John K. Davis, Independent Distributor, SendOutCards

Family Reunion

I am handling funds for the Elmer Gray Family Reunion registration fees. If you have not done so already, please Download GrayReunionRegistrationForm.xls  and complete it to determine the proper fee to be paid by your group. When the form is completed you can click "Pay Fees" near the bottom right of the form to get back here.

Then click on the "Submit and Pay Total Fee" button at the top of the column on the right side of this page. You will be transported to my "Tip Jar" where you can leave a message that can include any comments or questions you may have. After you enter a message, your name and email address, click on "Continue to PayPal" where you can complete the transaction. If you do not have a PayPal account you will be offered the option of using a credit card or bank account to make your payment.

Ray Grandchildren Photographs

Lauren Grace Ray's personality is emerging to the delight and occasional consternation of those in her life. She is growing up way too fast, is physically active and loves to dance (she hasn't quite figured out how to walk yet, but she can stand and groove to the music).

Jamison and Sydney are doing well, too. Jamison is maturing and enjoys reading and playing video games. He is a wonderful big brother for his sisters and is doing great at school and with his extra-curricular activities. He is a handsome kid.

Syd is precocious and funny even as she becomes evermore photogenic. I talk with her mother often and she always has a story, or two, about Syd's recent antics.

Stephanie and Clinton are hanging in there. Clinton works long hours for a trucking firm and enjoys tinkering with and racing his dragster. In addition to corralling three kids, Steph is in her first year of the nursing program at a nearby college.

The Rays visited us this summer for a month! Clinton was only able to stay a few days and had to return to Michigan to work, but Steph and the kids were able to hang out with us for a few weeks in San Diego and then travel with us in a minivan I purchased for the trip to a Frahm family reunion at the Roybal's lodge near Pecos, New Mexico. We had a great time.

The family will not soon forget the cross-country trek from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff, Arizona, using my new GPS mobile phone to lead us on the "shortest" route possible. Other highlights of the trip included a couple of days with my siblings in Arizona (Sydney says that swimming in my sister Debra's pool was her favorite thing on the trip), Montezuma Castle, driving through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, and visiting the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater and Sky City.

Lisa's Visit

Janet's niece, Lisa Vroegh (v ru) was in San Diego for a few days to attend an event at the Convention Center. She was recruiting students for an education program at her college in Iowa.

During her stay her aunts, cousin and I assisted her with clothes shopping--she always buys clothes when visiting California. We had a great time and she found a number of really cute things.

I snapped this photo on Saturday morning as we were waiting to be seated for breakfast at 222 downtown. Russ, Joan and Debbie had come down that day from Newport Beach to see Lisa and spend the day with us.

Lisa had to attend sessions at the Convention Center mid-day. Joan, Debbie, Janet and I spent that time playing at Kobe's Swap Meet. The people watching was great and we left with all kinds of junk we don't need.

We then picked Lisa up for another shopping spree at Fashion Valley Mall, Ross and Nordstrom's Rack. Janet and Joan slept in the car when we got to our last spot--some people cannot shop as long or as hard as other people. The evening ended with dinner at Mimi's Cafe on Mission Center Road. It was a fun day and we hope Lisa will return again soon.

Lauren Grace Ray

Janet and I spent almost two weeks in Michigan to assist Stephanie and her family during the expected arrival of a new family member. Lauren Grace Ray was born on January 19 at 7:36 PM. She weighed seven pounds, ten ounces, and was twenty inches long. Here are some photos taken in the delivery room following the birth: Lauren Grace Ray Arrives

Happy Holidays!

This season is permeated with emotion, activity, travel, friends and family, memories, hope, and spiritual stirrings.

I attended the annual party at Carol Angel’s home this year—a gathering of friends to share a potluck meal followed by singing traditional carols. Everyone had a good time.

Janet and I also enjoyed a dinner cruise on San Diego Bay with friends during the annual Parade of Lights (a parade of boats decorated for the season on the bay). We had a great meal and had fun dancing. The parade was beautiful. The San Diego skyline is awesome!

My son, Matthew, his daughter, Logan, my other son, Jared, and his fiancée, Tina, are visiting for a few days. We are having a good visit. My ex-wife, Valerie, and her friend, Jim, will be joining us this afternoon for Christmas dinner and an evening of song and celebration.

We have friends who are dealing with potentially terminal illness and others who have suffered devastating loss. Our thoughts are with them.

