December 7th at Ana's in Buffalo, MN
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Celebrating Claire's 6th Birthday early with a "pretend" party
Her birthday is Dec. 15th |
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| Ana showing Bob how to use his new phone |
December 13, 2014 In Cleveland for Mother's funeral
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| Sara, Andrew, and Donna (working?) in the limo |
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| Trina, Claire, Ana, and Bob riding in style |
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Annika, Claire, Grace, and Julia in Cleveland
(Trina's, Ana's, Jimmy's, and Sara's ) |
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Doug, Sara, RJ, and Julia in Cleveland
for Sitoo's funeral |
December 20, 2014
Christmas Program rehearsal in Buffalo
before we headed back to Cleveland for Christmas
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Three little angels looking so innocent before rehearsal:
Cecelia, Claire, and Lydia (note Lydia's footwear) |
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Is anyone ready? Virgin Mary in red on left;
Lydia (with a boot and a shoe),
Cecelia (chewing on fingers), Claire (trying to listen) |
December 25th
Family Christmas celebration
at John and Tina's
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The girls with their jelly and spreaders at John and Tina's on Christmas Day
Back: Madison, Katey, Sara, Tina, Leanne (partly hidden), Ann Marie (hidden, too), Kathryn, Donna (hiding?), and Marissa
Front: Debbie (seated), Chrissy, Mary Anne, Susie, Aunt Lou, and Diane |
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| Ian: "Mommy, Aunt Donna said I could open this!" |
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| Nolan, Macie, and Casey entertaining Ian and Marissa |
December 27th, 2014 Back in Minnesota--
ready to drive to Texas
Day 1 of our adventure
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We picked up our vehicle at Corey and Ana's in Buffalo, MN
Sorry, we didn't have time to shovel your snow, Ana! |
We went to Hannibal, MO, to visit Tom Sawyer and the "fence" of fame.
I had two cameras and a phone, and this is the only picture that I could find
when I started to do the blog |
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Then we went to St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch
Cousin Bud said he watched the Arch being built when they lived in Granite City.
That night we stayed in Osceola, Arkansas, on our way to see Johnny Cash.
Day 3, Dec. 29th: First, we headed to Dyess
(they pronounced it "dice")  |
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| The home is not finished, so we could view it only from the outside |
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Bob had read that Johnny Cash grew up on a sharecropper farm,
so we had to see it for ourselves |
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| This combine was in a rice field near the Cash farm |
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| The town looks still looks Depression-Era |
Next Stop!!!
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| Dining room |
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| I checked, but Elvis had left the building |
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| Guess who pays for the upkeep of National Historic Places... |
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| The whole family is buried in this graveyard |
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| Stairway to the second story--closed to the public |
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| The inside of Elvis' jet is as extravagant as Graceland |
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| One little kid asked his mom why Elvis had so many cars! |
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| When we left Graceland, we headed to Gus's for fried chicken! |
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Watching the ducks waddle in and out of the pond
at the Peabody Hotel is a "must see" for Memphis |
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We did see this carriage in front of the Peabody
--tempting, but it was 40 degrees, so we passed up the "opportunity" |
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| St. Jude Hospital in Memphis |
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| St. Jude in the main entrance |
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| Birthday party for Danny Thomas |
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| Memorial to Danny Thomas |
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| Wall of Fame |
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Philosophy of ALSAC
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From Memphis we headed to Little Rock, Arkansas
to see the Clinton Presidential Center
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The second time we entered Arkansas
Day 4 December 30: Little Rock and Hope |
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| Clinton Presidential Center |
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| Clinton School of Public Service |
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| Bob and Diane at the President's desk |
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| Diane sitting in Donna's HHS chair |
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| Chihuly at the Clinton |
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| Bob as the new Secretary of Agriculture |
From Little Rock we drove to Hope, Arkansas
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Bill Clinton's birth home
And then we went to Texarkana |
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| Bob is in Texas and Arkansas |
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| View from the Book Depository |
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| Dealey Plaza Memorial |
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| Map of the Plaza |
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| Zapruder photo just before the president was shot |
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Memorial to Zapruder
We drove to Austin to Dolores Church on Montopolis Drive
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My first teaching job was with Catholic Lay Mission Corps
just south of Austin.
The school and barracks where we lived are all gone,
but the church is still standing. |
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The grotto across the driveway from the church.
The priest opened the church for us, but he said that they keep everything locked. |
We drove to Fredericksburg, Texas, from Austin--passing the LBJ Ranch en route, but it was closed. The church in Fredericksburg was beautiful, and we got there in time for 5:30 Mass on New Year's Eve.
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| After New Year's Eve Mass, I snapped this photo. |
January 1, 2015 in Fredericksburg.
The National Museum of the War in the Pacific has three buildings:
One dedicated to artillery, one to Admiral Chester Nimitz,
and the third to the World War II battles in the Pacific.
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| B 25 |
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| Field Hospital |
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| PT Boat |
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Memorial to all branches of the armed forces
After more than three hours at the Pacific Museum,
we didn't forget to stop in San Antonio |
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| We remembered the Alamo |
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