Sweet Sixteen!!

Our lovely Miss Ara Grace turns 16 today.

 

How we waited for her arrival!!

 

I was teaching at Wildrose, and Dad and Noah came over to the school to give me the news!!

 

We hurried out to the hospital to meet the lovely young lady!!

 

She has more than lived up to our expectations.

And she is growing daily into a beautiful young woman.

 

Not sure what we did to deserve such a wonderful addition to our family - but we are glad we did!

 

The good times are legion.

 

The smile is infectious.

 

Everyone wants to compare her to Bonny - and she certainly has a lot of her mother in her.

 

But she has a lot of Ara in her too!!

 

And a lot of Bruce too!!  Often she seems to truly be her father's daughter.

 

I guess that is what is so great about her - she seems to have gathered up all the best from both sides!!

Happy Day to you - and all year through!!

(Feel like I need to echo Harry's sentiments, expressed when Phoebe went off to college:  "I sigh that kiss you, for I must own, that I shall miss you, when you have grown!")

Looking forward to her visit!!

Phoebe and Agnes are coming to visit this week.  And we are excited to have them come.  It's a pretty packed agenda that promises to keep us all on the go - Ara's birthday is in the mix too - so look for some reports - and maybe even some great photos from my new camera!!

Small world gets smaller!!

Went with my cousin Cheryl out to GH today to go to church with Mom and Donna - and to enjoy visiting and lunch afterward.  It was a lovely day.

In the course of the conversation, it turned out that Blaine Livingston - son-in-law of Meriba Cornia - I think that's the connection most of you would make - is Cheryl's great uncle - the brother of her grandmother.  She knew Meriba well too!!

And Cheryl lives about 3 houses east of my friend Sylvia C. - whom some of you know too - she did the cake for Mom's 90th party.

Are there even 5 degrees of separation??

A strangely odd kind of film -

I am not sure what all the critics are saying about this film.  I know there were reviews when it first came out, but I don't think I paid much attention to them.  We even saw previews a few weeks ago.  Then I heard people around me talking about it, so I put it on my list.  It wasn't playing anywhere close by, and it wasn't on NetFlix either.  But someone mentioned that it was on Redbox - so we went and got it yesterday.

It is strange.  It is oddly beautiful.  The lead actress is superb.  The man who plays her father was not looking for an acting job and had never had an acting job.  He worked as a baker across the street from the headquarters of the film company that made the film - and they persuaded him to do it.  He does a pretty good job.

It is a metaphor of sorts.  It strays often into the realm of fantasy.  At one point, near the end, it reminded of Where the Wild Things Are.  The qualities of excellence are very uneven, but those that work, work very well.

It's the sort of film that leaves you scratching your head.

Let me know what you think!

Wedding Announcements

I came across this photo quite by accident.  I knew of its existence and hunted for it a few times, but then gave up.  Recently I came across a box of magnetic pages from albums that I had intended to dismantle.  I am so good at starting projects.  I guess I need to work on finishing them now!!  As I browsed through them, I found the pages from when I'd started a book of photos from Christmas cards that we'd received over the years.  (See how good I am at starting projects!!)

And lo, and behold, there it was!!

It was a wedding announcement - Ry had written on the back that it had finally happened and he'd gotten married in Norway.  

That's how we first "met" Sarah and Wade!!

Just a little historic trivia for you.

Through the years -

16 year old Mary Stevens Clayton

16 year old Barbara Clayton Terrill

 16 year old Bonny Brae

Almost 16 year old Ara Grace!!

Can't believe Ara's 16th birthday is almost upon us!!  Just a week away!

A trip to remember!

July of 1985 we went to St. George.  I was pregnant with Hannah.  I wasn't up for hiking - I was up for reading in the air-conditioned splendor of the corner condo we rented.  Maybe swimming in the lap pool now and then.

 

So I dropped off Dad, Phoebe, and Harry F. so they could have a little back-packing adventure.  It was just going to be overnight.  I dropped them off at the trail head and was going to pick them up the next afternoon.

 

These photos are all before the fatigue set in - Phoebe's fatigue that is.  In spite of her best efforts, it was just too rigorous for her little almost-eight year-old self.

 

Looks like she's wondering about it all here!!  Dad had to carry her much of the way back.  I think they encountered rain too.