We also are excitedly awaiting the arrival of baby Lauren Grace who we hope will be born in a couple of weeks. Janet and I will be traveling to Holland, Michigan, to be with Stephanie and her family in anticipation of the blessed event.

The tears and laughter of the season surround us and we participate in it all. We wish the best for you and yours in the New Year.

Catching Up

The past few months have been a rush. My computer's motherboard fried mid-October. It took awhile to diagnose the problem and the repair required building a new computer system. Reloading all of my software, configuring it and organizing my data in a new more elegant way has been time consuming, but I took advantage of the opportunity to upgrade most of my hardware. I love the new system.

We visited Stephanie and her family early in November for a week. We had a great time. Here is a short movie showing Jamison at his karate lesson:

Download Karate Game Action

The game involved whacking someone with a foam staff. When you get whacked you have to stop playing the game and do a kata before you can resume whacking people.

By the time we got home from Michigan we had only a week to prepare for Thanksgiving. We did something special this year--we invited members of the military who where away from home for the holiday. The news media found out about our plans and interviewed Janet for the local NBC affiliate's evening news. I recorded it on our TiVo. Here is the clip:

Download Janet's news interview aired on November 23, 2005, at 5:00 PM on KNSD 7/39

Thanksgiving day was a lot of fun. It worked out that we picked up five Navy sailors at 10:00 AM that morning. We returned to Brittany Tower where three twenty-pound turkeys were roasting and too many side dishes were in the final stages of being prepared. We had six pies for dessert and wine, cold brew, soft drinks and juices to drink. Joan came two days early to assist with the preparations, so the cooking had begun the day before.

Steph's Summer Visit

The Rays came to visit us this summer. Clinton could only stay a couple of days, but Stephanie, Jamison and Sydney stayed for two weeks (Lauren was in the oven). We captured a few images during their stay. Click this link to view them: Weblog Images

Uncle Kenny's Funeral

Another beloved member of our extended family has passed away. Janet and I were in Arizona last week to attend the funeral for my uncle, Kenny Keeth Gray, my mother's younger brother. I have many fond memories of Uncle Kenny and Aunt Hazel. They are together now and all seems right.

I snapped a few images at the graveside service. Here are some images of family:

Inette, Mike, Roxann, Cindy, Debra, Nancy, Janet and my aunt Nellie visit following the service.

Others seen in this next image include Bobby, Jimmy, Don and my uncle Jerry.

It was good to get many playmates from childhood together again. Jimmy, Bobby, John, Keeth, Don and Mike had a good time kidding one another about treasured memories.

Uncle Kenny was buried next to his wife, Hazel, who passed away a few years ago. Their marker sat waiting to identify their resting place.

Nearby sat the marker for Kenny's parents, my grandparents, Elmer and Ruby Gray.

It is good to share these moments of remembrance with my loving life partner. Janet and I have attended too many funerals lately, but in each case we did so arm-in-arm supporting one another. I am grateful to be loved by this beautiful woman, so attractive, capable, loving and wise.

The full-size version of each image will pop-up if you click on the thumbnail version displayed here.

Being with Family

We traveled to Iron Mountain, Michigan, to attend Janet's brother's funeral. John Frahm died recently during treatment for cancer. It was a sad time, but there was a lot of love shared by surviving family and friends. We will miss John.

We also attended Janet's niece's wedding. Lisa and Tyler had a beautiful wedding and fun-filled reception. Check out the Photo Albums I published of Traveling to Iowa and The Reception by clicking on the album titles in the column to the right (I purchased a new digital camera during our trip from Michigan to Iowa for the festivities).

I also took a few movies with the camera. The first is a windy video of the kids on a teeter-toter at a roadside rest area: rest_stop_teetertotter.wmv. The others are all from the reception. You will get a kick out of watching Sydney and Jamison with other little people warming up the floor before the dancing began: warming_up_the_dance_floor.wmv. Watch Lisa and Tyler cut the cake and eat it, too: cutting_the_cake_and_eating_it_too.wmv. Finally, there is this darling but short clip of Lisa dancing with Sydney: princess_times_two.wmv.

Law School Branding

Janet's employer, California Western School of Law, recently implemented an extensive branding project including a complete reworking of their website. Janet's picture is on the homepage! You'll have to wait while the branding tag line does its thing--you'll see Janet talking with students at the end of the Flash video.