PWYP 2007
A bunch of folks getting together at "Lord of the Manor" Terrill Hoffman's property up in McDowell Co., NC to practice wilderness and preparedness skills. Oh, who the hell am I kidding... we're just a bunch of people who never grew out of playing outdoors from childhood. http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z92/brparris/PWYP2007/

Here is Grandmommy Sandy taking a dive out of an airplane. It was a gift from her kids to celebrate her birthday.  

She looks like she's having fun doesn't she. 

Looking down to appreciate the view. 

Another angle. This was a tandem jump, for those who are unfamiliar with skydiving. 

Lastly, a look down at the view from the camera guy's point of view. Looks like great fun to me also! 

Lois, my wife, doing a movie star pose on the beach with sleeping baby Holly.

Yes, yes, on some occassions my wife can be a witch.

Is it wise to teach your wife to shoot?

OK, who is this person who's squeezing me and treating me like their toy doll?

Our very good friends Tom & Lisa when they took their trip to Hawaii a few years ago. It's an old pic but it's the only one I have of them in the same picture. As with most parents, most of our pics of their family are kid shots.

Tom with baby Holly. Poor little unsuspecting kid doesn't know she's being held by a cleverly disguised sociopath.... and I mean that with appreciative admiration. ;) See, he's smiling but I know inside his head he's thinking in the Simpson's Mr. Burns voice, "Hmmmm, now what diabolical psychological experiments can I perform with this fresh brain...".

Ahhhhhhh!!!! I found the golden egg!!!!!! Tom & Lisa's oldest daughter Helena when we visited this Easter, 2006. "Baby" Holly in green outfit. See, I told you the timeline would jump around a bit.

Holly trying to help little Megan (Tom & Lisa's youngest daughter) find an easter egg with not so subtle hints.

Rowan with her first bow. 

Even when Rowan was knee high to a grasshopper, she wanted to learn archery like her dad and mom. She took to it quite easily, which is not something everyone does.

Another pic of Rowan the Archer.
A bunch of pics

This is a picture of my father, Roger, when he came to visit us in 2001 after Holly was born. We don't get to see too much of Gramps, due to health/travel problems and the his location way down on the Florida gulf coast. It would be nice if I was independently wealthy, just so I could travel to see family and friends I have in remote locations whenever I wished.

My paternal grandparents, Arlene and Glenn with baby Holly. December 2000

Aunt Cathy and grandma Arlene. 

Aunt Cathy's kids, Lauren and Ashley, back before they grew up a little more and started families of their own. My paternal family is huge. Between all my great aunts & uncles, and cousins of various degrees removed, I have a veritable army of relatives. Unfortunately, I have very few pics of my paternal relatives.

Christmas 2000 with my maternal family branch. Starting left back row: Ben, Uncle Wayne, Lynda, Cousin Sherri, Tom, Cousin Tammy, Maxine, Lois, Holly, Mandy, Hope, Emily, Rowan, Aunt Linda, Mom. Dad must be taking the picture.

November 2004 with part of my immediate family. Lois, Holly, Ben, Maxine, Mom, Rowan, Dad, Mary, Thad.

My wife has two brothers and her extended family seems large. I'm just an only child, so at first glance my family might appear small. However, as large as my wife's family is, mine dwarfs hers in size. Lots of offspring among my aunts, uncles, and cousins; combined with lots of divorce and the subsequent additions of step families, yields an enormous genealogy. No joke, when I was a young kid, I had to draw up a chart for myself so I had some idea who all the people were at various family reunions. I really wish I could say I was close with everyone, but unfortunately I'm mostly close with just the immediate (up to grandparent level) family and a cousin or two.

I'm buried under kids here, with granddad Ben to the left and my granddaddy Thad to the right. Thad and Mary are my dad's parents; super nice and real "salt-of-the-earth" kind of folks. The Walls are a large family and have touched so many peoples lives in a positive way that's it's hard to comprehend, from boyscouts, mission construction work, to just the plain old daily interactions with other people that most of us take for granted. Unfortunately, since they are my step-grandparents and only entered the picture of my life in 1980, I didn't get very much time to spend with them before I went out into the world and got my own busy adult life started.

My granddad Ben (Maxine's husband), me, baby Holly, Dad, and Grandma Mary (Dad's mom) in background. Granddad was very much like a father to me and I really do miss him more than I can ever express. However, the things he taught me, his memories, and his love, live forever in my heart and in the hearts of those he touched. Ripples in a pond...

Granddad in the service of the High Point Fire Dept.