A whirlwind weekend!!

It didn't really fly by, but it seemed like I spent time with lots of people - some of my favorite people too!!

 

It was great to visit with Mom and Axel and Alice.  A little shopping, a little home decorating, a little eating, a little cleaning - not a bad way to spend a weekend.

 

Fun to see David and Mary too.

 

Then Sunday it was time to celebrate Esme's birthday!!  They are wearing their  "Best Friends Forever" necklaces that Eve brought for Esme.

 

Always fun to snuggle with Miss Isla!

 

The beautiful girls - they just get prettier and prettier every day!

 

Can't get a serious shot of Harry F. - but Dawn always looks good!

 

An extra treat to have Bryan Lee show up!!

 

Bruce is always good for some great conversation.

 

And Bonny puts on a nice spread.  

 

The Wii is the main draw for certain munchkins we know and love!

 

And of course, the birthday girl - 11 years old!!  Of course I remember her birth - I went to stay there - Bruce had gotten in some poison oak!!

 

The birthday surprise was the American Girl VW bug - pretty authentic!!

 

Dad and I have a good life - great kids, great grandkids, great families, great friends!!  (And I have a great new camera to capture the images with!!  I may even learn how to use it right!!  But don't hold your breath!!)

007 returns!

Dad loves 007!!  He's seen everyone of the films - not sure how many of the books he's read.  So when I saw a copy of Skyfall at Target, I got it for him for Valentine's Day.  (He hadn't been to see it yet, and it's not in all the theaters - or wasn't then anyway!)

We watched it last Friday.  I enjoyed it.  Some people I have talked to didn't like it so much.  I wonder if it's because the ending is so sixties Bond - and not so techo-full!

I loved watching Judi Dench make a booby-trap with broken chandelier glass.  But I was sad to see her die.  I loved being in Scotland - and the grim old estate.  And I loved the gamekeeper!!  And the Asten-Martin.

And Miss Moneypenny and Q - excited to see what they will be up to next!

Happy day to Ry!!

Happy Birthday to our good friend Ry!!  (shown with a very young Miss Agnes!!)

Happy Day to Esme (say that Es-may!!)

Always a cute little munchkin, Esme has a certain joie de vivre that goes with her name!!

 

A fave photo of mine - Esme with her dad - kicking back!!

 

A certain light goes on when she smiles.

 

She is one smart cookie - and a formidable opponent at Quiddler!!

 

She has a style all her own - and aren't we glad about that??

Happy day today to you Esme - may the whole year be wonderful - middle school and Young Women are just around the corner!!

Happy Day to David!!

If it seems like I use the same few photos of David all the time, it's because it is notoriously difficult to get a photograph of him!!

But I like this particular photo - maybe they weren't married yet when this was taken, and he was more co-operatiave!!

At any rate, we love David - and wish him a wonderful day - and wonderful year ahead!!

At the cinema -

I

I was intrigued by the things I read about Amour, so I persuaded Harry to go to the show in the middle of the week.  The film is up for several Oscars - one being Best Actress for Emmanuelle Riva - who is 85 and will turn 86 on the day of the Oscars!

It is not lightweight or for the faint of heart - by that I mean it's not a fairy-tale love story and is fairly unflinching in its gaze at aging and disease and dying.

But it is indeed a love story.  And it's a story with quite a convoluted plot.  And if you go, be sure to let me know what you think!  (and if you go, pay close attention to the details.)

Sometimes you can go home again - at least for a little while!

Met up with some good friends - Carol, Sharon and I went from K through 12 together.  Melba Sue and Laurie came in about 3rd grade.  Melba Sue left after 9th grade - but we've stayed in touch.  Laurie graduated about a semester before the rest of us.  

We'd been trying to get together a 50 year class reunion - but it was dragging on - so we at least decided to meet for lunch at Carol's house.  And spent the day talking and telling stories and having a wonderful time.

 

This is Laurie - and the sketch below is one she drew of me back in 11th grade Economics class!!

 

Friendship is so precious.  I had not seen anyone from my school years until the 20 year reunion in 1983 - and since then I've been trying to make up for lost time.  The others had all stayed in touch over the years.  Something I should have done.  The shot below is from the late 90's - includes Carol, me and Laurie.  Kathy is on the end - she lives across the country, so we don't get to see her as much.

And this is from a reunion we pulled off in 1985 - when I was pregnant with Hannah - Laurie was also pregnant - Melba Sue is next to me and Sharon is in the red striped top.

 

Today was a lovely trip down Memory Lane - but what is even better is that we have much to talk about that is current too!!

Multi-generational

I truly want to organize my photos - any system would be better than the chaos I have now.

 

I have visions of finding categories and doing arrangements, albums, or collages.

 

Births, blessing, baptisms, birthdays - the list is endless.

 

It could actually guide me in my photo taking efforts - you know, well, here's another for the multigenerational Easter shot for 2016!!

  For example, I have few shots of our kids with their individual grandparents - so let's take those now!!

In the meantime I can dream anyway.

 

And go through my "mixed up files" and see what there is.

 

Weddings seem to be good times for such photo ops.

 

I have one photo of me with my Grandma Stevens and one with my Grandpa Clayton - and that's it.

 

At least I have those!!

How about a "big hand" for the boys!!

Can I just say that I love working in Cub Scouts?  Over the years, I have heard women say things like, "I'm so lucky.  They've never nabbed me for Cub Scouts."  And I want to say, "Well, you don't know what you've missed out on!"

 

And now that Porter's in Cubs,  I love it even more.  The first time he came, he told someone sitting there, "It's so great.  My grandma works at Cub Scouts and I get to come."

Who could not want to hang out with little boys who love their grandmas??

A Super Happy Day to Ara Grace!!

It was a Super Sunday - but it didn't have anything to do with the Super Bowl. (I think this crowd didn't have any die-hard 49er or Raven fans in its midst!!)

 

Have these girls learned their camera skills from their mom??

 

Ella's new specs!

 

 The lovely ladies strike a pose!

Grandpa Bruce's much-appreciated gift - a GPS device!!

 

A pretty sturdy candle for the Stake Visitor's Cake!!  Always a family fave!

 

So happy to have Phoebe with us - so sad to see her and Agnes  go!!

 

The  "tilt" of course - someone didn't give Dad the memo!!

 

Weighty matters?  Music?  Popular culture?  All three??

 

Agnes has loved all the cousin time she's had this visit - if she looks a little droopy, it's because she was up late - and then up early - didn't want to miss out on anything.

At the end of the evening, someone - I think I did in fact - asked who won the Super Bowl.  We seemed to have survived not watching it - I don't think any of us even thought of it.

We had great food, great company, a great time - can't ask for any more than that!!

Happy 16th year Ara - enjoy it all!!