sorry for the delay also family reunion

I can't believe it has been so long since i made a post here.

but a lot has happened, and things have been quite busy.

summer has come and gone, thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is bearing down on eingn

soon we will be seeing more snow like in the picture.

Marissa went through graduation, and is now a college student here at WVU-P, and is staying with us.

She has a new cat called Izzy, and, fortunately, Izzy has agreed to let the rest of us live in his house.

now, about the Murphy reunion. a shelter has been reserved at Parkersburg City Park for Sunday, June 20, 2010.

There will be other activities in the park at that time, which should provide entertainment for kids, and maybe others if they kwant to look around. it is a multi-cultural festival, and it will have food booths, entertainment, and craft sales, among other things. more on all this later.

As we go into the darkest time of the year, just keep in mind all the thoughts that go with the phrase, MERRY CHRISTMAS, and know that the sun will soon be coming back to light up oru lives.

havahappy

jerry murphy

FAMILY REUNION, 2009

A COUPLE OF SHOTS FROM THE MURPHY REUNION AT NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO.

Reunions are a very important family activity, and it is just too bad that so many do not place enough value on their family relationship to show up and support be supportive.

In the scheme of things, there is nothing more important than family. And those who do not think that their family is good enough to support

should reallize that they have the potential to improve the situation, whatever it is, if it is not to their liking. Of course, there are circumstance such as distance or health which prevent some people from attending, and that is understandable.

the top photo of this group shows a rare scene--two of Francis Murphy's daughters at the reunion at the same time. Inez Maggio who is the oldest, and Zelma Heaters, who is the youngest of those sisters. it was nice to see them since they don't get to attend all that often.

Another graduation picture

This may be the picture of a lifetime. it is Marissa standing in front of the goalpost with the moon between the uprights just over her head.
What a nice evening, and what a nice event, and what a nice omen this must be. just as the moon was rising, so will be her future and her life.

Marissa's graduation

Well, Marissa is now officially a graduate of Palmyra High School, Palmyra, Pa.

These are pictures of some of the event, before during and after. It was a beautiful evening, the weather finally became perfect for the outdoor event, and, most impressive, the bleachers were filled with parents, relatives and well-wishers of the graduates. It is gratifying to see a community turn out so whole-heartedly to support their young people as they commence the path to the rest of their lives.

the program was originally scheduled for Friday, the 5th of June, but had to be held on the rain date of June 6.

another trip down memory lane

the top picture is Nancy with her tricycle when we lived donw on Hansford fork. I guess that she was about four years old in the picture.

the second picture was taken over in the edge of greenbrier county about 1962 or thereabouts.

left to right is Mary Hamrick, Nancy, Kay, holding a white kitten, Jimmy, and me.

and we are leaning on the front of a 1960 light blue Falcon.

Buying the Falcon seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was not. It was a pretty good car, but not a very friendly one. i never did really like it, and i always thought that it would blow up on me.

which it finally did, but with over 90,000 miles on it.

one thing that is easy to notice--we were all a lot thinner back then.

John and Lori

well, this picture is a little bit old, but it is a shows John and Lori in different pictures at Christmas time--at least i think it was Christmas time--may not have been though.

sometimes older pictures are best, because they help to remind us of how it was and may be a time we like to look back on, or go back to.

I have lots of pictures to put on this site, and i will do so, but sometimitmes it just doesn't work right.

These pictures were taken at John's house, and John is holding Preston's pinewood derby racer.

Marissa at her 18th birthday.

Although it happened a while back, here are pictures of Marissa enjoying her 18th birthday.

It is hard to bellieve that she is now 18 and 1/2, and coming up on high school graduation. Seems like no time at all that we were driving across the show covered mountains at the time she was born.

Time has certainly flown by, from Granddad's perspective, but probably not so fast from hers.

During the growing up years it steems like time passes so slowly, but after you get to my station in life and look back, it certainly seemed to have gone by way too quickly.

Rachel in a new dress

No one seems to enjoy school more than rachel. almost through her first pre-kindergarten year, she happily goes off to school every day, and truly enjoys learning new things.

One of her favorite things to say is I CAN DO IT.

It would be nice if more people throughout their life maintained this attitude. all too many people nowadays are giving up their own responsibility and expecting the government to take car of them.just remember, about the only thing that governments do well is wage war, and some of them aren't too good at that.

It is true now, as it has ever been, if you want a helping hand, first look at the end of your own arm.

and say, "I CAN DO IT.!

JVM

Rachel in a new dress

click on the picture.

Just in case you are new at visiting the blog site, here is a reminder.
if you click on any of these pictures, they will blow up to full screen size, and you will be amazed at the details they show.
jvm

MORE RACHEL BAKING COOKIES

TAKES a lot of work to make cookies, and here is a couple more shots of Rachel hard at work.

She enjoys things like this, but it seems like she pretty much takes over the house when she is here.

But,i guess that is what grandkids are for.

One observation--as i get older it seems that memories are truly timeless. memories from 50 years ago can be just as clear, close, and meaningful as one from 50 minutes ago.

Every picture is a frozen moment in time. Every memory is also a frozen moment in time. But, by showing a lot of frozen moments here on this blog, all at the same time, they become, not frozen moments of the past, but preserved slices of today, all put together in the present, so that those looking at them and reading about them, can enjoy each moment as if it were happening today, and thereby, create their own memory album. Enjoy.

FUTURE MEMORIES UNDER CONSTRUCTION

RACHEL will not be 5 until June, but she already has her own cookbood.
Here she is, hard at work baking sugar cookies in all kinds of shapes.
After rolling them out, she cut them into stars and people and other cookie shapes.
Then, after baking, they were quite tasty, and also, quite dunkable if you like cookies and coffee..
Of course, I am looking forwaard to the time when she will be able to change oil in the cars.

another walk down memory lane

Here is a picture from long ago, and far away. well for some it is far away. It is a picture of Clifford Hamrick on his horse, (I think the horse's name was Bill) at our place down on Hansford fork. I don't know the exact date but it was in the late 50's. maybe some time I will be able to find out exactly what year it was.

Also, at the topabove Clifford is a picture of Mary at the back door of our house. and then, there is a picture of Jimmy in his horse riding regalia sitting on a stump right up the hill from where Clifford and the horse were.

Just in case there are readers here who are not familiar with the family, Mary was my Dad's sister, and she was married to Clifford. Jimmy, as we always called him, is the youngest son, right near the age of my sister Nancy.

A couple of things we know--the future may be uncertain, but the past never changes.

jvm