Old Black and Whites

Mimi, Aunt Jane, R.L., Aunt Monk, Cat...and I don't know who the little guy is... (CORRECTION: According to my dear mother, that is not Cat, but Fannie... and the little boy is RT. Thank you, Mom!)

I scanned some more old photos today...and thought about how much I love black and white photography... I love looking at this photo... look at that fish! Mimi absolutely loved to fish, but I doubt if she caught this one. Probably R.L. did...R.L. was Aunt Monk's son...and Aunt Monk was Mimi's sister. Look at Mimi's shoes...they look like some of my Danskos!
As you can see, this photo was taken May 22, 1966. My mom wrote that on the photo. I'm holding Ray (who we called Bonner...long story...we won't go into that today...you can ask my mom), John David has on the yellow sleeveless shirt with the blue trim (I can still see it in my mind), Lisa was a little tyrant who was also a little doll and she and John David roller skated in competitions together, and then down in front is my cousin...Patti Jane!
I'm so glad I'm scanning these photos, because so many of them are aging...kind of like me!... and I don't want to lose them. Here, Mom and Dad are standing in front of Mimi's house.
Mimi and Granddad...once again, you can see my Granddad horsing around.
Aunt Jane and Uncle Charlie...this must have been around 1955 or 1956...I can see my swimming pool in the background.
Here, Mom and Dad are standing in front of Aunt Ollie's house in Austin. I have no idea where that little dog came from. My parents, especially my dad, always loved dogs...but I never remember him having a little dog like that.
Ok Mom...who is this with me? Is that Uncle Butler? He must have been patient to hold me and my dolls in his lap.
I have always loved this picture. Mimi and Aunt Jane are putting on my little hat...I don't know exactly what it is that I love, but I do...
17 months old... I remember those lamps...the curtains...the end tables, which Mom kept for a long time. Hey, where are those tables now? Do you still have those, Mom?
I will forever think of my Dad...and only my Dad, when I see this photo. As long as he was alive, he kept this in his wallet. The dress was navy blue...I remember!
I obviously decided to tackle identifying photos one day... "Me" is written by me! I think this was also at 17 months...this was taken at Mimi's...out on the sidewalk in front of her house.
14 months old

Oops...look like I must have been in trouble? I love looking at the items on the counter...the high chair...1955.
14 months

Is it time for a diaper change?
14 months

Feeding time. Can you see that trivet hanging on the wall? I have it, I use it still. I remember that refrigerator...remember the handle. You pulled down on it.
16 months old

Christmas at Mimi's. Looks like I have a mallet in my hand. That chair was finished in a gold brocade type fabric...and look at the carpet! I have a chair, actually as I write this, I'm sitting in a chair that is almost identical to the wooden one...only it's not the same one. I bought the one I'm sitting in at an antique store!

Wait...that's not Mimi's house...um? Was it Aunt Monks? Mimi had that chair, though. Um??? Mom, do you know where this is and why that's Mimi's chair somewhere else?
16 months

Yep, I guess that was a mallet in my hand. I'm pounding away on my xylophone...it's not as colorful as the one I just bought for Benjamin for Christmas. Shhhh....I wonder if Emerson would want one? Emily? Gabe? What do you think?

16 months

Posing with Mom and Dad, on top of my piano. This must have been a musical Christmas ...maybe Mimi wanted me to be musically inclined? If so, she was disappointed...I have no musical ability at all!
16 months

Look at the icicles on the tree? We always put lots of icicles... now they say they're dangerous. See that corner cabinet hanging on the wall? I have that hanging on the wall in my family room now.
Fast forward a few years...and here I am with Santa.
To the world of color... Santa, would you please bring me...

who knows what I asked for? Maybe a baby brother?

Old Photos

The Kings...1944 (and Tom, the cat!)
Granddad with Tom, Mimi, Aunt Jane, and my Mom

Today I decided to tackle a phone call to DELL computer...to try to figure out why my scanner wasn't working properly... nearly 3 hours later, I hung up.

But that's ok, since it works! I've been sitting here scanning some of my old photos...instead of doing the many things on my list.

I love old photos...that's the nostalgic side of me.
Mimi and Granddad

I loved my Mimi so incredibly much, spending summers with her, entire summers with her, after Granddad died. I loved him, too, but he died when I was six.
Mam-maw

This is Mam-maw, my Dad's mother. Her name was Len...which is where I got my middle name. I hated my middle name when I was growing up, but love it now. When I was young, I wanted my middle name to have a traditional spelling: Lynn, Lynne, Lyn...but not Len! Now I love that it's NOT traditional! Mam-maw lived in Austin, close to my Aunt Ollie, her sister. I remember in the summers when I would be with Mimi, Mimi would take me to spend time with Mam-maw. I remember being a little afraid...afraid of what I would do if something happened to Mam-maw while I was there. She always seemed older to me than Mimi was...and at Mimi's, I knew people close by who I could have called in an emergency...but I didn't know anyone in Austin besides Aunt Ollie.

