Happy 15th Birthday William!

William turned 15 years old today. He spent last evening passing the Drug section of his Learners Permit test. He plans to go and finish the second half of his test so that he can get his Learners permit.

For our non American friends and family-When you turn 15 you can get your Learners permit but you must have the permit for one year before you can obtain your Drivers License.

Have A Great Day William!

This is also the day Ron and Sherri were first married two years ago before Ron left to go to Iraq. Happy 2nd Anniversary to you both.

A Christmas Message from the Patersons

Here is a video Christmas message from Marjorie, Jim, William and Alan. Please wait a minute after clicking on each link to download the file.

Note: The format is Quicktime. If you do not have Quicktime on your computer, click here to download a free copy.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

To our family and friends,

Our wish is for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!!

Love always,
Jim, Marjorie, Marcia, Sherri, Ron, William and Alan

Alan's school holiday concert

We were treated to a wonderful evening of music when we went to Alan's school holiday concert. Alan's teacher says that he is doing really good and is a good trombone player. The concert was really good. The band has two separate class periods and Thursday was only the second time that they had played together.

A good time was had by all.

Happy Birthday 13th Alan

We now officially have two teenagers in the house. Alan turned 13 years old on November 30. This is a picture of him celebrating at Chili's. The waiters surprised him with a song and this chocolate delight. Reg and Ros Minors, dad, William and mom were there to celebrate. A great time was had by all.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hi All,


We just finished our fall baseball. Having to play a lot of baseball in the fall made this season seem very long. We usually rest and regroup during the fall season so this was a little different for us.

Alan played with his AAU team Lakewood Legends. He was only suppose to play on a if needed basis. Well it turned out that some of my teammates was injured. Then some of them were unable to play because of other commitments, it left me playing a lot more than I had thought, I had a good time.

William played with a AAU team from school. Because the boys he played with are Junior and Sophomores, the team played in an under 18 year old league. William learnt a lot and in the last State games was batting really good against some stiff competition in the older age group.

Luckily, for our parents, our tournaments were played at the same venue and sometimes the same park and same time. The only down side was that the days were very long because our tournaments went from 6:30am -10pm and our games were spread out from the start of the day all the way to the end. But I know that they enjoyed themselves as well, it is always good to see our parents in the stands.

Well take care and we wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Alan will be 13 years old on November 30. Wow! how time flies.

Trip to Jacksonville

Hi All,

We went to Aunt Lynell and Uncle Clinton's home last weekend. It was good to see them after not seeing them for over three years.

Well it looks like everyone has grown besides dad and mom. Alan is closing in on mom and William is closing in on Kevin and Gavin.

We finished our weekend by going to see the Jaguar vs Cowboy (that is football). Unfortunately, for us native Texans we had to see our Cowboys throw away a 10 point lead and was beaten by the Jaguar's.

We started the weekend by going to Winter Haven to play baseball. Alan played Friday night and Saturday morning. When he left Alan's team was 1-1. William played one game on Saturday morning. They lost that game and then we left to start our trip to Jacksonville. We were so glad that we did not stay to play any more because the rains came and the tournament was cancelled.

We were unable to stop to see Fran and Frank on the way up, but hopefully next time we go to Jacksonville time will allow us to stop.

Alan & William

Alan over the summer

Alan escorting Aunt Phyllis to her seat

















Alan at the Bobby Jones Golf course







Hi All,

Let me tell you about the job I had to do at my sister, Sherri's wedding. I was first asked to be an usher but as we got closer to the wedding, one of the groom's men could not attend so Ron asked me if I would take on the part filling in for him in the wedding party and I agreed. After getting into my suit and taking pictures where I was asked to smile, ugh, I went with the groom's men to usher in the guest. I then had to usher in my Aunt Phyllis and my mom. I was a bit nervous but I did a good job. The wedding party had to then escort their partners in and out of the garden, I had fun. It was a nice wedding and I really enjoyed myself. We danced the night away and then returned to the hotel. The good part about the wedding was that we also had a great vacation.

While in Atlanta we went to the ESPN restaurant, what a man's heaven. At the front of the restaurant are lounge chairs with the big wall TV screen in front and having waiters serve you food, what a sight, smile.

During the fall I will be trying to improve my handicap playing golf. Usually, I go out with my dad and William. Mum walks with us for exercise but does not play, smile. When Reg Minors is here in Florida we go out as a foursome.

Well must go now as summer holidays are officially over and it is back to school. School starts on August 7, isn't it still summer, people?

8th Grade dance

Hi All,

Here William is ready for his 8th grade dance on Friday May 19th. He went out to dinner at the Carrabbas restaurant before the dance with a group of friends. They then were driven by some of the parents to school were they danced and partied until 9pm. William had a great time.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day to all our friends and family who are mothers, mothers-to-be, and fathers who are also mothers to our children.

