Improper photos

James had a funny reaction to some of the old photos that Mom sent last week.  He was both upset and offended by the naked baby shots.  I said, "I hate to tell you this, James, but I have naked pictures of you."  He made a pouty face and told me that was not "proper" and I had better not put them on my blog.

That's one of the differences between being 9 and 43.  I no longer care if the world sees my naked baby butt!

February 1969

(Almost) Forty years ago

This time I know that the little one is Erin!

July 1971

Christmas 1969

Another old one.  Thanks, Colleen!

December 1969

Dad's hat

A new picture of an old hat.And another.
August 2010

Fun with Aunt Colleen, Part one

We were discussing Eastern medicine, and Colleen mentioned she had some acupuncture needles in her car. James immediately offered up his arms so... In it goes!

Colleen told James that this particular needle placement would make him feel calm.

Sleepy eyes--maybe it's working!

Trying to explain the theory of acupuncture to an eight year old is always a challenge. James can't think about anything but the needle in his arm.

May 2010

Laptop Nation

Why talk... when you can email instead?

Someone made a funny.

Fun with Photobooth.

May 2010

Bray girls

Colleen Jennifer

Erin

1971

Christmas past

Erin's favorite picture that I keep forgetting to mail to her.
Christmas 1970.

Christmas 1981

These pictures were all taken on Christmas day in 1981. The first picture is of me looking stylish on the couch. This must have been one of the few years Mom didn't give us new pajammas on Christmas Eve so that we'd look cute in the holiday pictures.

Me again.

Dad trying to assemble Erin's Barbie doll head.
Erin inspecting Dad's work.

Colleen.

Mom and Dad looking pretty happy about something.

Can we keep him?

I have only the vaguest memories of when we got Jock. I remember Colleen calling me to the front door. She said "Come see this man's cute dog". Since he's in the house, I would guess this picture was taken that day or very shortly thereafter. The date on it is February 1973.
This is Jock and I in July 1973. I guess this is where James gets it from...

baby Jennifer

I just received a small envelope full of really old pictures--thank you Mom! It's 21 degrees and snowing outside so it's a perfect day to stay home and scan photographs.

I am three weeks old in this picture. Colleen is four. She does not look excited to have a baby sister. Probably she was still disappointed that I was not a boy.
This picture was taken a month later in March 1969. Yay! Colleen is smiling. Maybe she's forgiven for being a girl. Or maybe she just likes my soft baby ears...

Pictures from Dad's 80th Birthday Party

Dad celebrated his eightieth birthday on June 27, 2008. Colleen, Erin and I organized a party in his honor. In this picture, he does not appear to be properly appreciative of our efforts.The guest list included friends, family and neighbors.There were also two dogs in attendance.While the grown ups socialized, the kids played croquet. James needs lessons. Dad leads everyone in singing "Happy Birthday".Cutting the cake.

the mighty mini

Colleen stayed with us for a couple days in Fall 2004 during her long cross country trek. She let the boys go for a ride in the mini. Ryan told me that the best part was when she made the tires squeal!

Roadtripping with Aunt Colleen

In June 2008, Colleen, Ryan, James and I drove from Aurora, Colorado to Altadena, CA. Utah is really a beautiful state. We stopped at a lot of scenic overlooks.
In between rest stops, we played a lot of games of Twenty Questions. I do not recommend playing Twenty Questions with a six year old. The answer is almost always "Is it a penguin?"Ryan and James love their Aunt Colleen. Driving to California with Aunt Colleen was much more fun than driving back to Colorado without her.

Still, sometimes Ryan had trouble smiling after so many hours in the car.

We spent the night in Cedar City, Utah which was a big hit with the kids because we were able to go swimming at the Cedar City Municipal Pool. The pool has a waterslide which is four stories high.

Ryan went up the stairs and down the slide at least 50 times.
He couldn't stop smiling.
James was not tall enough to go down the slide, but he still had fun in the pool.

We stopped at Circus Circus in Las Vegas on the second day of our drive. Unfortunately, I did not think to take the camera into the casino so there are no pictures of that day. However, the kids had a really good time in the indoor theme park there and have mentioned on numerous occasions that they would like to go back to either Cedar City or Las Vegas.