November is over - almost!

This is a fave photo of mine - for many reasons - but as the end of November - the month of gratitude - winds down - I am aware that I have left many days un-noted.

That doesn't mean I'm not grateful.  But it does mean that I have been spending a lot of November days traveling with Harry - and getting ready for traveling and getting back from traveling - and for that I am grateful - grateful enough to fill a whole year's worth of posts!

Not sure of the date of this photo, but it's pretty old.

So are we, actually!

What's in a name?

When Harry W. was born, Harry, Dawn and family were living with us - while their house was being remodeled. 

They couldn't decide on a name - so we kept a running tally on the white board - it was a fun time!

Noah went without a name for 3 weeks after he was born.  Maybe if we'd had a whiteboard it would have happened sooner!

Kind of behind!

On our recent trip to Guatemala, I noted how many beautiful trees, flowers, bushes, and hedges there were. It is so lush and colorful - I could be happy in a place like that. Our son-in-law Bruce noted, "It's either 75 and sunny or 75 and raining there." 

I loved looking out each morning and seeing all the beautiful trees and flowers. I am grateful that such beauty exists - and that I can enjoy it.

(I used to grow calla lilies and amaryllis in our yard - somewhere along the way, they ceased to grow.  It could have more to do with my skills than anything else!)

Grateful - yes!

I am grateful for the beach.  It makes California the place everyone wants to be. 

That can be a problem - as we are seeing now with the fires.

But I do love an outing to the beach!

A little nature goes a long way!

I am go grateful for the bougainvillea that not only grows in our yard, but grows in the yards all around us. It always makes me smile!

A Terrill Treasure!

We are grateful that Harry chose Dawn for many reasons, but we are certainly grateful that she introduced us to Mimi Cakes!

Gratitude - every day!

53 years ago at this time, I was home  working to earn money to go on a Study Abroad program to Grenoble, France. It turned out to be a wonderful experience - well worth the time spent earning the money to go.

I am grateful for the encouragement and support I received so that I could go - and I'm grateful for the experience of going!

Another day of gratitude

Grateful for Harry's mission - and the impact it has had on all of our lives!

I love this photo. I love what it's like with a new baby in the house - I was third oldest of 12 and got to welcome lots of new babies. And as a grandma of 22, I have been on hand to welcome those new babies.

I am grateful that new babies have been such a big part of my life!

I am still thankful!

Grateful for Seminary - the early morning variety - and the great blessing it was for each of our children.

Gratitude - Day 7

Today is my dad's birthday - he would have been 102. On his birthday, he always said, "On the day I was born, Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States." 

I am so grateful that my dad could be counted on:  counted on to wear suspenders, counted on to honk the horn if you didn't get out of the house fast enough, counted on to tell you he couldn't carry a tune in a basket, counted on to help with posters for school assignments, counted on for rides to stake dances, counted on to be a great dad.

He was a blessing in my life.

More gratitude to express!

This is a photo of Harry's Aunt Dorothy. She was a delightful as her smile is!

 

The woman in the middle of this photo is my Aunt Dorothy - married to my mom's brother Steve.

I am grateful for Aunt Dorothys - everyone should have one!

Gratitude - Day 5

We have taken some road trips in our time - but they haven't been particularly legendary. And we have taken some camping trips - but not really a lot of them.

This particular trip was in my brother Bill's van. We had moved to California a couple of years before, but I'm not even sure where we went to camp - I remember little about the trip except the fact that Bonny wanted me to practice doing French braids - and so on that trip I did just that!

I am grateful for camping trips - and for knowing how to French braid!!

Grateful each day

I am not an animal person. I grew up with dogs, but they were outside animals and I knew little more than their names.

(The above shot is Cosmo.)

 

 (The above shot is Amado.)

Harry grew up with animals and loved them and is a great animal person. But a weekend tending my brother's German shepherd was enough to persuade him that cats would do!

I am grateful for the three

 (The cat in the background is Elizabeth.)

cats who were a part of ours and our children's lives. Amado was cared for by the missionaries Harry was teaching at the LTM, and when they left, we took over. It was a task to hide this kitten in the apartment we were renting - the apartment that didn't allow pets! Amado disappeared one day - and we ran an ad and he was returned! Then he disappeared again and we never saw him again. It was sad.

Our good friends the Swensons had too many cats - and offered to give us Elizabeth - and Bonny and Harry as young children enjoyed her immensely. But she contracted cat leukemia and died - in spite of our best efforts. We had  little funeral for her - and Harry talked about the resurrection. That night at family prayer, Bonny prayed that Elizabeth could be resurrected the next day! Harry commented that may he needed to clarify things for her!

What followed were several years of no cats - Bonny had a parakeet, Harry had a guinea pig and a snake. And we had fish.

Then Cosmo came into our lives - literally being dumped on our street.  Harry  promised he'd get his Eagle if I would let them keep him - and I took him up on his offer!

Cosmo grew old with us - and we loved him. But one day he disappeared. We sent out flyers. Turned out our neighbors knew him well - he hung out at their homes often. One neighbor called him Mr. Chang. One neighbor called him Sophomore - because he was smarter than their cat - whose name was Freshman!

We never found him or his remains. The common belief is that he was killed by a coyote. We did have a lovely memorial service for him - and sang "Cats" in his honor. 

And so the last many years has passed without a pet in our house. But we can enjoy other pets that belong to other people and other people are responsible for them.

But I do enjoy Lady Mary!

Day 3 - grateful for the charming Miss Rhoda!

Today is Rhoda's 5th birthday - and in addition to being grateful for her and grateful to be one of her grandmothers, I am generally grateful for 5 year olds. They are a lot of fun to be around.  They are pretty independent. They are good conversationalists. And they still like to be read to!

Always looking forward to time with Rhoda!

Day two of the Month of Gratitude

I am grateful to be a grandparent.  Here we are with our first - Ara Grace - born 21 years ago - and now we have 22 grandchildren and one more on the way.

It gets better all the time - these wonderful children are a joy and a blessing - perhaps I should do some individual posts about the aspects of grandparenting that bring me joy!

I always loved my grandparents - maybe that pre-disposed me to enjoy the job.

But enjoy it I do!

Month of Gratitude - or "I've got plenty to be thankful for!"

I post on FB, Instagram, the Terrill blog, and my own blog - and it seems like I ought to have enough things to be thankful for that I woudn't have to duplicate any! I guess we will see - keeping track is a task - I suppose I ought to be grateful that I can still keep track of things!

In the past year, the Clayton homestead was sold - and if you drove by, it would not look like this - this is from over 50 years ago. But even the modern version we were most familiar with is very changed. It has a handicap ramp installed on the front and one side, and the yard has been left to die and get full of weeds.

So I don't drive by - once was enough. But I do remember the house very well - I can close my eyes and be there. I can recall Sunday afternoons in the living room with the LA Times spread all around. I can recall coming home late from a babysitting job and tip-toeing down the hall. I can recall Sunday dinners in a very crowded dining room. I can recall Christmas mornings in the living room with tissue-paper covered chairs because our Santa didn't wrap gifts - he covered them with a layer of white tissue paper.

The memories go on and on - and I am grateful not only for good memories but for a place that was home for many, many years - all the remembering years of my youth and young adulthood and parenthood and later adulthood. Not everyone gets to call the same place home for over 60 years!

Grateful for home!