January - June Birthdays!

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to all!

January

~Jan 2- Ellie Rae Weston's 3rd birthday

~Jan 11- Nathan Davila's birthday

~Jan 12- Dalton Kyle Lanphear's 13th birthday

~Jan 19- Jan Weston's birthday

~Jan 26- Brittani Weston's birthday

~Jan 27- Noah Andrew French's 7th birthday
~Jan 27 - Michael David Burton's 4th birthday

~Jan 29- Courtney French's birthday

February

~Feb 4- Suzanne Campbell's birthday

~Feb 16- Alicia Christine Davila's 17th birthday

♥ Feb 17^th1942 Jiggs and Christine’s Anniversary

March

~March 6~ Ethan Tyler Gooch's 14th birthday
♥ March 13~ Eddie and Susan's anniversary

~March 16~ Ron White's birthday

~March 17~ Carter Andrew Wyatt's 5th birthday

~March 20~ In memory of Christine Weston

April

~April 4~ Todd Weston's birthday

~April 4~ Elizabeth Weston Wyatt's birthday

~April 10~ In memory of Edward Eugene "Jiggs" Weston

~April 14~ In memory of Gary Weston

~April 14~ Andrew Campbell's birthday

~April 19~ April Welchko's birthday

~April 19 ~ Wayne Hodge’s Birthday

~April 25~ Parker Weston McCormick's 13th birthday

~April 27~ Madalyn Juliet White's 3rd birthday

May

~May 3 ~ Weston Hyatte Bodell’s 1^st birthday

~May 8~ Zachary Braeden Davila's 12th birthday

~May 18~ Andrea "Dre" Nix's birthday
~May 25~ Ryley Grace Gooch's 11th birthday

~May 27~ Keely Nicole Davila's 9th birthday

~May 28~ Rylan Thomas Gooch's birthday

~May 31~ Richard "Richie " Neil Weston's birthday

June

♥ June 8~ Nathan and Christina Davila's 15th anniversary

~June 9~Jaedyn Alexa Hethcote's 5th birthday

♥ June 11 ~ Chad and Brittani Weston’s 1^st Anniversary

~June 17~ Jacob Tyler Weston's 10th birthday

~June 20~ Megan Hamilton Kindle's birthday

♥ June 21~ Brent and Elizabeth Wyatt's 4th anniversary

~June 22~ Aubrey Rayne Hethcote's 3rd birthday

~June 24~ Kerrie Lee Weston's birthday
♥ June 27 ~ Ben and Jan Weston's 27th anniversary

~June 29~ Corrinna Claire Davila's 6th birthday

Welcome to the family Jenna Rae Burton

Jenna was born November 9, 2011 at 2:20 pm (ahem- a week late!) weighing 8 lbs 15 oz and 22 inches long

Just a few minutes old

3 weeks old

6 months old

Jenna is such a sweet heart, we are so proud to be her parents and I can't wait for everyone to meet her!

FAMILY NEWS!

THE MELINDA WESTON WHITE FAMILY: Melinda had a real surprise when she got home from work one evening and found a camper in her driveway....she thought that she had a "senior momemt" and turned into the wrong driveway! Instead, it was the best kept secret ever...Eddie came to Austin for a visit! All of the Texas branch of the family enjoyed Eddie's visit and hope that he passes this way again in the very near future.

Suzanne is caring for two homeless kittens, helping them to become "socialized" and is preparing them to be adopted. Fortunately, Suzannne's two young male cats, "Stan" and "Ollie" are good with other animals and do not mind sharing their "space". Christina and Nathan enjoyed a fun family vacation at Port Aransas and have lots of pictures and shells to prove it!

