Recently my family and I headed to Austin to celebrate the life of Granny Van Vavra, my maternal grandmother. She was a great lady and I will miss her laugh, practicality and curiosity. Although gathered for a sad reason, it was great to spend so much time with my family...

Me with my paternal grandparents, Oma and Big Daddy.

including all the friends and neighbors that loved Granny too.

The flowers in Austin are beautiful this time of year...


but Sylvia was the star of the show.

Luckily, she's an equal opportunity lap sitter

Not to mention easily entertained....

this basket of paper recycling was an endless source of amusement for Sylvia. For the big girls, we got a kick out of comparing her expressions to the dozens of photos we sorted of Aurelia, Susan and myself.

Sylvia and Susan shared her first washtub bath....

And Aunty Vic put her in the antique trashcan. (Sorry, Miguel)

We also took a trip out to Jarrell, where Sylvia and Big Daddy had a long discussion on the building strategies of Tyeco.....or something.

Here's the whole fam....
I also caught up with my oldest friend, Pam Ziegler (now Brown) and her adorable boys

Pam with Logan

Noah just turned 5! He's quite the young man

And an excellent big brother, here with Logan, about 11 months.