Tucker, Chester & Popeye

This morning we headed to a Tucker family reunion in Chester, IL.  It was great to meet family we'd never seen before and we had a great time talking about military experiences, genealogy and world travels.  However, the best part may have been the fundraising auction by our most entertaining auctioneer .

 

Will anyone give me $4.25?           –          Showing the wares   

 

Chester is the home of Popeye, so we stopped with our Grandpa at the visitor’s center.

The bridge in Chester spans across the mighty Mississippi river

Family Resemblances

I thought these family resemblances were worth posting:

Father…

…and son.

Grandson…and grandfather at the same age.

  I wish we had some pictures of my dad when he was a teen, because Benjamin resemblances him probably more than Noah or I do.

Mrs. Auzat

Mom & Noah had a pleasant visit with our neighbor, Mrs. Myra Auzat (the "au is pronounced like a long "o") in Crystal City on Sunday. Mrs. Auzat will be 97 yrs. old later this year...though one wouldn't know it to meet and converse with her. She is recovering at a rehab facility from a recent diagnosis of pneumonia. She seems to be getting stronger and is walking again. She told us stories about growing up in Crystal City as a little girl. She remembers the Mississippi River freezing over during the winter and folks even ice skating on there. (We've heard this from others who grew up there in that time era too). She told us about her father's business there....Deluxe Grocery and Department Store in Crystal City. She said the grocery was on the first floor with the department store upstairs. She remembers seeing the upper windows decorated for the holidays and how beautiful it was. Her dad also worked as the butcher at the grocery. She got to spend evenings there sometimes. She was an only girl with one older brother and two younger brothers. Amazingly enough, she told us that her older brother came up to see her too! He's nearing 100. It's so delightful to hear from his generation about life here so long ago, especially right here in our local area. What a blessing to get to visit with her.

Working on Back Bathroom

  

We’ve been working with Glenn once again to get our back bathroom functioning again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We gutted the bathroom last year and had the walls repaired and repainted. 

 

 

When the new stone flooring was installed in the living room we kept the leftovers of tile, mortar, grout, trim, and backer board for this small 25 sq. ft. bathroom.  Laying the flooring for such a small area would be a great teaching experience.  

 

This video shows us laying the backer board:

 

 

 

 

 

Family Reunion

Drove down to south east Missouri for a family reunion of the Henson family.  I brought along a family tree posted to a bulletin board and I was able to get a lot of genealogy information from another researcher and I also got copies of photos.  I will be posting a few stories I’ve found in our family tree that may prove to be interesting.

 

We had a fun time riding our bikes around the small town with our…cousins.  (Here’s a tip: When in doubt about how someone is related to you at a family reunion just call them cousin.  It’s a great catch-all)

How cute!  Another cousin.

Gideon-1 Year

Gideon died 1 year ago on January 5, 2010

“Booger!”

“Did you hear the one about...”

January 5, 2010