Christmastime at Crestline - Friday and Saturday

I am forever forgetting to load pictures so that the post will start at the beginning. In the belief that most of you would just like to see the pictures and you aren't hung up about what order they are in, I will just "post and chat" and you can think what you like about my spatial ability - which I have never claimed to have anyway!!

Saturday night and Dad is dishing up "Yucky Burritos" - what looks to be a new Terrill fave!! (Calvin named them - they are anything but yucky - but apparently he doesn't differentiate between "yucky" and "yummy!")

Saturday night was birthday night for Dad - we finally gave him our gift - a telescope -which he promptly assembled and took out on the deck. We did see a nice view of Mars! (and we made him a pineapple upside down cake too.)

We promise to be seeing more of the telescope - like all afficionados of telescopes, we are fond of saying that "things are looking up!"

Bonny came up late Saturday afternoon (the rest of us had come up Friday afternoon - and Ara and Ella came with us. Harry and fam didn't make it until Monday - and then illness kept Dawn and the little boys at home.) And she brought the Wii that Santa brought the Bolanders - and we all had a fine time with it!!

Ella has a real knack with the babies!!

The counter in the kitchen was a popular place to sit!

Theo was a fan of the "yucky" burritos too!

The weekend was certainly one of fine food - little of which I had to prepare - the best part about it all!

Looks like Annika is a fan of the tortillas anyway!

We had "restaurant" style seating - kind of all over the upstairs!

Saturday afternoon we went ice skating in Lake Arrowhead. Earlier that day, David took the kids hiking - but didn't take pics, so just take my word for it. The "sisters" went for a hike around Lake Gregory too. It was all about exercise!! Here Theo enjoys a laugh with Antanna!!

Ara did well on the ice!

Agnes did well snuggling up with Dad!

Robbie and Hannah critique my photo efforts - which were not too superior at the old rink - but we tried!! There's a good shot of Hannah and Robbie here.

The boys reflecting jackets made for interesting "special effects!"

Calvin's favorite? The Zamboni of course!

Henry was a trooper too - really stuck with it!

David helping Calvin.

Noah tried resisting, but ended up on the ice and loving it.

Dad said he wasn't skating either, but he did too!

He helped Calvin too.

Robbie and Ella on the ice.

Hannah and Ara

Eliza staying warm.

Eliza and Phoebe show their stuff!

Friday night found us enjoying spaghetti and French bread.

And getting acquainted.

And loving the babies!!

Robbie cooked a lot of spaghetti - hence the joke about spaghetti in grocery bags (where else was I going to put the extra??)

But it was good spaghetti and filled us up for a winter's sleep!

The Counter Kids!

Some intense Memory action!

A little Krypto too!

Noah did a lot of serenading - which we all enjoyed.

Eliza snagged a little shut eye!!

Agnes was a pretty good sport - always cheerful - Phoebe says "she has so much joy, she isn't sure what to do with it all!"

More blues from the boy.

This is Saturday morning waffles!

Waffles make getting up worthwhile! (Noah: "But it's Christmas vacation!")

Clear and sunny and chilly - just right for folks who traveled through snow to get here!

Hannah enjoyed showing off her new commercial waffle iron Diane gave her for Christmas.

Saturday morning featured a Dad/Hannah/Robbie run too.

Friday night settling in - reading up on Crestline and environs.

A gift for Grandpa - a wooden puzzle that was, and still is, pretty tricky to assemble.

Miss Agnes gets reacquainted with Grandpa.

Looks like another breakfast shot.

It took a truck, a mini van and a compact car with a very deep trunk to get us all up there - it takes a lot of stuff to have a fine time in the mountains!

It's a good thing parking was limited or we might have brought even more stuff!

To prove that I was indeed there - not that we need pictures of me, but since I'm the one that takes them, I'm usually not in them - but I want my posterity to know I came!!

An affair to remember

Here is what I am going to remember about this year's festivities:





Leftover spaghetti stored in grocery bags.

The Curse of the Marquis Diamond--aka--the 24-hour stomach flu that took very few prisoners. (title courtesy of Robbie)

A New Year's Eve wherein everyone went to bed at 9 p.m. (except Bonny who was cleaning up vomit).

Multiple trips to the laundromat by Bonny, Phoebe and David.

Theo screaming ALL night the first night at the cabin (after which Ella reported, "I woke up a lot but I don't think it was because of Theo").

Dad's telescope--ta DA!

