FHE

Grateful for Family Home Evening - then and now!!  What a blessing in our lives!

I love words!!

I have always loved to read and write.  And I had wonderful teachers through the years who helped me hone my skills.  And thoughtful parents who bought me an electric typewriter when I graduated from high school - in today's terms, that's like being given a new Mac or an iPhone or an iPad.  (Only mine came from Sears - but it did the job!!)

"Couldn't have done better if I'd picked them myself!"

So thankful for the wonderful choices in mates that our first 5 kids have made!!  Noah has some wonderful examples to follow!

"All the world's a stage . . ."

So grateful for the opportunity to study abroad - in Grenoble, France - for 6 months.  It was a life-changing experience for sure!!

"I love to see the temple . . ."

So thankful for a temple marriage and a forever family!!

Busy hands!!

Really grateful that my sister Alice pushed me to learn how to really sew.  And grateful to my mom for sending me remnants to practice on.  And grateful that Bonny wanted me to make her wedding dress - the mileage I've gotten out of that fact will last me a lifetime!!  (Not that I deserve any kudos, but it really does start a conversation these days!)

Other lives/other persona perhaps!!

 Phoebe - definitely "Queen of the Costume!"

Do thrift store finds count as costumes?  Or dress-up clothes??

 

Playing dress-up will never end!!

 

Is this "virtual" dress up??

 

I remember that dress!!

 

I guess everything counts as dress up!

Noah - the King of Costume maybe??

 

Phoebe - working it in to high school even!!

 

Not sure of the motif here!!

I am grateful for imaginative children and grandchildren who love dress up - things can't go too far wrong if we can still enjoy the dress up box!!

"Enter to learn, go forth to serve!"

So grateful that I was encouraged to attend college - and that I graduated when I did - so that later on, that diploma could serve me well!

Can you believe it??

Thankful that big hair and spiral perms are no longer in vogue!!

Becoming Grandparents

So thankful for the great blessing of becoming grandparents.  Just like becoming parents, the job keeps getting better and better, but grandchild number one always holds a special place in your heart.

I love these grandparenting years - and the wonderful grandchildren that have come along!!

"I sigh that kiss you,

for I must own, 

 

that I shall miss you,

 

when you have grown."

 

Lines from a poem by William Butler Yeats - a favorite of mine.

 Photos are worth thousands of words indeed,

and browsing through them, and remembering the times they represent, is a lovely kind of blessing.

"Called to serve"

I am very thankful for the opportunity I had to serve for 5 years as the Arcadia Stake Relief Society President.  I confess that when I was called, I was a little over-whelmed.  I was a ward R.S. President and felt that I had hit my stride, that I knew what I was doing.  Now I'd have to start all over and learn a new job!!

When I was called, I kept hemming and hawing and saying, "I don't know what to say."  My sweet husband chimed in with , "Yes is always a good place to start!"

It turned out to be the best job ever!!  And a lot of that was due to the wonderful women I got to serve with.  Brenda was soon called as a ward R.S. President, then they took Amy for a ward assignment.  But Yukari was a great member of the team, and it was truly a blessing to have Trina on board.  Elizabeth and I were the only originals - and that was a special experience.  I don't necessarily miss the job, but I do miss my regular association with some pretty great women.

Yes is indeed a good place to start - it leads to blessings you didn't even know you wanted to receive!

"California, here I come!!"

I am so thankful that we moved to Monrovia back in 1979.

 

I have had to "eat my words" many times in my life, but probably never more dramatically than when we made the decision to return to Southern California.

It's an old story.  I didn't want to move.  We had just moved into a new house we had built.  A house we had built with the understanding that it would be our "forever home!"  We had been in Centerville for 6 years.  Our family had been blessed with another child.  Our children were enrolled in school there.  Harry was in the bishopric, serving with a wonderful bishop.

Harry went down to SoCal to consult with his dad about a job.  It was February - not Utah's best show.  In California,  in Harry's words, "the sky was blue, the sun was warm, the palm trees were waving."  It was pretty compelling when his dad said, "Well, this can all be yours."

The story has often been told - it has taken on some elements of myth in fact - but when all is said and done, I can't imagine another life than the one we have had here in Monrovia.  Three children joined our family - native Californians for sure!  We stayed on Lime for 4 years and created some great memories.  Being near our extended families was a great blessing - especially when Pop joined the church, the family was sealed in the temple, and Pop and Helen were able to serve a mission.

