A Celebration of Fathers! June 13, 2014

My father would lift me high

And dance with my mother and me

and then spin me around till I fell asleep.

Then up the stairs he would carry me

and I knew for sure I was loved.

~Luther Vandross

Happy Birthday Scott! Today is the 29th Birthday of Scott Ortiz, the son of Kim Boyd Clark and her late husband Gabe Ortiz. Mom Kim tells me that Scott works for Anderson Electric in El Cajon, near San Diego, and lives in Chula Vista with a group called Stranger Band. Scott is originally from Gallup, New Mexico, and was raised in New Mexico and San Diego. 

Today's blog post is even more image intensive than usual, with the many pictures I am including telling our family story much better than words ever could. Thanks to mom Kim for this first recent picture, which shows Scott with his girl friend Christa. 

Sunday is Father's Day! To help offset the gloom and doom that some feel on Friday the 13th, the following Celebration of Fathers is offered. It is a collection of pictures of Dad's and their children and grandchildren that span over 100 years of our family's life. The oldest picture is from 1908 and the most recent picture from just days ago. Thank God for the memory of good fathers, and for the blessing of present day dads who give so much for their kids!

  

Five Years in America. It was 5 years ago today that our daughter-in-law Chenda Sou arrived in the U.S. from her native Cambodia. She and our son Nathan had met there in one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries almost 2 years earlier but it took that long for the immigration process to be completed.

This next picture, taken just a few days ago, shows our daughter-in-law Chenda with her and Nathan's youngest child William in front of their home in the San Carlos community of San Diego. 

Today Chenda and Nathan live in San Diego with their 3 children Preslea, Logan and William. Chenda has made great strides in the last 5 years but continues her adjustment to life in America and her journey toward citizenship. 

Kambree Turns One! Happy Birthday tomorrow, June 14, to Mandi Aquiningoc's baby Kambree Kay of Weatherford, Texas, one of the youngest members of our extended family. 

Kambree lives with her mom Mandi and her father Stephen Bowman in Mineral Wells, Texas, not far from her Grandmother Kerri Shepard Aquiningoc. Kambree is the Great Granddaughter of my brother Gary Shepard, and the first Great Great Granddaughter of Maida Gower Shepard.

This last picture shows Kambree in patriotic stars and stripes, getting ready for the upcoming Independence Day Celebration. Happy Birthday to Kambree and best wishes to Mandi and Stephen!

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Steve Shepard