Stairsteps: Dad, Louise, Dwight, Elizabeth

Dad, Dwight, Louise, Liz

Elizabeth and her mud pies in her Sunday dress.

A Faded But Magic Photo: Dad, Liz, Dwight, Louise

Dad, Dwight, Louise, 1933 Penrose

The Shumway house, which was always called "Rosie's", is in the distance.  The mailbox is barely discernible, but was our connection with the world.

Dad, Liz, Dwight, Louise Early Day Penrose

A bit fuzzy.  Amazingly, I remember the skirt Louise is wearing in this photo.  Had we gone to Church?  If so, where?  When did church stop being held in Penrose?  And would all of us have gone to Byron?  Who knows?

Judy, Steve, Ann way back when

Thanks to whoever took this picture.  Liz, maybe?

Penrose porch scene 1956

One of those rare times when someone else took a picture and I was in it.  We had no idea what we were in for when we headed for Ann Arbor a short time later.

Penrose Front Porch Summer 1956

This Penrose visit occured late summer 1956.  Ron was born shortly after and, when he was two weeks old, Velna and I and two kids took off for two years in Ann Arbor at the U of Mich.  No money, no place to stay, brand new baby.  Typical life story.  We figured it out.

Familiar Smells and Other Stuff

Are there childhood smells you sometimes long for?  Fresh baked bread or Mother's fried chicken, the smell of the sagebrush after a rain storm, a bowl of freshly picked strawberries,  or grape Kool-aid in a quart jar on a hot summer day?  There is a smell that has been tugging at my memory senses and today Paul helped me with this one.


Tonight when we crawl into bed, I can bury my face in the sheets and there will be that very fresh smell of sheets that have been dried without anything but the sunshine.  Can life get any better than that?
I know, our blog is coming, but life has been very busy, and so I am sharing on Penrose Mornings one more time (according to Judy, she doesn't think I really will do a blog - should I take that as a challenge, or should I just let her be right?).

Here is an update on the chicks - the photos speak for themselves.  We are at the one month mark and not one casualty.

Scout, the cat, is so intrigued she spends her days laying around the edge of the coop to keep tabs on the chicks' comings and goings.  We may have a rooster, so Laura has named that one "Dinner".

Life is busy and ever so good in our little corner of the world, in spite of forest fires all around us, and turmoil everywhere we turn.  We are very blessed.

Blood Family Penrose 1954

Not many pixels to work with here; of course, I am never in the pictures.

Where We Started Almost 60 Years Ago: SLake Temple

I just came across this photo and decided to post it for no apparent reason.

Annie, June 2012

A Penrose Moment from 1932? Dad and Louise

I don't think I've posted this one before.  This photo came out of the dark and into the light.  Thin and skinny Dad, baby Louise

Elizabeth, Louise, Dwight

Caleb and Michele's Wedding

When I saw these joyous photos on FB this morning, I stole them to post here on Penrose Mornings.  The bride and groom are delightful.  Velna is beautiful and Dwight has on his best worried smile. Russell is telling us something.   Today the world is right side up and we all rejoice.

Father's Day

 Dad was always obliging when I wanted to take his picture - this one with the tall lilies, astilbe, and dahlias in my Tumwater garden.

 This is the baby picture that we're forever grateful for.  There weren't too many pictures of Dad as he was growing up, because his mother passed away 8 months from this picture.

And this picture, taken the summer of 1980 when Mother was ill with her cancer.  Dad tried to retain his sanity by making one of his Germany pictures, which he gave to me.  We did not take many pictures of the picture-making process.

There are so many fathers in our family today.  It is very fitting that we take time to show appreciation for having them in our lives.  Our Dad was always a little bigger than life.  His distinctive voice carried far, and he was often shushed (much to his chagrin) when there was a baby in the house.  His laugh and enjoyment of family banter can not be forgotten.  Dad and Mother would do anything for their children that they thought would be good for them - they never quit parenting us.  I could write a lot more, but there are other things calling this morning.  Just wanted to wish all of the fathers a wonderful day, and give them a big thank-you for all that they do for their families.

It's Mule Days in Ralston!

A quick perusal of this morning's online Powell Tribune tells us that the most important news item, of interest to all of us, but particularly to Dwight, is that the weekend of Father's Day is also Mule Days in Ralston.  This could be a very important weekend for mule lovers all over the United States.  There will even be an auction, so that if you want, you can have your very own mule to tether in the back yard - but not if you already have chickens.

Chicken Update and Other Stuff

I hate to interject today's life in the middle of the neat photos that Dwight has been posting, but I feel somewhat justified after taking much abuse from siblings regarding our new adventure.  It won't be long before you can keep up with Tanner stuff on our family blog.  Yes, we are moving into that world with our blog named "Grandma's Fried Oatmeal".  Our intention is to keep our name out of the title, and our kids all remember how Grandma would fry the leftover oatmeal for the next meal, rather than wasting anything.  That experience has been a constant source of conversation at each family gathering,  so after taking a family vote, our blog name has been set.  The blog should be up and running within the next couple of weeks.  But, in the meantime here you go -

Monday the chicks moved out of my sewing room and into the coop.  I can still hear the peeping and chirping even though the source of the noise is no longer in the house.  But now I can grind spelt to make some bread, and get busy on other projects in the sewing room

This was taken prior to the move to the coop.  The chicks are all lined up on their perch as though they are waiting for the movie to start.  They have tail feathers and wing feathers and real attitudes.

We just moved the chicks out to the coop.  They were so accustomed to being in the big plastic box they didn't know what to do with so much room.  Soon they were flapping their wings and "flying" all over the place.  When we checked on them this morning they are all still alive so I think we have made the transition ok.

 This was a common sight last week when the house was full of kids, grandkids, dogs, cat and chicks.  For some of the grandchildren, the chicks were a little intimidating until they held one.  Then it was hard to leave them alone.  This is Jack (Nathan's oldest).

Not my favorite photo, but oh well.  In the middle of all the chaos there was a knock on the door and we were presented with this award for the month of June.  Guess I'll go plant some more flowers.

 When I did the original post this morning I left this photo off.  We had wild and crazy winds on Saturday which made it necessary to prune back this 6' tall rose bush.  It was just loaded with these roses that are now in vases in the house.  Our spring has been wonderful for the roses.

Liz, Dwight, the White Cat, and the Doll Buggy

One of my truly favorite all-time photos. Liz still followed me around after I appropriated (stole) her doll buggy to haul our big white cat around in. Note home-made shirt.

Dwight, Seriously?

Dwight and Louise

In the summer yard at the Penrose little brown house. Maybe 1933, since I was born in September 1932. I'm just going through these photos in the order they appear on my hard drive.

Cat and Dog at Sunlight Cabin

This photo is one of those classic pictures we have all looked at a million times,  Now the cat has been brought to light while the dog sleeps.

Baby Louise 1931 Sunlight WY

Note the Colorado license plate from the brief stay Mom and Dad had in Denver when seeking new adventures right after their marriage.  Note also the shadow of the photographer.