Random Portraits

This picture of Paul was taken at the family reunion in Utopia in 2002. Most of us haven't seen him since he was here last December, but Karen and Lisa got to visit with Paul and Lee in Virginia last week. Lisa and a friend flew east to run in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC and Karen went along to provide moral support. The last I heard, Paul's hoping to be able to visit us in January - we look forward to it.

 

This one, of our "other" Paul, was also taken in 2002 at the family reunion. To be specific, it was taken at the restaurant in Leakey where we ate lunch after exploring the territory north of Utopia and west of Vanderpool. It's not unusual to find "stuffed critters" mounted on the walls of a Texas restaurant or bar, but a bighorn sheep resting behind your chair is a little bit different.

 

Lauren, Angela, and Drew were captured here on Grandmother's patio one evening in Grand Prairie a little over a month later - during my Fourth of July visit to Texas. I thought I'd take this opportunity to mention that all pictures of Lauren taken in the future will be without her tonsils - she had them removed last week. I assume she has recovered by now -  I hope she's not sick of ice cream.

Random Portraits

Well, Saturday's game against Oklahoma was something less than impressive - except perhaps to Sam Bradford. But even so, a win is a win. Perhaps some time over the next few weeks things will come together for the Longhorns and we'll finish up the season in a memorable manner.

All three of these pictures were taken in 2002. The one above, of Gillian and Summer was taken in late June , a few months after Summer was moved to a new stable in West Cobb County.

 

This picture of Angela was taken one night over at Mom's house in Grand Prairie. I can't remember what she was chuckling about, but she's typically in a good mood whenever she's around family - and Christmas was only a few days off.

 

This picture of Donna's brother, David, was taken in July at Jonathan and Heather's wedding reception in Mount Pleasant. I've always liked David - he's a "what you see is what you get" kind of guy. I always enjoy getting a chance to see him.

Cousins IV

 

They're everywhere! They're everywhere! I remember late one afternoon in 1963 when we were in the midst of our move from Quantico, Virginia to (eventually) Austin, Texas. I think we were in Grove, Oklahoma, having stopped to see my dad's Aunt Hettie. We had eaten an early dinner (supper) and the nine of us kids had adjourned to the motel swimming pool. There were only two other people at the pool, a couple who had been enjoying the quiet and their reading. Now, apparently they were enjoying the antics of a wild tribe ranging in age from 3 to 18 that had finally escaped from their automobile prisons after a long, hot day's drive.

After we were thoroughly cooled off and our exuberance subsided somewhat, the man called me over and asked me if we were all brothers and sisters. I told him we were and that we were moving to Texas. He told me that he and his wife were quite impressed by such a large, well behaved group of kids. They especially liked how the big kids looked after the little kids, and all of us were enjoying ourselves so much.

I'm reminded of that afternoon whenever my nieces and nephews congregate. Whether there are two of them or 10 of them, all you see are smiles, and all you hear is laughter and the enthusiastic chatter of friends, too long apart.

This picture of Gillian, Drew, Natalie, and Paul, in the hot tub was taken in late May 2004 at one of our biannual family reunions in Utopia.

 

This one, taken in Karen's and Richard's backyard, shows Paul and Cat on the trampoline, and Lauren, Allison, and Natalie waiting their turn. The occasion was our Labor Day/Cathie's Birthday celebration, also in 2004.

 

Here we have Daniel and Drew shooting pool on New Year's Eve 2005. You can't tell from the photograph, but there is a large party going on all around. At some stage the party will overflow to one neighbor's house and then another's, and 2006 will be underway.

 

This group, Natalie, Paul, Mary Clare, and Allison, is taking a few moments of rest in Karen's living room to regenerate some energy for the 2007 Labor Day/Cathie's Birthday festivities going on in the backyard and around the pool.

*****

Lauren is having her tonsils removed this week up in Arlington, so I guess she'll be eating ice cream as her family cheers for the Longhorns in the Red River Shootout. Most, if not all, of the Austin gang will be down at Ellen's and Stan's house in San Antonio, making sure South Texas is aware of each Longhorn exploit and every Sooner miscue.

Hook 'Em, Horns!