We bought a home on Primrose - we've been here for 30 years - and it's been a great 30 years.  Harry was called as bishop.  I enjoyed years in Relief Society and Young Women presidencies.  Our children have graduated from Monrovia High School and various universities - mainly UCSB and BYU.

Five of our children have found wonderful spouses.  16 grandchildren have joined us.  

 

It is indeed a wonderful life!

Thankful for "home for the holidays!"

I love that everyone loves to gather for the holidays - and has for many years - as can be seen by this family photo from 1997.

I love predictions, and Golf games, and talent shows, and trading art, and drawing names, and tiny hats, and "crackers," and potato soup with all the toppings.

And I'm getting a little bit excited thinking about the upcoming holidays - starting with going East for Thanksgiving!!

"I've got plenty to be thankful for!!"

Thinking thankfully -

I absolutely recall the night this photo was taken.  Bonny was home from school for a weekend or something and everyone was kind of horsing around.  Then we decided to take a photo and someone suggested a pyramid shot - this was as close as we could get!!

Having children spread out over 17 years can be challenging - but it can also be a blessing.  I'm so grateful that our kids chose to see it as a blessing.  And grateful that they love one another!

When I count my blessings,

I count my sisters, one by one!!  I hesitated to write this - wondering if my brothers would be offended.  But then I figured out that my brothers probably don't even read my blog!!  Besides,  I'm thankful for them too, but there is something unique and special about sisters!!

Leslie is here from Nebraska for a few days.  Mother, Mary, Donna, Leslie, and I were sitting around in the living room and chatting and it was just great.  (We missed Alice and Joan!!)

Some of my sisters are younger than me, and I really didn't develop a significant relationship with them until we were all adults.  But that doesn't detract.  Growing up,  Alice was pretty much my best friend - I have often wondered how women grow up without a sister!!  Obviously lots of them do, but the Lord must have known that I needed one!!  (or two or three or four or five!!)

My own daughters are loving sisters too - and that is a blessing.  So are my granddaughters.  I never tire of telling the story of when Annika was born.  Ara, Ella, and Esme were staying with me while Bonny was at the hospital.  They hadn't found out the gender ahead of time, so the plan was for Bruce to call and tell Ara, and she could then have the privilege of telling all of us.

Bruce called, talked to Ara, and she then turned from the phone and said, "Well, now we are our own Little Women."

It is no coincidence that we all love Little Women too!!  (At least all my daughters do!!)

Thankful for

 our home.  Most of the world does not have the luxury of owning their own home - or even sharing their ownership with the bank for a few years.  It is a blessing I often take for granted too.  

On Halloween, as a group of somewhat older trick-or-treaters came to the door, I heard a familiar voice say, "This is Mrs. Terrill's house!  I didn't know that."  I smiled - it was a boy who is dear enough, but he doesn't always try or work very hard - he does not seem to value learning or education.  I was struck by his comment, though, when he saw me.  He said, "Well, you get to live in a really safe neighborhood, don't you?"

I do indeed live in a lovely, safe neighborhood.  And it is a blessing.

(This photo is from 1984 by the way!!  In case you wondered about the aluminum awnings - which Bruce always thought we should have kept!!)

Another blessing in my life

has been the opportunity to serve as a ward Relief Society president two times!  I wasn't sure it was a blessing when I was called - I was trembling in my boots wondering how I would do it.  But great counselors and a very supportive ward made the job a joy!

 

One of the blessings I was not particularly expecting was the opportunity to meet so many lovely women I did not know.  I didn't find them pining to come back to church, but they were all more than willing to be friendly and welcoming!  I think that's a pretty good trade-off!

The above photo is of 10 different Monrovia Ward Relief Society Presidents - and I'm delighted to be able to call each one a friend!

A month of Thanksgiving!!

So I was thinking that with a new month,  I would try each day to think of something I am especially thankful for - and maybe find a photo to go along with it.

I certainly have more than 30 blessings, but I'm thinking it will be good to reflect on them all - and maybe ferret out 30 of them to mention specifically.

