TBT: My Father's Family

The Evensen Clan
Top Row: Wendell, Celdon, Norma, Kenneth
Middle Row:  My Dad Glenn, Agda, Maurice, Clifford
Front Row: Zada and Grandpa Axel Hermand

As far as I can determine, this photo was taken on August 13, 1950 after my grandmother Pearl's funeral in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Grandmother Pearl Stivers as a young girl

At the time of this photo, my father was 24 and had just returned from serving his LDS mission to Norway.  His two younger brothers, Wendell and Kenneth, were still in High School.  The rest were older.  The only person missing from the photo is Uncle Norman, my father's brother, whom I believe may have been living in Wisconsin by this time.

As one of my cousins recently pointed out, the boys were always in competition over who was the handsomest, who was the most athletic, who had the nicest car, etc.  They were bright and highly competitive.

Out of the ten siblings were one medical doctor, one psychiatrist, a lawyer, and two civil engineers. I figure my grandparents did pretty well for poor folk trying to raise children during the great Depression. They were all great people.

When my father passed six years ago, he had outlived every one of his nine siblings, which was a great sorrow to him.  I figure they had a pretty terrific reunion in heaven that day!

I'm grateful for the values that Axel and Pearl passed down through their posterity.  They encouraged education, love of family, love of God and service to their fellow beings.

Not bad ideals to live by.

The Lego Kid

VROOM!

My Grand-Nephew Fredrik is quite the Lego builder.

Here's the latest design in spacecraft this year

Fred just doesn't put the kits together, he starts creating his own vehicles.  I think that's pretty cool for a 5 year-old.

Coming in for a landing!

His grandfather and I had Legos long before anyone else in America, you know.  That's because Legos were created by a Danish toy manufacturer, and we had a Norwegian grandfather who supplied us with them long before they were marketed in the United States.

Yes, it's true!  I was building Lego houses for my Barbie doll a very long time ago.

All clear for take off!

Fredrik is a creative free spirit, but he seems to really like to create planes and space vehicles.  On a recent family trip to Quebec, Fred coerced Mom and Dad into buying him even more Legos.  Here (see photos above and below) he is in the hotel room happily making more toys.

Fred scored new Legos on a recent trip to Quebec

He was a very happy little boy.

Looks like a serious pilot there!  I want that red R2 unit!

Meanwhile, back at home, his Lego creations know no bounds!

Zoom! Zoom!  On the dinner table!

Thanks for sharing your creations, Fredrik!

Best Costumes of 2014

Sabrina as a Greek Goddess

And finally... the winners of the KOA Costume Contest were none other than Sabrina and Yours Truly!
(Imagine that!)  We shared the top honors this year.

Sabrina in her natural habitat... I mean, her cubicle

Sabrina looked adorable as a Greek Goddess.

Pretty details!

What was so funny was that we looked like we washed up on shore from the same island...

My Certificate

Here I am as an Elf from Lord of the Rings.  I was so happy with my elf ears!  They stayed on well without adhesive and really made the outfit, I think.

Me, cracking up over the looks people were giving me

I wore an old dress I had lying around from the 90s.  You never know when an old dress will make a great Halloween costume!

Anyway, that's it for the wacky Halloween celebrations at work this year.  We had a really fun time, as you probably have been able to tell from my last million (give or take) posts.

Now we can move along and look forward to Thanksgiving.

Aren't you glad?

Fun Halloween Costumes Around the Office

Just when you thought the Halloween photos were over...

Harry Potter (AKA Anthony)

I couldn't go without posting the rest of the fun costumes this year.  This year's Halloween celebration was a lot of fun because people really got into the spirit of fun and whimsy!

That's my favorite part of Halloween - the sweet and funny part.  It's about the kid in all of us dressing up and eating lots of candy.  What's not to like?

Hey, don't wave that wand at me!

It was nice to see that, and as the week of October 27th progressed, and Halloween grew closer, that the cubicle decorating continued.  There was a lot of speculation as to what people were going to dress as.  It became a fun topic of conversation.

"Are you going to dress up?"

"Yes, I'm thinking about it!"

"So, what are you wearing?"

"I"m not telling!"

When Friday arrived, I was really surprised at the diversity of costumes.

Ivy looked adorable

I thought at first that Ivy was a panda bear.  Then she pulled on her hood and I cracked up.  "Hi, Olaf!" I cried!

Olaf

Actually I was a bit relieved she hadn't chosen to be a Frozen Elsa or Frozen Anna like half the rest of the female world this year.  Olaf was a cute costume.

It's really Ivy

Laura's was more subtle, but cute.  It was a few sizes too big, which cracked me up.  She looked like one of my P.E. teachers from long ago.

Our new Marketing Director, Laura channeling her fave team

Almost everyone got into the spirit of things and dressed in costume.  It was such fun.

Where's Nikita?

