September 4, 1999: Prudence's Wedding
	July 11-18, 1999: A Summer Trip to California
	Return to the Index for 1999

Well, it's that time once again to celebrate the birthdays of Fred, who turns 45 on August 6th, and Ron Mathis, who turned 36 on August 1st. As they have so graciously done before, Ron and Chris have offered to host the combined birthday party. As we have done in the past, we have invited all our Dallas friends, and almost all of them were able to come.

You may already have visited an album page in which I describe where Ron and Chris live in relation to my house in Dallas, but it doesn't take long to show you.

To get to Ron's house, Fred and I went up the Tollway to LBJ (I-635), took that east to US 75 north and then drove about twelve miles to the Parker Road exit. Then we head west on Parker.

At Roundrock, which is about three miles west of US 75, we turn north, go half a mile and turn left on Glenhaven. That's Ron's street.

Ron and Chris live down at the end of the first block. Ron has lived here for quite a few years; he first moved here when he and Chris got together some years ago.

So that you know this gathering's cast of characters, I should run down the list for you, and give you a bit of background on each. And the best way to do this is to show you one of the posed group pictures that Fred took.

Let's go clockwise around the table, beginning with Ron Mathis- lower left front. That's me, of course, behind him.

The first two standees are Prudence Lucas and Ron Ruckman. Prudence is Fred's longtime acquaintance from high school, and Ron is her fiance. They are getting married in just over a month. Next to Ron Ruckman is, of course, my mother, who has been here in Dallas for three years now. Next to her is our friend, Lynne Richardson. The next two tall guys are Brent Whitley and Mike Racke. Fred and I met Brent in Florida a while back, and he came to Dallas to visit once. During that visit, he met Mike Racke, and they became good friends. Brent is here this week on another of his visits with Mike. To Mike's left is another good friend of ours- Barbara Reynolds- whom we met through Lowery Evans six years ago. Next we have Karl Gleim and Nancy Lucas. Nancy is, of course, Prudence's sister, and Karl is a fellow she met a while back and married about a year ago.

Sitting down at right are (from left to right) Chris Young (Ron's partner), our friend Brad, and, of course, Fred.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

Ron and Chris were excellent hosts. We were able to swim in the pool, play pool in their gameroom, eat the excellent grilled burgers that Ron made, share the covered dishes that some of us brought and have the cake that I brought with me. As far as pictures go, they were all candid shots, like this picture of Lynne and Barbara in the kitchen.

I have taken the other snapshots that we took this aftenoon and evening and put them in a slideshow so you can see them easily.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

We had a really good time at the birthday party this year; it is nice that it has turned into something of a tradition, although next year it should be my turn to host.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	September 4, 1999: Prudence's Wedding
	July 11-18, 1999: A Summer Trip to California
	Return to the Index for 1999