Calvin's Baptism

The journey began with Phoebe picking us up at PDX - in a Snow White costume!!  When we walked into our bed and breakfast with her, I believe the hostess was a little amazed - maybe wondering about these guests she'd waited up for!!  Only Phoebe could have pulled it off with such aplomb!!

We were delighted that Dana and Andy were able to join us!

 

And Brett, Ari and Norah too.

 

Always happy to see the MacDowells - we find it amazing that two friends from Monrovia have moved to Lake Oswego!!

 

Phoebe's neighbor and good friend Laila once again played a flute interlude for our listening pleasure while the "boys" got dried off and dressed.

 

Mary, the wonderful upstairs neighbor happily came - as you can see by her smile.  What a great neighbor she is - Mr. Rogers would be proud!!

 

The star attraction with his proud mama and papa!!

 

The Fillmore grandparents.

 

The Terrill grandparents.

 

We went to Red Robin for dinner after - and the staff came out with songs and ice cream in Calvin's honor - and a "birthday hat" they'd scrounged up!!   There is something pretty funny about a coffee filter party hat for a Mormon baptism celebration!!

It rained the whole time we were there - but that didn't dampen our spirits.  Henry still managed to throw the winning touchdown at his game that day.  And Agnes' team won too.  (I stayed home while Sully napped - tough duty - good thing I had the new Grisham novel to keep me company!!)

We also got to see Romney and Mary Sue, and I saw my old pal from Grenoble days - Joan Browning - who lives in Phoebe's ward.

The weekend was full of rain, car rides to and fro, games, several rounds of Golf, lots of good food, and the pleasure of one another's company!!

Looking forward to the holidays and more good times together.  In the meantime, "thanks for the memories!!"

(And Harry and I discovered a charming bed and breakfast in Milwaukee - just over the bridge from Phoebe - we will have to explore the grounds there on another visit - hopefully when it does not rain!!  We got a place to stay since Pam and Denny were at Phoebe's - and Harry got the idea to check out a b and b - glad he did -it was fun!!)

More later -

Harry and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Oregon for Calvin's baptism.  Here we are last night having a rousing round of Golf - it's always fun at the Fillmores!!

I did take photos - a number of them actually - and we saw an amazing number of folks for such a short jaunt.  I did not really get enough "family" time - but we take what we can get!!

Like I said before, more later - for now it's time to find something to eat in this house - something that doesn't require a lot of time and effort to prepare.

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!

8 is great - and 95 isn't too bad either!

The lovely Labor Day weekend started off with a trip to Urbane for the birthday manicure! To say Eve was pleased is an understatement!!

The baptism - like most baptisms - was a lovely affair. 2 other little girls in the stake were baptized, so there was a big crowd in the little Primary room at the Foothill Building!! We have certainly been to a lot of baptisms in that room though!!

Lot of friends and family came - a special attendee was Eve's Primary teacher, Shirley Heslop!! She is the best!

The Dodds came too - they are good friends - and Brooke is my Visiting Teacher and Bjorn is our Home Teacher.

It's always great to see Marjorie's smiling face!

Bruce, engaged in conversation with Grandma Helen - who was celebrating her 95th - in fine style too, as you will note!

Heather and family joined us - it's always great to see the Cieslas!

And it was especially nice that Frances was here too.

I'm not sure the garage door is the best backdrop - maybe it's slimming??

Donna, Mary, and Mom were there too - note Isla's very tired, droopy eyes - she was a trooper though.

Menloves and Guerreros were there with their families - how the years do fly by - and these school and church chums of Phoebe's are the backbone of the ward now!

Maybe the graffiti makes a better back drop? Mom seemed to enjoy being out also.

Mary hurt her elbow, so she was in a sling - it was kind of a "sling" night too - as you will see.

The always lovely Miss Ella with her dad.

Greg and his sling - apparently he got in a fight with a bungee cord - and the bungee cord won!

Brooke made some CTR cupcakes for the occasion!

The evening's meal featured a taco truck - good eating!!

Frances made Grandma a pineapple upside down birthday cake - so it was a true Terrill occasion!

Mary and Marjorie - the gals love to visit!

Porter with Kamryn Z. - another friend from the ward.

Eve's Mimi Cake!

Miss Isla, taking it all in.

Oh those silly little girls - you just gotta love 'em though!! (Even if they won't co-operate for a photo op!)

Bill and Noah - it's always good to have both of them there!

The Bolanders - contemplating another important b-day coming up soon maybe??

I was trying to get everyone in a picture - Drake said, "These are my cousins, so they are family. But they live far away." Gotta love that boy!!

Ara wanted a shot with Great-Grandma Terrill - they were enjoying some good conversation. It's pretty gratifying to see how Helen stays in touch with everyone. And gratifying that the great-grandchildren understand what a blessing it is to have a great-grandma you can know and converse with!

As the evening wound to a close, I realized I didn't have a picture of Madison - who was occupying herself happily in the upstairs playroom!

And a photo of Steve and Ember took care of everyone in the family anyway. There were about 50 people all told - and a wonderful time was had by all.

An evening like this makes me long for the old days when we saw one another often. But there were fewer of us then - it's great to watch the family grow - but the downside is less time together.

If you weren't there, we thought of you - and wished you were!