Sisters On Sunday

This photograph was in Uncle Don's album.  In that album were photos of all of his family members at various ages, including his sisters, Hortense and Vivian.  I have no idea who these 2 girls are and if they are even sisters.  The age difference would be right for Hortense and Vivian.  Additionally,  I think that Hortense was fair haired while Vivian was a brunette.  Can anyone add any more information?

Saturdays Are For Siblings!

I can say with a fair amount of certainty, that this photograph was taken on a Saturday.
We went camping most weekends of the summers while we were in Kansas City.

This photo portrays a scene that is the very base of my childhood memories - sitting around a campfire with my siblings and roasting marshmallows.

Yep - must have cut a deep mark in my being, because I grew up to have a career of taking other people camping and helping them establish memories of their own!

Family Foto Friday

Maybe 2005'ish

On a lake in Central Texas

This is almost all of us - Rick and Tina had not arrived quite yet.

We had such a good time on this vacation.  

Micah brought his buddy Kendall, so there were 2 boys and 2 girls; which evened out the cousin scene.

Rick made a plaster cast of Micah's torso.

Kendall almost killed Jana on the jet ski and then, Kendall and Jana got stranded out in the water for 9 or 10 hours (okay, not really . . . but it felt like a very long time!) before Brenda spotted them from shore and Richard fired up the boat for a rescue mission.

Uncle Bill got to come with the McDonalds. . . we love it when Bill gets to vacation with us.

We all brought a gift and did a fun gift exchange instead of individual birthday presents.

I especially like the relaxed feel of this photo - we all have "lake faces" and "lake hair" and no one cares and we are all smiling.

Clarence Weldon Thompson

My mother's father was Clarence Weldon Thompson.

I do not know much about my grandfather.  

He was born in 1901 in Tyler, Texas and died at the age of 68 in 1969.

I do know that he graduated from The University of Texas as a civil engineer and worked in the oil and gas industry.

One of my aunts told me that Hortense said she married him, "Because he was such a good dancer."

I reckon that is as good a reason as any!

Mother Love On Monday

Tommy, Hortense, and Jane Thompson

date unknown


edit - 10/07/11
Talking to Mom, she said she thought this was taken at Tommy and Lucy's wedding.  The internet is not cooperating with me right now, but I will post the date as soon as I can get it.

Sisters On Sunday

Sometimes one is lucky enough in life to get an extra family member.  

I have 1 fabulous sister and 1 fabulous best friend of 40 years whom I think of as a sister.

This photo is of myself and Laura Hearn in the 10th grade.

Life was so easy and sweet then . . . .

Saturdays Are For Siblings!

Steve

Lee

Nancy

Nichols

Love this photo.  Everyone looks wonderful and the background is awesome.

I would guess this was taken at their home.  I know it wasn't ours and not Grandma and Grandpas.

The sectional is really familiar to me - I can feel the scratchy nubbiness of it.

I retouched this to take out the flash reflected in the television.  It was large and very bright.  

I think this was probably a polaroid - Dad took lots of photos with his.  I can smell that stick of fixative so clearly in the smell-o-vision of my memory.

This is from Rick . . . more to come.

Alberta . . . Alberta. . .

Alberta Marie Byrd

born in 1912

Married Uncle Don

They did not have any children and I do not know anything more about her.

Do you?

Hortense and Don

I love this photo of Hortense with her little brother,  Don.

They were living in oil drilling camps - no houses, mostly tents on wooden platforms.

Hortense looks to be 7 or so, and that would make Don about 18 months old.  

This photo would have been taken in 1909.

What a family treasure!

Teenagers

I would guess this might be 1972'ish.

Rick is maybe 17

Jana is probably 15

Brenda must be 14 or so.

I have no rememberance of this place or picture.

I do remember my siblings!

Nancy Nichols Krohn and Family

Steve and Nancy Krohn, 

daughters Amanda and Jennifer

Looking forward to visiting with Nancy and meeting Steve and Amanda and Jennifer.

There are grandchildren too, not sure how many.

The Nichols Kids -1

We didn't have youngest Nichols kid - Nancy yet, but this is a great picture of all of us!

