the entry below was copied from david's blog:
My Aunt Shirley passed away very early Friday morning. All of us were able to travel to Arkansas in October to see her. We were able to spend time with family and say our final goodbyes. She was in good spirits and stood strong knowing she had little time to live. We knew this day was very near but it is still hard to know you will never get to share a new moment with them.
Aunt Shirley - We loved you dearly and we will miss you.
Shirley Rose Howard Litchford
(June 12, 1946 - November 30, 2007)
Graveside services for Mrs. Shirley Rose Howard Litchford will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, December 3, 2007 in the Rush Chapel, Glenmora with Reverend Gary Richerson officiating. Interment will follow in Amiable Cemetery, Glenmora under the direction of Rush Funeral Home, Oakdale.
Mrs. Litchford, 61, of Horatio, Arkansas entered eternal rest on Friday, November 30, 2007 in her residence.
Shirley became an educator late in her life and thoroughly enjoyed her new career. She attended the Horatio Assembly of God Church. She was a devoted mother, grandmother, wife, aunt, sister, daughter, cousin and friend. She leaves all of us too soon and will be greatly missed. Heaven has acquired its’ newest angel.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John Lois and Crecie Bond Howard; one sister, Judy; her paternal grandparents, James David Howard and Susan Adeline (Addie) Wiggins Howard and her maternal grandparents, Joe Vander Bond and Hattie Bond.
Survivors include her husband, Earl Litchford of Horatio, Arkansas and his children and grandchildren; her daughter, Donna Krissette Langford Kotler; her grandson, Greg McCarroll; her granddaughter, Katie Kotler; one brother, Billy Ray Howard, Sr. of Houston, Texas; her beloved nephews and niece, Billy Ray Howard, Jr. of Horatio, Arkansas, John Lee Howard of Florida, David Christopher Howard of Santa Monica, California and Lisa Erin Minor of Houston, Texas. She is also survived by former husband, Benny Langford; special sisters-in-law, Paulette Langford Nelson and Martha Anne Bonner (Howard) Pierson; aunts, Lucille Wiggins and Marlene Bonds Fergurson and many cousins. Her extended family and friends mourn her passing.
Friends may post online messages of condolence for the Litchford family by visiting www.rushfh.com
Now let's continue from where I left off from day one.... On Friday we were able to sleep in a bit and start the day a little later than the day before. Billy's kids went to school and Trey made it to work so Jacki, Darian and I got to hang with Billy most of the day. We looked through photo albums and shared with him some of the pictures I had posted online from out last trip out there in 2002. Later in the day Jacki and I made it to De Queen to do a Walmart run. This was the first time I had driven un-aided into De Queen so it felt like a minor accomplishment.
freshman. Although we aren't blood related I felt like I met a new sister for the first time. Darian affectionately called her my quarter sister. Haha
We got back to Billy's and Lisa and Jeff headed to Texarkana. And this is where the fun began. As we walk into Billy's he and Tina are sitting in front of the tv singing karaoke. Billy did a stunning rendition of Stand By Your Man which was hilarious. He had all of us on the floor laughing. Carly and Tina even did a duet together.
o pick her up. Not often that I get one on one time with Lisa. We grabbed an early lunch at Popeye's, talked to Mom on the phone to catch her up on the activities, and headed back to Horatio. We talked about ma-maw and pa on the way back and talked about the great times we had at Shirley's when we were growing up. You can't go wrong with video games and a hot tub.
and Billy tell hunting stories with my Uncle Earl from Louisiana. Kristy prepared a great lunch with chicken, turkey and some seafood gumbo. Right as we finishing our plates my Dad and Rose arrived. We weren't sure they were going to make it so it was great to have so much of the family together.
Texarkana emergency room with 11 stitches.
Jacki and I headed back to Billy's and got to say bye to the kids. Dad and Rose came by for a few minutes. We got a few pictures with everyone and then they left back to Texarkana for the night. After they left Tina and her husband Bobby came over to see us out. She brought over our old Lamar yearbook and we were able to confirm we were there at the same time. We got in some laughs about the big 80s hair as well as how goofy I looked.
