The Houston Grandchildren

Some of the 12 Irish Tenors. They were very good . A new show this year.

Mother in Shoji's bathroom. It was quite a room!!

Shoji's chandelier.

A pink Christmas tree in Shoji's bathroom.

Shoji was eating in the restaurant and he was kind enough to let me take his picture. Notice that Mother and Lowell were not in the picture!!

Bob, Matthew, Emily and Mary

The original Non- Gourmet Dinner Club.

Lowell and I with Andy Williams.

I've been informed by several readers that my "loved" gchildren must live in Denison since I didn't mention where the other 2 lived. So, here's some information concerning the gchildren in Houston, TX.

Krista Peace is in the 2nd grade at Bang Elementary. This was the first day of school and she's ready to go!! New shoes, clothes, and book bag. She's quite a girl and loves to play with dolls and generally bosses everyone around. She asks " how Arthur is" because I told her that Arthur makes my fingers hurt. She's taking piano and is really doing well. Plays by ear and thinks it's much easier than learning the notes. She's also playing basketball for the first time this fall. Gmother gave her family a basketball goal and she's been practicing.

Austin Peace is in the 4th grade at Bang Elementary in Houston. He's really into baseball and plays on a team that plays almost year round. He's been playing short stop and does a great job!! He's also playing basketball and we'll see how he likes that. He has quite a talent for singing, can't imagine where he got that, and has led singing several times at church services.

They're coming to Cleveland for Christmas and we're looking forward to having them here with all of the Denison cousins. All the Neal cousins will also be here and that should be a fun time! Vail and I have talked about having our Christmas meal on Christmas Eve in the student center. There'll be 14 of the Kirkbride's and 13 of the Neal's and we're thinking we'll have less stress on us and Grandmother if we meet there. We've asked Gmother to do the turkey, dressing, and the boiled custard and we'll do the rest. Billy and Stacey will have to go back to Longview Christmas afternoon because of his work. I think David and Lisa will both be arriving in Cleveland on Sat. Dec. 22. I KNOW they'll come with lots of activities planned for the children. David suggested that the 8 kids could have a day with Nonna and Poppa while the parents rested at home. NO WAY!!! I think we'll need a little help......or maybe lots of help.

Mother, Lowell and I spent Thanksgiving in Branson, MO, and had a really good time. We were there from Thurs.- Sun. It was very cold and everything was decorated for Christmas. We saw 4 good shows and enjoyed visiting with Bob and Mary Ryder and their grandchildren Emily and Matthew. It had been about 5 years since we had seen them and we enjoyed catching up on all the news.

Mother at the Andy Williams show.

I know this is long, but I got on a roll and didn't want to stop. Have a good week!!

Donna