8/7/15

Melody and Rick couldn't believe their good fortune at being voted King and Queen of the annual St. Nicholas University Frost Fest and after the dinner dance, Rick planned to thaw Melody out with an engagement ring!

Elizabeth adored playing on the equipment at the McDonald's in Broken Bow, Nebraska, but like many young gals before her, she sometimes got her skirt hooked on Mayor McCheese's nose when exiting the merry-go-round, resulting in a fall.

Here we see the fateful day in which future champion gymnast Terry Bartholomew learned the dismount he became famous for, first discovered when his older sister Kari jerked the two-person swing to a sudden halt with her feet.

Although visitation with her son Mario was a key sticking point in her divorce from Manuel, what really made Estela happy was winning full custody of the family pet Chico!

In what had by now become a yearly tradition, Tom and Kelli stood before the tree, showing off the Christmas presents they'd received via UPS from nearsighted Aunt Frances. This year Tom got a shoe while Kelli got a dress that she'd eventually grow in to...

Thus it wasn't until this shattering moment, just prior to the ceremony, that Carleen realized her fatal error in dressing Maid of Honor Becky in a color and style that was more eye-catching than her own bridal ensemble!

At first Gary and his friends thought it was going to be a significant problem that of the five of them, only one had brought a towel to share, but as the afternoon wore on, they found they didn't mind the cramped quarters as much as they thought they would.

8/5/15

Mysti and Krysti were thrilled to be invited over to Jake's graduation party, but had trouble understanding why, when there were 196 people in their class, they were the only two there thus far!

Harmon had warned Lucille over and over about the seagulls who liked to swoop down and snatch away treats like her just-purchased crabcake, but he had no clue that cousin Cecilia was just as predatory herself!

Charmaine took in quite a haul this Christmas and found that she had to display her gifts under the TV stand rather than her tree because there simply wasn't room...

Mabel swore that the next time that horsefly came within reach, she was going to whack the hell out of it. Unfortunately, the very next time it landed, it was on Mary Agnes' right temple...

The Silvertons were generally pleased with the way the wedding portraits turned out, though no one could figure out how Esther Rosenblum wound up in 70% of the shots. Turns out she'd just been taking her daily walk to the market with the church gardens on the way, and somehow got caught up in most of the group photos!

Roscoe felt that his 2nd grade picture turned out about as good as could be expected, though everyone, including him, agreed that it all would have worked out for the better had he remembered to wear his matching sailor suit trousers that day.

8/3/15

True, Harletta had injured her back yanking up weeds from the flower bed, but Clarence didn't see why that was any reason to give up his turn at sitting on the rocker. After all, she could have it the next evening and her back would probably still be hurting then, too!

With his compromised sense of hearing, it could sometimes be embarrassing to take Bart to places, such as this Outdoor Ice Cream Soda Social. The hostess went over to him as asked "How is your phosphate?" and this was his response!

Marcie and Timmy were barely in to their C-3PO & R2-D2 puzzle when they gave up because it had "too many pieces," causing Larry to regret that he's shown up at Children's Palace when the store opened and wrested it from the hands of a lady who'd planned to buy it for her son Norm.

Having successfully caught himself a lovely wife such as Lenore, Glenn took the boat out again to Lake Havasu to try to land one for Vernon, but did wonder if the glasses and gingham trunks might scare away any potential prey.

And with this, Camille realized that with just the addition of a green swim cap, she could effectively camouflage herself enough to spy on Herbert and see just who he was bringing back to their summer camp while she was supposedly off playing Crazy Eights with most of the other ladies...

File photo of Antoinette Lewis, moments after she was warned for the last time by her mother Marie to stop digging away at all the pebbles and loose gravel at the base of this boulder at Mount Crushing.

7/31/15

Petunia Potter kept trying to get Aunt Mrytle and Aunt Louise out of the kitchen so that she could roll up her sleeves and start on the redeye gravy, but they were so intent on arranging the parsley around the country ham that they wouldn't listen!

Having been denied her half-day out of the office on the Friday before Labor Day, Barbara had no intention of letting her excursion plans fall through. Now 80% finished with a quick makeover on her cousin Frank, she felt that with some earrings and a tad more blush, she'd never be missed at the accounts payable desk...

Sylvia had at last conquered her agoraphobia to the point where she could make it up the cellar steps and onto the pavement, though clasping the guardrail with both hands did make it difficult to water her thirsty plants!

Jane was nervous about attending her 40th class reunion from Hudson High School and wondered if she hadn't clung a little too tightly to the past when it came to her overall fashion sense...

Of all the many wineries they'd toured in the Rhineland, none was as fun for Kris and Dina than Falhausen, thanks to the generous samples that were given out upon arrival!

Margaret had warned Randolph repeatedly that if she ever again tiptoed to the bathroom in the middle of the night and discovered the toilet seat up, he was going wind up in the doghouse for a solid week and she was always a woman of her word!

7/29/15

Late in the revelries of the Fourth of July bash down at the Busch, Arkansas Elks Lodge, Doug and Annemarie set out to commemorate America's independence over Great Britain with a special victory salute!

