Halloween Memories

These are some of my favorite Halloween pix. Every year I get them all out and we create a "Halloween Gallery" all across the piano. We really enjoy looking back.
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Another awesome make up job, don't you think? Yep, that's the real sunset back there too - perfect for a Halloween pic! Christopher was 10 and Bobby was 5.

Awww....here's my baby Tigger - Bobby's one year old here. Where does the time go??

This one is Scott (vampire) and Charles (mummy) and it brings back the funniest memories. Charles just had to mimic every move his big brother made. All the little kids in Lula, MS ran away screaming when they saw these two. I did their makeup and thought it turned out rather well! Of course, their acting made it all the better! Make sure you click the pic so you can see the bigger version....it's too kewl!

This was in 2005 when Renee Holfert, Lesley Bruner and I all dressed as witches for our kids' class Halloween party in the 2nd grade. We had so much fun and the kids absolutely loved it! We cast spells on each other & said scary stuff. A little girl in kindergarten happened to see me in the hallway and went screeaching and crying back to her teacher who had to call her mom to come pick her up!! Gee, I must've been mighty scary! Bobby's friends still call me "the witch" when they see me.

Halloween Carnival

Bobby & Austin: twin psychedelic rockers!

Marguerite, Bobby & Mary Gibson
(eeew...girls!)


Dr. & Mrs. Tatum, Jayne & Mary Jayne Lee

Chuckie (William Babb) and the Rocker

Pajama Day @ School

This week was "Red Ribbon Week" at Bobby's school, Marlboro Academy. Red Ribbon week is observed nationally to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs. There was a different theme each day this week:
Mon - Kick Off: they had a rally
Tues - Put A Cap On Drugs: students wore crazy hats
Wed - Follow Your Dreams; Don't Do Drugs: students wore pj's to school, alas, the photo above. Bobby wore his Stewey pj pants...nice outfit, huh?
Thurs - Join the Fight Against Drugs; students wore camoflage
Fri - Say Boo To Drugs: students wore one pc. of their Halloween costume

Psychedelic Rocker

Who can forget? Led Zeplin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Grateful Dead, Sly & the Family Stone, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, so many more AND Woodstock....what an era! So it's really, really kewl when your 10 year old son wants to dress up for Halloween as a 60s rocker! Yep, the kid knows good music! Wow, Bob.... He even knows almost all the words to the songs on the classic rock station!

Cousin's Pix

Bruce & Cheryl in a rainforest

Cheryl and her son, Jeff, in Yellowstone in 2007.
Jeff works for the CA Conservation Corps in South Lake Tahoe.

What a fun 50th birthday Cheryl had. I think she looks really cute!

Kristen is Cheryl's daughter

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These pix are from my cousin, Jeanie. Her daughter, Lindsay, lives in Alaska and is an awesome athlete when it comes to racing snow machines! The more I hear about her, the more I think she and Scott are definitely related!

Above: Lindsay & Jeanie on Exit Glacier

Lindsay & Marty (Jeanie's fella) at Resurrection Bay

Jeanie's beautiful "yard" in Oregon

Lindsay's Pix

These photos are from Lindsay, Jeanie's daughter.
Lindsay is pretty much still a "newlywed" and lives in Alaska with her husband, Brad.
Here's Lindsay & her mom, Jeanie, at Lindsay's wedding.
You both look SO BEAUTIFUL!

Here's Marty, Jeanie, Jim, Brad and Lindsay.
Jim is Brad's father.
What a beautiful dog...Abbey. This is MY kind of dog!
I miss my German Shepherd!

And this little tyke is Keely, another of Lindsay & Brad's pets.

Carla's Soldier

Here's a great photo of Sean, the son of my good friend, Carla, from high school. Both our sons are in the US Navy and we're so proud of them both. Sean recently married and is expecting a baby daughter.....how exciting!

Awesome Photos of the Grandkids!

Here are the twins, Bryant & Lucy Kate.
Their photographer is awesome... http://www.wijax.com/

Here's Evan, almost one year old!
He has the CUTEST smile!!
BE SURE to look at his Halloween pic here<-

Meeting Sarah Palin

Here's Caroline with her Sarah Palin autograph. She and her mom, Lori, were invited to this fund raiser at the home of the former US Ambassador to Estonia (near Russia). Caroline was excited to meet & speak with Sarah, who called Caroline "sweetheart".

I can just hear Sarah.... "You betchya!"

Caroline's in this group of young people who came to the fund raiser. See? There IS hope for future generations!

