Click HERE to see some great pictures of Jackson!
I had a wonderful trip to Missouri this spring. As
usual it was too short to do all that I would have liked to do. I
did get to visit Bonnie and see her new home. One of my main
objectives was to pay a visit to California, Missouri. Marilyn and
I drove over and spent most of two days there. We found the grave
of our grandmother, Mary Howard O'Bryan and visited Allee
Cemetery. Click on them for a larger view. |
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Tom |
Sister-in-law, Marilyn, trying to act "normal". |
Marilyn |
Charles |
Alvin |
I was fortunate to be able to attend David and Karen's
wedding in Maine. Becky took me to Maine with her because I'm her
favorite mother-in-law.........yes, I am aware that I'm her ONLY
mother-in-law, but it makes me feel special to think I'm her
favorite!!! Our ancestor, Ralph
Blaisdell, was a passenger on the Angel Gabriel, which
shipwrecked at Pemequid Point in 1635. So I was able to
watch David and Karen marry on ground that our ancestors likely walked
on over 350 years ago. What a thrill for someone who loves family
history as I do. I also enjoyed spending some time with family that I
don't get to see often. I've always wanted to see Maine and now I'm in
love with the state. It is beautiful. To see some pictures from the trip click HERE.
This is Becky, one of my daughters-in-law. She
appears to be delicate and reserved.
May 2001 Dad and Marilyn have moved into an apartment in Lees Summit. It was time to get Dad out of Collins and closer to family that can give Marilyn some assistance with his care. He seems to be adjusting very well to his new surroundings. I know Marilyn is happy to be near her family. I went for a visit and brought back lots of pictures and some new information about Mother's family that I will add to this site in the next few weeks. My brothers, my sister, my sisters-in-law and I had the opportunity to share some time together with Dad. To see some pictures I took on this trip click HERE.
My nephew, David West is engaged to Karen Sprossel. Congratulations to both of them. Their wedding will take place in Maine on June 9. They came by for a visit from Atlanta last fall and they are such a nice couple. Welcome Karen. They have set up a website about their wedding. To see it go to www16.brinkster.com/davidandkaren Go check it out. In October of 2000, Susie Cox, daughter-in-law of my
sister, Marilyn, was involved in a very serious automobile
accident. She was hit head-on by another car. She was very
seriously injured and required many hours of surgery to repair her
injuries. After a long hospital stay, she was finally able to come
home and begin the long process of healing and rehabilitation. Susie is
such a vibrant lady. I know that this is a very difficult time for
her and her family. I've made a little greeting for her. To view it and
leave her a message click HERE. January 2001 My brother, Tom, retired in January 2001. It must be really tough to come and go as you please, with no employer to answer to!! It's not been that many years ago that he was just a kid, leading me around by the hand. To see the full sized picture of us, click on the picture below and then use your back arrow to return to this page. Congratulations Tom.
Over Labor Day Weekend, we had a family reunion at Longview Lake near Kansas City, Missouri. It was the first we have had in about seven years. The previous week had seen record breaking heat. The temperatures had reached over 100° each day. I wasn't sure who would show up in that heat. I wasn't even sure just how long I would be willing to stay out there. But on Sunday, the day of our reunion, a few clouds came up and a breeze started to blow. For most of the day we were blessed with heat that was tolerable. I'm sure many stayed home because of the heat and we certainly understood that, but we missed them anyway and would have loved to have seen them. Glenn West had the best excuse for non-attendance. He had a soft ball tournament. Surely, it was the SENIOR league! <grin> Hopefully, we won't wait another seven years to hold another reunion. We had a great time visiting and taking pictures. Some of the younger family members had a refreshing swim in the lake. As is usual at West family reunions, there was a bunch of good food. I managed to come home with half of "Bonnie's chocolate cake". We all know what a "steal" that was! I shared some with my coworkers the next week and they agreed it's the BEST! Karen brought some barbeque that was "finger licking" good. My son, George, is a "connoisseur of barbeque". He proclaimed it the best he's had! We had about 75 folks attend. They came from Alabama, Georgia, and of course Missouri. Probably our youngest and newest family member attending was Kole, son of Winne and Jeff. He was celebrating his four week birthday! Our patriarch and oldest family member, Elmo West, was unable to attend. He doesn't care much for travel and at 96 he pretty much does what ever he wants! However, he's healthy and with a little assistance from Marilyn he still lives on his own. He recently had some surgery to remove a skin cancer from his nose. He's recovering nicely. To view some pictures from the reunion click HERE.
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However, if you know Becky, you know that she's the first one in line to
ride the roller coaster or some other horrifying thrill ride! She is
fearless, but recently I fear she has LOST HER MIND!! To find out
why, click on 