And so, with the sudden influx of screaming children and loud, corrective parents, Ramundo's dream of a restful, reflective and relaxing day at the beach turned into the usual quagmire of aggravation...

Anne Burlynn admired the modern sculpture from a safe distance, still tentative after a near miss with a propeller at the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum.

Following her and Baby Wetsit's trip to the moon on board a flying, Scottish palomino donkey, Suzanne determined that, no matter what her mother recommended, she should never have both a Hot Toddy and two spoonfuls of Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup before bedtime!

It became pristinely clear to Madelyn that prior to Ralph's posing for photos before the Junior High Snowball Dance he had walked across the forbidden cream-colored carpet in the den and she wanted to know just exactly how he intended to get back to the door without repeating the offense...

Sarah Renee had clumsily walked into a door handle two days before the Sugar Plum Tiptoers Dance Recital, but her mother decided to cleverly work it into her makeup scheme rather than try to ineffectively cover it up with pancake base.

Everyone gathered along the shoreline to search for Gerald's sister Laura and, just about the time everyone had practically given up, Robbie happened to feel something uncomfortably similar to arms and legs just below his feet!

7/27/15

It had been a great day of fun and games at the beach, but Alphonso knew that if he truly planned to win at hide and seek against Ramon, he was probably going to have to ditch the trunks.

Everyone screamed and flailed their arms in warning at Henrietta, but she merely smiled and waved back, never realizing that Nosferatu the vampire was waiting behind her in the shadows until she receded from the sunlight...

One of the very first sittings from Andrea Therese Family Portraits and proof that not all the kinks had yet been completely worked out at the time of the famed photographer's incorporation as a self-created businesswoman...

Leroy had no intention of letting the ladies win the annual Battle of the Sexes pool tournament at Claude and Norma's beach retreat, so he used his pool cue to throw Sue Jan off during this key play of the three-game match!

Having to give up her seat on the couch to Charlemagne was bad enough in itself, but what really burnt Harva's butter was that using the chair meant she wasn't able to see the TV clearly around Otis's head and this was supposed to be a really good episode of "Texaco Star Theatre."

In those bygone days before drive-thrus, Leora had to sit in the hot backseat and pray that Lee Ann would remember that she didn't want any onions on her Big Mac or that she preferred the Bicentennial blueberry shake over strawberry, which Lee Ann usually brought back in error...

7/24/15

Despite the fact that his mum had washed his good linen suit pants in hot water and tumble-dried them to the point where they became shorts, Barnaby still managed to have a good time on his class trip to Plainfield...

Bobby Ray didn't fully understand what it meant to "go four-wheeling" and thought that all it required was a vehicle with four wheels, but when he saw the trail the gang was headed on, he thought he'd better grab a quick shot of Ariel in front of his prized ride in case it got dirty along the way...

Sylvie was nervous during her first flight and refused to stow her pocketbook under the seat during take off. She figured she might at any point want a quick swig from the quart of Seagram's Gin she had tucked away inside it!

Heloise always found it sort of rude to ring a dinner bell when it was time to alert guests that the meal was ready and on the table, so instead she had Johann pick her up a glockenspiel so that she could plunk out a pleasant little musical phrase to draw everyone in from the den!

The entire neighborhood was envious of Debi and Travis' white-frosted Christmas tree, sometimes lining up outside their window to grab a closer look, but what no one knew was that, much to Debi's dismay, the frost was real because Travis liked to cut fuel costs in the wintertime!

Penelope was eager to pose for a portrait with her owners Marge and daughter Clea, but they refused to let her pose next to them since the last time Penelope's ever-shedding dog hair adhered to their outfits and showed up in the finished photo!

7/22/15

Everything about Christmas at The Gundelsens went off without a hitch except for little Nicolai's horror at the sight of Cousin Ingmar bursting through the door to hand out gifts while wearing his red leather and white fur-trimmed lederhosen with plaid knee-socks!

Melody thought she'd paid close attention when Aunt Sharon instructed her on how to check for a diaper change. She'd told her to gently insert her finger into the diaper and then smell it....

Roxie was hell bent on making the starting string of the Recking-Havick High School Girl's Field Hockey Team, but her parents were becoming increasingly frustrated at having to replace window after window in their home as she continued to practice...

New Year's Eve at the Captain's Table on board the S.S. Neptune was supposed to be quite the occasion, but one couldn't help but notice the four empty place settings which had been meant for Mr. & Mrs. Mike Rogo and Mr. & Mrs. Manny Rosen, but they'd made a last-minute, fateful switch to celebrate on the S.S. Poseidon!

The Ulfsson's truly enjoyed their six-day stay at their grandparents' Ruritarian retreat, but if the truth be known, Grandma Ingeborg was really ready to end the entire thing on the afternoon of the second day!

Carla Poynter had no idea how long she and her date Chip Pincher had been at the beach, but Chip had the marvelous idea to use her as a sundial so they could determine just how late it was getting before they had to head home.