They are excited that they have a contract on their home! They have also found a lovely home to rent for a year while Nathan continues his job search. As with everyone with growing families, it is a busy time! Christina continues to work at Giddens Elementary as a teachers aide with the special education children. She is requested so often that her part time job as turned into nearly full time. Alicia has been cast as the lead actress in the Senior Directed Plays on May 21st. Nicholas has been cast as a police officer in his middle schools production of the musical,"Bye, Bye Birdie" on May 18-20. Zachary is 2nd chair trumpet in his school band (with over 30 young band members playing trumpet) and made all "1's" in a recent UIL competition. He will be performing in concert with his band on May 17th. Keely and Corrinna are performnig with their school's Spirit Squad and will be in the talent show on May 25th. Corrinna is also "graduating" from kindergarten on May 24th. You will notice that all of these activities are during the week that they are moving! James, Joanna, and family have just returned from a weekend camping trip at Garner State Park. They enjoying camping and swimming in the river. Even the dog, Zeus, joined in the fun! James and Jo also had the opportunity to attend the wedding of Joanna's cousin, Amanda, to Jonathan in Las Vegas. James is now the Clinic Director of the Pflugerville office of Texas Physical Therapy Specialist. Joanna is a reisitered nurse with a Critical Care certification. She works part time at North Austin Medical Center in the ICU. Jonathan is busy with soccer. He has also been selected as a 3rd grade PBS author. His short story, "Dragon Quest", is online and can also be purchased in hard cover. Olivia and Madalyn are also busy little "princesses" and love their dance classes. Amanda and Dave are happy to be entering a new phase of their life! Dave graduated on May 6th with a degree in Urban and City Planning. That means that Dave is busy job hunting! Amanda and Dave also are busy with their garden. Even Michael and Jared "help". Michael is enjoying soccer and tee-ball and Jared is his big brothers biggest fan! Jenna is sleeping throught the night most of the time, which means that Amanda is getting more done!

THE EDDIE WESTON FAMILY: Besides suprising his sister, Eddie has been busy with church, visiting with friends, and adding to his car collection. Eddie is now the proud owner of a 2010 Candy Apple Red GT Mustang. This car will be a good garage companion to his Shelby GT Mustang. However, since the Shelby is a fast track classic, Eddie chooses to limit how much he drives that car. This will not be the case with the new GT Mustang. He is considering racing again (he used to race his GTO back in 1969) on the I-35 Speedway in Benton. This is an eighth of a mile dragstrip and a perfect distance for the red car. Eddie has sold his house in Cape Girardeau! That is great news!

I am not sure that Kerrie has any free time these days! She is busy working on one project after the other at her new home. She has removed wallpaper, painted walls, planted plants and shrubs, etc. She is also having a new deck built. However, Kerrie is going to take time off from her job and her home projects to attend the concert of "The Black Keys Band" with friends. Good idea, Kerrie. You know what they say, "All work and no play....." Eddie, Kerrie, and Todd and Dre and family enjoyed Easter together. They attended church as a family and shared a wonderful day. Todd and Dre still have hectic schedules! Todd is busy detailing cars and now also repairs dents. Dre is also busy and just completed her first clinical rotation! She is now beginning Pharacology portion of her nursing program. Dre is going great and has received all "A's" except for two "B's"! That is addition to being a mom of active children! June will be an extra busy month for the family as Jaedyn, Aubrey, and Jacob all have birthdays! They all are growning up so quickly...Jaedyn will start kindergarten in August! She can hardly wait.

THE GARY WESTON FAMILY: Nina had a wonderful trip to Hawaii and enjoyed her visit with Brandon, Rachel, and Weston. They spent time on the Big Island together and had the opportunity to travel to Lanai, which is like visiting a secluded bit of paradise that very few people have the chance to see. Richie is a happy dad! Derek has recently spent four days with him for a visit and Heather is there now for her summer visit. Sharing time with family is the very best of times! Richie recently had to do some repairs on his chimney and that made him appreciate the year he worked as a roofer. He knew just what to do! Richie had a wonderful vacation in Florida. He flew to join his mother, Sheri, and step-father, Andy, on February 14th. They visited Univeral Studios, Sea World, Epcot Center, and the Kennedy Space Center. But, some of his favorite times were spending time on the beach. Sounds perfect to me! Brandon and Rachel's big news is that after seven months, Brandon is back in Honolulu! Brandon had been working on the Big Island seven days a week and at least 12 hours a day for so many months, this must seem like a dream come true! Fortunately, Rachel and Weston are great travelers and visited him so often that I wonder if Weston misses the flights. Brandon did have a 5 day break and joined Nina, Rachel, and Weston on Lanai. Brandon and his dad had a chance to deer hunt while Nina, Rachel, and Weston enjoyed hanging out at the Four Seasons. Weston had had his first birthday and is a real charmer. Rachel tells me that he is very busy but the most "laid back" and easy baby ever! She was glad that her mom was there to share the first time that Weston called Rachel "mama". That was a very special moment for them to share.