The very chilly wind around Lake Gregory.

Mom and Dad sending us to a saloon to have French dip.

The waitress at the non-saloon place who wouldn't bring David an English muffin or Harry a chocolate malt without some sass.

David putting a diaper on Calvin while he was fast asleep and Calvin whispering, "Thank you"

Hannah and Robbie trying to get us to eat powdered sugar and lemon juice crepes and being sad when everyone chose Nutella instead.

Mom and Dad Wii-bowling.

Noah playing the blues by the fire (which made for very nice background music I must say).

Having fun together! Even if everyone wasn't all together all at the same time.

Anything to add??

Happy Birthday Dale!!

Dad and I are busy getting our passports in order - to go to Bolivia to see Alice and Dale - and that jogged my memory - today is Dale's birthday!

Well, by now it's probably over, but happy day anyway!

I think this is Dale talking to Chris' husband Albert at Betsy's wedding.

We love you Dale - and are getting excited to see all of you!!

To Quote Scarlett O'Hara,

"I won't think about it now. I'll think about it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day."

Dad and Annika and one of the many bowl games on January 1st, chilling out before beginning that arduous task that is "packing up to go home." (the second worst thing about a weekend away - the first being packing to go! But the time in between makes if worth the effort!)

We had a great time at Crestline - mildly marred by some flu and conjunctivitis - and I do have photos to blog about it - but I think I'm "blogged out" right now, so I will do it tomorrow - when I get home from the dentist!!

New Year's Day Recap - welcome 2008

I guess I should have taken some shots of the house in Crestline as Dad and I were cleaning up. It was a bit melancholy - to see empty space where we had had piles of bedding, toys, kids, towels, dishes, clothes, coats, scarves, shoes, puzzles, futons, bodies - ad infinitum. But here's a shot of Theo enjoying some relative spaciousness!

After everyone took off, Dad and I cleaned for about 45 minutes - and then headed home. Thankfully for me, Phoebe and Hannah said they'd fix dinner. Everyone pitched in and we had a fine repast - total Terrill - pork chops in Golden Mushroom Soup - over noodles - with applesauce. It was nice to have Grandma Mary, Donna, Mary, Marjorie, Harry, Dawn and kids and the cousin Karls join us.

We had the table stetchhhhed out - to accommodate 20+ guests.

Grown-ups and kids were in the kitchen too - it was a popular place to be.

We didn't know it then, but Robbie was next in line to fall ill - he does look a little peaked here. But he sure was a good sport!! (and Hannah was a pretty good nurse!)

The obligatory "group shot" came out okay - it had been my goal to get a grandkids shot with all 11 grandkids, but illness thwarted my plans - so we just have to go with "groups!" (if you click on it, Karl doesn't look too attentive and Calvin has his finger in his nose and nearly everyone else has red-eye - but other than those things it's a true representation!!)

And the evening ended with another wonderful 4 generation shot - Grandma Mary, Grannybabs, Agnes Mae and Phoebe.

We spent the next few days dragging in stuff from the carport - it certainly takes a lot of "stuff" to take care of 20+ people when they go away for a weekend - and 11 of the 24 are kids!

And I did laundry non-stop until Saturday night!!

The weekend winds inexorably down . . .

Very early Saturday a.m., Matt, Eliza and Theo packed up and headed east for the trip home.

I was trying to get an "action" shot but it's mostly just blurry! Matt did a yeoman's job of condensing lots of things into a few very compact bags.

And Eliza did a great job of getting everyone ready so early!! (and she was up late getting things in order!! Maybe she did the packing?!)

Theo did a great job of being Theo - we already miss his sweet smile and winning ways!

Dad took them to the airport and I went back to bed!! The rest of the day consisted of more laundry - and then we headed out to Lake Elsinore for Madison's baptism.

It was great to see Dee and Frances again. Dee performed the baptism and Frances gave a great talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost - ask her to share her visual aids with you - especially if you work in Primary!

After we enjoyed good food and good conversation at Heather and Steve's house.

Grandma really looks short when you put her next to Ernie!

The food was great - baked ham, salads, peppermint brownies - it's a good thing today is Fast Sunday so I can repent!!

Enjoyed visiting with Doug, Janae and kids. (Plus a friend - who is actually from Crestline!)

Susanne and Sharon renew acquaintances.

Of course Dad and Ernie talked computers and iPhones! (Dad should be an iPhone rep - he is very enthusiastic when he points out the features.)

