May to July

How fast they grow; planted in May and have already picked some tomatoes for our home made Taco's.

Birthday party 2003

After completing the anniversary celebration we traveled from Gatlinburg, TN to Kingsport, TN to enjoy Tanner's birthday party.

And now onto the little ones in 2003

Wow, the next anniversary is 2023 and we will have been married sixty years and we will be Great Nana and Great Grandpa. Take your time and have fun growing. Your best life is ahead of you.

Hey, maybe we can have an anniversary on the double nickles:  55.

Thanks Darin for putting this video together in 2003.

More 40th anniversary attendees

We have come

a long way in improvement in the quality of pictures in ten years. But, the memories are always better.

More to come from our 40th wedding anniversary.

Ten years ago

Gee, has it been ten years?

Wait until what you see ten years ago.

50th anniversary lives on

One of the many gifts was opened and assembled.

Almost home from New Orleans

One last stop in Birmingham, Al where we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn located at Liberty Park.

Liberty park has a replica of the Statue of Liberty. It is 1/5 the size and the flame is real.

We also visited the Hugh Kaul Foundation Eagle Scout Plaza. But, we arrived at 4:30pm and the Plaza closed at 4:00pm.

Side trip to Metairie, La

We drove out to see our old home we lived in back in 1966 through 1968.

Deborah was 2 1/2 years old and Dana was six months old when we moved there. During this time Interstate 10 was just being built and we used to ride our bicycles on it with the girls in seats on the back. We had the whole Interstate to ourselves on weekends.

The house looked pretty much the same after 45 years and surviving hurricane Katrina.

The next morning we headed home with a stop in Birmingham, Al.

Anniversary gifts

Each night was a surprise as gifts were slipped into our cabin while we were at dinner.

We managed to pack all of them into our suitcases and bring them off the ship.

Thanks gang.

End of cruise

The first site is Jackson Square.

Next comes a view right down Canal street.

In 1968 this was one bridge with four lanes. Now it is two bridges with four lanes all one way each side.

We made it. We made it. Time to put our feet back on the ground.

Again, you can click on a picture for a better view.

Making the final turn

on the mighty Mississippi river into New Orleans but three picturistic sites are left to be seen.

I worked in New Orleans (1966-1968) in the building in the center of this picture.

Message to offspring

Family is the most important treasure you can have. Please continue to grow together over the coming years.

You are ALL beautiful.

Love,

Mother, Dad, Nana, Grandpa

Top of the morning to you

This sunrise occurred with another hour and a half to the port of New Orleans.

I like sunrises more than sunsets. It gets you going with good spirits for a bright day.

Scenic landmarks are coming up and I have my camera ready.

Click on the picture for a pretty view.

The final morning

Seven of us out of more than 2,000 on the cruise ship watched as they raised the flag as we approached New Orleans.

Later you could see New Orleans appear. But there were

more interesting sites before we got there. More later.

Sweet dreams from our Cabin Steward

Every night we went to sleep we had a hand crafted towel.

The final morning we left him a gift in the shape of the ship.  Sorry, no pictures as it was private.

Tomorrow I get up at 6am to enjoy the final morning of coming back into New Orleans. I see something 99.8% of the people on the ship do not see and are not aware of.

The final night of cruise

and biggest surprise of all.

We were given T-shirts on the final night of the cruise and the next morning of departure everyone showed up for breakfast with their own T-shirts. Mother and I were stunned. You all were awesome.

Thanks family for a wonderful celebration in our honor.

Please click on the pictures for a beautiful enlargement we will treasure forever.

Trivia Center

Derek and I spent a lot of time at the daily trivia contests. I was of little help in the movies and movie star contests although Derek did win a first. The highlight for me: we won second place in the sports trivia contest beating another pair by one point. The key question that I got right was "How many pieces in a backgammon game?".

I correctly said 15 and the MC went "WOW" that most do not get that answer correct. I have never played backgammon.

Party experts

Here is the team at throwing a good party.

References are available on request.