Photos 2012

New Years

We spend New Years holiday at the lake. Elizabeth turned out quite a feast. Nancy and John got to enjoy it! We also upgraded our Internet and Direct TV

The Petro came in and Tim and Chelsea arrived after hosting her family. Relaxing in PJs are Deb Petro, Chelsea McGovern (with Coco in her lap) and Josh Petro.

Andy finished up his visit and headed back to New York on New Years day. We all enjoyed the new flat screen TV and upgraded HD service (plus faster Internet speed). Patrick went back to school in Austin after Christmas. Joe came to the lake for a couple of days and then left for a New Years Eve party in Houston. Stephen Petro stayed in Austin for New Years also. (How could activities at UT be more fun than being with us at the lake?)

Andy used his New York skills to concoct various drinks.

Friends Claire and Enofre came for New Years Eve.

Chelsea, Elizabeth and neighbor Linda Walters enjoy our New Years Eve dinner.

Deb, Elizabeth and Claire

Linda and Nancy enjoy the desserts.

John and neighbor Darrell Walters "let their stomachs rest" after the big meal!

Tim, Jay and Steve tend the bonfire in the fire pit. (It was Tim and Chelsea's Christmas that caused the big blaze.)

Christmas

We began the holiday with our annual party. We also celebrated Elizabeth's birthday. We had our largest group ever: Our son Tom, wife Nancy Jeanne, her daughter Shawna and grandchildren, Kathryn and Kristopher: our daughter Elizabeth and husband Jay, our grandsons Andy and Patrick, Jay's sisters Mary Sue and Katy and their daughters Riley and Hannah

Shawna, Nancy Jeanne and Kathryn

Kristopher

John, Elizabeth and Mary Sue

The group

John got a frog backyard ornament.

Hannah, Katy and Andy

Hannah and Andy

This is bones from an entire cow. Jay put them together and decorated with lights.

Thanksgiving

Elizabeth and Chelsea are our main cooks. They examine the turkey.

Patrick and John are "attacking" the turkey.

The guys are enjoying the nice weather outside. - John, Joe and Jay. Tim did computer repair for al of us. His picture turned out "blurry"/

Nancy gets in the picture.

Here are some of the sides - dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes. We also had purple cabbage, fruit salad, spinach salad, cranberry sauce, turkey and gravy. Then we had both chocolate and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. We always look forward to Elizabeth's pies for dessert!

Salads and bread is on the table. How great to have the family home. Andy is coming home shortly and will stay through Christmas.

Jay and Patrick's Birthday

Elizabeth made 2 cakes - Patrick's favorite (carrot cake) and Jay's favorite (chocolate fudge cake.)

While we are enjoying ourselves, Claire and Mary Ann are doing the dishes!

Enofree and Elizabeh visit.

Nancy and Linda pose.

Chelsea, Linda and John are watching ...

... Joe, ? and son

July 4th at the Lake

Jay and Steve go fishing in the Bay since the water is down too much to fish in the lake. They catch these large drum and we have them for supper. They are delicious!

Deb surpasses herself with bringing and cooking food - a peach pie, carrot cake, brownies, butter/sugar squares, cup cakes, baked brie and apples and an entire cooked brisket. Elizabeth, of course, furnished chicken, sausage and tons of other food. Robin came for a visit, as did Claire and Onofre.

Nancy and John ATE!!!

As did Steve and Josh.

July 4th with the Cousins

Our Tulsa cousins, Bill and Susie Holloway visit and we celebrate July 4th. We sure missed our brother and sister-in-law!

We go to the Corpus Christi Hooks baseball game. The Hooks beat the Tulsa Drillers by 1 point. Think the Holloways were the only people who were from Tulsa in the packed stadium! If the Hooks win, there is a fireworks display. On the right is a statue of our friend's son, Del Hilliard. Del loved the Hooks and never missed a game. He passed away and this statue was donated by his family and dedicated this year.

The July 4th light show on the Harbor Bridge was magnificent. Here is one that represents the American flag.

The annual fireworks show is shot from the deck of the Lexington. We had this wonderful view of the fireworks.

Snoopys is a MUST.

Susie shares her french fries with the Seagulls. They NEVER missed a fry!

John and Bill spend the afternoon watching TV and visiting. Amazing how they were able to see and talk with closed eyes and mouths!