We have been busy with life these days, just like the rest of you. We are in the process of finishing up school. Our school finishes on May 25th. William has his 8th Grade dance on the 19th. High school next year, WOW!

Alan had his baseball final AAU games yesterday. His team played 3 games in one day, what a feat. They were able to win 2 and lose 1. Unfortunately or fortunately, they gave up too many runs in order to move on to the next round. His league team will start their playoff berth on Wednesday, we wish them luck.

William's team does not start their AAU State games until the last weekend of the month. His league team does not do playoffs but they just pick players for All-Star teams. William is also in the process of getting his braces. He is learning how to like the soft foods, smile.

It was good having our sisters, Marcia and Sherri, along with Ron home for Easter. We had not seen Ron since he came back from Iraq. It sure was good being with them even though the visit was short. We went to watch William's team play baseball. The league had their Bar B Que fundraiser, it was good. We then went to Reg and Ros's house were we watched pictures of their recent African trip.

Dad and mom have been busy working and running around taking us from game to practice. They are both looking forward to the summer holidays.

Hi All

Hi All,

Well it is almost April already, Easter is just around the corner. I hope that we can have all our children together for the Easter vacation.

This is a picture of William on March 25. We went to a luncheon given by the Zeta Phi Beta to recognize African American future leaders in the Sarasota/Bradenton area. William was chosen by his teachers for this honor from his middle school. It recognized his grades, conduct and overall effort to be a good student.

The boys are doing good. Playing a lot of baseball.

Alan's Cal Ripken League team is 4 and o thus far for the season. His AAU team is 10 and 4 , they came in 2nd place at the Sarasota Spring Tournament last weekend. Alan hopefully learnt two lessons - you ask for time when you steal 2nd base and hurt your knee because when the shortstop touches you with the ball and you are off the base holding your knee you are OUT! The second thing he learnt was that when you come up against some powerful hitting no matter how well you pitch they can still hit you for Home Runs. The team that came in 1st place hit 3 home runs off Alan's pitching. He lost his composure for a little bit but when the game was over and all was said and done he broke down, bless his heart. We are still waiting for Alan's report to see how he is doing in school.

William's teams are not as successful as Alan's but he is doing really good and having a lot of fun. William will be going to Braden River High School next year, he is really looking forward to it. He has grown so much he must be close to 6ft now. I can't beleive how fast he and some of his friends are growing. Boys are so different from girls, smile. He is doing good in school, could do better. He just got his 3rd quarter report and had 1 C and the rest A's and B's.

Jim is working hard, spending a lot of time with 2 of our clients in Orland and also staying busy with baseball. He is coaching a Rookie team, league commissioner for Pre-tee and tee-ball teams, as well as trying to keep up with practices and games for William and Alan's 4 teams.

I have been keeping busy with taking a math class at MCC. This is a self taught class and requires a lot of time and concentration. I am doing very good thus far. We have two more evaluations and 1 final test. If all goes well I should get an A in this class. I am going to take ENG 1102 over the summer and than decide if I want to pursue a 4yr degree. I am still working with our business and doing substitute teaching. The teaching has not been as plentiful as I have been concentrating on my math.

Well take care everyone let us know if you are in Florida this summer and hopefully we can get to see some of you. You can reply on this blog to get in touch with us.

Hi All

It has been a while since we checked in but my how time is flying. We had a good valentine. We gave mom a lovely bouquet of orange roses. Mom really liked them. As you can see they broke open within a day and made our living room look really great. As always the roses gave the house a very pleasant smell. Mom give us guys a box of chocolates each, yummy.

We guys have been busy playing and practicing baseball. We keep our parents very busy running us up and down. This weekend we are playing 6 games and 1 practice between the two of us. School is going good. Alan is a bit disorganized and has some missing assignments. The missing assignments is giving a low grade but his overall work is good. Hopefully, he will get it together and be able to have a good report for the 3rd quarter. Willim is maintaing a good GPA and working hard to bring his advanced math grade up to a B. The end of February and beginning of March we will be doing our State exams, FCATs and NRI. We take these two exams over a period of two weeks but will not get the results back until May, wish us GOOD LUCK!

Well please take care of yourselves and we will keep in touch.

Happy New Year!

We are just back from Dallas, TX. It was a most exciting and enjoyable vacation. It was good to see our friends. We had not been back to Dallas in 8 years. The boys had a great time and was asking if we could go back to live in Dallas. What a lofty goal, ( smile)!

Well, we got to go and see the Cowboys play their last game for the season. While this game was not their best, the boys did get to see the Cheerleaders, (smile)! The whole experience from tailgating to seeing the game live was one we will always remember.

William got to visit with some very special friends. They all turned 14 this year. Unfortunately, some of his other friends could not make it but a good time was had by all. Thanks Alva for opening up your house for all of us to get together.










The boys also visited with their godparents Mark and Jana along with their sons Matthew and David.