Shepard Family Update October 23, 2009

.

A grandmother pretends

she doesn't know who you are 

on Halloween.

~Erma Bombeck

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from home in San Diego on a day that is typically pleasant for this month of Halloween.

Mystery Person. In the spirit of the season, the first picture I am including today shows a Halloween picture of a relative of ours in cognito. Do you know the identity of this mystery person? Give it some thought before reading on. (Click on the picture for a larger view.)

Happy Birthday Mandi Aquiningoc! This coming Monday is the 17th birthday of Mandi Aquiningoc of Weatherford, Texas. (In case you are wondering, the mystery person is not Mandi!) Mandi is a senior this year at Weatherford High School, and after graduation hopes to attend Tarleton State University, just down the road in Stephenville, Texas. Among her favorite things is driving (she just got her license), doing hair and make-up ("Mandi's Boutique"), listening to music and hanging out with friends.

Mandi is part of a family cluster of ours that lives in Weatherford and includes: Mandi's mom Kerri, her sister Lyndsey, her uncle Jason and his girlfriend Jenny, her aunt and uncle Kelly and James Sauvage and their 2 boys, as well as her grandmother Jackie and her husband Rick. Mandi's proud grandfather Gary Shepard and his wife Cindy live in Oak Harbor, Washington. Mandi is the 2nd GGgrandchild of Will and Bura Shepard.

The second picture I am including today shows Mandi in the middle, surrounded by her sister Lyndsey on the right, cousin Steven Paul Shepard on the left, and cousins Nate and Kyle Sauvage in front. Everyone in this picture lives in Weatherford, except Steven, who lives in Anacortes, Washington. Thanks to sister Barbara for taking this picture this past summer when they were visiting in Texas.

Back to the mystery person in the first picture: thanks to cousin Dane Shepard for finding and sending this picture to me recently. Do you know who this mystery person is? That's right - it is none other than Bura (Davis) Shepard herself. This picture was taken in Winter Gardens, California (near San Diego) probably in the early 1970s, when she and Grandad were living with their son Elmer and his family. Even though Gram usually carried a serious demeanor, befitting her Midwestern roots, this Halloween get-up shows that she also had a sense of humor!

That mystery person was way too easy for most of you. Select this link to see some more costumed family members over the years. How many can you identify? I doubt there is anyone who can successfully name them all. Whoever is first to email me with the identify of the greatest number of these Halloween revelers will receive a special commendation in an upcoming family update.

If you take some photos of your young (or not-so-young) Halloween celebrants this year, send a copy to me to share with the rest of the family.
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Steve