Month of Gratitude - days 27, 28, 29, and 30!

Got bogged down the last four days of the Month of Gratitude. So I picked four random photos that had 4 people in them. And sure enough, there was something to be grateful for in each one of them.

I am grateful for cousins and sisters-in-law! Frances always said she grew up wishing she had a sister - and she is as good as a biological sister - I am grateful for her and her children and the part they have played - and still play - in our lives.

Well, when you get married, you get a new family.  I am indeed grateful to be a Terrill - and for the blessing it has been - and continues to be - to be part of the Terrill family.

 

I loved being Young Women President in our ward for 4 years - and loved the women I worked with.  I am grateful for that opportunity that I had.

 

Just like it's great to move into a new family, it is great to have someone move into yours. I am grateful for Dawn and the blessing she is to Harry and her children - and to us!! The Terrill sisters were happy to welcome a new sister - because you can never have too many sisters.

Month of Gratitude - days 25 and 26

For two of my summers as a college student, I worked as a playground recreation leader for LAUSD. I had fond memories myself of going to the playground in the summertime, so it didn't seem a lot like work.  We did have a weekly inservice on Wednesdays, but they were fun and instructive. In fact, the first time I went, I was in a group with my former 4th grade teacher - was really great to re-connect.

I also coached the 6th grade girls volleyball team - me, the non-athlete, coaching a team.  But it was fun - I got a book and found out the rules - and instructed the girls - they were good - they just needed a cheerleader. 

I am grateful for a summer of fun and learning - and these little girls came to my wedding reception later that year!

Month of Gratitude - days 23 and 24

Seems fitting to have this photo of two people to commemorate the 2 days I have to catch up on!!

Spent this weekend with Leslie and her family - and a wonderful time was had by all!

I am grateful for so many things this photo projects - sisters, enjoying one another's company, visiting family, celebrating birthdays, and memories.

I could wish  that I still looked as young - but that would mean I'd have to re-live all those years.

Grateful for progress - even with the wrinkles!

Days of Gratitude - 20, 21, 22!

Since I have missed 3 days again, seems fitting to post a picture featuring a trio - in this case a trio of Clayton sisters!

This was Christmas, obviously, and it looks like we were dressed in our finery.

I am grateful for Christmas memories of yore - when we were a family that didn't include any inlaws - or outlaws!!

It's good to grow - but then again it's good to reflect on the years of the "Clayton family!"

Month of Gratitude, day 19

These students are among the first students I had when I began teaching. I think I had only been teaching for 2 or 3 years.

The girl in the front was Lily Royalty - a lovely name. A cute girl - but one who didn't have the best home life and who never really found happiness. In fact, she found drugs - and her life was shortened as a result.

Her teachers at the high school tried to help her, but perhaps it was too late.

So why am I grateful? I am grateful because she seemed happy when she was in class with me. I am grateful that I apparently made a difference - at least for a short time - in her life.

I encountered many Lily's in my years of teaching. And I tried my best to help them. Some succeeded. Some didn't. 

But I am grateful for the chance to make a difference - even if only for a short time.

Day 18 of the Month of Gratitude!

I am grateful for the Activity Days program in the church - at least the program they used to have - and the new one will be great too - but I have always wanted to be the Activity Days leader!

Because of my love for the program, I always volunteered to do a Poetry or Literature lesson - and it was always fun!

These girls are grown and flown now - it was a long time ago!!

Grateful I got to work with them!

Days 15, 16, 17 of the Month of Gratitude!

I am so behind - it's three days, so I went looking for photos of trios of kids - and found these treasures.

 

The spacing of our children was almost like three separate families - Bonny and Harry, Phoebe, and the little kids!

 

Who grew into some lovely "big kids!"

Grateful indeed - and Harry always says if they'd all come closer together, I might not have managed it well!

Maybe he's right!  

Month of Gratitude - days 13 and 14!

Since I missed a day, I will include two photos and call it even!

Does everyone have an Aunt Dorothy? It seems that way.

I had one - and Harry had one - and we both loved them dearly.

Everyone should have an Aunt Dorothy!!

So grateful for both Aunt Dorothys!

Month of Gratitude - day 12

I am grateful for games - and grandkids who like to play them with me!

As a kid growing up, we mostly played Old Maid or Monopoly - sometimes the games would go on for days and we'd have to make more paper money!

The fun of playing games often gets lost in the shuffle of movies and video games - but I have found that most kids can be tempted to try a real board or card game.

I am not such a fan of Candyland though! (Or Chutes and Ladders!)

Month of Gratitude - day 11

Soldiers - and doctors and nurses and teachers and drivers and workers and so many have given their lives in war or have supported the fighting contingents - and I am grateful for their sacrifices.

I also fervently hope that one day we will find an alternative to war - for that I think we all would be eternally grateful!

Month of Gratitude - Day 10

Grateful for Harry's parents - for loving me and our children - and for raising Harry to be the fine man that he is.

