School Pictures

The boys both got their first school pictures taken in late September. I dressed both boys in the outfits they wore on their actual first day of school.

It took a while for the photographer to get them back to us but we finally received them last week.

Here are Garytt's preschool photos.

  The photographer did one color select image. I can't decide if I like it.

  Although Westyn didn't officially start going to Little One's Day Out until October, I was able to take him in just to do these pictures in September.


The photographer didn't do any special effects on Westyn's pictures. However, there was one photo that was just asking to be color selected, in my opinion. So, I did it after we received the photos.

  The photographer also offered some evening time slots for family portraits. So, we signed up for an evening spot. We assumed they would be indoor photos just like the school pictures, which was actually the plan. However, the person with key to the building was running late, so the photographer suggested outdoor photos instead.

We started with just some brother pictures.


Then we tried to get a family photo. The boys were really not interested in cooperating that much but we did manage one ok photo.


We thought maybe a change of scenery would be good. So, we walked up the hill a little ways. Both boys found leaves on the way.


We set up another family shot...with not much better luck.


Garytt is really into the cheesy smile right now, which is just how kids are sometimes. And, I have to be honest, the photographer really didn't go with the flow with the boys. She really wanted the perfect everyone looks at the camera and smile pose. Well, the might be expected with older kids but you kind of have to work with what the kids are giving you at this age.

For instance, I actually like these two pictures even though I know she was getting frustrated with the boys. The first one, we asked the boys to look into the trees for a bird and they they both started calling out to the birds..."Birds, where are you?" Haha! The second one is just such a typical G look. I like classic photos but I like capturing their personality, too.


We opted to see if the boys would cooperate any more for some brother photos. '


We tried family portraits one final time...the boys were done though. They were really ready to go play. That's the thing about young kids...sometimes it works out and sometimes not so much.

In Memoriam

We received a call late on October 21 from Justin's sister Ashley. She called to inform him that their dad, Alvah Brown, had passed away unexpectedly that night. Obviously, this came as quite a shock.

We waited to find out when the funeral arrangements would be as we were just about to leave for our San Diego trip. Arrangements were still not finalized when it was time for us to leave, so we proceeded with our California trip as planned and hope that the funeral would be towards the end of our trip. As it turned out the memorial service was planned for October 26, which was while we were still in California. We didn't find this out until last minute. We considered getting Justin a flight from California to Texas for just the day but that would leave me and the boys in California all on our own in an unfamiliar area. So, although it was difficult for Justin not to be there, we made the decision for Justin to miss the memorial service.

Justin's mother wrote a piece for the Cameron newspaper, where Justin grew up.

"In Memory
Alvah Dwain Brown
October 26, 1955 - October 21, 2013

Alvah passed away unexpectedly on October 21, 2013. Alvah was born October 26, 1955 in Waco to WD and Sondra Brown. He grew up in Waco and attended Waco schools. As a student at University High he participated in sports as a pole vaulter and was president of the rodeo club, his events were riding rough stock-bullriding, bareback and saddle bronc. He continued his rodeo career after high school while attending Tarleton State University. White at Tarleton, he added bull fighting (rodeo clown) to his events. He continued his rodeo career after college until a bull riding accident in March of 1978 ended that career choice. He began his next love for danger as an iron connector with Brown & Root in Rosenburg building lignite coal power plants; this career choice took him all across Texas and parts of Louisiana. He settled his family in Cameron, which on the crew building the power plant in Rockdale. He worked for many construction companies in his career, Brown & Root, H.B. Zachry, Austin Power, Becon, Fluor, just to name a few. His next career choice was taking a job with EBCO here in Cameron as a Project Superintendent. He had several proud moments working in town, being associated with Yoe high gym project, hanging "The Goddess of Justice" on the historical Milam County courthouse, Classic Bank drive thru. He took pride in his work and loved to show pictures of projects he was associated with. One special highlight was building the Press Box at Kyle Field.

Alvah was an avid outdoors man and was born about 100 years too late. He loved camping, fishing, canoeing on any river he came close to while traveling to different job sites. He always carried his canoe with him. If you happen to call him on the phone and asked where he was at, he always said, "Between the Red River and the Rio Grande" somewhere in Texas. Alvah was also involved in the Boys Scouts here in Cameron for several years, he enjoyed being with the guys and teaching the boys about the outdoors.

A celebration of life was held at Tonkawa Park in Crawford, Texas for Alvah on his birthday, October 26, 2013, with family and friends.

'Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us'
Each of us have our own special memories of Alvah, we pray you do also.

Family of
Alvah Dwain Brown"

Here are some pictures from Alvah's younger years.


Here are a few pictures of Alvah from Justin's childhood.


Justin also has a few pictures of newspaper clipping from some of the construction projects Alvah worked on.


Justin also has a few pictures of the buildings around Cameron that his dad worked on.


And here are some pictures of Alvah since I have known him.