The Clayton in us all!

Here's a shot of my cousin Candyce - Byron's daughter - at Dad's funeral in 2000.

And here she is in 1965!! She certainly has a Clayton look about her!

This is a shot of Candyce's son and grandson - whose middle name is Clayton!!

It was great to visit with her Saturday - we have a world of relatives out there folks - and I'm looking forward to getting to know them all better!

Overheard on Sunday

I was so busy enjoying the excellent food at dinner today that I didn't take photos. But I do love Porter - who said, "I'm 4 and a half and a quarter." And after I said he could have some more of the yummy treats Sue Cornwall brought over, he said, "Thanks a lot." And after he found the wheel of bubble gum in the Grandma's Treasure Box, he said, "Thanks Grandma, you're great."

I love them all - Annika called and we had a nice chat too.

I love this built-in fan club I have going here!!

Updates from Uncle Byron

This is Grandpa and Helen - I knew that but thought this would be a good place to post it!

Byron said the girl in this picture is Ruby - and Paul was dating her at the time.

This is Paul with his '34 Ford.

And Byron says this is Byron!

It was great to visit with my uncle - and I called his daughter - my cousin Candy - this a.m. and had a great visit with her.

We are a big, complex family - that's all I can say!

"Two thumbs up!"

Dad and I saw this last night - and it was great!! All the positive reviews are so right on!!

Meryl Streep is amazing - she became Julia Child.

Hannah and Robbie - you will want to see it for the Paris shots alone!!

I may have to break out my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and get going.

Funny story about my copy - when Bonny was a baby, Harry didn't have her give me a Mother's Day gift. I was a little miffed. And told him so.

So the next year, Bonny and little Harry, who had joined the family, gave me the book - it's inscribed "Dear Mom, We love you!" (Actually there are no exclamation points!!)

I'm serious - you need to see this - I need to buy it too!!

"Monrovia Camp" Memories

I forgot and loaded these from newest to oldest instead of the other way around. Oh well, you can figure it out I am sure!!

While Bonny and Ara were at Girls' Camp, we had our own fun here in Monrovia. However, the above shot is from Malibu - I took the girls back home tonight - Bonny, Bruce and Ara weren't back yet, so we got some dinner and ate at the lovely new park on Las Flores.

For Arts and Crafts, the girls and I made a welcome back poster. Dawn helped us out - after years of being the Craft Lady at camp, it was good to sit and make paper flowers!!

Plenty of game time - especially with Ella, after the little girls were in bed. Here we are playing Quiddler - lots of fun!

Tuesday we went bowling - and for ice cream cones afterwards. A nice combination!

The bargain days at the local bowling alley are on Tuesday - and it seems like I've been going every Tuesday for a month now - probably because I have!! I actually won finally - it's about time I developed some skill - even got a strike and a spare!

Emma came with us - fun times with Emma - and her anime hat!

Annika caught on quickly.

And Ella has some good form going there.

Annika kept wanting us to take the ramp away - then she saw the little boy next to us not get any when he didn't use the ramp, so she changed her mind.

When Ella and I were out - Grandpa taught Esme and Annika about Rummikub. They pretty much made some new rules.

Ella and I went for manicures.

Since we hadn't had time to do it for the b-day weekend.

When Ella and I were cruising WalMart when she was last here, we saw this pool for very cheap. Glad we got it - it was a hit - with Husker and Simone too - we tended them Tuesday night too - they found it to be a fine water dish. We were hoping the bears wouldn't come though - they've been hanging in the 'hood of late - the police are now warning us to not leave doors and windows open when we are not at home - a few pesky bears have gotten into houses. Yikes!!

All is vacant and quiet once again - I was pretty well occupied most of the time and forgot to take pictures of some occasions - like when Lone came for dinner Monday night and when Noah came Tuesday night.

Bonny and Ara reported on a wonderful camp experience - glad we could help it happen!

History repeats itself!!

Donna is actually no stranger to falling and breaking bones.

When she was three, she did just that. The picture below is with Bobby.

The great irony was that Mom had been fussing at Dad to get carpet in the "big" house - she was sure someone would fall and crack their head open on the concrete floors. And here Charley is holding her on his shoulders.

So Donna slipped on the carpet, landed funny on her leg, and broke it! (Speaking of legs - those are my legs in the photograph!)

She hated to have her picture taken - and we couldn't figure out why - until we remembered that the technician had told her that the X-rays would not hurt - they were just going to take a picture! So she associated the pain of the broken leg with taking a picture.

I think all this happened the summer Mom was pregnant with David - who was born in August - imagine having your 3 year old with a broken leg when you are 8 months pregnant!

Happy healing Donna - take care!!

Sunday Best

Found some very tiny photos when I was going through Mom's pics. This was the biggest I could get them without losing all quality.

It's my dad with Richard, Billy and Bobby - obviously in their Sunday best.

I don't think Bobby, Billy or Richard ever looks at the blog - but maybe someone else can guess the vintage.

