Say hello to Hannah and Daisy.

Hanna's 3, and our great, great granddaughter.

Meet our newest great granddaughter, Brinley Grace Morrow. 
 

She's seriously perfect, don't you agree?

~~~

In 2005, daughter Nancy Sue, along with her mother, Nan, her brother Mike and her partner Phyllis, all went skydiving to celebrate their July birthdays. Everyone had a great time, and, most importantly, landed safely.

There are more pictures over at the John Family homepage; use your "back" button to return here when you're through!

We took our first motor trip in decades to California not long after we moved north to Crowley from Houston. It was a nostalgic affair, traveling along or alongside old Route 66. A lot has changed since the first time I made that journey, in a 1936 Hudson, with my folks and sister JoAnne, in the 1930s. This time, we were headed for our niece Barbara's wedding, in San Rafael, northern California. It's a long way from Crowley to the Golden Gate bridge, and there's still a lot to see along the way.

Headed northwest, what you see is a lot of sky and flat prairie as you finally turn due west through the Texas Panhandle..

Arizona's Painted Desert is deceptive .. left to right is about two miles..

A pair of "troubadours" on the train we took from Williams, Arizona, to the Grand Canyon..

Sunrise in Las Vegas, where we spent a couple of nights at

Fitzgerald's Casino and Hotel on Freemont Street in downtown Las Vegas.

Finally, we reached the Pacific.

Barbara's wedding was on Saturday,

up the road a bit, in Marin County,

the Golden Gate bridge was covered in fog,

but further north, overlooking San Francisco Bay, the weather was perfect. It was a lovely setting for such an affair.

After the wedding, we spent some time with my sister and her Jim at their home in northern California.

They have quite a view themselves.

They also had a bear eating kitten kibble in their garage this morning.

Starting home, our journey took us over the Sierras,

where the snow can last all summer.

The Grand Canyon, mentioned earlier,

hasn't changed since we last visited in the 1940s.

We had such fun.

      If you're a grown-up and planning a trip to Europe anytime soon, Ramona's travel book, "Fun in Europe; a Travel Book for Grownups," is still available. It's a great book; it's our timing that could have used some fine-tuning. You can get a copy at Amazon online, or order a copy at your local bookstore.

      Not long before we moved north from Houston, Sylvia and Ray Brauer gave us a "going away" party. It was a lovely affair, and most thoughtful. I have some pictures. And don't stop with the party .. there are pictures galore of the youngsters, and of days long ago .. no particular order, just some I still have and like. That party, and more

       As children, Bill Bowers and I were friends and neighbors in Tulsa. We lost touch, and didn't lay eyes on one another for more than half a century. We stumbled into each other on this marvelous internet three or four years ago, Recently, he shared with me some memories from those days .. reminding me what life in our neighborhood was like when we were kids. 

Those were the days, my friend ..

      Some people are still operating a PC without an anti-virus program. If you're among them, do yourself and the rest of us a big favor. Click on the Panda logo below and they'll clean up your machine for free. As often as you like. Nobody here gets a red cent from this, but we will feel a lot better knowing that last load of internet garbage didn't come from you .. Thanks!

       I'm asked, often, about our kids and the rest of the family, and why there's little about them in these pages. Well, first, they're fine.

      Ric, Judy, (who's doing well after a two year battle with throat cancer!), Nancy and Mike. All grown up, now. Hell, their kids are all grown up now. And the main reason we looked around Crowley when we decided to move from Houston. Now that we've moved from Crowley, south of Fort Worth, to Arlington, east of Fort Worth, all but Mike still live within 30 minutes of us. Mike's still in Michigan; if we could get him and his Julie moved south, the situation would be well-nigh perfect.

        If you'd like to know more about the rest of us, I invite you to visit the extended John family pages. Just click The rest of us ..

      That's it for now .. hope you've enjoyed your visit and will come back soon. Meanwhile, if you'd like to revisit our Spring, 2001, trip to Italy and Greece just one more time, click away, Springtime in Mykonos , and bon voyage!

     Ramona's website turned out to be even more of a bully pulpit than mine. It's nice. Just click Ramona John after you're finished here.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you'll do so again!