Happy Birthday Ara Grace!!

17 years ago - so much has happened in the intervening years - for one thing, this sweet little baby has grown into a beautiful young woman.  She made us grandparents for the first time - what a wonderful dream come true!

 

A beautiful young woman who combines some great qualities - beauty, skill, knowledge, intelligence, humility, love - and she knows how to have a good time!!

 

It's always fun to hang out with Ara.

 

At Harry and Dawn's wedding.

 

The famous baby hat - always a lady of style!!

 

Happy day to you Miss Ara - and may the year ahead be the best ever!!

The weeks go by - it will be February before we know it!!

Phoebe was here this week for a reunion with her college roommates - the famous Treehouse Girls!!  It was fun to visit with her Young Women friends too!!  These "girls" are all such wonderful wives and mothers now - it is a pleasure to see them together.

 

As I was busy snapping photos of Phoebe and her friends, Nadinna suggested I get a picture of myself with my dear friend Sue!!  Friends are the best!!

 

After church we went out to have lunch and a visit with Grandma Mary and Donna.  A nice afternoon indeed.

 

 We had dinner at Harry and Dawn's.

 Baby Deacon just gets bigger and cuter all the time!

Marjorie, Eve, and Dawn - a trio of lovely ladies!!

 

And last night was Cub Scout pack meeting - always a fun time.

This weekend we head to DC for Rhoda's blessing - it will be a busy weekend - but a fun one - and one we are looking forward to!

Watch for photos and reports!!

Music for a Beautiful Saturday

We attend the Messiah Sing Along each year with the LA Master Chorale at the Disney Concert Hall.  It's a long-standing family tradition which we once again enjoyed this year.  For the last two years, however, there has been a perk for the ticket buyer - which is me - that includes a series of 3 concerts.  

We usually choose the full Messiah, which we like to attend close to our wedding anniversary, since that's how we celebrated our first anniversary.  And for the last two years, we've chosen a matinee concert in January as the third concert.

This year featured the Bach B Minor Mass, a really exquisite piece of music, that was done beautifully by the choir and the orchestra.  The acoustics in the hall are wonderful, and they certainly added to the beauty of the afternoon.  The soloists were all from the ranks of the Chorale itself, and they too did fine job.

Prior to the matinee, we lunched at Phillipe's and scored with a parking place and no wait in line!  That and the beautiful SoCal day - winter in January that is like winter nowhere else - made it a perfect day.

We topped it off by going out to Bonny and Bruce's to pick up the blessing dress - and got a lovely dinner there, as well as a nice visit.

I love Saturdays - especially Saturdays like this one!

Happy day to you!!

Happy Birthday Hester!!  I have lots of fond memories of visits from the Kerksieks and all you girls playing your hearts out!!

Hope it's a happy day - and a great year ahead!!

Man of the Century!!

At Phoebe's wedding.  Paul always introduced himself as the favorite uncle!

Yesterday the 17th would have been my Uncle Paul's 100th birthday.  His daughter commented on FB that he'd always wanted to live to 100.  He died nine years ago at 91 - a good long life.

He was my dad's older brother, and they were close at different points in their lives.  Paul was "the life of the party" and as kids we loved his visits.  My dad was always loyal to his brother - and Paul seemed to know, understand, and appreciate that quality about my dad.

Happy day to you Uncle Paul - undoubtedly there's a party in Heaven - and you're the "life" of it!

A few words - several thousand or so actually.

New Year's Eve seems to be morphing into the "Terrill Family Day."

 

We go to Clocker's Corner and watch the morning workouts.

 

We have a family photo shoot.

 

We come up with an activity that makes us laugh and smile and generally have a good time.

 

We eat a lot of food.  And some years have a toast with Martinellis.

 

We read last year's predictions and laugh at the "spot on" nature of some of them.

 

We write new predictions for the upcoming year.

 

Most of the children are determined to stay up until midnight - and some of them make it.

 

We draw names and open gifts.

 

  

We usually have "poppers" and this year Hannah introduced us to the practice of holding hands in a circle as we  pop them.

 Everyone sleeps over in Monrovia.  Thank goodness there are two Terrill homes in Monrovia.

What a great tradition this has grown into.  What a great bunch of people this is continuing to grow into.

Are you impressed that I wrote it all without one exclamation point?

(But I will exclaim that we love all of you very much - and thank you for another wonderful holiday!!!)

Winding down and getting things back where they were!

Harry had asked me if we had more comforter covers - and I said no.  (He wasn't real keen on the one we had, and it was time to take the holiday one off.)  So I ordered a new one I had coveted last year - and this year I got it for 40% off!!  Then I discovered a storage container with not one, not two, but 6 comforter cover sets!!  One was for a single bed - somebody's college cover I think - I'd be happy to send it to whomever claims it - and two were for king size beds - not sure why I have those - since we've never had a king size bed.  I'm sure at some point I will discard them.  Or maybe next Christmas there will be a crying need for comforter covers!!

In the meantime I am loving my new set - it's so bright and cheery.  And the moonlight that streams in at night through the skylight - it is positively heavenly!!

Sunday Sue Cornwall came by for a lovely visit - everyone loves Sue, so it was a perfect "last day" activity for Hannah - and I sat in on it too!!  Sue and I are certainly not the same age, but we have had kids who were the same age, and she's taught 4 of the Terrill kids in Seminary, so we do have a connection.  And it is certainly lovely to have that connection validated with a special visit!!  When you don't have those "same age" kids around all the time, other aspects of our lives take over sometimes.  Thank heavens for the holidays!!