 

But they had fun too - and it makes for a great story - Dad tells it better than me - ask him sometime.

What I remember about that particular trip was the power going out in the condo - in July - in St. George - with no a/c - in rooms not designed for air flow - where temps were well above 100 day and night!!  Only overnight, I think, but we were all sitting there wondering how the pioneers ever handled it!!

Also, I read And Ladies of the Club - a very long novel - but I didn't have anything else to do.  That's what we loved about St. George!!

When long ago seems not so far away -

Harry and Harry F. used to go backpacking every year - usually in August.  It started out just the two of them.  Then other men in the ward wanted to join in - and their sons came too.  Eventually it was pretty much taken over by those who prefer a little more notice and organization than Harry has ever felt necessary.  But he and Harry F. still went along and still had a fine time.

Recently I came across a treasure trove of photos from some of these trips.  They are not labeled - so they are earlier than the time when a certain someone suggested - rather efficiently - that only one camera be carried - remember this is before lightweight, small digital cameras were on the scene - and one person would take the photos and get copies to everyone else.  When those copies came, they were all labeled on the back!!

The trips blur for me - I remember when they went just before Hannah was born.  I'd never had a baby early in my life, but I was convinced she'd come while they were gone.  I guess not convinced enough to insist that Harry stay home.  And Hannah was early - but that was still after they got back!

They would all congregate in our living room - sorting and packing and discarding and consolidating.  After they'd leave, I'd clean up their mess and open up some Franco American canned spaghetti for dinner - a personal fave of mine that your dad would gag at!

I don't ever remember resenting their leaving and leaving me in the heat of the summer with a house full of little kids - well, Bonny wasn't little and she was a big help too - but I was happy that they could have that time together.

Like lots of good things, it eventually petered out.  People couldn't go anymore.  Schedules conflicted.  School activities got in the way.  He did go a couple of times with Noah, but somehow the tradition did not survive.  Harry often came home suggesting that sometime he and I should go together.  One time we took Hannah, Noah, Harry F. and Dawn and rented a cabin in the lower Sierras for a weekend.  Not quite the same, but lots of fun.  One time Harry, Noah and Greg took a trek to Grand Canyon for a week of camping and hiking.

But the annual August trek is now a memory - but a rather well-documented memory.  Maybe I will post some more photos - but I'm not sure how much scenery you are interested in seeing.  It's all pretty similar.

This is one time when I'm pretty sure "you had to be there!"

Monday Night at the Movies

Dad and I went to the movies tonight - perfect end to a holiday in my book!!

We saw Quartet, with Maggie Smith - and it was great!!

We both noted that everyone in the theater was our age or older - which is too bad - I think a younger person would love this movie too.

If any of you "youngsters" have seen it, let me know - maybe I'm wrong - maybe you have to be old!

The other female in the quartet is the gal who played the maid Sarah in Upstairs, Downstairs eons ago.  As charming as ever!  The the man who plays Dumbledore has a key role - very well-played too.

I love British films - especially those filmed in wonderful old English houses with lots of beautiful English countryside showing!!

Thousands of words!!

Somehow I did not get a "family shot" of Harry, Dawn and kids.  The new camera doesn't solve every problem does it??

But these photos do bring me joy - and lots of fun memories.

Happy Birthday Uncle Paul!

Uncle Paul was probably the favorite uncle in the family.  He was warm, funny, personable, entertaining - and he came to visit often!!

Today is his 101st birthday I think, since he was 4 years older than Dad - I think - so that would have him born in 1912.

At any rate, here's to the memory of man we all loved!

A pleasant Sunday -

Drove out to Mom's for church and lunch.  Mary is staying there while Donna is gone.  Mary fixed us a lovely lunch of chicken salad sandwiches - I could get used to having meals prepared for me!!

When I got home, I thought about finally taking a pix of these great door mats Phoebe got us for Christmas.  I should get one made for my classroom - one with something inspiring for my students to read each day!!

Harry and I ended the day with another episode of Downton Abbey.  Even though we watched them on the links Bonny sent us, we are always up for a reason to settle on the couch for some more viewings!!

And then Monday morning came, and it was back to work - and 37 degrees at 8 a.m.!!

My sister Leslie!!

Just a little thumbnail sketch of Leslie in our lives!!

Happy day to one of the best sisters ever!!