Nikita is such a cutie pie.  I thought her choice of Where's Waldo-esque attire was adorable!

Walter, a company founder, made a suave cowboy.

Ol' Cowboy Walter

Frank B's costume cracked me up.

Frank - one of the undead?  Oh My!

Frank G's costume was timeless.  I love that he actually had a whip with him!  Looks like a perfect Indiana Jones to me!

Frank G. as Indiana

I managed to get Carmen, Barbara and Nikita to pose together.  Carmen forgot her witch hat, but you get the idea...

Carmen, Barbara and Nikita

Bruce was a ball player. I liked his attention to detail.

Big Leagues' Bruce

Gerry, the IT guy, also chose a sports' themed costume.  (It's a guy thing, isn't it?)

Gerry giving us a thumbs up on our costumes

Events such as these bring people together and create a fun work atmosphere.

The firm's reception area

Needless to say, there are still a couple more costumes to show you.

Stay tuned for the final installment of Halloween 2014!

Lion In Winter

The WCT cast: Luke Miller, Jamie Sowers, William Crisp, Candy Beck,
Collin McDowell, Johnathan Tupanjanin and Brandon Feruccio

The play Lion in Winter has been performed by such brilliant couples as Peter O'Toole/Katharine Hepburn  and Patrick Stewart/Glenn Close on the screen, as well as countless others on stage.

It is the story of a rather dysfunctional Medieval family - but one who ultimately shaped the world we live in.

In this fanciful tale about some very real people, we find Henry II of England and his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, a former Queen of France, and their irascible sons: Richard the Lionheart, John Lackland (later to be known as "Wicked" King John) and Prince Geoffrey, spending the Christmas holidays of 1183 together under a reluctant truce.

An effigy of Eleanor at Fontevraud Abbey where she died and is buried

Eleanor, the wealthiest and most powerful woman in the world in her day, was kept under lock and key for years by her husband who feared her taking over the kingdom. During the time period of the play, she wishes freedom from Henry's incarceration without losing her power or her lands. Henry longs for a son to match him in brilliance and to rule after him -  while the sons are all out to greedily grab the crown.

As fate would have it, Eleanor eventually outlived Henry.  She grew old in a world where few people lived beyond their 40th birthdays. She had incredible experiences in her lifetime of more than 80 years, and in her later years was sought after as an expert in government and diplomacy by people from all over Europe.

Eleanor is a fascinating historical figure, as were her consort and their children.  Check them out in the history section of your library!

Henry II was a dashing man, a good deal younger than his wife

Although the author labeled this play a comedy, I see this as an adult drama, and a very interesting one. It goes to extremes in emotion and has twists and turns that are riveting.

As a descendant of Eleanor and Henry (through their son John), I enjoy seeing these powerful personalities come to life, although I doubt the play captures them as they really were.  Their lives were highly complicated by their positions in life and the times in which they lived, and the play helps us to understand that it is not easy to rule... nor to be a good spouse or parent.

So, come join the Whittier Community Theatre as they present The Lion In Winter, premiering tonight (Friday, 11/07) at the Center Theatre.

The show will run for three weekends:  November 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22 with a matinee on November 16th.

For tickets and ticket information, please call the reservation line:  562.696.0600

The performances will be held at:

The Center Theatre

7630 S., Washington Avenue

Whittier, California 90602

Meanwhile, back in Canada

Fredrik and Livia
Just the cutie-wootiest kids!

Fireman Fred and Snow White!

Don't you just want to give them lots and lots of candy?  ..And take a few more photos of them?

Fred with his Jack-O-Lantern

I'm sorry I'm missing out on seeing these kids as they grow.  But it's fun to see them in photos.  Fred started school last month, and is enjoying it.

Looks pretty spooky!

Looks like they both had fun for Halloween, although with the heavy layers they are wearing it seems to already be cold there!  This is hard for me to wrap my mind around.  Our nights may be in the 50s, but our daytime temps are soaring into the high 80s!

Canada is NORTH.  I have to remind myself of that.

Fred and Livia playing around

While Mom made homemade pumpkin pie (from scratch!), the kids played with pumpkin shells. It was time to make Jack-O-Lanterns.   They did a really good job.

Livia showing off her Jack-O-Lantern

I hope this answers your question: Do they have Halloween in Canada?

Yes!  They do!

Ana's Scary Cubicle

And the winner is...

Ana standing my her wildly decorated cubicle

Ana was the winner of the Halloween cubicle decorating contest.  Her decorations were pretty wild.

Under the spider - those teddy bears look like they're in danger!

I, personally, would not have wanted to sit under that gi-normous spider every day for over a week!

A visitor to her cubicle doesn't seem to have fared very well, even though he's wearing his orange vest and hard hat...

The skeleton sits with an Employee Handbook on its lap

Good job, Ana! That took a lot of preparation and work to pull off.

Stay tuned 

for the next installment of Halloween 2014!