Life moving on....

 

This photo was taken at Thanksgiving at my sister Merry's house in Cedar Rapids. Here is Diane, my youngest daughter, and I, enjoying the holiday together.

I had decided I needed to keep drawing and doing my art, so I did this sketch in pastels of our little girl at about 18 months. 

Here is our daughter with her very first candy cane. (Looks like those pants were a tad too long!) We didn't have a television for the first five years of her life, so in the evenings, David and I made straw Christmas ornaments for our tree. Here you can see a few of those...

Meanwhile, my older kids were growing too. This photo was taken at the house on West 7th Street. Here Dave is playing with a game, and Rufus is relaxing nearby... (Kids seem to be happy halfway off and halfway on the furniture...)

 Here's Diane in her school picture in 1971. Beautiful face...

 A more solemn look, in her 1975 photo. Still a beautiful face, with more maturity now.

Here, in 1976 school photo, she has her braces and she can make a nice smile...obviously going to be a very pretty girl!

 This is Diane's 1977 school picture. Great photo! She is starting to look very grown-up!

 Here's her confirmation photo. Nice...

Pretty cheerleader!

On top of the formation! 

Yep! Gorgeous!

Here's Diane with an armful of babies. She came to David's sister's home in Sibley for the baptism of our little nephew, Craig. In this photo, Craig is wearing the family baptismal gown. It would be interesting to know just how many kids have worn that pretty gown...maybe I'll have to ask some questions!

Here's Diane, working her high school job...at Baskin Robbins. 

(She could have been in the movies...but, then, I'm a bit prejudiced!)

School picture from 1979.

1980 - Senior Photos (there will be more!)

 Lovely...

Some people are so photogenic...

So pretty...

My two girls...in a more silly shot...(don't you just love photo-booth pictures!)

And, now, for something a bit different...here is Dave. I don't know if that is an earring or not...sort of looks like a Christmas ornament... Good looking boy, in any case.

And, here is Doug with Vern, not just sure where they were standing...on a mountain...someone help me...is that South Mountain in Phoenix? If not, where then? 

Doug looks like he's about 19 or so, but I don't know for sure...no date or age on the photo.

In this shot, we are visiting my mom in Cedar Rapids. Left to right, me, Doug (love the hat!), Diane with our little daughter, and Dave with Rufus.

 Another of all of my kids together...and Rufus. Our little daughter liked her thumb, and it did not cause problems with her teeth; in fact, it may have made her lower teeth come forward a bit. They tended to be a bit recessed. In any case, she made good use of that thumb!

Here they are with my mother...Doug, my youngest daughter, and Diane, with mom in back. I don't know if Dave came that time or not...he's not in this photo. 

Here we are, once again at my mom's in Cedar Rapids. Me and three of my kids, sitting on her front porch. 

As you can see, I have most of my oldest daughter's photos from those years, and few of the boys. It is sort of the nature of guys to not give their history in photos much credence, but instead leave it up to the gals to keep track of those things. But, I am very grateful to have those photos that I do have!

Stay tuned... life is always changing...and so are kids!