another July birthday!

Happy 21st Birthday to Philip! The 7th of 8 kids, Philip was born on 7-8-88 -- very easy to remember. Philip was always such a happy baby, even when he went to Disney World in Florida with us when he was 1 year old (top right picture). He had that happy smile on his face the whole day, and didn't fuss or cry once during those 3 long days. Philip is definitely a "people" person, and makes us laugh with his funny imitations. He loves sports--running, playing basketball. Have a wonderful birthday Philip!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, to our much loved daughter-in-law, Courtney. We are so blessed to have her in our family. She has been a wonderful support to Mark, as he obtained his D.D.S. degree. Courtney is an adventurous girl who enjoys the outdoors, camping and kayaking. Having a great love for animals (raised seeing eye dogs as a kid), she got her degree in animal science from BYU. She is also gifted with creative, artistic talents. Her biggest accomplishment, for which we are so grateful, is the birth of a beautiful son, Colby. Hope your day is the best Courtney!

(P.S. scroll down further to see 2 new blog updates.)

a 4th of July celebration

We celebrated with the usual--family, food, fireworks. Like true Texas rednecks, we celebrated by watching the fireworks from the backs of our pick-up trucks. (With 2 little babies, we didn't want the hassle of taking a shuttle bus to the park, so we joined many others in the HEB parking lot.)

My thoughts were on my mother, who was born in Vienna, Austria on July 4, 1918. From the time she was a little girl, she knew that someday she would live in America. In an official affidavit sent to the American Consulate, my father stated: "After serving 15 months in the service of the United States Army in Europe, I was honorably discharged as Staff-sergeant in the 869th Field Artillery Battalion. While in Europe, I became acquainted with Leopoldine Ibba (in Salzburg, Austria)...I became engaged to marry her; that she is now employed as a Secretary by the Headquarters Company of the 5th Infantry Real Estate Office; that she is 28 years old and both her parents are deceased....It is my intention to marry the said Leopoldine Ibba immediately after her arrival in the United Sates and that I will be responsible for her care and support thereafter in the United States; that my mother approves of said marriage (his father was deceased)."

After enduring many hardships during the war, a lifelong dream was fulfilled. She sailed on the ocean liner "America",entered New York Harbor, and was welcomed by the Statue of Liberty. The following week, my parents were married in Providence, R.I. and I made by entrance into the world exactly 9 months later.

Get ready, set, retire!

Grandpa is retiring ! We've been planning this for several years now, and had been planning on retiring in Jan., but then, the company generously offered a package deal to downsize its workforce. The timing was so perfect. Monday, July 13 is the big day! We'll be joining the ranks of the blissfully unemployed.

I'm looking forward to not getting up every morning at 5:30 to pack a lunch for Carl. Now he'll finally get around to completing the never-ending "honey do" list, the things he's been promising me for 20 years he'd do (like shelving units for upstairs playroom). Although we'll have more freedom to go places whenever we want, we'll still be grounded until "little" Carl graduates from high school next year. I do have a few concerns, such as sharing this computer, and I'm sure we'll be driving each other crazy during the adjustment period. I'm wondering how long it will take for Carl to get bored being at home. He has a car project going on in the garage that will keep him busy for a while. There are several other big projects, such as replacing the siding on the house. If he gets really bored of being a home body, there is already a company that wants to hire him part time, or as much time as he wants, to help them with stuff.

A week ago, Carl got it in his brain that he wants to get one of these for retirement.

It would save on hotel bills, if we decide to travel a bit. However, it is scary thinking of pulling into an RV park full of old retired people! I'm not too enthused when he shows me photos of these travel trailers on the Internet.

Stay tuned for future episodes of "Retirement".

more on a busy month

We finished off the month of June by celebrating this sweet grandson's 5th birthday. He and cousin Kyla (standing right next to him), will be entering kindergarten in Aug. They are such good buddies. We had so much fun at Aiden's house, jumping on the trampoline, swimming, and just being together. We were treated to Brian's delicious barbecue, a new side dish Emily made --Emeril Lagassie's (sp?) corn pudding (a real treat), and Emily's homemade coconut cake.

a busy month

So much going on this month! Busy but fun. Relatives flew in from Utah, Virginia, Pennsylvania,Tennessee, California, Arizona, for a family reunion. We enjoyed meeting some relatives for the very first time, and others whom we hadn't seen since the last reunion back when Granny Maxine was still alive. These are the descendants (many of whom couldn't make it for the reunion) of grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother Dolly Taylor.

graduation!

It was a happy occasion for the entire family to witness Mark's graduation (in May) from U.T. San Antonio Dental School. Four years of very hard work flew by quickly. In a few short weeks Mark and his family will be moving to Minnesota, where he'll be practicing for at least 4 years.