Blessing number 1 - the gift of motherhood.  I am pregnant with Eliza in this photo.  And I'm pretty sure that is Jamie in the photo with me.  Pregnancy has its ups and downs.  It's mostly a positive state - but nausea and swelling and other discomforts can get tiresome.  Except in retrospect. And then you wonder why you complained because the result was always so worth it.

Being a mother is a wonderful blessing in my life.  The older I get, the more I value my own mother.  The more I see in her the great love and sacrifice she endured for each of her children.  And the older I get, the more I love and value my own children.  What a joy when they call and express their love and appreciation.  What fun it is to see them and play rounds of Golf with them - or Scrabble - or just laugh and joke - especially the esoteric family jokes that no one else understands.  What deep and abiding satisfaction comes as you see your children becoming wonderful parents and adults themselves.

Children - truly an heritage of the Lord!

At the close of Bontober!!

We do have a family full of folks born in October - but only one who celebrates Bontober - with such vim and verve too!!

So let me just say Happy Bontober to you - it's been a good month - hope the memories last all year!!

Airplane Reading

We recently flew to Portland - and lucky for me the newest Grisham had arrived in the mail the day before!!  It was some great airplane reading - and also filled my time when I was babysitting while Sully napped and everyone else went to the kids' games.

Generally speaking I love reading John Grisham novels - some are better than others.  Once there was one I could not plow through - I think it was The Brethren - but generally they do the job for me - that is, they entertain and keep my interest.

This is a really good one - when I told Harry it was not regular Grisham but had a twist that worked well - he said, "Isn't there someone who is wrongly accused?"  Well, there is someone who is wrongly accused, but trust me on this one folks -  the twist works really well.

I won't say anymore - but let me know if you read it!

My cousin Chaz posted on FB about a comment a band teacher had written in his yearbook.  And it piqued my curiosity,  so I pulled out one of my old yearbooks - the first one I came to in fact - and the comments there were amusing, to say the least.

Let me digress here with some info:  I went to LA Unified Schools - back when they were pretty great schools I might add - and one of the routines they followed was to have students start and finish at the semester.  I started school in February when I was almost 5, and graduated in January, when I was almost 18.

That said, students elected to student body offices served just one semester, and then a new election was held every semester.  We changed our classes every semester too - teachers, students, the whole enchilada.  I frankly think the semester system is superior to the year plan - but I'm in a distinct minority.  I remember being appalled when I discovered that our children would have the same teacher - or teachers - for an entire year!  What if you didn't like the teacher - or the class? 

Back to the point I had in mind when I started this - some of the quotes from the old yearbook pages.  The reason I had to explain is because I had been elected Student Body President in June - and would serve for my last semester in high school.  It was a close race - I won by 17 votes!!  And I ran against the captain of the football team!  (Who wrote:  "Barbara, Women have no place in government and furthermore you're a dodo.  Drop dead!  Bad luck!")

I will acknowledge that I was not the first girl elected at my school - there had been one a couple of years before me.  But it was quite a few years after me before another girl got elected.  Hopefully I didn't ruin it for the other girls, and it was just a quirk of fate that no more girls got in the "Oval Office" at  GHHS for several years!

So here are some random selections:

"Barbara, I can't believe that next semester will be so wonderful.  Let's bring our usual vice and corruption into student council politics."

"Barbara, I agree with Anne, keep our politics dirty, it's the only way we'll get anything done!!  Good Luck PRESIDENT!!"

"Barbara, good luck and best wishes in your big job next year."

"Good Luck in the coming semester as president Barbara.  Do as good a job as those before you have done and add your touch."

"Barb, Lots of Luck always espicpally (sp) with your High Office.  Your real neat."

"Barbara, To a real good joe.  I want you to get me a lot of favors next semester when your (sic) Queen Barbara.  Best of luck next year and forever."

"To the future Student Body President.  Best of luck "Bossing" the school."

And this one - which puzzles me - the things we forget I guess:

"Barbara, 

Beautiful Blond.

Famed Student Body Officer.

Fan of Roi Tans

May you always be happy."

Roi Tans???

"Trailing clouds of glory do we come, from God, who is our home. . ."

Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of our sweet baby Jonah.  He only stayed a short time, but his time with us was very significant.

He taught us all many lessons, right from the start.

