Scans IV

On to a grouping of more recent stuff....

My niece Tessi. Gotta love these reflection pictures!
This is SUCH a weird photo of my dad, not really in a good way, but included more just because it is so weird! This was his work photo, and it doesn't even look like him to me. He doesn't look very happy, does he? I am pretty sure he always loved his job, but maybe he thought his badge needed the "serious face". But I will say this - he looks very Scottish to me here! Not something I ever really noticed about him, but I can see it here!
My grammy! At that same spot in Carpinteria. Wonder if it was the same trip as that one in the last bunch. We went all the time because my mom's brother lived there, so hard to know!
I have no idea where this was taken, but it is hilarious for the look on my mom's face! Gotta either be Idaho or maybe my dad's sister's farm.
My grandma and me. Looks like my second year at UCLA from the date.
This is a good memory! That is my brother, Chuck, Dad, and cousin Steve. We were camping along the Rogue river. This was one of the first trips where I was old enough to sit around the fire and drink with my brother LOL! We had some really deep conversations, and I remember it feeling like the first time I connected with him as a "peer". He is 11 years older than me, so took awhile for us both to be adults. :)
Dad and Uncle Cal. Wonder what flavor it was!
Me and my cousin Steve at my 21st birthday party! We both ended up sauced, but I am going to venture a guess he was ahead of me at this point hahahaha.
A great family picture with four generations! Dad, Mom, me with Sarah only about a month old, Grandma and Chuck.
This is one of those pictures I think I have always remembered a bit differently than it actually is... I guess because I remember myself and my mom. We looks so happy, while Aunt Joan and Nancy look so annoyed! I wonder why! This was taken at Papas n Beer in Ensenada, where we went for drinks while in dock on a cruise. Yeah, that was a killer strong margarita! They put Everclear in them there. One is enough to have you dancing your way back to the ship!
Same cruise. My mom and me with the captain. Funny story behind this picture. My mom always really looked forward to the whole cocktails and pictures with the captain thing they do, and for some reason, on this cruise, her picture with him didn't come out. So my mom, who was always a go getter in her own way, actually grabbed him in the hallway and told him what happened! So, not only did we get this picture, but we got a surprise invitation to dine at the Captain's Table slipped under our door! It was just like the Love Boat hahahaha. I ended up sitting next to the First Mate and driving him crazy because I kept saying "boat" instead of "ship".
My Grandma and Sarah. She must have been just over 1 as this is a Christmas party for sure.
Silly picture of Sarah and me I have always liked.
Another one of us not long after that and my silly permed hair.
LOVE this picture because these two have become total buddies now as adults! That is Sarah on the right and Amanda on the left, my cousin Dan's daughter.
Another cruise! Yeah, my mom loved to do that long weekend Ensenada cruise because it was cheap LOL, and if I recall correctly, this was one of a few we did for Thanksgiving. Nice way to not have to cook! And it also is usually close to Sarah's birthday (November 25). How many little girls get to have their birthday on a cruise ship? This is coming back to the SHIP from Catalina, which is obvious from the building in the back if you have ever been there. You can spy my mom in the dark sunglasses, a few people behind them, and part of me in a black hat.
Same cruise - my mom fixing my hair. I have never been able to do hair, but my mom was really good at it!
I have always loved this shot of Sarah in the snow!
It was pretty novel for a Socal girl! These were taken up near my friend Paul's place on the Angeles Crest Highway.
My mom with my grandma, just before she died. :( We were having a birthday party for her in the hospital.
One of the pictures from our brief move to Arizona. The best part about it was my sister lived there at the time, so Sarah got to spend time with her cousins, Rachel and Kristin.
And last but not least, a clip from the Oak Park newspaper from when Sarah was cheerleader. That is her on the far right, squeezing the sponge over some poor victim's head.

Scans III

Here we go with another set. This one covers from around the time my parents got together until through the time I was in high school.

I just love this one of both my parents. There were a bunch of their friends born in November. here they are pictured with Larry. Somebody put alot of work into that cake. They each have their own little section. Looks like cards and dice for my dad, a martini for my mom LOL, and what is that for Larry? A party had and dancing shoes maybe?
Mystery baby! OK, opinions welcome.... Are the next two babies the same? I do have the giant forehead thing going on for sure, but the forehead in Baby 1 looks bigger than Baby 2's haha. My brother and I for sure looked very similar as babies in other photos I have seen, so I am just not sure! I am leaning toward saying this is my brother and the next one is me, but maybe it is the other way around!

This one I know is me! I am the only girl baby my mom had. :)
Love the slice of life here. I know this one is me because of my mom's hairstyle. Guess I was a playpen baby. Kinda diggin' the little diaper suitcase type thing.
My sister, Tammy, me and my brother, Chuck. See, giant forehead!
Lord, what an outfit.
Chuck, my cousin Cindy (I think), friend from across the street, Jane Ocheltree and cousin Marala. At first glance, I thought the little girl was my sister, but by the date, she would have been like 11, and I think that girl is much younger. I don't remember the age difference between Marala and Cindy, but it has to be her. Love that it captures my brother's guitar. Many of my earliest memories of him involve him playing and singing. And check out those curlers!
Love the ones with date stamps LOL. Looks like I was 5 here, and there is a story behind this photo. My parents had our family friend, Dawn, do the Santa honors at my Grandma's big holiday party that year. The kids in my extended family didn't know him, but I saw him all the time. As soon as he walked in the door, I hollered, "That's not Santa, that's Dawn!" What a spoilsport.
Oops, out of order! This should have been the Halloween before that Christmas. This dude was on our porch for many years around that time. My parents and their friends were reeeeally into costume parties. Maybe they were more of an in thing for adults back then? I have so many costume pictures, so they will be popping up in scans to come I am sure!
Random one of me, looking kindof sad I think.
My mom and my sister. This is just one of those not very good pictures that I always happened to like as a kid. I was endlessly amused that it looked like they were playing some type of pass the cigarette game. Yes, apparently my mom smoked inside, and yes, I had asthma. Seems so weird to look at now. I don't ahve memories of the house being smoky or anything, but the old photos are just filled with constant cigarettes.
But wait.... Come to think of it, she quit much earlier than that photo was taken.... In fact, it is one of our family stories how she made a deal with me to give up cigarettes if I would give up my blankie. Weird, huh? But she sucked on these little plastic cigarette holders for YEARS, so that must be what is in this photo!

