Those who know me will say, “Of course, Memorial Day is your favorite! It’s your birthday!”
This year that is true, but since President Nixon relegated the day of memories to the last Monday of May, sometimes the holiday is and sometimes it isn’t on May 30th – the ORIGINAL Memorial Day AND my birthday. While I am THRILLED to celebrate another year here on earth, birthdays don’t quite offer the same delight they did when I was 6 or 10 or 16.
Memorial Day does bring me a HUGE dose of nostalgia, and for a person who is ALWAYS nostalgic, that is saying something. Tonight is a case in point. I decided to rummage through some boxes of old photos looking for who-knows-what, and I found all but 2 of our sort of “official” family pictures. For a long time I have wanted to post them, and decided that I’ll start off the Memorial weekend with these “happy family” photos. (Of course, we all know what goes into organizing a trip to the photographers – hence the sarcasm.) So here we go down Memorial Day Lane.
We looked SO happy because we were!
I look at this picture and fall in love all over again.
The Bouffant and the Soldier Boy!
The beginning of the BOYS!
The boys have ALL ARRIVED including Teddy, the Cocker Spaniel.
TOTAL 80s look going on here!
We were all together for the first time in 2 years because Andy had just returned from his LDS mission.
We had gained AND lost some daughters-in-law about this time, so I'm just posting the ROOT of our family.
My niece took MANY photos of the fam, but I LOVE this CRAZY-FACES pose! AND we were happy to welcome the NEW daughter-in-law who married into the family that year!
This is a terrible PICTURE of the PICTURE 'cause I don't have one that does NOT hang on a wall. It's WAY out of date because 3 more little peeps have joined the family. Maybe we can just "photo-shop" the new additions!!!
Writing My Life 
May 26, 2011 at 10:52 PM
Wonderful pictures!!!!!
May 26, 2011 at 11:33 PM
Thanks, Vickie! I just edited out all the typos, so hopefully the text makes more sense. The 2 missing pictures are of one taken just after Tim was born and the other was taken the day Chris left for his mission. Maybe they are lost for a reason. I looked like I’d just given birth in one and sad/happy in the other.
And then there are the out-takes!!!!
May 27, 2011 at 12:29 AM
That boufant hairstyle is a killer! I have a few pics like that too. I also have many memories of those early days, but fewer of the more modern days. Happy, happy birthday—I always think of you on Memorial Day and say a little prayer for you. Happiness always!
Love you,
Dalene
May 27, 2011 at 9:47 AM
That is NOT one of my favorite pictures of me. I think that is the tallest my hair ever grew to! I remember thinking the bigger the hair, the smaller my chubby face looked. Duh!
I love this picture though because I think it’s about the only one I have of my Gary in uniform. “Be still my beating heart!”
May 27, 2011 at 9:07 AM
Really nice pictures! and happy birthday come Monday. You have a very–should I say HANDSOME family. I especially liked that one with long ears in one of the first ones. What a smile! It had almost slipped my mind that it’ll be Hubby’s and my anniversary–42 years! We (or I) chose that date because I foolishly thought he’d be off work on our anniversary that year…boy did I get that wrong!
May 27, 2011 at 9:44 AM
My mother wrote in my baby book that she was so happy I was born on Memorial Day because my working parents would always be able to share the whole day with me – which was true for my growing up years! Gosh, politics even get in the way of birthdays!!!
But now that I am in the workforce, I appreciate those 3-day weekends! =)