Click each photo for a larger view
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Paul enjoys a rare Houston snowfall - that's snow on the
roof!
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Hello again from Texas. As
always it's been a busy year filled with travel and even some changes! Perhaps
the most exciting and unusual event of the past year was the snow storm that hit
Southeast Texas on Christmas Eve 2004. We experienced several hours of flurries
at our house and even a dusty accumulation on the yard and roof. Places south
got up to one foot. It may not sound like much but it was the first recorded
Christmas Eve snow in Houston. The other weather excitement was Hurricane Rita.
We boarded up the house and Becky was locked in at the hospital for the weekend,
but it turned out to be a non-event for us. The nearest severe damage was 75
miles to our east.
Angela is the busiest of
our family as she reaches the halfway point in her second year of veterinary
school. After surviving year one, she decided to sub-let her apartment and live
with us in Houston while working full time at a veterinary clinic. Along with
Angela came her cat Joey and dog Ruby. Since we were already hosting her other
cat, Cleo, we spent the summer with 3 cats and 2 dogs. Toward the end of the
summer, Angela and Ruby took off for a road trip. They visited friends in North
Texas, Indianapolis, and North Carolina; Grandmothers in Ohio; and took a side
trip to Chicago. Click for pix of Angela.
Becky kept quite busy in
her woodworking shop in the garage. She spent the first part of the year making
prototype cabinet doors so her mother could approve the final design during our
June trip north. Becky worked feverishly during the hot summer months on the
project. By the time she returned to Ohio in October, the cabinet doors and
drawer fronts were built, stained, and varnished. After some minor alterations
they were successfully installed in her mother's kitchen. Click
here for a photo of the new cabinets and more photos of Becky. Becky, with the help
of her siblings, helped rearrange the kitchen and give the whole room a fresh
coat of paint! Becky was also one of the thousands of volunteers who helped out
serving New Orleans hurricane evacuees at the Brown Convention Center. In her
"spare time" Becky is still a post-partum nurse at West Houston
Medical Center.
Danny and Crystal moved
back to Houston this summer. They're currently living in an apartment on the
west side of Houston just a few short miles from us. It’s really nice having
them so close. Danny works at Pizza Hut and Crystal is "looking" while
she ponders her future college options. Crystal's mother passed away
unexpectedly in August. Here's a link for more
photos of Danny and Crystal.
Danny, Crystal, Angela, and
Paul spent a memorable day together at AstroWorld in October. The amusement park
is now closed forever, soon to be replaced by apartments, condos, and gas
stations.
Becky's mother came to visit in April. Her two weeks
with us came at the perfect time for bluebonnet and wild flower viewing.
We took her to the open house at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary
Medicine. We
also had time to visit with Angela , and Becky drove her to San Marcos for a
visit with Danny and Crystal. There was also time to visit the boardwalk
in Kemah (East of Houston).
After nearly 10 years, Paul
quit his job in August. He's now a software consultant for Watermark Solutions
where he supports and implements Syteline Manufacturing software. His office is
on the 6th floor and he walks up the stairs each morning. Paul traveled to
Washington DC in May as part of his old job...but managed to attend a Washington
Nationals game. Click for
some photos of the DC trip. The first day of his new job brought a trip to Columbus.
That allowed a reunion with former KTRH radio co-worker Fran Howell and her
husband Kevin.
The big project around the
house this year was a water garden. Under Becky’s supervision, Paul dug a 9 x
12 foot hole 18-inches deep under a tree with very big roots. We bought 3 tons
of rock to round out the project. Becky moved lots of dirt and mulch and placed
plants we saved from our old house into the area around the "pond." So
far everything looks good, and the fish we placed in the water are fat, happy,
and making baby fish. The photo on the right was taken in Spring right
after it was filled with water. The plants are much bigger now (and the
grass not as green and the tree leaves on the ground.)
Our big trip this year was
a hastily planned 2-week journey to the great northwest. The first day we
visited the Oregon state capitol in Salem, then spent the night at a
bed-and-breakfast on the central Oregon coast. We then drove up the coast
visiting lighthouses and a covered bridge before turning 
east. We did a drive-by
of Mount Hood, drove up Mount St. Helen's, and visited the state capitol in
Tacoma. Then it was on to Seattle to meet Paul's cousin Shirley Iwama and her
husband Matt. Shirley took us on a whirlwind tour of the Hoh Rain Forest, the
Olympic Mountains, Seattle, and Mount Rainier (left). We spent a few nights with Doug
& Sheila Smith and family who have a beautiful home 5,000 feet above sea
level near Port Angeles. We also met another cousin, Glorene Hanson, and were
treated to a Seattle Mariners game by cousins Karla and Mark Olson. We even
managed to spend a night by ourselves on Vancouver Island in Canada. Click
here for more photos from this trip.
Becky and Paul visited Ohio
in June. On the way north, we stopped to see the retirement home of Confederate
President Jefferson Davis in Biloxi; the Alabama state Capitol; the Georgia
state capitol, Atlanta Braves and Stone Mountain in Atlanta; and spent a night
with Becky's sister Sandy in Kentucky. Sandy's husband Jake and daughter Katelyn
were there as well. Jake (Jakovenko) is featured in the History Channel’s
"Special Ops with John Milius" for his role in the 1970 mission to
free POW’s from Son Tay Prison outside Hanoi.
In Dayton we enjoyed visits
with Lisa & Grant Powell from Marion and Chuck & Terri Hamlin had us
over for a cook out.
On the way home we saw
state capitol buildings in Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas. We also visited the
Negro Leagues Museum and saw the Astros beat the Royals in Kansas City. Click
here to see more photos of our trip to and from Ohio.
Of course we were thrilled
when the Astros finally won a National League pennant but we had to watch the
World Series on TV like almost everyone else.
Finally, in November we
took a quick trip to St. Louis to spend Thanksgiving with Paul’s brothers
& wives and Paul’s mother who made the trip from Dayton. Click
here for some photos of this trip.
We hope you have a great
Christmas and a wonderful 2006!