On the same contact sheet, was this shot. I'm the one on the porch in a housecoat. I suspect it's high school - since I grew my hair out in college. Which would be the early 60's.

Maybe I had a new camera and suggested they all go out so I could take their picture.

Weekend Wrap-up

Saturday dawned a little overcast, but it burned off quickly. Noah and I headed out to GH to say hi to the invalid and to help them clean up and restore order after all the guests checked out. It's fun to have folks over, but it always means a clean up job afterwards!

Noah did the bathrooms, kitchen and vacuumed - as an ace bathroom cleaner myself, I can say he did a great job. My knees prevent me from getting down to clean, Donna was laid up, Mary went to San Jose to see Kelli's and her new baby - and Mom was just plain bushed!! (And to top it all off, their a/c is on the fritz!!) I did sort photos, dusted, and bugged Mom and Donna to clear off the clutter! Did some laundry too. Things looked good when we left.

Saturday night was the wedding reception for Trevor Bell - who married Jennifer Marshall. Funny story - the first year I went to camp with Phoebe, Jennifer was a 3 week old infant whose mom was in charge of cooking - and there she was with a new baby!! (So much for all the lame excuses we hear!) Her mom said it was easier to be at camp than to be home with her 3 boys!! (A lot of young women stood in line to take turns holding the baby too!)

I was thinking maybe Trevor wouldn't remember me - but he said, "Of course I remember you - Sister Friendly!!" I must confess, that really warmed the old cockles of my heart!

Sunday Bonny, Bruce and girls came out - we supped at Harry and Dawn's - their cousin Samantha was with them too - she's going to camp with Ara and Bonny.

As usual, the attic was where the action was!

Esme and Eve are contemplating a fun few days together!

Baby Harry took a long, late nap - so he was eating dinner while Greg was working on his dessert!.

We think this is a Power Ranger costume - Annika was loving it.

Ara and her cousin bid adieu!

Bonny and Bruce hustled home to get ready for the next phase of the adventure that is going to Girls' Camp.

"So long, farewell, . . ."

"Have fun!"

Playing in the backyard

These two photos were given to me by my cousin Craig Clayton when he had them displayed at Uncle Paul's funeral and I asked him for copies.

My dad looks pretty young - a teenager - and so they could be from around the time his mother died - or just before.

Looks like they were building things in the backyard.

Gotta love my dad's hair!!

Hmm - I wonder??

When I went to BYU the first year, I kept a daily journal. When I read it now, very little of it comes back to me. I know I wrote it, but I don't remember it. Same with a journal I kept when I went to school in France. It's not just my advancing years. 30 years ago when I re-read those journals, very little was memorable. I guess I wrote about really frivolous stuff.


The same thing happens with photographs. When Mom, Joan, Donna and I came across this shot, no one had a memory of the occasion. It was a slide - and so I am wondering if it was taken either before or after I got back from France - because I used my dad's camera in France and it took slides. But Leslie and Donna look a little too young for that time frame.

Any memories from anyone?? For historical purposes, those are curlers in Joan's hair. And I remember those hot pink pants I have on - and I took them to college with me too - so this could be 1962 or 3.

Ted's Family

This is my Uncle Ted - my dad's second to youngest brother in the "first" family. (His mother was Agnes also.) I think it's probably an ROTC uniform - and Ted is about 15 in this photo.

Here's my Grandpa Clayton with his second wife Helen. Next to her is Ted and next to Grandpa is Helen's son John from a previous marriage.

This is a photo of Ted and Audrey's first three children.
This photo was taken in 1954. Oldest to youngest they are Pat, Peg, and Phyllis.

Many of the Terrills have never even met Ted's kids - they used to live in Covina - and Harry was the Ward Teaching companion to their family. When Dad and I were "courting," I would go out with Dad on Saturday nights - and then spend the night at Audrey's - Ted's (ex) wife - house. On Sunday a.m. Dad would pick me up and I'd go to church in El Monte with him. I usually spent the day with the Terrills - and in the evening Dad would drive me home. Back then, we thought the distance between GH and El Monte was excessive!!

This is Phyllis - and she is about 20 months old. She is wearing roller skates in the picture - Grandpa Clayton - my Grandpa Clayton - carried this photo around in his wallet - and told people that he had a granddaughter who roller-skated before she could walk!!

Here are Phyllis and her little brother Jimmy with Grandpa. I only have photos of my Aunt Audrey in her later years. But she was a beautiful woman - and one of my favorite aunts.

This was taken in summer of 2005. I think Audrey died two years later, because the next year, I took Mom to visit her.

Here is Grandpa with just Jimmy. We used to drive through Azusa when we went to Covina to visit Ted and Audrey - I'm not sure when they divorced, but Ted died many years ago - he was only 55 when he died. Anyway, my dad would say that the town of Azusa stood for "Everything From A to Z in the USA." In actual fact, Azusa is named for Rancho de Azusa. But the other definition has merit too!!