Happy Birthday Michael

Happy 7th birthday Michael Will!!

Well, since for the first couple of weeks in February I said I was going to post in memory of your great-grandma Alice, she is going to be included in your birthday post. I have so many wonderful memories of our first grandchild coming into this wonderful world of ours! Among them are of course Uncle Kevin's and mine first visit to meet you.
We stayed at your house so mama could get a little extra sleep at night. Uncle Kevin thought you were the best thing ever!! How he loved helping bathe and dress you, give you a bottle and take you for walks, he did not however enjoy your dirty diapers!

Walking over to Boomer's.

Wishing the happiest of birthdays! Can't wait to see what the next seven years bring.

Mom and the Lotto

Oh, how mom loved the lottery. She liked the ones were you picked the numbers, but she loved to play the scratch tickets! It soon became a Christmas eve tradition, strange I know, but the kids had all out grown opening up pj's on Christmas eve so we had to have something to replace it, and mom chose scratch tickets. Here is Kym having a laugh about it and making a necklace out of it.

Everyone waiting to scratch their tickets . . .
Mom even bought them sometimes for birthdays, she taught Kevin well!

Another Christmas eve, look at her and Mark go.Mom loved to gamble. I remember her in Reno, she would stick some coins in a machine and then hop to another machine usually walking away with a cup full of coins. One time in Reno I remember her walking over to me with three cups full of quarters saying come on let's go, I think I broke the machine. I asked her what she was talking about, she said this all came out and then it stopped working. I asked her to show me the machine, turned out she had hit a big one and didn't realize that after 2000 coins an attendant had to finish the pay out. Once we moved to Las Vegas she loved making trips here. She'd be up bright and early wondering which casino we should start at that day. I truly miss those visits and all the playing we would do. Needless to say I think I will find one of her favorite machines on the 14th and put a few dollars in for the memories.

Ma and Pa go to Hawaii

Mom and Dad's friends, the Copelands, had moved to Hawaii a couple of years earlier so mom decided it was time for them to go visit. This is the photo Dolores got as they were stepping of the airplane.
Here they are on one of the beaches, although I don't know the name of the beach or which island they were on. They had a good time and that is all that really matters.

Siblings

Family was always very important to mom. Then again I think it is to most people. Mom loved her siblings. She was always so exited every time one of them came to visit or she was going to see them (although the trip to them always made her anxious). Here is a picture of some of the sibs: Olive Hughes Hodges, Alice Hughes Welch, Helen Hughes Coulter, William Hughes (Baby) and Wilma Hughes Lewis. I love all the old pictures, they never encouraged a smile.Robert "Butch" Hughes, William "Bill", Wilma, Sharon Hughes Casper Waters, Shirley Hughes Woolam, Helen, Alice.

The Family Surprise

Not sure why, but mom didn't like any new life changes or surprises. It always took her awhile to adjust to any change, but she always did. And never ever surprise her! That's a whole different post! Any way when she was pregnant with me, dad and mom decided not to tell any family back home (IL), they would wait until after the baby was here. Grandma Welch, Helen Rose, would come out most summer and stay most of the summer, that would be when they made the big announcement.

The day of her arrival dad and Mike took off to the train station to pick her up while mom stayed home with me. Dad said once they had her picked up and in the car it was all Mike could do to not tell her. He kept saying, we've got a surprise for you at home Zam, we've got a surprise for you (he always called her Zam). Once they arrived home they sent her into her bedroom and I was laying on the bed . . . aw. I guess that would have been quite the surprise!After that they shared with the rest of the family. It was always funny to me to go through my baby book and see all these letters about what a surprise I was and the shower notes every wrote to mom after they were told!

Mom Goes to Disneyland

Like all kids, I'd always wanted to go to Disneyland. Although we took lots of vacations when I was a child they were all to visit family, mostly in IL. When we did go to CA, I would beg to go to Disney, dad always said NO! Amusement parks weren't his idea of a good time, or money well spent. We did go to San Fransisco and do all the fun stuff there and San Diego to the zoo and Sea World, just not Disneyland. Fast forward to 1977, the year i graduated high school, mom offered me a trip to Disneyland!!! I was overjoyed! My friend, Sue, along with mom, Leola and Grace all headed off for 10 days in southern CA and we did it all! We went to Disney in fact we stayed right across the street, this was back in the day when you bought ticket's at the gate not the all day passes . . . any one remember the E ticket? I think what surprised me the most was how mom and Leola went on every ride! They figured they would never go back so had to do it all. We also went to Knott's Berry Farm, San Diego Zoo and Sea World i can't remember all the little things we did but, we made the most of our time there.

Here is Grace, Leola and mom with one of the Three Little Pigs. Going through the turnstile's and getting on the train!

Front Porch or Back Stoop

My mother's birthday would have been this month, February 14, to be exact, in memory of her I'm going to post about her until her birthday date!

Mom was not one to like getting her picture taken. If she seen a camera she'd quickly stick out her tongue, turn around or simply run away! She would be horrified if she were here to see this post! On a few occasions she'd agree, these shots were quickly taken on the back porch AKA back stoop. I think she did this so she could quickly get up and run back into the house. Here she is with her parents, Thomas Bishop and Ethel Mae Hughes(grandma's birthday was also in Feb.), myself and Kelly. Don't we all look thrilled?
Here is a front porch on with Mike, Helen Rose Welch (dad's mom) dad, and of course me and Kelly. Mom was strategically planted behind the camera.
Back porch with Mike this time, we all look much happier!
Mom on the front porch on the Kline Road.

Me.

Nicole is another one who likes porch pictures, especially the ones taken at the grandparents house!