Cousins V

It occurred to me - when I finally looked at the calendar - that 40 years ago today, I left Mundelein, Illinois for my 1 year tour at NavSta  Adak, Alaska. In November 1969 I left NAS Kingsville, went home to Austin for a week, then took off to visit friends in Coral Gables, Florida, Asheville, North Carolina, and Mundelein. I had to pack enough fun into that month to last a year in the Aleutians. I did that, for sure. It was so long ago. . .

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It's hard to remember when Drew was this size. The picture of Drew and Gillian was taken at Thanksgiving in 2002 at grandmother's house in Grand Prairie. Angela and the kids were headed home, but there was more fun to be had.

I've always liked this one of Allison and Natalie playing with their dolls in grandmother's living room. This picture too was taken at Thanksgiving 2002.

This shot was taken in 2003 at Thanksgiving, once again at grandmother's house. The holidays are great for taking pictures because of the target rich environment. So many kids, and all of them hams!

But, with Thanksgiving behind us, it's time for Christmas parties. This abrupt change must have decremented the generation switch. This is a picture of Michael and Bill at Bill's annual Christmas party in 2004. Five years hence, Gillian and I will be headed up tomorrow to this year's party at Angela's.