Monday, November 30, 2015

Remembering a good friend!


12 years ago today our dear friend Charlie Graham died.  We miss him still. He was always larger than life, and we are grateful for that, because it helps us to remember him.

The last time he bore his testimony in church, he said, "Why me?" and we all thought he was talking about the unfairness of his cancer diagnosis.

Then he said, "Why me?  Why have I been privileged to be on this earth with my wonderful family?  Why was I so fortunate to find the gospel?  Why is there so much love for me and my family?"

Charlie taught us all well!!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Happy day to Harry W!

Happy Birthday Harry W!! A great day when you joined our family!!

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving 2015

There are some anxious diners here!! So grateful to be here with Phoebe and family - lots to be thankful for!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2013
 
Thanksgiving is today - and I am very thankful for all the many blessings I am privileged to enjoy! I've spent Thanksgiving in many different places, with many different people!

And it's always been wonderful!!

Happy Thanksgiving one and all!

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Happy Birthday Donna!


Donna is the best - the best aunt, the best friend, the best sister, the best daughter!!

We love you Donna - have a happy day - and may the year ahead be the best ever!!

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Happy Birthday Matt!!


Happy Birthday to Matt!! He is the best - we are really happy that Eliza chose him!!
 

He is calm, cool, collected, and wise for his years!! He is patient and kind - and always good for the early a.m. pick up at Dulles Airport!!

Can't ask for much more!!

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

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Paris is still the City of Light!!


In 1966 I went to France for a BYU Study Abroad program in Grenoble.  We spent the first two weeks of our journey in Paris.  I met a few girls who were in my hotel and we got up each morning and took the subway to a stop, got off, went up and explored that area all day.  We did this for 2 weeks and it was so much fun.  Some would say we missed a lot of the sights - and we did.  But we also saw life in Paris, and that was better!!

 

I did manage to meet up with some friends from Granada Hills - the Keysors - I used to babysit for them!!
 

I'm thinking this shot is from London, not Paris - but it adds to the foreign flavor, right??
 

Gloria was a special friend that I connected with.  She really knew her French - but she was from the South and so her accent was not so good.  I did not know my French that well, but I did have a great accent.  She would tell me what to say, I would say it.  We were a team.  Although after a while she said, "You are getting all the compliments for your excellent French!"  So I told her to tell me how to give her the credit - and I'd memorize the line!!  She just laughed.

So many great memories of a wonderful time and place.  Paris, the city of love, of light, of laughter, of longing, of literature and art and beauty.

Paris, now wracked with violence and carnage, sorrow and grief.  She will rise up.  Her people will survive.  But it is so heinous that such a crime can even occur.

Pray for Paris.

Vive la France!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

In Flanders Fields

Flanders Poppy on the First World War battlefields.

by John McCrae, May 1915


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.

I'm not real good at cutting and pasting - but I wasn't up to typing up the whole poem - and I'm not even sure anyone reads these posts.  But I think I post this poem every year - because I think it's pretty important that we, as President Hinckley and other General Authorities so correctly admonished, 

"Renounce war, proclaim peace."

Doctrine and Covenants 98:16

Saturday, November 07, 2015

"My daddy is my fav'rite pal . . ."


I've noted today - on FB, Instagram, and my personal blog - that it's my dad's 99th birthday today.
But it seemed like I ought to note it on the family blog too!  
 
These two photos are the only two photos I know about that show just me and my dad.  In today's world of total photographic evidence of one's life, that seems a bit strange.  But I don't think I have any photos that show just me and my mom.  

When you are the 3rd of 12, it's not very likely that you will have individual photo ops - and a camera handy at the same time!

Don't remember the top photo of course, but my mom says it's outside the house in Burbank where I spent my first 4 years of life.  

The bottom photo was 1979 - the year we moved back to California.  My dad always had a Banana Cream Cake for his birthday - unless he got lucky and got a Banana Cream Pie!!

And I'm wearing the first of the "Pinnies From Heaven - an apron by Granny Babs!"

Thursday, November 05, 2015

A little TBT on this finally cool fall day!!


Twenty-five years ago I was busy getting ready for Bonny and Bruce's wedding.  It seemed like such a BIG job!  Since then we've done 4 more, and they did seem to get easier.  It was exciting too.  
 

Lots of good memories - not just for the wedding but for the past 25 years and the grandkids who've come along - and the other weddings with attendant in-laws.

And looking forward to Noah and Taylor's wedding in January!!

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

Remembering a lovely young woman!


Yesterday was the first anniversary of the tragic death of my lovely niece Robynn, daughter of my brother Richard and his wife Julie.  Robynn was truly a light in the eyes of those who loved her, and her death in a horrific car accident shocked and saddened our family.  She had been married for a year and a half to Aaron De Namur, and they had a 5 month old son Lenox.  A year later, it still seems somewhat unreal.  When you don't live near a person, and didn't seem them on a daily basis, it is sometimes harder to realize they are gone.  Her family, however, has daily dealt with the loss, and it has been a difficult year for all of them.
 

But time does inexorably move forward, and we learn to live with the new normal.  We were with Richard and Julie last month, and though they are still very sorrowful, they have moved forward.  We are grateful for that.

The greatest gift we can give to acknowledge a life is to live better.  I hope I am doing that!

We love you Robynn - and Richard and Julie!

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

The lovely Miss Rhoda is 2 today!!


Melanie Wilkes in Gone With the Wind exclaimed "The best days are the days when babies are born!"  And how right she is - I remember Rhoda's entrance into the world and the wonderful days I spent with Hannah and Robbie and the sweet little Miss Rhoda!!
 

All the time we spend with her is great - we are just sorry we don't get to spend more!!  But her daily life and many adventures are well-chronicled by her mom and dad - and we are glad!!

Happy day to you, our sweet Rhoda Primrose!!