Oh shoot, this one is out of sequence too! Oh well, too lazy to change it. Another not so great picture but oh, what a moment of consequence! This is the Kern River. I was hardly ever allowed anywhere near it, although I could swim before I could walk. The Kern River was Dangerous. In fact, we had one of the warning posters that talked about drowning deaths in the Kern hung up in the changing room next to our swimming pool at home. How creepy is that?! We camped there alot, and I was always so mad my brother and sister got to swim in the river, but I was not allowed to. That is my mom in the background left. I would know those arms akimbo anywhere. Likely she was bitching at me to not get in water over my knees. And by the stature, I would guess that is her friend, Jeanie, next to her. (Dawn's wife in fact.)
A school picture, I *think* first grade, in one of the hideous homemade things my mother made. Don't get me wrong. Her sewing skills were great. I just think the fabric is barfola.
Betty Peterson in back (Larry's wife, from the cake picture), Bill Stoll, my dad's brother, Darrel, and my Dad. Darrel died when I was in college. My dad was really torn up. :(
So much in this photo to my eye besides the little girl in the cheesy tap dancing recital outfit. The rug, the couch, the coffee table! All so horrid but the height of fashion then I am sure, knowing my mother hahahaha. And that picture with the boat, it was one of four that made a whole scene. I always thought those were pretty neat.
Tammy, me and Grandpa Kenny at the Petrified Forest.
I am always telling people how my mom dressed me in red, white and blue all the time because my bday is July 4th, and here is a living proof photo! Bleh.
Oh Lord, the hair, oh Lord the shirt, oh Lord the pants, just oh Lord....
Haha, love this picture because my dad was famous for falling asleep at night pretty early. His clock has always naturally been set as early to bed, early to rise. And he loves him a plaid shirt.
Another rare photo of my grandpa on the right, almost cut off by the mystery hand. That is my mom's brother, Cal, in the middle, and not sure about the guy on the left.
So at one point my mom decided to listen to all the people telling us I should get into modeling, so she asked a friend of ours to take some photos of me. Clearly, I knew nothing about posing, and they knew nothing about photography LOL. I was already so tall, but my legs look totally shortened in this shot. Still, it is amazing to see how thin I was back then. This was just my natural body shape. I never "tried" at all. Too bad I didn't keep some of that metabolism!
Same day.... The updo look I guess.
One of my favorite photos - my red thread! Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma. The strange thing about this is I barely remember my GG coming out to California from Idaho at this time. This is our Chatsworth yard, so at most it was only a few years before she died. Amazing she took that trip at such an advanced age!
My wonderful cat, Pooky! She was a stray I found, and to this day it amazes me I was able to talk my parents into keeping her.
My dad had a garden every year. Funny it was totally his thing. I don't remember my mom being involved at all! It was just a part of life growing up, but now it is neat to remember that is where I "came from" since I am getting more and more into gardening.
I think this is my all time favorite picture of my dad. Leisure suit, lei, cigs in the pocket and playing craps. Just so, so him.
Wow, what crew LOL. But the star of the shot is a family friend, Bill. He was known for having a few too many, and I think he might have been in that stage here hahahahaha.
This picture cracks me up! Camping at the beach - Dad, uncle Cal and family friend Walt. For all their sameness, check out the shoes. Sneakers, barefoot/flipflops, boots. And if you knew these three, you would know that captures their essence!
Me and my brother's ex wife, Sybil, playing Christmas carols. I adored her. We did this every year. No matter what Sybil and I did, we would be laughing.
My dad, pulliung up a crab trap on the Hood Canal.
More "oh Lord". the glasses, the bracelets, the hair, a little older, and still a victim of the times. Looks like it was my grandma's birthday, and that is my Aunt Martha on the far left. We are camping at Carpinteria State Beach. Would know that setting anywhere! My mom had certain favorite spots, and this was one of them. Why, because it was next to the pay phone!!!! Yeah, way before cell phones, and OHMYGOD, you can see it in the background just to the right of my aunt!
Another true Dad moment - washing dishes outside the motorhome - also at Carpinteria I am sure. He looks pretty grumpy about it. Who did the dishes camping was an ongoing battle between my parents. Love the HUGE clock on a camping trip!
A lovely picture of my Uncle Cal and Aunt Joan.
Haha! Can't see as this one needs much comment! Wish I knew the full story though. This must have been his birthday party, as I know that old fashioned pinball was a gift, but who gave him a ripped out booby shot?!!! My dad was not a big porn fan as far as I know. And my brother got a Playboy subscription for Christmas every year, so it was totally accepted in our home. My parents friends, however, were famous for giving gag gifts and just generally having a rowdy time.
And on that note, I will end this set. This was meant to only go through high school, but Nov 85 would have already been college for me. Oops. This made a better ending than a beginning though, at least in my opinion!