(if you've already read about this on david's blog, you can stop---i cheated and basically copied/pasted this onto mine...just changing it up a bit)
On the final day of our trip, david wanted to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. He had mis-booked our flights and when he tried to reschedule, the flights on Labor Day were booked so we had an extra day in Denver. I woke up with a horrible headache but David had his heart set on going, so I tried my best to support him and Darian on the outing.
Once in Estes Park, david and darian ate at a KFC/Taco Bell combo place, while i slept in the car trying to get rid of my headache......they brought me a sandwich from subway.....While waiting in the parking lot david took a picture of some lightning from a storm that was passing through. We waited the storm out and then got back on the road to the park.
Our first stop was the Park and Ride to Bear Lake. Still having a horrible headache, I stayed in the car and slept while Darian and David took the bus to the Lake.....they walked around the entire lake and took quite a few pictures. It was an overcast day with drizzling so it wasn't as picturesque as david was hoping. On the way back they walked through Glacier Gorge and then took the bus back to the park and ride.
Our next stop was Sprague lake. Park buses didn't take visitors so there was a lot less traffic and people walking around. In some ways that made this a better lake to visit. The pictures also came out better at this lake then at Bear Lake. Darian kept me company in the car....she had had enough lake/walking for a while.....david was wanting to see as much as he could....we teased him that he was like a madman on a mission....i had no idea my husband was such the 'outdoorsman'.....haha..... As he walked the 1/2 mile around the lake he saw a chipmunk and some ducks. Once he got back to the car I was feeling much better.
Our next stop was Fern Lake. The guide I printed off of the internet mentioned we may even see some Elk. On the way to the lake we noticed a number of cars pulled over to the side of the road. We decided to stop and noticed that there were two giant elk in the meadows. The horns on these elk looked as large as some of the small trees they were standing by. No one ventured close and kept their distance and took photos. They had to have been at least 50-75 yards from the road.
Further down the road we drove through a pack of close to 10 female elk. There was even a smaller baby elk in the herd. They were eating leaves from trees that lined the road. After driving through we walked back and took some more pictures. We were able to get within about 10 feet of these elk. I told david seeing the elk made the trip worthwhile.
As we headed back to US 34 we saw a coyote running on the top of a small hill close to where
the two male Elk were that we originally spotted. Darian said the coyote runs and looks like a dog. We got back onto US 34 and drove through Deer Junction. I spotted a deer running on one of the hills. Giant antelers but looked a little on the thin side.
Once up the road we accidentally made a wrong turn and ended outside of the park. After a u-turn and a visit to the information area we got back on track for Old Falls road. Darian and I were not thrilled at all of driving up a one way dirt road in the rain on the side of a mountain, although david said he found it easier to navigate than the roads on Pike's Peak.
At the end of the 10 mile road we made it to the top of one of the peaks. David took some cool pictures and then we were off to our final destination in the park, Millner's Pass at the Continental Divide. The divide is the point where bodies of water drain to. On one side of the divide about 50 yards from the sign the water drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and on the other side with a small lake about a 100 yards away the lake drains into the Pacific Ocean.....(cool i guess, but darian and i thought there would be something more exciting to see besides the sign pictured here)
At this point the sun was going down and entering into dusk. We drove through the backside of the park, saw a few more elk, and believe we saw some moose as we exited the park. After dinner in Winter Park we made it back to Denver. When it was all said and done it was right at a 12 hour day. By 10:30pm we were back in our hotel room packing for our flight the next morning.
Here are pictures from our weekend in Colorado. The first album are pictures from the wedding events of Brett and Sandy McGarity. Including rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.
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| Brett And Sandy McGarity Wedding |
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| Colorado Mountains |
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| Sea World |
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| San Diego Tour |
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| San Diego Zoo |
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| Coronado Island |
| Jacki's Tattoo(16) Apr 12, 2007 |
