Happy Birthday to THE TWINS !

Here they are, the birthday girls! Sheri and I thought that in your honor, Emily & Julie, we would draft 27 birthday wishes, etc. But then we realized it would be quite tedious, and perhaps annoying. So if I had one wish then it would be, "A Very Happy Birthday to You From Me!"

There are so many cute pictures of the twins, and I am short on time these days . . . so I'm only picking out two goods ones. The one below in the snow is one we've seen here before, but it's one of my favorites: Mt Hood, in the snow with the little plastic tubs.

By the way, can anyone help me with a little Dougall Birthday trivia - which week has the most birthdays? Would it be early January (Geoff, Rob, Zabie & Sawyer) or mid-June (Emily, Julie, Sarah, & Ty)

Anyone else getting excited for the reunion?

Thought I'd throw up a reminder that we have just a month to go, and I'm getting SO excited!

I thought it might be a good time to post another gem from the past. Here is a family photo that wasn't good enough to be framed and hung in the house. But I'm glad that it still got saved, nonetheless.

You don't have to look too hard to spot that Dad has drifted off to sleep. Top center we see John Jr. beaming with a look that says, "Vote for Me!". Rich is mustering as much effort as he can to act interest - I don't think he could possibly raise his eyebrows any higher. I can't quite read the look that David has in eyes, but the way he is tugging at his baby sister makes it look like he's preparing to yank her from Mom's lap & get her out of the picture. The Dougall girls are obviously much more photogenic - Mom, Heather & Alison all look very natural - Well Done.

Hope you all enjoy this little family shot as much as me. I might try to find the time to post a few more as we approach the reunion.

Announcing the Arrival of the Newest Dougall

The appointed day for the c-section arrived (fortunately with much less drama than our last two kids). We had a beautiful morning stroll through the park to get to the hospital. It was a much quieter hospital than I've ever been to, so we got a fantastic amount of attention from the doctors and staff there. The whole experience went without a single hitch. Some of you may have heard horror stories about the British childbirth experience (courtesy of nationalized medicine), but I have nothing but good things to say about how things went for us today (albeit with private British doctors).

At roughly 11:00am the little one was delivered - a beautiful, healthy baby boy, weighing in at 3.6 kilograms (which I believe is 7lbs 14.5oz). We haven't reached consensus on the name yet, but the chances are very high that he will be named Aiden Thomas Dougall.

Mum & Baby both had a mellow, uneventful afternoon . . .

. . . until an evening visit from the family. Needless to say, his three big brothers couldn't be more thrilled.

Finally - a birthday post for Rich

If I don't finally get this done, it's going to be the twins birthday. So, better late than never. Here are some of the old gems of Richard Perris Dougall!

Rich has some very cute pictures when he was little. This picture not only shows what a sweet little boy he was, but also how he would get all dressed up for sunday mornings back in 1973. By the time 1983 rolled around, the goal on Sunday morning was to just get out of the door at a reasonable time. I don't know if Rob, David or Kathryn ever got all dolled up like this for Sunday.

There are a variety of things that make Rich unique in the family, such as his credentials as a master gardener. His various talents really show through in the old slides. Since he was a talented photographer, a handful of the family pictures in the '80s were taken by him. I recall that one year when he was in high school he took the family photos that made it on to the Christmas mailer. Some of Dad's slides show how he took baseball and basketball to a level higher than his brothers. Below we can see that he took the saxaphone to a higher level than anyone else in the family. He was probably the only one in the family to join the Beavers marching band. Way to go Rich!
Don't forget that he's also a gifted mechanic. He's the only family member to maintain and ride a Honda scooter. How expensive does gas have to get before we can see Rich return to this method of transportation?

Rich was also a fine Boy Scout (as were the rest of the brothers). However, no one else in the family has a super sweet photo from Scout Camp like this:

Happy Birthday Rich! I hope the 40's are kind to you.

Happy Birthday to Rich

Rob is a little belated for now, but I will post a little update saying Happy Barfday to Richard P Dougall. He was sometimes a butt of a brother, but it is good that things have changed so much and we are glad he is our friend.

Happy Birthday to MOM!

And a happy Mother's Day, too!

Here it is again, Mom, Your Special Weekend! If you ever get tired of having your birthday fall on the same weekend as Mothers Day (if you'd prefer to have the attention spread over two different periods) you could always move to England. The Brits have decided to honor their mothers in March.

I'm sorry we couldn't be closer to you, but at least you have a handful of kids & grandkids close enough to make it a special occasion. The best I can do is post my thoughts to this blog, so without further ado . . .

Seeing as these slides are all from dad, I don't have anything of you when you were really young. The earliest picture I could find was developed in June 1962. I'm certain that is Dad in the photo (the thick glasses and slick hair are a dead giveaway), but as I post this picture I'm not 100% certain that he's standing beside his future bride. I mean you guys look so young - Dad looks about the same here as he does in his high school pictures. I would guess that this might be an early date for you two. I'm wondering it was the first time she took that 7 mile long trek south from campus to check out the John B. Dougall stompin' ground in Springville.

Fast forward 25 years. . . here is Mom in Puerto Rico picking up her oldest son at the end of his mission. I want to know how Dad got her to pose as if she were a department store model. The composition is great - the model is surrounded by exotic tropical rainforest, yet leaning against a decidedly urban sign - graffiti tagged and all.

And finally, one of my favorite photos of Mom and kids. I think this is one of Dad's finest early family photos. In this one the family stands at the top of some mountain. (there are recurring themes in Dad's slides: Christmas, birthdays, mountain tops, and rose parade floats) I guess this couldn't be too high a peak, seeing as the three little ones made it, and Mom doesn't look worn out at all or stressed about the kids slipping 1,000 ft off the summit. I like the fashionable clothes of the period (I love the foxy glasses). I also think the kids are really cute (it was before they learned to ham it up in front of Dad's camera).

Of course everyone knows the classic photo that Dad took of Mom is when she was expecting the twins - you know, the one of her in the driveway with the large polynesian dress. But since this blog is essentially open to the public, I thought that one might not be appreciated. It is certain to make it into the reunion slideshow, though. . . .

Well Mom, thanks for all you've done on our behalf. Thanks for the many tireless hours of sacrifice and self-less giving. I hope you know how much we all love you and appreciate all that you've done for us.

Happy Birthday, and Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Belated Birthday to Sheri

Sorry Sheri, I've been out of town so a few days behind on everything. Here's my brief little tribute to you in honor of your birthday. . . .

Because you were born later than the rest of your brothers and sisters you are probably featured in fewer slides and Super 8mm films than everyone else - but on the flip side you're probably featured in more family video footage & digital snapshots than the rest. In scanning through the old slides I don't see that Dad got any pictures at your birthday. Hmmm, well here's what he did captures:

I recall that Sheri loved the pacifier, so this picture seems like the best baby picture we've got.

Your love of the water began early, it looks like you're about to get into the cannonball formation at the motel pool in Utah.

I don't remember Sheri as a horse enthusiast, but aren't all little girls really into ponies. I really have no idea where this was taken, but Sheri looks pretty cool, pretty calm on that big animal.