Here's a few family pictures:

First, the old man Oakdancer:

See, I used  to have hair!







 
 

Rainbowchild and Oakdancer at home trying out the new camera.

We were inspired to set the thing up on a cereal box and see how the timer worked... turned out pretty good, and didn't even break the lens!  Rain is my elder daughter and a weather worker.  She's also a pretty good dancer at the drum circles, having taught a few steps of her own creation!

Willow and Oak at school sharing lunch.

I try never to miss a chance to see what's going on at school.  This was during National School Lunch Week, when parents are invited to have lunch with their kids.  Willow is a wonderful, sensitive young lady with definite empath tendencies; She always knows when someone needs a hug.  I think she may be a healer someday.

Coming Full Circle

For some time now my family has been incomplete.  Although the problems associated with being a single parent come nowhere near overshadowing the satisfaction of doing a good job raising your children, a home doesn't feel complete to me without the balance provided by two parents who love each other.
 
On December 28th, 1998 that all changed with my marriage to the most wonderful, caring woman I ever met.  Amber moved from her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma over the weekend with help from her parents,  who escorted her to Nashville where I took over the rental truck after spending the night (and posing for lots of pics for her folks!)
      Jo and Ed, Amberflame's Mom & Dad

 

We spent Sunday driving in and unloading the truck, and were legally married at the courthouse the following Monday (with only a small interruption for clarification over some of the wording of the vows.) *chuckle*  After a short honeymoon that mostly consisted of a frantic 3 day week of unpacking we drove to Birmingham, AL to pick up the kids where they were enjoying a Christmas visit with their mother.

It's hard to decide who was the most nervous about meeting that first face-to-face meeting at my aunt's house,  Amber or Rain and Willow, but after about 10 minutes they were all over each other, laughing, playing and having piggy-back rides, and we truly became a family.


Upper left:  Amberflame gets acquainted with Rainbowchild and Willow.
Upper right:  Rainbowchild gets a ride!
Below:  The new family together at last.


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