It's the end of summer (vacation), but the heat goes on!!

 We have been enjoying visits from Leslie, Sam, Adam, and Kylie and her fiance.  We gathered Sunday to celebrate the big 5-0 for David.  Here are some grandkids with their granny!!

 David's fave is Banana Cream - so I made one - and it promptly fell apart. Kind of like a slow earthquake.  Or a glacial melting.  Tasted fine though, so it didn't go to waste.

 Apron time - I finally made myself a birthday apron - you can borrow it for special occasions if you like!!

 Kylie and her fiance Jordan - they tie the knot on December 15th!!

 Bonny and family and Harry and family joined in the celebrating - which means the lovely Miss Isla was there to entertain us all!!  And Ara drove part of the way there!!  How can she be driving?  Didn't she just start school??

 Five siblings and Mom.

 David with the cake Diane made - at least it held together for the candles!!

 Harry's headed for the Hood to Coast Relay - I miss it every year because of the ridiculously early start dates for school.  What happened to the day after Labor Day?  (Or the week after, actually, when I was a kid.)

 He's enjoying some quality time with Phoebe and family - while I'm enjoying quality time with Noah setting up my classroom!!  (And eating lunch out and movies and lunch dates with friends and going out to GH - I'm keeping busy!!)

Enjoyed a visit last night from Miella and her mom and sister.  Her mom is here visiting from Nicaragua.

Guess I should take a picture of my classroom - even me I suppose - when I look at the staff photos - that go back to 1996 at Wildrose - I can certainly tell that the years have been marching along!!

They keep promising a cooling trend - but I will believe it when I feel it!!

Meanwhile so long summer vacation - it was nice while it lasted!!

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!

On the Oregon Trail!!

A visit to the Fillmores always starts with lunch at Burgerville - and it never disappoints!!  And there are so many parks to choose from to go and eat your Burgerville treats!

 

There aren't too many shots of Henry - after we got there, he headed off to Scout Camp - and had a wonderful time - how can Henry be old enough to be earning Merit badges??

 

The always charming Sully - he is just the cutest little boy!!  We call him Silent Sully!

 

All those years of teaching swimming are being put to good use these days!

 

In spite of gray skies, we visited the lake, for which Lake Oswego is named.

 

It was a bit chilly for swimming, but there was basketball, volleyball, badminton, tether ball, ping pong, swings, slides - and a snack shop!!

 

David was around - but he was especially successful this time at not getting his picture taken!!  As always, the cuisine was excellent - we enjoyed many yummy meals at Chez Fillmore.

 

Phoebe and I also visited Fabric Depot - the country's largest fabric store - it was great - a really excellent selection of fabrics that didn't resemble what you find at Joann's!! I could have hung out there all day!!  (And spent even more than I did!!)

 

This was what we saw first when we arrived, but I didn't think of taking a picture until almost the last day!!

 

The complex where Phoebe lives is certainly kid-friendly - Calvin could be found biking around most days.  And Agnes is mastering the two-wheeler!!  We also went to the rec center for swimming and exercising - no slouching for me - Phoebe is a great task-master!!

 

I cleared out the mending basket - one of my specialties - along with ironing and making aprons.  This time I made a birthday dress for Agnes - and one for Kitt too!  I did some laundry, but Phoebe seemed to be a step ahead of me - she did hand off books to me - and they were library books - so I had to get them read!!

 

We trekked out to the coast one day - enjoyed the delights in Seaside before heading over to visit Nebekers.

 

The cool air and gray skies did not deter the digging and building.

 

What is it about sand??

 

It is always wonderful to spend time with Ry and Sarah!!

 

We went bowling too - Dad beat us all - but Calvin and Henry did pretty well.  At least I beat Sully!

 

It was fun to spend a week being Sully's seat-buddy in the mini-van.  And it was great to spend time sleeping-in, reading, napping, watching the Olympics and movies and hanging out with some of our favorite people.

Thanks for a great visit!!

Summer fun!

Enjoyed a visit from Bonny and the "little girls" today - they were on their way back from taking Ara and Ella to girls' camp.

Enjoyed some pool time at Seely's - what would we do without such kind, generous neighbors??  (We'd play more Golf I guess!)

Happy Birthday to the Lovely Miss Agnes

One of the people Agnes is named for is my paternal grandmother - Agnes Marrietta Busath Clayton - shown above as a lovely young woman.  I have her name as my middle name.  I haven't always appreciated the name either, although I appreciated the woman who was my grandmother.  I never met her - she died when my father was a teenager - but he talked about her his whole life, so we felt that we knew her.

 

So when  the lovely Miss Agnes came into our lives, the name came to have so much more meaning for me.  I am happy now that it is part of my name too.  

Sweet Agnes Mae - the Birthday Girl today - and a little princess in her own right every day of the year!!

May it be a wonderful day for you - and a wonderful year ahead too!!

The weeks of summer are flying by!!

 Last Sunday I went out to GH and enjoyed a visit with my mom and former neighbor Judy Vergine!  Fun to take walks down Memory Lane!

Spent the week getting ready for the visit of Matt, Eliza and family.  Saturday a.m. the kids and I hit the car wash, 

 

took flowers to Jonah's grave.

 

 I enjoyed having a "crew" to cook for!

 

It's always fun at the McGlone's pool - I think we'll always call it that!  Eliza had some friends over Saturday night too.

 

Bonny, Bruce and family joined us on their way home from Utah.  It was nice to have 11 of our 16 grandkids with us.  (Lars is not floating - Eliza is holding him up - a creative solution since he wouldn't go to anyone else!!)

 

Enjoyed an evening of eating and visiting and playing - Noah and Dawn were there too, but they don't seem to be in the photos - but then I was there too and I'm not in the photos!!

 

Ida was loving the dirt!!

 

Under the tree - a new favorite spot - I love that tree - why didn't I have it planted 25 years ago??

 

Isla - always happily playing - this time with the "little people!"  (If it's little, she loves it!)

 

Getting ready for the fire and s'mores!

 

Where there's smoke, there's fire - take my word for it that there was a fire and lots of marshmallow roasting!!

Porter and Harry W. joined Theo for a sleepover - Grandmas Mary and Helen are joining us tomorrow night for dinner and FHE - there's more swimming and Cousin Camp coming up too - watch for updates.

Eliza said, "It's all so tidy.  I feel like we're coming in and messing everything up."  And I said, "Sometimes it's too tidy - nothing like having people you love in the house - messes and all!!