 

Robbie, chef extraordinaire, did a stuffed pork tenderloin for Sunday dinner.  It wasn't a big crowd, and some of us had to hustle off to Great to Be Eight, but it was a nice note to end on .

 

Eve wanted to make something for Rhoda, so we did some shopping on Saturday and put together this "cat blanket" for Rhoda.  It was fun, and Eve was pleased with the result - Hannah was too.

 

As Phoebe would say, Rhoda is shown here wearing  a "Sue Cornwall Special," and it will get lots of use in the chill of the East coast.

 

The newest Terrill grandkids sharing Eve's little blanket - they could almost be twins!!

Monday morning came early - Hannah and Robbie actually missed their flight but got on a better one with a separate seat for Rhoda's carseat.

And Monday afternoon I came home and washed blankets and bedding and laundry and put things back where they went and put some things in new places - and may never find them again I fear!!  I also threw a significant amount of expired cosmetics and OTC meds away.  Also purged a closet or two - I was somewhat ruthless, if I do say so myself!  A good start to the new year!

And my Christmas cards came in the mail, so if you are on my list, you can look forward to getting one soon - or semi-soon!

But I do miss Rhoda's smiling face in the a.m.  And Theo and Ida and Lars at the breakfast table.  And Sully's antics.  And Henry's calm demeanor.  And automobile shuffling.  And Calvin's spiffy Suspender Shirt.  And endless wrapped gifts.  And Agnes' absolute enthusiasm.  And meals around crowded tables.  And David's admonitions.  And the smell of bacon under Robbie's capable hands.  And Bruce's wise words.  And the Bolander girls one and all.  And endless warm towels from the dryer.  And the Terrill crew from Lemon Avenue.  And stacks of folded quilts and pillows.  And Dawn's laughter.  And Phoebe's bright smile.  And Bonny's solutions.  And Harry's good ideas.  And movies in the family room.  And Eliza's distinct enthusiasm.  And bags from Pavilions.  And Hannah's happiness with the season.  And Noah's heartfelt presence.  And Matt's absolute reasonableness.

We still have the warm December days and the bright sunshine - and they bring happy memories!!  And we have Jonah forever, because we are a forever family.

All here under one roof, often together.  I miss that.

So grateful for a wonderful holiday celebration.  We are truly blessed.

Happy Day to Leslie!!

"Happy, happy birthday, Leslie dear,

Happy days will come to you all year,

If I had one wish then it would be,

A happy, happy birthday to you from me!"

Hope it was a great day - since you are a great sister!!

Happy Birthday to a special boy - on his special day!!

Just doesn't seem all that long ago that I was winging my way to the East coast to help welcome Theo!!

 

And here he is, 7 years old!!

Happy day to you - and all year through!  It was so great to have you here visiting - we miss you!

And then there were three!

Matt, Eliza, and kids left while I was at school, so there are no farewell shots.  I came home to a quieter house - and immediately missed the patter of little feet and Star Wars Land Speeders racing down the hall.

 

Ella made a quilt for Miss Rhoda.  With a label all its own.

 

She is quite the little seamstress!!

 

We enjoyed a meal at Harry and Dawn's the night before Eliza left.  Yummy chilli on rice.

 

Seems like "photo bombers" abound these days.

 

Eve had gym, but we stayed long enough to get to see her.

 

Theo insisted on closing his eyes for every shot!!

 

Eliza and Hannah see a lot of each other - and we get to see them both in a couple of weeks when we go fro Rhoda's blessing, but we will still miss having "the little kids" in the house once more!!

At least we have Hannah and Robbie and the lovely Miss Rhoda for another few days!

More Holiday Happenings at the Terrills!

Having multiple families in the house makes for a lot of action in the laundry room!!  And that's Ella on the floor sorting fabric for the quilt she made for Rhoda - I need to take a photo of it!!

 

This group goes in for lots of physical activity - the girls had a last run with Phoebe this time.

 

Ella and Phoebe secure the luggage carrier to the top of the van.

 

The Fillmores were getting ready to leave, and Agnes remembered that she hadn't gotten anything from the Grandma's Treasure Box - so Grandpa went and got the box and brought it to her!!

 

The women do mani-pedis and the men do the Korean barber - all these smooth shaven guys!!

 

Bruce's transformation was the most dramatic - but he had to go straight back to Malibu after the visit.

 

So sad to say goodbye for now to the Fillmores - they really add life to the party!!

 

Sunday was Deacon's blessing day - afterwards some of us went to put flowers on Jonah's grave.  The cemetery was quite festive - picnikers and everything!

 

Enjoyed visiting with Grandma Mary.  Here's one 4 generation shot - with Hannah.

 

And another one with Eliza.  Not everyone is so fortunate to have their mom for so many years - or to have a great-grandma their children will remember.

 

There's always good food at Harry and Dawn's - this was brisket and prime rib - with all the trimmings.  And pies from Marjorie!

 

Miss Rhoda is a mellow little gal - a big hit with all the older grandkids too.

 

Deacon with is grandma and great-grandma!!

 

The happy parents with their sweet little guy!!

The Selanders did Disneyland today with Ida and Theo - who had never been before!  They loved it.  They also met up with Bonny and three of her girls who did not have school today.  I had an inservice - arrgh!!

Harry did the babysitting honors with Lars until I got out of meetings - then Hannah, Robbie, Rhoda, Lars, and I went and hung out with Dawn and kids.  These beautiful winter days have truly added to our pleasure.

But tomorrow it's seriously back to work for me.

And 2nd day back to school for Noah.

Life goes on!!