Way to go, Billy!

Billy has always had his sights set on a musical career and has done a great deal of sacrificing in order to get where he wants to go. Billy has just been accepted into a "Boot Camp" for Audio Engineering, in order to take just one more step toward realizing his dream of becoming a Recording Master. He will be in Los Angeles for one week in November, where he will learn skills to improve what he already knows. I wish you could hear what I hear when I listen to his self-recordings of his creative genious. As he puts it, "everything in his music has a mathamatical sequence." He can go for bar after bar, for maybe 30 bars or so, before you can hear the "pattern" behind the intricate beats.

We are excited to see Billy achieve his goals, and this is just one more step in the direction he has always envisioned he would go. He's quite the "chip off the old block(s)!" Don't you think? You gotta love that boy!

Just look at him on top of the 142 steps down to the beach. I like this pose, because it looks like "success!" "Look, Mom, I'm at the top!"

Walking in Lincoln City!

My Doctor says I should get more exercise; and for this sedentary old girl, who "hates" to do routine exercises, that became a challenge for me! But I decided I wasn't getting any younger and I could stand to lose a few extra pounds, so I opted to start a walking program. And it wasn't just a simple walking program, either! I decided if I was going to enjoy this daily activity rain or shine, I was going to have to do it with style!

So -- I don my MP3 player, put on some energetic music, lace up my walking shoes, don my sunglasses if it's sunny, and an umbrella if it's drizzling! Oh, yes! I almost forgot -- an importanit piece of equipment for me -- my camera!

Every day I take a different route. I walk for a mile or two for now, but will increase this as time goes by. And I snap pictures of interesting things like flowers or animal life or houses that I like. But the best pictures are of the beach. We have some of the most amazing beaches! The entrance to the beach at the end of our street has 142 steps down to the beach. One Hundred and Forty-Two steps! I'm sure in time I will be able to come UP those stairs, but for now, I just go down!


Steps (looking up)!

The rest of the steps (looking down)!

The following pictures are pictures that I have taken along my way. Enjoy! I'm loving this new lifestyle!


These horses are for hire to ride on the beach. Dean and I want to do this one day!



These house pictures are just some typical beach "cottages" that are seen in most Oregon beach cities. I like these two!

Here are some more that I took just yesterday. Heather! I need your help putting these in a colage format like you use in your blog! HELP! Anyway, it was a really fun day yesterday, because we ran into this guy who was flying these most amazing kites on the beach. Lots and lots of wind!

The Music World I live In

I don't know if too many of you know that I married a musician! That is part of what attracted me to Dean. He plays the most beautiful trumpet, with feeling from the heart! I love to listen to him play. He also plays the piano and has written a few amazing pieces. Sometimes, he comes home late at night after a hard day at work and just sits down at the piano and "unwinds" through his music!

Last Saturday night, he played his debut performance with the Lincoln Pops band as 3rd Trumpet! It was an amazing Concert. You can gather from the title, "Here's to the Ladies!", that it was all about their amazing collection of female singers. Their music is from the "Big Band" era and I loved every minute of it. I tried to take pictures, but it was too disturbing for the rest of the audience, so I opted not to do that.

These musical memories are some of my favorite things about my husband. He is always looking for a good concert or musical event for us to go to. Johnny Mathis is going to be in Portland (Aw, come on -- surely you know who Johnny Mathis is!) in September (my birthday month) but we both have to work, so we won't be able to go to that event. It's OK! I'll get over it!

Everyone needs an education!

I am going to have to search and search to see if I can find some "Rowland Heights" pictures to add to this posting. When I find them, I will try and put together a little slide show.

We spent 11 years in Rowland Heights. They were years of growth, learning, experiences, ups, downs and everything in between. Finally! We could grow some roots.

