Spring Frio Pilgrimage

At the end of the Schulze reunion, Kate, Mercedes and Evangeline joined us as we headed for Camp Live Oak just north of Leakey where the East Frio meets the West Frio. Kate's husband Ryan is back in West Virginia taking care of business, and will be joining his girls soon. We love the Frio, and know that in the Spring, the returning birds also love the Frio. And Papa Wes, loves the returning birds!

 Here's a couple of birdies Papa Wes also loves! Mercedes Noel and Evangeline Rose.

 Butch and Joyce Weston are great hosts at Camp Live Oak, and I go back to grade school days with Joyce in Uvalde. Our cabin was perfect.

 Mercedes and Evangeline being introduced to the Frio. Not long and they'll get to learn the joys of floating in the cool water while it is 100 degrees out.

 This is Papa Wes's sanctuary spot.

 A beauty in a beautiful setting, Evangeline Rose Hopkins on her mom's lap.

 The temps were cool and perfect for a camp fire, some roasting hot dogs, and S'Mores!

 Papa Wes's girls around the picnic table.

 Kate has mastered the art of setting the marshmallow on fire, extinguishing it, and eating the smoking thing in one bite!

 I was enjoying my Frio-time.

 It really was a little too cool to swim, but it didn't hurt to wade.

 Kate and Evangeline at the rope swing.

 That's crystal clear water.

Kids Visit and Schulze Reunion

We had a fun-tastic time with our kids coming to visit and then heading for a Schulze family reunion in Mason. This meant Mawmaw Sylvia had the most great grandchildren in attendance. (A good thing!)

 Here is Mawmaw's clan at the reunion, held at cousin Curtis and Rene Schulze's in Mason. Wes's brother David brought Sylvia, Thomas and Micah from the metroplex to add to Mawmaw's count.

 Mawmaw and the Wesley Griffin branch.

 Mawmaw's great-grands in attendance except for Evangeline Rose Hopkins.

 Mawmaw Sylvia with adopted family member Betty Jo Powell, and Wes's sister Becky Adams.

 While the grands were visiting our house, Papa Wes prepared pancakes with all the fixin's for breakfast on the porch.

 Papa Wes with the grands at the playhouse. A lively crew.

 This evening we had pizza on the porch. Plus a little salad.

Matthew with his kids in the yard. They promptly headed out into the woods where Emma accidentally picked some poison ivy and handed it to her dad. Somehow they survived, though Matt is extremely allergic to the stuff.

More Snobirds

We have been having fun with the snobirds from West Virginia. We were not going to let Easter go by without an Easter egg hunt for Mercedes. We had a great dinner with the whole bunch at Jardin's before Ryan had to head back home, and made a quick run to see Mawmaw for some great-grandbaby time.

GG has hidden the eggs, and we wait with anticipation for the start of the hunt.

Mercedes could not hide her excitement.

Every egg found was loudly proclaimed, 'Found one!'

Then comes the fun, opening the eggs.

Mom dutifully supervises the opening, and the eating.

Evangeline gets to join in.

The whole Ryan Hopkins shootin' match, after a nice supper at Jardin's. We hated to see Ryan head home, but he's a workin' man.

We headed down to New Braunfels to spend some time with Mawmaw.

Pat's Place fed us some good burgers and onion rings, and we enjoyed a good long visit at Mawmaw's apartment.

Snowbirds

We have some snowbirds visiting from West Virginia for a few weeks, though we understand our kids in Midland have had more snow this year than these birds! It is a special treat to have them here for this season of the year, and get those traditional bluebonnet pics done.

We got out there in the light of dusk, and everything seemed to cooperate.

Of course, when you have subjects like these, how can you miss?

All I can say is, 'easily entertained!'

The glory of His creation, in every way!

I'm always ready for a jaunt with the kiddos, it helps bedtime go better! Papa Wes equipped Kate with a solid dog stick.

I couldn't resist blessing Mercedes with a new princess dress. Can you tell she's ecstatic about it?

Papa Wes got us to pose in the east room on Resurrection Day morning, with a good dose of natural light. BTW, he's not quite as talented as me on getting the babies to smile.

Our photogenic granddaughters, Evangeline Rose and Mercedes Noel Hopkins.

Papa Wes likes to talk about how our porch is like heaven. The picture speaks for itself.

Further evidence.

For the kids' sake I guess we need to extend that description now to the yard, because they sure love to swing.

And Papa Wes loves to participate.

Addenda to 'Cycles'

While visiting the family at Aunt Jo's after Wilma's service, Wes admired a particular family photo from the early days on the farm. Cousin Bobby Nelson offered to send it from his computer, so we get to share a memory for some of you and a revelation for a lot of us younger ones. Gauging from Jo's apparent age, we're guessing this was taken in 1929. Most likely ready for church (since Lee and JJ are still clean!) Assuming dad Jesse Jackson Griffin is the photographer, we have Jesse Waid, Wilma Arlen, Henry Lee, J.J., Jr., and Joanna Elvira on her mother Viva's hip.