 |
| No room in the garage for the Zoomer, but Papa Tom had an idea, and it involved his favorite problem fixer: bungee cords! |
 |
| The roof is safely covered and the door handles are protected from the bungee hooks with some of Papa Tom's socks. |
 |
| Papa Tom's giant yoga mat fit nicely over the windshield. |
 |
| Yes, the Clampetts have moved to town. The passenger side of the car was protected by the thick Carolina jasmine. Hail not likely to blow in from the west anyway. |
 |
| Destry with Emma and Colton outside Katie's in March 2016. (Colton is holding my Tucks Krewe's Mardi Gras throw. Thanks, Destry!) |
 |
| After Emma's voice recital, we celebrated Al's birthday at the Longhorn Steak House. Happy birthday, Al! |
 |
| Emma performed "Mein glaubiges Herze" (My Faithful Heart) at the voice recital on May 15, 2016. Beautiful performance, Emma! |
 |
| At the Central Market playground with slide star Fox! |
 |
| Still a gymnast |
 |
| What happened? Fox accidentally stepped in the turtle pond. Had to remove a very wet shoe and sock. |
 |
| Anjanette turned 28 on May 12, 2016. Here she is in April 2011 with baby Fox. |
 |
| We met Sarah, Kirk, Jim, Jake, and Lucy at Kerbey Lane for a Mother's Day plus one celebration on May 9, 2016. Papa Tom and I had the pleasure of taking turns holding Jake and Lucy and playing with Jim. |
 |
| Thanks for a wonderful Mother's Day dinner at Mother's, Amon! |
 |
| Yes, Mother's is a vegetarian restaurant. |
 |
| Had to have Mama's quiche, of course! The whole wheat crust is so flaky and delicious! |
 |
| Amon and Fox are fostering three kittens. The kittens were only a couple of weeks old but came with a surrogate Mama whose kittens were no longer nursing. Cute, fun, adorable . . . . |
 |
| After making a fancy dessert with sand, berries, a piece of wood, and a mint leaf in the back yard, Mya and I were inspired to make chocolate and banana pudding, decorated with pecans. I don't know why Mya made this face. :-) |
 |
| Running, jumping, playing |
 |
| Piper takes a break |
 |
| Mya: her last day of being 7 years old |
 |
| Piper needed just a little help climbing to the top of the door frame. |
 |
| River |
 |
| Mya |
 |
| Piper fearlessly balanced on the bars. |
 |
| Swinging from the high bar |
 |
| I think Piper is going to be an Olympics gymnast. |
 |
| The floating head of River. Bwah-ha-ha! |
 |
| Mya and River both had fevers Monday night. Tuesday, they were both diagnosed with strep throat. Sick enough to miss school, but not too sick to play MineCraft and KindleFire games. Sorry you were sick, but it was nice to have extra time to spend with you! |
 |
| Piper somersaults over one arm of the chair and lands on her feet next to the other chair arm. Fearless! |
 |
| Ice cream and whipped cream for sore throats. |
 |
| So there really is a Transylvania! And it's in North Carolina. I wonder if their mascot is a bat? |
 |
| We stopped here to buy gas. That's it! I promise! |
 |
| The downpour began while we were snug and dry at lunch. |
 |
| Panchos came in handy. Almost all the rides were closed because there were lightning strikes within a 10-mile radius of the park. Works for me. Who would want to be the highest object in the area (raised hands at the top of a roller coaster) and the most likely lightning target? Yikes! |
 |
| We started out on a water ride guaranteed to get us wet. |
 |
| River responsibly drove our 1950s convertible to "Good Golly, Miss Molly." |
 |
| You need a convertible, Brandy! |
 |
| Look closely for Ryder, Brandy, and Mya. River must be behind the pole. The Lewises rode the Fire Chaser at least four times as there was only a 5-minute wait. I appointed myself the official photographer and chicken. |
 |
| It's true! And that's why I'm still alive after lo these many decades! P.S. Does an entire bag of cotton candy come from only one tablespoon of spun sugar? |
 |
| We stopped by the Howells on our way to the airport to fly to Greenville so Ryder could meet Jake and Lucy. Little did we know that our Austin flight would leave 2 hours late, causing us to miss the connecting flight in Atlanta. Rather than disappoint Mya and River by not being in Asheville to go to Dollywood on Monday, we rented a car and drove from Atlanta, arriving in Asheville at about 4:15 a.m., after picking up Ryder's car at the Greenville airport. |
 |
| Saturday evening was the retirement party for our Chief Administrative Law Judge. A few years back, somebody discovered a tequila called "SOAH," identifying itself as the Source of All Happiness. Our agency immediately adopted the motto. We all love working at the Source. And, to our departing Chief, "May the Source be with you!" |
 |
| Evelyn was honored at the graveside and at St. John's United Methodist Church on Saturday, April 30. In true Evelyn style, the music of Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, and her all-time favorite, Hank Williams' "Hey, Good Lookin'" were played during the service. Afterwards, Ryder, Emma, Al, and Joyce came over to gather up a few last items for Emma's 1960s history project. Sent her back home with some Rolling Stones, Dylan, Janis Joplin, and the Shangri-las, as well as my buckskin jacket with fringe from back in the day. |
 |
| Ryder, Amon, and Tom toast Evelyn before we leave for the visitation. Evelyn would have approved! |