And grateful that they were a big part of our lives and that their influence is still felt.

Month of Gratitude - Day 9

Grateful for Terrill grandkids - there are 23 now - and at this moment, there is not a current photo.

Back when there were 8 grandkids!

It's a never-ending quest to have a current photo, with all the grandkids, all with a pleasant expression and facing in the same direction!

We love these great kids - and count them among the most treasured blessings in our lives!

Month of Gratitude Day 8: We love that Noah!!

Oh, that cute Noah - we are go glad he is part of our family! He loves to perform - always has, probably always will!

He completes our family - and we are grateful he came to our home!

Month of Gratitude - Day 7

Oh that cute Hannah! She has always been one to not let stuff get in her way.  She learned to crawl in spite of casts for 6 months to correct her club feet. And she didn't let the crazy brace she had to wear at night interfere with sleeping!

She continues to learn and grow and explore and find new options - she is an inspiration - so grateful she is a member of our family!

Gratitude - Day 6

So grateful for Eliza - such a blessing in our lives.

I vividly recall when she got out of the house once - and walked to the middle of Hillcrest - she was about 18 months old! Someone brought her back to our house - we had not noticed she was gone - I think I thought she was in the back yard playing.

They knew where to bring her because she had a Medic Alert bracelet.  And she had a Medic Alert bracelet because I was in charge of the PTA Medic Alert bracelet sale at the kids' school!

(We had a foster son who was living with us - and not particularly adjusting well - and he had opened the front door!)

So grateful she survived all that!!

She makes our family better and brighter just by being who she is!!

Gratitude - day 5

There are 5 years between Harry and Phoebe - and those seemed like a long 5 years. The children kept asking for a brother or sister - and didn't understand why we weren't heeding their request.

One Family Home Evening, we talked about how much we wanted another child and suggested that we fast and pray about it. Bonny and Harry were young, but they wanted to do it. And so we had a special Fast Sunday and prayed specifically for a new baby - and lo and behold, the next month I got pregnant with Phoebe!

Bonny and Harry were not as surprised as we were - they had expected their prayers to be answered!

At one point before this action, Bonny had told several people in the ward that we were having a baby - I think in her young mind she thought that if she told that to people, I'd make sure it happened. When we told them we were indeed having a new baby, we told Bonny she could be the one to announce it at church.  Imagine her chagrin when no one believed her!

Phoebe - whose name means light - is indeed a light in our family!

Gratitude - days 3 and 4

Bonny and Harry - kids one and two - and just them until Phoebe came - and there were good times.

 

Mostly the Rock House years in Centerville come to mind - lots of adventures.

 

They were both small enough that many of the memories are vague for them - Harry and I try to keep them alive - but they were lovely, special years and we are grateful for them.

Gratitude - days one and two!

Grateful for loving parents and a houseful of siblings. Can't say I always appreciated my parents or my siblings - but I do now!

A blessing indeed!

 

Grateful that I went to BYU and found the man of my dreams - even if I didn't know it at the time!!

It's been a wonderful 52 years and looking forward to forever!

Halloween!

Halloween has a place in the Terrill annals - some years it has been more prominent than others though!

The year we moved to Monrovia, Bonny wanted to be Miss America, Harry wanted to be Luke Skywalker, and Phoebe just loved dressing up.

And it all came out pretty well!

 

And many years later, Star Wars was still on the list for preferred costumes - Henry as a young Luke is charming also - just like his Uncle Harry!

Wonder what this year will bring??

"Try to remember the kind of September . . ."

There is an old song - "Try to Remember" - that came to mind today. I thought about it being September 1st - and all that means - and used to mean.

It usually means back to school, end of summer.

 

54 years ago it meant staying home a semester from BYU to save up to go to France for a Study Abroad. Such a great time in my life. Lots of good memories.

Lots of birthdays - Helen and Eve share one.

 

Harry shares his day with about 8 other people we know! Must be a good day.

 

Ella shares a bday with our good friend Sue Cornwall! 

 

And Taylor's is the day before

Summer may be over, but it's still hot. But the days are shorter.

The focus changes even as the leaves do - albeit much more slowly in SoCal than they do elsewhere.

It's time to think about holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years.

"Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and oh so mellow.

Try to remember the kind of September

When grass was green and grain was yellow.

Try to remember the kind of September

When you were a tender and callow fellow.

Try to remember and if you remember

then follow

follow."

A little summertime reflection!

Found these funny "driving" photos - and have thought about how the grandchildren seem to grow up faster every year.

 

Then I recall that the years flew by with their moms and dads too!

 

Once I said, "The years seem to go by faster every year." And wise Ella said, "Well, maybe that's because there is more behind you than in front of you."

Now there is some food for thought!

Latest read -

I have been spending most of my reading hours on Deborah Crombie novels - and have barreled through 13 of the 14 - but need to save the last one for my plane ride to Virginia next month! (Since her next book does not debut until October!)

