Joys of a Brother

In December, baby brother David arrived.

Us girls were thrilled with a new baby, of course!

On a side note, this blue jumper I'm wearing was made

of the softest corduroy, and I wore it until I outgrew it!

There's nothing like the smile on a new Dad's face

when he holds his son!

Probably isn't the first bath, 

but I love the expression on his face! 

And what's better than 

baby's first ice cream?

This looks suspiciously like a fudgsicle!!

At the same time, this is the era where Lori

went through having her shoulder out of joint.

But an arm in a sling didn't stop her from finding

her Easter Basket!

Shown here with a neighbor

and when we first moved it, Mike and Susie Wagner

lived next door.  This is probably Susie.

1967

1966 and Many Changes!

August 1966 - a year of many changes for our family

Mom's pregnant (with David) and we bought a new house

(Turns out, the house they still live in in 2017!)

It was so exciting to have a house - each of us kids would have

our own room!  And they let us pick our colors for decorating!!

I chose purple

(Isn't it weird that when I bought my own house at age 50

I chose purple again??)

Lori chose pink

I don't think David had much say in the matter.....

He was such a happy baby though!

Welcome, baby brother!!

Our living room didn't have a whole lot in the way of furniture

The long wooden console was a spiffy stereo system

with radio and phonograph player.

The vase on top was a very pretty bluish green, 

it eventually got broke because we 

"didn't listen" and rough-housed indoors.

Our TV was an old black and white, with tubes

It got Channels 2 (local), 4 (NBC), 5 (CBS), 7 (ABC), 

11 and sometimes 36 (both local stations)

We didn't have a color TV until 1972.

We had only one car, a 1963 Rambler,

and when Mom needed the car for the day,

we all got up and drove Dad to work.

As I think back, it seems as if it was all so simple then.

It wasn't ... because I wasn't the grown up.

But Mom and Dad had a way of making it feel that way.

For that, I'm very grateful!

1960s Christmas

Growing up, we always had a fresh Christmas Tree

As the years progressed,

our trees looked a little better than this one!

And, of course, the ever present tinsel!

Every year, we took a photo in front of the tree

(I'm thinking I'll cover these posts in groups by decade)

This is 1965

Each year, the pile of presents becomes better and better.

Check out that old TV!

You can see the beginnings of Mom's "Little Town"

that, too, gets better and better each year.

I'm betting a few of the ornaments on this tree

are still among mom's treasured ornaments now!

We had family to share this Christmas with us.

Mom's sister and her family came out.

Mom shared that us girls moved in their room

and Marge and Jim and the boys shared us girls' room.

Luckily, the bedrooms were very large on Maude Ave!

Ornaments with history became 'my thing' as an adult, and

each year I purchased and dated some.  With old dates

and stories, each year they're unwrapped and put on a tree ...

Sometimes, it's like seeing an old familiar friend!