Shepard Family Update, February 5, 2010

We cannot destroy kindred:
our chains stretch a little sometimes,
but they never break.
~Marquise de Sévigné

Hello Shepard family and friends,

Greetings to all of you wherever you may be. It has been a cool, delightful winter week here in our home town, with some family drama. But life goes on and it is all good.

Wedding Bells! The latest adventure in matrimony in our family occurred two weeks ago when Havilah Colgain married Kevin Wardle in a beautiful wilderness area called "The Little Grand Canyon", south of Price, Utah. Havilah is the daughter of Art Colgain of Kaysville, Utah, and Joan Shepard of Dixon, California. She is also Elmer Shepard's granddaughter. She wrote the following about recent events.

The wedding was fabulous. The weather was great and we all had a blast. I was determined to get a picture of me shooting my 9mm in my wedding dress - the photographer got it! Lol! Mom did target practice, too, and did really well. When she starting doing a victory dance with the gun, we had to take it away from her. There is a priceless picture of her sledding, too. She had so much fun. It was definitely the most perfect day.

Kauai was beautiful. We saw a whale jump completely out of the water. The dolphins swam right next to the boat. We met a few turtles on the beach, as well as a seal. I am a big fan of tropical plants and I couldn't stop ooing and awing every moment of every day. We made it home with more additions to our already mammoth houseplant inventory. Thanks for all your emails and notes. We so appreciate your love and support. -Havilah

The first picture I am including shows Havilah in her wedding dress on her wedding day, January 23. The second picture show her with her new husband Kevin while they were honeymooning in Kauai, Hawaii last week. They make their home now in West Valley City, Utah. Best wishes to them for a wonderful life together!

Two Buttes Memories. Last week I included a picture of Havilah's Ggrandfather William Shepard taken in the early 1930's. After Will's niece Norma Lou (Kilpatrick) Allen of Bolivar, Missouri saw that picture, she emailed me with some childhood recollections.

Hi Steve: Thanks for the picture of "Uncle Will" (as I knew him). I always thought he was a lot of fun. He used to tease me. I would occasionally see him in Two Buttes, Colorado when I was just a little girl (born in 1928). I would be on the way home from school and would see him sitting on a crate in front of the grocery store.

We lived about two miles out of town on a farm. My dad, Barney Kilpatrick, was married to Winona Davis, Bura's sister. My daddy and my Uncle Bill ("Will Allie" Kilpatrick) farmed together. I remember a beautiful alfalfa field between our farms, watered by irrigation. When water came in we kids all got to go down and play in the irrigation ditch; a wonderful thing, we thought. :-)

I only signed in to tell you that that is just the way Uncle Will looked. When the dust bowl hit (1935), everyone moved to California and our family moved to Missouri. We enjoy your letters and pictures so much. Thank you. -Norma Lou Allen.

This final picture I am including today, like last week's picture of William Shepard, was taken in Two Buttes, Colorado, in the 1930's. It shows Will and Bura Shepard's younger son Eugene William Shepard. On the back of the original photo is the date of Feb., 1935 (75 years ago this month) which would make Gene Shepard 13 years old at the time.
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Steve