Trifecta - April 4, 2011

A man who doesn't spend time

with his family 

cannot be a real man.

~Don Corleone

(in "The Godfather")

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you on this travel day for Cindy and me, as we drive down the great Central Valley of California from Alameda back home to San Diego.

Jim and Cheryl Gower Celebrating 42 years

On this day in history, three different members of our family were born. One is a first cousin of mine on the Gower side of the family, another is the husband of my niece Kelly, and the third one is the granddaughter of a cousin on the Shepard side of the family. I don't think any of the three have ever met each other. Yet they are all valued members of our family.

The first born of this trio is my cousin Jim Gower, the second child of Hendrix and Starlene Gower and the second grandchild of Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower. Jim was born and raised in San Diego, but he and wife Cheryl are now retired and live in Fort Mojave, Arizona.

Cheryl: "We are doing great. Jim is busy making all types of kaleidoscopes and selling them here in Fort Mojave and in Oatman, Arizona. He keeps the neighborhood in shape with all his "Mr. Fix-it" abilities. In February we celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary (picture attached). Our son Tim is still teaching and coaching at North Monterey County High School in Castroville, Ca. He has one son, Dane (11 years old), and will soon be engaged to a lovely lady, named Patti, who has a boy and girl of her own. So the family will blossom and we are thrilled."

James Sauvage and Family

The second birthday person today is James Sauvage. Originally from Ohio, he met and married Kelly Sauvage in San Diego. They now live with their two boys in Weatherford, Texas.

This second picture shows Cincinnati Reds fan James at his party last year. Next to him are his sons Nate and Kyle. Also pictured are niece Mandi and sister-in-law Kerri.

Kelly: "James has been working for Pumpco for a year now. It keeps him busy and even allows him to do a little traveling. Every few months he’ll fly to PA helping the guys in that area. He referees football as often as possible. Right now he works the Semi-Pro games every Saturday night. He is also Kyle’s baseball coach…team name Padres. It’s tough trying to teach eleven 6 year olds the basics of baseball and keep their attention for an hour. Lucky for James, he has me around to help. We don’t have big plans for his birthday, probably just dinner with the family.

Horse riding Ciara

"The boys and I spent spring break in Arizona at the Padres spring training.  Such a blast! Kyle has made plans to go again next year. He got so many autographs! Nate got some too, but he wasn’t as excited as Kyle was. It was a long drive for me with two boys, but it was so worth it."
 
The third birthday person on this day is 9 year old Ciara Ortiz of Spring Valley, California. She is the first child of Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz, the first grandchild of Kim Clark, and the first Ggrandchild of Terry and Thelma (Shepard) Boyd. She is also one of the 10 GGgrandchildren of Will and Bura Shepard. The third picture shows Ciara riding a horse in a picture taken last fall.

Best wishes to all three of them!
- - -
Steve