Gerry grew by leaps and bounds in his new profession as an Associate Professor at Cal-Poly University in Pomona. Over the years he attained Full Professorship, led the Earth Sciences Department as their Chair for one year, and built lasting memories and friendships with his many bright and promising students. He attracted them! He was like a magnet! All of the best and the brightest wanted to sign up for Professor Henderson's classes! The Dean of the Department got after Gerry for giving out too many "A's" on report cards. Gerry's response? "I can't give a student a lesser grade than they earned. They all do A work!" Still, the Dean was not satisfied. He said, "Surely there must be some of your 'A' students who are not as good as the top 'A' student! Or, perhaps you are not making the course material difficult enough for them!" And still Gerry persisted. His "A" students remained just that. He could not, with a clear conscience give them a lesser grade! Needless to say, Gerry was a popular Professor!

My education came in the form of a great deal of learning in the matter of worldly choices. Some of those years in Rowland Heights were "dark" years for me. Some evil force took over all of my right thinking, the Holy Ghost withdrew for a season, and I learned that when left to our own devices and "worldly" thinking, we make very serious and ugly mistakes. The human side of me won out for a time, with the help from a very cunning tempter called Satan. These were trying times for me, for my children and mostly for my wonderful, strong, steadfast husband who never gave up on me. In the end, the Lord prodded me gently and reminded me that I was still a daughter of God and He would lift me up, but I had to walk a very difficult path for a time. Thanks to Gerry for standing by me, and for the love of my children and my family, that road, though a difficult climb, was easier than I thought it would be. I had moments of agony when I would spend the entire night on my knees inprayer, and I had moments of extacy when I would feel that most amazing peaceful blanket wrap around me and keep me on the right track. Every time I read the story of Alma the Younger, I relate to his feelings. I've experienced them! I had been taught well in my youth and had a strong testimony -- all of these things sustained me!

The other part of my own education included going back to school and earning 2 Nursing degrees. That was an exciting time for me. Again, my husband and children supported my efforts. I gained a strong appreciation for schooling that has never left me.

We started out with 4 children in grade school in Rowland Heights. Actually, Kim was in the 6th grade and went To Alvarado Jr. High School. Mark, Debi and JerriAnne were in Rowland Elementary School in the 5th, 3rd, and 1st grades. All four of them would grow up in Rowland Heights and graduate from Rowland High School. Kim graduated in 1977 (the same year I graduated from Mt. San Antonio College with my Associate Degree), Mark graduated in 1978, Debi graduated in 1980 and JerriAnne graduated in 1982. Those were exciting years for all of us. I learned how to be a mother of teen-agers and they learned that while these were some of the most fun years of their lives, they were also growing (too slow to suit them) into young adulthood and some of that was painful. It is a transition feared by parents, agonizing for the youth, and explosive for their growing bodies. Though I had difficult days, and so did they, there were many lessons to be learned. But, there were amazingly wonderful days, too. And, most of all, I miss those days.

Stay tuned for the writing of the addition of yet another daughter into our home...

Our Ninth Anniversary!

We started our celebration the day after our actual Anniversary (Saturday) by attending a local Siletz Indian Pow-Wow. Dean's comment, "the Southwest has followed me here!" I told him the entire country is full of various Indian reservations and tribes and Pow-Wow's are everywhere! He agreed, of course, but I guess it sort of made him a little nostalgic to be in the company of the tribes again.



These shots are unedited, and I probably should wait until I get them edited for better posting. Plus, Dean's camera caught some wonderful shots closeup, so when I get his card, I'll post them later.



We had our Anniversary Dinner at a wonderful, "posh" restaurant, overlooking the Siletz Bay. This bouquet of flowers was greeting me on the table when we arrived. My wonderful, thoughtful, always "the romantic" husband! We had a great meal, consisting of the best Pork Chops I have ever had in my life with creamy Sweet Potatoes, Brocolli flowerettes, a wonderful tomatoe salad with goat cheese and balsamic viniger, an appetiser of the best crab cakes in the world! For desert, we shared a custard, topped with caramel and slices of pear and various berries and a wonderful little cookie. All in all, the meal was elegant and we had a wonderful time. We alway like to say, when we are asked how long we have been married, "a total of 16 years!" Then, of course we have to explain the "interval." Life is grand and it is nice being married to such a great friend and just plain wonderful person! Thanks for all of the cards and well wishes!