Maybe 1962

Sisters On Sunday

circa 1963

Tonya's Wedding - or - The Night of the INK

Great family picture from Tonya's wedding.

This was the occasion of the family tattooing:

Clariece

Penny

Brenda

Jana

Rick

Tonya

Perry

Robin

Big Dad and Big Momma

Anna Belle and Frank Champion - circa 1914

Probably taken in Ranger, Texas.

My great grandparents

SISTERS ON SUNDAY

Claire Evelyn McDonald

Meredith Grace McDonald

These are Brenda's daughters.

I love them.

Tonya's Graduation

Tonya Christine Thompson is the youngest of all the Thompson cousins.

She is my only girl cousin and I think she is adorable.

Bubbly, pretty and smart - what a package!

I believe this is her graduation from Seminary - not sure which or where or when.

Please feel free to comment with information and I will edit the post with correct information.

Lucy, Tommy Jr. (Champ), and Tonya

Norma Jean Redenbaugh Dent

Norma Jean Redenbaugh Dent

Norma's mother was Ollie Dahlem Redenbaugh, which means that she was Meta "Grandma" Dahlem Nichols' sister.  Norma Jean was Richard and Bob's first cousin and my first cousin once removed.

All the geneology terms get sooooooo confusing.

Anyway - random family member moment.

Norma married Bob Dent and they had six children.  These children are my second cousins.  I will be working on who and where they are soon.  I have been in communication with Vicky Dent who is married to one of Bob and Norma's sons.  Not sure which one yet, but sleuthing will tell.

So, this is a bit of the Nichols side of my tree.

Newly Weds

Our oldest son, Travis (Tony's son), got married to the lovely Erin on July 3rd.  In addition to our own two grandchildren, Xander and Sirena; we are delighted to add Erin's two darlings, Taylor and Jordan to our growing family. 

What a happy day!

Golden

Susie and Sabrina Mercer

Sisters On Sunday

HELP . . .

I am running out of photos.

Really

Need more

Util then . . . I will only post every other day or so.

Trying to make what I do have last a bit longer.


Please send me photos so we can keep this going.
Casual snapshots are great.
Really

1956

Dinner Time

I would guess that this is either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.  

I know that this is in Kansas City, Missouri.

Probably 1967.

Three Generations

Brenda Lee Nichols McDonald

Claire Evelyn McDonald

Evelyn (Penny) Thompson Nichols

Brothers

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August Fool's Day

When we got back together after a number of years apart, Tony said that August 1st would always be "August Fool's" Day.

We got married the next year on August Fool's Day 2004

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Sisters on Sunday

When I look at this photo, 

I can smell stink mud and wet kapok filling from slightly mildewy life jackets.  

We were having great fun though and that is what makes me smile!

Brenda's Husband

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Nichols Cousins

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Please Standby. . .

Our workload has finally kicked back up to high gear.

I will get some more pics loaded this weekend.

In the meantime, please please please comment on the posts now and then. The point of this blog is to prompt us all to remember stories and tidbits of our shared family history - and SHARE them.

Also, I am running out of photos. I have found the best way to copy photos in this modern age is to simply photograph them with an iPhone 4 or a digital camera. Do not use the zoom, simply place the photo or document in good sunlight and fill your camera frame with it. I can crop, rotate, etc; so just snap and email to me. 1 or 2 at a time is a good batch size, makes it quick and easy for you and keeps it manageable for me.
EmaiL is jfleo4(at)gmail(dot)com.

I love doing this and hope that y'all like looking at them. If you ever need a raw copy of photo, let me know - they belong to all of us.

Kansas City, Missouri 1967 'ish

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Vintage Love

Elmer and Meta "May" Nichols

At Sea

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Sisters on Sunday

This is a photograph of my grandmother, 

Meta Augusta Dahlem Nichols (on right) 

and one of her sisters.  

I do not know which one it is.  She had two.  

Does anyone know if this is Ollie or Emma?

Tommy Thompson

This is a great photo of Tommy when he was in the Navy.  

Not sure of the year.

I would love to be able to post photos of all our family members who served in the military.

Send them to me ...

