Happy Anniversary!!

Those December weddings - makes you smile!!

Happy day to Matt and Eliza - hope it's a happy walk down Memory Lane!!

Happy Anniversary to us!

I suppose some would say that starting out life together - in front of a chalkboard - might seem a little tacky.

But you know, it hasn't made a shred of difference.

Although I never could persuade my kids to have a reception at an institute building with a handy, dandy chalkboard for them to stand in front of!

Celebrating Seven Decades!

If Harry is turning 70 today, that means I turn 70 next year.  How did this happen?  Don't answer that!  I could do a book of photos and wouldn't cover it all.

 

Maybe those reading this should post 70 comments!  (Ha, I doubt if there are 7 readers!!  And some of them probably believe his assertion on FB that his birthday is in April and that he was born in 1934.)

My favorite line is the one in the card I gave him:  "70 - it's the new 69!!"

Happy day to you my sweet - here's to a few more decades!!

On a sad note

Sad to note that Norma Anderton, Julie Clayton's mother, died today.  She had been ill, and her death was not a surprise.  However, I think we sorrow for the loss of what once was.  

Norma was our neighbor in Centerville when we lived in the Harris' house.  She invited us over to strip her apricot tree - lots of lovely fruit for us!  And she had a marvelous contralto voice - she sang "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" with such fervor and beauty.  I have never forgotten how she sounded.

I am glad I got to say hi and hug her at Robynn's funeral.  She was somewhat diminished, but she remembered the Terrills.  And during the service, as we sang the opening and closing songs, she belted them out with gusto and fervor.

I'm sure she's part of a heavenly chorus somewhere!

Monday night at the movies

A favorite FHE activity for us is walking to the Krikorian and picking away at our "to see" list of movies.  Frances is in town, so we went to dinner with Grandma T. and Frances.  That counted as FHE too!

I read all the Hunger Games books, but the truth is I can't remember a lot of the details - and the movie was well done and entertaining - but some of the characters were vague to me.  

Maybe after they do Mockingjay Part II, I will re-read them all!

If you are a fan, you will probably like it.  For one thing, it was an excellent score!

And I got to over 15,000 steps in the process!

Happy Anniversary to Bonny and Bruce

It's been 24 years - I can't believe that Bonny and Bruce are coming up on their 25th wedding anniversary!!  They tended the "little kids" when Harry and I went to Paris to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary!!

 

A wonderful day - surrounded by some of our favorite people - lots has changed with this group.  But happy memories remain.

 

Still far and away my favorite wedding photo!

The beautiful Bolander women!!

We love you Bonny, Bruce, and family, and wish you a happy day of celebration!

Revival of sorts

Our good friend Ronnie Horton gave us tickets to The Nutcracker as a wedding gift.  We were back in Utah by December 30th the year we got married, and the tickets were for New Year's Eve.  I had never been to a production of The Nutcracker, in fact, my only exposure to ballet was attendance at a rehearsal of Swan Lake at the Shrine Auditorium when I was in elementary school, and the famous Hollywood Bowl performance with Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn that we attended the night we got engaged.

The performance that New Year's Eve was magical -  or so it seemed to me - and the tradition began.  We went every year for many years, especially after we had children.  Harry F. cut his teeth on ballet and opera as a 3 year old - and he was great - he behaved more appropriately than many of the adults.  Bonny was always a gem about everything.

After we moved to California, it became more difficult to attend ballet productions.  For one thing, they were much more expensive than they had ever been in Utah, and they were located in tough to get to places - which usually didn't have parking nearby!  One year Ronnie Horton came to stay with us and got us free tickets in Pasadena.  One year we drove to Long Beach for a production.  Another year we went to the San Gabriel Civic.  The tradition essentially died over time, although I think Phoebe and Bonny have taken their kids a time or two where they live.

This year Harry F. decided to revive it - and we had a lot of fun.  We went to the Dolby Theater in Hollywood - a fun venue in and of itself - Eve was sick with strep throat, so Harry gave the ticket to Scott Armstrong, who joined right in!

It was great and the kids loved it.  But Harry F. and I agreed that we missed the Mother Buffoon!

Friday night at the movies

A great film - learned a lot I did not know.  And there's a book, of course, so I will be getting that on my Kindle soon, I'm sure.

There are lots of important ideas in this film - many layers of meaning too.

Let me know what you think!

Happy Birthday Bobby!

Happy day to my brother Bobby!!  He was a cute little baby - I remember his arrival and the fun we had with a new baby at Christmas time.

He was just here for a visit - I had to pick him up from Bill's and drive him to Mom's - a long commute on the 405 - but we had a great visit!!

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

Happy Birthday Mary!

When I go through my photos, I have no photos of just Mary - not sure why!  And actually, there are no baby pictures of Mary and Charlie - I think that the one at the top is the youngest picture of Mary.

Mary used to come often when Bonny was a baby - she was at Ricks and loved coming down to babysit.  We loved it too!!

Mary's a great sister - always ready and willing to help and be supportive!

Here's to a great day and a wonderful year ahead!!

A little catching up!

Dawn's brothers and nephew were in town for Thanksgiving - and we were in town for the first time in many years - it was a great day - great food, great company, great conversation - lots to be thankful for.  We did miss Marjorie - but we felt her with us!

 

With his 8th birthday under his belt, Harry W. is ready to be in Cub Scouts - he enjoyed his first official Pack Meeting - he's been coming to pack meetings for a couple of years now!

 

Nice to get a shot of the family all together tonight.

 

Great grand kids with Grandma Helen.

 

Harry W. with his dad - a special day for a special boy!!

 

Great grand kids with Grandma Mary.

 

Nice to have Noah and Taylor join us too.

It's been a very busy day/week/month/season!!  I am so behind with posting - will just try to stay afloat for the next little bit - if anyone looks at this and is interested in specific events and photos of same, let me know!

Greg, Kristine, and Bruce were in attendance. Lots of bike ride talk!

 

Bonny, Mary, and Ella enjoying some "girl talk" maybe??

 

It was nice to have Bobby with us too.  Dawn had some friends there also - should have snapped some photos of them too!

We are a big, busy family - guess that's what's so great about our lives - but it does make it hard to keep up sometimes.

I wonder how I ever had time to go to work!

Friday Night at the Movies

You would think that being retired, I'd be at the movies every day.  But alas, I think this may be the first movie I've seen since I retired!  (Not for lack of movies I've wanted to see - it's harder than you think to get away when you aren't on a definite schedule!!)

But we walked to the Krikorian tonight and saw this.  I had seen the trailer this summer and so got the book on Kindle.  The book was pretty good but somewhat slow-moving.  A little more introspective than I'd imagined.  The movie is slow-moving too, but in a good way.  Seems like movies can drift along and hold your attention more than the printed word can do that.

The actors in the ensemble are great.  It's definitely a British film - but then I love British films.  I also loved that it started in 1963 - our era!!

I would recommend it highly.  A love story gone awry, but once again all's well that ends well.