August! "Ugh-est!" Too many Anniversaries!

It's August, and I can't keep up with all of the birthdays and Anniversaries this month! Happy Anniversary to Mark and Jacki on August 6th. I hope you have a wonderful celebration -- plus celebrating the fact that the Bar Exams are over for Mark! Happy Anniversary to Dean and I on the 8th. We will celebrate our 9th Anniversary! There's a song that says "Love is better the second time around," and for Dean and I, that is true! Our "second time" around has been much, much better! We will celebrate by going to an Indian Pow-Wow on Saturday and then out to dinner at a very nice Restaurant in Lincoln City. If we totalled our time together, I guess we will be celebrating 14 years together! Finally, Happy Anniversary to Debi and Brian on the 9th. They probably won't check out this site, but Happy Anniversary anyway. I hope all have a wonderful, memorable celebration of your time on earth together. God bless you all! (Did I miss anyone?)

I wanted to post some pictures, but seem to be experiencing some glich in my computer right now! Oh well, maybe next time!

The Long Ride from Champaign, Ill. to Santa Monica, CA

Our trip from Illinois to California took place in February! Now, all of you know that that is smack-dab in the middle of Winter! Right? Yep! Winter driving! We thought we would be smart and take a southern route to L.A., to avoid a lot of weather, but Old Mother Nature keeps her appointment with winter weather everywhere. We drove through the Ozarks and saw overturned semi's on the highway because the roads were so icy; Albuquerque was OK -- just a little slush here and there -- but by the time we reached Flagstaff, we were in a full-blown blizzard and had to pull off of the Interstate and get a motel for the night. I was finding out that my little Mustang was not a winter driving car, and Gerry was having trouble keeping the trailer from zig-zagging behind him. It was a welcome rest from the storm!

By morning, the storm had passed, but we could not see our cars or the trailer in the parking lot! They were burried with 6 feet (an exaggeration, I know) of snow or better! Now, that made for a fun day shoveling the cars out of that stuff and getting back on freshly plowed roads. Oh, what I would have given for a nice digital camera to take some of the pictures for posterity -- but, alas, they hadn't been invented yet! Just take my word for it -- it was awesome!

Once we escaped the mountain, and headed west on the downward side into the desert, the snow was left far behind. The rest of the trip was a breeze!

We settled in Santa Monica for a brief time, got the kids registered in Grant Elementary School (where I went to Elementary School!) and Gerry went to work at Cal-State L.A. (way across town) for one semester. I went to work for my dad in his restaurant. When school was out for the summer, Gerry got a new job at Cal-Poly University in Pomona. He had a long commute. We had a little rental in Westwood by that time and the kids went to a new Elementary School, just 3 blocks away. JerriAnne started Kindergarten there. We stayed in our Westwood rental house for a year, and poor Gerry had the commute back and forth to Pomona every day. It was rough.

In the summer of 1970, we went "east" and started looking for a house to buy. We found our second home (last for us) in Rowland Heights. It was in a fairly new subdivision near City of Industry. And, it was much, much closer to Pomona! We bought the house (4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms) for $38,000. Another scary purchase! I guess everything is relative. When you are only making $1100.00 a month, a $348.00house payment can really be scary. We settled into our new home, and that was the end of the Henderson Clan's move history! We put in deep roots in Rowland Heights. Our total moves since we first became a couple (way back in 1958) equaled 16! That's a lot of packing and unpacking.

Come back next time and the education journey that we all undertook in Rowland Heights will continue...

Happy Birthday, Heather!

I can hardly believe that my "little girl" just keeps getting better and better with each passing year! Where have the years gone? Where did little Heather go? Someone, please explain this to me! My baby is a woman! And a beautiful one at that!

At any rate, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEATHER! You know I'll be thinking about you and hoping you're enjoying your day!