Today I'm back to fixing my own food - I haven't really had to cook a meal for awhile - which I have enjoyed, believe me!

We're having meatloaf and baked potatoes with broccoli and corn, in case you wondered!

Trying to stay on top of all the action!!

Friday found Hannah and Robbie both well, and both getting ready to leave. They made a stop in Corona to see Robbie's mom, who flew in this week to visit her sister.

Diane's arrival was fortuitous, since I had mailed Hannah's Christmas sock, and the goodies to go in it, in what I thought was plenty of time, but it didn't arrive until after Hannah and Robbie left Tucson. So Diane brought it with her - much to Hannah's delight.

Good thing Robbie has a big, deep trunk, since Hannah took back some of her housekeeping goods we had stored since August.

Some of us were still in our pajamas when they left!

Parting is such sweet sorrow, sometimes it gets a bit blurry! Oh wait, that must be my "shaky" hand taking those pictures!! (It's from trying to get "candid" shots - people are getting tired of me asking them to pose for a "blog shot!")

Eliza and Hannah have enjoyed living so close for the last few months - the farewells were fond!!

After Robbie and Hannah left, Matt and Eliza headed to Malibu to visit the "other 'landers" and I continued to do laundry!! I was going to tend Theo while they went to the temple, but we ran short of time. Happily I got to babysit him the night before while they had a delayed anniversary celebration (they'd both been sick on their anniversary while they were in SLC the week before.)

Slowly, slowly I'm catching up!

Let Us Go and Make Our Visit

Thanks for the beautiful flowers, Mom and Dad

The other 'landers

Annika - Roller Derby Queen

Smile Theo!

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life . . ."

So we were driving to Griffith Park Observatory and there was an interview with Merle Haggard on NPR. He commented to the interviewer that he did a lot of composing in the bathtub. The interviewer asked, "So you just remember it until you can get it down on paper?" And he said "Yes, if you can't remember it that long, it probably wasn't that good to begin with."

I don't know about all of you, but I do a lot of composing in my head while showering, driving, walking, lying in bed when I can't sleep. And often I can't remember it when I go to write it - or blog it!! So I hopped right on this one - i.e. telling you about Merle Haggard's remark and how I could totally relate to what he said. (The above is the trusty Honda Odyssey that brought Phoebe, David and family to see us - all packed up for the trek home - they left this a.m.)

Calvin telling us good bye. Before he got in the car he walked around the house saying "Goodbye Grandpa's house." (Both Dad and I are Grandpa to Calvin!!)

Almost couldn't let them go - how can you resist this sweetheart? Phoebe said, "It's like she has so much joy in her, she just can't keep it all in!"

The laundry room final photo that I tend to do when the Fillmores are heading back home. Next time they come, this may not be a laundry room anymore, so this may be a prize photo!

Theo had a rough night - which meant Mom and Dad did too - so after the Fillmores left, we didn't exactly move into high gear. But hey, as Noah would say, "It's Christmas vacation!" (and Hannah and Robbie were getting over their sickies too!)

We did get organized enough to head out Hollywood way to visit the Observatory

and pay homage to James Dean

and of course visit the Observatory. I can tell we'll need to go back for more exploring - especially since Dad has his new telescope here at home.

It was a bit chilly - at least Dad and I bundled up - the Utah-bound and East Coast-bound found it positively balmy!

If you click on this, it actually is pretty cool. Dad loves to take shots of scenery!

I have so much blogging to do - the trip to Crestline, the family dinner with Grandma Mary, the anniversary posts, the book blog, my own blog - but I've always heard it said that you should start with the present and keep up there while you catch up with the other.

So I'm going to try that.

Happy Birthday Jim!!

Today is Uncle Jim Terrill's birthday - he would have been 65.

It is always difficult to start measuring the "firsts. At the Terrill family Christmas party this year, I was thinking about all the years ago when Jim was always Santa after Pop couldn't do it anymore. Then Doug took over, and this year, Scott did a great job. The traditions go on - but we continue to miss "the way it was."

Hopefully his birthdays will now be days when we reflect on happy times that we have all enjoyed over the years. My memories this year have lingered on the first time I met Jim - when he came to Granada Hills to pick me up to go to dinner at the Terrill homestead in El Monte while Harry Dad was on his mission. It was so easy and comfortable to be around Jim - right from the start!

Happy Birthday Dad!

the party was a little late, but festive nonetheless.

do note the pineapple upside down cake.