Weston on the plane

Elizabeth had a huge suprise on her birthday....Rachel and Weston came to help celebrate her birthday! (The Weston family seems to know how to keep secrets!) I am sure that was the best present ever. Brent and Elizabeth are keeping super busy with their jobs and trying to keep up with the boys. Dalton has already started spring football practices and has been selected to play on the 7-on-7 football team this summer! This means that Dalton will be competing in four different tournaments around the region. Carter just started swimming lessons and loves every minute! He told his parents that he is quitting school to swim every day instead. They had to break the news to him that quitting school is not an option! It is hard to believe, but Carter will be starting kindergarten in the fall! All of our family's children seem to be growing up much too quickly.

THE BENNY WESTON FAMILY: Benny and Jan are always busy. If they are not working, they are attending church or performing needed service or having get togethers with their family. However, they did slow down enough in March to enjoy a 7 day Caribbean cruise that featured stops in the ports of Cozumel and the Grand Cayman Islands. I hope that they took a lot of pictures! Rylan and Ashley are busy as usual keeping up with Ethan and Rylee's busy soccer schedule! They are both currently playing in tournaments in Cape Girardeau, MO. Ethan is preparing for soccer tryouts for high school this summer. And, Rylee has made the pom pom team for Marion Junior High School! This is a very big deal for a 5th grader! Practices have already begun for Rylee's pom pom team preparing for a busy fall. Somehow, I think that Rylan and Ashley are going to be busier than ever! Andy and Courtney are thankful that Andy's business is going so well and that the business continues to expand with new clients. Courtney is still homeschooling the children; volunteering at the Angel's Clinic on Tuesdays, and making cakes. They also traveled to Murray State basketball games...a lot of games because Murray State had a very successful season! Somehow, they managed to find time to celebrate 11 family birthdays in January!

The family celebrated Noah's 7th birthday with a suprise party! (Courtney is amazed that they were able to pull off the suprise, but it worked perfectly.) Noah played Upwards basketball in January and lost both of his top teeth in December and January.

Emma is four years old and has already lost her first tooth! She is Noah's best cheerleader and loves to attend big brother's games. Emma was able to attend a "bring a friend" ballet class with one of her friends recently. But, her big news is that she was able to have a sleep over at grandma's without big brother for the first time! Oh dear, another one of our children growing up too quickly!

Chad and Brittani are excited that Chad was promoted to the Used Car Manager at Marion Ford Hyundai. Congratualtions! Eddie really appreciates the great deal he received on his Red Mustang GT.

I wonder if Ellie bought her red car from her daddy? :)

Brandon and Megan have won my admiration! Brandon recently ran his first 5K. The event, the Murray 5K Run/Walk, was sponsored by the Murray Callaway County Hospital. Brandon was able to complete the race in 25 minutes, which means that he finised 18th overall and first in his age category. Wow! Megan did something just as incredible. She ran with a 8 person reply team that completed 80 miles in about 9 hours. Can you believe it??? I am impressed. That reminds me that I need to start my own excercise program........

APRIL 24th

As time passes, and each of us reflects on the two family members that we lost on this day, we have reason to appreciate their examples and their influence in our lives. We have our own memories and our own stories to share about Gary and Susan. These memories warm our hearts and inspire us to be better people.

As Nina and I talked in April, we discussed two quotations that we both feel represent the man that Gary became. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke) "Some men see things as they are and ask, Why? I dream things that never were and ask, Why not?" (George Bernard Shaw) Gary will always be remembered as the man with the courage to follow his convictions. And, although his dream has not yet been realized in this world of ours, we can help that dream become a reality. We can also choose to have the courage to live as an example of our Christian faith, looking beyond our own daily challenges and reaching out to others.

Eddie and I had a different kind of conversation. He has just survived the hurtle of the first year without Susan. He wanted to remember happier times by sharing this story. On their way home from one of their many traveling adventures in the camper, Eddie and Susan stopped for gas in Jackson, Missouri. As they pulled up to the gas pumps, they could hear a woman with a foreign accent announcing customer fees over the loud speaker. When Eddie went to pay his fee for the gas, the lady charged him $8.80. Returning to the camper, Eddie found Susan wondering how he knew that woman. Eddie told her, "I don't know that woman." "Well", Susan replied, "I could clearly hear her saying, 'Eddie, Eddie'." "No", Eddie told her, "she was saying $8.80!" Susan looked at Eddie doubtfully, and Eddie was never sure if he convinced her that he did not know that woman. However, he did know that anytime that Susan call him "8-80" that he was in trouble!

