More Triplets

 Three babies and mom sitting in the nest, some thinking about learning to fly

 Mom looks a little weary

 Dad comes in, oh so gracefully, with dinner

 Oh, Mom too!

 The oldest child is practicing flying

 In the nest

 Yowza, almost have lift-off!

 Where's the food, Mom? (typical)

 Move over, kids..

 Baby does a little more practicing

 Mom checks form here

 Just so close

 Five in the nest. Very crowded.

 A little bit of whiny baby with the lil' sib looking on (and undoubtedly learning)  Next.....TEENAGERS!

A Very Full Nest: Triplets

Mom and Dad surely have their work cut out for them..

 Three hungry, growing babies that must be fed.

 Dad arrives with dinner as Mom and Triplets eagerly await

 The parents are a little better at spreading their wings in a full nest. This baby has not yet mastered that skill-- still learning to hop around in the nest.

 No trips off the nest yet, but it will be very, very soon!

 A quiet moment amidst  the madness

 Whoa!!! Incoming, again!

 There is a lot of squawking and squealing when dad's on his way

 Someone is extra hungry

 Masterful landing!

 2 adults, 3 babies...

 The baby on the left just oozes personality

 Here comes Pompano!

 Nice landing.

MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS

 We always knew that Red was adopted, but we had no idea about the surprises that were in store for us.

age 14 with adopted mom

When she passed away 13 years ago, we came across photo albums from her adopted family. Quite interesting folks: they made their way across the country to settle towns in Colorado when life was hard. Another interesting fact was that one side of her adopted family had crossed the country with Joseph Smith, the Mormon, and were at the slaughter at Nauvoo. And yes, there were polygamists among them.

age 16

Family adoptions were quite common back then, so I assumed that this was a family adoption. Besides, Red always loved the outdoor life, fishing, camping, etc.

Imagine my surprise, after genetic testing of the family to discover that, although there may be some of that adopted family in the DNA, she was, in fact born of an Ashkenazi father and a mother who had roots in a very small town in KY though a family named McGowan.

It appears with the sketchy connections that we have made so far that the Ashkenazi family was probably of the Prussian/ Kiev/ Ukraine area, and in all likelihood fled during the Pogroms.

Knowing that my children's ancestors suffered that kind of horrific trauma in fairly recent history puts a new and personal spin on those awful events.  

Well, she had a productive life, was unbelievably beautiful, and made my children possible.

AND, she and Bill reaaallly enjoyed the 70's!

Pre-Easter Fam Visit

 Sibs, together again

 Big Brothers..what can ya do???

 Oh, that's right. Bunny Ears.

 Nice photo of Robin and Brad

 And then, with the most fab painting in SW Florida!

The Awesome Porpoise Hunting Adventure

Yowza!!! The most fun ever!

A group of us from our Boca Camera Club went for the best boat ride in the world.

 This boat entices the porpoise to play in the wake

 We had pairs

 Singles

 Having a blast (as were the humans, maybe even more of a blast)

 Jumping through the waves

 Doing acrobatics

 This is where they catch the wake

 SPLASH!!!!

 JUMP!

 Wow

 Too cool.