Oh Joy, Annika Joy is 13 today!!

Spent a week in VA with Annika - she helped me take care of Matt and Eliza's children while they were in Europe - and she is just the best little baby-sitter!! And a fun traveling companion!!

 

And now she's a teen!!

Happy day to you Annika - you and Harry Potter that is!!

Have a great year!

A dozen years old!!

Happy day to this lovely young woman - who is officially a Young Woman now!!

I vividly remember her birth - the other Bolander beauties were staying with me - and we were waiting for Bruce to call with the news - we did not know the gender ahead of time!  

He finally called, asked for Ara, and informed her that they had a new little sister!

And Ara said, "Now we are our own Little Women!!"

They are the best "Little Women" in the world - and Annika rounded out the group nicely.

Have a great year ahead!!

Happy Birthday Annika!!

Happy day today to Annika!!  She is 11 years old - and I vividly remember the day she was born!  The other girls were here with us and Bruce called.  He told Ara that the new baby was born and that it was a girl.  And Ara turned around and said, "Now we are our own Little Women!"

She is always a bright spot in any occasion.  I love her visits here - she's the best little companion - and a great helper too!

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

Oh Happy Day - to Miss Annika!

I so vividly remember Annika's birth.  Bruce called to tell Ara the news that they had a new baby sister - they hadn't known ahead of time - and Ara said, "Now we are our own Little Women!!"

 

Three Terrill grandkids were born that year - Annika lead the parade - followed by Porter and Calvin.  It's fun to watch all three of them grow and mature.

 

She may be the youngest of 4 girls, but she is definitely her own person - and a wonderful little person at that.

 

Happy day to you Miss Annika - entering the double digits - and birthday buddies with Harry Potter!

Annika's Special Day!

Here is our sweet Miss Annika Joy - in 2004!!  Where has the time gone??

And here she is on her special day yesterday - getting ready to be baptized!

Bishop Dad - always taking care of things!!  But of course he took care of the most important thing yesterday - Annika was baptized after church - many friends and family members came.  The program was lovely!  Harry F. spoke on baptism.  Becky, Bruce's sister, spoke on the Holy Ghost.  Both great-grandmas gave the opening and closing prayers.  Ella sang, Ara played the flute, and Esme accompanied them on the piano for a beautiful musical number.

Scott, Shelly and family joined us - here for a great-great grandma photo op with baby Charlotte.

Birthday cake and candles - always a hit!  There were lots of people at the house - 60+ in fact - and many were kids of varying ages - looked a lot like a school playground at one point!!

Doug, Jenae and girls joined us too - it's always great to see family!!  I didn't get photos of everyone - but Mom, Donna, Charlie and Mary were with us.  Also Harry and kids - Dawn is in Texas with her mom - we missed you Dawn!!  Bruce's sister Becky and family were there - and lots of friends too.  We had a great meal - Bonny always puts on a nice spread!!

Miss Isla kept us charmed indeed!!

(I tried to get a photo of her covering up her eyes and whispering "Where's Isla?" but she demurred!!)

Miss Ara has a learner's permit now too - am I feeling old??

A breezy summer day in Malibu is something we love!!

Seems like my mom often has "half" of her kids when we have different events - seems to be the same for us!!  Here we are with the "top half" and part of the "bottom half" - any way you describe it - it's great to be with our kids!!  But we do dream of having everyone there some time!!

It is always so nice to see Jinny - the best part about your kids getting married is all the family you then inherit!!  Bruce Sr. and Jeff came too.

Finally - the girl of the hour - our own lovely Miss Annika Joy - "clean as earth right after rain!!"  Remember this day forever Annika!

A whirlwind week winds up - or maybe down?

Today, Friday the 20th,  Annika and I took flowers to Jonah's grave - and the sprinklers went on!  Fortunately for us, it was so hot we didn't care.  (Blogger won't let me move the top photo - and it's too late for me to feel like fussing with it - so you'll just have to see the photos out of order!)

After the Sunday night festivities, Monday the 16th  was spent getting organized - including swimming and bowling!!  Ida's little bowling shoes were really cute - especially with the ruffled socks!!

 Theo was a great little bowler - beat his mom hands down!!

Eliza blamed her low score on the fact that she was carrying Lars on her back!!  Matt was the champ for sure!  He said he'd taken a bowling class at BYU - so maybe that's the edge he had!!

Monday night we had dinner with Helen and my mom - I guess Helen left before we remembered to take pictures!!

  

Tuesday was beach day and Cousin Camp. And Dawn brought Annika home with her so she could come for her Grandma's Birthday Sleepover!!  Then that evening we enjoyed dinner compliments of Market Grill - and some playtime at the park.

Wednesday was more swimming and lunch at Wendy's.  We also made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies!!  And of course we shopped!!  Annika made some excellent fashion choices!!

What would we do without the Seely's and their pool?  Such good neighbors!

 

And manicures, of course!

Last night we enjoyed the stake musical - and now we are headed off to meet Bonny to pick up Annika - it's been a fun several days - tomorrow I will wake up and say, "It's too tidy and quiet around here!!"

Come back soon!!

Party Time for Annika!

We had a fun FHE celebrating Annika's birthday.

These photos are all out of order, but it's too late to be making it right - use your imagination. The photo above was the moment when the decision was made to take the cake outside - to light the other sparklers that adorned it!!

Brownies and Ice Cream were the cake's main ingredients.

It wasn't possible to blow out the candles, but they were a big hit with a certain portion of the crowd!

Glad to have Noah with us.

Here's Bruce getting ready to light the conflagration!!

The elders joined us for dinner and a spiritual thought. We were well-instructed!

Funky glasses were the order of the evening.

A pensive Miss Isla with Grandpa.

A still-pensive Miss Isla with Grandma.

At least outside the smoke didn't set off the smoke alarms!!

It was a fun evening - if you weren't there, we missed you!!

Happy Day to Annika!!

Annika has the good fortune to share a birthday with Harry Potter!! Seems fitting, since she is a very adventurous little girl - and clever and smart too!!

She has a mothering streak too - one that will stand her in good stead.

She is thoughtful, not just of others, but she thinks about things - and asks good questions. Another quality that will stand her in good stead.

She is brave and adventurous - a quality I envy, since I'm basically a coward at heart. She is quite creative - she has been at my house this week, and I was indeed impressed at her ability to take a task and go with it.

When she was born, her big sisters were staying with us. When Bruce called to say that they had a new little sister, Ara said, "Now we are our own Little Women!" Annika has indeed rounded out the quartet with style and verve.


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