A Celebration of Two Events!

Hello, Everybody!

We actually can't believe that we haven't posted since Father's Day! We decided that we better get busy, and talk about some of the things that we have been doing.
You know that we spent quite some time on Ellen's patio extension. Just when we think we are finished, we find another block that needs to be leveled. ARGGHH! We took this picture yesterday morning, and we think that we will be done with that! It really is pretty, and we are proud that two ladies of our age have been successful without either of us having a stroke or heart attack.
On Saturday evening, we were invited to the Coronado Country Club for a wedding reception for a former student of Sharon's. Actually, we have been friends with the parents of the groom for years. We anticipated seeing many old friends, and indeed we did. The first surprise of the evening came when we saw this family as we finished the receiving line. They are the Gasser's from Arizona. Their son, Matt, and the groom were in the same third grade class of Sharon's. We actually traveled to Arizona when Matt graduated from high school. Matt is in the service and couldn't come. He was missed. His younger sister, Staci, was here. Sharon also had her in third grade. Staci is in college in Colorado. It was great to see them again.

This next picture shows Priscilla Foster and her two daughters, Lauren and Kellie. They were members of an Odyssey of the Mind team. Lauren is also a former student. Both girls are in college.

The lady in the following picture is Katie, the mother of the groom, in deep conversation with other guests.

Here we have Liz and Mark Daw, who are friends since Sharon had their son Bryan in third grade. They have been special people to us for many years.

Finally, we have the bride and groom, Anne and Sean. Their wedding was actually last week in Shreveport, Louisiana. Because many people from El Paso could not be at the wedding, the McCrory's threw a wonderful party for them here .

We had a wonderful time. Ellen has a story that she must share. When dinner was over, there was a power point presentation of the bride and groom. As Gary put it, "We wanted to embarrass them just a little!" Three of the pictures of Anne, when she was a child, included a familiar face. It was Sr. Genevieve, a Daughter of Charity! As soon as Ellen saw the picture, she leaned up and told Sharon, "I lived with her!" We were at Hotel Dieu Hospital together, here in El Paso. Afterwards, Ellen spoke with Katie and asked if she knew if Anne's family was related to Sr. Genevieve, or how they knew each other. Katie immediately took Ellen over to Anne's parents and said, "You're not going to believe this!" When Ellen explained that she had been in the Daughters and that she lived with Sr. Genevieve, they told me she had been a dear friend of their family for a long time. In fact, their first daughter is named after her. She was an instructor at the school of nursing in New Orleans where Anne's mother attended. Anne's dad was a resident at the hospital during that same time. Sr. Genevieve is now in her 80's and survived Hurricane Katrina. What a wonderful surprise to see that smiling face again!

We saw so many former Polk students and their families. It was quite a trip down memory lane. But even better than the memories, is seeing them become such wonderful young people. It brings to mind why we both love being in the field of education!

Until next time. . . . . .