Elna is obsessed with wearing sunglasses. She will wear her sun glasses for hours at a time without ever taking them off. It’s kind of hilarious to me for some reason.
In both of these pictures Elna is doing kissing lips. Sadly she has evolved from open-mouthed slobbery kisses which we really loved to the more traditional pursed- lip kiss.
I have never canned before, but after reading a blog post from my cousin all about her canning adventures I decided it might be something I would enjoy. She was nice enough to invite me to come to her place (near Seattle) for a few days to teach me how. We made and canned marinara sauce. I used 10 lbs. of tomatoes from our garden, but bought the other 40 lbs. from a guy off craigslist. Elna and I had such a great time! I only wish we lived closer—3 hours each way is too much to do as often as I would like to do it.
We were very busy the few days I was there, but Debby managed to capture these few photos of Elna and her girls, Madeleine & Diane.
Madeleine, Diane, Elna
I came away with 26 quarts and 2 pints. Now we’re both stocked up for the year!
We had spaghetti the night we got home. We all loved the sauce!
In August, after having only been home for a few weeks, we headed back to CA for my sister’s wedding and our annual summer trip to Yosemite with my family. I haven’t seen any wedding pictures yet, but when I do I will post those as well.
The next few pictures were taken during our week in Fairfield before we left for Yosemite. It was very hot. Elna loved playing in the sprinklers.
And then we were off to Yosemite. We spent our days down by the water. The water was lower than I ever remember it being and therefore much warmer—I spent a lot more time in the water this year than past years. Elna also loved being in the water.
Elna’s cousin Austin adores Elna and Elna adores him right back!
She really loved wearing and playing with goggles.
Elna insisted on sitting in this chair (left). It wasn’t our chair—just a random lady’s chair, who was luckily really nice and loved having Elna sit in it while she was away swimming.
My cute grandparents. I took this picture the morning they left because I realized I hadn’t gotten a picture of them and Elna. So, I held Elna and stood in this picture, but I had to cut myself out because I looked so bad. Seriously. Vain, I know. We didn’t sleep much while we were there, so I looked like a tired, sick, pregnant, crazy lady. Good thing there will be many more opportunities to get another picture of us together—they are strong and healthy!
The entire Linford-Clark family. We were ALL there!
And our little family.
We drove back from Yosemite Saturday morning and stopped in Fairfield long enough to repack our car and take a few more pictures:
Elna with her Grandy Elna.
Elna with her Aunt Ofelia and cousin Austin—she loves them!
My cousin Christine and her family came through Troutdale a week ago and stayed a night with us. It was so fun to catch up with Christine and for Elna to get to know her little cousins (once removed). Elna loved them! Christine named her oldest girl Orva after her mom (my mom’s sister). And I, as you all know, named Elna after my mom. Our moms are the best of friends and were the two oldest children in their family of eight kids. They were also both named after their grandmothers. The original Elna was my grandma’s mother and the original Orva was my grandpa’s mother.
The original Orva & Elna:
Orva Greer Housley Linford (1966) Elna Parkinson Cowley Austin (1924)
Their granddaughters Elna & Orva:
Elna & Orva (1957)
Elna & Orva (1959)
Orva & Elna (1959)
Orva & Elna (today, September 7, 2012)
Their granddaughters, Orva & Elna:
Orva & Elna (August 26, 2012)