We visited the Botanical Gardens to vote on these decorated Flamingos. The one on the left is made by Robin Bennett and the one on the right is the NNL one.

Tom's 57th Birthday

We celebrate Tom's birthday at Niko's with Elizabeth, Tom, Nancy Jeanne, Nancy, John and Patrick.

Tom reads the card from Elizabeth, as he opens presents. (We are SO proud of our 2 children!)

Our 58th Wedding Anniversary

We eat at Doc's Restaurant as we celebrate our 58th Wedding Anniversary.

John had this cake made just for this occasion. It was delicious!

We watched a great sunset over the water. This is the only body of water in Corpus Christi that you can watch sunsets from a restaurant. All of the other views are of the sunrise.

Nancy's Birthday

Nancy has a terrific birthday at the Outback. Look at this gorgeous (and DELICIOUS) cake that Elizabeth and Nancy Jeanne got at HEB. She gets lots of cards and great presents for the kitchen and bath.

Here are daughter-in-law Nancy Jeanne, Nancy, John, daughter Elizabeth and son Tom.

Nancy and John

Elizabeth and Tom

Thc 2 Nancys

The Poteets Visit

Bob and Marye Poteet come for a visit in March. After a tour of Padre Island, we eat lunch at Snoopy's. Bob and John were roommates at A & M and the 4 of us have been friends ever since. But ... this is their first visit to see us. We took in all of the sites... pretty good for us "old" folks! We also got to show off our kids by having Tom and Nancy Jean come for dinner one night and Elizabeth and Jay the next night.

The Inner-coastal Canal is in the background at Snoopy's.

After lunch, we tour the Lexington. Since Bob is a retired Air Force pilot, he really enjoyed looking at some of the planes that he flew. The Kite Boarder is taking advantage of the strong winds and pretty day as this picture is shot of North Beach from the deck of the Lexington.

The Harbor Bridge with the Aquarium below it as taken from the Lexington deck

The Bayfront

John had arranged a private tour of the King Ranch the next day. This building housed horses and also automobiles. The bricks were made on the ranch. At one point it was painted white, as are most of the buildings on the ranch, but the paint was later removed to the original color. The numbers, "1 9 0 9" indicate this was built in 1909.

We had a terrific guide, Dusty, and got a real appreciation for the ranch.

This alligator was snoozing until Bob walked up closer to him.

After the Ranch, we drove up to the lake for a restful evening before the Poteets headed back to McKinney early the next morning.

Tim catches a 5 pound bass in the Florida Everglades.

Elizabeth makes P & J sandwiches for her crew in the Florida condo. Tim sent this picture and labeled it, "A Mother's Love".

Bill and Evelyn Rathke visit at the lake. John takes Bill for a spin on his 4 wheeler. (Men are just BIG boys!)

Evelyn gives her big laugh. She kept us laughing all weekend!

Beaumont and Toledo Bend

We enjoy beginning our year again by visiting our friends in Beaumont. We are eating at the usual Mexican Restaurant, Guadalajara, on Friday night. Bill Matthews is the Chief and sits at the head. On the left are Jan Lamb, Marilynn Higgins, Jeanne Faires, Carolyn DuBois, Carol Weatherall and Peg Towers. On the right are Mary Matthews, Mike Higgins, Bob DuBois, Nancy and John.

Jan, Marilyn, Jeannine and Carolyn

Nancy, Bob, Mike and Mary

Carol Weatheral and Marilyn and Mike Higgins drive with us to Rayburn Country Club where we meet our Toledo Bend friends, Carol and Bill McCarty. The club house had been torn down and rebuilt into a gorgeous resort club. The lunch food was delicious. It was raining, but Bill took John for a short spin on the newly redone golf course. We are so thrilled for them to have this nice facility to enjoy. (and a bit envious)

)

We got to tour our former home again. Although the lake is down, the owners have added a floating boat house so they can still get in boats - no matter the lake level.

John enjoyed looking at his old jeep that he sold our neighbor, Walter Cox. Oh how he misses that jeep!

The owners of the McGovern's trailer are building a boat house. It's nice when improvements are made to our old places!

We celebrate Nancy Jeanne's birthday at the Red Lobster, her favorite restaurant. Happy and full are John and Nancy, Nancy Jeanne, Tom and Elizabeth.