Got this from Phoebe when I was there recently - started it but got sidetracked. So I picked it up again and quite enjoyed it.

Somehow stories about people with personality disorders can get tedious at times - but this author was able to create a believable environment that only got tedious a time or two!

At first I thought it was about a young woman on the spectrum - and much of her behavior mimics spectrum behavior - but there is a deeper and more compelling story that emerges.

And I won't say any more in case you plan to read it.

It's a good read - and would work for an airplane ride too!

Reunion time!

We do a Clayton reunion every other year - and this is the year!

Every year I say I'm not going to be in charge the next time. And then I'm in charge the next time!

Fewer and fewer people come every year - and some key players will not be available this year.  So I put it out there on social media that maybe I would not do it.  And of course got lots of "Yes we are coming this year" kind of replies.

I guess we will see.

Reading, reading, always reading!

I have a penchant for series of books.  I loved the Hornblower series, the Poldark series, as a kid I loved the Little House on the Prairie books, as a teen I also had a penchant for trying to read every book one author had written - and I have read all of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, Edna Ferber, and John Grisham.

Upon reflection, some of these don't seem particularly literarily upscale - if you follow my drift. But I think the continuity appeals to me - it's like the people become real, the places seem to be someplace I can see in my mind's eye, and I like that the story doesn't end!

Right now I am absorbed in the Deborah Crombie murder mysteries - Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James - detectives extraordinaire - and very British.

Maybe it's because I've been traveling and good "airplane fiction" can be hard to find.

But if you love a good detective team, give these a try.

And I feel the same way about listening to Louis L'Amour novels when we take road trips!

Where did April go?

I have truly gotten behind in blogging - posting on two blogs can be a problem!

I have read some good books - which I neglected to post - and have been whiling away the hours with the compelling murder mystery.  I have actually never been a real murder mystery fan - and now I think I know why - they eat up too much time! They are interesting, compelling, and all-together too time-consuming.

But it's May - and I need to start devoting time to memorizing the DMV handbook so I can pass the written test this month!

And the Easter photo is a homage to April!!

"There is no frigate like a book . . ."

Since 2019 began, I have been reading a lot - and posting very little!  For one thing, I read the entire series of Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny - all 14 of them! (actually I read the last 6 in 2019 - the first 8 in 2018) I will not review them separately, but I will say that they make a lovely list of books to have at your bedside! (Literally or figuratively!)  Everyone I have recommended them to has loved them - and I have discovered that many, many other people have discovered them without me! A big thank you to Phoebe for persisting in encouraging me to read them!

I picked up Under the Wide and Starry Sky at the Book Rack in the dollar bin.  The woman wrote Loving Frank, a fictionalized bio of Frank Lloyd Wright, and I thought this might be a good way to learn about Robert Louis Stevenson. And it was. But like Loving Frank, it is not great literature, and even drags in places.

 

One of my home/hospital students needs to read this, so I read it too. I didn't think I read it, but passages seemed very familiar - perhaps they have been quotes somewhere. 

It is a compelling piece of holocaust writing - but very spare. Seems like a good place to start - thus it seems appropriate for students.

 

Hannah recommended this - and it is excellent! I would like to see this book become compulsory reading for high school students - everyone needs to know the true story of slavery in America - and this book goes a long way towards achieving such a goal.

 

Found this in the dollar bin too - and thought that maybe short stories would be good for our book group to tackle - and these were enjoyable but not exceptional - and would need to be discussed as a body - thus it wouldn't be a shorter assignment.

There are a good example of female, Southern, regional fiction - in case you cared.

Also read The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz - a pretty good murder mystery, but I am actually a little tired of murder mysteries. The author has written the screenplays for the BBC production Endeavor - which I love!

Also read Unshattered by Carole Decker - about a woman who contracts sepsis after an emergency c-section and loses her lower legs, her left hand and her vision! It is a good read.

So now I'm caught up. 

And I need to choose a book for book group for next month.

And where did January and February go??

Well, if I post nothing else this month - and it's highly likely that it might come to that - we will at least have noted the Ides of March! Originally done way back when - as in when we lived in Butterfield Arms in Salt Lake City in 1973!!

Ronnie Horton's birthday is the Ides of March - and so we decided to celebrate by re-enacting the assassination of Julius Caeser. 

And thus a tradition was born!

 

We used to have an Ides of March party every year - the guest list grew - and shrank - and grew again.

 

Some years it was an extended FHE activity.

 

And there are lots of stories to tell about how kids and grandkids reacted to the activity.  My favorite is the year Dawn came when she and Harry were just engaged.  After we finished, she said, "That was short - I thought it was much longer."

She had assumed we would be doing the whole play!! (We have long had an abridged version we use.) 

I was impressed that she had come willing to do the whole thing!!

 

Soon it got to be too much - for lots of reasons - and so we don't do it anymore.

But we love the memories!