3 Cousins Finally Together!

(Everyone, be sure to click the pix to see the larger shots!)
Well, here we are FINALLY together!
This is Thursday evening at the Kansas City airport where we all met. This was the most awesome trip (thanks for the plane ticket, Cheryl!) and I know that none of us would trade it for anything. Talk about getting to know each other::: we cried, we laughed, we felt like we'd always known each other all our lives. I think one of the most important things we learned is that no matter what our childhoods were like or all we'd been through (and it wasn't pretty!) we all beat the odds; we all stopped the perpetual motion of an historical dysfunction in our parents' lives. I say we are AWESOME!! I love you guys and & it's wonderful to know you're in my life now. Here's Jeanie on the left & Cheryl's sitting. Jeanie's from Oregon and Cheryl's from California. We do hope to try and meet at least once a year if at all possible.
Hey, did any of ya'll find that "fax numer"? LOL!

This is the 3 of us in the bushes at the Elms

The next 3 pix were taken at William Jewell College, one of the oldest colleges west of the Mississippi. It is a private liberal arts college, established in 1894.




Jeanie! You look like a tiny little girl in the huge chair at the Sheraton. We had a yummy meal here Thursday night, complete with a waitress (bless her heart) who dumped an entire glass of red wine all over us, our clothes, and our table. Oh well, we did get a free dessert out of the deal!

FRIDAY: Excelsior Springs, MO
On Friday we hopped in the car and picked a spot on the local map, looking for a little adventure. While looking for Kearney, we ended up in Excelsior Springs. What a find! We all decided it was like a little Norman Rockwell town. There was even a homecoming game parade twisting its way down the curvy main street. Everyone we met was so so friendly & helpful.

WILLOW SPRINGS MERCANTILE
Here's the nicest guy named Jim. He and his wife and 4 year old son, Colt, own & run a very nice shop, complete with wine sampling. We checked out the main level store and then down to the basement for ice water, conversation and a little git-fiddlin'.... Please visit their website here<-
Thanks for your very friendly hospitality, Jim!

THE ELMS HOTEL

The Elms Hotel was a favorite haunt of the infamous Al Capone. Former president Harry Truman also enjoyed the Elms and its European-style spa. Truman stayed at the Elms on the night of his victory over Thomas Dewey in the 1948 presidential election.

An independent film (cast & crew in pic above) was made here at the Elms. "Fling" or it might keep it's original name "Lie to Me", has various release dates in 2008. It's a romantic comedy/drama. The film will premiere to the public on 11-14 in Kansas City, where they will also hold their premier party. You can visit the website here<-

Also, as you can see by the photo below, the Elms was a favorite of the Rat Pack.



Pix don't even do this place justice. It's soooo massive, built with huge limestones. The grounds are nice too!



Above is a display that depicts the story about the original "Uncle Sam"


Now this is a really cool, spooky Halloween decoration!

HALL OF WATERS
lots more interesting info here<-

This is the historic "Hall of Waters"
Back in the 1900's people came from all over the world to sit at a gigantic water bar (like a salad bar) and they'd drink a "healing water" of their choice. This building is beautiful inside with lots of colorful art deco tile work that seems to have been the in thing around Kansas City.

More cool architecture...

A wonderful lady we met named Elsie Tackett. She's over 80 and she still walks 2 miles a day. It was so cool to find out that she's got relatives in Oregon, near where Jeanie lives! Elsie filled us in on some local history and even walked out of her way to show us how to get back to the Elms. Thanks Elsie! We're sending her a copy of this pic too.

We had a fantastic bbq lunch at "Washbash BBQ"
This is an old train station turned into a rustic restaurant.
The Wabash Cannonball used to stop here..remember the song?
Hey, if you take pix of the wall art you don't have to buy postcards! LOL!

Our poor, poor waitress! She did an excellent job and thanks to my getting distracted, I totally forgot to tip her! I am soooooo ashamed! SORRY!
Friday Note: I was totally traumatized by my cousins when they forced me to watch "MamaMia"!! Then I was happy when I saw Pierce Brosnan was one of the stars. Then my happiness (lust) turned into even more trauma when he started singing, which he CAN'T! Thanks girls for totally bursting my brosnan-bubble! waaahhhh!!!!! But hey, at least the jacuzi was soooo wonderfully warm & relaxing and the pizza was delicious & cheap! Yeah!

SATURDAY
Kansas City is also known as the "City of Fountains"
There are so many gorgeous fountains with "Neptune" type sculptures.

The Plaza or "Market Square" was a great place to take in the local architecture, shop in unique stores, and eat lots of good food. We had a wonderful outdoor lunch on a terrace, including watching the umbrellas blow away Mary Poppins style...straight up! A wedding party was having their photos made on the large, tiled steps (below). After lunch we ended up eating again at the Cheesecake Factory...sure was delicious!

Posing with the bronze bull soon turned into a bull riding competition;
I'll let you choose who the winner was!




Ahhh...the Kansas City sun sets on a wonderful trip;
this was the awesome view from our room at the Courtyard Marriott