Tony and Jana's Wedding 2004

Terry and Molly (Tony's sister) Behle with Tony and I on our wedding day - August 1, 2004

At Grandma's House

Jana, Rick and Brenda Nichols

circa 1968 or so

Schell City, Missouri

Parthenia Hawkins Anderson Champion

Parthenia Hawkins Anderson was born in 1817 in Perry Country, Tennessee

She married James M. Champion on October 2, 1833 at the age of 16 and moved with him to Salem, Mississippi.

She had between 8 and 12 children and lived to the age of 62.

Parthenia died in 1879 in Salem, Mississippi

One of her sons, James Greeley Champion was my great great grandfather.

When I started researching her on Ancestry.com, I found at least 24 family trees with her on them. Wouldn't it be fascinating to know how many people claimed this one woman as their ancestor.

Square Dancers

Classic photo of Penny and Richard Nichols with square dancing friends and also next door neighboors, Chuck and Mildred Watkins.

L to R: Chuck Watkins, Penny Nichols, Mildred Watkins, and Richard Nichols.

They danced often at a church in Grandview and I can remember running loose with a herd of kids through the gymnasium and classrooms of the church.  

The swirling of the petticoats and stomping of cowboy boots made a lasting impression on me.

Richard Nichols and family

1987

Sisters on Sunday

Clariece Ann and Beverly Jane Thompson 

circa 1930

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRENDA

JULY 16, 1958

I GOT A NEW BABY SISTER!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

BRENDA LEE NICHOLS McDONALD

Micah

Micah Moises Paredes

Sabrina Mercer

I just recently met this delightful young lady.  Sabrina is Perry's daughter.  

She is an aspiring artist - we traded some pieces while I was visiting.

Camping

Circa 1965

Penny Nichols, Tommy (Champ) Thompson 

and Rick Nichols

All during the 60's, our extended family would meet at lakes in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas for multi day camping trips.  Sometimes just 2 families and sometimes many.  From the looks of the background, I would guess that this one involved the Nichols, Thompson and Mercer families and was probably 3 or so days long.  

As a child, these were absolutely the best of times.

  

Family, water, fewer rules, cousins and endless hours.

Nichols / Dahlem / Redenbaugh / Dent Reunion

This was a family reunion in our back yard in Kansas City, Missouri.  Maybe 1967ish.

The day of the reunion, Penny fell out the kitchen door and broke her ankle.  And she was the hostess!

Back row:  Bob Dent, Uncle John Dahlem, Penny (Evelyn) Nichols, Orval and Erna Frith, Charles and Maxine Redenbaugh with Charles III , unknown woman, Elmer Nichols and Judy Dahlem McNichol

Middle row:  Bob and Barbara Woodard, Rick Nichols, Steve Nichols, Nancy Nichols, unknown boy, Vivian Nichols, Ruth Dahlem behind and Meta Nichols in front of her.

Front Row:  unknown girl and small unknown boy, Lee Nichols with his hand up, Jana Nichols holding Missy the dog, and Brenda Nichols

I absolutely love this photo.

Richard, Edmund, and Bob

Maybe 1935 or so.

Mmmmmmm

Thanksgiving 2010
Richard carving while Penny and Tina look on.
Mmmmmmmm......

Bob Champion

I have been working on Ancestry.com recently and am discovering relatives just several generations back with interesting stories.

This is Robert James Champion

He was born in 1877 in Corsicana, Texas

His younger brother, Frank Champion, was my great grandfather.  Known in the family as Big Dad, Frank attended Southwestern University in Georgetown and so did his brother, Bob.

Bob died in 1919 in an accident in Ranger, Texas.

  He worked for the railroad and was crushed between two railroad cars.  

At the time of his death, Bob was 42 and from what I can tell, he never married.

Bob was only two years older that my great grandfather, and looks just like him.

Welcome to the family, Bob.

Brenda Nichols McDonald and Family

Great casual Christmas photo of Brenda and her family:  

Claire and Wayne on fireplace

 Brenda and Meredith seated on the floor.

Tommy Thompson

Our family member Tommy Thompson ended his earthly journey yesterday.

He was the only brother with 3 sisters:  Clariece, Jane and Penny.

Uncle to a huge brood.

Father to Tonya and Champ

Husband to Lucy

He will be missed