Commonalities

As I have been viewing family photos recently I have noticed some commonalities between generations. As grandparents we have seen mannerisms in our grandchildren that we had forgotten were present in our own children - at least until I started looking at older family photos. I'm sharing a few of the photos here.

When I first saw Hattie I said, who does she look like and left it at that until I saw a photo of Donna at about the same age. I was amazed how much they look like. I know there will be those that disagree, but trust me, I think I'm right and JoAnn agrees with me.


Then there is Tim and Joshua. They have the same infectious smile and it's fun to see how much they look alike.


And finally, there is the famous finger action. We have found this in several of our children, including this father and grandfather (guess I'm the culprit). As I shared this with JoAnn she admitted she too is a "finger person." It's fun to go back and see their fingers poised for action.


Similar or not that's for you to determine and figure out who they are and if your kids have the same mannerisms as you or your spouse.

Happy Birthday Donna

Donna, you were our first child, but then you know that. Thank goodness you were born on February 24, the same birth date as your great grandmother McLean (Nola Elizabeth Goff) and she was sure excited to know she had a granddaughter born on HER birthday.

I have lots of photos to share in this blog, and it will only be one as I'm running on borrowed time this week. Exams to give, papers to write, wife to care for (she has a cold - or so she claims), and a cat to feed!

Babies are so cute and Donna was no exception. Of course, as our first she was the cutest baby we had ever seen (until the next one came along, and along, and along...).

JoAnn (Mom) calls this, "Donna and her movie star Mom!" She certainly has the 70's hairdo.

Then there is Donna with Aunts Patti, Marti, and Jeri who have become very special in her life.


And then the perpetual sleep time while in the car. As you can see car seats were a little less rigorous in those days, and certainly not very safe.


Her first day of school in Manhattan, KS was precious. JoAnn says this is her favorite photo.


As she grew she had great times with her brothers and sisters, like Christmas in Ames, Iowa in 1981.


Or outside with the most awesome looking glasses I have ever seen in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1986.


And always finding time to share with one of her sibilings as she and Krissie enjoy lunch on the front porch when she was 16. Love the hair!


There are many many more photos to share Donna, but let's end like we began, with you and Mom hugging. You just won't fit on her shoulder any more.


That's far from the end, but "that all folks"

A Cake Making Family

I was reading Krissie's blog last week about making cakes and how much she loved it. While she may know she comes from a cake baking family, she may not know how much cake baking has gone on. Just recently I was going through old photos and found several photos of cakes, some not so old, but relevant. I thought it would be nice if our daughters (all 7 of them) could see the genealogy of cake making in the McLean family. Grandma McLean (my mother) did wonderful cakes. The first was from 1956 and our Cub Scout Den. It is as good or better than you can purhase in a store today. I suspect this cake was done while we lived in Guam.


The next two cakes done by my mother are just a little more fancy. The first is for our wedding in 1967 and the second is for Grandma and Grandpa Merriam's 50th wedding anniversary, also in 1967. That may be why the cakes look similar. The anniversary came before the wedding by 2 months and several thousand miles.


And then we get to the our generation. JoAnn has made a number of cakes. You saw one on Sally's birthday blog of the Pink Panther, but in 1983 she did a birthday cake for the Young Women at Church. The color is a little off. My flash was obviously not working, but the cake is beautiful. I think this may be the best cake JoAnn has done. I think we still have all of the pieces in the garage, not to mention many other cake pans. Come Sister's Weekend we may have to auction off (obviously not for cash) some of our old cake pans, pillars, support plates, and so forth.


And the cakes have kept coming over the years, although not nearly so frequently since the kids are gone. Sally and JoAnn worked together last fall to make Bonnie a Barbie cake. It turned out really well as you can see from the photos. I remember my mother making Barbie cakes for my sisters. We take some skills and experiences for granted, but the photos of those experiences to bring memories.


Tell me Bonnie is not absolutely entranced by her Barbie Princess cake!

So Krissie, you are a 3rd generation cake decorator and you and your sisters should be proud of that.

Valentine's Day

We have had 42 Valentine's days together and for the very first time we left home to spend time together. We should have done it when we had 7 kids at home, but who could afford it then? After Church yesterday, yes we are good Mormons and made ALL of our meetings yesterday, we headed off for Laughlin, NV, about 85 miles from Las Vegas. We got a room on the 17th floor with a, and I quote, "Panorama Room" which means we had floor to ceiling windows and a view of the parking garage, roofs of other casinos, and the Colorado River.

We went for a walk on the river walk, unlike any other river walk I have ever been on. It goes along the casinos for a little less than a mile. There are water taxis, jet skis, dinner boats, and it's all on the Nevada side of the river. The east side of the river is Arizona and a timezone away.

We did the riverwalk and got all excited about the Dairy Queen sign. You all know I'm a sucker for Dairy Queen. Well, as it turns out, it was just that - a sign. We walked all over the casino it was next to and no Dairy Queen anywhere.

Later in the evening we went across the river to Bullhead City, AZ to have dinner. We had found a restaurant in the yellow pages (and I use that term loosely down here) with the name of Iguana Mexican Cafe. With a name like that the food has got to be great. As we were driving along looking for the place we passed one, but not the one I had inputted into the GPS. It looked like a greasy spoon, but we decided to keep on going. We finally got off the main drag and started down some dark side streets of trailers with pickups and cars parked out front. As the neighborhood deteriorated I finally caved in and said, let's go somewhere else. We had passed a Mexican restaurant on the way and drove back to it. The food was great even if it too was a little older. On the way in the restaurant I'm following JoAnn and the hostess and as I pass a table I see a colleague from 4 doors down (from the 5th floor at Beam Hall). I could hardly believe we had driven to Southern Nevada and there is a friend. JoAnn thought I had just gotten lost (again), but that wasn't the case.

