paint and how it used to look!!

My world here at home is slowly shrinking. I feel like I'm being painted into a corner!! This summer, the living room and kitchen were pretty much off-limits - but you could sneak in and get something out of the fridge, or pop something into the microwave, or even scramble an egg on top of the stove. Not so now!! The stove is disconnected, the microwave is buried under dishes and foodstuffs in the guest room, and though the fridge is still standing, it's covered with plastic!!

I will miss this little corner of yellow tile - it's always been a personal fave of mine.

Dad and Noah are taking up the kitchen and back porch floor. The cupboards are gone. The soffitt is gone - our new cabinets will go all the way to the ceiling. The "old" microwave "died" and though Dad brought an old office model home, we have ordered a built-in one - has a vent above it too, so we won't need a hood vent for the stove. Our dishwasher is defunct also - guess we'll have to replace that. And Thursday night I discovered that our trusty dryer - which is really pretty ancient if I think about it - has also gone to dryer-heaven!!!!


And the guest room has been taken over by everything that was in the cupboards in the kitchen. The worst part about all this mess is that we are going to be gone for most of the next two weeks - so I'm not sure when order will be restored. Noah and Arcelia will be around to monitor the work being done, but I'm afraid I'm going to truly "forget" everything in my kitchen. (Maybe I should just toss it all now and start fresh!!)



I still have the laundry room pretty much to myself. And the little back room has become a work station once more - mainly because it's nowhere near all the noise and construction!


We will have a lovely couple of rooms when we're done - hardwood floors throughout, new cabinets, new sink and countertops, maybe even new curtains. And we are still trying to agree on an area rug. Maybe I will even get to unpack the ottoman I ordered in August - it's still in its carton!!

But I miss flopping on the couch in the living room!

I think I know now why I've never been keen on doing much work on this house - or any house we've lived in. It's just too much - too much work, too much chaos, too much detail, too much dust, too much stress!!

I will let you know when the "dust settles" if I thought it was worth it!!

(I truly wonder how my mom survived my dad taking 11 years to finish the "big house" while we lived in the "little house" next to it!!)

11-11-11

I'm pretty sure I do this every year - but it's worth remembering!

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

News on a sad note -

We are saddened to report the passing of Bill Cardon, Dawn's beloved father - known affectionately around here as "Daddy B."

Bill and Marjorie have often spent Christmas here in Monrovia, and we will miss his happy smile and kindly ways.

We express our condolences to the family - and especially to Marjorie on the loss of her dear companion.

I have no other details at this time but will update when I get more information.

At least we know that now he has met Jonah!

Happy Birthday to My Dad!!

I'm sure I post this every year - but it's one of the few pictures I have of me with my dad. And it's on his birthday too, so that makes it even more perfect for the occasion!!

My dad was born on November 7th, 1916 - the day that Woodrow Wilson was elected president of the United States. He usually told us that every year too.

My dad was not perfect - he had some biases that disturbed me - but he was a great dad. He was always there to lend a hand or give a ride or letter your poster for a class project. He could construct book covers out of brown paper grocery sacks that never slid off - and he didn't use any tape! He could make a yellow cake with duck eggs that was really yummy. He could teach you how to drive stick shift in one lesson!! (Even though I drove to work the next day and stayed in 2nd gear the whole way. On the ride home, I figured, "What the heck," I might as well shift again and see what happens!)

He drove us to Seminary in the very early a.m. - and then slept in the back seat so he was there to drive us all to school. He always teared up on Mother's Day when he talked about his mother. He shared his refrigerated Snicker bars with you if you were at the shop.

I'm grateful that I had a dad who loved and appreciated women. Early on I knew that I was a person of worth. I'm grateful that I had a dad who honored his priesthood. I was able to receive blessings when I was in need of them. I'm glad I had a dad who was a faithful home teacher and missionary. He set an example I have tried to follow. I'm glad I had a dad who valued his own extended family. He never spoke ill of them.

Happy Birthday Dad - I'm glad you are my dad!!

November gets going in high gear!!

Friday night, Harry, Dawn and the kids went to see Puss N' Boots - said it was GREAT - a MUST SEE! Isla stayed with me - we had a fine time together, in spite of the sober mien she is displaying here!


Eve had a competition today at Citrus College - I stayed with the kidlets while Harry and Dawn accompanied her. She got 5 medals - and one was first place!

After the competition, we all drove out to my mom's for dinner and a nice visit. It was pretty yummy - pot roast with all the trimmings!! Donna is in Davis, but Mary was there. My Harry was working at the temple. Without Donna, there was no one to put a movie on the T.V. in Mom's room - so they snuggled together and watched Toy Story 3 on Harry's iPhone!! The trouble some people will go to in order to watch a movie!!

Harry William was inordinately proud of his "funny face!!"

It's always good to visit with Mary!!

The days are flying by - there's a "group" email going around the family with ideas for Christmas and how we will spend our time together - and I'm still trying to adjust to the idea that Thanksgiving is just around the corner!!

At least we gain an hour tonight!!

Officer of the Year

Harry was recently selected as "Officer of the Year" for Burbank P.D. There was a dinner tonight to honor him and 3 other people from other departments. It was at the Elks Club - always good for a meal there!! This certainly beat the meal they served at the Elks Hall when Phoebe was on the Monrovia Days Court though!! Burbank is a bigger city - maybe that's why they can do it better!

We are proud of Harry and the fine work he does in his field. And we are glad that others recognize his excellent qualities too! We had lots of people come up and tell us how great he is! (We knew that already - it's just nice to hear it from others too!!)

Way to make us proud Harry!

Life on Lemon

Life is getting back to normal. Eve and Isla love the Playmobil castle.

The boys can be motivated by "phone time!!"

And the Big Boys just "talk techno" all the time!!

Marjorie has returned to Texas - but not before treating us to a veritable feast on Sunday!! Yum, yum - I saved up my points all day so I could enjoy it!!

Jonah will always be a part of our lives. There are pictures of him for us to look at. Lovely plants that were given to Harry and Dawn that we continue to enjoy. Cards and messages still arrive. Harry made a sweet slide show that we love to watch. We talk about little projects we want to complete in his memory.

And we are grateful for the lifetime of memories he gave to us.