Family Time

What a way to welcome spring!

The past two days have been fantastic -and not just because the weather was extremely cooperative but because I had the opportunity to have my older daughter and her son, my Prince Alex grandson, here Saturday and through today! Then, later this afternoon, my son, Clate, along with his girlfriend, Betty and her daughter, Rachel, were here for a visit and supper.

Last night though we all attended our school drama club's presentation for this year. This is always a big event in our area as the lady who is in charge of our Drama Club always manages to find something really terrific for the kids to present.

This year it was "Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory" and the kids really, REALLY outdid themselves! They always do kick butt with their performances every year but this year, well I was especially proud because one of the leading parts was played by a cousin of mine! And another lead role was played by the great-grandson of the people who lived beside me when I was a child -and who were like another set of parents to me back in those days!

My cousin -Jamison "Jamers" Monela was the character Charley Bucket and Jeremiah Dobo portrayed Grandpa Bucket. Both these young men did an awesome job in their parts and for that matter, so did every single one of the rest of the kids in the cast along with the crew who did all the behind the scenes work too!

The director also just so happens to be my next-door neighbor -Deb Young Moriarity -and as she has always done, she came through again this year with a big winner of a production!

Here's a couple of pictures, not too great I'm afraid as my camera doesn't have a high speed setting so in the lower light conditions, by the time the click took effect, some of the people being photographed moved and well, you can see for yourself. Trust me though, the play was great, the thought of trying to get a shot and preserve a little "history" was there too, ya know!
The cast member in the red dress walking off stage here is the daughter of the director and our next-door neighbor -Kylie Moriarity! She was terrific in the role of the really spoiled rotten little girl!
This is Jeremiah Dobo, son of Steve and Cindy Dobo, grandson of Paul and Lillian Little Dobo and great-grandson of my neighbors from my childhood, Cyril and Catherine Rothrock Little, in the role of Grandpa Bucket!
And here, standing next to Jeremiah Dobo is my cousin, Jamison "Jamers" Monela -son of Paul and Ellen Weaver Monela and grandson of Jack and Margaret Anne Hill Weaver. I don't know offhand how many of the school productions Jamers has been in to date, but between his appearances over the past so many years in the school's plays plus his acting in productions in the Summer Youth Theatre Group in Philipsburg, he's going to have a whole long list of credits to his name by the time he's ready to go to college! Both these young fellows have a lot of talent and are getting a whole lot of great exposure too in this small rural area!

And just so I don't forget to post a few other pics too, here's one of my daughter (Carrie) and her son, my Prince, Alex (yes, Alex -you're always gonna be Grammie's Prince) that I took last night as Carrie was doing her last minute dress routine to get ready to leave for the play.
(Isn't he just the most handsome young man though? I don't think my Grandma's pride is overdone in feeling that way about him, do you?)

And finally, here's the latest pictures of the kittens and their Mamas! Mandy got out one of the pac'n'play units we have here, set it up in the kitchen and parked all nine of the kittens in it. It's really funny to watch both the mama cats and the kittens as the mamas pay no attention to whether it is their own kittens or the others that they are nursing!

The only kittens I know for sure which Mama cat they belong to are the two buff/orange kittens and the dark colored calico shown here -which are Nina's babies (Nina is the orange cat.) The other kittens are all in various shades of grey stripes and I can't tell which one belongs to which cat's litter at all any more!

And finally -here's poor lonely little Sammy -feeling every bit the outcast in the house because both Nina and Chino still give him a really hard road to hoe!
And now, since Spring is officially here, lets hope Mother Nature doesn't decide to lambast us again this month with some trashy weather.

I've really become quite spoiled the past four-five days in a row with nice weather, lovely sunshine and a touch of warmth all of which came together in a great way for me to welcome Spring with family and fellowship!

Peace.