Let me begin by saying that I was concerned that possibly I wouldn't "bond" instantly with Jonah.  I feared that his condition might be such that we could not hold him or cuddle him or do anything for him.  As we waited in the hospital waiting room for the word that he'd been safely born and we could see him, our anxiety was palpable.  Then Harry came and told us he was here and that we could come in.  

As we walked down the hall, we heard his little newborn cries.  Never have cries sounded so musical.  He sounded like a newborn baby.  I felt better already.

We all took turns holding him.  When my turn came, I held the soft bundle that was this precious little boy.  A little boy who had many earthly defects, but who felt like and smelled like and was a newborn baby first - a child of God.  Of secondary import was the catalog of characteristics that weren't quite right.

Every time I come across this photo of his soft, sweet hair, I am reminded that we should first see others as they really and truly are - children of God.  Secondarily we can consider the other factors that define them.

As we often say, our sweet baby Jonah had only 11 days with us - 11 days of life . . .  a lifetime of memories. May the memories of the lessons he taught us all never fade.

A very gripping tale!!

This book was chosen by my book group for this month.  Dad had linked my iPad to his Kindle so that we could both read the same books - this was our maiden voyage into the shared book territory!!  It was actually pretty fun to be reading the same book at the same time!!

And a very good book it is.  If you read Seabiscuit, also by Laura Hillenbrand, then you know that she has a way with real stories - she tells them like a novel - and they are gripping and compelling - we both had some late nights as we sat up reading into the wee hours.

It's the story of Louie Zamperini - an Olympian who was captured by the Japanesse during World War II.  His plane crashed and he and his two companions were adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for over 47 days - often surrounded by sharks.  If it hadn't been a true story, we might have believed that it couldn't possibly be true.

Don't let me spoil it - just give it a read - you'll be glad you did.

And let me know what you think!!

The Giver quartet

I for one was not aware that there was a "Giver Quartet."  Someone mentioned it in the lunchroom at school I think, and said that the third book was Messenger, which I wrote about previously.  The second book is Gathering Blue - which I re-read recently too.  So before the final book in the quartet arrived, I re-read The Giver.

That said, the whole set is a really great read.  If you are a fan of The Giver, I suggest you re-read it - otherwise you might get confused.  And read them all in order.  I am quite impressed with Lois Lowry.  She writes on a broad range of topics and does a good job of writing not only readable prose, but enlightening and well-crafted prose.

Any details would spoil the plot - take my word for it - if you are a fan, you need to read Son.  If it's been awhile since you've read them, you need to re-read them.

And then let me know what you think!!

Happy First Day of Fall!!

The calendar says it's fall.  The temperature says it's summer!!  The above is a fall photo - but the short sleeves at night tell me it was probably warm then too - it's always warm in September and October - and we're always surprised.

I even ordered a Christmas sweater last week - and a fall sweater too - for the chilly fall days I might enjoy when we visit Phoebe or Eliza or Hannah.

Thank goodness for fall somewhere!!  At least the days are going to be shorter - I did notice nightfall coming earlier!!

Some interesting trivia for your reading pleasure!!

I have been hunting for some specific photos - and of course I have not found them yet.  But I have found other treasures.  

This photo is part of a group panorama photo of temple workers at the Los Angeles Temple in 1969.  In the group of three men in the center, on the front row, the man on the left is President Benjamin L. Bowring.  I don't remember the name of the man in the middle, but the man next to the man in the middle is James B. Keysor.

Pres. Keysor is/was the owner of Century Record Mfg. Company in Saugus, CA.  I worked there for 9 months before I headed off to BYU  (9 months because I graduated from high school in January of 1963.)  He was friends with my parents, and he also lived with them in the Burbank Ward in the forties.  His son James Keysor Jr. was the man who hired me.  He and his wife also hired me as a baby-sitter and mother's helper when they had twin girls.

President Bowring is the man who performed our marriage ceremony in 1967.  Of special interest to us at least is the fact that he also performed the marriage ceremony for President and Sister Monson - before 1967 of course!!  He was in the temple presidency of the Salt Lake Temple at that time.

If you click on this photo and look at the woman almost in the center of the photo - on the third row with no one behind her - you will note a woman who bears a strong resemblance to my mother - as well she should, since she is my Grandma Stevens!  She was a temple worker when we got married - and took great pleasure in escorting me around the day we got married, introducing me to all of her friends!!  I now know what a pleasure it is to do just that!!