"Jiggs" and "Johnny"

This is one of my clearest memories of childhood; I can shut my eyes and see my dad and I sitting together on the living room couch, the helmet laying there beside us. The house was quiet that day. My three brothers were not home and I was trying to find something to keep me entertained. Earlier, I had been looking through the combination linen and toy/game closet. As I was rumaging around, something heavy fell from a higher shelf. I jumped back to dodge it, then picked it off the floor to look at this metal helmet. I had never seen it before and I was curious. It was big, and it was heavy, and it was dented.

My dad was the only other person at home. So, I took it to him and asked if he could tell me what it was. My dad held the helmet in his much stronger hands and sighed. He touched the deep dent, and then he talked to me for the first and only time about his role in World War II. My dad had the opportunity to serve in many ways and places during that war. But, as the war raged on and things were looking ominous for the allied forces, "Jiggs" found himself stranded in a location and in a position that made him feel restless and longing to join the fight. "Jiggs" was training navy enlistees in Virginia. As recruiters came to the base and opportunites for other positions came, "Jiggs" was always told by his commanding officers that he was too valuable and that he did such an outstanding job training the new sailors that he could not be spared. So, he continued serving in Virginia.

At a time when "Jiggs" was the most discouraged, a special meeting was held on his base. This recruiter talked about an all volunteer unit that would be selected for a secret mission. Those men would not only be undertaking a secret assignment that could change the course of the war but they would be facing such dangerous condtions that the unit might have a rate as high as 90% casualties. As the other sailors drifted away, "Jiggs" went to talk to the officer. "Jiggs" told him that he was ready to volunteer but that he had not received permission from his commander to leave his current assignment regardless of what assignment that he had volunteered for in the past. The officer looked "Jiggs" in the eye and told him, "Son, if you qualify for this assignment, nothing will stop you from joining this unit." And, so it was that "Jiggs" found himself training with the other members of "Demolition Unit O". And, it was during his training that he met his chief, John Jacobson.

My dad told me that he had never met a man like "Johnny". He was a little older than the rest of the men; tall and built like a grizzly bear. Yet, his voice was gentle; he never raised it and he never spoke a curse word. There was an inner strength about him that inspired men to accept his leadership without question. "Jiggs" trusted him with his life. Their secret mission did not go as planned. They were the first troops to land on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. They were a demolition unit and much of their explosives had been lost in the landing and what had survied was wet and slowly drfting ashore.

These men had to use their innovation and training to grab what they could, blow up the enemy defenses and keep moving forward. Some of the men captured enemy bulldozers to knock out concrete barracades. Explosions, smoke, and screams pierced the air all around "Jiggs" and the other members of this combat unit. Yet, they continued to move forward..always forward. "Jiggs" was beside many of his comrades, including his chief, mentor and good friend, "Johnny", when they were killed. As his heart mourned, he continued onward to complete his mission. (I asked my dad if he was ever afraid. He told me that there wasn't time to be afraid for they had to keep moving to remove obstacles and to protect and provide openings for the troops landing behind them.)

During the height of the battle, "Jiggs" battle helmet slipped and covered his face. As he was pushing it up to its proper position, a bullet slammed into the helmet. The force of the bullet, dazed "Jiggs" for a brief moment. "Jiggs" told me that had the helmet not slipped, that bullet would have hit him right between his eyes. He knew that God had spared his life. My dad told me that he had pondered that split second for many years. So many of his good friends and comrades died on that beach during that two day battle. Yet, "Jiggs" survived without a scratch. Later, my dad said that he understood why God spared his life that day. God had spared him to grant him the dearest wish of his heart. Because "Jiggs" had spent much of his early years in an orphans home, there is nothing that "Jiggs" had desired more than to have a family of his own. He felt that each of his children were blessings in his life. My brothers and I never doubted that we and our mother were always our dad's first priority.

NOTE: When "Jiggs" came back to the states, before he went home to Christine, he went to the tiny town of Duncan, Arizona. There he saw "Johnny"s widow, Almeda, and young son, Ron. He told them of their "Johnny"s courage and example. "Jiggs" told them of his own love, respect, and admiration for his chief. "Jiggs" and Christine visited the family again in 1972; "Jiggs" stayed in touch with the Jacobson family until his death in 1977.