We are off to see the sites today and then home for an early afternoon. Happy post-Valentine's day everyone.

What a Difference a Week Makes

WARNING: Those of you living in cold climates may find this post a bit hazardous to your mental health.

It hardly seems like it has been a week when we were in the midst of our winter monsoon season. I'm still not sure what our total rainfall was, but I know it was considerably less for 5 days than for a half-day in the midwest. Of course that doesn't make it any safer to drive here. Rain in Las Vegas is like driving on snow the first time in the winter. Cars are everywhere, but where they belong.

We were driving home from the Las Vegas Temple last Friday night (February 5) and took the following photo while we were waiting for a light to change. We've been by this place a number of times, but have yet to stop. One of these days we are just going to have to stop. Friday night was not the time, since they do not have an indoor area to eat.


This week, however, has been more friendly to us Las Vegans. It has been warming up steadily and while we can still see snow on the distant mountains (for us that counts as winter), I knew we were closing in on a patio lunch when JoAnn told me yesterday she wore her Birkenstocks yesterday without socks. So today, we tried lunch on the patio. It was 67 and as long as you sat in the sunshine it was wonderful. In fact, as you can see from the photo, lunch was over, but the sun held us in our location - well at least JoAnn, as one of us had to take a photo.


For all of you who have suffered through the last 10 days of winter we feel for you, but as my brother used to say to me, "My heart cries peanut butter for you," you know we don't really feel that way, we just wake up every morning, put on a light jacket, look out the back window and head for work or play. Oh yes, what we look at are our Pansies, which we have enjoyed all winter and will expand next winter.

Sally's Last Birthday Hurrah

I know this is late on Sunday afternoon - even for Las Vegas, but we have had a busy day, that of course included a little nap. When you hit your post hippie years (at least that was how Alyssa described me when she saw me in my plaid pants and red shirt) you need more rest. Plus, I discovered we must have taken a vacation from embarrassing our children and I had to hunt hard for photos. Sometime in the 1980s companies quit doing slides and we quit taking photos using slides. Bad idea! Following a diligent and detailed search I've found a few photos to finish off Sally's X1st Birthday. Hey, that's less than half my age or was I not supposed to say that.

Enjoy the photos Sally,

My personal favorite in this batch is our beach girl from our visits to Alabama, of course coming in the middle of an Indiana winter, Sally got her sunburn. What would she do without her mother?

Our little girl likes her hamburgers and never turns down a lap.

Somewhere with her best friend Melissa. Two sixth graders on the loose is dangerous.
Suzanne and Sally out front.
And here is almost the whole gang in a grainy dark photo, but everyone can find Strider in the front.

Sally has a certain unreasonable love for nutcrackers.

At the beach with the gang and check out the shark's teeth.
It's Mother's Day 1997 and Grandpa & Grandma Ruby were in town, however, why Sally gets to cut the cake is a mystery to me. She was no mother ... then!
And we finish with everyone's favorite dog - Strider.

Mother & Daughter Look Alikes

Check out this photo of Sally and Charlotte. You can see their similarities and it answers a lot of questions about relationships.


Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Sally

It's that time of the year when the McLean family birthdays are in full bloom. I was inspired by Suzanne's post for Jeni in January and followed suit. Then I though, why not do that for all of the children this year. Who has more incriminating photos than Dad? And after a 2.5 year hiatus of scanning old photos, I'm back in the game. I'll do a blog on the process, because it is time consuming. Now, let's get down to business and honor Sally on her . . . well, I'm not allowed to tell you how old she is, but her first photos were in 1979.

You have to admire Suzanne holding a screaming Sally, who clearly wasn't impressed that her big sister who was already taking care of her. Worse yet, Suzanne looked a little spacey in this photo, like, "Why me?"

Tim is much more relaxed (JoAnn says to note the peanut butter on his face - a McLean trait), but Sally is still not impressed with who is holding her. I do think I see a little Joshua in Tim.

This is my personal favorite. It must be Easter Sunday as everyone is dressed up, or at least Sunday. Mom passes little Sally ( 2 months) to Donna who is all ready to receive her and just as focused then as she is today. We have no idea who the little tike in the background is. Some neighbor child watching the goings-on.

Remember Sally, it's okay to suck that thumb. Just ask Charlotte.

This photo may explain why you don't see too many photos of me. Yes, it is barely 1980 and yes that is a red flannel shirt and plaid pants, and no, they were NOT bell-bottoms, but they are bright. I never realized my mustache was quite that big, not to mention the long sideburns. If you would have asked I would have said I never had long sideburns. It didn't seem to bother Sally who was enjoying herself.

I have enough ammunition to go on for months and I'll get another blog up yet this weekend looking at some of Sally's later years. I am also posting photos on our flickr page, so you can go there to see more of our loved ones.

This Spot Reserved for Sally

It's been a busy week and Sally's birthday is tomorrow. I intend to honor her with several more photos, but like I said, it's been a busy week. Stay tuned, but as an appetizer, here is Sally, 2 days old in Ames, IA. Enjoy and watch for more...