So there is the trivia trove for today - here's hoping I find the photos I am looking for!!

What I've been reading -

My sister gave this to me last June - and I started it - then skipped to the end and decided I didn't need to read it.  Then I kept meeting people or hearing people say how entertaining they'd found the book - so I decided to give it a read. Spent most of Labor Day on the lawn swing - reading and napping - and did indeed enjoy reading the whole book.  It's about a woman who faints at the gym and hits her head.  When she comes too, the last 10 years of her life is missing from her memory.  A compelling scenario and a good read.

 

 I long ago read The Giver and Gathering Blue - in fact, I think now I will need to re-read them - and did not even realize that there was a 3rd book in the series - if a series is what you call it - the books are only loosely related although they are similar in theme.  Anyway, I got Messenger and polished it off today - an excellent read - I'd enjoy discussing it with someone - could that be you??

Was visiting a friend today and saw this on her shelf.  I loved Rebecca but had read nothing else by Daphne du Maurier - she said this was her favorite by du Maurier - so I started it while I ate my solitary dinner tonight - Harry was at the temple.  I will let you know how I like it!!

Waiting for Harry to return from his run so we can get in another Pallisers episode!!

40 years ago today!!

When Bonny was born, I was in labor at the hospital for over 7 hours - and it wasn't very comfortable to say the least.  In those days, they kept you flat on your back the whole time!!  And in my case, they sent a rather annoying young intern in every so often to say, "Hey Sunshine, how is it going?"

So with Harry, I decided to stay home until I thought birth was fairly imminent - we were within walking distance of the hospital, so I was confident my plan was a good one.

All day on the 7th of September, 1972, I was feeling crampy.  I was 11 days overdue - just like with Bonny - so I was thinking this might be it.  But when Harry asked if we should go to the United Homes dinner at Chuck-a-Rama that was scheduled that night, I suggested he go and get the free meal, since I was convinced nothing "real" was happening yet.

I think he got his first course before I called the restaurant - this was indeed before cell phones - and had him paged!!  We got someone to come and stay with Bonny and hustled over to Holy Cross Hospital - where Harry Francis made his appearance less than an hour later!!

 

The Sunshine intern was no longer there, but in the ward where I was taken after Harry was born, there was a very young woman who was not married and who had just had a baby. boy too  Her foster parents had told her that if she kept the baby she could not come back to the house.  She sat in her bed crying because she wanted to keep her baby.  I have often wondered about her.  On every birthday of Harry's, I would wonder where that boy was now.  The nurses were close-lipped - as they should be - and I was possibly too wrapped up in my own drama to talk to the girl myself.  So it all remains a mystery that I will never solve.  But I hope both of them have found happiness!!

Harry was a good baby - in  fact, one day Harry the dad asked, "When is he going to start crying?"  And he didn't spit up either - Bonny had been a colicky baby and so we thought every baby was that way.  (Bonny may have been a fussy new baby, but once she got over the colic, she was our ideal - you could set a clock by her!!)

Harry has continued on in his life being his own person - a wonderful son, husband, father and friend!!

Happy Birthday Harry - here's to a great day and wonderful year ahead!!

What it looks like 35+ years later!!

I mentioned that we are re-living our love affair with the BBC production of The Pallisers.  (I ordered the boxed set when it went on special on Amazon.  And how did Amazon know to target us with the ad?  Are we that transparent?)

35+ years later, the series has some flaws we never noticed before.  For one thing, it's in color and we saw it for the first time in black and white.  It might have been better in black and white.  Also, the sets are pretty cheesy - we've obviously gotten used to much more authentic mid-Victorian film locales.  And some of the acting is wooden - we are wondering why we ever thought Burgo Fitzgerald was dashing and handsome - as Lady Glencora thought he was.

But the story still has a charm.  As does Lady Glencora (I wanted to name Phoebe Glencora - in spite of our love of the show, Harry would not hear of it.  I told that to someone and they said, "Lucky for Phoebe you didn't."  But I said, "Phoebe would have had everyone wishing their name was Glencora!!")

And Plantangenet Palliser seems a much more appealing character - maybe because we know how it ends??

There are something like 48 episodes - we are going to stretch it out though, to make it last!!