Whoooeee! 47 years and counting

It was a bit later in the day, but 47 years ago, Judy and I were married at Talbot Park Baptist Church, in Norfolk, Virginia. The reception was held at the Officers Club at Naval Station, Norfolk.

My squadron mates all were involved. My "roomie" in FORRESTAL, Don Dudrow, was best man, and the rest of the officers were either ushers, sword arch or guests.

It has been a great union. The years have sped by, and we have been blessed with 3 daughters and one son. We have lived in 5 states, moved 12 or 13 times, endured various separations due to military and airline requirements, and are presently proud grandparents of 6 boys, and one grand daughter.

Holiday Blitz

All holidays are kicked off with food. Feasting seems to be the national pastime, and this Christmas was no exception. We had a massive standing rib (boneless) roast on Christmas Eve. I'll spare you the images of turkey, ham and other comestibles that were on every ones Christmas table.
The ladies produced a beautifully prepared roast of beef, done to a turn, and there was plenty of rare, medium rare and even some almost well done on the roast. Daughter Wendy and son Brad were absent, spending Christmas Eve with in-laws. Holly and her boys arrived on the 18th, Kari, Wayne and Carson on the 21'st from Virginia, and Mike, Holly's husband, arrived by air from El Paso, on the 23rd. It was cozy in the house, the three bathrooms were popular places.

Holly and the boys brought an intriguing new toy with them, and Momo was instantly absorbed in trying to find the various items inside. Yep, we even got Momo her very own at the Great American Toy Company. They made neat gifts for a couple of family members.

Zach and Will received several interesting items, these DVD's seem to hold their undivided attention.

Carson was excited by all the packages, and delighted us with his exuberance. He assumed the job of passing the various gifts to the recipients.

At 21 months of age, Peyton was quick to discover the easiest way to unwrap his gifts. What a joy all the grand kids are, and it's such a pleasure to see them open surprises.

Holly, mike and the boys left on Friday. When they stopped at the cabin in Ruidoso, they found that some considerate soul had kicked in the door to the cabin. They managed to repair the door so it would close, and made it back to El Paso by 5 pm. We will make our annual February trip the first weekend in February. We usually time it so we can celebrate Zach's birthday, but this year, he is involved in practice trial. His team has a chance to make it to the state finals.

B-r-r-r-r-r!

The weather guessers finally hit one out of the park. They forecast today would be bright, sunny and warm----until noon, and then the refrigerator door would be left open. Yep, at noon, when we got out of church, it was 64 degrees. By the time we got home (usually a 10 minute drive) the temp was down to 45, and at this time, 5 pm, it's hovering around 27. So that means I finally close the bedroom window tonight, probably put on a pair of shoes to get the morning paper, and watch the dogs hunt for a warm place to pee.

I have several old, I mean really old photos of the kids that I managed to salvage with my new little scanner. It converts 35 mm negatives and slides into digital images, and those can be used for all sorts of embarrassing events. When I manage to "heal" the glitch in my computer, I'll post some of the choice ones. Watch out Kari, Holly, Brad and Wendy! Oh, I even have a few of the grandkids that I have been hoarding!

Well, gotta go light the gas log, Judy is getting chilled.

Later!

New toy!

Well, it came in yesterday! I noticed an ad for a small scanner that would convert old 35mm negatives to digital, and it finally arrived! It's about the size of a large cup of coffee, and it's a breeze to use.
One of the first film strips I found was some I took of the "Fall of the Wall" back in November of 1989. It is strange to think that this all happened 19 years ago! I was living in Berlin at the time, flying the corridors as a pilot with PanAm's Inter German Service. This is a photo of the Brandenburg Gate on the 11th of November, 1989. Those guys on the Wall are East German Volks Police.

This photo was taken on the return leg from Istanbul back into Berlin. We would takeoff just before the curfew of 10 pm, and return after the end of the curfew at around 6 am. The cockpit of that old 727 was COLD! The insulation had been removed years before, and it was icy up there until the sun came up.

Just another view of the Brandenburg Gate. The crowd was ecstatic! And the place was crawling with TV crews from all over the world. CNN and NBC had crews just to the left of my spot.

Yeah, I had to peck on the Wall for some chunks for the folks back home. There was a major shortage of hammers and chisels for several weeks. I was beating on the Wall here with another lad from Amarillo, Gary Boyd. Gary passed on a year of so back.

I'll be careful when I add photos from my old stash. I don't want the kids throwing rocks at me when I post an oldie of them picking their nose, or some other blunder...