Mam-maw loved Mexican food... and she would always go stand by the TV when the public service announcements would come on telling you to "stand by" for an announcement.

Funny the things you remember about your childhood!
Daddy

I think this was a photo from work. He was a sports-writer for a major newspaper...which I think is where I get my love of writing.

My Daddy... it still saddens me that he never saw Lindsey...that he didn't get to watch his grandchildren grow up...or see his great-grandchildren...how proud of them he would be!

Aunt Jane, Daddy, and Granddad

You can see my Granddad's playful personality in this photo. Aunt Jane adored my Dad...and he adored her, calling her 'Slim.' I always told Aunt Jane that she was my favorite aunt...even though she was my ONLY aunt. We always had a very small family.
Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jane

My cousin, Patti, who came for Thanksgiving is Aunt Jane and Uncle Charlie's daughter. Aunt Jane left us in June of 2008 and Uncle Charlie left us in July, 2009...we miss them so much!Joshua and Gabrial

Whoa! This photo isn't quite as old as the others. This was on Easter Sunday of 1983, in Price, Utah. The boys, my mom, and I were driving to California from Texas...and the boys had the chicken pox! I can't remember why we didn't have Lindsey with us? I faintly remember that she flew home with Ron...but why???
Lindsey

Lindsey was 2 years, 2 months old here, April 1983...playing in Grammy's make-up. I do believe I was looking for her, found her in the make-up, and quickly got a photo.

Just a little nostalgia on this rainy Saturday...

I'm glad my scanner is fixed!

Joshua, Erica, and Thalia are moving

Hopefully, this will be Joshua, Erica, and Thalia's new home...soon! There's still one more inspection, I think...but everything is looking great at this point...

I'm so excited for them!
Look at this kitchen! It's been remodeled...how smart is THAT to have a ceiling fan?
I love the crown molding...I like the color of the walls...it's sort of a green color...I'm not sure if Joshua and Erica will keep that color...
This will be Thalia's room...but she doesn't want to keep the pink. Look at all the angles!

They've been looking at houses for awhile...and now, it looks like their looking is coming to an end. How exciting!!!

Coming home

It's been such a great 3 weeks... Joshua came 3 weeks ago... he was the first to arrive for Thanksgiving.... more filed in...and with each one, I was so thankful for God's traveling mercies... for bringing them each here safely... and in good health. Addison was the last to leave... just this past Friday. We were busy Friday night, and then left early Saturday morning to head south for my People to People meeting. It was all worth it since we got to be with Emerson, Gabe, and Emily.
Yesterday we headed home. Dropping snow levels were in the forecast... so we intended not to be too late heading through the mountains. There was some rain, not much, and snow, again not much. The fog hanging in the mountains was beautiful...absolutely beautiful.
I just got a new lens for my camera... a 50mm f/1.8 ... and I pulled the camera out with this lens as we were driving. It was already dark outside, but the pictures were still turning out!



The snow was starting to stick on the ground, but not on the street...




For those of you who know some of my ... well, some of my past - not so safe driving escapades - this photo is to let you know that my guy was driving, not me.



It was getting so dark, but I kept snapping away...

My guy was driving carefully on the slick roads...




It was literally black outside, and some of the photos started blurring a little...


We were listening to Andrea Bocelli's Christmas CD... it's beautiful! Looks like we were about on the 7th song....
Ahh... we were getting fairly close to home...
almost at our exit...
Christmas trees... we're not putting one up this year since we're planning on heading down to see the kids... and help Joshua, Erica, and Thalia move....
We were getting tired.... almost home...
Turn here...
Home sweet home...

We walked in at 6:30 p.m. to a 53 degree house! It was so cold... my guy quickly lit a fire... As I was warming up, I was thinking how wonderful the past 3 weeks have been...how thankful, how very thankful I am for all the blessing on our family...

So blessed....

Making noise

My little Emerson was a little under the weather today. He really didn't act like he felt bad, but he has a little cold... I could see it in his sweet eyes... and his nose was a little runny...
He introduced me to his lion-friend...and his lion-friend to his Mimi...

Emerson was a little ... well, I think he had told his lion-friend a secret...and Eme was a bit nervous that he would tell...
He was wanting to show us all his book...
After awhile, Emerson went into his exersaucer...it's full of all kinds of toys...
He couldn't believe I was as excited as I was about the toys...One of the toys is this little book. When the pages are turned, it makes noise. I don't think Emerson had quite figured that out...until today! I was sitting there watching...intently watching... and at one point when he turned a 'page' and it made a noise, he just stopped and stared at it...then moved it a little, stared at it again...

After a bit, he kept turning one of the pages back and forth, and it kept making the noise...

It was a riot watching him! He tried to act like it was no big deal...

But it sure was to his Mimi!

His Mimi who hopes his cold goes away quickly!