Austin, TX- Part I

This last week we returned to Austin, Texas to say goodbye to Aurelia's Granny. Family and friends from across the country gathered in her home and backyard to tell stories, eat good food, and remember a kind and humorous person. She was remembered by her family in the Austin American Statesman below:

"Eunice told many stories of adventures and hard work growing up on a traditional family farm with her brothers and sister. She met her husband Paul H. Vavra while they were attending Iowa State University in Ames and their wartime romance and marriage was a lasting one. They lived for many years in Hampton, Virginia, and Kemah, Texas, where they raised a family of five children and Paul worked for NASA. In Kemah, Eunice was known among family and friends for her casual seafood meals and for enjoyment of Galveston Bay and the fun it provided her husband, children, grandchildren and friends. After she was widowed, Eunice moved to Hyde Park in Austin. There she inspired, mothered, encouraged, and enjoyed her large group of friends, who were of all ages and from all walks of life."

I am proud to have had her as a grandmother-in-law and ever more proud that she was the great grandmother of my daughter.

Before the memorial, Granny's garage was filled with flowers.





Vic and Sylvia greet family and friends.

During the memorial stories were shared, jokes were told, and tears were shed. The day concluded with cases of cascarones cracking on cabezas. We left the garage covered in colored egg shells and confetti. I knew Granny liked cascarones and think she would have approved the memorial concluding with laughter and color.

We're still picking confetti out of our suitcase.






Sylvia made sure there was no confetti between the toes.

The following day I returned to Portland, leaving my sweeties in Austin. Without her fathers guiding influence Sylvia quickly turned to her shelf-clearing ways.

And don't get me started on the partying and mardigras beads...

Stay tuned for the Next Episode: Last Ride of the Peacock Wranglers

Granny we miss you.

Eunice Vavra, known to many of us as Granny, we miss you.

Austin Portraits II

A few more pictures from the capitol of Texas.

Big Daddy gets the big smile.

I promise disc with these images will be on its way...eventually.

Austin Portraits I

There were so many wonderful pictures that I decided
not to post them all at once. But have no fear, discs will be winging their way around the country soon.

Sylvia, Aurelia, Susan, Stephen, Karen,
Bigdaddy, Oma, Granny

Back to her roots

September 29th marked the day Sylvia first went faster than 400 miles per hour. Aurelia and the noodle arrived at the Portland airport with snacks, beeping toys, burp (barf) cloths, and lots of diapers. We were not sure how the noodle was going to react to flying and had our fingers crossed.

Our concerns proved to be unfounded as Sylvia took to flying like a champ. She slept, snacked, and made friends with her seat mates. Granny Susan and Grandad Stephen met the duo at the Austin Airport and (after some struggle with the car seat) whisked them off to Sylvia's important meetings.

Sylvia greets her great granny Van
with help from her great aunt Karen

Table playtime

Great aunt Karen

Stephen looks outnumbered.

What's the point of having a granny
if you can't eat her chin?

A few days later, Sylvia, Aurelia, and Stephen travelled to Jarrell, Aurelia's chilhood stomping ground, to visit her Great Oma, Great Bigdaddy, and other Fox kin.

Oma time

Super Bigdaddy time
with the noodle in constant motion.

This visit was also an opportunity for the Texas family to get together for pictures. We are still waiting for bloggable images but from the proofs I've seen it was well worth the trip. I'll post some soon.