BuxtonBeutel Thanksgiving

feast

chef

drink

cookies

canine

costumes

more costumes

baby

baby meal

pony

mouth

hands

Mother and son

father and son

father and daughter

proud parents

puppy parent

pumpkin pie bake-off

Buxton brothers, then and now

Seth's brother Jason has spent the better part of the last two days uploading old family photos to his Facebook page.  Among my favorites was this shot of Seth and Jason taken on Thanksgiving, 1979.

Naturally, I felt compelled to stage a modern update.

November 1979/June 2012

Jason's backyard

Some twenty four hours after we left Denver, we arrived at Jason's home in Wentzville, Missouri.  Jason wasn't there to greet us, but we received a warm and enthusiastic welcome from his "watch" dogs, Chewy and Tari. 

The boys were extremely impressed with Jason's backyard which contained a full size trampoline, climbing fort and zip line.  The zip line was in need of some minor repairs.  Fortunately, Jason took care of that as soon as he got home.

Weee!

While Jason and the boys played were occupied with the zip line, Seth spent some time with his niece Liliana.

Sharing a laugh. 

Such a cute girl! 

Trampolines, forts and ziplines are all pretty cool, but perhaps the best part of Jason's backyard is what lay outside the back gate... 

That little path leads to a rocky creek bed.  Liliana couldn't wait to show her cousins how well she can throw rocks. 

Ryan tried to teach her to throw underhand, but she wasn't having any of it. 

 James was more interested in climbing trees than throwing rocks, but he did launch a few.

So did Jason!

Jason also helped James find some cool artifacts including this fossil...

and this jawbone with teeth still attached. 

"Bye bye, Mama.  You can go home but we're going to stay out here all day."

May 2011

Florissant fun

On Tuesday Jason, the boys and I climbed into the purple van and headed out once again. We climbed up and over the continental divide and ended up in Florrisant, Colorado, home of the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.Here are the boys posing by yet another sign. Ryan says I take way too many pictures, but mostly everyone was cooperative about posing for the camera.We ate lunch near the ranger station.There were lots of birds and small critters about. Jonas spent a lot of time trying to get a picture of this ground squirrel.My picture of the squirrel.

After lunch, we set out on a short hike. The trail led us past several petrified giant redwood stumps.Ryan ponders the stump.Flowers growing on another stump.

More walking.Woodpecker holes on a tree.Jonas taking pictures of some thistle with Jason's camera.

Of course Ryan wanted to borrow the camera, too. Jason gave him a few pointers...and turned him loose.My picture of the thistle.Ryan and James and I. Doesn't Ryan look happy to be sitting with his mother?

As a reward for taking a picture with me, he got to take this picture of me.

James brought his favorite walking stick on the hike.

Another picture of James and the stick.Walking and talking.

About two thirds of the way through our walk, storm clouds began to roll in.The sky got dark and ominous and it looked as though we were going to get wet.Can you see that shadow coming?Trying to outrun the weather!It worked! No one got wet (at least not that time!). Here is one last picture of the whole group minus me.

July 2009.